Numbers 25:1-18

Idolatry and Immorality of the Israelites at Shittim. The Zeal of Phinehas

1-5. The Israelites, who have just been exhibited as proof against enchantments, are not able to resist the temptations to idolatry, and its connected sin of immorality, arising from their proximity to the tribes of Moab and Midian. In Numbers 31:16 their apostasy is attributed to the counsel of Balaam (see also Revelation 2:14), who is afterwards put to death for it (Numbers 31:8; Joshua 13:22). But it is difficult without violence to reconcile this conduct on the part of Balaam with his former attitude towards Israel, and his utterances regarding them. Moreover, the last verse of the preceding chapter is evidently intended to mark his return to the Euphrates and his disappearance from the subsequent history of Israel. It seems almost beyond doubt that there was from early times a double tradition regarding this famous soothsayer. According to one, Balaam is a Mesopotamian soothsayer who becomes the instrument of God in blessing His people and foretelling their future greatness; according to the other, he is a Midianitish counsellor who sets himself to seduce the people of Jehovah and suffers the extreme penalty of his error.