Numbers Chapter 31 verse 21 Holy Bible
And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war that went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:
read chapter 31 in ASV
Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had been to the fight, This is the rule of the law which the Lord has given to Moses:
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And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war that had gone to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses.
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And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses;
read chapter 31 in KJV
And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses;
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Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses:
read chapter 31 in WEB
And Eleazar the priest saith unto the men of the host who go in to battle, `This `is' the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses:
read chapter 31 in YLT
Pulpit Commentary
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 21. - And Eleazar the priest said, This is the ordinance of the law (חֻקַּת הַתּורָה, "law-statute, as in Numbers 19:2) which the Lord commanded Moses. There is something peculiar in this expression which points to the probability, either that this paragraph (verses 21-24) was added after the death of Moses, or that "the law was already beginning, even in the lifetime of Moses, to assume the position which it after. wards held - that, viz., of a fixed code to be interpreted and applied by the living authority of the priesthood. This is the earliest instance of the high priest declaring to the people what the law of God as delivered to Moses was, and then applying and enlarging that law to meet the present circumstances. It is no doubt possible that Eleazar referred the matter to Moses, but it would seem on the face of the narrative that he spoke on his own authority as high priest. When we compare the ceremonial of the later Jews, so precisely and minutely ordered for every conceivable contingency, with the Mosaic legislation itself, it is evident that the process of authoritative amplification must have been going on from the first; but it is certainly strange to find that process begun while Moses himself was alive and active.
