25:16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 25:17 “Bring trouble 1 to the Midianites, and destroy them, 25:18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived 2 you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, 3 their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor.”
1 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.
2 tn This is the same word as that translated “treachery.”
3 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.