Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments,
Parallel translations
- WEB All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire.
- KJV And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
- NKJV They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts.
- NASB Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their encampments.
- NLT They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Israel burned all the Midianite cities and encampments with fire.
Overview
The destruction of Midian's settlements completed the judgment on their land and presence in the region. Fire symbolized the thorough removal of a corrupting influence from God's people. Such acts in redemptive history display the seriousness with which God treats sin that endangers His covenant nation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Kgs 9:16Pharaoh king of Egypt had attacked and captured Gezer. He had set it on fire, killed the Canaanites who lived in the city, and given it as a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
- Gen 25:16These were the sons of Ishmael, and these were their names by their villages and encampments—twelve princes of their tribes.
- Rev 18:8Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and grief and famine—and she will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.”
- Isa 1:7Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
- 1 Sam 30:1On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.
- Josh 6:24Then the Israelites burned up the city and everything in it. However, they put the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 31:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.