## Da'at Zekenim on Numbers Chapter 31

###### Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:6:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:6:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Numbers/r/31:6:1)

**וישלח אותם משה.**הקב"ה אמר למשה נקום נקמת אתה בעצמך והוא משלח אחרים אלא על ידי שנתגדל במדין אמר אינו בדין שאבגוד בהם שהם עשו לי טובת הנאה כדאמרי אינשי בירא דשתית מינה מיא לא תשדי ביה עפרא. וי"א שאין זה מדין שנתגדל בו משה שזו בצד מואב ועד עכשיו היא חרבה ולמה שלח פינחס דמי שהתחיל במצוה אומרים לו גמור והוא הכה המדינית לפיכך יגמור מצותו:

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
וישלח אותם משה, “Moses sent them forth;” (the 12000 men making up the punitive expedition against the Midianites) You, the reader, will recall that the Lord had instructed Moses personally to head this expedition. (Verse 2 in our chapter, where He also added that after having carried out this mission Moses would die.) Why did Moses delegate others to do what he had been commanded to do himself? The reason must have been that seeing that he had found refuge there from persecution by the Egyptian secret service and had even became the son-in-law of a prominent priest in Midian, he did not think that G–d had meant for him to lead this campaign, just as he had not been ordered to strike the Nile which had sheltered him but had delegated that task to his brother Aaron at the time. He acted according to the well known proverb: “do not bite the hand that fed you.” Another interpretation suggests that the Midian of which Cosbi had been a princess was not the same Midian as that which is described in the Book of Exodus. [The Midian which Moses fled to bordered the desert of Sinai, whereas the Midian which is featured in connection with Bileam and Balak is situated in the Arabian peninsula bordering the red sea. Ed.] The reason why Moses chose Pinchas to be the leader of this expedition was that seeing he had commenced with turning away G–d’s wrath from the people, he should be given a chance to complete this good deed by punishing the seducers of his people. (Compare Bamidbar Rabbah 23,4)


###### Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:23:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:23:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Numbers/r/31:23:1)

**כל דבר אשר יבא באש.**תימה מפני מה לא נצטוו ישראל על גיעולי עכו"ם במלחמת סיחון ועוג כמו במלחמת מדין. וי"ל לפי ששאר מלחמות היו בשדה ולא היו שם כלי תשמישי בית אבל כאן שהמלחמה היתה במדין ושללו הבתים הוצרכו להזהר על גיעולי עכו"ם:

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
כל דבר אשר יבא באש, “any vessel that can withstand fire, etc.;” it seems strange that the Israelites had not yet been commanded concerning the need to ritually cleanse vessels that were part of a war’s booty already after they had conquered the land of Sichon and Og, lands which they had taken physical possession of, and which was considered as part of the Holy Land, its soil having been promised to the descendants of Avraham in chapter 15 of Genesis? Perhaps the reason is that those campaigns were fought in open fields, and the soldiers at the time of killing their adversaries did not need to enter the homes of their victims and come into physical contact with all their victims’ personal belongings. Now they had to be taught that such belongings of idolaters had to be treated as out of bounds until their idolatrous character had been removed from them.


###### Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:33:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:33:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Numbers/r/31:33:1)

**ובקר שנים ושבעים אלף.**צ"ע איך לא נזכרו בשלל מדין גמלים ובימי גדעון כתיב ולגמליהם אין מספר אם לא נאמר שלאחר מכאן באו שם:

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
ובקר שנים ושבעים אלף, “and seventy two thousand head of cattle.” We need to examine why no camels were found among the livestock captured in this list of booty from the Midianites. We know from Judges 6,5, that the Midianites owned large flocks of camels. Perhaps they had not started raising camels until after this period. [Perhaps the Book of Judges referred to the other Midian mentioned in the Book of Exodus. Ed.]


###### Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:50:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:50:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Numbers/r/31:50:1)

**ונקרב את קרבן.**פירש"י במסכת שבת מייתי אם מידי עבירה יצאנו מידי הרהור לא יצאנו. ואע"ג דיפת תואר מותרת אף בביאה. י"ל דהיינו דוקא בביאה ראשונה ואשה אחת בלבד אבל שתים ואפילו אחת מביאה ראשונה ואילך אסורה ואפי' בהרהור:

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
'ונקרב את קרבן ה, “we have brought the Lord’s offering, etc.” Rashi explains this verse in his commentary on the Talmud tractate Shabbat, folio 64, by saying that whereas these soldiers had all withstood the temptation to sin during this campaign, they had not been free from the temptation to sin, and it was to atone for this temptation that they brought the offering mentioned in our verse. Although we know from the Torah that a Jewish soldier who falls in love with a physically attractive prisoner of war is even allowed to marry her after she has converted, and no mention is made of his having to bring an offering for having even slept with her prior to this, this exemption only applies to the first time he could not resist this sinful temptation. To be lusting after her after having first satisfied his lust is forbidden for that soldier also.


###### Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:53:1
[Da'at Zekenim on Numbers 31:53:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Da%27at%20Zekenim%20on%20Numbers/r/31:53:1)

**אנשי הצבא בזזו איש לו.**הבזה כגון הכלים והמטלטלין והבגדים את אלו לא חלקו מהם לעדה אלא כל מה שבזזו כל איש ואיש היו לו:

**Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009:**
אנשי הצבא בזזו איש לו, “the men actively involved in the fighting of that campaign had each taken personal loot to keep for themselves.