New Living Translation
Numbers 31:15
15“Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded.
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 to meet them outside the camp. 14But Moses was furious with all the generals and captains who had returned from the battle. “Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded. 16“These are the very ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the Lord at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the Lord’s people. 17So kill all the boys and all the women who have had 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 2:34We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared.
- Deuteronomy 20:13When the Lord your God hands the town over to you, use your swords to kill every man in the town.
- Joshua 6:21They completely destroyed everything in it with their swords—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, goats, and donkeys.
- Joshua 8:25So the entire population of Ai, including men and women, was wiped out that day—12,000 in all.
- Joshua 10:40So Joshua conquered the whole region—the kings and people of the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills, and the mountain slopes. He completely destroyed everyone in the land, leaving no survivors, just as the Lord, the God of Israel, had commanded.
- Joshua 11:14And the Israelites took all the plunder and livestock of the ravaged towns for themselves. But they killed all the people, leaving no survivors.
- 1 Samuel 15:3Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”
- Psalms 137:8O Babylon, you will be destroyed. Happy is the one who pays you back for what you have done to us.
- Jeremiah 48:10Cursed are those who refuse to do the Lord’s work, who hold back their swords from shedding blood!
- Ezekiel 9:6Kill them all—old and young, girls and women and little children. But do not touch anyone with the mark. Begin right here at the Temple.” So they began by killing the seventy leaders.
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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