Beth-peor

Biblical References

Beth-peor appears four times in the Old Testament.

• Deuteronomy 3:29: Before crossing the Jordan, Israel stayed in the valley opposite Beth-peor: "So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor."
• Deuteronomy 4:46: The place where Moses proclaimed the law to Israel is identified as lying "on this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor." The land had originally belonged to Sihon, the Amorite king of Heshbon.
• Deuteronomy 34:6: After Moses died on Mount Nebo, the text records: "And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day."
• Joshua 13:20: In the allotment of the land, it is listed among the towns given to the tribe of Reuben.

Name and Location

Beth-peor means "house of Peor." Peor is also the name of a mountain in the land of Moab (Numbers 23:28). Many hold that the place received its name because it was the site of a shrine to Baal-peor, a deity worshiped in the region.

The biblical text places Beth-peor east of the Jordan River, near the plains of Moab opposite Jericho and the slopes of Pisgah. The fourth-century church father Eusebius is reported to have recorded the site in his gazetteer of biblical place names. Scholars disagree, however, about which modern archaeological site corresponds to Beth-peor, and its location has not been established.

The Peor Incident and Its Significance in Scripture

The name Beth-peor recalls the events of Numbers 25. While Israel was encamped at Shittim, the people committed sexual immorality with Moabite women and worshiped their god, Baal-peor. As punishment a plague broke out, killing 24,000 people, and it was stopped through the action of Phinehas. Numbers 31:16 attributes the episode to the counsel of Balaam. The incident is repeatedly cited as a representative example of Israel's idolatry in Deuteronomy 4:3, Joshua 22:17, Psalm 106:28, and Hosea 9:10.

The New Testament also takes up this incident. 1 Corinthians 10:8 recalls that some "fell in one day three and twenty thousand," warning the church against sexual immorality. Revelation 2:14 rebukes the church in Pergamum for having among its members those who held "the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication."

Interpretation and Issues

• The tomb of Moses: The Hebrew of Deuteronomy 34:6 can be read as "he buried him." Consequently, an interpretation widespread in Jewish and Christian tradition holds that God himself buried Moses. Other translations, such as the Korean New Revised Version, render the verb in the passive ("he was buried"). It is also commonly explained that the grave was hidden to prevent people from venerating it, though the text itself does not state this.
• The significance of the burial site: Rabbinic literature is reported to contain the interpretation that Moses' burial opposite Peor, where Israel had sinned, carried atoning significance. This, too, is a later interpretation.
• Relation to the Epistle of Jude: Jude 9 mentions that the archangel Michael disputed with the devil over the body of Moses. Some early church fathers are reported to have held that this account derived from apocryphal literature. The story does not appear in the Old Testament text.