Numbers 25:7-8

25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, ¹  he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand, 25:8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent ²  and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman’s abdomen. ³  So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. ⁴ 

Numbers 25:1

Israel’s Sin with the Moabite Women

25:1 ⁵ When ⁶  Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality ⁷  with the daughters of Moab.

Numbers 15:33

15:33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and to the whole community.

Job 20:25

20:25 When he pulls it out ⁸  and it comes out of his back,

the gleaming point ⁹  out of his liver,

terrors come over him.

Zechariah 13:3

13:3 Then, if anyone prophesies in spite of this, his father and mother to whom he was born will say to him, ‘You cannot live, for you lie in the name of the Lord.’ Then his father and mother to whom he was born will run him through with a sword when he prophesies. ¹⁰ 

Zechariah 13:2

13:2 And also on that day,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will remove ¹¹  the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land.

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ¹²  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

¹ 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.

² 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).

³ 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.

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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.

⁸ tn The MT has “he draws out [or as a passive, “it is drawn out/forth”] and comes [or goes] out of his back.” For the first verb שָׁלַף (shalaf, “pull, draw”), many commentators follow the LXX and use שֶׁלַח (shelakh, “a spear”). It then reads “and a shaft comes out of his back,” a sword flash comes out of his liver.” But the verse could also be a continuation of the preceding.

⁹ tn Possibly a reference to lightnings.

¹⁰ sn Death (in this case being run…through with a sword) was the penalty required in the OT for prophesying falsely (Deut 13:6-11; 18:20-22).

¹¹ tn Heb “cut off” (so NRSV); NAB “destroy”; NIV “banish.”

¹² tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.