Pt3 Zealotry, Intermarriage, and the Biblical Story of Pinehas and Zimri in Numbers 25 (Sanhedrin 81b-82b)
This is the third and final part of a three-part series. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here; the outline of the series can be found at Part 1.
From the fact that Pinehas took his spear only after leaving the assembly, we can derive that one may not enter the study hall armed - Numbers 25:7
״ויקם מתוך העדה
ויקח רמח בידו״.
מיכן, ש
אין נכנסין בכלי זיין לבית המדרש.
It is written with regard to Pinehas:
“He arose from amidst the assembly (עדה)
and he took a spear in his hand” (Numbers 25:7).
From here, where it is written that Pinehas took the spear only after he arose from the assembly, it is derived that
one does not enter the study hall with a weapon.1
The “assembly” in this context is referring to the seat of the Sanhedrin.
Pinehas concealed the spearhead, pretended he too intended to participate in the sexual misconduct
שלף שננה והניחה באונקלו,
והיה נשען והולך על מקלו,
וכיון שהגיע אצל שבטו של שמעון, אמר:
היכן מצינו ששבטו של לוי גדול משל שמעון?
Pinehas removed the blade of the spear and placed it in his garment [be’unkalo] and held the shaft of the spear like a walking stick,
and he was walking, leaning on his walking stick (מקלו), the shaft of the spear.
And once he reached the tribe of Shimon, he said:
Where did we find that the tribe of Levi is greater than that of Shimon?
If all the members of your tribe submit to the temptation of the women of Moab, I may do so as well.
Pinehas thereby gained access to Zimri and Cozbi
אמרו:
הניחו לו,
אף הוא לעשות צרכיו נכנס.
התירו פרושין את הדבר.
After hearing that statement, the members of the tribe of Shimon said:
Allow him to enter;
like us, he too is entering to attend to his needs and have sex with the Moabite women.
They rejoiced and said: Apparently, the pious and God-fearing have permitted this matter,
as Pinehas is one of them.
R’ Yohanan - Six miracles enabled Pinehas to kill Zimri and Cozbi: Zimri did not withdraw, did not summon aid, the spear struck both at the genitals, they remained on it, an angel raised the lintel, and another angel struck the people
אמר רבי יוחנן:
ששה נסים נעשו לו לפנחס:
אחד, שהיה לו לזמרי לפרוש ולא פירש.
ואחד, שהיה לו לדבר ולא דבר.
ואחד, שכוון בזכרותו של איש ובנקבותה של אשה.
ואחד, שלא נשמטו מן הרומח.
ואחד, שבא מלאך והגביה את המשקוף.
ואחד, שבא מלאך והשחית בעם.
R’ Yoḥanan says:
6 miracles were performed for Pinehas when he killed Zimri:
One is that Zimri should have separated himself from Cozbi, and he did not separate himself. Had he done so, it would have been prohibited for Pinehas to kill him.2
And one is that Zimri should have spoken and alerted the members of his tribe to come to his assistance, and he did not speak.
And one is that Pinehas directed the spear precisely to the male genitals3 of Zimri and to the female genitals4 of Cozbi so that the reason that he killed them would be evident.
And one is that Zimri and Cozbi did not slip (נשמטו) from the spear.
And one is that an angel came and raised the lintel of that chamber so that Pinehas could emerge holding them aloft on the spear.
And one is that an angel came and caused destruction among the people, distracting them from interfering with the actions of Pinehas.
Pinehas cast Zimri and Cozbi before God and protested that 24,000 Israelites should not die because of them - Numbers 25:9; Psalms 106:30
בא וחבטן לפני המקום,
אמר לפניו:
רבונו של עולם!
על אלו יפלו עשרים וארבעה אלף מישראל?!
שנאמר ״ויהיו המתים במגפה ארבעה ועשרים אלף״.
והיינו דכתיב:
״ויעמד פינחס ויפלל״.
Pinehas came and slammed them on the ground before God
and said before Him:
God!
will 24,000 of the children of Israel fall due to these sinners?!
As it is stated:
“And those that died in the plague were 24,000” (Numbers 25:9).
And that is the meaning of that which is written:
“And Pinehas stood and wrought judgment and the plague was stayed” (Psalms 106:30).
R’ Elazar - Psalms says va-yefalel, not va-yitpallel, teaching that Pinehas effectively argued a judicial case against God
אמר רבי אלעזר:
״ויתפלל״ לא נאמר,
אלא ״ויפלל״.
מלמד כביכול,
שעשה פלילות עם קונו.
R’ Elazar says:
It is not stated in the verse: “And prayed [va-yitpallel];”
Rather, it is stated va-yefalel.
This teaches that Pinehas, as it were,
wrought judgment [pelilut] with his Creator.
The angels wished to repel him, but God defended him as a hereditary zealot and appeaser of wrath - Psalms 106:30
בקשו מלאכי השרת לדחפו.
אמר להן:
הניחו לו!
קנאי בן קנאי הוא,
משיב חימה בן משיב חימה הוא.
The ministering angels sought to push him away because he spoke harshly to God.
