Phinehas, son of Eleazar
Encyclopedia
Phinehas was a High Priest of Israel in the wilderness
, the grandson of Aaron
, and son of Eleazar
the High Priest , who distinguished himself as a youth at Shittim
by his zeal against the Heresy of Peor
: the immorality with which the Moabites and Midianites had successfully tempted the people to worship Baal-peor. He is commemorated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church
on September 2
.
and Nun
lived in Egypt during the captivity and their names were shared by the dominant culture there.
Hebrew audiences may have interpreted the meaning as a compound of Hebrew words: "peh" meaning mouth and "nhsh", a root which produces "nahash", which can mean "snake" or "omen". The root also yields "nehoshet" (copper), "nahush" (bronze) and "nehusha" (copper or bronze).
, who had been hired by the Moabite chieftain, Balak
, to curse the Israelites. Balaam failed to do so, as God had literally put words in his mouth of blessing for Israel, instead (the first prayer said by Jews as part of their daily prayer service comes from this exact text). Having failed to curse them, Balaam left for his own country. The Book of Numbers
asserts a direct connection between Balaam and the events at Peor, stating that the Moabites "caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor". Moses gave orders to kill all the idolaters, yet Zimri
, the son of the Israelite
prince Salu from the Tribe of Simeon
, openly defied Moses and publicly showed his opinion to those standing at the Tabernacle
entrance with Moses by going in to Cozbi
, the daughter of the Midianite prince Sur. In a moment of great strength born of holy zeal, Phinehas went after them and ran them through with a spear simultaneously while they were apparently in coitus. He thus "stayed the plague" that had broken out among the people, and by which twenty-four thousand of them had already perished. God noticed that Phinehas showed loyalty and bravery for God. God decided not to destroy all of the children of Israel in anger because Phinehas had made atonement for their sins. God declared that Phinehas and his sons sons for all eternity, to receive divine recognition for this; a Covenant of Peace and the Covenant of an everlasting hereditary Priesthood.
The Christian
book of Revelation
mirrors this sentiment. (cf. ) Revelation describes Jesus
as speaking to one of seven Christian churches: "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols
and by committing sexual immorality."
Giving a more elaborated version of events, the 1st century Romano-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus asserts that Balaam sent for Balak and the princes of Midian and told them that, if they wished to bring evil upon Israel, they would have to make the Israelites sin. Balaam advised that they send the most beautiful women to seduce the Israelites to idolatry. This strategy succeeded, and soon many of the Israelites had been seduced (see Flavius Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter VI, Paragraphs 6-12).
, son of Beor. According to the Israelite roll-calls, the Israelites did not lose a man in the expedition.
Phinehas son of Eleazar appears again in the book of Joshua
. When the tribes of Reuben
and Gad
, together with the half-tribe of Manasseh
, depart to take possession of their lands beyond the Jordan
, they build a great altar on the other side; the remainder of the Israelites mistake this for a separatist move to set up a new religious centre, and send Phinehas to investigate .
In addition to these episodes, Phinehas appears as the chief adviser in the war with the Benjamites
. He is commemorated in Psalm 106:28-31.
According to , his relation to Zadok
is the following: Phinehas begat Abishua, Abishua begat Bukki, Bukki begat Uzzi, Uzzi begat Zerahiah, Zerahiah begat Meraioth, Meraioth begat Amariah, Amariah begat Ahitub
, and Ahitub begat Zadok.
According to I Maccabees, he is the ancestor of Matitiyahu.
is the name of the 41st weekly parsha
h or portion in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the eighth in the book of Numbers
. The beginning of this parshah tells the judgement of Phinehas son of Eleazar; the end of the previous parshah tells of his zealous act.
The Hebrew expression "One who acts like Zimry and asks for a reward as he were Phinehas" (עושה מעשה זמרי ומבקש שכר כפנחס
) refers to hypocrites who ask for undeserved rewards and honours. It derives from the Babylonian Talmud (Sotah
, Ch.22, page 2), where it is attributed to the Hasmonean
King Alexander Jannaeus
(see Hebrew Wikipedia :he:עושה מעשה זמרי ומבקש שכר כפנחס).
were enforced in several US states until 1967. The story is also used by some Christian Identity
groups, naming themselves Phineas Priesthood
after Phinehas. They also claim that it is a Biblical injunction against interracial couples, transforming a conflict about temptation to idolatry into one about race. This outlook is ironic as Phinehas' name is shared by those in the same period known as Nubians
.
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
, the grandson of Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
, and son of Eleazar
Eleazar
Eleazar , was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second Kohen Gadol - succeeding his father Aaron. He was a nephew of Moses.-Life:...
the High Priest , who distinguished himself as a youth at Shittim
Abila (Peraea)
Abila – also, Biblical: Abel-Shittim or Ha-Shittim – was an ancient city east of the Jordan River in Moab, later Peraea, near Livias, about twelve km northeast of the north shore of the Dead Sea; the site is now that of Abil-ez-Zeit, Jordan. Abel-Shittim , is found only in Num...
by his zeal against the Heresy of Peor
Heresy of Peor
The heresy of Peor is an event related in the Torah at Numbers 25:1-15. Back references to the event occur in Numbers 25:18 and 31:16, Deuteronomy 4:3, Joshua 22:17, Hosea 9:10; Psalm 106:28...
: the immorality with which the Moabites and Midianites had successfully tempted the people to worship Baal-peor. He is commemorated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
on September 2
September 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Sep. 1 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - Sep. 3All fixed commemorations below celebrated on Sep. 15 by Old Calendarists-Saints:*Martyr Mamas of Caesarea in Cappadocia with his parents, martyrs Theodotus and Rufina...
.
Name
The Oxford Guide to the Bible and Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew and English Lexicon identify it as a variant of the Egyptian name Pa-nehasi. According to the former, "The Bible also uses Egyptian and Nubian names for the land and its people... For the Egyptians used to these color variations, the term for their southern neighbors was Nehesi, "southerner", which eventually also came to mean "the black" or "the Nubian". This Egyptian root (nhsj, with the preformative p' as a definite article) appears in Exodus 6.25 as the personal name of Aaron's grandson Phinehas (=pa-nehas)" The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament interprets the name to mean "the bronze-colored one". Phinehas, like MosesMoses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
and Nun
Nun (Bible)
Nun , in the Hebrew Bible, was a man from the Tribe of Ephraim, grandson of Ammihud, son of Elishama, and father of Joshua. He grew up in and may have lived his entire life in the Israelites' Egyptian captivity, where the Egyptians "made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks...
lived in Egypt during the captivity and their names were shared by the dominant culture there.
Hebrew audiences may have interpreted the meaning as a compound of Hebrew words: "peh" meaning mouth and "nhsh", a root which produces "nahash", which can mean "snake" or "omen". The root also yields "nehoshet" (copper), "nahush" (bronze) and "nehusha" (copper or bronze).
Heresy of Peor
The account appears immediately after the story of BalaamBalaam
Balaam is a diviner in the Torah, his story occurring towards the end of the Book of Numbers. The etymology of his name is uncertain, and discussed below. Every ancient reference to Balaam considers him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beor, though Beor is not so clearly identified...
, who had been hired by the Moabite chieftain, Balak
Balak
Balak was king of Moab around 1200 BC. According to Book of Numbers 22:2, and the Book of Joshua 24:9, Zippor was the father of Balak.Book of Revelation 2:12 - 2:14 says about Balak:...
, to curse the Israelites. Balaam failed to do so, as God had literally put words in his mouth of blessing for Israel, instead (the first prayer said by Jews as part of their daily prayer service comes from this exact text). Having failed to curse them, Balaam left for his own country. The Book of Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
asserts a direct connection between Balaam and the events at Peor, stating that the Moabites "caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor". Moses gave orders to kill all the idolaters, yet Zimri
Zimri (prince)
Zimri was the Prince of the Tribe of Simeon during the time of the Israelites in the desert. At Shittim he took part in the Heresy of Peor, taking as a paramour a Midianite woman, Cozbi...
, the son of the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
prince Salu from the Tribe of Simeon
Tribe of Simeon
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Simeon was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BC, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...
, openly defied Moses and publicly showed his opinion to those standing at the Tabernacle
Tabernacle
The Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
entrance with Moses by going in to Cozbi
Cozbi
Cozbi כזבי בת צור is a biblical character in . She was the daughter of Zur, a prominent Midianite, and was romantically involved with the Israelite Zimri, son of Salu...
, the daughter of the Midianite prince Sur. In a moment of great strength born of holy zeal, Phinehas went after them and ran them through with a spear simultaneously while they were apparently in coitus. He thus "stayed the plague" that had broken out among the people, and by which twenty-four thousand of them had already perished. God noticed that Phinehas showed loyalty and bravery for God. God decided not to destroy all of the children of Israel in anger because Phinehas had made atonement for their sins. God declared that Phinehas and his sons sons for all eternity, to receive divine recognition for this; a Covenant of Peace and the Covenant of an everlasting hereditary Priesthood.
The Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
mirrors this sentiment. (cf. ) Revelation describes Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
as speaking to one of seven Christian churches: "Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols
Cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents...
and by committing sexual immorality."
Giving a more elaborated version of events, the 1st century Romano-Jewish historian Flavius Josephus asserts that Balaam sent for Balak and the princes of Midian and told them that, if they wished to bring evil upon Israel, they would have to make the Israelites sin. Balaam advised that they send the most beautiful women to seduce the Israelites to idolatry. This strategy succeeded, and soon many of the Israelites had been seduced (see Flavius Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews, Book IV, Chapter VI, Paragraphs 6-12).
Later activities
Phinehas also led the Israelite army against the Midianites to avenge this occasion. Among those slain in the expedition were five Midianite kings and BalaamBalaam
Balaam is a diviner in the Torah, his story occurring towards the end of the Book of Numbers. The etymology of his name is uncertain, and discussed below. Every ancient reference to Balaam considers him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beor, though Beor is not so clearly identified...
, son of Beor. According to the Israelite roll-calls, the Israelites did not lose a man in the expedition.
Phinehas son of Eleazar appears again in the book of Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
. When the tribes of Reuben
Tribe of Reuben
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Reuben was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Reuben was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government...
and Gad
Tribe of Gad
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Gad was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Gad was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed,...
, together with the half-tribe of Manasseh
Tribe of Manasseh
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh was one of the Tribes of Israel. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph....
, depart to take possession of their lands beyond the Jordan
Transjordan (Bible)
The Transjordan is used to describe an area of land in the Southern Levant lying east of the Jordan River that is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. The area is said to form part of an ill-defined area known as the land of Israel...
, they build a great altar on the other side; the remainder of the Israelites mistake this for a separatist move to set up a new religious centre, and send Phinehas to investigate .
In addition to these episodes, Phinehas appears as the chief adviser in the war with the Benjamites
Tribe of Benjamin
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin בִּנְיָמִין was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BCE, the Tribe of Benjamin was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes...
. He is commemorated in Psalm 106:28-31.
According to , his relation to Zadok
Zadok (High Priest)
Zadok , was a priest descended from Eleazar the son of Aaron, who aided King David during the revolt of his son Absalom, and was consequently instrumental in bringing King Solomon to throne...
is the following: Phinehas begat Abishua, Abishua begat Bukki, Bukki begat Uzzi, Uzzi begat Zerahiah, Zerahiah begat Meraioth, Meraioth begat Amariah, Amariah begat Ahitub
Ahitub
Ahitub - brother of goodness = good. A few people in the Bible have this name: The son of Phinehas, grandson of Eli, and brother of Ichabod. On the death of his grandfather Eli he most likely succeeded to the office of high priest, and would have been succeeded by his son Ahijah...
, and Ahitub begat Zadok.
According to I Maccabees, he is the ancestor of Matitiyahu.
In Jewish culture
PinchasPinchas (parsha)
Pinchas, Pinhas, or Pin’has is the 41st weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the eighth in the book of Numbers...
is the name of the 41st weekly parsha
Parsha
This article is about the divisions of the Torah into weekly readings. For this week's Torah portion, see Torah portionThe weekly Torah portion |Sidra]]) is a section of the Torah read in Jewish services...
h or portion in the annual Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
and the eighth in the book of Numbers
Book of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
. The beginning of this parshah tells the judgement of Phinehas son of Eleazar; the end of the previous parshah tells of his zealous act.
The Hebrew expression "One who acts like Zimry and asks for a reward as he were Phinehas" (עושה מעשה זמרי ומבקש שכר כפנחס
) refers to hypocrites who ask for undeserved rewards and honours. It derives from the Babylonian Talmud (Sotah
Sotah
Sotah deals with the ritual of the Sotah - the woman suspected of adultery as described and prescribed in the Book of Numbers in...
, Ch.22, page 2), where it is attributed to the Hasmonean
Hasmonean
The Hasmonean dynasty , was the ruling dynasty of Judea and surrounding regions during classical antiquity. Between c. 140 and c. 116 BCE, the dynasty ruled semi-autonomously from the Seleucids in the region of Judea...
King Alexander Jannaeus
Alexander Jannaeus
Alexander Jannaeus was king of Judea from 103 BC to 76 BC. The son of John Hyrcanus, he inherited the throne from his brother Aristobulus I, and appears to have married his brother's widow, Shlomtzion or "Shelomit", also known as Salome Alexandra, according to the Biblical law of Yibbum...
(see Hebrew Wikipedia :he:עושה מעשה זמרי ומבקש שכר כפנחס).
Anti-miscegenation interpretation
At various times, Phinehas and his acts were cited in the United States by the promoters of laws banning interracial marriages. These so-called anti-miscegenation lawsAnti-miscegenation laws
Anti-miscegenation laws, also known as miscegenation laws, were laws that enforced racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different races...
were enforced in several US states until 1967. The story is also used by some Christian Identity
Christian Identity
Christian Identity is a label applied to a wide variety of loosely affiliated believers and churches with a racialized theology. Many promote a Eurocentric interpretation of Christianity.According to Chester L...
groups, naming themselves Phineas Priesthood
Phineas Priesthood
The Phineas Priesthood or Phineas Priests is a Christian Identity movement that opposes interracial intercourse, the mixing of races, homosexuality, and abortion. It is also marked by its anti-Semitism, anti-multiculturalism, and opposition to taxation...
after Phinehas. They also claim that it is a Biblical injunction against interracial couples, transforming a conflict about temptation to idolatry into one about race. This outlook is ironic as Phinehas' name is shared by those in the same period known as Nubians
Nubians
The Nubians are an ethnic group originally from northern Sudan, and southern Egypt now inhabiting North Africa and some parts of East Africa....
.