English Standard Version
Numbers 31:7
7They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every male.
Numbers 31:7 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
- New International Version (NIV)They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And they warred against the Midianites, just as the Lord commanded Moses, and they killed all the males.
- New Living Translation (NLT)They attacked Midian as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men.
Context of Numbers 31:7
5So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every male. 8They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. 9And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods.
Read all of Numbers 31Numbers 31:7 word by word
וַֽיִּצְבְּאוּ֙ עַל־מִדְיָ֔ן כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיַּֽהַרְג֖וּ כָּל־זָכָֽר׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 31:7
- Deuteronomy 20:13And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword,
- Judges 21:11This is what you shall do: every male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction."
- 1 Samuel 27:9And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.
- 1 Kings 11:15For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom
- Judges 6:1The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.
Commentaries on Numbers 31:7
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 7-12Verses 7-12 The Israelites slew the Kings of Midian. They slew Balaam. God's overruling providence brought him thither, and their just vengeance found him. Had he himself rightly believed what he had said of the happy state of Israel, he would not have thus herded with the enemies of Israel. The Midianites' wicked wiles were Balaam's projects: it was just that he should perish with them, Ho 4:5. They took the women and children captives. They burnt their…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7The Israelites killed all of the Midianite men in the particular groups they attacked from their camp in the plains of Moab (31:12). They did not destroy all the Midianites who were part of the larger Midianite alliance (compare Judges 6–8). The number of animals and virgins mentioned in Numbers 31:32–35 shows that the 12,000 Hebrews fought a large enemy army.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. they slew all the males--This was in accordance with a divine order in all such cases (De 20:13). But the destruction appears to have been only partial--limited to those who were in the neighborhood of the Hebrew camp and who had been accomplices in the villainous plot of Baal-peor (Nu 25:1-3), while a large portion of the Midianites were absent on their pastoral wanderings or had saved themselves by flight. (Compare Jud 6:1).Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 31:7
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