Numbers 31:17

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

Cross-references

Numbers 31:32 Historical context

Numbers 31:32 lists the booty taken from Midian – directly continuing the narrative of the campaign commanded in verse 17.

Judges 21:11 gives the same command to kill every woman who has lain with a man, mirroring the destruction of the Midianite women here.

Judges 21:12 spares young virgins who had not known a man – the same distinction as the sparing of virgin girls in Numbers 31:18.

In 1 Samuel 15:3, total destruction of Amalek includes infants and women — similar holy war context but here only non-virgin women and male children are killed.

In 1 Kings 11:15, Joab smites every male in Edom — echoes the command here to kill all Midianite males.