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16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 17 “Bring trouble[a] to the Midianites, and destroy them, 18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived[b] you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian,[c] their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 25:17 tn The form is the infinitive absolute used in place of a verb here; it clearly is meant to be an instruction for Israel. The idea is that of causing trouble, harassing, vexing Midian. The verb is repeated as the active participle in the line, and so the punishment is talionic.
  2. Numbers 25:18 tn This is the same word as that translated “treachery.”
  3. Numbers 25:18 sn Cozbi’s father, Zur, was one of five Midianite kings who eventually succumbed to Israel (Num 31:8). When the text gives the name and family of a woman, it is asserting that she is important, at least for social reasons, among her people.

16 The Lord said to Moses,(A) 17 “Treat the Midianites(B) as enemies(C) and kill them.(D) 18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident(E) involving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident.”

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