to approach (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Moses
מֹשֶׁ֔הmo.Sheh
H4872
Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Commentary
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 31:48
officers . . . said . . . there lacketh not one man of us--A victory so signal, and the glory of which was untarnished by the loss of a single Israelitish soldier, was an astonishing miracle. So clearly betokening the direct interposition of Heaven, it might well awaken the liveliest feelings of grateful acknowledgment to God (Psa 44:2-3). The oblation they brought for the Lord "was partly an atonement" or reparation for their error (Num 31:14-16), for it could not possess any expiatory virtue, and partly a tribute of gratitude for the stupendous service rendered them. It consisted of the "spoil," which, being the acquisition of individual valor, was not divided like the "prey," or livestock…
And the officers which were over thousands of the host,.... Over the twelve thousand, of which the host or army consisted: namely, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses; of their own accord, without being sent, or required to do what they did.
John Calvin on Numbers 31:48-50
And the officers which were over the thousands. We have here an example of signal gratitude, that the leaders of the army, when they saw that none of their men were lost, consecrated their spoils of gold and silver to the Lord. By the offering of the first-fruits, they had already sufficiently testified their piety and obedience; nor, indeed, after they had faithfully complied with God's command, could anything more have been expected from them; hence does their liberality deserve so much the more praise, when they lay themselves under the obligation of a new and extraordinary vow. At the same time, Moses magnifies God's special blessing in bringing them all back safely to a man from this gr…
Sacred Oblations of the Officers. - When the officers reviewed the men of war who were "in their hand," i.e., who had fought the battle under their command, and found not a single man missing, they felt constrained to give a practical expression to their gratitude for this miraculous preservation of the whole of the men, by presenting a sacrificial gift to Jehovah; they therefore brought all the golden articles that they had received as booty, and offered them to the Lord "for the expiation of their souls" (see at Lev 1:4), namely, with the feeling that they were not worthy of any such grace, and not "because they had done wrong in failing to destroy all the enemies of Jehovah" (Knobel). Thi…
The Church Fathers
That there are differences of progress and of merits among the people of the faithful, anyone who attends more carefully to the reading will discover in many places in the divine volumes. And we gather this no less from the present reading also, from what is written: "And there came to Moses all who had been appointed leaders throughout the tribes in the army, commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. And they said to Moses: We your servants have gathered the sum total of our men of war, and not one of us was missing; and we have offered a gift to the Lord, each man whatever vessel of gold he found, a collar or a bracelet or a ring or an armlet or a little chain, to make propitiation for ourselves before the Lord." The chosen leaders, then, who had been appointed over the army, speak to Moses and, for their deeds well done, offer gifts to God, saying: "We are your servants, who have received the sum total of the warrior sons of Israel." Now by the sum total of the warriors they mean those twelve thousand men who were chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to do battle against the Midianites. There are, then, among the people of God many warriors, and there are also very many who are unfit for war; and again among the warriors there are certain ones who are called the sum total of the warriors, more eminent without doubt than those who are called warriors, just as the warriors too are more eminent than those unfit for war. And again there are some loftier than those who are called the sum total of the warriors, namely those who have been appointed leaders over them and set in command over each individual thousand of the chosen ones. There is, then, much diversity in that order which is called warriors. But even among those unfit for war there is nonetheless some difference; for not even they are all called unfit for war equally and in one and the same rank. For some are so unfit for war that they can never become warriors, as is old age and the whole female sex, and also the servile condition. But the age of boyhood is unfit for war in such a way that it holds a hope of one day becoming warlike; that is, when one shall have come to a perfect man, to the measure of the age, then they hope not only to become warriors out of boys, but also to come into the sum total of the warriors and to be chosen and to be numbered among the twelve thousand, or even…
Consider now the state of the present age, and see all things filled with wars and all human life hard pressed by invisible battles and by the assaults of demons, but that among the people of God there are certain ones so strong in faith and armed with virtues that against enemies of this kind they daily wage wars and, always standing ready in battle array, guard from the ambushes of the enemy not only themselves but also the rest who cannot fight, whether by reason of sex or of age or of the condition of servitude, fortifying them by the word of teaching and by the example of their life and by the diligence of their admonitions; provided, however, that faith be not lacking to them. For whether warriors or unfit for war, it is impossible to be saved without faith. Among the warriors themselves, however—those at least who serve as soldiers to God—consider that some are so ready and unencumbered that they entangle themselves in no worldly affairs at all, that they may be able to please him who has approved them, and also meditate on the law of God day and night. These, then, who are of this kind, are called the sum total of the warriors. Indeed it is not said of the common number of the warriors that no one among them was missing, but this is said of those who are named the sum total of the warriors. For among those who are such, there is no dissension, no discord. For these are they of whom it was said: "And the heart and soul of the believers was one, nor did any of them call anything his own, but all things were common to them." These, then, are the sum total of the warriors, among whom no one was missing. These are they who by fighting took a great abundance of gold, and offer to God all the gold and every ornament, whether of the head or of the arms or even of the fingers—that is, whatever they have in their understandings, whatever in their works—they offer to God. For they know that his gifts are his own, and therefore not even one among them dissents. For those set in dissension could not offer gifts to God. These, I think, are, according to the Gospel, those who diligently observe that precept which the Lord and Savior commands: "But if you offer your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave there your gift at the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then coming you shall offer your…
Dictionary and topics
Metals — The Hebrews, in common with other ancient nations, were acquainted with nearly all the metals known to modern metallurgy, whether as the products of their own soil or the results of intercourse with…
Wars of the Lord, The Book of the — (Num. 21:14, 15), some unknown book so called (comp. Gen. 14:14-16; Ex. 17:8-16; Num. 14:40-45; 21:1-3, 21-25, 33-35; 31. The wars here recorded might be thus designated).
Armies · General references — General references
Captain · Of thousands — Of thousands
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Midianites destroyed and Balaam slain — Midianites destroyed and Balaam slain
Spoils · inc — inc
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Though it is unusual for no soldiers from an army to be killed in battle, it is not impossible. Classical authors also reported battles in which few or no Roman soldiers were killed. If the Israelites had the advantages of preparation, surprise, and overwhelming force, they could have defeated the Midianites and lost no troops, especially in light of God’s blessing.
Rashi on Numbers 31:48
הפקדים means THOSE WHO WERE APPOINTED (not those who were counted, as e.g. in Numbers 3:39).
