Numbers 31:7-18
7 So they made war against Midian , just as the Lord had commanded Moses , and they killed every male . 8 They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain : Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba , the five kings of Midian ; they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword . 9 The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones ; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods they plundered . 10 Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire . 11 They took all the spoil and all the prey , both of man and of beast . 12 They brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses , and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel , to the camp at the plains of Moab , which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho .
13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside e e the camp . 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army , the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds , who had come from service in the war . 15 And Moses said to them, "Have you spared all the women ? 16 " Behold , these caused the sons of Israel , through the counsel of Balaam , to trespass e against the Lord in the matter of Peor , so the plague was among the congregation of the Lord . 17 " Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones , and kill every woman who has known man intimately e . 18 "But all the girls e who have not known man intimately e , spare for yourselves.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 31:7-18
Commentary on Numbers 31:7-12
(Read Numbers 31:7-12)
The Israelites slew the Kings of Midian. They slew Balaam. God's overruling providence brought him thither, and their just vengeance found him. Had he himself rightly believed what he had said of the happy state of Israel, he would not have thus herded with the enemies of Israel. The Midianites' wicked wiles were Balaam's projects: it was just that he should perish with them, Hosea 4:5. They took the women and children captives. They burnt their cities and castles, and returned to the camp.
Commentary on Numbers 31:13-18
(Read Numbers 31:13-18)
The sword of war should spare women and children; but the sword of justice should know no distinction, but that of guilty or not guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the worst criminals. The female children were spared, who, being brought up among the Israelites, would not tempt them to idolatry. The whole history shows the hatefulness of sin, and the guilt of tempting others; it teaches us to avoid all occasions of evil, and to give no quarter to inward lusts. The women and children were not kept for sinful purposes, but for slaves, a custom every where practised in former times, as to captives. In the course of providence, when famine and plagues visit a nation for sin, children suffer in the common calamity. In this case parents are punished in their children; and for children dying before actual sin, full provision is made as to their eternal happiness, by the mercy of God in Christ.