Numbers 31:17

KJV1611 – Modern English

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

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְעַתָּ֕ה הִרְג֥וּ כָל־זָכָ֖ר בַּטָּ֑ף וְכָל־אִשָּׁ֗ה יֹדַ֥עַת אִ֛ישׁ לְמִשְׁכַּ֥ב זָכָ֖ר הֲרֹֽגוּ׃

Transliteration

wə-ʿattāh hirgû ḵol-zāḵār baṭ-ṭāp̄ wə-ḵol-ʾiššāh yōḏaʿaṯ ʾîš lə-miškaḇ zāḵār hărōgû

Grammar Details

• *wə-ʿattāh*: conjunction + adverb - and now
• *hirgû*: Qal imperative, masculine plural - kill
• *ḵol-zāḵār*: noun, masculine singular construct + noun, masculine singular - every male
• *baṭ-ṭāp̄*: preposition + definite article + noun, masculine singular - among the children
• *wə-ḵol-ʾiššāh*: conjunction + noun, masculine singular construct + noun, feminine singular - and every woman
• *yōḏaʿaṯ*: Qal participle, feminine singular construct - knowing
• *ʾîš*: noun, masculine singular - man
• *lə-miškaḇ*: preposition + noun, masculine singular construct - by lying with
• *zāḵār*: noun, masculine singular - male
• *hărōgû*: Qal imperative, masculine plural - kill

Word Meanings

• *hirgû*: kill/slay/put to death
• *ṭāp̄*: children/little ones/dependents
• *yōḏaʿaṯ ʾîš lə-miškaḇ zāḵār*: knowing a man by lying with a male/who has had sexual relations with a man
• *miškaḇ*: lying with/sexual intercourse/cohabitation

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  Now, kill every male among the children, and kill every woman who has had sexual relations with a man.

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

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

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  Now therefore kill{H2026} every male{H2145} among the little ones,{H2945} and kill{H2026} every woman{H802} that hath known{H3045} man{H376} by lying{H4904} with him.{H2145}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  Now therefore kill{H2026}{(H8798)} every male{H2145} among the little ones{H2945}, and kill{H2026}{(H8798)} every woman{H802} that hath known{H3045}{(H8802)} man{H376} by lying{H4904} with him{H2145}.

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  Nowe therfore slee all the men childern and the wemen that haue lyen with men fleshlye:

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  Now therfore slaie all the males amoge ye childre, & kyll all ye wemen yt haue knowne men & lyen wt them.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  Now therefore, slay all the males among the children, and kill all the women that haue knowen man by carnall copulation.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  Nowe therfore, slay all the men children, and kyl the women that haue lien with men fleshly.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

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

• Webster's Bible (1833)

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

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  `And now, slay ye every male among the infants, yea, every woman known of man by the lying of a male ye have slain;

• American Standard Version (1901)

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

• American Standard Version (1901)

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

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  So now put every male child to death, and every woman who has had sex relations with a man.

• World English Bible (2000)

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

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  Now therefore kill every boy, and kill every woman who has been intimate with a man in bed.

Referenced Verses

• Deut 7:2 : 2 And when the LORD your God shall deliver them before you; you shall strike them, and utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them:
• Deut 20:16-18 : 16 But of the cities of these people, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes: 17 But you shall utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD your God has commanded you: 18 That they teach you not to do according to all their abominations, which they have done for their gods; so you would sin against the LORD your God.
• Judg 21:11-12 : 11 And this is what you shall do: You shall utterly destroy every male, and every woman who has lain with a man. 12 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead four hundred young virgins, who had not known a man by lying with any male; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.