But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
This verse comes from one of the most disturbing passages in the entire Bible. The Israelites had just fought a war against the Midianites — a people who had previously led Israel into idolatry and sexual immorality (described in Numbers 25). Moses commanded the soldiers to kill the Midianite men, the male children, and the women who had been with men — but to keep the virgin girls alive for themselves. This instruction reflects practices common in ancient Near Eastern warfare, where women and children were taken as spoils of war. That historical context is important, but it does not make the passage comfortable. Readers across centuries have wrestled honestly with what it means that this command appears in Scripture, and that wrestling is both appropriate and necessary.
God, I won't pretend I know what to do with this passage, and I won't offer you a prayer that makes it easier than it is. You are the God who became flesh and wept — so I trust you are not unmoved by suffering, even suffering done in your name. Give me honesty, courage, and wisdom to keep reading and keep seeking you. Amen.
Let's not look away from this one. Some verses comfort us. Some challenge us. And some — like this one — stop us cold and make us wonder what exactly we are holding when we hold a Bible. This command, given through Moses, sits inside a world of ancient warfare almost unrecognizable to us — a world where women and children were routinely taken as spoils of battle, where concepts of human rights as we understand them simply did not exist. That historical distance matters. It doesn't make the verse comfortable. But it tells us we are reading documents from a culture vastly different from our own, on a long, often brutal road toward the full revelation of Jesus — who treated women with a radical dignity that shocked his own culture. Theologians sometimes call this "progressive revelation" — the idea that God was working with a people where they were, in their historical moment, moving them slowly and messily toward something better. That's not a tidy excuse that makes the horror disappear. You don't have to choose between "this is fine" and "throw the whole Bible out." You can hold it honestly, grieve what is grievable, and let the discomfort press you into a harder and more important question: what does it mean that the God of this passage is also the God who died on a cross for the people he could have commanded destroyed?
What is the historical and narrative context surrounding Numbers 31, and why does understanding that context matter — without necessarily resolving all the discomfort — when reading a passage like this?
How do you personally respond, emotionally and spiritually, when you encounter a Bible passage that seems to contradict your understanding of who God is — does it shake your faith, invite deeper questioning, or something else?
What is "progressive revelation," and do you find it a satisfying, partially satisfying, or unsatisfying framework for engaging with difficult Old Testament passages like this one?
How should the Church talk about passages like this — especially with people new to faith, with survivors of violence, or with skeptics who use verses like this to argue against Christianity?
What do you want to do with the discomfort this passage creates in you — ignore it, research it further, bring it to a pastor or mentor, or something else?
But all the young girls who have not known a man intimately, keep alive for yourselves [to marry].
AMP
But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.
ESV
'But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves.
NASB
but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.
NIV
But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately.
NKJV
Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves.
NLT
The younger women who are virgins you can keep alive for yourselves.
MSG