Pt2 Zealotry, Intermarriage, and the Biblical Story of Pinehas and Zimri in Numbers 25 (Sanhedrin 81b-82b)
This is the second part of a three-part series. Part 1 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
R’ Hiyya bar Avuya - Jehoiakim’s skull bore the words “this and yet another”
ואמר רבי חייא בר אבויה:
כתוב על גלגלתו של יהויקים:
״זאת ועוד אחרת״.
§ The Talmud cites another of Rav Ḥiyya bar Avuya’s statements.
R’ Ḥiyya bar Avuya says:
It was written on the skull (גלגלתו) of Jehoiakim king of Judea:
“This and yet another,”
indicating that he will suffer a punishment in addition to the punishment that he already received.
The Anecdote of R’ Perida’s grandfather and Jehoiakim’s skull
זקינו דרבי פרידא אשכח ההוא גולגלתא דהות שדיא בשערי ירושלים,
והוה כתוב עילויה:
״זאת ועוד אחרת״.
The Talmud relates:
The grandfather of R’ Perida, R’ Ḥiyya bar Avuya, found a skull that was cast at the gates of Jerusalem,
and upon it was written:
“This and yet another.”
It repeatedly emerged from burial
קברה
והדר נבוג,
קברה
והדר נבוג.
אמר:
האי גולגלתא דיהויקים,
דכתיב ביה:
״קבורת חמור יקבר
סחוב והשלך מהלאה לשערי ירושלים״.
[R’ Perida’s grandfather] buried it,
and it then emerged [navug] from beneath the soil.
[R’ Perida’s grandfather] buried it again
and it then emerged from beneath the soil again.
Jeremiah 22:19
[R’ Perida’s grandfather] said:
This is evidently the skull of Jehoiakim,
as it is written in his regard:
“With the burial of a donkey he shall be buried,
drawn (סחוב) and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 22:19).
He will find no rest in a grave.
אמר:
מלכא הוא,
ולאו אורח ארעא לבזויי.
שקלה,
כרכה בשיראי,
ואותביה בסיפטא.
[R’ Perida’s grandfather] said:
Despite Jeremiah’s prophecy in that verse, [Jehoiakim] is a king
and it is not proper conduct to treat him contemptuously.
[R’ Perida’s grandfather] took the skull,
wrapped it in silk [be-shira’ei]
and placed it in a chest [be-sifta].
אתאי דביתהו,
חזיתה.
נפקת,
אמרה להו לשיבבתהא.
אמרי לה:
האי דאיתתא קמייתא היא,
דלא קא מנשי לה.
[R’ Perida’s grandfather’s] wife came
and saw the skull,
went out
and told her neighbors and asked them what it was.
The neighbors said to her:
This is the skull of the first wife to whom her husband (=R’ Perida’s grandfather) was married,
as he has not forgotten her
and he keeps her skull in her memory.
it was eventually burned, fulfilling an additional punishment beyond being denied honorable burial
שגרתא לתנורא
וקלתה.
כי אתא,
אמר:
היינו דכתיב עילויה:
״זאת ועוד אחרת״.
That angered R’ Perida’s grandfather’s wife,
and she kindled (שגרתא) the oven
and burned (קלתה) the skull.
When [R’ Perida’s grandfather] came and learned what she had done,
he said:
That is the fulfillment of that which is written on him:1
“This and yet another.”
Having his remains cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem did not complete the punishment of Jehoiakim. He suffered the additional indignity of having his remains burned.
Rav Dimi - The Hasmonean court decreed that sex with a non-Jewish woman entails four rabbinic categories: menstruating woman (nidda), female slave, non-Jewish woman, and married woman
כי אתא רב דימי אמר:
בית דינו של חשמונאי גזרו:
הבא על הגויה --
חייב עליה משום
נדה,
שפחה,
גויה,
אשת איש.
§ When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said:
The court of the Hasmoneans issued a decree that
one who has sex with a non-Jew woman --
is liable due to his violation of prohibitions represented by the letters: Nun, shin, gimmel, alef:
He is liable for having sex with a menstruating woman [nidda] who did not immerse in a mikveh and remains impure.2
He is liable for having sex with a Canaanite female slave [shifḥa], as relative to a Jewish woman, the status of a non-Jew woman is that of a female slave.
He is liable for having sex with a non-Jew woman [goya]
and with a married woman [eshet ish].
Ravin - The Hasmonean decree instead comprises menstruating woman, female slave, non-Jewish woman, and prostitute; non-Jews do not possess the relevant halakhic status of marriage
כי אתא רבין אמר:
משום נשג״ז –
נדה,
שפחה,
גויה,
זונה.
