to commit adultery (usually of the female · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct
daughters
בְּנ֥וֹתbe.Not
H1323
a daughter (used in the same wide sense as other terms… · noun, common feminine plural construct
Moab
מוֹאָֽבmo.'Av
H4124
Moab · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Corinthians 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
Numbers 33:49 And they pitched by Jordan, from Beth-jesimoth even unto Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.
Joshua 2:1 And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into…
Micah 6:5 O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye…
Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblo…
Numbers 31:15-16 And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
Joshua 3:1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there…
Ecclesiastes 7:26 And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from he…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Numbers 25:1-5
Here is, I. The sin of Israel, to which they were enticed by the daughters of Moab and Midian; they were guilty both of corporal and spiritual whoredoms, for Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor, Num 25:3. Not all, nor the most, but very many, were taken in this snare. Now concerning this observe, 1. That Balak, by the advice of Balaam, cast this stumbling-block before the children of Israel, Rev 2:14. Note, Those are our worst enemies that draw us to sin, for that is the greatest mischief any man can do us. If Balak had drawn out his armed men against them to fight them, Israel had bravely resisted, and no doubt had been more than conquerors; but now that he sends his beautiful women among…
And Israel abode in Shittim,.... A place in the plains of Moab, so called from the shittim wood, which grew here in great abundance, so often mentioned in the building of the tabernacle; which was a sort of white thorn, or rather the acacia tree, since there was scarcely any thing else grew in the deserts of Arabia; see Gill on Exodus 25:5 its full name was Abelshittim, Numbers 33:49, here the Israelites abode even to the death of Moses, for this was their last station in the wilderness; they were now on the borders of the land of Canaan, and just ready to enter into it, which is an aggravation of the sins they here fell into, and are next observed:
and the people began to commit whoredom w…
And Israel abode in Shittim. From this narrative we learn assuredly that the people were no more able to bear prosperity than adversity. Heretofore, either worn out by fatigue, or rendered impatient by abstinence and famine, they had often rebelled against God; now, when they have entered a habitable land, and are resting in the midst of fruitful fields, they are incited by their more comfortable dwelling-places, and more pleasant mode of life, to lasciviousness, and the indulgence of filthy lusts. Moses relates how, when they had given way to their lust, they fell at the same time into whoredom and idolatry. We shall presently see that this arose from the counsel of Balaam, that the Moabite…
The Church Fathers
The reading recited today contains, first, a piece of history about the fornication of an Israelite man and a Midianite woman, and second, about the visitation of the people, in which it is commanded that they again be numbered by the precept of the Lord, the former number having, of course, been made void on account of the sins which those had committed who had earlier been enrolled under the reckoning of the number. Therefore the number that had been written down is cancelled and rendered void because of sins, and offenses have such power that not even this profits a man — that he had been counted in the number in God's sight — once he has turned aside. But, as Scripture reports, even the limbs of those who withdrew from God fell in the desert. There are, then, two histories that have been recited; but we, for the present, will speak of the first, which describes the fornication of the people, if the Lord shall deign to grant any grace as you pray; and if He Himself shall grant it, we shall venture also to touch upon something of the second. "And Israel sojourned at Shittim," it says, "and the people was defiled, and committed fornication with the daughters of Moab. And they invited them to the sacrifices of their idols, and the people ate of their sacrifices and worshipped their idols, and was consecrated to Baal-peor; and the Lord was angry with fury against Israel." In these words is shown that which we have often recalled, namely that Balaam, after he had been so constrained by the power of God that he was not permitted to curse Israel, yet wishing to please King Balak, said to him, as it is written: "Come, I will give you counsel." And what counsel he gave did not appear there, but it is reported as written in the later parts of the book of Numbers itself. Yet more fully in the revelation of John, where it is contained thus: "You have there," it says, "the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block in the sight of the sons of Israel, that they should eat things sacrificed to idols and commit fornication." From this, therefore, it appears that Balaam used wickedness and gave counsel to the king, saying to him something of this sort: "This people conquers not by its own strength, but by worshipping God and by preserving chastity. If you wish to conquer it, first cast down their chastity, and they will be conquered of their own…
Yet far more execrable is that general fornication in which every kind of sin is alike contained. Now it is called general fornication when the soul, which has been admitted into fellowship with the Word of God and in some manner joined to Him in matrimony, is corrupted and violated by some other — namely by one foreign and hostile to that Husband who betrothed her to Himself in faith. The bridegroom, then, and husband of the pure and chaste soul is the Word of God, who is Christ the Lord, as the Apostle also writes: "I wish to present you all as a chaste virgin to one husband, Christ; but I fear lest perhaps, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, your senses be corrupted from the simplicity which is in Christ Jesus." As long, therefore, as the soul clings to her bridegroom and hears his word and embraces him, without doubt she receives from him the seed of the word; and as he said: "From fear of you, Lord, we have conceived in the womb," so also she says: "From your word, Lord, I conceived in the womb and travailed and brought forth the spirit of your salvation upon the earth." If, therefore, the soul thus conceives from Christ, she makes sons, for whom it may be said of her that: "She shall be saved through the bearing of children, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety" — even if the soul may seem first, like Eve, to have been seduced. And so the offspring is truly blessed where there has been an intercourse of the soul with the Word of God and where they have given embraces to one another. Thence a noble progeny will be born, thence chastity will arise; thence righteousness, thence patience, thence gentleness and charity, and the venerable offspring of all the virtues will follow. But if the unhappy soul forsakes the holy nuptials of the divine word and, deceived by the enticements of the devil and of other demons, gives herself over to adulterous embraces, she will without doubt beget sons even from that, but those of whom it is written: "The sons of adulterers shall be imperfect, and from the unjust bed the seed shall be exterminated." All sins, therefore, are sons of adultery and sons of fornication. Whence it is shown that through each single thing which we do, our soul gives birth and generates sons — namely the thoughts and works which it does. And if indeed what it does is according to the law and according to the…
Dictionary and topics
Abel-shittim — Meadow of the acacias, frequently called simply “Shittim” (Num. 25:1; Josh. 2:1; Micah 6:5), a place on the east of Jordan, in the plain of Moab, nearly opposite Jericho. It was the forty-second…
Baal — Lord. (1.) The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM (Judg. 2:11; 10:10; 1 Kings 18:18; Jer. 2:23; Hos. 2:17). Baal is…
Balaam — Lord of the people; foreigner or glutton, as interpreted by others, the son of Beor, was a man of some rank among the Midianites (Num. 31:8; comp. 16). He resided at Pethor (Deut. 23:4), in…
Phinehas — Mouth of brass, or from old Egypt, the negro. (1.) Son of Eleazar, the high priest (Ex. 6:25). While yet a youth he distinguished himself at Shittim by his zeal against the immorality into which the…
Shittim — Acacias, also called “Abel-shittim” (Num. 33:49), a plain or valley in the land of Moab where the Israelites were encamped after their two victories over Sihon and Og, at the close of their desert…
Alliance And Society With The Enemies Of God · Lead to idolatry — Lead to idolatry
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Israel seduced to idolatry, &c by advice of Balaam — Israel seduced to idolatry, &c by advice of Balaam
Idolatry · .Licentiousness of — .Licentiousness of
Midianites · With the moabites: Seduced Israel to idolatry — With the moabites: Seduced Israel to idolatry
The Lord had defended His people Israel from Balaam's curse; but the Israelites themselves, instead of keeping the covenant of their God, fell into the snares of heathen seduction (Num 25:1, Num 25:2). Whilst encamped at Shittim, in the steppes of Moab, the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab: they accepted the invitations of the latter to a sacrificial festival of their gods, took part in their sacrificial meals, and even worshipped the gods of the Moabites, and indulged in the licentious worship of Baal-Peor. As the princes of Midian, who were allied to Moab, had been the advisers and assistants of the Moabitish king in the attempt to destroy the Israelites by a curs…
Israel was camped across the Jordan from Jericho, almost on the eve of conquest, but they plunged to a new low in moral failure and spiritual bankruptcy. Balaam’s advice led to the immorality and apostasy of Baal-peor (31:16); he found a way to damage Israel, if not through a curse, then through lust and idolatry. The same temptation to idolatry and immorality existed for the early church (1 Cor 10:6, 11).
25:1 Acacia Grove: This type of tree thrives in arid regions. From here, Joshua later sent spies across the Jordan, and the Hebrews launched their conquest (Josh 2:1; 3:1). • Moabite women: The Moabites and Midianites shared culpability in the episode involving Balaam (Num 22:2-4, 7; 31:8…
בשטים — Thus was its name: SHITTIM.
לזנות אל בנות מואב TO COMMIT WHOREDOM WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MOAB — by the advice of Balaam, — as is related in the chapter חלק (Sanhedrin 106a).
"But Israel sojourned at Shittim." In the interpretation of Hebrew names we find that Shittim, in our language, is said to mean "answer" or "refutation." Israel, then, sojourned at "answer" or "refutation." It did not sojourn well. See, finally, what it ran into, placed in this station. It committed fornication with the Midianite women and was refuted by God, because not only did it commit fornication, but it was also consecrated to the idols of the nations and ate of those things which had been sacrificed to idols — things which are altogether execrable in God's sight. For what agreement has the temple of God with idols? Indeed I have also greatly wondered at those things which the Apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians, saying: "But if anyone sees you, who have knowledge, reclining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, since it is weak, be built up to eat things sacrificed to idols?" For he seems to pronounce not so much the matter itself grievous as the offense of that one who, seeing these things, is provoked by a like example, since he is not fortified by like knowledge — so that he shows that the one who, having knowledge, reclines in an idol's temple is made guilty not so much of his own harm as of another's. But see whether perhaps this alone was not being done among the Corinthians, that they reclined in an idol's temple and ate things sacrificed to idols. But perhaps, since they were men zealous for Greek letters and lovers of philosophy, they were still held by desire for their old studies and ate the doctrines of the philosophers as though sacrificed to idols; which, however, perhaps could not harm those who had received the full knowledge of the truth. But these, who had less learning in Christ, if they imitated them, reading such things and still giving attention to those studies, could be wounded and entangled in the various errors of diverse doctrines. So then it came about that another was harmed, whereby he who had the full knowledge of the truth could not be harmed. But since charity does not seek what is useful to itself, but what is useful to many, one must take care to receive such food of the word as not only builds us up and delights us, but also does not offend or harm those who see. There is, therefore, a thing sacrificed to idols not only in foods, but also in words. And I think that, just as every discourse which teaches…
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
— Are a snare to the Israelites
Shittim · .A — .A
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
