Numbers 25:18

_FOR 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._ They vex you with their wiles. Instead of open war, they plot insidious ways of accomplishing your ruin by idolatry and corruption. THEIR SISTER - i:e., their country-woman....

16-18 We read not that any Midianites died of the plague; God punished them with the sword of an enemy, not with the rod of a father. We must set ourselves against whatever is an occasion of sin to us, Matthew 5:29; Matthew 5:30. Whatever draws us to sin, should be a vexation to us, as a thorn in the flesh. And none will be more surely and severely punished than those who, after Satan's example, and with his subtlety, tempt others to sin....

EXPOSITION THE SIN OF ISRAEL AND ATONEMENT OF PHINEHAS (Numbers 25:1). NUMBERS 25:1 ABODE IN SHITTIM. For a considerable time; from their first arrival in the Arboth Moab until the crossing of the Jordan. Shittim is the shortened form of Abel-Shittim, "Field of Acacias" (Numbers 33:49). It seems to have been the northernmost part of the last encampment of Israel on that side Jordan, and the head-quarters of the host (Joshua 2:1;...

FOR THEY VEX YOU WITH THEIR WILES,.... Not with wars, but with wiles, with cunning stratagems, and artful methods to draw them into sin, that thereby they might be exposed to the wrath of God: WHEREWITH THEY HAVE BEGUILED YOU IN THE MATTER OF PEOR; the idol Peor, that is, Baalpeor; which seems to countenance the notion that Peor was the name of a man, some great personage, who was deified after his death; now the Midianites beguiled the Israelites, by sending their daughters among them, with whom they committed fornication, and by whom they were inveigled to worship the idol Peor: AND IN THE MATTER OF COZBI, THE DAUGHTER OF A PRINCE OF MIDIAN, their sister; their countrywoman, as it was common with eastern people to call those of the same country with them their brethren and sisters: now the Midianites beguiled the Israelites, by prostituting a person of such quality to a prince of the...

2. ISRAEL'S SIN WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MOAB: PHINEHAS CHAPTER 25 _ 1. The transgression and the anger of Jehovah (Numbers 25:1)_ 2. Phinehas' action (Numbers 25:6) 3. Phinehas and his reward (Numbers 25:10) 4. The Midianites to be smitten (Numbers 26:16) The sin of Israel was the result of Balaam's work. He could not turn Jehovah from Israel (no enemy can), but he could turn Israel from God. While we do not read here that the fornication and idolatry into which Israel fell was Balaam's work, elsewhere this information is given. See...

NUMBERS 25. In this chapter fragments of two distinct narratives have been united. In the first (from JE), the Israelites sin with _Moabite_ women, and the sin is punished by the _judicial execution_ of the offenders. In the second (from P), the sin is committed with _Midianite_ women, and is avenged by a _plague._ The first fragment lacks a conclusion, the second its beginning. NUMBERS 25:1. (JE). IMMORALITY WITH MOABITE WOMEN AT SHITTIM. This was followed by participation in the idolatrous worship of the Moabite god Chemosh (Numbers 21:29), who was styled (Numbers 25:3 _mg.)_ the Baal (or lord) of Peor (just as there was a Baal of Hermon, and a Baal of Lebanon). The carrying o

WILES. seductions. Hebrew. _nekal._ Occurs only here. DAY: i.e. the "one day" of 1 Corinthians 10:8....

are an editorial note. The compiler who placed side by side the two narratives in Numbers 25:1 here combines them in such a way as to represent the _Midianites_as responsible for tempting Israel in both cases. And at the same time he anticipates the command given to Moses in Numbers 31:1....

C. JEHOVAH DENOUNCES THE MIDIANITES vv. 16-18 TEXT Numbers 25:16. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 17. Vex the Midianites, and smite them: 18. For they vex 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. PARAPHRASE Numbers 25:16. And the Lord said unto Moses, 17. Vex the Midianites and strike them. 18. They have harassed you with their wiles, with which they have enticed you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian and their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor. COMMENTARY Quite properly, _PC_ reminds the reader that,

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. M