complete verse (Numbers 31:7)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Numbers 31:7:

  • Kupsabiny: “Those soldiers fought the people of Midian and killed all the men as God had told Moses.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “They fought with the Midianites as the LORD had commanded Moses. They killed all their men.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “They fought against the Midianhon as what the LORD commanded Moises and they killed all the males.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “The Israeli men fought the soldiers from the Midian people-group, as Yahweh had told Moses/me to tell them to do, and they killed every man from the Midian people-group.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Numbers 31:7 - 31:8

They warred against Midian: This clause begins with the Hebrew waw conjunction (literally “And”), which introduces the next event here. Some languages use a sequential connector, such as “Then,” to begin it. The Hebrew verb for warred (tsavaʾ) comes from the same root as the word for “war” in verses 3-5. Warred against may be rendered “attacked” (Good News Translation) or “fought against” (NET Bible).

As the LORD commanded Moses: The Israelites attacked the Midianites just as the LORD had told them to do through Moses (see verse 3).

And slew every male means they killed all the Midianite soldiers whom they attacked. This clause does not mean they killed all the Midianite men.

They slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Their slain refers to the Midianite troops who were killed in the battle.

Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba are the names of the five kings of Midian who were killed. These names are listed again in the same order in Josh 13.21. Zur was the father of Cozbi (see 25.15).

And they also slew Balaam the son of Beor with the sword means they killed Balaam in the battle. The specific instrument of killing is not really important (see the comments on sword at 14.3), so Good News Translation says simply “They also killed Balaam son of Beor.” For Balaam the son of Beor, see 22.5. According to verse 16, Balaam was the instigator of the Israelites’ apostasy at Peor. In some languages a special demonstrative pronoun may be needed to indicate that Balaam was an important person mentioned earlier in the narrative; for example, Chewa says “that [already known] Balaam.”

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .