And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.

And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.

And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,

and Moses is wroth against the inspectors of the force, chiefs of the thousands, and chiefs of the hundreds, who are coming in from the host of the battle.

And Moses was angry with the chiefs of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come back from the war.

And Moses, being angry with the leaders of the army, and the tribunes, and the centurions, who had arrived from the battle,

Iratusque est Moses contra praefectos exercitus, tribunes et centuriones qui revertebantur de expeditione belli.

And Moses was wroth with the officers. A successful issue usually obtains pardon for any errors in performance, nay, in a manner covers them, so that they are not taken into account; but, although the army brought with it many causes of congratulation, still Moses does not forbear from severely reproving their single fault. By this example we are taught that, whilst we give praise to virtuous actions, we are not to approve of anything which deserves reprehension. The anger of Moses might appear to us inhumane, when he severely reproves his soldiers because they had not treated the female sex with the greatest cruelty; but it is not our business to canvass the judgments of God, before whose tribunal we must all hereafter stand. Although, therefore, they may be repugnant to our own feelings, still we must rest assured that, even where they may seem to be excessive, He nevertheless tempers the most severe punishments with the most perfect equity; yea, that although He may for a time overlook, or at any rate not so severely punish, the same sin in the Moabites which He sorely avenged upon the Midiantes, there is still a most just cause for this distinction, although it may be hidden in His own breast. It is not our part to murmur against Him, lest He should absolve Himself by condemning our blasphemous audacity and temerity. The Israelites sinned, in that, when they were only the ministers of God's vengeance, it rested not in their own discretion to relax any part of it. And this is worthy of observation, that those who are armed with the sword, must not go out of the way on either side one tittle, but faithfully execute whatever God prescribes. By the praise which: is given to the anger of Moses, the imagination of the Stoics is refuted, with whom indifference (apatheia) is the highest of virtues. But rather are we to labor that all our affections should proceed from a good motive, and that they should be kept under such restraint, that they may contain no ebullition of carnal passion, but that spiritual zeal may preside in them. Moses, however, gives the reason why the women were no more to be spared than the men, viz., because they had prostituted themselves in order to lay deadly snares for the Israelites. As regards the little ones, the same reasoa did not affect them, inasmuch as they were guilty of no crime; yet is it not doubtful but that God justly desired that the very name of this wicked and irrecoverable nation should be utterly blotted out; just as He afterwards gave over to destruction the nations of Canaan, together with their offspring. The question, however, arises by what means the women, who "had not known a man," were to be distinguished from virgins. The Jews, according to their custom, invent a fable [1] in reply, whereas it is probable that the decision was only come to on the ground of their age.

Footnotes

1 - "(Eleazar) made them pass before the plate, (i.e., the golden plate engraved like a signet, Exodus 28:36,) and the face of her who was suited for marriage grew yellow as a crocus." -- See R. Sal. Jarchi, in loco. Ed. Breithaupt. p. 1270.

And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host,.... The general officers who had the command of the army, for there does not appear to be anyone that was one general over the whole, otherwise the displeasure would have fallen upon him:
with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle; rather "with" should be left out, not being in the text; and these captains only explain who the officers were, and these were one hundred and thirty two, as Aben Ezra observes; twelve who were captains over thousands, and were more properly the general officers; and one hundred and twenty over so many hundreds, into which the whole were subdivided.

And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host--The displeasure of the great leader, though it appears the ebullition of a fierce and sanguinary temper, arose in reality from a pious and enlightened regard to the best interests of Israel. No order had been given for the slaughter of the women, and in ancient war they were commonly reserved for slaves. By their antecedent conduct, however, the Midianitish women had forfeited all claims to mild or merciful treatment; and the sacred character, the avowed object of the war (Numbers 31:2-3), made their slaughter necessary without any special order. But why "kill every male among the little ones"? It was designed to be a war of extermination, such as God Himself had ordered against the people of Canaan, whom the Midianites equalled in the enormity of their wickedness.