Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh.
⛓ Read Numbers 31 forward — the whole chapter and its afterlife →Where this passage surfaces again, sorted by the strength of the link. Each kind of reuse — formal quotation, deliberate allusion, faint echo, figural pattern — carries its own mark. Follow any reference to read it in place.
Allusion2
A deliberate verbal borrowing without a citation formula.
Balaam's 'error for hire' specifically evokes the tradition that Balaam counseled Israel into apostasy and immorality at Peor, causing the plague. This passage identifies Balaam as the instigator of Israel's sin, the venal corruption Jude condemns.
High confidenceThe Balaam tradition — that Balaam "taught Balak" to entice Israel into idolatry and immorality — derives from the harmonized reading of Num 31:16 with Num 25. High on coherence: Revelation depends on this interpretive tradition (not just the Numbers narrative, where Balaam blesses Israel), making Balaam a cipher for false teachers. LXX/MT agree.
High confidenceEcho1
A fainter, low-volume reuse, carried by recurrence or thematic coherence.
Balaam's later role in enticing Israel to sin at Peor ('loved the wages of wrongdoing') deepens the indictment of the false teachers' greed (cf. Deuteronomy 23:4-5).
Medium confidence