ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Baʿal Peʿor

Baʿal peʿor is a very old story from a long time ago. It comes from some people who believed in different gods and goddesses than most people do today. Baʿal peʿor was one of the gods that some people worshipped.

The people who worshipped Baʿal peʿor believed that this god could help them have a good life and protect them from bad things. They would do things like sacrifice animals or give gifts to make Baʿal peʿor happy.

But some of the stories about Baʿal peʿor are not very nice. One story says that some people who worshipped Baʿal peʿor did bad things like having lots of sex or doing other things that were not good. This made other people very angry because they didn't agree with what was happening.

So the story goes that a group of people decided to punish the people who worshipped Baʿal peʿor. They chose one person to lead them and this person was very important. His name was Moses and he was very clever and strong.

Moses and his friends went to the people who worshipped Baʿal peʿor and told them to stop doing bad things. But the people didn't listen and kept doing what they wanted. So Moses and his friends got angry and punished them by making them leave the place where they lived.

Some people still talk about Baʿal peʿor today, but most people don't worship this god or believe in the stories about it anymore.