Bilangan 25:3

25:3 When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, ¹  the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel.

Bilangan 25:5

25:5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you must execute those of his men ²  who were joined to Baal-peor.”

Bilangan 19:13

19:13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, ³  because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

[25:3]  ¹ tn The verb is “yoked” to Baal-peor. The word is unusual, and may suggest the physical, ritual participation described below. It certainly shows that they acknowledge the reality of the local god.

[25:3]  sn The evidence indicates that Moab was part of the very corrupt Canaanite world, a world that was given over to the fertility ritual of the times.

[25:5]  ² tn Heb “slay – a man his men.” The imperative is plural, and so “man” is to be taken collectively as “each of you men.”

[19:13]  ³ sn It is in passages like this that the view that being “cut off” meant the death penalty is the hardest to support. Would the Law prescribe death for someone who touches a corpse and fails to follow the ritual? Besides, the statement in this section that his uncleanness remains with him suggests that he still lives on.