Deuteronomy 4:3

3 Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-Peor; for all the men that followed Baal-Peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from among you;

Deuteronomy 4:3 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 4:3

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor,
&c.] Because of the idolatry the people of Israel fell into by worshipping that idol, being drawn into it by the daughters of Moab and Midian, through the counsel of Balaam, with whom they committed fornication; which led them to the other sin, and both highly provoking to God. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan are,

``what the Word of the Lord has done to the worshippers of the idol Peor;''

for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath
destroyed them from among you;
24,000 persons died on that account; which being a recent thing, fresh in memory, and what they were eyewitnesses of, was a caution to them to avoid the same sins, as it is to us on whom the ends of the world are come, ( Numbers 23:9 ) ( 1 Corinthians 10:6-8 1 Corinthians 10:11 ) .

Deuteronomy 4:3 In-Context

1 And now, Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do [them], that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which Jehovah the God of your fathers giveth you.

2 Ye shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall ye take from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you.

3 Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-Peor; for all the men that followed Baal-Peor, Jehovah thy God hath destroyed them from among you;

4 but ye that did cleave to Jehovah your God are alive every one of you this day.

5 See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye may do so in the land into which ye enter to possess it.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'the Baal of Peor.'