Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 31:1

A historical reference excerpt for this verse. Read it alongside the biblical text and other available sources.

Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Modern study notes
Source: BibleWord.ai's local reference edition of this named work.

31:1-2 The Lord ordered Moses to lead Israel in a war of retaliation against the Midianites, who had joined the Moabites in leading the Hebrews into idolatry (ch 25). The Midianites were a tribal people who inhabited the arid and semiarid regions south and east of Palestine and east of the Jordan River; they were counted among the “people of the east” (Judg 6:3, 33; 7:12). They lived in camps or settlements and were famous for their knowledge of desert transportation (cp. Gen 37:28, 36; Isa 60:6). While they were descended from Abraham (Gen 25:1-2) and had been friendly toward Moses (Exod 2:15–3:1; cp. Num 10:29), the elders of Midian had joined Balak in hiring Balaam to curse Israel (22:4, 7), whose presence threatened the peoples of Transjordan (the region east of the Jordan).

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