25:1–9 “Shittim” (“acacias”) is located in the plains of Moab near the Jordan (cf. “Abel-shittim”; 33:49),204 from whence scouts are sent to Jericho (Josh. 2:1) and Israel sets out to take possession of Canaan (Josh. 3:1). This is also likely where Moses renews the covenant with the people (Deut. 29:1). “Began to” (Num. 25:1) renders the consonantal verb hll, which, pointed slightly differently, means to “profane” (Lev. 21:9; cf. Lev. 19:29), as read in the LXX: “The people were profaned by whoring.” “To whore” is not only a metaphor for idolatry (e.g., Hos. 4:15); mention of the “daughters of Moab” and the sequel indicate orgiastic relations. “The people” often refers to soldiers (cf. Num. 1:5; 26:2; Josh. 6:9–10; 10:21; Judg. 18:11, 22; 1 Kings 20:29). Some of the men involved with these women are soldiers who fought against the Amorites (cf. Num. 25:5, 9). On their mission they were to abstain from sexual relations (1 Sam. 21:5). No longer under this constraint, they succumb to their impulses. Perhaps they minimize their actions by considering the Moabite women to be war captives (Num. 31:18; Deut. 21:11; Judg. 5:30).

Yielding to sexual temptation leads to idolatry. “The people ate” (Num. 25:2) describes an act of worship (cf. Ex. 32:6), since portions of sacrifices are eaten. Eating sacrifices also involves a covenant (Ex. 34:15; Judg. 2:2) by which “Israel yoked [tsamad] himself to Baal” (Num. 25:3). A related noun form (tsemed) describes yoked pairs of oxen (1 Kings 19:19). Paul’s expression “unequally yoked with unbelievers” (2 Cor. 6:14) draws on the Peor incident. “Baal” (Num. 25:3) means “lord/master.” Baal worship was widespread in the ancient Near East under various names, often coupled with localities (e.g., “of Peor” [v. 3; cf. 23:28] or “Baal-meon” [32:38; cf. comment on 22:22–41, “Bamoth-baal”]).

“The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel” (25:3) occurs once elsewhere in Numbers and in the Pentateuch, the object being the exodus generation’s sentence of forty years of wandering for rebelling at Kadesh (32:13). Once again on the threshold of Canaan, Israel—now the new generation—is again the object of the Lord’s anger (cf. 11:10). That anger is directed first at the “chiefs of the people” (25:4). This precise expression occurs only once elsewhere (Neh. 10:14). It is unlikely that this office is the same as the exodus generation’s chiefs of the twelve tribes (Num. 1:16; 7:2; 10:4; 13:3; cf. 30:1; 32:28; 36:1). If “the people” refers to soldiers (cf. 25:1), “the chiefs” would be their officers (cf. 31:48), who are held accountable to restrain those under them. Their sentence is representative: they are to be hanged. “Hang” (from yqʿ) suggests impalement, which could involve public exposure of the body after death (2 Sam. 21:6, 9; cf. Josh. 8:29; 10:26).

The “judges of Israel” (Num. 25:5; elsewhere 2 Sam. 7:7; 1 Chron. 17:6) are ordered to “kill those of his men.” Whether tribal or military leaders, each is responsible to execute those from his own tribe. There is no record that they carry out the order, which is executed ultimately by “the plague” (Num. 25:9), unless the plague is a metaphor for destruction by their sword.205 The verb “kill” (harag) is used for capital punishment (Lev. 20:16); the instrument could be the sword (Amos 9:4). The sword of the government is a means whereby God executes his wrath (Rom. 13:4–5).

The scene shifts from rampant Baal worship to an incident involving a couple presented as “one of the people of Israel” and “a Midianite woman” (Num. 25:6), or “the man of Israel” and “the woman” (v. 8). Their names and origins are disclosed later (vv. 14–15): Zimri, a Simeonite and son of Salu (a chief), and Cozbi, daughter of Zur (a Midianite tribal head). The Israelite “brought” her to his family (v. 6, lit., “to his brothers/kinsmen”) in the Simeonite camp south of the tabernacle. Presenting her to them suggests his intention to marry her. The brazen act of Zimri occurs while Moses and the other leaders are weeping (v. 6) over the people’s sinful behavior. The “entrance of the tent of meeting” (v. 6) is where ritual decisions are made (Ex. 38:8; Lev. 14:11; Num. 6:13) and legal matters handled (cf. Num. 27:2–3; Josh. 19:51).

The pedigree of Phinehas is mentioned twice as “son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest” (Num. 25:7, 11). At this point Eleazar is high priest, Aaron’s successor (20:28). Phinehas “rose and left the congregation,” that is, of the repentant leaders (25:7). He “pierced both of them” (v. 8). Phinehas’ act cannot be performed by his father, for a high priest must avoid corpse contamination (cf. comment on 6:1–12 [at vv. 6–7]). When Aaron was high priest, Eleazar was commissioned to remove the censers of the 250 men consumed by fire from the Lord (16:37). “Her belly” (qebah, once elsewhere Deut. 18:3) sounds somewhat like “chamber” (qubbah, only occurrence), the latter perhaps the women’s section of the family tent.206 Consummating marriage generally took place in the mother’s tent (Gen. 24:67; Song 3:4). Like idolatry, marriage with an unbeliever was forbidden (Deut. 7:3–4; Judg. 2:2; 3:6; cf. Ezra 9:2, 12; Neh. 13:25–27). Idolatry and marriages create covenant bonds (Ex. 34:15–16). Both are a breach of faith (maʿal), a sacrilege, for which, apart from special conditions, no blood purification can be made (cf. comments on Num. 5:5–10; 5:11–31 [at vv. 12, 27]; 25:10–15, “atonement”). Although the plague is halted by Phinehas’ act, it nevertheless kills “twenty-four thousand” (25:9). The sharp census decrease of Simeonites is undoubtedly due to this (1:23; 26:14).

