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Numbers 25:16

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Numbers 25:16 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
Numbers 25:16 — American Standard Version

Context — Numbers 25

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
13and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.
14Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers` house among the Simeonites.
15And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a fathers` house in Midian.
16And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
17Vex the Midianites, and smite them;
18for they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.
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What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, etc.] This was some time after the above affair happened; how long it was is not certain; and a little time before the death of Moses, (see <043101>Numbers 31:1,2): saying; as follows.”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“25:16-18 Attack the Midianites and destroy them: This war is recorded in ch 31.”
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Keil & Delitzsch
C. F. Keil & F. Delitzsch · Commentary on the Old Testament · 19th-century historical commentary
“The Lord now commanded Moses to show hostility (צרר to the Midianites, and smite them, on account of the stratagem which they had practised upon the Israelites by tempting them to idolatry, "in order that the practical zeal of Phinehas against sin, by which expiation had been made for the guilt, might be adopted by all the nation" (Baumgarten). The inf. abs. צרור, instead of the imperative, as in Exo 20:8, etc. על־דּברף, in consideration of Peor, and indeed, or especially, in consideration of Cozbi. The repetition is emphatic. The wickedness of the Midianites culminated in the shameless wantonness of Cozbi the Midianitish princess. "Their sister," i.e., one of the members of their tribe. -…”
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Related study paths

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Sources and verification