What Does Numbers 31:3 Mean in the King James?
And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew says the fighters are sent “to give the vengeance of the LORD,” turning a divine claim into human action.
THE MEANING
Now the command stands before you in its full violence: some are armed and sent against Midian to enact the LORD’s vengeance. Moshe (מֹשֶׁה, Mōšeh, “drawn out”) speaks, and the sentence places a divine claim directly into human hands.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the assumption that divine vengeance stays separate from human violence: here the command joins them.
THE ROOT
נִקְמַת
niqmat
GROWS FROM
נקם
n-q-m
To avenge, exacting repayment for an offense.
“avenge / vengeance” in this verse is niqmat. The Hebrew phrase לָתֵת נִקְמַת־יְהוָה (lātēt niqmat-YHWH, “to give the LORD’s vengeance”) uses a noun for vengeance where English uses the verb “avenge.” The fighters are assigned to enact a claim attributed to the LORD, rather than named as its source.
ALSO GROWS
nāqam: To avenge or take vengeance.
נָקַם
This verb shares the root and shows that the noun in the command carries the force of active retaliation.
neqāmāh: Vengeance or retribution.
נְקָמָה
This noun makes the claim explicit as vengeance itself, the thing the fighters are told to give.
לָתֵת
lātēt
GROWS FROM
נתן
n-t-n
To give, set, or place.
“give” in this verse is lātēt. The Hebrew has a verb of giving before the noun for vengeance; the KJV’s “avenge” folds both into one English verb. This root casts the fighters as placing vengeance into action, while the claim itself remains attributed to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
nātan: To give, set, or place.
נָתַן
This is the root verb behind lātēt, making the transfer into human action part of the sentence’s grammar.
mattānāh: A gift or thing given.
מַתָּנָה
This noun shows the root’s sense of something given or placed; here, the object being given is vengeance.
הֵחָלְצוּ
heḥālṣû
GROWS FROM
חלץ
ḥ-l-ṣ
To draw out or rescue; in this form, to equip oneself for war.
The verb rendered “arm” carries the sense of becoming equipped for battle. Alongside “some of yourselves,” it presents people being selected from among the group and prepared for war, not merely handed weapons.
ALSO GROWS
ḥālaṣ: To draw out or rescue.
חָלַץ
This sense reveals a movement out of one condition or place, illuminating the call to prepare men from among the people.
ḥālûṣ: An armed or equipped person.
חָלוּץ
This related form names the battle-ready state the command requires.
THE PATTERN
Scripture locates vengeance in the LORD’s claim while giving human beings sharply different roles around it.
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.THE THREAD
To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.Deuteronomy uses נקם (nāqam, vengeance), the same root behind נִקְמַת (niqmat, vengeance of) in Numbers. It says vengeance belongs to the LORD, while this verse assigns armed people to give it; the shared root brings that tension into view.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us