25:10–15 As the son of Eleazar, Phinehas no doubt succeeds his father as chief over the chiefs of the Levites who keep guard over the sanctuary (Num. 3:32). As priest, he is God’s representative to the people and the people’s representative before God. He is “jealous with my jealousy” (qanaʾ; cf. Ps. 69:9 [69:10 MT]; John 2:17); the Lord’s “wrath” and “jealousy” (Num. 25:11) are juxtaposed elsewhere (Deut. 29:20; Ezek. 16:42; 38:19; Zeph. 1:18; Zech. 8:2). Phinehas’ act, rooted in righteous indignation, confines the impurity to the camp, halts its spread, and thereby prevents the profanation of the sanctuary. The Lord declares, “I did not consume [kalah, “bring to an end/finish”; Num. 7:1; 16:31] the people of Israel in my jealousy” (25:11)—as almost occurred in Korah’s rebellion (16:21–24), here too all the people could have suffered the consequences. As mediator, Phinehas acts promptly on behalf of both God and the people. His deed saves many and vindicates God’s justice. Yet it is God alone who spares the people, whose rebellion in some ways surpasses that of the generation that perished in the desert, given their firsthand awareness of the consequences of that rebellion.

Phinehas’ spontaneous and unilateral act leaves him vulnerable to revenge sought by Zimri’s kinsmen.207 “My covenant of peace” (beriti shalom; 25:12; cf. Isa. 54:10; Ezek. 34:25; 37:26) promises protection for Phinehas. It is a “covenant of a perpetual priesthood” (Num. 25:13; cf. Jer. 33:21; Neh. 13:29). The priesthood promise has been made broadly to the tribe of Levi (Ex. 32:29; Deut. 33:8, 10; Mal. 2:4–8) and specifically to Aaron and his sons (Ex. 29:9; 40:15; Num. 3:10; 18:1; 1 Chron. 9:20). Psalm 106:31 recalls Phinehas’ deed, which is “counted to him as righteousness [tsedaqah] from generation to generation forever.” The generational promise is realized in his descendant Zadok (tsadoq; 1 Chron. 6:50–53), who serves as a priest during David’s reign (2 Sam. 8:17) and is the father of the Zadokite priests (Ezek. 40:46; 44:15–16).

The Lord has promised Israel that his “covenant of peace” (berit shalom) will endure (Isa. 54:10). By his covenant of peace with Israel, God will protect Israel (Isa. 54:10) like a shepherd over his sheep by means of his servant David (Ezek. 34:25; cf. Ezek. 34:23). This covenant of peace establishes David as prince forever, with God’s sanctuary in the midst of his people (Ezek. 37:26; cf. Ezek. 34:25, 27–28). It is based on the triple promise, “My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Ezek. 37:27; cf. Lev. 26:11). This is the essence of the new covenant (Jer. 31:33; 2 Cor. 6:16; Heb. 8:10), foreshadowing eternal realties (Rev. 21:3). The covenant of peace thus combines priesthood and kingship. The prince of peace (Isa. 9:6), Christ in the order of Melchizedek, priest and king (Heb. 7:1–3; cf. Gen. 14:18), is established as king and priest forever (1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 6:20; 7:11–28; Rev. 15:3).

When Phinehas makes atonement (kapar; Num. 25:13), it is not a sanctuary ceremony to make expiatory purification (cf. comment on 15:22–31; cf. Ezek. 43:20, 26). Atonement made without sacrificial blood outside the sacred sphere is propitiatory (cf. comment on Num. 16:36–50 [at v. 46]).

25:16–18 The command to “harass the Midianites” (v. 17) means to be adversarial (from tsarar; cf. n. tsar, “enemy,” 10:9). Transjordanian Midianites live in Moab (cf. comment on 22:1–21 [at v. 4]; cf. 1 Chron. 1:46). Israel is to “strike them down” (nakah), meaning “take their life” (Deut. 19:6), because “they have harassed you” (from tsarar; Num. 25:18). Their sentence fits the crime. “The matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi” (v. 18) are two separate instances (cf. comment on 25:1–9 [at v. 6]). However, as in this example, warnings against mixed marriages and idolatry are often juxtaposed (e.g., Ex. 34:15–16; Deut. 7:3–4; Josh. 23:12–13; 1 Kings 11:2). One leads to the other (Judg. 3:6). Both are subsumed under “Baal of Peor” (Deut. 4:3; Ps. 106:28). Numbers 31 records the vengeance on Midian, the execution of this order and one in which Balaam, who devised the devious scheme, is also killed (31:8).