אבל משום אישות —
לית להו.
When Ravin came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said:
He is liable due to his violation of prohibitions represented by the letters:
Nun, shin, gimmel, zayin.
Ravin agreed with Rav Dimi that the Hasmoneans decreed that one who has sex with a non-Jew woman is liable for having sex with a menstruating woman,
a female slave,
and a non-Jew woman.
He adds that the individual is liable for having sex with a zona.
But he disagrees with Rav Dimi and holds that regarding the violation of the prohibition involving matrimony (אישות), i.e., of having sex with a married woman, —
one is not liable
because the halakhic framework of matrimony does not exist among non-Jews. Their relationships are fundamentally temporary.
ואידך:
נשייהו ודאי לא מפקרי.
And the other amora, Rav Dimi, holds that
non-Jews certainly do not forsake3 their wives;
therefore, the status of the wife of a non-Jew is that of a married woman.
Rav Hisda - If a zealot asks the court whether he should kill a Jew engaged in sex with a non-Jewish woman, the court does not instruct him to do so
אמר רב חסדא:
הבא לימלך --
אין מורין לו.
Rav Ḥisda says:
Concerning one who comes to consult4 with the court when he sees a Jewish man having sex with a non-Jew woman --
the court does not instruct (מורין) him that it is permitted to kill the transgressor.
Rabba bar bar Hana citing R’ Yohanan - Likewise, the rule that zealots may strike such a sinner is not formally issued as an instruction to someone who asks
איתמר נמי,
אמר רבה בר בר חנה, אמר רבי יוחנן:
הבא לימלך --
אין מורין לו.
It was also stated that
Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that R’ Yoḥanan says:
Concerning one who comes to consult with the court --
the court does not instruct him that it is permitted to kill the Jewish man having sex with a non-Jew woman.
If Zimri had stopped having sex before Pinehas killed him, Pinehas would have been liable for murder
ולא עוד, אלא שאם פירש זמרי והרגו פנחס –
נהרג עליו.
Moreover, if Zimri son of Salu (see Numbers 25:1–9) had separated himself from the woman and only then Pinehas killed him --
Pinehas would have been executed for killing him,
because it is permitted for zealots to kill only while the transgressor is actively engaged in the sexual act.
If Zimri had killed Pinehas in self-defense, Zimri would not have been liable, since Pinehas was then legally a pursuer
נהפך זמרי והרגו לפנחס –
אין נהרג עליו,
שהרי רודף הוא.
Furthermore, if Zimri would have turned and killed Pinehas in self-defense --
he would not have been executed for killing him,
as Pinehas was a pursuer (רודף - rodef).
One is allowed to kill a pursuer in self-defense, provided that the pursued is not liable to be executed by the court.
The tribe of Shimon complained to Zimri that its members were being executed while he remained passive - Numbers 25:5–7
״ויאמר משה אל שפטי ישראל וגו׳״.
הלך שבטו של שמעון אצל זמרי בן סלוא,
אמרו לו:
הן דנין דיני נפשות
ואתה יושב ושותק?!
It is stated: “And Moses said to the judges of Israel:
Each of you shall slay his men who have adhered unto Ba’al-Peor” (Numbers 25:5).
The tribe of Shimon went to Zimri, son of Salu, their leader, and said to him:
They are judging cases of capital law and executing us5
and you are sitting and are silent?!
מה עשה?
עמד וקיבץ עשרים וארבעה אלף מישראל והלך אצל כזבי.
אמר לה:
השמיעי לי.
What did Zimri do?
He arose and gathered 24,000 people from the children of Israel,6
and went to Cozbi, daughter of Zur, princess of Midian,
and said to her:
Submit to me, i.e. have sex with me.
אמרה לו:
בת מלך אני,
וכן צוה לי אבי:
לא תשמעי אלא לגדול שבהם.
[Cozbi] said to [Zimri]:
I am the daughter of a king,7
and this is what my father commanded me:
“Submit only to the greatest of them.”
אמר לה:
אף הוא נשיא שבט הוא,
ולא עוד אלא שהוא גדול ממנו,
ש
הוא
שני לבטן
והוא
שלישי לבטן.
