Shabbat Parashat Pinchas - 5785

Shabbat Parashat Pinchas - 5785

Rabbi Hal Miller

  Therefore say, behold I give him My covenant of peace. [Bamidbar 25:12]

  And it shall be for him and his offspring after him a covenant of eternal priesthood because he took vengeance for his God and he atoned for the children of Israel. [Bamidbar 25:13]

At the end of the portion Balak, Pinchas performed an act of vengeance for God by killing Zimri and Cozbi. Because of this God stopped the plague that was killing Jews. Immediately afterward, in the first verse of our portion, God tells Moshe that Pinchas is a hero and deserves a reward. What is this reward? The commentators have many answers, some rather esoteric.

Rashi says that God gave Pinchas thanks for acting. Ibn Ezra says God awarded him protection from the relatives of Zimri who would seek revenge. Ramban says it was to place him next for the position of Kohen Gadol. Sforno writes that from Malachi, the reward is a very long life. According to Targum Yonatan and Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer, Pinchas eventually became Eliyahu the prophet, who lives forever.

Our verses speak to this as well, but seem to contradict each other. Verse 12 says "My covenant of peace" and verse 13 reads "a covenant of eternal priesthood". What do these mean and how do we reconcile them?

Rashi understands these as two separate covenants. He explains the first as God attributing goodness and graciousness to Pinchas for doing Him a favor, declaring friendship. For 13, Rashi explains that the priesthood had been granted to Aharon and his sons plus those who would be born after this anointing, but Pinchas, Aharon's grandson, was already in existence at the time, so missed the anointment. Here, God is including Pinchas in the Kohen class.

Others who see this as two covenants include Bamidbar Rabbah [21:1], Talelei Oros, Malbim, Abarbanel and Rav Soloveitchik. Malbim writes "Because of his heroic act, Pinchas was promised two types of reward, one for him alone and one for both him and his offspring" meaning peace for Pinchas and priesthood for him and his descendants. Abarbanel says the first is peace from the relatives of Zimri and the second is priesthood despite having killed a human. Rav Soloveitchik discusses the irony of Pinchas being awarded peace and priesthood, earned by a heroic act of war.

But some understand that there is only one covenant here, that the two verses are mutually explanatory. Ramban sees 12 as direction to Moshe to let the people know that Pinchas would be a Kohen forever, which he did in 13. Rav Hirsch reads from Kiddushin [6b] that the first is shaleim rather than shalom, that Pinchas is complete as a Kohen. Ibn Ezra reads the first verse "My covenant, a covenant of peace", which he then applies to the second verse as a description of the priesthood. Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that the priesthood had to be earned, and that Pinchas did so here, thus God granted him peace from that obligation as part of granting him the Kehunah.

Whether two separate covenants or one, there is no contradiction between our verses. Pinchas was rewarded handsomely for stepping up and doing something necessary that nobody else seemed willing to do.