Numbers 31 · Verse 17

Numbers 31:17

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.

Numbers 31:17, King James Version

Numbers 31:17 in other translations

BSB	So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
WEB	Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
ASV	Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
YLT	‘And now, slay ye every male among the infants, yea, every woman known of man by the lying of a male ye have slain;
DARBY	And now slay every male among the little ones, and slay every woman that hath known man by lying with him,
BBE	So now put every male child to death, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man.
Webster	Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.

What does Numbers 31:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 31:14-18

14-18. 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…

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Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 17 Kill every male among the little ones - For this action I account simply on the principle that God, who is the author and supporter of life, has a right to dispose of it when and how he thinks proper; and the Judge of all the earth can do nothing but what is right. Of the women killed on this occasion it may be safely said, their lives were forfeited by their personal transgressions; and yet even in this case there can be little doubt that God showed mercy to their souls. The little ones were safely lodged; they were taken to heaven and saved from the evil to come.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 31:13-18

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…

Read the full comment on Numbers 31:13-18 →

Numbers 31:17 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.

וְעַתָּ֕הve.'a.Tahand thereforeH6258

הִרְג֥וּhir.GukillH2026

כָל\־khol-everyH3605

זָכָ֖רza.KharmaleH2145

בַּטָּ֑ףba.Tafamong the little one[s]H2945

וְכָל\־ve.kholand everyH3605

אִשָּׁ֗ה'i.ShahwomanH802

יֹדַ֥עַתyo.Da.'at[who has] knownH3045

אִ֛ישׁ'isha manH376

לְמִשְׁכַּ֥בle.mish.Kavto [the] lying ofH4904

זָכָ֖רza.Khara maleH2145

הֲרֹֽגוּ\׃ha.Ro.gukillH2026

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

Cross references for Numbers 31:17

Deuteronomy 20:16-18
But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee: That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the Lord your God.
Judges 21:11-12
And this is the thing that ye shall do, Ye shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman that hath lain by man. And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh–gilead four hundred young virgins, that had known no man by lying with any male: and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.
Deuteronomy 7:2
And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

kill every male.The sword of war should spare women and children, as incapable of resisting; but the sword of justice knows no distinction, except that of guilty or not guilty, or more or less guilty. This was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the greatest criminals; and it may safely be said, that their lives were forfeited by their personal transgressions. With respect to the execution of the male infants, who cannot be supposed to have been guilty, God, the author and supporter of life, who has a right to dispose of it when and how he thinks proper, commanded it; and "shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Jud 21:11,12
him. Heb. a male.

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

Context

Numbers 31:16
Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
Numbers 31:17
Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
Numbers 31:18
But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Read all of Numbers 31

Numbers 31:17 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Matad pues ahora todos los varones entre los niños: matad también toda mujer que haya conocido varón carnalmente.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et maintenant, tuez tous les mâles parmi les enfants, et tuez toute femme qui a connu un homme, en couchant avec lui;
German Elberfelder 1871	So tötet nun alles Männliche unter den Kindern, und tötet alle Weiber, die einen Mann im Beischlaf erkannt haben;
Latin Clementine Vulgate	ergo cunctos interficite quidquid est generis masculini, etiam in parvulis: et mulieres, quæ noverunt viros in coitu, jugulate: