Глава 25

The wandering of the Israelites in Shittim. - Defeat of those who have sinned. – Phinehas’s religious zeal. – Return of God’s mercy to the people. - Commandment about the Midianites. Numbers 25:1. And Israel dwelt in Shittim, and the people began to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab, Numbers 25:2. and they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate [their sacrifices] and bowed down to their gods. Numbers 25:3. And Israel cleave to Baalpeor. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel. “Sittim” (Abel-Sittim) – acacia field. Mentioned in the book. Numbers 33.49 and in Joshua 2.1, 3.1. Voluptuous orgies were among the rites of worship of certain deities of the Chaldean religion, which spread to Phenicia and Canaan. Knowing the grossly sensual nature of the Jewish people, Balaam had no doubt that lust (Num. 31:16; see Josephus Flavius ​​Jude. Ancient. 4:6) of sensual pleasures would force the Israelites to forget Jehovah and commit fornication in honor of other gods. “And the people began to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab, ... and Israel cleave to Baal-peor.” Numbers 25:4. And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the leaders of the people and hang them before the Lord before the sun, and the fury of the wrath of the Lord will be turned away from Israel. “All the leaders of the people” who sinned through sacrifices and fornication in honor of the pagan deity, “hang before the sun,” that is, in the period of time before sunset: after sunset, the bodies of those hanged must be removed by law (Deut. 21.22, 23). Numbers 25:5. And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Every man kill his men that cling to Baalpeor. “Judges of Israel” - the leaders in the Israeli tribes. Numbers 25:8. and he followed the Israelite into the chamber, and pierced both of them, the Israelite and the woman, into her womb: and the slaughter of the children of Israel was ceased. “Pierced them”, following a feeling of jealousy for the glory of the name of God and the instructions of the law on the death penalty for idolaters (Lev.20.2; Deut. 13.8, 9). “Right of jealousy” – jus. zelotyparum - is recognized by rabbinic teaching for every Jew in cases of danger of temptation for the people (cf. John 2.14, 17). “And the defeat of the children of Israel was ceased.” In addition to the execution of criminals by the sentence of Moses and the judges, the erring people were punished, apparently, by some devastating disease. Numbers 25:9. There were twenty-four thousand who died from the defeat. The Apostle Paul counts (1 Cor 10.8) the dead not 24, but 23 thousand, adhering to the Jewish tradition, according to which a thousand people died not from the “plague”, but from the sword according to the verdict of Moses and the judges. Numbers 25:13. and it will be to him and his descendants after him as a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he showed zeal for his God and interceded for the children of Israel. Until the high priest Eli, the high priesthood was continuously in the descendants of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Under Elijah, the high priesthood temporarily passes from the house of Eleazar to the house of Ithamar (that Eli was from the house of Ithamar is proven by the fact that in 1 Kings 2.27, Abiathar, removed from the high priesthood, is called a descendant of Eli; in 2 Kings 8.17 Ahimelech is called the son of Abiathar, and in 1 Chronicles 24.3 the same Ahimelech is called a descendant of Ithamar); but under Solomon, the high priest Zadok again returns the high priesthood to the house of Phinehas. The descendants of Zadok give Israel high priests until the Babylonian captivity. Tradition adds that (with a short break under Elijah, and then under David) the descendants of Phinehas served as priests until the time of the great High Priest (Vlastov). Numbers 25:18. for they dealt hostilely with you in their deceit, deceiving you with Peor and Hazba, the daughter of the ruler of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of defeat for Peor. “For Pegor”, i.e. for wandering in honor of Baal-Pegor. You might be interested in: