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Numbers 25-26
New English Translation

Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women

25 [a] When[b] Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality[c] with the daughters of Moab. 2 These women invited[d] the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods.[e] 3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal Peor,[f] the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

God’s Punishment

4 The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders[g] of the people, and hang them up[h] before the Lord in broad daylight,[i] so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men[j] who were joined to Baal Peor.”

6 Just then[k] one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers[l] a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of[m] the whole community of the Israelites, while they[n] were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it,[o] he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand, 8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent[p] and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen.[q] So the plague was stopped from the Israelites.[r] 9 Those that died in the plague were 24,000.

The Aftermath

10 The Lord spoke to Moses: 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal[s] for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal.[t] 12 Therefore, announce:[u] ‘I am going to give[v] to him my covenant of peace.[w] 13 So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God,[x] and has made atonement[y] for the Israelites.’”

14 Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed—the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman—was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a clan[z] of the Simeonites. 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader[aa] over the people of a clan of Midian.[ab]

16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 17 “Bring trouble[ac] to the Midianites, and destroy them, 18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived[ad] you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian,[ae] their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”

A Second Census Required

26 [af] After the plague the Lord said to Moses and to Eleazar son of Aaron the priest,[ag] 2 “Take a census of the whole community of Israelites, from twenty years old and upward, by their clans,[ah] everyone who can serve in the army of Israel.”[ai] 3 So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the rift valley plains[aj] of Moab, along the Jordan River[ak] across from Jericho. They said, 4 “Number the people[al] from twenty years old and upward, just as the Lord commanded Moses and the Israelites who went out from the land of Egypt.”

Reuben

5 Reuben was the firstborn of Israel. The Reubenites: from[am] Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; from Pallu, the family of the Palluites; 6 from Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; from Carmi, the family of the Carmites. 7 These were the families of the Reubenites; and those numbered of them were 43,730. 8 Pallu’s descendant[an] was Eliab. 9 Eliab’s descendants were Nemuel, Dathan, and Abiram. It was Dathan and Abiram who as leaders of the community rebelled against Moses and Aaron with the followers[ao] of Korah when they rebelled against the Lord. 10 The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and Korah at the time that company died, when the fire consumed 250 men. So they became a warning. 11 But the descendants of Korah did not die.

Simeon

12 The Simeonites by their families: from Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; from Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; from Jakin, the family of the Jakinites; 13 from Zerah,[ap] the family of the Zerahites; and from Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. 14 These were the families of the Simeonites, 22,200.

Gad

15 The Gadites by their families: from Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; from Haggi, the family of the Haggites; from Shuni, the family of the Shunites; 16 from Ozni,[aq] the family of the Oznites; from Eri,[ar] the family of the Erites; 17 from Arod,[as] the family of the Arodites; and from Areli, the family of the Arelites. 18 These were the families of the Gadites according to those numbered of them, 40,500.

Judah

19 The descendants of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 And the Judahites by their families were: from Shelah, the family of the Shelahites; from Perez, the family of the Perezites; and from Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. 21 And the Perezites were: from Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; from Hamul,[at] the family of the Hamulites. 22 These were the families of Judah according to those numbered of them, 76,500.

Issachar

23 The Issacharites by their families: from Tola, the family of the Tolaites; from Puah, the family of the Puites; 24 from Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; and from Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. 25 These were the families of Issachar, according to those numbered of them, 64,300.

Zebulun

26 The Zebulunites by their families: from Sered, the family of the Sardites; from Elon, the family of the Elonites; from Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. 27 These were the families of the Zebulunites, according to those numbered of them, 60,500.

Manasseh

28 The descendants of Joseph by their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The Manassehites: from Machir, the family of the Machirites (now Machir became the father of Gilead); from Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. 30 These were the Gileadites: from Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; from Helek, the family of the Helekites; 31 from Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; from Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; 32 from Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; from Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. 33 Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 34 These were the families of Manasseh; those numbered of them were 52,700.

Ephraim

35 These are the Ephraimites by their families: from Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; from Beker, the family of the Bekerites; from Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. 36 Now these were the Shuthelahites: from Eran, the family of the Eranites. 37 These were the families of the Ephraimites, according to those numbered of them, 32,500. These[au] were the descendants of Joseph by their families.

Benjamin

38 The Benjaminites by their families: from Bela, the family of the Belaites; from Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; from Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; 39 from Shupham,[av] the family of the Shuphamites; from Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. 40 The descendants of Bela were Ard[aw] and Naaman. From Ard,[ax] the family of the Ardites; from Naaman, the family of the Naamanites. 41 These are the Benjaminites, according to their families, and according to those numbered of them, 45,600.

Dan

42 These are the Danites by their families: from Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These were the families of Dan, according to their families. 43 All the families of the Shuhamites according to those numbered of them were 64,400.

Asher

44 The Asherites by their families: from Imnah, the family of the Imnahites; from Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; from Beriah, the family of the Beriahites. 45 From the Beriahites: from Heber, the family of the Heberites; from Malkiel, the family of the Malkielites. 46 Now the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.[ay] 47 These are the families of the Asherites, according to those numbered of them, 53,400.

Naphtali

48 The Naphtalites by their families: from Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; from Guni, the family of the Gunites; 49 from Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; from Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. 50 These were the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those numbered of them were 45,400.

Total Number and Division of the Land

51 These were those numbered of the Israelites, 601,730.

52 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 53 “To these the land must be divided as an inheritance according to the number of the names. 54 To a larger group you will give a larger inheritance,[az] and to a smaller group you will give a smaller inheritance.[ba] To each one its inheritance must be given according to the number of people in it.[bb] 55 The land must be divided by lot; and they will inherit in accordance with the names of their ancestral tribes. 56 Their inheritance must be apportioned[bc] by lot among the larger and smaller groups.”

57 And these are the Levites who were numbered according to their families: from Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; from Merari, the family of the Merarites. 58 These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram. 59 Now the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, daughter of Levi, who was born[bd] to Levi in Egypt. And to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister. 60 And to Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire[be] before the Lord. 62 Those of the Levites[bf] who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

63 These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the Israelites in the rift valley plains[bg] of Moab along the Jordan River opposite Jericho. 64 But there was not a man among these who had been[bh] among those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they numbered the Israelites in the desert of Sinai. 65 For the Lord had said of them, “They will surely die in the wilderness.” And there was not left a single man of them, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 25:1 sn Chapter 25 tells of Israel’s sins on the steppes of Moab, and God’s punishment. In the overall plan of the book, here we have another possible threat to God’s program, although here it comes from within the camp (Balaam was the threat from without). If the Moabites could not defeat them one way, they would try another. The chapter has three parts: fornication (vv. 1-3), God’s punishment (vv. 4-9), and aftermath (vv. 10-18). See further G. E. Mendenhall, The Tenth Generation, 105-21; and S. C. Reif, “What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8, ” JBL 90 (1971): 200-206.
  2. Numbers 25:1 tn This first preterite is subordinated to the next as a temporal clause; it is not giving a parallel action, but the setting for the event.
  3. Numbers 25:1 sn The account apparently means that the men were having sex with the Moabite women. Why the men submitted to such a temptation at this point is hard to say. It may be that as military heroes the men took liberties with the women of occupied territories.
  4. Numbers 25:2 tn The verb simply says “they called,” but it is a feminine plural. And so the women who engaged in immoral acts with Hebrew men invited them to their temple ritual.
  5. Numbers 25:2 sn What Israel experienced here was some of the debased ritual practices of the Canaanite people. The act of prostrating themselves before the pagan deities was probably participation in a fertility ritual, nothing short of cultic prostitution. This was a blatant disregard of the covenant and the Law. If something were not done, the nation would have destroyed itself.
  6. Numbers 25:3 tn The verb is “yoked” to Baal Peor. The word is unusual, and may suggest the physical, ritual participation described below. It certainly shows that they acknowledge the reality of the local god.sn The evidence indicates that Moab was part of the very corrupt Canaanite world, a world that was given over to the fertility ritual of the times.
  7. Numbers 25:4 sn The meaning must be the leaders behind the apostasy, for they would now be arrested. They were responsible for the tribes’ conformity to the Law, but here they had not only failed in their duty, but had participated. The leaders were executed; the rest of the guilty died by the plague.
  8. Numbers 25:4 sn The leaders who were guilty were commanded by God to be publicly exposed by hanging, probably a reference to impaling, but possibly some other form of harsh punishment. The point was that the swaying of their executed bodies would be a startling warning for any who so blatantly set the Law aside and indulged in apostasy through pagan sexual orgies.
  9. Numbers 25:4 tn Heb “in the sun.” This means in broad daylight.
  10. Numbers 25:5 tn Heb “slay—a man his men.” The imperative is plural, and so “man” is to be taken collectively as “each of you men.”
  11. Numbers 25:6 tn The verse begins with the deictic particle וְהִנֵּה (vehinneh), pointing out the action that was taking place. It stresses the immediacy of the action to the reader.
  12. Numbers 25:6 tn Or “to his family”; or “to his clan.”
  13. Numbers 25:6 tn Heb “before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of.”
  14. Numbers 25:6 tn The vav (ו) at the beginning of the clause is a disjunctive because it is prefixed to the nonverbal form. In this context it is best interpreted as a circumstantial clause, stressing that this happened “while” people were weeping over the sin.
  15. Numbers 25:7 tn The first clause is subordinated to the second because both begin with the preterite verbal form, and there is clearly a logical and/or chronological sequence involved.
  16. Numbers 25:8 tn The word קֻבָּה (qubbah) seems to refer to the innermost part of the family tent. Some suggest it was in the tabernacle area, but that is unlikely. S. C. Reif argues for a private tent shrine (“What Enraged Phinehas? A Study of Numbers 25:8, ” JBL 90 [1971]: 200-206).
  17. Numbers 25:8 tn Heb “and he thrust the two of them the Israelite man and the woman to her belly [lower abdomen].” Reif notes the similarity of the word with the previous “inner tent,” and suggests that it means Phinehas stabbed her in her shrine tent, where she was being set up as some sort of priestess or cult leader. Phinehas put a quick end to their sexual immorality while they were in the act.
  18. Numbers 25:8 sn Phinehas saw all this as part of the pagan sexual ritual that was defiling the camp. He had seen that the Lord himself had had the guilty put to death. And there was already some plague breaking out in the camp that had to be stopped. And so in his zeal he dramatically put an end to this incident, that served to stop the rest and end the plague.
  19. Numbers 25:11 tn Heb “he was zealous with my zeal.” The repetition of forms for “zeal” in the line stresses the passion of Phinehas. The word “zeal” means a passionate intensity to protect or preserve divine or social institutions.
  20. Numbers 25:11 tn The word for “zeal” now occurs a third time. While some English versions translate this word here as “jealousy” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV), it carries the force of God’s passionate determination to defend his rights and what is right about the covenant and the community and parallels the “zeal” that Phinehas had just demonstrated.
