Numbers 31:17
15 “Have you spared all the women?” he asked them.
16 “Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD.
So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
18 but spare for yourselves every girl who has never had relations with a man.
19 All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives.
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
- KJV
- Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
- WEB
- Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
- ASV
- Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
- DARBY
- And now slay every male among the little ones, and slay every woman that hath known man by lying with him,
- BLB
- And now kill every male among the little ones, and every woman who has known a man by lying with him you must kill.
- ÅB
- Så slå nå ihjel alle guttebarn og alle kvinner som har hatt samleie med menn.
- OTB
- Nå skal dere derfor drepe alle guttebarn, og hver kvinne som har kjent en mann ved samleie.
- B1930
- Så slå nu ihjel alle guttebarn og alle kvinner som har hatt samleie med menn.
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Deuteronomy 20:16–18
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.
Read in contextJudges 21:11–12
This is what you are to do: Devote to destruction every male, as well as every female who has had relations with a man.”
Read in contextDeuteronomy 7:2
and 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.
Read in context