Deuteronomy 4:3

Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all who followed Baal of Peor.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the second generation of Israelites on the plains of Moab, recounting the wilderness wanderings before they cross into the Promised Land. He uses the Baal-peor incident as a historical precedent to enforce strict adherence to the covenant commands he is delivering.

The words — The phrase עֵינֵיכֶם הָרֹאֹת ('ei.nei./Khem ha./ro.'Ot) literally renders "your eyes [are] the ones which saw." This construction emphasizes direct, eyewitness testimony to Yahweh's judgment at Baal-peor.

The thread — This event is cross-referenced in Numbers 25:1 as the origin of the Baal-peor crisis and in Psalm 106:28 as the moment Israel yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices to lifeless gods.

Why it lands — The text demands that readers acknowledge divine judgment against idolatry as a factual precedent for covenant obedience. It requires a plain recognition that fidelity to God preserves life, while syncretism brings destruction.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal–peor: for all the men that followed Baal–peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

Cross-references

Numbers 25:1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
Psalms 106:28 They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
Numbers 26:64 Among all these, however, there was not one who had been numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they counted the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sinai.
Numbers 31:16 “Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD.
Joshua 22:17 Was not the sin of Peor enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day? It even brought a plague upon the congregation of the LORD.
Hosea 9:10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness. I saw your fathers as the firstfruits of the fig tree in its first season. But they went to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to Shame; so they became as detestable as the thing they loved.