  21. Numbers 25:12 tn Heb “say.”
  22. Numbers 25:12 tn Here too the grammar expresses an imminent future by using the particle הִנְנִי (hineni) before the participle נֹתֵן (noten)—“here I am giving,” or “I am about to give.”
  23. Numbers 25:12 tn Or “my pledge of friendship” (NAB), or “my pact of friendship” (NJPS). This is the designation of the leadership of the priestly ministry. The terminology is used again in the rebuke of the priests in Mal 2.
  24. Numbers 25:13 tn The motif is reiterated here. Phinehas was passionately determined to maintain the rights of his God by stopping the gross sinful perversions.
  25. Numbers 25:13 sn The atonement that he made in this passage refers to the killing of the two obviously blatant sinners. By doing this he dispensed with any animal sacrifice, for the sinners themselves died. In Leviticus it was the life of the substitutionary animal that was taken in place of the sinners that made atonement. The point is that sin was punished by death, and so God was free to end the plague and pardon the people. God’s holiness and righteousness have always been every bit as important as God’s mercy and compassion, for without righteousness and holiness mercy and compassion mean nothing.
  26. Numbers 25:14 tn Heb “a father’s house.” So also in v. 15.
  27. Numbers 25:15 tn Heb “head.”
  28. Numbers 25:15 sn The passage makes it clear that this individual was a leader, one who was supposed to be preventing this thing from happening. The judgment was swift and severe, because the crime was so great, and the danger of it spreading was certain. Paul refers to this horrible incident when he reminds Christians not to do similar things (1 Cor 10:6-8).
  29. Numbers 25:17 tn The form is the infinitive absolute used in place of a verb here; it clearly is meant to be an instruction for Israel. The idea is that of causing trouble, harassing, vexing Midian. The verb is repeated as the active participle in the line, and so the punishment is talionic.
  30. Numbers 25:18 tn This is the same word as that translated “treachery.”
  31. Numbers 25:18 sn Cozbi’s father, Zur, was one of five Midianite kings who eventually succumbed to Israel (Num 31:8). When the text gives the name and family of a woman, it is asserting that she is important, at least for social reasons, among her people.
  32. Numbers 26:1 sn The breakdown of ch. 26 for outlining purposes will be essentially according to the tribes of Israel. The format and structure is similar to the first census, and so less comment is necessary here.
  33. Numbers 26:1 tc The MT has also “saying.”
  34. Numbers 26:2 tn Heb “house of their fathers.”
  35. Numbers 26:2 tn Heb “everyone who goes out in the army in Israel.”
  36. Numbers 26:3 tn The term עַרְבוֹת (ʿarevot) refers to the sloping plain of the rift valley basin to the north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan. See the note at Num 21:1.
  37. Numbers 26:3 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for clarity (also in v. 62).
  38. Numbers 26:4 tn “Number the people” is added here to the text for a smooth reading.
  39. Numbers 26:5 tc The Hebrew text has no preposition here, but one has been supplied in the translation for clarity. Cf. vv. 23, 30, 31, 32.
  40. Numbers 26:8 tc The MT has “and the sons of Pallu.”
  41. Numbers 26:9 tn Or “company” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); Heb “congregation.”
  42. Numbers 26:13 tc This is “Zohar” in Exod 6:15 and Gen 46:10.
  43. Numbers 26:16 tc The MT of Gen 46:16 reads this as “Ezbon.”
  44. Numbers 26:16 tc The Greek version and Smr have “Ad[d]i,” probably by confusion of letters.
  45. Numbers 26:17 tc Gen 46:16 and the LXX here read “Arodi.”
  46. Numbers 26:21 tc Smr and the Greek version have “Hamuel.”
  47. Numbers 26:37 sn This is a significant reduction from the first count of 40,500.
  48. Numbers 26:39 tc With the exception of a few manuscripts the MT has Shephupham. The spelling in the translation above is supported by Smr and the ancient versions.
  49. Numbers 26:40 tc The LXX has Adar. Cf. 1 Chr 8:3.
  50. Numbers 26:40 tc “From Ard” is not in the Hebrew text.
  51. Numbers 26:46 tn Also mentioned in 1 Chr 7:30.
  52. Numbers 26:54 tn Heb “to many you will multiply his inheritance.”
  53. Numbers 26:54 tn Heb “to a few you will lessen his inheritance.”
  54. Numbers 26:54 tn Heb “according to those that were numbered of him,” meaning, in accordance with the number of people in his clan.
  55. Numbers 26:56 tn Heb “divided.”
  56. Numbers 26:59 tn Heb “who she bore him to Levi.” The verb has no expressed subject. Either one could be supplied, such as “her mother,” or it could be treated as a passive.
  57. Numbers 26:61 tn The expression אֵשׁ זָרָה (ʾesh zarah, “strange fire”) seems imprecise and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC 4], 132-33). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from some place other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:598; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” [אִישׁ זָר, ʾish zar] in Num 16:40 [17:5 HT], NASB “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” [קְטֹרֶת זָרָה, qetoret zarah] on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34-38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 59), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1-2).sn This event is narrated in Lev 10:1-7.
  58. Numbers 26:62 tn Heb “them”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  59. Numbers 26:63 sn This is the area of the rift valley basin to the north of the Dead Sea and east of the Jordan. See the note at Num 21:1.
  60. Numbers 26:64 tn “who had been” is added to clarify the text.
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