Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came to Bethel, and wept, and sat there before Yahweh, and fasted that day until even; and they offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Yahweh.
"Just as the worship of Baal had brought about a near catastrophe in the plains of Moab (Numbers 25:1-9), so the Baal cult was probably responsible for subverting the Benjamites. This must have been comparatively soon after the earlier incident, for the same priest Phinehas intervened on both occasions (Numbers 25:7-8; Judges 20:28)." [Note: Ibid., p. 493.] 