But Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who were returning from the battle.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- 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.
- 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 31:48Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and of hundreds—approached Moses
- Exod 32:22“Do not be enraged, my lord,” Aaron replied. “You yourself know that the people are intent on evil.
- Lev 10:16Later, Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering, and behold, it had been burned up. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked,
- Eph 4:26“Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger,
- Exod 32:19As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
- 1 Sam 15:13–14When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
- Num 12:3Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any man on the face of the earth.
- 2 Kgs 13:19But the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times. Then you would have struck down Aram until you had put an end to it. But now you will strike down Aram only three times.”
- 1 Kgs 20:42And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for his life, and your people for 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.