New Living Translation
Numbers 31:2
2“On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.”
Numbers 31:2 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.
- New International Version (NIV)“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people."
- New King James Version (NKJV)“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
Context of Numbers 31:2
1Then the Lord said to Moses, “On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.” 3So Moses said to the people, “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian. 4From each tribe of Israel, send 1,000 men into battle.”
Read all of Numbers 31Numbers 31:2 word by word
נְקֹ֗ם נִקְמַת֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מֵאֵ֖ת הַמִּדְיָנִ֑ים אַחַ֖ר תֵּאָסֵ֥ף אֶל־עַמֶּֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Avengeנְקָמָהneqâmâh · vengeanceH5360
- Avengeנָקַםnâqam · to avengeH5358
- the childrenבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- of the Midianitesמִדְיָנִיmidyânîy · MidianiteH4084
- afterwardאַחַר'achar · afterH310
- shalt thou be gatheredאָסַף'âsaph · to gatherH622
- unto thy peopleעַם‛am · kinsmanH5971
Cross-references for Numbers 31:2
- Numbers 31:3So Moses said to the people, “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian.
- Numbers 25:17“Attack the Midianites and destroy them,
- Deuteronomy 32:35I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them.’
- Judges 16:24When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!”
- Psalms 94:1O Lord, the God of vengeance, O God of vengeance, let your glorious justice shine forth!
- Isaiah 1:24Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says, “I will take revenge on my enemies and pay back my foes!
- Nahum 1:2The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and continues to rage against his enemies!
- Luke 21:22For those will be days of God’s vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled.
- Romans 12:19Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
- Romans 13:4The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong.
- 1 Thessalonians 4:6Never harm or cheat a fellow believer in this matter by violating his wife, for the Lord avenges all such sins, as we have solemnly warned you before.
- Hebrews 10:30For we know the one who said, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.” He also said, “The Lord will judge his own people.”
- Revelation 6:10They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?”
- Revelation 18:20Rejoice over her fate, O heaven and people of God and apostles and prophets! For at last God has judged her for your sakes.
- Revelation 19:2His judgments are true and just. He has punished the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the murder of his servants.”
- Numbers 25:6Just then one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into his tent, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as everyone was weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle.
Commentaries on Numbers 31:2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Gathered unto thy people - Where? Not in the grave surely. Moses was gathered with none of them, his burial-place no man ever knew. "But being gathered unto one's people means dying." It does imply dying, but it does not mean this only. The truth is, God considers all those who are dead to men in a state of conscious existence in another world. Therefore he calls himself the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob; now God is not the God of the dead…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2The Midianites - The Moabites are not included. It would thus seem that it was the Midianites, and they only, who deliberately set themselves to work the corruption of Israel.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-2The Lord instructed Moses to lead Israel in a war against the Midianites. The Midianites had joined the Moabites in influencing the Hebrews to worship idols (chapter 25). The Midianites were a tribal people living in the dry regions south and east of Palestine and east of the Jordan River. They were among the "people of the east" (Judges 6:3, 33; 7:12). They lived in camps or settlements and were famous for their desert transportation skills (compare…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-541-2. the Lord spake unto Moses, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites--a semi-nomad people, descended from Abraham and Keturah, occupying a tract of country east and southeast of Moab, which lay on the eastern coast of the Dead Sea. They seem to have been the principal instigators of the infamous scheme of seduction, planned to entrap the Israelites into the double crime of idolatry and licentiousness [Nu 25:1-3, 17, 18] by which, it was hoped…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 31:2
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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