Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This command to kill every male among the little ones and every woman who had known a man is shocking, but notice that it’s a direct response to the Midianite women’s actions, which led the Israelite men into sin and brought plague upon God's people. The instruction is specific: only those women who had known man were to be killed, distinguishing them from the virgin girls who were spared.
Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Moses is confronting the Israelite warriors who returned from a battle against the Midianites, and he is angry because they allowed the women to live. He reminds them that these same women, through the counsel of Balaam, led Israel into sin and idolatry, which resulted in a plague. Therefore, Moses commands the warriors to execute every male child and every woman who has been intimate with a man, seeing them as instruments of sin that must be purged.
This command is jarring: kill the men and women who have known men, but spare the young girls. What's the logic behind this seemingly harsh distinction?
The commands in Numbers 31:17-18 are rooted in the specific context of the Midianites' sin and God's judgment.
When we read about this kind of judgment, it can feel brutal. How can we distinguish between God's righteous anger and our own human desire for revenge?
The actions described in Numbers 31 are presented not as human vengeance, but as divine justice executed through human agents.
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This command to kill all male children and women who had known men stems directly from the Midianites' complicity in seducing Israel into idolatry and sexual sin at Peor, a specific, devastating event that threatened Israel's covenant relationship with God.
c. 1400 BC— this verse
Israelites Camped in Moab
The Israelites are encamped on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan River from Jericho, after their exodus from Egypt and their journey through the wilderness.
c. 1400 BC
Midianite Seduction at Peor
Midianite and Moabite women entice Israelite men into sexual immorality and idolatry, leading to a plague that decimates the Israelite community.
c. 1400 BC
Divine Command for Retribution
God commands Moses to enact vengeance on the Midianites for their role in the sin at Peor, due to their participation in the seduction that led to Israel's sin and the subsequent plague.
c. 1400 BC
Israelite Military Campaign
A force of twelve thousand Israelite warriors is sent to battle against the Midianites, carrying out God's judgment.
c. 1400 BC
Division of Spoils and Captives
After the successful campaign, the spoils and captives are brought back, leading to Moses's anger at the soldiers for sparing the women, and the subsequent distribution of the booty.
This verse emphasizes God's jealousy and prohibition of idolatry, providing context for why the Midianite women, who led Israel into sin, were judged so severely.
Deuteronomy 20:14This passage contrasts the general command to spare women and children in warfare with the specific, harsh judgment here, highlighting the exceptional wickedness of the Midianites.
Joshua 23:13Joshua warns Israel that the remaining Canaanite nations will become 'snares and traps' and 'scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes,' which directly mirrors the concern in Numbers 31 about the Midianite women leading Israel back into sin.
Ezekiel 16:38This verse describes God's judgment on Jerusalem for its prostitution and bloodshed, drawing a parallel to the judgment on the Midianites who enticed Israel into sexual immorality and idolatry.
Revelation 17:5This verse identifies Babylon with 'the great prostitute' and a 'mother of prostitute daughters,' echoing the theme of sexual immorality leading nations astray and incurring divine judgment, as seen with the Midianites.
clarkeNumbers 31:17: "Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him."
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 persona…
bensonNumbers 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 . Kill every male among the little ones — Which they were forbidden to do to other people, ( Deuteronomy 20:14 ,) except the Canaanites, to whom this people had equalled themselves by their horrid crimes; and therefore it is not strange, nor unjust, that God, the supreme Lord of all men’s lives, who, as he gives them, so may take them away when he pleas…
This command to kill every male among the little ones and every woman who had known a man is shocking, but notice that it’s a direct response to the Midianite women’s actions, which led the Israelite men into sin and brought plague upon God's people. The instruction is specific: only those women who had known man were to be killed, distinguishing them from the virgin girls who were spared.
Moses is confronting the Israelite warriors who returned from a battle against the Midianites, and he is angry because they allowed the women to live. He reminds them that these same women, through the counsel of Balaam, led Israel into sin and idolatry, which resulted in a plague. Therefore, Moses commands the warriors to execute every male child and every woman who has been intimate with a man, seeing them as instruments of sin that must be purged.
Moses is confronting the Israelite warriors who returned from a battle against the Midianites, and he is angry because they allowed the women to live. He reminds them that these same women, through the counsel of Balaam, led Israel into sin and idolatry, which resulted in a plague. Therefore, Moses commands the warriors to execute every male child and every woman who has been intimate with a man, seeing them as instruments of sin that must be purged.
"Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him." — This command to kill every male among the little ones and every woman who had known a man is shocking, but notice that it’s a direct response to the Midianite women’s actions, which led the Israelite…
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Last reviewed October 2026