Balaam induced Moabite women to ensnare Israelite men into apostasy at Baal Peor. Philo, 1st century C.E., portrays these women as calculating prostitutes. Later, the Sifrei, ca. 3rd century, recasts the episode as a bawdy Roman farce—complete with marketplace, wine, and brothel-like seductions—portraying the Israelites less as tragic sinners and more as fools blinded by lust.
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