19 'And ye, encamp ye at the outside of the camp seven days—any who hath slain a person, and any who hath come against a pierced one, ye cleanse yourselves on the third day, and on the seventh day—ye and your captives; 20 and every garment, and every skin vessel, and every work of goats' 'hair', and every wooden vessel, ye yourselves cleanse.'
21 And Eleazar the priest saith unto the men of the host who go in to battle, 'This 'is' the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses: 22 only, the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 every thing which may go into fire, ye cause to pass over through fire, and it hath been clean; only, with the water of separation it is cleansed, and all that may not go into fire, ye cause to pass over through water; 24 and ye have washed your garments on the seventh day, and have been clean, and afterwards ye come in unto the camp.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 31:19-24
Commentary on Numbers 31:19-24
(Read Numbers 31:19-24)
The Israelites had to purify themselves according to the law, and to abide without the camp seven days, though they had not contracted any moral guilt, the war being just and lawful, and commanded by God. Thus God would preserve in their minds a dread and detestation of shedding blood. The spoil had been used by Midianites, and being now come into the possession of Israelites, it was fit that it should be purified.