“made him angry.” The worship of false gods made God angry. Although many English versions use the word “provoke,” in everyday English the word “provoke” refers to intentionally acting to upset someone, and the Israelites did not worship idols to intentionally upset God, they did it because they were self-centered.

“pagan shrines.” The Hebrew word “shrines” is bamot, which referred to a place that was leveled and built up and on which were placed various idols and objects of worship. The context indicates these shrines were pagan in nature (cp. NLT, “pagan shrines”). Many of the towns had such shrines (see commentary on Num. 33:52).