Numbers 31:35

and 32,000 women who had not slept with a man.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The narrator records the final inventory of plunder after the Israelite army's campaign against Midian, following the counts of livestock in Numbers 31:34 and preceding the warriors' share in Numbers 31:36.

The words — יָדְעוּ (ya.de.'U) translates literally as "they had known," and מִשְׁכַּב (mish.Kav) means "lying" or "bed," forming the phrase "had not known a lying."

The thread — Numbers 31:35 continues the systematic tally of war spoils, categorizing captive women by sexual experience to determine their allocation within the distribution. This accounting pattern runs through the surrounding verses, which list specific quantities of donkeys, sheep, and the half-portions designated for combatants and the rest of the congregation.

Why it lands — It requires the reader to observe how human captives are quantified alongside livestock within a structured military inventory. The text demands attention to the precise demographic breakdown before any subsequent legal or ritual application.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְנֶ֣פֶשׁve./Ne.feshand/ [the] person[s] of אָדָ֔ם'a.Damhumankind מִן־min-from הַ֨נָּשִׁ֔יםha./na.Shimthe/ women אֲשֶׁ֥ר'a.Sherwho לֹֽא־lo'-not יָדְע֖וּya.de.'Uthey had known מִשְׁכַּ֣בmish.Kavlying of זָכָ֑רza.Khara male כָּל־kol-every נֶ֕פֶשׁNe.feshperson שְׁנַ֥יִםshe.Na.yimtwo וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֖יםu./she.lo.Shimand/ thirty אָֽלֶף׃'A.lefthousand

King James Version

And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him.