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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:1-18
EXPOSITION THE SIN OF ISRAEL AND ATONEMENT OF PHINEHAS (Numbers 25:1-18).
The Pulpit Commentary on 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 hav…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:1-18
SIN, ZEAL, AND ATONEMENT We have in this chapter the sin of man and the righteousness of God set before us in the most striking light; the virulence of the one, and the triumph of the other through the zeal of God's ser…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:1-5
MOAB FINDS A MORE EFFECTIVE WEAPON In spite of all his efforts and confident expectations, Balak fails in bringing' down Jehovah's curse on Israel. But what cannot be accomplished in the way Balak proposes now gives fai…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:2
And they called, i.e; the women of Moab, encouraged to do so by the licentious intercourse which had sprung up. Without such encouragement it is difficult to suppose that they would have ventured on such a step. And the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:3
Israel joined himself unto Baal-Peor. This is a technical phrase, repeated in Numbers 25:5, and quoted in Psalms 106:28, expressing the quasi-sacramental union into which they entered with the heathen deity by partaking…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:4
The Lord said unto Moses. It seems strange that so fearful an apostasy had gone so far without interference on the part of Moses. He may have been absent from the camp on account of the wars with the Amorite kings; or h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:5
The judges of Israel. אֶל־שֹׁפְטֵי. This is the first place where "the judges" are mentioned by this name (cf. Deuteronomy 1:16; 2:16), but the verb is freely used in Exodus 18:1-27, in describing the functions of the o…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:6
A Midianitish woman. Rather, "the Midianitish woman." אֶת־הַמִּדְיָנִית. Septuagint, τὴν ΄αδιανίτην. The writer deals with an incident only too notorious, and which by the peculiar aggravation of its circumstances had…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:6-15
ZEAL FOR GOD: THE RESULT AND REWARD OF IT I. ZEAL FOR GOD. 1. The occasion on which it was shown. The people were passing through great suffering, as is evident from the mention of the weeping crowd before the tabernacl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:7
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar. See on Exodus 6:25. He seems to have been the only son of Eleazar, and his natural successor in the office of high priest.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:8
Into the tent. אֶל־הַקֻּבָּה. Septuagint, εἰς τὴν κάμινον. The word signifies an arched recess (cf. the Arabic "alcove," from the same root, and the Latin fornix), and means probably the inner division which served a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:9
Were twenty and four thousand. "Fell in one day three and twenty thousand," says St. Paul (1 Corinthians 10:8). As the Septuagint does not deviate here from the Hebrew, the Apostle must have followed some Rabbinical tra…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:10
The Lord spake unto Moses, saying. On the Divine commendation here bestowed upon the act of Phinehas see the note at the end of the chapter. In the Hebrew Bible a new section begins here.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:10-13
A TERRIBLE ATONEMENT We see in this narrative— I. THE NATION WHICH GOD HAD BLESSED, CURSED THROUGH ITS OWN SINS. The Israelites, impregnable against the curses of Balaam, succumb to his wiles. We discover parts of a plo…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:11
While he was zealous for my sake. Rather, "while he was zealous with my zeal". In my jealousy. Rather, "in my zeal;" the same word is used.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:14
Now the name of the Israelite. These details as to names seem to have been added as an after-thought, for they would naturally have been given in Numbers 25:11, where the man and the woman are first mentioned. The woman…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:15
Head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian. Rather, "head of tribes ( אֻמּוֹת, for the use of which cf. Genesis 25:16) of a father's house in Midian." It seems to mean that several clans descended from one tribe…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 25:17
Vex the Midianites. The Moabites, although the evil began with them, were passed over; perhaps because they were still protected by the Divine injunction (Deuteronomy 2:9) not to meddle with them; more probably because…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:1
It came to pass after the plague. This plague was the last event which seriously diminished the numbers of the Israelites; perhaps it was the last event which diminished them at all, for it seems to be throughout implie…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:1-65
EXPOSITION THE SECOND MUSTERING (Numbers 26:1-65).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:1-62
THE SECOND CENSUS I. THE PURPOSE OF IT. 1. The number of those able to go to war in Israel had still to be ascertained. Though the people are now reposing in unaccustomed and grateful quietude, with the promised Canaan…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:1-65
THE FINAL NUMBERING OF THE ELECT Both the numberings of the children of Israel are to be spiritually interpreted of that knowledge which God has of his elect, and of their inscription in the registers of life. The peopl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 26:2
Take the sum of all the congregation. This was certainly not commanded with a view to the war against Midian, which was of no military importance, and was actually prosecuted with no more than 12,000 men (Numbers 31:5).…