Numbers 25:4

God’s Punishment

25:4 The Lord said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders ¹  of the people, and hang them up ²  before the Lord in broad daylight, ³  so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.”

Deuteronomy 13:17

13:17 You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment. ⁴  Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors.

Joshua 7:26

7:26 Then they erected over him a large pile of stones (it remains to this very day ⁵ ) and the Lord’s anger subsided. So that place is called the Valley of Disaster to this very day.

Joshua 7:2

7:2 Joshua sent men from Jericho ⁶  to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel ⁷ ) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Joshua 1:10

Joshua Prepares for the Invasion

1:10 Joshua instructed ⁸  the leaders of the people:

Joshua 1:8

1:8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! ⁹  You must memorize it ¹⁰  day and night so you can carefully obey ¹¹  all that is written in it. Then you will prosper ¹²  and be successful. ¹³ 

Psalms 78:38

78:38 Yet he is compassionate.

He forgives sin and does not destroy.

He often holds back his anger,

and does not stir up his fury. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 12:1

12:1 At that time ¹⁵  you will say:

“I praise you, O Lord,

for even though you were angry with me,

your anger subsided, and you consoled me.

[25:4]  ¹ 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.

[25:4]  ² 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.

[25:4]  ³ tn Heb “in the sun.” This means in broad daylight.

[13:17]  ⁴ tn Or “anything that has been put under the divine curse”; Heb “anything of the ban” (cf. NASB). See note on the phrase “divine judgment” in Deut 2:34.

[7:26]  ⁵ tc Heb “to this day.” The phrase “to this day” is omitted in the LXX and may represent a later scribal addition.

[7:2]  ⁶ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[7:2]  ⁷ map For the location of Bethel see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[1:10]  ⁸ tn Or “commanded.”

[1:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “mouth.”

[1:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “read it in undertones,” or “recite it quietly” (see HALOT 1:237).

[1:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “be careful to do.”

[1:8]  ¹² tn Heb “you will make your way prosperous.”

[1:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “and be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.

[78:38]  ¹⁴ tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.

[12:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).