"21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: 22 only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. 24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”
25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. 30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.” 31 And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32 Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. 36 And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, 37 and the Lord's tribute of sheep was 675. 38 The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 72. 39 The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord's tribute was 61. 40 The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 32 persons. 41 And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses.
42 From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— 43 now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 and 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 persons— 47 from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses."
Numbers 31:21-47
These verses record the distribution of the booty taken from the war with Midian. Half of it was to go to the men of war, and half to the congregation of the Lord, that is, those who had remained in the camp (only a stated number, it will be remembered from 3, went on the expedition). The division was reasonable and just: the 12,000 warriors received, proportionately, more than those who had not been engaged in the battle; moreover, the percentage they handed over to Eleazar for the Lord onefifth of one per cent was less than the congregation handed over, namely two per cent. It became a general rule that those who remained at home should receive a share of the booty in a successful campaign (cf John 22:8; 1 Samuel 30:24, 25) thus demonstrating the essential unity of the congregation of the Lord. Indeed, as is pointed out in the 1 Samuel reference, those who stayed 'by the stuff' the back-room boys, as we would say would doubtless have duties and responsibilities behind the scenes which necessarily involved them in the action as a whole. They were therefore entitled to their share. God sees to it that the unseen, hidden workers are not overlooked or devalued. Every faithful servant receives his reward. It is interesting, however, to see the concept of differentials being established here. There was a real recognition of different responsibilities and greater and lesser burdens borne. But there were no strikes when the arrangements were made known to the people. Acceptance was the order of the day.