They fought against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses. They killed every male.
Parallel Translations
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They fought against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses. They killed every male.
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And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
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And they warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew every male.
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Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (6)
Passages linked to Numbers 31:7 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 21:11 This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man.”
- 1 Kings 11:15-16 For when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom);
- 1 Samuel 27:9 David struck the land, and saved no man or woman alive, and took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned, and came to Achish.
- Deuteronomy 20:13-14 When Yahweh your God delivers it into your hand, you shall strike every male of it with the edge of the sword; but the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, even all its plunder, you shall take for plunder for yourself. You may use the plunder of your enemies, which Yahweh your God has given you.
- Judges 6:1-2 The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, so Yahweh delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years. The hand of Midian prevailed against Israel; and because of Midian the children of Israel made themselves the dens which are in the mountains, the caves, and the strongholds.
- Judges 6:33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Namely, all whom they took in that war, or…
Namely, all whom they took in that war, or all who lived in those parts; for it is probable (and was then very usual) some colonies of them were sent forth to remoter places, which therefore had no hand either in their former sin, or ill this present ruin, of whom we read after this, Jdg 6. And herein they did according to God’s own order concerning such people, Deu 20:13; only their fault was, that they did not consider the special reason and great obligation which they had to involve the women in the destruction, for which reason Moses blames them afterward, Num 31:15,16.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord…
And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses,.... Whether the Midianites came out against them with an army, and there was a pitched battle between them, is not certain; however the Israelites committed acts of hostility upon them, by entering their cities, plundering their houses, and slaying the inhabitants of them; the Targum of Jonathan is,"they warred against Midian, and surrounded it in the three corners of it, as the Lord commanded Moses;''for, as Maimonides (b) observes from tradition,"when they besiege a city to take it, they do not surround it in the four corners of it, but in the three corners of it, and leave a place to flee out, that everyone that would might escape for his life, as it is said, "and they warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses"; by report, or from tradition, it is learnt that so he commanded him;''that is, in such a manner to besiege a city; but for this there is only tradition, for it is not mentioned among the rules after directed to in such a case, Deu 20:10,
and they slew all the males; which fell into their hands; for, no doubt, there were multitudes that made their escape, since in later times we read of the Midianites, as a very powerful people, and very distressing to Israel, Jdg 6:1 these, as Aben Ezra observes, they slew, were such as were grown up, for as for their little ones, them they spared and carried captive, Num 31:9.
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(b) Hilchot Melacim, c. 6. sect. 7.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain All the males - Namely all who lived in…
All the males - Namely all who lived in those parts, for colonies of them, were sent forth to remoter places, which therefore had no hand either in their former sin, or in this present ruling. And herein they did according to God's own order concerning such people, Deut. xx, 13, only their fault was, that they did not consider the special reason which they had to involve the women in the destruction.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Num 31:7-8. They slew all the males — That…
Num 31:7-8. They slew all the males — That is, they slew those who were in the fight, and who did not save themselves by flight. As a nation they had forfeited their lives to the laws of God, and he, as judge of all the earth, had given command that the sentence of his laws should be executed on the guilty. Le Clerc properly observes, that there was this material difference between the wars of other nations and those of the Jews, that the former followed the bent of their own passions; whereas the Jews were only the ministers or executioners of divine justice, most evidently appointed to this work by God himself, as he manifested by a train of miracles wrought among and for them, such as had never been known on the earth before. So that no consequence can be deduced from their conduct in their wars, to warrant the like conduct in other people. Balaam also they slew — He suffered justly, for being the wicked instrument of seducing the Israelites from their allegiance to Jehovah.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain they slew all the males--This was in accordance with…
they slew all the males--This was in accordance with a divine order in all such cases (Deu 20:13). But the destruction appears to have been only partial--limited to those who were in the neighborhood of the Hebrew camp and who had been accomplices in the villainous plot of Baal-peor (Num 25:1-3), while a large portion of the Midianites were absent on their pastoral wanderings or had saved themselves by flight. (Compare Jdg 6:1).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 7. they slew every male] An imaginative description of…
7. they slew every male] An imaginative description of success. If it were historically true, Midian would have disappeared from history; but they are found not long afterwards as one of Israel’s most troublesome neighbours (Judges 6-8).
7–12. In this ideal picture of the war nothing is said of the place where the battle was fought, nor the length of time occupied by it, nor any details of the fight. It was a rapid and sweeping conquest.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (7) They slew all the males.—The reference appears to…
(7) They slew all the males.—The reference appears to be to those who were engaged in the war. The words do not refer to the whole of the male population, as appears from Num_31:17; and it is probable that many of the Midianites who were not engaged in the war withdrew from the scene of conflict. The reference in this verse, unless the words are inserted proleptically, seems to be to the whole of the adult males who fell into the hands of the Israelites during the war.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 31:7 The Israelites killed all of the Midianite men…
31:7 The Israelites killed all of the Midianite men in the particular groups they attacked from their camp in the plains of Moab (31:12), not all of the people who were part of the larger Midianite confederation (cp. Judg 6–8). The number of animals and virgins mentioned in Num 31:32-35 indicates that the 12,000 Hebrews fought a sizable enemy force.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.