Numbers 25:3-18 ASV

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:10

And the Lord spake unto Moses ,.... Out of the cloud, or out of the tabernacle, at the door of which Moses now was, Numbers 25:6 , this was after so many had died of the plague, and after the fact of Phinehas, by which it was stopped: saying; as follows. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:11

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest ,.... His descent and genealogy is observed as before, partly to show that he was not a private person, but a man of public authority that did the above fact; perhaps one of the judges that Moses ordered to slay every man his man, and therefore what he did by the order of the supreme magistrate; and partly to show that he was heir apparent to the office of high priest, who in course was to succeed in it; nor should this action of his... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:12

Wherefore say ,.... Moses is bid to tell what follows to Phinehas himself, for his comfort and encouragement, and to the people of Israel, that they might take notice of it, and give him honour and respect, as one highly esteemed by the Lord: behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace ; not only hereby assuring him that he had nothing to fear from the brethren and relations of the person he had slain, as Aben Ezra; but that he should enjoy all peace and happiness, external, internal,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:13

And he shall have it, and his seed after him ,.... The covenant, and all the blessings of it; so the covenant stands fast with Christ, and all his spiritual seed, Psalm 89:28 , even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood ; or this may be read in connection with the preceding words, and the sense be, and he and his shall have the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, beside the covenant of peace before promised to him: the Aaronic priesthood is called everlasting, because it was to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:14

Now the name of the Israelite that was slain ,.... By Phinehas, as before related: even that was slain with the Midianitish woman ; who was slain also, both together with one thrust: was Zimri, the son of Sela, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites ; or a prince of his father's house, or family; there were five families of the Simeonites, and this man was a prince of one of them, see Numbers 26:12 though Josephus F8 Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 10. , and so the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:15

And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur ,.... One of the five kings of Midian, Numbers 31:8 and so the Samaritan Chronicle says F11 Apud Hottinger, ut supra. (Smergma Oriental, l. 1. c. 8. p. 448.) , it was the daughter of a king that came to a prince of the tribe of Simeon, and enticed him to eat of her food, and worship her idols. The Targum of Jonathan says she was called Selonae, the daughter of Balak, chief of the nation of Moab, whose... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:16

And the Lord spake unto Moses ,.... This was some time after the above affair happened; how long it was is not certain; and a little time before the death of Moses, see Numbers 31:1 , saying ; as follows. read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:17

Vex the Midianites, and smite them. Go to war with them, and smite them with the sword; not the Moabites, but the Midianites, though they were both confederates against Israel; but God had given a charge not to contend in battle with Moab, Deuteronomy 2:9 , they were spared for the sake of Lot, from whom they sprang; and, as Jarchi says, for the sake of Ruth, who was to come from them; and so in the Talmud F12 T. Bab. Bava Kama, fol. 38. 2. ; though they did not entirely escape the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:18

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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 25:3

Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor - The same as the Priapus of the Romans, and worshipped with the same obscene rites as we have frequently had occasion to remark. The joining to Baal-peor, mentioned here, was probably what St. Paul had in view when he said, 2 Corinthians 6:14 ; : Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And this joining, though done even in a matrimonial way, was nevertheless fornication, (see Revelation 2:14 ;), as no marriage between an Israelite and... read more

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:10

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:11

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:12

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:13

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:14

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:15

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:16

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:17

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:18

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 25:3

Group of Brands