Num 25:1-4 | Clarke | STEP | While Israel abode in Shittim the people commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, . They become idolaters, . The anger of the Lord is kindled against them, and he commands the ringleaders to be hanged, , . Moses causes the judges to slay the transgressors, . Zimri, one of the Israelitish princes of the tribe of Simeon, brings a Midianitish princess, named Cozbi, into his tent, while the people are deploring their iniquity before the tabernacle, . Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, incensed by this insult to the laws and worship of God, runs after them and pierces them both with a javelin, , . Twenty-four thousand die of the plague, sent as a punishment for their iniquity, . The Lord grants to Phinehas a covenant of peace and an everlasting priesthood, . The name and quality of the Israelitish man and Midianitish woman, , . God commands the Israelites to vex and smite the Midianites, who had seduced them to the worship of Baal-peor, .

Numbers 25:1-4

Introduction

While Israel abode in Shittim the people commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab, Num 25:1. They become idolaters, Num 25:2. The anger of the Lord is kindled against them, and he commands the ringleaders to be hanged, Num 25:3, Num 25:4. Moses causes the judges to slay the transgressors, Num 25:5. Zimri, one of the Israelitish princes of the tribe of Simeon, brings a Midianitish princess, named Cozbi, into his tent, while the people are deploring their iniquity before the tabernacle, Num 25:6. Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, incensed by this insult to the laws and worship of God, runs after them and pierces them both with a javelin, Num 25:7, Num 25:8. Twenty-four thousand die of the plague, sent as a punishment for their iniquity, Num 25:9. The Lord grants to Phinehas a covenant of peace and an everlasting priesthood, Num 25:10-13. The name and quality of the Israelitish man and Midianitish woman, Num 25:14, Num 25:15. God commands the Israelites to vex and smite the Midianites, who had seduced them to the worship of Baal-peor, Num 25:16-18. Verse 3

Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor - The same as the Priapus of the Romans, and worshipped with the same obscene rites as we have frequently had occasion to remark.

The joining to Baal-peor, mentioned here, was probably what St. Paul had in view when he said, 2Cor 6:14 : Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And this joining, though done even in a matrimonial way, was nevertheless fornication, (see Rev 2:14), as no marriage between an Israelite and a Midianite could be legitimate, according to the law of God. See the propositions at the close of the preceding chapter Num 24:25 (note). Verse 4

Take all the heads of the people, etc. - Meaning the chiefs of those who had transgressed; as if he had said, "Assemble the chiefs and judges, institute an inquiry concerning the transgressors, and hang them who shall be found guilty before the Lord, as a matter required by his justice." Against the sun - in the most public manner, and in daylight. Dr. Kennicott has remarked that the Samaritan and Hebrew texts must be both taken together, to make the sense here complete: And the Lord said unto Moses, Speak unto all the heads of the people; And Let Them Slay The Men That Were Joined To Baal-Peor; and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, etc.