Zimri said to [Cozbi]:
He, too, referring to himself in the 3rd person, is the head (נשיא - nasi) of a tribe;
Moreover, [Zimri] is greater than Moses,
as
this one [=Zimri]
is the 2nd of the womb (בטן), as he descends from Shimon, Jacob’s 2nd son
and that one [=Moses]
is the 3rd of the womb, as he descends from Levi, Jacob’s 3rd son
Zimri brought Cozbi before Moses and challenged the prohibition by invoking Moses’ marriage to Jethro’s daughter; Moses forgot the law, and the people wept
תפשה בבלוריתה והביאה אצל משה.
אמר לו:
בן עמרם!
זו אסורה או מותרת?
ואם תאמר אסורה,
בת יתרו מי התירה לך?
נתעלמה ממנו הלכה.
[Zimri] seized her by her forelock (בלוריתה) and brought her before Moses.
Zimri said to Moses:
Son of Amram!
is this woman forbidden or permitted?
And if you say that she is forbidden,
as for the daughter of Yitro to whom you are married, who permitted her to you?
The halakha with regard to the proper course of action when encountering a Jewish man having sex with a non-Jew woman eluded Moses.
Numbers 25:6-7
געו כולם בבכיה,
והיינו דכתיב:
״והמה בכים פתח אהל מועד״.
וכתיב:
״וירא פנחס בן אלעזר״.
All they (=Israelites) bawled (געו) in their weeping,
and that is the meaning of that which is written:
“And they are crying at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Numbers 25:6).
And it is written thereafter:
“And Pinehas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw and arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand” (Numbers 25:7).
Rav - Pinehas “saw” the act and remembered the law that one who has sex with a non-Jewish woman may be killed by zealots
מה ראה?
אמר רב:
ראה מעשה
ונזכר הלכה.
The Talmud asks: What did Pinehas see that led him to arise and take action?
Rav says:
He saw the incident taking place before him
and he remembered the halakha.
Moses told Pinehas that the one who recalls the rule should execute it - Numbers 25:7
אמר לו:
אחי אבי אבא,
לא כך לימדתני ברדתך מהר סיני:
הבועל ארמית —
קנאין פוגעין בו?
אמר לו:
קריינא דאיגרתא —
איהו ליהוי פרוונקא.
He said to Moses:
Brother of the father of my father! I.e. grandfather’s brother (=great-uncle), as Moses was the brother of his grandfather Aaron,
did you not teach me this during your descent from Mount Sinai:
One who has sex with a non-Jew woman --
zealots strike him?
Moses said to him:
Let the one who reads the letter —
be the agent [parwanaka] to fulfill its contents.
Shmuel - Pinehas acted without first showing deference to Moses because where God’s name is being desecrated, respect for one’s teacher does not prevent immediate action - Proverbs 21:30
ושמואל אמר:
ראה שאין חכמה ואין תבונה ואין עצה לנגד ה׳.
כל מקום שיש חילול השם --
אין חולקין כבוד לרב.
And Shmuel says:
Pinehas saw and considered the meaning of the verse: “There is neither wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against YHWH” (Proverbs 21:30),
which the rabbis interpreted to mean:
Anywhere that there is desecration of God’s name (חילול השם - Chillul hashem) —
one does not show respect to the teacher.
In those situations, one need not consult his teacher, but must immediately proceed to right the wrong that is transpiring. Therefore, he took the spear and took immediate action.
R’ Yitzhak citing R’ Eliezer - Pinehas saw an angel destroying the people, and realized that immediate intervention was necessary
רבי יצחק אמר רבי אליעזר:
ראה שבא מלאך
והשחית בעם.
R’ Yitzḥak says that R’ Eliezer says:
He saw that an angel came
and destroyed among the people in punishment for the sin of Zimri,
and he realized that he must take immediate action to ameliorate the situation.
I.e., on Jehoiakim’s skull, as stated earlier, in section “R’ Hiyya bar Avuya - Jehoiakim’s skull bore the words “this and yet another” “.
Steinsaltz explains:
Although by Torah law there is no impurity of menstruation with regard to non-Jews, it has been decreed that one must distance himself from them as he does from a menstruating woman.
Compare my “Pt3 Trending Talmud: Top Queries, Popular Posts, and Plain Readings of Controversial Talmudic Passages“, section “Impurity of a Non-Jewish Child Experiencing Ziva (Avodah Zarah 36b-37a)”, an my notes there.
מפקרי - often having the sense of “make ownerless”, and more broadly: “lawlessness”; on this word in general, see Wikipedia, “Hefker“.
And see Jastrow (modernized), entry “הֶפְקֵר”:
(Yerushalmi dialectical: הֶבְקֵר)
masculine (פָּקַר)
declaring free, renunciation of ownership in favor of whosoever would take possession of the object renounced; confiscation; public property.
