Numbers 25:4
in Numbers 25Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jehovah said unto Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto Jehovah before the sun, that the fierce anger of Jehovah may turn away from Israel.
KJV
And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.
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This verse in Numbers 25
Commentary
7 notes on this verseTake all the heads of the people, etc. - Meaning the chiefs of those who had transgressed; as if he had said, “Assemble the chiefs and judges, institute an inquiry concerning the transgressors, and hang them who shall be found guilty before the Lord, as a matter required by his justice.” Against the sun - in the most public manner, and in daylight.
This site's exposition
Take all the heads of the people
on Numbers 25:4-5
Two orders are given and they differ. God tells Moses to take the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, and Moses tells the judges to slay every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor. Readers divide over who the heads are, with Jamieson, Fausset and Brown taking them as the principal offenders in the Peor outrage, and Adam Clarke reading the order as a charge to assemble the chiefs, hold an inquiry, and hang those found guilty. Deuteronomy 21:22-23 is the law that governs a body hanged on a tree, and it requires the body taken down and buried the same day.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): Take the heads of the people (that is, of that part of the people that went out of the camp of Israel into the country of Moab, to join in their idolatries)-- take them and hang them up before the sun, as sacrifices to God's justice, and for a terror to the rest of the people.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
Take all the heads - Take, that is, apprehend, all the heads, that is, the chief, of the people, such as were chief in this transgression, and in place and power, who are singled out to this exemplary punishment for their concurrence with others in this wickedness, which was more odious and mischievous in them.
And the Lord said unto Moses,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The persons ordered here for execution were the principal delinquents in the Baal-peor outrage--the subordinate officers, rulers of tens or hundreds. before the Lord--for vindicating the honor of the true God. against the sun--that is, as a mark of public ignominy; but they were to be removed towards sunset (De 21:23).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Take - i. e., assemble the chiefs of the people to thee (compare the phrase “took men,” in Num 16:1). The offenders were to be first; slain by the hands of “the judges of Israel” Num 25:5, and afterward hung up “against the sun” (i. e., publicly, openly; compare 2Sa 12:12) as an aggravation of their punishment. This would be done by impaling the body or fastening it to a cross. Compare Deu 21:23 note, and 2Sa 21:9.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֨אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֜ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֹשֶׁ֗ה | mosheh | Moses | H4872 → | 765 times |
| קַ֚ח | kach | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| רָאשֵׁ֣י | rashei | [the] leaders of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| וְהוֹקַ֥ע | vehoka' | and impale | H3363 → | |
| אוֹתָ֛ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לַיהוָ֖ה | layahweh | to Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| נֶ֣גֶד | neged | before | H5048 → | 151 times |
| הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ | hashamesh | the sun | H8121 → | |
| וְיָשֹׁ֛ב | veyasho | so may it turn away | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| חֲר֥וֹן | charon | [the] burning of | H2740 → | |
| אַף־ | ʾaf- | [the] anger of | H639 → | 276 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ | miyisrael | from Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֜הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֹשֶׁ֗הMoses
moshehH4872 →765 times
קַ֚חtake
kachH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
רָאשֵׁ֣י[the] leaders of
rasheiH7218 →599 times
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
וְהוֹקַ֥עand impale
vehoka'H3363 →
אוֹתָ֛ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
לַיהוָ֖הto Yahweh
layahwehH3068 →6520 times
נֶ֣גֶדbefore
negedH5048 →151 times
הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁthe sun
hashameshH8121 →
וְיָשֹׁ֛בso may it turn away
veyashoH7725 →1056 times
חֲר֥וֹן[the] burning of
charonH2740 →
אַף־[the] anger of
ʾaf-H639 →276 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִיִּשְׂרָאֵֽל׃from Israel
miyisraelH3478 →2507 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 21:23you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must…
it leads to
- Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
- John 19:31
It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have…
- Galatians 3:13
Through
Deuteronomy 4:3Your 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.
it leads to
- Numbers 25:1–9
While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
- Psalms 106:28–29
They yoked themselves to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
- Numbers 25:1–9
Through
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…
it leads to
- Psalms 78:58
They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
- Deuteronomy 32:16
They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
- Deuteronomy 32:21
They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will…
- Psalms 78:58
Through
2 Samuel 21:6let seven of his male descendants be delivered to us so that we may hang them before the LORD at Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the LORD.” “I will give them to you,”…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 10:24
Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
- 1 Samuel 10:24
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Numbers
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.