New English Translation
Numbers 31:15
15Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to 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.
- 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, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp. 14But Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the commanders over thousands and commanders over hundreds, who had come from service in the war. Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live? 16Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor – which resulted in the plague among the community of the Lord! 17Now therefore kill every boy, and kill every woman who has had sexual intercourse with a man.
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 2:34At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them under divine judgment, including even the women and children; we left no survivors.
- Deuteronomy 20:13The Lord your God will deliver it over to you and you must kill every single male by the sword.
- Joshua 6:21They annihilated with the sword everything that breathed in the city, including men and women, young and old, as well as cattle, sheep, and donkeys.
- Joshua 8:25Twelve thousand men and women died that day, including all the men of Ai.
- Joshua 10:40Joshua defeated the whole land, including the hill country, the Negev, the lowlands, the slopes, and all their kings. He left no survivors. He annihilated everything that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded.
- Joshua 11:14The Israelites plundered all the goods of these cities and the cattle, but they totally destroyed all the people and allowed no one who breathed to live.
- 1 Samuel 15:3So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”
- Psalms 137:8O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated! How blessed will be the one who repays you for what you dished out to us!
- Jeremiah 48:10A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction!
- Ezekiel 9:6Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple.
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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