Numbers 25:6-16 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 25:6-15

Here is a remarkable contest between wickedness and righteousness, which shall be most bold and resolute; and righteousness carries the day, as no doubt it will at last. I. Never was vice more daring than it was in Zimri, a prince of a chief house in the tribe of Simeon. Such a degree of impudence in wickedness had he arrived at that he publicly appeared leading a Midianitish harlot (and a harlot of quality too like himself, a daughter of a chief house in Midian) in the sight of Moses, and all... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 25:16-18

God had punished the Israelites for their sin with a plague; as a Father he corrected his own children with a rod. But we read not that any of the Midianites died of the plague; God took another course with them, and punished them with the sword of an enemy, not with the rod of a father. 1. Moses, though the meekest man, and far from a spirit of revenge, is ordered to vex the Midianites and smite them, Num. 25:17. Note, We must set ourselves against that, whatever it is, which is an occasion... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:6

And, behold, one of the children of Israel came ,.... From one of the cities of Moab or Midian, the latter rather, by what follows; where he had been, very probably, to an idolatrous feast, and had eaten of the sacrifices, and worshipped idols, and committed fornication with the daughters of the land; and not content with indulging himself with those impurities at a distance and where he was less known: brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman ; into his father's family, into a tent... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:7

And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it ,.... Saw the man pass by in this impudent manner, and his whore with him; his spirit was stirred up, he was filled and fired with zeal for the glory of God, and with an holy indignation against the sin and sinner, and with a just concern for the honour of the righteous law of God; and, to prevent others from falling into the same sin, led by the public example of so great a personage, as it appears afterwards this... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:8

And he went after the man of Israel into the tent ,.... Into which he went with his harlot; the word here used is different from what is commonly used for a tent: Aben Ezra observes that in the Kedarene or Arabic language there is a word near to it, which Bochart, putting the article "al" to it, says F1 "conclave est camerati operis, quo lectus circumdatur", Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 4. c. 8. Colossians 1092 . Vid. Schultens Animadv. Philolog. in Job. p. 183. , is "alkobba", from whence... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:9

And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. The apostle says 23,000 1 Corinthians 10:8 . Moses includes those that were hanged against the sun, in the time of the plague, as well as those that were taken off by it, even all that died on this account; the apostle only those that "fell", which cannot with propriety be said of those that were hanged, who might be 1000 and so their numbers agree; but of this and other ways of removing this difficulty See Gill on 1... read more

John Gill

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

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 25:6-15

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Numbers 25:16-18

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:6

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:7

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:8

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 25:9

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

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