Numbers 25:2

25:2 These women invited ¹  the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ² 

Numbers 33:14

33:14 They traveled from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

Numbers 14:19

14:19 Please forgive ³  the iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, ⁴  just as you have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now.”

[25:2]  ¹ 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.

[25:2]  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.

[14:19]  ³ tn The verb סְלַח־נָא (selakh-na’), the imperative form, means “forgive” (see Ps 130:4), “pardon,” “excuse.” The imperative is of course a prayer, a desire, and not a command.

[14:19]  ⁴ tn The construct unit is “the greatness of your loyal love.” This is the genitive of specification, the first word being the modifier.