Liber Numeri 31
1 locutusque est Dominus ad Mosen dicens
And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,
2 ulciscere prius filios Israhel de Madianitis et sic colligeris ad populum tuum
“Execute the vengeance of the sons of Israel against the Midianites—afterward you are gathered to your people.”
3 statimque Moses armate inquit ex vobis viros ad pugnam qui possint ultionem Domini expetere de Madianitis
And Moses speaks to the people, saying, “Arm men from [among] you for the war, and they are against Midian, to put the vengeance of YHWH on Midian;
4 mille viri de singulis tribubus eligantur Israhel qui mittantur ad bellum
one thousand for a tribe—you send one thousand for a tribe, of all the tribes of Israel, to the war.”
5 dederuntque millenos de cunctis tribubus id est duodecim milia expeditorum ad pugnam
And there are given out of the thousands of Israel one thousand for a tribe—twelve thousand armed ones [for] war;
6 quos misit Moses cum Finees filio Eleazari sacerdotis vasa quoque sancta et tubas ad clangendum tradidit ei
and Moses sends them, one thousand for a tribe, to the war; [he sent] them and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the war, with the holy vessels and the trumpets of shouting in his hand.
7 cumque pugnassent contra Madianitas atque vicissent omnes mares occiderunt
And they war against Midian, as YHWH has commanded Moses, and slay every male;
8 et reges eorum Evi et Recem et Sur et Ur et Rebe quinque principes gentis Balaam quoque filium Beor interfecerunt gladio
and they have slain the kings of Midian besides their pierced ones: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba—five kings of Midian; and they have slain Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
9 ceperuntque mulieres eorum et parvulos omniaque pecora et cunctam supellectilem quicquid habere potuerant depopulati sunt
And the sons of Israel take the women of Midian and their infants captive; and they have plundered all their livestock, and all their substance, and all their wealth;
10 tam urbes quam viculos et castella flamma consumpsit
and they have burned all their cities, with their habitations, and all their towers, with fire.
11 et tulerunt praedam et universa quae ceperant tam ex hominibus quam ex iumentis
And they take all the spoil and all the prey, among man and among beast;
12 et adduxerunt ad Mosen et Eleazarum sacerdotem et ad omnem multitudinem filiorum Israhel reliqua etiam utensilia portaverunt ad castra in campestribus Moab iuxta Iordanem contra Hiericho
and they bring in the captives, and the prey, and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp, to the plains of Moab, which [are] by the Jordan, [near] Jericho.
13 egressi sunt autem Moses et Eleazar sacerdos et omnes principes synagogae in occursum eorum extra castra
And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, go out to meet them, to the outside of the camp,
14 iratusque Moses principibus exercitus tribunis et centurionibus qui venerant de bello
and Moses is angry against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the warfare of battle.
15 ait cur feminas reservastis
And Moses says to them, “Have you kept every female alive?
16 nonne istae sunt quae deceperunt filios Israhel ad suggestionem Balaam et praevaricari vos fecerunt in Domino super peccato Phogor unde et percussus est populus
Behold, they have been to the sons of Israel, through the word of Balaam, to cause a trespass against YHWH in the matter of Peor, and the plague is in the congregation of YHWH.
17 ergo cunctos interficite quicquid est generis masculini etiam in parvulis et mulieres quae noverunt viros in coitu iugulate
And now, slay every male among the infants, indeed, slay every woman knowing a man by the lying of a male;
18 puellas autem et omnes feminas virgines reservate vobis
and all the infants among the women who have not known the lying of a male you have kept alive for yourselves.
19 et manete extra castra septem diebus qui occiderit hominem vel occisum tetigerit lustrabitur die tertio et septimo
And you, encamp at the outside of the camp [for] seven days; any who has slain a person, and any who has come against a pierced one, cleanse yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day—you and your captives;
20 et de omni praeda sive vestimentum fuerit sive vas et aliquid in utensilia praeparatum de caprarum pellibus et pilis et ligno expiabitur
and every garment, and every skin vessel, and every work of goats’ [hair], and every wooden vessel, you yourselves cleanse.”
21 Eleazar quoque sacerdos ad viros exercitus qui pugnaverant sic locutus est hoc est praeceptum legis quod mandavit Dominus Mosi
And Eleazar the priest says to the men of war who go to battle, “This [is] the statute of the law which YHWH has commanded Moses:
22 aurum et argentum et aes et ferrum et stagnum et plumbum
only the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23 et omne quod potest transire per flammas igne purgabitur quicquid autem ignem non potest sustinere aqua expiationis sanctificabitur
everything which may go into fire, you cause to pass over through fire, and it has been clean; it is surely cleansed with the water of separation; and all that may not go into fire, you cause to pass over through water;
24 et lavabitis vestimenta vestra die septimo et purificati postea castra intrabitis
and you have washed your garments on the seventh day and have been clean, and afterward you come into the camp.”
