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Numbers 25
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Chapter 25

Worship of Baal of Peor. 1 While Israel was living at Shittim,[a] the people profaned themselves by prostituting themselves with the Moabite women.(A) 2 These then invited the people to the sacrifices of their god, and the people ate of the sacrifices(B) and bowed down to their god. 3 Israel thereby attached itself to the Baal of Peor,(C) and the Lord’s anger flared up against Israel. 4 (D)The Lord said to Moses: Gather all the leaders of the people, and publicly execute them[b] before the Lord, that the blazing wrath of the Lord may turn away from Israel. 5 So Moses told the Israelite judges, “Each of you kill those of his men who have attached themselves to the Baal of Peor.”[c]

Zeal of Phinehas. 6 At this a certain Israelite came and brought in a Midianite woman[d] to his kindred in the view of Moses and of the whole Israelite community, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 (E)When Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he rose up from the assembly, and taking a spear in his hand, 8 followed the Israelite into the tent where he pierced the two of them, the Israelite and the woman. Thus the plague upon the Israelites was checked; 9 but the dead from the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 Then the Lord said to Moses: 11 Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger from the Israelites by his being as jealous among them as I am; that is why I did not put an end to the Israelites in my jealousy.[e] 12 (F)Announce, therefore, that I hereby give him my covenant of peace,[f] 13 which shall be for him and for his descendants after him the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous on behalf of his God and thus made expiation for the Israelites.

14 [g]The name of the slain Israelite, the one slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, son of Salu, prince of a Simeonite ancestral house. 15 The name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, who was head of a clan, an ancestral house, in Midian.

Vengeance on the Midianites. 16 [h]The Lord then said to Moses: 17 (G)Treat the Midianites as enemies and strike them, 18 for they have been your enemies by the deceitful dealings they had with you regarding Peor and their kinswoman Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite prince, who was slain at the time of the plague because of Peor.

III. Second Census of a New Generation and Preparation to Enter the Promised Land

Chapter 26

The Second Census. 19 After the plague

Footnotes

  1. 25:1 Shittim: the full name was Abel-shittim, a locality at the foot of the mountains in the northeastern corner of the plains of Moab (33:49). Prostituting themselves: the application to men of such traditional language for apostasy clearly suggests apostasy was taken to be an inevitable consequence of intermarriage with the Midianite women.
  2. 25:4 Publicly execute them: the same phrase occurs in 2 Sm 21:6–14, where the context shows that at least a part of the penalty consisted in being denied honorable burial. In both passages, dismemberment or impalement (perhaps subsequent to the actual execution) as a punishment for the breaking of covenant pledges, is a possible interpretation of the Hebrew phrase.
  3. 25:5 Thereby Moses apparently alters the Lord’s command to execute all the leaders.
  4. 25:6 Midianite woman: according to 22:4, 7, the Midianites were allied with the Moabites in opposing Israel, while 31:16 claims that Balaam had induced the Midianite women to lure the Israelites away from the Lord. They were weeping: on account of the plague that had struck them; cf. v. 8.
  5. 25:11 My jealousy: God’s desire to maintain an exclusive hold on the allegiance of the Israelites.
  6. 25:12 Covenant of peace: by means of this covenant between God and Phinehas, Phinehas can expect God’s protection, especially from any threat of reprisal for his action; cf. Is 54:10; Ez 34:25; 37:26.
  7. 25:14–15 The noble lineage of the slain couple is mentioned in order to stress the courage of Phinehas in punishing them. The zeal of Phinehas became proverbial; cf. Ps 106:30; Sir 45:23; 1 Mc 2:26, 54.
  8. 25:16–18 The account of the execution of this command is given in 31:1–18.
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Numbers 25
Legacy Standard Bible

Israel Sacrifices to Baal

25 And Israel remained at (A)Shittim, and the people began (B)to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 Indeed (C)they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So (D)Israel joined themselves to [a]Baal of Peor, and the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel. 4 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all who are the heads of the people and execute them [b]in broad daylight before Yahweh, (E)so that the burning anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you (F)kill his men who have joined themselves to [c]Baal of Peor.”

6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers a (G)Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, (H)while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 7 (I)And Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, so he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the [d]tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the [e]body. (J)Then the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. 9 (K)So those who died by the plague were 24,000.

The Jealousy of Phinehas

10 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “(L)Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the sons of Israel (M)in My jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘(N)Behold, I give him My (O)covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be for him and his seed after him, a covenant of a (P)perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and (Q)made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

14 Now the name of the [f]slain man of Israel who was [g]slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman, who was struck down, was (R)Cozbi the daughter of (S)Zur, [h]who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

16 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “(T)Be hostile to the Midianites and strike them, 18 for they have been hostile to you with their deceptive tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 25:3 Or Baal-peor
  2. Numbers 25:4 Lit in front of the sun
  3. Numbers 25:5 Or Baal-peor
  4. Numbers 25:8 Or inner rooms
  5. Numbers 25:8 Or belly
  6. Numbers 25:14 Lit smitten
  7. Numbers 25:14 Lit smitten
  8. Numbers 25:15 Lit he
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New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

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Legacy Standard Bible (LSB)

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