Naravist

The Torah · Old Testament

Numbers 25

Baal-peor, Phinehas and a stopped plague

General context

At Shittim, Israelites become sexually involved with Moabite women and join sacrificial meals and worship of their gods. The Lord's anger follows Israel's attachment to Baal-peor, and Moses orders the judges to kill the men under them who have joined it. During the congregation's weeping, an Israelite brings a Midianite woman into view. Phinehas follows them into a tent and kills both with a spear. The narrative links this act to the stopping of a plague that has killed 24,000. The Lord credits Phinehas with turning away wrath and grants him a covenant of peace and enduring priesthood. The chapter closes with a command against Midian.

Cited passages: Numbers 25:1, Numbers 25:2, Numbers 25:3, Numbers 25:4, Numbers 25:5, Numbers 25:6, Numbers 25:7, Numbers 25:8, Numbers 25:9, Numbers 25:10, Numbers 25:11, Numbers 25:12, Numbers 25:13, Numbers 25:14, Numbers 25:15, Numbers 25:16, Numbers 25:17, Numbers 25:18

Numbers 25 (KJV)

1And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

2And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

3And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

4And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.

5And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor.

6And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

7And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

8And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

9And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

10And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

11Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.

12Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:

13And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

14Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.

15And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

16And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

17Vex the Midianites, and smite them:

18For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The slain pair are named afterward: Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a Simeonite ancestral house, and Cozbi daughter of Zur, a Midianite leader. Phinehas is Eleazar's son and Aaron's grandson. The opening involvement with Moabite women and the later Midianite identities are both part of the account; they should not be treated as one unnamed nationality. The closing divine speech names Midian and attributes hostility to deception in the matter of Peor.

Cited passages: Numbers 25:1, Numbers 25:2, Numbers 25:6, Numbers 25:7, Numbers 25:8, Numbers 25:14, Numbers 25:15, Numbers 25:16, Numbers 25:17, Numbers 25:18

Literary context

The chapter moves from collective involvement and anger to a single violent intervention, then to a divine assessment and a future command. Zimri and Cozbi receive their names and family positions after their deaths. The phrase covenant of peace follows the killing and halted plague, a difficult juxtaposition the account leaves in place. The narrator and divine speech commend Phinehas within this episode.

Cited passages: Numbers 25:3, Numbers 25:4, Numbers 25:5, Numbers 25:6, Numbers 25:7, Numbers 25:8, Numbers 25:9, Numbers 25:10, Numbers 25:11, Numbers 25:12, Numbers 25:13, Numbers 25:14, Numbers 25:15, Numbers 25:16, Numbers 25:17, Numbers 25:18

Key moments

  1. Joined to Baal-peor (Numbers 25:3). The account describes Israel's attachment to Baal-peor and the Lord's anger.
  2. Two people killed (Numbers 25:8). Phinehas kills the Israelite man and Midianite woman; the narrative says the plague stops.
  3. A covenant of peace (Numbers 25:12). The Lord announces a covenant for Phinehas after the plague is halted.

For reflection

How do the named victims, the congregation's losses and the promised covenant of peace affect your reading of this difficult episode? Which judgments does the text itself state?

People in this chapter

Also indexed here:

  • Cozbi
  • Salu
  • Zimri
  • Zur