Numbers 25:11-13 – Pinchas Man of Zeal

Phinehas was zealous and saved the Jewish people from being destroyed in a plague. God’s reward was to make him a priest. Why is this reward appropriate?

Numbers 25 records what happened after Balaam tried to curse the Jewish people.

They engaged in idol worship and consorted with women from Moab and Midian.

The leaders of the people did not know what to do. Meanwhile, Phinehas saw what was happening, he grabbed a spear and killed Zimri and Cozbi.

His action stopped the plague that had killed 24,000 people.

God Rewards Phinehas

Here are the next few verses in the story:

Let’s step back and talk about Phinehas and the meaning of his name.

Who is Phinehas?

Phinehas / Pinchas is first mentioned in Exodus 6:25. That verse merely tells us that his father is Elazar the son of Aaron.

Rabbi Sorotzkin points out that Phinehas was virtually unknown before the events of Numbers 25. He was not anointed as a priest. He was not appointed to any leadership role among the Jewish people.

Zimri acted in a brazen way that publicly announced he was going to sin. When Phinehas saw this he could have held back. He could have reasoned that no one else was acting, so why should he?

But he saw what was needed and he acted without any concern for his own well being. He acted without any personal interest. He acted with pure motives for the sake of God.

Phinehas / Pinchas – Meaning of the Name

His name is spelled in Hebrew pey-yud-nun-chet-samech. Even though Pinchas is a better rendering into English, the spelling Phinehas is widely used.

There is an important variation in his name in verse 25:11. In a handwritten Torah (and in some printed books) the letter yud is written in an extra small font size.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch suggests that his name was originally spelled without a yud. After his actions that stopped the plague, a letter yud was added to his name.

Rabbi Hirsch writes that the name Pinchas is composed of two Hebrew words: pey-yud and nun-chet-samech.

R. Hirsch teaches that the Hebrew letters samech and tzade are somewhat interchangeable. Hence, the second part of the name could be spelled nun-chet-tzade.

Putting it all together, the name becomes pey-yud nun-chet-tzade which is translated as “My mouth urged him to it.” Pinchas was driven to act solely based on his zeal for God’s Word.

Zeal of Phinehas

The English “zeal” is the translation of the Hebrew word kuf-nun-aleph.

The Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew translates this root as meaning “protect ownership.” Depending on the context, it can be translated as zealous, jealous, or demanding exclusive rights.

It is translated as jealous in the Ten Commandments:

Daat Mikra points out that the phrase “jealous God” is only used with regard to idol worship. God is zealous / jealous with regard to idol worship.

At the end of verse 25:11 the word “jealousy” is the same 3-letter root kuf-nun-aleph.

Why?

Because the Jewish people had engaged in both idol worship and sexual adventures with the women of Moab and Midian.

Rabbi Dessler Explains Zeal

Rabbi Dessler in Michtav MiEliyahu (Hebrew vol 5) explains the zeal of Pinchas / Phinehas. Here’s my summary of what he writes.

The zeal that Phinehas displayed was 100% for the sake of Heaven. It was his pure motive that saved the Jewish people from God’s wrath. It’s also why he was awarded a “covenant of peace [shalom]” (verse 25:12).

The Hebrew word shalom is spelled shin-lamed-vav-mem. The letter vav is basically a short vertical line without any gaps in it.

In a handwritten Torah scroll the word “shalom” in 25:12 is written in a unique way. It’s vav is not the normal unbroken vertical line. Rather, it is written with a gap in the middle of it. In Hebrew it is called a “vav k’tia”, a “cut vav.”

Because of how the vav is written, it indicates that the word should be understood in 2 ways: with and without the vav.

1. With the vav: the word is “shalom / peace.”

2. Without the vav: the word is “shaleim / whole.”

When we read the word as “shaleim / whole” this teaches us the purity of Pinchas’ motives when he acted. His motives were whole and pure without any mixture of evil or personal intention at all.

Usually, zeal has an element of anger mixed in it.

The zeal that Pinchas displayed appears at first to be violence and anger. It doesn’t seem to be a trait that leads to peace.

Peace should lead to unity and togetherness. Zeal will lead to separation from evil and the punishment of evil doers.

But, in fact, eventually the pure zeal of Pinchas will lead to unity and togetherness.

There are those who understand that his reward of a “covenant of peace” included a long life. In addition, there are those who teach that Phinehas later became known as Elijah the prophet in the time of King Ahab.

As we know (2 Kings 2:11) Elijah did not die but was taken directly to Heaven.

It is Elijah who will announce the future redemption and bring a time of unity.

This is why God awarded Pinchas, because his pure zeal will lead to peace in the entire world.

Covenant of Everlasting Priesthood

We read in Leviticus 8 that Aaron and his sons were anointed and consecrated to be priests.

Rashi and others write that even though Phinehas was born before this anointing, he was not anointed. He was not made a priest at the same time as his father and grandfather.

Phinehas earned the privilege to be a priest by his action of killing Zimri and stopping the plague.

God’s reward included both Pinchas becoming a priest and also that his offspring would be priests.

Phinehas brought an atonement to the Jewish people. His reward is that his offspring will serve as priests and high priests who bring atonement to the people.

In fact, the majority of the High Priests were descendants of Phinehas.

Further Reading

I stated above that most High Priests were descendants of Phinehas, but did not offer any support for that statement.

You will find the support in these verses:

• 1 Kings 2:27, 4:2
• 1 Chronicles 5:30-41 High Priests in 1st temple
• Ezekiel 44:15 High Priests in the 2nd temple

Once you know that Zadok the priest is descended from Phinehas, everything else falls into place.