Numbers 25

In chapters 22–24, Balak king of Moab summoned Balaam to curse Israel, but the attempt failed. This chapter records the "Peor incident," which took place afterward while Israel was encamped at Shittim on the plains of Moab. The second census of chapter 26 follows immediately after this event.

Outline

• Verses 1–3 The people commit whoredom with the women of Moab, eat the sacrifices offered to their gods, and bow down to those gods, and so Israel joins itself to Baal-peor. The LORD's anger is kindled.
• Verses 4–5 The LORD commands that the heads of the people be hanged up. Moses tells the judges to slay those who had joined themselves to Baal-peor.
• Verses 6–9 While the congregation is weeping at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, an Israelite man brings a Midianite woman among his brethren. Phinehas thrusts both of them through with a javelin, and the plague is stayed. Those who died in the plague number twenty-four thousand.
• Verses 10–13 The LORD gives Phinehas and his descendants a covenant of peace, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.
• Verses 14–15 The names of the two who were slain are given. The man is Zimri the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites; the woman is Cozbi the daughter of Zur, a head over a people of Midian.
• Verses 16–18 The LORD commands Israel to vex and smite the Midianites. This command is carried out in chapter 31.

Key Verses

• Numbers 25:3 "And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor" — identifies idolatry as the heart of the incident.
• Numbers 25:11 "while he was zealous for my sake" — God regards Phinehas's action as zeal exercised on His behalf.
• Numbers 25:13 "the covenant of an everlasting priesthood" — the promise that the priesthood would continue through the line of Phinehas.

People and Places

• Moses
• Phinehas — grandson of Aaron and son of Eleazar.
• Zimri — son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. He is a different person from the king of northern Israel who bore the same name.
• Cozbi — daughter of Zur, the head of a Midianite clan.
• Shittim — Israel's encampment on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan River.
• Baal-peor — the Baal worshiped at Peor.
• Moab, Midian

Points for Reflection

• Balaam does not appear in this chapter itself. Numbers 31:16, however, states that the incident arose from the counsel of Balaam. Later Jewish tradition elaborates on his scheme in greater detail, but these accounts lie outside the biblical text.
• The text does not say how the execution order of verse 4 was actually carried out.
• Jewish and Christian traditions have read Phinehas as an example of "zeal" for God. Psalm 106:30–31 declares that his deed "was counted unto him for righteousness." At the same time, many commentaries and sermons regard the incident as belonging to the particular situation of Old Testament Israel and do not treat it as a basis for individuals to commit violence in the name of faith.
• 1 Corinthians 10:8 gives the number of the dead as "three and twenty thousand" who "fell in one day," which differs from the twenty-four thousand of verse 9. Proposed explanations include viewing the figures as round numbers and distinguishing between those who died in a single day and the total number of deaths.
• Revelation 2:14 alludes to this incident when it rebukes the church in Pergamos, saying that Balaam taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel. Deuteronomy 4:3 and Hosea 9:10 also refer to this event.