Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
- KJV Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
- BSB So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man,
- NASB Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately.
- NLT So kill all the boys and all the women who have had intercourse with a man.
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
Moses commands that the male children and the women who had known a man be put to death.
Overview
This is among the hardest commands in Scripture: a judicial act removing those tied to Midian's deliberate corruption of Israel. Faithful readers approach it soberly, recognizing it as a specific, divinely sanctioned judgment in redemptive history, not a pattern for today. It reveals the deadly gravity of sin and deepens our gratitude that Christ bore such judgment in our place.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Judg 21:11–12This is the thing that you shall do: you shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man.”
- Deut 20:16–18But of the cities of these peoples, that Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes;
- Deut 7:2and when Yahweh your God delivers them up before you, and you strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 31:17 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.