Numbers 31:7
in Numbers 31Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they warred against Midian, as Jehovah commanded Moses; and they slew every male.
KJV
And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
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This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But the destruction appears to have been only partial--limited to those who were in the neighborhood of the Hebrew camp and who had been accomplices in the villainous plot of Baal-peor (Nu 25:1-3), while a large portion of the Midianites were absent on their pastoral wanderings or had saved themselves by flight.
This site's exposition
delivered out of the thousands of Israel
on Numbers 31:5-12
Twelve thousand men go out, and Phinehas goes with them carrying the holy instruments and the trumpets, which Numbers 10:9 had appointed for war so that Israel would be remembered before the Lord. Phinehas is the man who stopped the plague at Peor in chapter 25, and Balaam falls in this battle among the five kings of Midian. Joshua 13:21-22 lists the same five as princes of Midian who were dukes of Sihon, and names Balaam the soothsayer slain with the sword among them. The narrative had last left him at 24:25, rising up and returning to his place.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), that is, all they met with as far as they went; they put them all to the sword, and gave no quarter. But that they did not slay all the males of the nation is certain, for we find the Midianites a powerful and formidable enemy to Israel in the days of Gideon; and they were the Midianites of this country, for they are reckoned with the children of the east, Judg. vi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses,....
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיִּצְבְּאוּ֙ | vaiyitzbeu | and they waged war | H6633 → | 14 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִדְיָ֔ן | midyan | Midian | H4080 → | 59 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| צִוָּ֥ה | tzivah | he had commanded | H6680 → | 494 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֑ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| וַיַּֽהַרְג֖וּ | vaiyahargu | and they killed | H2026 → | 167 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָכָֽר׃ | zakhar | male | H2145 → | 82 times |
וַֽיִּצְבְּאוּ֙and they waged war
vaiyitzbeuH6633 →14 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מִדְיָ֔ןMidian
midyanH4080 →59 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֛רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
צִוָּ֥הhe had commanded
tzivahH6680 →494 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
מֹשֶׁ֑הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
וַיַּֽהַרְג֖וּand they killed
vaiyaharguH2026 →167 times
כָּל־every
kol-H3605 →5413 times
זָכָֽר׃male
zakharH2145 →82 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
7 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
1 Samuel 27:9Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing. Then he would return to Achish,
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:3
Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and…
- Exodus 15:22
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the Desert of Shur. For three days they walked in the desert without finding water.
- Genesis 16:7
Now the angel of the LORD found Hagar by a spring of water in the desert—the spring along the road to Shur.
- Joshua 6:21
At the edge of the sword they devoted to destruction everything in the city—man and woman, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys.
- 1 Samuel 15:7
Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
- 1 Samuel 15:3
Through
Judges 21:11This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.”
it leads to
- Numbers 31:17–18
So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
- Deuteronomy 2:34
At that time we captured all his cities and devoted to destruction the people of every city, including women and children. We left no survivors.
- Numbers 31:17–18
About Numbers

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
