Numbers 31:45

Summary

This verse states a numerical total: thirty-one thousand five hundred donkeys. It forms part of a list enumerating spoils of war, giving the specific count of one category of livestock.

Key words

• cha.mo.Rim ("donkeys", H2543) — common gender plural noun, the item being counted.
• she.lo.Shim ("thirty", H7970) — cardinal number, masculine plural, modifying the following noun 'elef to form "thirty thousand."
• 'E.lef ("thousand", H0505G) — common gender singular, functions as a numerical unit noun paired with she.lo.Shim.
• cha.Mesh ("five", H2568) — cardinal number, common gender singular, in construct state ("X of..."), linking to the plural me.'ot.
• me.'ot ("hundreds", H3967) — feminine plural noun, completing the construct phrase "five of hundreds" = "five hundred."

What the text says

The verse is built entirely from numerical construct phrases attached to the noun cha.mo.Rim ("donkeys", H2543), which appears only once at the start and governs the entire count. The first phrase, she.lo.Shim 'elef ("thirty thousand"), combines the cardinal number she.lo.Shim (H7970) with the unit noun 'elef (H0505G) in a simple sequence typical of Hebrew large-number formation, where the multiplier precedes the unit.

The second phrase, va-chamesh me'ot ("and five hundred"), uses the conjunction va (H9002, "and") to add a second numerical unit to the first. Here chamesh (H2568) appears in construct state, marked explicitly in the grammar as "X of...", governing the plural noun me'ot (H3967, "hundreds"). This construct relationship is what produces the meaning "five of hundreds," i.e., five hundred, rather than a separate additive count. The two conjunctions (va, H9002) both function to link numerical elements rather than independent clauses, showing that the entire verse operates as a single sustained numerical expression rather than a full sentence with a verb — the verse has no verbal component at all, consistent with its role as a continuation of a list.

Differences between versions

The Greek (LXXSWETE) renders the number as two separate numerical terms, τριάκοντα χιλιάδες ("thirty thousands") καὶ πεντακόσιοι ("and five hundred"), matching the Hebrew's two-part construct structure. The Vulgate (VULCLEM) similarly preserves two numerical phrases, "triginta millibus quingentis" ("thirty thousand, five hundred"), using ablative case forms without an explicit conjunction between the numbers, unlike the Hebrew and Greek which both use "and." Modern versions (RV1909, BSB, SBLIBRE) present the total as a single combined numeral (30,500) or numeral phrase, collapsing the two-part Hebrew construction into one continuous number without retaining the internal "and" division visible in the Hebrew and Greek texts.