Numbers 31:4

Modern

Send into battle a thousand men from each tribe of Israel.”

Traditional

Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.

Literal

A thousand from a tribe, a thousand from a tribe, to all the tribes of Israel, you shall send to the war.”

Latin

Mille viri de singulis tribubus eligantur ex Israël qui mittantur ad bellum.

Hebrew

English

Send into battle a thousand men from each tribe of Israel.”

Each tribe sent 1,000 men to the battle. This allowed everyone to gain combat experience and share the victory.

Theme notes and profiles

1 Samuel 14:6
Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
Leviticus 26:8
Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
Judges 7:2
Then the LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for Me to deliver Midian into their hands, lest Israel glorify themselves over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes