Joshua 22:17

Ver. 17. Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, &c.— "Were not the abominable transgressions of which ye were guilty, respecting the idol of Peor, enough; and was it necessary, by adding sin to sin, to draw down fresh evils upon the nation, and shew yourselves to be so imperfectly cleansed, so badly cured of that fatal propensity to idolatry, which has already caused us so much affliction; though heaven has not yet punished us for the offence so highly as we deserve?" Phinehas, as we may see, supposes throughout, that the Israelites beyond Jordan had built altar against altar, with idolatrous views. To explain his mind, he recals the unhappy affair of Peor, which happened in the very country that had been assigned to these Israelites; that thus, after the zeal which he had displayed upon that occasion, his argument deduced therefrom might have the more peculiar weight.