In his introduction to his translation of the Bible, George Lamsa states thatthe originality of the Peshitta text is strongly supported by early evidence, even to apostolictimes. The Codex Ambrosianus, which he used for the Old Testament, has been identified as fifthcentury A.D. He notes that translations from Semitic languages have been subject to revisionfor centuries, resulting in many Bible versions which vary from each other. He gives a fewexamples of differences between the King James Version and the Aramaic. One is Numbers 25:4 on which this comparison is based. He points out that, in regard to this verse, that somenoted Greek scholars in recent translations have changed the word "hang" to "execute," but thisis not what the original writer said. God could not have told Moses to behead or execute allIsraelites.

I do not understand why he referred to Greek, not Hebrew, scholars. TheSeptuagint is the Greek Old Testament, which was revised fromHebrew texts by Origen, who lived in the second and third centuries A.D. Modern versions haveused Hebrew texts. I also feel that George Lamsa has misinterpreted the use of the word "head"in the context of the King James Version. Admittedly, the wording can give that impression.Check carefully how the King James Version and theLamsa Bible translate this verse. Then compare these with theother versions. Before actually examining the various translations, the reader should readverses 1 to 9 in his usual version in order to put the verses into proper context.

I am using twenty-eight versions in this comparison, in addition to the KingJames Version and the Lamsa Bible. As the immediate verses before and after are important ininterpreting verse 4, I am including those with each version. My further observations will bepresented after the verse comparisons.

The various versions use different vocabulary to tell of this episode. Someare more specific than others in their detail. Following is a verse by verse generalinterpretation of this passage.

1. The Israelites became involved with heterogeneous, and possibly lesbian, sexual relationswith Moabite women.
2. The Israelites accepted the invitation to sacrifice to the Moabite gods, to eat foodoffered to the gods, and to worship the gods.
3. When the Israelites became involved with Baal-peor, the Lord became very angry with them.
4. The Lord commanded Moses what to do. This is the verse that has different implications,depending on the version of the Bible used.
5. The order that Moses passed on to the judges of Israel in regard to punishment.
6. An Israelite man brought a Midianite prostitute into the camp and took her into a tent.
7. Phineas, a grandson of Aaron, heeded the directions of Moses and followed the man and thewoman.
8. Phineas thrust a spear through the man and the woman as they were performing the sexual act,pinning them together. The plague that had been afflicting the people stopped.
9. Twenty-four thousand people died of the plague.

In examining all the versions, the average Christian can come to variousconclusions in regard to verses 3-5. This is what those verses appear to say. All theIsraelites turned to Baal-Peor, thus angering God. God told Moses to take all the leaders ofthe people and kill them, facing the sun, as an example to the people so that God's anger wouldcease. Then Moses told the judges to kill all men who had become involved with Baal-Peor.

As this appears to be contradictory, I suggest a different interpretation. Alarge number of Israelites (more men than women), but not a large per cent of the people, hadbeen sinning with the Moabite women and their god. This angered God. Thus God commanded Mosesto call together the leaders of the people and to direct them to locate the offenders. Thesewould be executed before God and the rest of the people as an example of the results of sinning.By eliminating the offenders, the spread of the plague would be checked.

There are some differences in what is to be done and to whom it is to be done.It is the heads, chiefs, or leaders who are the ones to be recipients. One version says princes.Two versions say ringleaders. This broad selection could also mean the judges in some versions.All but three versions give the direction to have people put to death.

However, four of them point out that this applies only to those who are guiltyof the sin while the rest of the versions give the death penalty to the leaders. The threeversions that do not speak of death in this verse imply that the leaders are to be publiclyshamed for allowing the sin to occur.

When verse 5 is considered, it is indicated that the judges are not the onesto be executed but are given the task of doing the executing. All the versions state clearlythat it is only those who have sinned by worshiping Baal-peor who are to be put to death. Thisis consistent with verse 4 in NJPS, WMF, and SGAT only. The others imply that Moses is notpassing on only the command that God gave him, but is issuing a further order.

Chapter 31 describes the follow-up, in which Moses gives the order that anarmy of Israelites kill the Midianites. Thus, the leaders of the Israelites had not been killedas verse 4 of chapter 25 in most versions imply. Deuteronomy 4: 3, 4 makes it clear that onlythe ones who were involved in the rituals of Baal-peor are destroyed. The faithful remain alive.However, they were shown what can happen when people defiantly sin against the commandments ofGod. Maybe this is why the executions are performed where everyone can see them.

When the killing of the Israelites who have been involved in the worship ofBaal-Peor begins, the plague stops. In chapter 31, verses 16-18, Moses is angry that the armyhas brought back the Midianite women because these have been responsible for the plague. Heorders that all the women who have participated in sexual activity be killed. The plague is asexually transmitted disease (STD), which has spread rapidly and killed many people. By puttingto death those who have been transmitting it, the disease is stemmed.

There is an application for society today. In order to stop our STD plague,the answer is not in the seeking of a medical cure for it after it is established. Society mustdiscontinue its sinning, return to God, and seek forgiveness. Mankind has not learned fromhistory. Must God use the same method that He used with the Israelites?

The Bible Almanac:
The Canaanites worshiped "the Baal" (the localfertility deity) but the people of each community had their own baal, as we can tell by placenames like Baal-zephon, Baal-peor, and Baal-hermon (all mentioned in the Old Testament).

Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words:
The word ba'al may denote any deity other than the God of Israel. Baal was a common name givento the god of fertility in Canaan. The Old Testament records that Baal was "the god" of theCanaanites. The Israelites worshiped Baal during the time of the judges.

Smith's Bible Dictionary:
Baal was the supreme male divinity of thePhoenician and Canaanitish nations. It prevailed in the time of Moses among the Moabites andMidianites and through them spread to the Israelites. The attractiveness of this worship to theJews undoubtedly grew out of its licentious character.

Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary:
Peor is a mountain east of the JordanRiver. Baal-Peor was a god worshiped there.

The Bible and Recent Archaeology:
Baal's worship and that of hissister and spouse Anat is centred on a purely fertility rite, connected with the dying down andrebirth of vegetation.

George Lamsa is right in that there have been errors in translating verse 4.However, whether or not his translation is correct is a matter of conjecture. He is also rightin stating that the continual revisions have created versions which vary from each other. Sinceonly three versions imply in the verse that it is the guilty ones who are to be killed, whileall of them state this in verse 5, the translators of the versions or of the texts or thecopyists may not have completely understood what should have been written in verse 4. One wordseems to be the cause of the confusion. It is the pronoun "them." What is its antecedent? Mostof the versions have the sentence structure in verse 4 in such a way that "the leaders" (orequivalent) is the antecedent. Actually, it should refer back to a preceding noun meaning "thepeople who were sinning." Since such a noun is missing, the translators should have rewordedverse 4 to avoid the pronoun referring to the wrong noun.

This is another example which shows the problem of translating from copies andnot from autographs, regardless of the sincerity of the efforts. Thus, it is important that theChristian, when he reads the Bible, be careful to avoid taking a statement out of context andobtaining the wrong meaning. He needs to check similar passages elsewhere in the Bible. Eveneducated translators can make mistakes.