English Standard Version
Numbers 31:15
15Moses said to them, "Have you let all the women live?
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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive?
- New Living Translation (NLT)“Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded.
Context of Numbers 31:15
13Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 14And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. Moses said to them, "Have you let all the women live? 16Behold, these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. 17Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
Read all of Numbers 31Numbers 31:15 word by word
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם מֹשֶׁ֑ה הַֽחִיִּיתֶ֖ם כָּל־נְקֵבָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 31:15
- Deuteronomy 2:34And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction every city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors.
- Deuteronomy 20:13And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword,
- Joshua 6:21Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.
- Joshua 8:25And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai.
- Joshua 10:40So Joshua struck the whole land, the hill country and the Negeb and the lowland and the slopes, and all their kings. He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded.
- Joshua 11:14And all the spoil of these cities and the livestock, the people of Israel took for their plunder. But every person they struck with the edge of the sword until they had destroyed them, and they did not leave any who breathed.
- 1 Samuel 15:3Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all 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, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
- Jeremiah 48:10"Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.
- Ezekiel 9:6Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were before the house.
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
In the dictionaries
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
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Commentaries