Numbers 25:3

“And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor, etc.] The name of an idol; one of the Baals, Baal being a general name for an idol; and, to distinguish this from other Baals or idols, it was called Peor, either from its opening its mouth in prophecy, as Ainsworth; or from some obscene posture and action used in the worship of it, being, as it is by many thought to be, the same with Priapus; or rather from the mountain Peor, where it was worshipped, as Jupiter is called Jupiter Olympius, Capitolinus, etc. from the mountains where he had a temple, or was worshipped; or from the name of some great personage, called Lord Peor, who was deified after his death; hence these Israelites are said to “eat the…”

“Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor--Baal was a general name for "lord," and Peor for a "mount" in Moab. The real name of the idol was Chemosh, and his rites of worship were celebrated by the grossest obscenity. In participating in this festival, then, the Israelites committed the double offense of idolatry and licentiousness.”

“Joined himself - i. e., by taking part in the sacrificial meals as described in the last verse. Compare Exodus 34:15; 1 Corinthians 10:18. The worship of Baal was attended with the grossest impurity, and indeed partly consisted in it Hosea 4:14; Hosea 9:10. Baal-peor - i. e., the Baal worshipped at Peer, the place mentioned in Numbers 23:28 (compare Baal-meon, Numbers 32:38). (The identification of this god with Chemosh in Numbers 21:29 is now given up.) return to 'Top of Page'”

“Joined himself - The word implies a forsaking God to whom they were joined and a turning to, and strict conjunction with, this false God. Baal - peor - Called Baal, by the name common to many false Gods, and especially to those that represented any of the heavenly bodies, and Peor, either from the hill Peor, where he was worshipped, Num 23:28, rather from a verb signifying to open and uncover, because of the obscene posture in which the idol was set, as Priapus was: or because of the filthiness which was exercised in his worship. Numbers 25:4”

“25:3 Baal of Peor might refer to Chemosh (21:29) by a different name, but probably Baal (“lord”), the Canaanite god, was included on the list of deities honored by the Moabites. Numerous place-names were formed with this deity’s name (e.g., Baal-gad, Baal-hermon, Baal-meon, Baal-peor), representing shrines for local manifestations of Baal. Peor was a mountain from which Balaam could see the Israelite camp in the plains of Moab; the mountain and the related shrine of Beth-peor (23:28; 25:3, 5, 18; 31:16; Deut 3:29; 4:3, 46; 34:6; Josh 13:20; 22:17) were somewhere in the vicinity of Mount Nebo. • Israel’s idolatry caused the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people; this included a plague (Num…”

“joined: Num 25:5; Deu 4:3, Deu 4:4; Jos 22:17; Psa 106:28, Psa 106:29; Hos 9:10 the anger: Jos 22:17; Jdg 2:14, Jdg 2:20; Psa 90:11; Jer 17:4 Numbers 25:4”

“And the anger of the Lord burned against the people, so that Jehovah commanded Moses to fetch the heads of the people, i.e., to assemble them together, and to "hang up" the men who had joined themselves to Baal-Peor "before the Lord against the sun," that the anger of God might turn away from Israel. The burning of the wrath of God, which was to be turned away from the people by the punishment of the guilty, as enjoined upon Moses, consisted, as we may see from Num 25:8, Num 25:9, in a plague inflicted upon the nation, which carried off a great number of the people, a sudden death, as in Num 14:37; Num 17:11. הוקיע, from יקע, to be torn apart or torn away (Ges., Winer), refers to the…”