- Peor
Peor is either
*The name of a mountain peak (Num. 23:28) to whichBalak ledBalaam as a last effort to induce him to pronounce a curse upon Israel. Thetribes of Israel are described as being visible from the peak, but nethertheless, Balaam refused to curse them, and continued to offer blessings (24:1-9). "Peor" is similar to the Egyptian "Pi-Hor" ("House of Horus").
*A reference to a divinity who was worshipped at that mountain peak, and, biblically, was the subject of theheresy of Peor . The divinity, worshipped by theMoabites , is biblically referred to as "Baal-peor" (Num. 25:3,5, 18; comp. Deut. 3:29), literally meaning "theBaal of Peor". An ancientAramaic inscription, found at Dier Alla, identifies Balaam as a prophet ofShamash , asemitic sun-god, and consequently, it could well be the case that the unidentified Baal of Peor is Shamash. If Peor's connection to Pi-Hor is factual, then the Baal of Peor may be the Egyptian godHorus .In John Milton's "Paradise Lost," Peor is said to be the other name of the fallen angel Chemos, who "entic'd/Israel in Sittim on thir march from Nile/To do him wanton rites, which cost them woe." (Paradise Lost, I.412-14) His deeds are described in the first book of the epic, as Milton describes Satan's followers who were banished from Heaven, and have pledged themselves as followers of the underworld.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.