25 dixitque Dominus ad Mosen
And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,
26 tollite summam eorum quae capta sunt ab homine usque ad pecus tu et Eleazar sacerdos et principes vulgi
“Take up the sum of the prey of the captives, among man and among beast, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers of the congregation;
27 dividesque ex aequo praedam inter eos qui pugnaverunt et egressi sunt ad bellum et inter omnem reliquam multitudinem
and you have halved the prey between those handling the battle, who go out to the war, and all the congregation;
28 et separabis partem Domino ab his qui pugnaverunt et fuerunt in bello unam animam de quingentis tam ex hominibus quam ex bubus et asinis et ovibus
and you have raised a tribute to YHWH from the men of battle, who go out to the war, one body out of five hundred, of man, and of the herd, and of the donkeys, and of the flock;
29 et dabis eam Eleazaro sacerdoti quia primitiae Domini sunt
you take from their half and have given [it] to Eleazar the priest [as] a raised-offering of YHWH.
30 ex media quoque parte filiorum Israhel accipies quinquagesimum caput hominum et boum et asinorum et ovium cunctarumque animantium et dabis ea Levitis qui excubant in custodiis tabernaculi Domini
And from the sons of Israel’s half you take one possession out of fifty, of man, of the herd, of the donkeys, and of the flock, of all the livestock, and you have given them to the Levites keeping the charge of the Dwelling Place of YHWH.”
31 feceruntque Moses et Eleazar sicut praeceperat Dominus
And Moses does—Eleazar the priest also—as YHWH has commanded Moses.
32 fuit autem praeda quam exercitus ceperat ovium sescenta septuaginta quinque milia
And the prey, the remainder of the spoil which the people of the host have spoiled, is six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand of the flock;
33 boum septuaginta duo milia
and seventy-two thousand of the herd;
34 asinorum sexaginta milia et mille
and sixty-one thousand donkeys;
35 animae hominum sexus feminei quae non cognoverant viros triginta duo milia
and of mankind—of the women who have not known the lying of a male—all the persons [are] thirty-two thousand.
36 dataque est media pars his qui in proelio fuerant ovium trecenta triginta septem milia quingenta
And the half, the portion of those who go out into the war, is [in] number three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred of the flock.
37 e quibus in partem Domini supputatae sunt oves sescentae septuaginta quinque
And the tribute to YHWH of the sheep is six hundred seventy-five;
38 et de bubus triginta sex milibus boves septuaginta duo
and the herd [is] thirty-six thousand, and their tribute to YHWH [is] seventy-two;
39 de asinis triginta milibus quingentis asini sexaginta unus
and the donkeys [are] thirty thousand and five hundred, and their tribute to YHWH [is] sixty-one;
40 de animabus hominum sedecim milibus cesserunt in partem Domini triginta duae animae
and of mankind [are] sixteen thousand, and their tribute to YHWH [is] thirty-two persons.
41 tradiditque Moses numerum primitiarum Domini Eleazaro sacerdoti sicut ei fuerat imperatum
And Moses gives the tribute—YHWH’s raised-offering—to Eleazar the priest, as YHWH has commanded Moses.
42 ex media parte filiorum Israhel quam separaverat his qui in proelio fuerant
And of the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses halved from the men who war—
43 de media vero parte quae contigerat reliquae multitudini id est de ovium trecentis triginta septem milibus quingentis
and the congregation’s half is three hundred thousand and thirty thousand [and] seven thousand and five hundred of the flock;
44 et de bubus triginta sex milibus
and thirty-six thousand of the herd;
45 et de asinis triginta milibus quingentis
and thirty thousand and five hundred donkeys;
46 et de hominibus sedecim milibus
and sixteen thousand of mankind—
47 tulit Moses quinquagesimum caput et dedit Levitis qui excubant in tabernaculo Domini sicut praeceperat Dominus
Moses takes from the sons of Israel’s half one possession from the fifty, of man and of beast, and gives them to the Levites keeping the charge of the Dwelling Place of YHWH, as YHWH has commanded Moses.
48 cumque accessissent principes exercitus ad Mosen et tribuni centurionesque dixerunt
And the inspectors whom the thousands of the host have (heads of the thousands and heads of the hundreds), draw near to Moses,
49 nos servi tui recensuimus numerum pugnatorum quos habuimus sub manu nostra et ne unus quidem defuit
and they say to Moses, “Your servants have taken up the sum of the men of war who [are] with us, and not a man of us has been missed;
50 ob hanc causam offerimus in donariis Domini singuli quod in praeda auri potuimus invenire periscelides et armillas anulos et dextralia ac murenulas ut depreceris pro nobis Dominum
and we bring YHWH’s offering near, each of that which he has found of vessels of gold—chain, and bracelet, seal-ring, [ear]-ring, and bead—to make atonement for ourselves before YHWH.”
51 susceperuntque Moses et Eleazar sacerdos omne aurum in diversis speciebus
And Moses receives—Eleazar the priest also—the gold from them, every vessel of workmanship;
52 pondo sedecim milia septingentos quinquaginta siclos a tribunis et centurionibus
and all the gold of the raised-offering which they have lifted up to YHWH is sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, from heads of the thousands and from heads of the hundreds;
53 unusquisque enim quod in praeda rapuerat suum erat
(the men of the host have each taken spoil for himself);
54 et susceptum intulerunt in tabernaculum testimonii in monumentum filiorum Israhel coram Domino
and Moses takes—Eleazar the priest also—the gold from the heads of the thousands and of the hundreds, and they bring it into the Tent of Meeting [as] a memorial for the sons of Israel before YHWH.
