Numbers 31:17
in Numbers 31So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
KJV
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
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This verse in Numbers 31
Commentary
4 notes on this verseKill every male among the little ones - For this action I account simply on the principle that God, who is the author and supporter of life, has a right to dispose of it when and how he thinks proper; and the Judge of all the earth can do nothing but what is right. Of the women killed on this occasion it may be safely said, their lives were forfeited by their personal transgressions; and yet even in this case there can be little doubt that God showed mercy to their souls.
This site's exposition
kill all the boys
on Numbers 31:17-18
The order rests on verse 16, Peor and its plague. Barnes reads the campaign as a sentence on a national sin, since Midian’s rulers took the counsel and their people acted on it.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
But why "kill every male among the little ones"? It was designed to be a war of extermination, such as God Himself had ordered against the people of Canaan, whom the Midianites equalled in the enormity of their wickedness.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֕ה | veatah | and therefore | H6258 → | 433 times |
| הִרְג֥וּ | hirgu | kill | H2026 → | 167 times |
| כָל־ | khol- | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| זָכָ֖ר | zakhar | male | H2145 → | 82 times |
| בַּטָּ֑ף | bataf | among the little one[s] | H2945 → | 42 times |
| וְכָל־ | vekhol | and every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אִשָּׁ֗ה | ʾishah | woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| יֹדַ֥עַת | yodaat | [who has] known | H3045 → | 945 times |
| אִ֛ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| לְמִשְׁכַּ֥ב | lemishkav | to [the] lying of | H4904 → | 46 times |
| זָכָ֖ר | zakhar | a male | H2145 → | 82 times |
| הֲרֹֽגוּ׃ | harogu | kill | H2026 → | 167 times |
וְעַתָּ֕הand therefore
veatahH6258 →433 times
הִרְג֥וּkill
hirguH2026 →167 times
כָל־every
khol-H3605 →5413 times
זָכָ֖רmale
zakharH2145 →82 times
בַּטָּ֑ףamong the little one[s]
batafH2945 →42 times
וְכָל־and every
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אִשָּׁ֗הwoman
ʾishahH802 →781 times
יֹדַ֥עַת[who has] known
yodaatH3045 →945 times
אִ֛ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
לְמִשְׁכַּ֥בto [the] lying of
lemishkavH4904 →46 times
זָכָ֖רa male
zakharH2145 →82 times
הֲרֹֽגוּ׃kill
haroguH2026 →167 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Deuteronomy 7:2and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you to defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.
it leads to
- Exodus 23:32–33
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
- Judges 2:2
and you are not to make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall tear down their altars.’ Yet you have not obeyed My voice. What is this you have done?
- Deuteronomy 20:16–17
However, in the cities of the nations that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you must not leave alive anything that breathes.
- Leviticus 27:28–29
Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
- Joshua 11:11–12
The Israelites put everyone in Hazor to the sword, devoting them to destruction. Nothing that breathed remained, and Joshua burned down Hazor itself.
- Exodus 23:32–33
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).