What Does Numbers 25:5 Mean?
And Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Strike down each of your men who has yoked himself to Baalpeor."
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor.THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “joined” describes a binding bond, while the sentence makes the object of that bond the ground for lethal judgment.
THE MEANING
You hear an order to Israel’s judges to kill every man under their authority who is bound to Baal-peor. The violence is direct and public: attachment is answered with execution.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that this bond is treated as private or harmless here: the command makes it the stated basis for a death sentence.
THE ROOT
הַנִּצְמָדִים
hannitsmadim
GROWS FROM
צמד
ts-m-d
to bind, attach, or fasten together
“yoked himself to” in this verse is hannitsmadim. English “joined” can suggest simple proximity, but צמד describes fastening or binding. Its branches can name a yoked team or a fastened ornament; here, the verse names what the bond serves and the lethal order that follows.
ALSO GROWS
ṣemed: a yoked pair or team
צֶמֶד
The word gives the root’s sense of things bound together; in this verse, the bond is to Baal-peor.
tsāmîd: a bracelet or armlet, something fastened on
צָמִיד
This branch also carries the sense of attachment, showing that the root itself names a bond; the verse’s judgment concerns the bond’s object.
הִרְגוּ
hirgû
GROWS FROM
הרג
h-r-g
to kill or slay
“Strike down each of your men” in this verse is hirgû. This is an unambiguous killing word, and its family includes words for slaughter and a killer. The command leaves no room to read the violence as metaphor: judges are ordered to put these men to death.
ALSO GROWS
hereg: slaughter or killing
הֶרֶג
This noun makes explicit the lethal force already carried by the command.
hōrēg: one who kills, a killer
הֹרֵג
This form names the agent of the killing, sharpening the role assigned to the judges.
שֹׁפְטֵי
shoftei
GROWS FROM
שפט
sh-f-t
to judge, decide, or govern
“judges” in this verse is shoftei. The root names both the judge and the act or outcome of judgment. Here, those who decide are also given an order to carry out a death sentence, bringing adjudication and execution into the same command.
ALSO GROWS
shofet: a judge
שֹׁפֵט
This is the person named in the verse, now assigned to enforce the order.
mishpat: judgment, a ruling, or justice
מִשְׁפָּט
The branch names the judgment behind the command, whose stated result here is execution.
THE PATTERN
When allegiance to a rival deity becomes a public crisis, the text assigns human authorities to enact lethal judgment.
And he said to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, Set every man his sword upon his thigh, and cross over from gate to gate throughout the camp, and let every man his brother be struck down, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them slip away. And they took them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slaughtered them there.THE THREAD
And Israel yoked himself to Baalpeor, and the burning of the LORD's anger was kindled against Israel.“Joined” in this verse and “were joined” in verse 5 come from the same root, צמד (tsamad), meaning to bind or attach. Verse 3 names Israel’s collective bond; verse 5 directs the judges to kill the men described by that bond.
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