Numbers 25:8

followed the Israelite into the tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and on through the belly of the woman. So the plague against the Israelites was halted,

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Phinehas pursues an Israelite man and a Midianite woman into a tent while a plague is actively killing the Israelite camp. He acts at the moment the assembly is paralyzed and Moses has just issued orders for judicial execution.

The words — The Hebrew verb וִַֽיִּדְקֹר (va/yidkor) literally means "and he pierced through," describing the spear's trajectory through both individuals. The phrase אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל (ish Yisrael) identifies the male participant specifically as an Israelite.

The thread — This intervention halts a plague that also appears in Numbers 16:46 and is recalled in Psalms 106:29 as a consequence of provoking the LORD. The act of stopping judgment through decisive action parallels the priestly mediation of Aaron in Numbers 16:46.

Why it lands — The text demands recognition that covenant fidelity requires immediate, concrete action against syncretism. It presents judgment and mercy as simultaneous outcomes of a single decisive intervention.

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

And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

Cross-references

Numbers 16:46 Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, because wrath has come out from the LORD; the plague has begun.”
Psalms 106:29 So they provoked the LORD to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.
Numbers 25:5 So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”
Numbers 25:11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal.
2 Samuel 24:25 And there he built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the LORD answered the prayers on behalf of the land, and the plague upon Israel was halted.
1 Chronicles 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, “Grant me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar to the LORD. Sell it to me for the full price, so that the plague upon the people may be halted.”