Numbers 31:18
in Numbers 31but spare for yourselves every girl who has never had relations with a man.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But all the women-children, that have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
KJV
But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
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This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
3 notes on this verseBut all the women children,.... The females among the little ones: that have not known a man by lying with him; which might be pretty clear, and easily concluded, from their age: keep for yourselves; either to be handmaids to them, or to be married among them when grown up, and become proselytes, and initiated into their religion.
This site's exposition
kill every male among the little ones
on Numbers 31:17-18
The order is given in plain words, and the ground the chapter offers is the verse before it, the matter of Peor and the plague that followed. Barnes reads the campaign as a sentence carried out on a national sin rather than an ordinary war, because the rulers of Midian took the counsel and their people acted on it. Clarke writes on this verse that the author of life may dispose of it, and he holds out mercy for the souls of those killed. The girls kept alive are read by Gill as taken into Israelite households, and Deuteronomy 21:10-14 gives the law that governs a captive woman taken to wife.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
The same angel, however, said to the Virgin Mary, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you"; the one who will be in you is already with you. "Blessed are you among women." Holy Scripture bears witness to the fact that in the proper usage of the Hebrew language all females are habitually called women; in case some of you perhaps may be astonished and scandalized, if you are not used to hearing the Scriptures. There's a place in the Scriptures where the Lord says openly, "Set apart the women who have not known man." In any case, call to mind those origins of ours; when Eve was made from the man's side, what does Scripture say? "He removed a rib from him and built it into a woman." She is already called a woman, taken indeed from the man but not yet united to the man. So now, when you hear from the angel, "Blessed are you among women," take it in such a way, as if it were saying, in our usage, Blessed are you among females.
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכֹל֙ | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הַטַּ֣ף | hataf | the little one[s] | H2945 → | 42 times |
| בַּנָּשִׁ֔ים | banashim | among the women | H802 → | 781 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָדְע֖וּ | yadeu | they have known | H3045 → | 945 times |
| מִשְׁכַּ֣ב | mishkav | lying of | H4904 → | 46 times |
| זָכָ֑ר | zakhar | a male | H2145 → | 82 times |
| הַחֲי֖וּ | hachayu | preserve alive | H2421 → | 282 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | for <the> yourselves |
וְכֹל֙and all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
הַטַּ֣ףthe little one[s]
hatafH2945 →42 times
בַּנָּשִׁ֔יםamong the women
banashimH802 →781 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
יָדְע֖וּthey have known
yadeuH3045 →945 times
מִשְׁכַּ֣בlying of
mishkavH4904 →46 times
זָכָ֑רa male
zakharH2145 →82 times
הַחֲי֖וּpreserve alive
hachayuH2421 →282 times
לָכֶֽם׃for <the> yourselves
lakhem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 14:2The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their…
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:5
Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
- Isaiah 60:14
The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy…
- Jeremiah 30:16
Nevertheless, all who devour you will be devoured, and all your adversaries—every one of them—will go off into exile. Those who plundered you will be plundered, and all who raided you will be raided.
- Daniel 7:25–27
He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for…
- Isaiah 60:9–12
Surely the islands will wait for Me, with the ships of Tarshish in the lead, to bring your children from afar, with their silver and gold, to the honor of the LORD your God,…
- Isaiah 61:5
Through
Deuteronomy 20:14But the women, children, livestock, and whatever else is in the city—all its spoil—you may take as plunder, and you shall use the spoil of your enemies that the LORD your God gives you.
it leads to
- Joshua 8:2
And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set up an ambush behind…
- Joshua 22:8
saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth, with immense herds of livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very many clothes. Divide with your brothers the spoil of your enemies.”
- Numbers 31:9
The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods.
- Joshua 8:2
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 291.4 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).