Bible Commentaries

Two incidents in Moab

1. abode in Shittim] The name has the definite article, and means ‘the Acacias.’ The site is uncertain, but it lay somewhere in the steppes of Moab. The full form Abel-Shittim occurs in Numbers 33:49. It is perhaps to be identified with Abila, which Josephus locates 60 stadia from the Jordan. This verse may be considered the J E parallel to Numbers 22:1 (P ). Notice that the possession of the territory by the Amorites is, as before (see on Numbers 22:41), disregarded, for the Israelites here come into contact not with Amorites but with Moabites.

1–5. The Israelites sinned with the women of Moab, and were invited by them to the sacrificial feasts of the local god (J E ). 6–15. An Israelite brought a Midianite woman into the camp, and Phinehas, for his zeal in killing them both, received the promise that his descendants should perpetually possess the priesthood (P ). The narratives are quite distinct, but both express condemnation of the immorality of the Israelites in consorting with foreign women. The interest of the former is prophetic, and is concerned with the struggle between the pure worship of Jehovah and the native local cults. The interest of the latter is ecclesiastical, and is concerned with the succession of the Aaronite priesthood.

2. for they called] and they called. The writer relates that the Israelites first came into immoral relations with the women, and then that the women, very naturally, invited them to join in their local religious festivities.

3. Baal-peor] i.e. the deity who was considered the Lord of the place Peor. See on Numbers 23:28. Names of deities consisting of the name Baal with a local attribute are not uncommon in the O.T., and are found on Phoenician inscriptions. Thus there were many Baals (Baâlîm) in different parts of the country (cf. 1 Samuel 7:4, Hosea 2:17).

4. hang them up] i.e. the offenders, not the chiefs. The form of execution denoted by the Heb. word is uncertain. It is the causative (Hiphil) form of the verb used of the dislocation of Jacob’s thigh (Genesis 32:25). Aquila understood it to mean ‘impale,’ Targ. ‘crucify’; others, from the analogy of an Arabic word, explain it as ‘to throw down,’ as from a high rock. It occurs elsewhere only of the execution of Saul’s sons (2 Samuel 21:6).

5. every one his men] Each judge was to execute the offenders that belonged to the division over which he had authority (see Exodus 18:25 f.).

6. while they were weeping] The reason for their weeping is not found till Numbers 25:8 f.; a plague had been sent. The beginning of the narrative stating the reason for the plague has been lost. But it was probably a punishment for the general immorality of which Numbers 25:6 relates one instance.

It has been conjectured that the lost portion of the story related that Balaam persuaded the Midianites to seduce the Israelites into intermarriage with them in order to provoke Jehovah’s anger. In this case Balaam lived (according to P ) not in Mesopotamia or Ammon (see on Numbers 22:5) but in Midian. The conjecture receives support from Numbers 31:8; Numbers 31:16.

6–15. The zeal of Phinehas, and its reward. The passage belongs to the period after the exile, when those only were recognised as priests who could trace their ancestry through Phinehas, and Eleazar his father, to Aaron.

8. the pavilion] Heb. ḳubbâh; a large vaulted tent; ‘alcove’ (R.V. marg.) has gained a different significance, but it is only the Arabic equivalent to the Heb. word with the article al prefixed. The word is not found elsewhere in the O.T. and its meaning is doubtful.

And the plague was stayed] The expression is quoted in Psalm 106:30 where the incident is referred to.