Israel at Peor and the Zeal of Phinehas

While Israel was staying at Shittim, the people began to be unfaithful with the daughters of Moab. These women invited them to sacrifices for their gods. The Israelites ate and bowed down there, and Israel joined itself to Baal Peor. The LORD’s anger burned against them.

The LORD told Moses to take the chiefs of the people and expose them before the LORD in daylight, so that his fierce anger might turn away. Moses then told Israel’s judges to kill the men under their authority who had joined themselves to Baal Peor. At that time the people were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Then one Israelite man brought a Midianite woman before his brothers, in full sight of Moses and the whole congregation. Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest, saw it. He took a spear, went after the man into the inner part of the dwelling, and killed them both. After that, the plague among Israel was stopped.

But many had already died in the plague. The number was twenty-four thousand. Later the passage names the man as Zimri, son of Salu, a leader from a Simeonite family. The woman was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, a leading man in Midian. It is a hard and sobering part of Israel’s story.

The LORD said that Phinehas had turned away his wrath because he had been zealous for his God among the people. So God gave him a covenant of peace and an everlasting priesthood for his offspring. The LORD also told Moses to harass the Midianites and strike them, because they had deceived Israel in the matter of Peor and in the incident involving Cozbi.