Numbers 25:7-17

7 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, so he left the meeting and got his spear.

8 He followed the Israelite into his tent and drove his spear through both the Israelite man and the Midianite wo-man. Then the terrible sickness among the Israelites stopped.

9 This sickness had killed twenty-four thousand people.

10 The Lord said to Moses,

11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has saved the Israelites from my anger. He hates sin as much as I do. Since he tried to save my honor among them, I will not kill them.

12 So tell Phinehas that I am making my peace agreement with him.

13 He and his descendants will always be priests, because he had great concern for the honor of his God. He removed the sins of the Israelites so they would belong to God."

14 The Israelite man who was killed with the Midianite woman was named Zimri son of Salu. He was the leader of a family in the tribe of Simeon.

15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Cozbi daughter of Zur, who was the chief of a Midianite family.

16 The Lord said to Moses,

17 "The Midianites are your enemies, and you should kill them.

Numbers 25:7-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 25

The contents of this chapter are, the sin of the people of Israel, their whoredom and idolatry, Nu 25:1-3, their punishment for it, multitudes being slain, Nu 25:4,5, whose number is given, Nu 25:9, the zeal of Phinehas in slaying two notorious offenders, Nu 25:6-8, whose names are observed, Nu 25:14,15 for which he is commended, and the covenant of priesthood was given and confirmed unto him, Nu 25:10-13, and the chapter is concluded with an order to vex the Midianites, for vexing Israel with their wiles, Nu 25:16-18.