Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.
Parallel translations
- KJV And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
- BSB But Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who were returning from the battle.
- NKJV But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.
- NASB But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war.
- NLT But Moses was furious with all the generals and captains who had returned from the battle.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses was angry with the army's officers when they returned from battle.
Overview
Moses' anger arose because the officers had spared the Midianite women, who had earlier been the instruments of Israel's downfall. His reaction shows righteous concern that God's judgment be carried out as intended. Godly leaders grieve when sin's sources are left unaddressed, knowing the danger they pose to the covenant community.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Num 31:48The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses.
- Exod 32:22Aaron said, “Don’t let the anger of my lord grow hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
- Lev 10:16Moses diligently inquired about the goat of the sin offering, and, behold, it was burned: and he was angry with Eleazar and with Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying,
- Eph 4:26“Be angry, and don’t sin.” Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath,
- Exod 32:19As soon as he came near to the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Then Moses’ anger grew hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mountain.
- 1 Sam 15:13–14Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by Yahweh! I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.”
- Num 12:3Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all the men who were on the surface of the earth.
- 2 Kgs 13:19The man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck Syria until you had consumed it; whereas now you will strike Syria just three times.”
- 1 Kgs 20:42He said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 31:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.