Numbers 31:15

Numbers 31:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
• New International Version (NIV)“Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Moses said to them, "Have you let all the women live?
• New King James Version (NKJV)And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive?

Context of Numbers 31:15

13Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. 14But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, who served in the war. And Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? 16Look, these [are the women who] caused the Israelites, by the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and so a plague came among the congregation of the Lord. 17Now therefore, kill every male among the children, and kill every woman who is not a virgin.

Numbers 31:15 word by word

וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם מֹשֶׁ֑ה הַֽחִיִּיתֶ֖ם כָּל־נְקֵבָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And Mosesמֹשֶׁהmôsheh · MosesH4872
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto them, Have ye savedחָיָהchâyâh · to liveH2421
• all the womenנְקֵבָהneqêbâh · femaleH5347

Cross-references for Numbers 31:15

• Deuteronomy 2:34At the same time we took all his cities and utterly destroyed every city—men, women and children. We left no survivor.
• Deuteronomy 20:13When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike down all the men in it with the edge of the sword.
• Joshua 6:21Then they utterly destroyed everything that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
• Joshua 8:25And all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand, all the people of Ai.
• Joshua 10:40So Joshua struck all the land, the hill country, the Negev (South country) and the lowland and the slopes [that descend to the Dead Sea] and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.
• Joshua 11:14The sons of Israel took as their plunder all the spoil of these cities and the cattle; but they struck every man with the edge of the sword, until they had destroyed them. They left no one alive.
• 1 Samuel 15:3Now go and strike Amalek and completely destroy everything that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
• Psalms 137:8O daughter of Babylon, you devastator, How blessed will be the one Who repays you [with destruction] as you have repaid us.
• Jeremiah 48:10Cursed is the one who does the work of the Lord negligently, And cursed is the one who restrains his sword from blood [in executing the judgment of the Lord].
• Ezekiel 9:6Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women; but do not touch or go near anyone on whom is the mark. Begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple [who did not have the Lord’s mark on their foreheads].

Commentaries on Numbers 31:15

• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 13-18Verses 13-18 The sword of war should spare women and children; but the sword of justice should know no distinction, but that of guilty or not guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the worst criminals. The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry. The whole history shows the hatefulness of sin, and the guilt of tempting…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 14-16Moses was angry: God had commanded the Israelites to destroy everything. But the Midianite women who had followed Balaam’s advice were allowed to live. These women had played a major role in leading Israel into sin at Baal Peor.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 14-1814-18. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host--The displeasure of the great leader, though it appears the ebullition of a fierce and sanguinary temper, arose in reality from a pious and enlightened regard to the best interests of Israel. No order had been given for the slaughter of the women, and in ancient war they were commonly reserved for slaves. By their antecedent conduct, however, the Midianitish women had forfeited all claims to mild or…Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 31:15

• Captive
• Sanitation
• War
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Moses
• Prey
• Purify
• Abel-Shittim
• Balaam
• Numbers, Book of
• Slave; Slavery
• Zimri (1)

Commentaries on Numbers 31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings