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Numbers 31:9

in Numbers 31

The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.

KJV

And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.

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This verse in Numbers 31

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

a thousand men were recruited from each tribe

on Numbers 31:5-12

Balaam falls in this battle with the five kings of Midian. Joshua 13:21-22 names these kings as princes of Sihon, killed with "the diviner Balaam son of Beor". The narrative had last left him at 24:25, going home.

This site's exposition

captured the Midianite women and their children

The army kills the men and brings the women home alive, and verses 14 and 15 show that this is what angers Moses. Matthew Henry, at verse 13, takes it that the order to avenge Peor implied the death of the women, who had been the chief offenders.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

20 And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood. 21 And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the L ORD commanded Moses;

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:96%@v20-21

And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

All their residential cities and palaces [ houses of worship ] they set on fire.
Targum · Onkelos Numbers 31:10, via Sefaria, Metsudah Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009 [with Onkelos translation]

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

18 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּשְׁבּ֧וּand they took captive

    vaiyishbuH7617 →47 times

  • בְנֵי־[the] people of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֛לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • נְשֵׁ֥י[the] women of

    nesheiH802 →781 times

  • מִדְיָ֖ןMidian

    midyanH4080 →59 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • טַפָּ֑םlittle one[s] their

    tapamH2945 →42 times

  • וְאֵ֨תand <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • בְּהֶמְתָּ֧םcattle their

    behemtamH929 →190 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מִקְנֵהֶ֛םlivestock their

    miknehemH4735 →76 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • חֵילָ֖םwealth their

    cheilamH2428 →246 times

  • בָּזָֽזוּ׃they plundered

    bazazuH962 →43 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

6 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Chronicles 14:15They also attacked the tents of the herdsmen and carried off many sheep and camels. Then they returned to Jerusalem.3 worksDeuteronomy 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.3 works2 Chronicles 28:5So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force.2 works2 Chronicles 28:8–10Then the Israelites took 200,000 captives from their kinsmen—women, sons, and daughters. They also carried off a great deal of plunder and brought it to Samaria.2 worksNumbers 31:15–16“Have you spared all the women?” he asked them.2 worksJoshua 11:14The Israelites took for themselves all the plunder and livestock of these cities, but they put all the people to the sword until they had completely destroyed them, not sparing anyone who breathed.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 20:14

    But 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.”

    • Romans 8:37

      No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 28:5

    So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king…

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 7:1

      Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son…

    • 2 Kings 16:5–6

      Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel came up to wage war against Jerusalem. They besieged Ahaz but could not overcome him.

    • 2 Chronicles 24:24

      Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was…

    • 2 Chronicles 36:5

      Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eleven years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

    • 2 Chronicles 36:17

      So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God…

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 31 →

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.

Read on in Numbers 31 →