[…]
Bereishit Rabbah 80:12, end בני אדם של ה׳ outlaws.
Yevamot 66a:2 מנהג ה׳ נהגו בה people took liberties with her (because she had neither the legal status of a freed woman nor that of a slave).
(פקר, compare אַפְקָרוּתָא)
1) unbridled lust, lawlessness.
Gittin 13a:4 עבדא בה׳ ניחא ליה a slave prefers the dissolute life with a slave (to regular marriage with a free woman); Ketubot 11a:5
2) as the preceding word word.
Bava Kamma 115b:3 מה׳ קא זכינא (in securing the honey from a broken vessel on the road) I took possession of renounced goods.
Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy 25:5 הֶפְקֵרָא (הֶפְקְרָא) an unprotected woman
לימלך.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “מָלַךְ”, section “Nif’al: - נִמְלַךְ”:
1) to take council, to ask advice or permission.
Berakhot 3b:30 נִמְלָכִין בסנהדרין they ask the Sanhedrin for their confirmation.
Ibid. 4a כל מה … אני נ׳ במפיבשת וכ׳ in whatever I undertake, I consult the opinion of Mefiboshet, my teacher.
Ibid. 29b וכשאתה … הִמָּלֵךְ בקונך וצא and when you are about to go on a journey, take council of your Maker (pray) and go out.
Bava Metzia 14a:6 צריך לִימָּלֵךְ the scribe must ask for authorization (to insert in the contract);
and frequently.
2) [to take council with one’s self,] to reconsider, change one’s mind.
Mishnah Demai 3:2 הלוקח … ונ׳ להחזיר if one buys vegetables …. and then decides to return (the goods).
Mishnah Demai 3:3 נטלן לאוכלן ונ׳ להצניע if he took them up to eat them and changed his mind (deciding) to keep them;
and frequently.
And ibid., entry “מְלַךְ”, sense #2 and on:
2) (mostly מליך) to decide.
Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 23:8 (ed. Venice מַלִּיךְ).
Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 23:9 מִילְכָהּ ed. Lagarde (some printed editions: מלכא, read: מִלְכָהּ);
and frequently.
Part. pass. מְלִיךְ.
Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 14:26; and elsewhere.
3) to advise.
Targum Jonathan on I Kings 1:12; and frequently.
Pa’el: מַלֵּיךְ
1) to advise.
2) to decide, see above.
Af’el: - אַמְלִיך
1) = the preceding word = the preceding word Hif’il:
and frequently.
2) to counsel, persuade.
Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy 30:6; and elsewhere.
[Aramaic Targum to Proverbs 8:15 מַמְלְכִין ed. Lag. rule (oth. ed. מלכין).]
Itpe’el: - אִתְמְלִיךְ, אִימְּלִיךְ, , אִמְּ׳ = the preceding word
Nif’al:
and frequently.
Bava Batra 4a:5 בתר דעבדין מִתְמַלְּכִין do people ask for advice (or permission) after they have acted?
Berakhot 27b:22 אִימְּלִיךְ וכ׳ consult my family.
Berakhot 27b אזיל ואִמְּ׳ וכ׳ he went and consulted his wife.
Nedarim 54a:4 כל מילתא דצריך שליחא לאִמְּלוּכֵי וכ׳ any change of order for which the messenger has to ask special authorization, is heterogeneous (to the object of the original commission); כל מילתא דמִימְּלִיךְ שליח עלה וכ׳ a change for which the messenger asks for instructions is homogeneous.
Sotah 43b:9 אי אימ׳ עלה if he reconsiders his original disposal;
and frequently.
See Numbers/25#4:
ויאמר יהוה אל משה
קח את כל ראשי העם
והוקע אותם ליהוה נגד השמש
וישב חרון אף יהוה מישראל
And YHWH said to Moshe:
Take all the chiefs of the people,
and hang them up before YHWH against the sun,
that the burning anger of YHWH may be turned away from Yisra’el.
On this number, compare Numbers/25#9:
ויהיו המתים במגפה ארבעה ועשרים אלף
And those that died in the plague were 24,000.
The Bible there refers to Cozbi’s father Tzur as a rosh beit av and nasi, see Numbers/25#15:
ושם האשה המכה המדינית כזבי
בת צור
ראש אמות בית אב במדין הוא
And the name of the Midyanite woman that was slain was Kozbi,
the daughter of Tzur;
he was head over the people of a father’s house in Midyan.
And Numbers/25#18:
ועל דבר כזבי
בת נשיא מדין
and in the matter of Kozbi,
the daughter of a prince of Midyan