Numbers 25:4

4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

Numbers 25:4 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.
English Standard Version (ESV)
4 And the LORD said to Moses, "Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel."
New Living Translation (NLT)
4 The LORD issued the following command to Moses: “Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the LORD in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel.”
The Message Bible (MSG)
4 God said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of Israel and kill them by hanging, leaving them publicly exposed in order to turn God's anger away from Israel."
American Standard Version (ASV)
4 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto Jehovah before the sun, that the fierce anger of Jehovah may turn away from Israel.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
4 The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people, and execute them in broad daylight in the LORD's presence. This will turn the LORD's anger away from Israel."
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
4 The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord so that His burning anger may turn away from Israel."
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
4 The LORD said to Moses, "Take all of the leaders of these people. Kill them. Put their dead bodies out in the open. I want to see you do it in the middle of the day. Then my anger will not burn against Israel."

Numbers 25:4 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 25:4

And the Lord said unto Moses
Being provoked with the sins of the people, he called to him out of the tabernacle, or out of the cloud:

take all the heads of the people,
the princes of the tribes, not to hang them, but to judge those that worshipped Peor, as Jarchi interprets it; though some think that these having sinned, were ordered to be taken and hanged, and made public examples of; but it can hardly be thought, though there were some that might be guilty of the above sins, as Zimri, yet not all of them:

hang them up before the Lord against the sun;
that is, those that were guilty of idolatry: the meaning is, and which all the Targums give into, that these heads of the people were to assemble at some proper place, the court of judicature, and order the delinquents to be brought before them, and try, judge, and condemn those they found guilty, and cause them to be hanged somewhere near the tabernacle, and before it, having neglected the worship of God there, and served an idol; and this was to be done openly in the daytime, that all might see and fear; and if it was the sun that was worshipped in this idol, as some think, they were hanged against the sun, to show that the idol they worshipped was not able to deliver them; but, in the face of it, and as it were in defiance of it, they were ordered to be hanged up; and this, according to the Targum of Jonathan, was in the morning against the rising sun, and where they hung all day, and were taken down at sun setting:

that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel;
when justice had taken place, and proper punishment was inflicted upon the criminals, whereby a just resentment was made against sin, and God glorified.

Numbers 25:4 In-Context

2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods.
3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them.
4 The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”
6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

Cross References 4

  • 1. Numbers 7:2; Numbers 13:3
  • 2. 2 Samuel 21:6
  • 3. Deuteronomy 4:3
  • 4. Exodus 32:12; Deuteronomy 13:17; Joshua 7:26; 2 Kings 23:26; 2 Chronicles 28:11; 2 Chronicles 29:10; 2 Chronicles 30:8; Ezra 10:14; Jeremiah 44:3
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.