✝
← Bible
ARCBLIVREKJVVBL

Números 25

VBL · Chapter 25/36

1Cuando los israelitas se alojaban en Sitím los hombres empezaron a tener sexo con mujeres moabitas

2que los invitaban a los sacrificios hechos a sus dioses. Los israelitas comían las comidas paganas y se inclinaban ante estos dioses.

3De esta manera los israelitas se dedicaban a la adoración de Baal de Peor, y el Señor estaba enojado con ellos.

4El Señor le dijo a Moisés, “Arresta a todos los líderes israelitas y mátalos ante el Señor donde todos puedan ver para alejar la furiosa ira del Señor del pueblo”.

5Así que Moisés instruyó a los jueces de Israel, “Cada uno de ustedes tiene que matar a todos sus hombres que se han dedicado a adorar a Baal de Peor”.

6En ese momento un hombre israelita llevó a una mujer madianita a la tienda de su familia a la vista de Moisés y de todos los israelitas mientras lloraban a la entrada del Tabernáculo de Reunión.

7Al ver esto, Finees, hijo de Eleazar, hijo del sacerdote Aarón, abandonó la asamblea, agarró una lanza

8y siguió al hombre a su tienda. Allí, Finees atravesó con la lanza a ambos, al israelita y al estómago de la mujer. Esta acción detuvo la plaga que había empezado a matar a los israelitas,

9pero ya habían muerto 24.000.

10El Señor le dijo a Moisés,

11“Finees hijo de Eleazar, hijo del sacerdote Aarón, ha alejado mi ira de los israelitas, porque de todos ellos estaba fervorosamente dedicado a mí, así que no destruí a los israelitas en mi apasionada ira.

12Así que anunciad que le concedo mi acuerdo de paz.

13Será un acuerdo que asegura un sacerdocio permanente para él y sus descendientes, porque se dedicó apasionadamente a su Dios y enderezó a los israelitas”.

14El nombre del israelita que fue asesinado con la mujer madianita era Zimri, hijo de Salu, un líder de la familia de la tribu de Simeón.

15El nombre de la mujer madianita que fue asesinada era Cozbi, hija de Zur, un líder de familia de la tribu de Madián.

16El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

17“Ataca a los madianitas y mátalos,

18porque te atacaron engañosamente, llevándote por mal camino al usar a Peor y a su mujer Cozbi, la hija del líder madianita – la mujer que fue asesinada el día que llegó la plaga por su devoción a Peor –”.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Israel becomes involved in sexual immorality and idolatry with Moabite and Midianite women, worshiping the god Baal-Peor. A deadly plague spreads until Phinehas, Aaron's grandson, publicly kills a couple caught in the act, which stops God's judgment.

Explanation

This episode shows the exact fulfillment of what Balaam had advised behind the scenes (later revealed in Numbers 31:16): since he could not curse Israel directly, the plan was to seduce the people into sin, knowing this would provoke God's own judgment against them. Phinehas's decisive and violent action, though troubling by modern standards, is presented in the text as righteous zeal that stopped a plague that had already killed 24,000 people — and he was rewarded by God with a covenant of perpetual priesthood for his lineage. The central lesson, difficult but important: moral and spiritual compromises, especially through relationships that lead to idolatry, have serious communal consequences, not just individual ones.

Fun facts

  • Baal-Peor was a regional Moabite cult associated with sexual fertility rituals, and the name of the place (Peor) remains associated with this shame in Israel's memory, being mentioned as a warning much later in Hosea 9:10 and Psalm 106:28.
  • Phinehas's reward of a 'covenant of peace' and perpetual priesthood (v. 12-13) is explicitly cited in Psalm 106:30-31 as an act 'credited to him as righteousness,' language that echoes the same expression used about Abraham's faith in Genesis 15:6.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 25:1While camped at Shittim, the people begin getting involved with Moabite women and taking part in the sacrifices and worship of their gods. The problem, from the text’s point of view, is not just the relationships themselves, but adopting another religious cult along with them.
  2. Números 25:2The Moabite women invite the people to the sacrifices of their own gods, and the Israelites not only eat from these offerings but even bow down before these gods.
  3. Números 25:3Israel ends up joining itself to the worship of Baal-peor, and this kindles the LORD’s anger against the people.
  4. Números 25:4God tells Moses to publicly execute the leaders involved in this episode, as a way to turn His burning anger away from Israel.
  5. Números 25:5Moses passes the order on to Israel’s judges: each one was to kill the men under his responsibility who had gotten involved with Baal-peor.
  6. Números 25:6In the middle of this crisis, an Israelite openly brings a Midianite woman into the camp, right in front of Moses and all the people who were weeping at the entrance of the tent.
  7. Números 25:7Seeing this scene, Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, gets up from among the congregation and takes a spear in his hand.
  8. Números 25:8Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, sees an Israelite man openly bringing a Midianite woman into the camp and kills both of them with a spear, which makes the plague that had already begun stop immediately. It is a drastic act, taken in the context of a religious and communal crisis that the text directly links to the end of the punishment.
  9. Números 25:9The total number of dead from this plague reaches 24,000 people.
  10. Números 25:10The LORD speaks to Moses, beginning the official recognition of Phinehas’s action.
  11. Números 25:11God explains that it was precisely Phinehas, through his zeal, who turned His divine anger away from the people, keeping Israel from being completely consumed.
  12. Números 25:12As a reward, God announces that He will make a covenant of peace with Phinehas.
  13. Números 25:13This covenant guarantees Phinehas and his descendants a perpetual priesthood, because of the zeal he had for God and the atonement he made on behalf of the people.
  14. Números 25:14The text identifies the Israelite killed in the episode: Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of a family within the tribe of Simeon.
  15. Números 25:15It also identifies the Midianite woman killed: Cozbi, daughter of Zur, an important leader among the people of Midian.
  16. Números 25:16The LORD speaks to Moses again, now to address the response against the Midianites involved in this episode.
  17. Números 25:17The order is clear: attack and harass the Midianites because of what happened.
  18. Números 25:18The justification is that the Midianites had deliberately deceived Israel in the matter of Peor and in the episode of Cozbi, triggering the plague that killed so many people.

Chapters

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

App StoreGoogle Play

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.

App StoreGoogle Play