Matot

Moses speaks to the heads of the tribes about vows: a man who vows a vow to the LORD or swears an oath shall not break his word — "according to all that proceeds out of his mouth he shall do." A young woman's vow stands unless her father annuls it on the day he hears; a wife's, unless her husband does — and if he annuls it later, he bears her iniquity. The vows of a widow or divorced woman stand.

The war against Midian follows, a thousand men from each tribe with Pinchas and the sanctuary vessels and trumpets. The five kings of Midian fall, and Balaam son of Beor is killed with the sword. When the officers return having spared the women, Moses is angry — these were the very cause of the Peor betrayal — and gives the harsh orders for the captives, with seven days of purification outside the camp for all who killed or touched the slain, and the law of passing metal through fire and water. The spoil is divided evenly between the warriors and the congregation, with a levy from each half for Eleazar and the Levites; the officers, finding not one man missing, bring the captured gold as an offering of atonement.

Reuben and Gad, rich in livestock, see that Jazer and Gilead are grazing country and ask for the land east of the Jordan. Moses hears it as the spies' sin repeating: "Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?" They answer with terms — pens for the flocks, cities for the children, and every armed man crossing in the vanguard until each Israelite has his inheritance. Moses fixes it as a formal condition before Eleazar and Joshua, adds the half-tribe of Manasseh, and the eastern cities are rebuilt and settled — with Jair taking his tent-villages and Nobah taking Kenat.