And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the LORD’s tribute was threescore and twelve.
The verse belongs to the account of Israel's war with and defeat of the Midianites and gives part of the regulations for the division and disposition of the spoil after capturing people, beeves, asses, and sheep. It belongs to the first taking of captives by Israel, when Israel marched into Midian, slew all the males, and seized the women, children, flocks, and herds. Moses reprimanded Israel for disobeying God's command by preserving the grown women, after which Israel killed all but the virgins and children and reserved them for adoption into the families of the nation.
The verse means the thirty-six thousand beeves are counted as souls, with threescore and twelve set apart as the Lord's tribute, under the direction to take one soul of every five hundred from persons, beeves, asses, and sheep. The word soul in the verse is applied indiscriminately to human beings and to the lower animals captured in war. The virgins and children were not enslaved, and by prohibiting the enslavement of prisoners of war God prohibited Israel from becoming a slaveholding nation.
The verse belongs to the account of Israel's war with and defeat of the Midianites and gives part of the regulations for the division and disposition of the spoil after capturing people, beeves, asses, and sheep. It belongs to the first taking of captives by Israel, when Israel marched into Midian, slew all the males, and seized the women, children, flocks, and herds. Moses reprimanded Israel for disobeying God's command by preserving the grown women, after which Israel killed all but the virgins and children and reserved them for adoption into the families of the nation.
The verse means the thirty-six thousand beeves are counted as souls, with threescore and twelve set apart as the Lord's tribute, under the direction to take one soul of every five hundred from persons, beeves, asses, and sheep. The word soul in the verse is applied indiscriminately to human beings and to the lower animals captured in war. The virgins and children were not enslaved, and by prohibiting the enslavement of prisoners of war God prohibited Israel from becoming a slaveholding nation.