Psalm
106:28
They joined themselves also unto
Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
a. NLT: Then our
ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor; they
even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!
b. NIV: They yoked
themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
c. Young’s Literal
Translation: And they are coupled to Baal-Peor, And eat the sacrifices of the
dead,
d. Amplified
Bible: They joined themselves also to the [idol] Baal of Peor and ate
sacrifices [offered] to the lifeless [gods].
e. Septuagint: They
were joined also to Beelphegor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. And they
provoked him with their devices;
f. Stone Edition
Torah/Wrintings/Prophets: Then they attached themselves to Baal Peor, and ate
the sacrifices of the dead.
g. The study of
the passage Psalm 106:28-31 involves large sections of Scripture that includes all
of Numbers 25, Numbers 31:1-24 and for us in the New Covenant it includes 1
Corinthians 6:15-18, Revelation 2:14. I will do my best.
1. “They joined themselves also unto
Baalpeor…”
a. joined [6775 * tsamad][Strong:
a primitive root; to link, i.e. gird; figuratively, to serve, (mentally)
contrive:--fasten, frame, join (self).]
1). Here the word “joined”
is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. We know this from three other passages
that focus on this event in Israel’s history.
a). Numbers 25:1-8
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the
people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
25:2 And they
called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat,
and bowed down to their gods.
25:3 And Israel
joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled
against Israel.
25:4 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.
25:5 And Moses
said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto
Baalpeor.
25:6 And, behold,
one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish
woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the
children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation.
25:7 And when
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up
from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;
25:8 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.
b). 1 Corinthians
10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in
one day three and twenty thousand.
c). 1 Corinthians
6:15-18 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then
take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
6:16 What? know ye
not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall
be one flesh.
6:17 But he that
is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
6:18 Flee
fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that
committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
b. Baal-Peor [1187
* Ba’al P’owr][Strong: Baal of Peor; Baal-Peor, a Moabitish deity:--Baal-peor.]
2. “…and ate the sacrifices of the
dead.”
a. ate [398 * ‘akal][Strong:
a primitive root; to eat (literally or figuratively):--X at all, burn up,
consume, devour(-er, up), dine, eat(-er, up), feed (with), food, X freely, X
in...wise(-deed, plenty), (lay) meat, X quite.]
b. sacrifices [2077
* zebach][Strong: from 2076; properly, a slaughter, i.e. the flesh of an
animal; by implication, a sacrifice (the victim or the act):--offer(- ing),
sacrifice.
c. dead [4191 * muwth][Strong: a primitive root: to die (literally or
figuratively); causatively, to kill:--X at all, X crying, (be) dead (body, man,
one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy(-er), (cause to, be like to, must)
die, kill, necro(-mancer), X must needs, slay, X surely, X very suddenly, X in
(no) wise.]
1). Jamison-Fausset-Brown:
sacrifices of the dead—that is, of lifeless idols, contrasted with "the
living God".
2). One of my all-time
favorite descriptions of idol worship from God’s point of view is found in
Isaiah. It is a long passage but I can’t resist posting the whole passage. I
love it.
a). Isaiah 44:9-20
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable
things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor
know; that they may be ashamed.
44:10 Who hath
formed a god, or molten a graven image that is profitable for nothing?
44:11 Behold, all
his fellows shall be ashamed: and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be
gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be
ashamed together.
44:12 The smith
with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and
worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength
faileth: he drinketh no water, and is faint.
44:13 The
carpenter stretcheth out his rule; he marketh it out with a line; he fitteth it
with planes, and he marketh it out with the compass, and maketh it after the
figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the
house.
44:14 He heweth
him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for
himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth
nourish it.
44:15 Then shall
it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he
kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he
maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
44:16 He burneth
part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast,
and is satisfied: yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have
seen the fire:
44:17 And the
residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto
it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou
art my god.
44:18 They have
not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see;
and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
44:19 And none
considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the
coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue
thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
44:20 He feedeth
on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his
soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
d. Part of the
religion of the Midianites consisted of worshipping the dead and eating
sacrifices to them and engaging in sexual intercourse. The only reason this
whole debacle happened is because of Balaam instructing Balac the king of Moab,
to ensnare Israel in sin through fornication. This is mentioned in both Testaments.
1). Numbers 31:14-18
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over
thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
31:15 And Moses
said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
31:16 Behold, these
caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit
trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and there was a
plague among the congregation of the Lord.
31:17 Now therefore
kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man
by lying with him.
31:18 But all the
women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for
yourselves.
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