Numbers 25 · Verse 17

Numbers 25:17

Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
Numbers 25:17, King James Version

Numbers 25:17 in other translations

BSB“Attack the Midianites and strike them dead.
WEB“Harass the Midianites, and strike them;
ASVVex the Midianites, and smite them;
YLT‘Distress the Midianites, and ye have smitten them,
DARBYHarass the Midianites, and smite them,
BBETake up arms against the Midianites and overcome them;
WebsterDistress the Midianites, and smite them:

What does Numbers 25:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
17. Vex the Midianites, and smite them--They seem to have been the most guilty parties. (Compare Nu 22:4; 31:8).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 Vex the Midianites, etc. - See this order fulfilled, Numbers 31:1-20. Twelve thousand Israelites attacked the Midianites, destroyed all their cities, slew their five kings, every male, and every grown up woman, and took all their spoils.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 25:16-18

We read not that any Midianites died of the plague; God punished them with the sword of an enemy, not with the rod of a father. We must set ourselves against whatever is an occasion of sin to us, Mt 5:29, 30. Whatever draws us to sin, should be a vexation to us, as a thorn in the flesh. And none will be more surely and severely punished than those who, after Satan's example, and with his subtlety, tempt others to…

Read the full comment on Numbers 25:16-18 →

Numbers 25:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

צָר֖וֹרtza.Ror<to> opposeH6887
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַמִּדְיָנִ֑יםha.mid.ya.Nimthe MidianitesH4084
וְהִכִּיתֶ֖םve.hi.ki.Temand you will strike downH5221
אוֹתָֽם\׃'o.Tam<obj.> themH853

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 25:17

  • Numbers 31:1-3

    And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian.

  • Revelation 18:6

    Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Balaam's counsel seems to have been first given to Balak, king of Moab; but probably the Midianitish women, especially of the higher ranks, as Cozbi was, were the principal tempters; and the nation of Midian seems to have come into the execrable measure more generally and heartily than that of Moab: they were therefore first selected to be made examples of, for a warning to the Moabites, who were spared at this time.
31:2; Re 18:6

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 25:16

    And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

  • Numbers 25:17

    Vex the Midianites, and smite them:

  • Numbers 25:18

    For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

Read all of Numbers 25

Numbers 25:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Hostilizaréis á los Madianitas, y los heriréis:
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Serrez de près les Madianites, et frappez-les;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Befeindet die Midianiter und schlaget sie;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Hostes vos sentiant Madianitæ, et percutite eos: