So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.”
- KJV And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
- BSB So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”
- NASB So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill his men who have become followers of Baal of Peor.”
- NLT So Moses ordered Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death the men under your authority who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses orders the judges of Israel to put to death each man who joined himself to Baal of Peor. The command is passed down to be carried out among the people.
Overview
Moses relays God's directive, charging Israel's appointed judges to execute those guilty of idolatry. The instruction emphasizes that judgment must fall specifically on the individuals who committed the sin. This call for purging unfaithfulness shows the gravity of apostasy within the covenant community and the necessity of removing it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Exod 18:21Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men which fear God: men of truth, hating unjust gain; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
- 1 Kgs 18:40Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Don’t let one of them escape!” They seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
- Deut 13:13certain base fellows have gone out from among you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” which you have not known;
- Exod 32:27–28He said to them, “Yahweh says, the God of Israel, ‘Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and every man kill his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.’”
- Exod 18:25–26Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
- Deut 17:3–5and has gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the stars of the sky, which I have not commanded;
- Exod 22:20“He who sacrifices to any god, except to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed.
- Deut 13:15you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, with all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.
- Deut 13:6If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;
- Deut 13:9but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 25:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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