Deuteronomy 4:3

3 Your eyes saw all things which the Lord did against Baalpeor; how he all-brake all the worshippers of him from the midst of you. (Your own eyes saw all the things which the Lord did at Mount Peor; how he destroyed all the worshippers of Baal of Peor in the midst of 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, thou Israel, hear the behests and dooms which I teach thee, that thou do those, and live, and that thou enter and wield the land which the Lord God of your fathers shall give to you. (And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and laws, or judgements, which I shall teach thee, so that thou do them, and live, and so that thou can enter and take the land which the Lord God of your fathers shall give to you.)

2 Ye shall not add to the word which I speak to you, neither ye shall take away from it; keep ye the commandments of your Lord God (obey the commandments of the Lord your God), which I command to you.

3 Your eyes saw all things which the Lord did against Baalpeor; how he all-brake all the worshippers of him from the midst of you. (Your own eyes saw all the things which the Lord did at Mount Peor; how he destroyed all the worshippers of Baal of Peor in the midst of you.)

4 Forsooth ye that cleave(d) to your Lord God live all till into (this) present day. (But all of ye who cleaved to the Lord your God still be alive unto this present day.)

5 Ye know that I taught you the behests and the rightwisenesses, as my Lord God commanded to me; so ye shall do them in the land that ye shall wield, (Ye know that I have taught you all the statutes and the laws, or the judgements, as the Lord my God commanded to me; and ye shall do them in the land that ye shall take,)