Numbers 31:14

“And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, etc.] The general officers who had the command of the army, for there does not appear to be anyone that was one general over the whole, otherwise the displeasure would have fallen upon him: [with] the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle; rather “with” should be left out, not being in the text; and these captains only explain who the officers were, and these were one hundred and thirty two, as Aben Ezra observes; twelve who were captains over thousands, and were more properly the general officers; and one hundred and twenty over so many hundreds, into which the whole were subdivided.”

“And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host--The displeasure of the great leader, though it appears the ebullition of a fierce and sanguinary temper, arose in reality from a pious and enlightened regard to the best interests of Israel. No order had been given for the slaughter of the women, and in ancient war they were commonly reserved for slaves. By their antecedent conduct, however, the Midianitish women had forfeited all claims to mild or merciful treatment; and the sacred character, the avowed object of the war (Num 31:2-3), made their slaughter necessary without any special order. But why "kill every male among the little ones"? It was designed to be a war of extermination, such…”

“31:14-16 Moses was furious: God had commanded total destruction, but the Midianite women who had followed Balaam’s advice and were largely responsible for the apostasy of Baal-peor had wrongly been given clemency.”

“wroth: Num 12:3; Exo 32:19, Exo 32:22; Lev 10:16; Sa1 15:13, Sa1 15:14; Kg1 20:42; Kg2 13:19; Eph 4:26 battle: Heb. host of war Numbers 31:15”