And Israel abode in Shittim, in the fields or plains of Moab, on the east side of the Jordan, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. Balaam, having failed in his intention to curse Israel and thus to earn the reward of unrighteousness which his covetous heart craved, had sought revenge by giving the princes of Midian a bit of devilish counsel, namely, that of overcoming the enemy by strategy, by tempting them to indulge in sins of the flesh. Cf Numbers 31:16; Revelation 2:14. Shittim is named because it was at this city, at the northern end of the steppes of Moab, that the approach of the Midianites and Moabites took place, as they undertook to conquer the people of God through sensual lust.
Related Commentaries of Numbers 25:1
Numbers 25:1
1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.