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NASB | Numbers 31:17 "Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Numbers 31:17 "Now therefore, kill every male among the children, and kill every woman who is not a virgin. |
Subject: 2 Tim 3:16 |
Bible Note: God's unwillingness to answer is not the point. My question relates to what the Word says about what was done in His name. While your commentaries are insightful, they are not scripture, which is what I am trying to understand. And, you suggest all the commentaries you provided answered my orginal question. I disagree. Here are the relevant excerpts, with my observations (in parens): Matthew Henry -- "The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry." (this explains why they were spared, but not why the boys were killed) Your paraphrase -- "John Gill comments on the women killed ...." (this explains why the women were killed, but does not address why the virgin females were spared nor why the boys were killed) Robert Jamieson, et al, -- "No order had been given for the slaughter of the women, and in ancient war they were commonly reserved for slaves." (this explains why the officer brought them back from war) "...the Midianitish women had forfeited all claims to mild or merciful treatment; and the sacred character, the avowed object of the war (Numbers 31:2-3), made their slaughter necessary without any special order." (this explains why the women were killed) "But why 'kill every male among the little ones'? It was designed to be a war of extermination, such as God Himself had ordered against the people of Canaan, whom the Midianites equalled in the enormity of their wickedness." (if a war of extermination, then killing the boys is consistent with that, but sparing the virgin females is not) Adam Clarke -- "The little ones were safely lodged; they were taken to heaven and saved from the evil to come." (so, killing the boys was essentially an act of mercy. if so, then this mercy was denied to the virgin females. why?) John Wesley -- "Every woman - Partly for punishment, because the guilt was general, and though some of them only did prostitute themselves to the Israelites, yet the rest made themselves accessary by their consent or approbation; and partly, for prevention of the like mischief from such an adulterous generation." (this explains the killing of the women, and perhaps the boys, but does not speak to why the virgin females were spared) Finally, while I appreciate your encouragement to explore this topic elsewhere and report my findings, to be honest it feels more like I am being dismissed, now that you have answered my question yet I have somehow not understood your meaning. My question remains best stated in two parts: 1. What purpose is served by eliminating the boys that would not have also been served by eliminating the virgin females? 2. Conversely, what purpose is served by sparing the virgin females that would not have also been served by sparing the boys? If anyone has any scriptural references that speak to the distinction between the boys and virgin females that I have articulated, please advise. Otherwise, it seems God's purpose with this distiction, if it is indeed real, is not to be revealed in His Word. |