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Números 25

ARC · Chapter 25/36

1E Israel deteve-se em Sittim, e o povo começou a fornicar com as filhas dos moabitas.

2E convidaram o povo aos sacrificios dos seus deuses; e o povo comeu, e inclinou-se aos seus deuses.

3Juntando-se pois Israel a Baalpeor, a ira do Senhor se accendeu contra Israel.

4Disse o Senhor a Moysés: Toma todos os Cabeças do povo, e enforca-os ao Senhor diante do sol, e o ardor da ira do Senhor se retirará d'Israel.

5Então Moysés disse aos juizes d'Israel: Cada um mate os seus homens que se conjuntaram a Baalpeor.

6E eis que veiu um homem dos filhos de Israel, e trouxe a seus irmãos uma midianita aos olhos de Moysés, e aos olhos de toda a congregação dos filhos de Israel, chorando elles diante da tenda da congregação.

7Vendo isso Phineas, filho de Eleazar, o filho d'Aarão, sacerdote, se levantou do meio da congregação, e tomou uma lança na sua mão

8E foi após do varão israelita até á tenda, e os atravessou a ambos, ao varão israelita e á mulher, pela sua barriga: então a praga cessou de sobre os filhos de Israel

9E os que morreram d'aquella praga foram vinte e quatro mil.

10Então o Senhor fallou a Moysés, dizendo:

11Phineas, filho d'Eleazar, o filho d'Aarão sacerdote, desviou a minha ira de sobre os filhos de Israel, pois zelou o meu zelo no meio d'elles; que no meu zelo não consumi os filhos d'Israel.

12Portanto dize: Eis que lhe dou o meu concerto de paz,

13E elle, e a sua semente depois d'elle, terá o concerto do sacerdocio perpetuo; porquanto teve zelo pelo seu Deus, e fez propiciação pelos filhos d'Israel.

14E o nome do israelita morto, que foi morto com a midianita, era Zimri, filho de Salu, maioral da casa paterna dos simeonitas.

15E o nome da mulher midianita, morta, era Cosbi, filha de Zur, cabeça do povo da casa paterna entre os midianitas.

16Fallou mais o Senhor a Moysés, dizendo:

17Affligireis os midianitas e os ferireis,

18Porque elles vos affligiram a vós outros com os seus enganos com que vos enganaram no negocio de Peor, e no negocio de Cosbi, filha do maioral dos midianitas, a irmã d'elles, que foi morta no dia da praga no negocio de Peor.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Israel becomes involved in sexual immorality and idolatry with Moabite and Midianite women, worshiping the god Baal-Peor. A deadly plague spreads until Phinehas, Aaron's grandson, publicly kills a couple caught in the act, which stops God's judgment.

Explanation

This episode shows the exact fulfillment of what Balaam had advised behind the scenes (later revealed in Numbers 31:16): since he could not curse Israel directly, the plan was to seduce the people into sin, knowing this would provoke God's own judgment against them. Phinehas's decisive and violent action, though troubling by modern standards, is presented in the text as righteous zeal that stopped a plague that had already killed 24,000 people — and he was rewarded by God with a covenant of perpetual priesthood for his lineage. The central lesson, difficult but important: moral and spiritual compromises, especially through relationships that lead to idolatry, have serious communal consequences, not just individual ones.

Fun facts

  • Baal-Peor was a regional Moabite cult associated with sexual fertility rituals, and the name of the place (Peor) remains associated with this shame in Israel's memory, being mentioned as a warning much later in Hosea 9:10 and Psalm 106:28.
  • Phinehas's reward of a 'covenant of peace' and perpetual priesthood (v. 12-13) is explicitly cited in Psalm 106:30-31 as an act 'credited to him as righteousness,' language that echoes the same expression used about Abraham's faith in Genesis 15:6.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 25:1While camped at Shittim, the people begin getting involved with Moabite women and taking part in the sacrifices and worship of their gods. The problem, from the text’s point of view, is not just the relationships themselves, but adopting another religious cult along with them.
  2. Números 25:2The Moabite women invite the people to the sacrifices of their own gods, and the Israelites not only eat from these offerings but even bow down before these gods.
  3. Números 25:3Israel ends up joining itself to the worship of Baal-peor, and this kindles the LORD’s anger against the people.
  4. Números 25:4God tells Moses to publicly execute the leaders involved in this episode, as a way to turn His burning anger away from Israel.
  5. Números 25:5Moses passes the order on to Israel’s judges: each one was to kill the men under his responsibility who had gotten involved with Baal-peor.
  6. Números 25:6In the middle of this crisis, an Israelite openly brings a Midianite woman into the camp, right in front of Moses and all the people who were weeping at the entrance of the tent.
  7. Números 25:7Seeing this scene, Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, gets up from among the congregation and takes a spear in his hand.
  8. Números 25:8Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, sees an Israelite man openly bringing a Midianite woman into the camp and kills both of them with a spear, which makes the plague that had already begun stop immediately. It is a drastic act, taken in the context of a religious and communal crisis that the text directly links to the end of the punishment.
  9. Números 25:9The total number of dead from this plague reaches 24,000 people.
  10. Números 25:10The LORD speaks to Moses, beginning the official recognition of Phinehas’s action.
  11. Números 25:11God explains that it was precisely Phinehas, through his zeal, who turned His divine anger away from the people, keeping Israel from being completely consumed.
  12. Números 25:12As a reward, God announces that He will make a covenant of peace with Phinehas.
  13. Números 25:13This covenant guarantees Phinehas and his descendants a perpetual priesthood, because of the zeal he had for God and the atonement he made on behalf of the people.
  14. Números 25:14The text identifies the Israelite killed in the episode: Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of a family within the tribe of Simeon.
  15. Números 25:15It also identifies the Midianite woman killed: Cozbi, daughter of Zur, an important leader among the people of Midian.
  16. Números 25:16The LORD speaks to Moses again, now to address the response against the Midianites involved in this episode.
  17. Números 25:17The order is clear: attack and harass the Midianites because of what happened.
  18. Números 25:18The justification is that the Midianites had deliberately deceived Israel in the matter of Peor and in the episode of Cozbi, triggering the plague that killed so many people.

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