God said to them:
Leave him be!
he is a zealot, son of a zealot, from the tribe of Levi, who was zealous in avenging the violation of his sister Dinah (see Genesis 34:25-26);
he is an alleviator of wrath, son of an alleviator of wrath, a descendant of Aaron, who alleviated the wrath of God during the plague that followed the assembly of Korah (see Numbers 16:41–50).
The tribes demeaned Pinehas because of his descent from Jethro - Exodus 6:25
התחילו שבטים מבזין אותו:
ראיתם בן פוטי זה,
שפיטם אבי אמו עגלים לעבודה זרה,
והרג נשיא שבט מישראל?
The tribes began to demean Pinehas:
Did you see this son of Puti, so-called because his mother was one of the daughters of Putiel (see Exodus 6:25),
and they interpreted homiletically: As Yitro, the father of his mother,
according to one rabbinic tradition, fattened [she-pittem] calves for idol worship,
and he impudently killed the prince of a tribe of Israel without a trial.
... So Scripture emphasized his descent from Aaron - Numbers 25:11
בא הכתוב ויחסו:
״פנחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן״.
In response, the verse comes and provides his lineage as
“Pinehas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the priest” (Numbers 25:11).
It is due to that lineage that he zealously executed Zimri.
God instructed Moses to greet Pinehas with peace; Pinehas’s act of atonement was worthy of enduring forever - Numbers 25:12–13
אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה:
הקדם לו שלום,
שנאמר:
״לכן אמר:
הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום״.
וראויה כפרה זו שתהא מכפרת והולכת לעולם.
God said to Moses:
Be the first to greet Pinehas with a blessing of peace,
to honor him before the people, as it is stated:
“Therefore say:
I hereby give to him My covenant of peace” (Numbers 25:12),
and it is stated: “And it shall be unto him and to his descendants after him a covenant of eternal priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and he atoned for the children of Israel” (Numbers 25:13),
and this atonement that he facilitated is worthy of continuing to atone forever.
Rav Nahman citing Rav - Zimri had sex with Cozbi 424 times that day, corresponding numerically to zarzir; Pinehas waited until Zimri’s strength was exhausted, though God was supporting him - Proverbs 30:31
אמר רב נחמן, אמר רב:
מאי דכתיב
״זרזיר מתנים
או תיש
ומלך אלקום עמו״?
§ With regard to the same matter, Rav Naḥman says that Rav says:
What is the meaning of that which is written:
“The thigh-belted greyhound [zarzir],
or the he-goat,
and the king against whom none can rise” (Proverbs 30:31)?
ארבע מאות ועשרים וארבע בעילות בעל אותו רשע אותו היום,
והמתין לו פנחס עד שתשש כחו.
והוא אינו יודע שמלך אלקום עמו.
That wicked Zimri engaged in 424, the numerical value of the word zarzir, sexual acts (בעילות) with Cozbi that day.
And Pinehas waited until his strength waned (תשש) from all that activity.
And Pinehas did not know that it was not necessary to wait that long because “the king against whom none can rise” (מלך אלקום) a reference to God was with him.
Baraita - Zimri had sex with Cozbi 60 times, until he became physically depleted and Cozbi was compared to a water-filled garden bed
במתניתא תנא:
ששים,
עד שנעשה כביצה המוזרת,
והיא היתה כערוגה מליאה מים.
It was taught in a baraita:
Zimri had sex 60 times until he became like an addled5 egg whose contents are a muddled and non-differentiated fluid,
and Cozbi was like a garden bed (ערוגה) full of water (i.e., semen).
Rav Kahana - Cozbi’s “seat” (=genitalia) was as large as a beit se’a
אמר רב כהנא:
ומושבה בית סאה.
Rav Kahana said to underscore her disgrace resulting from her extensive sexual activity:
And her seat6 was as wide as the area required for sowing one se’a of seed [beit se’a].
Rav Yosef - Cozbi’s genitalia was a cubit wide
תני רב יוסף:
קבר שלה אמה.
Rav Yosef taught:
her genitalia7 was a cubit.
Rav Sheshet - Cozbi’s actual name was Shevilnai daughter of Zur
אמר רב ששת:
לא ״כזבי״ שמה,
אלא ״שוילנאי בת צור״ שמה.
Rav Sheshet says:
Cozbi was not her given name;
Rather, Shevilnai, daughter of Zur, was her real name.
The Bible calls her “Cozbi” because she didn’t fulfill her father’s instructions
ולמה נקרא שמה ״כזבי״?
שכזבה באביה.
And why was she called Cozbi?
Because through her actions, she distorted [she-kizzeva] the instructions of her father.
He told her to submit only to the greatest of the children of Israel, and she submitted to the leader of a tribe.
Alternatively : she told her father that he should destroy Israel through her
דבר אחר:
״כזבי״
שאמרה לאביה:
״כוס בי עם זה״.
Alternatively:
She was called Cozbi because she said to her father:
Slaughter [kos] this people through me [bi],
as I will seduce them to engage in licentiousness.
Popular sayings using the name Shevilnai associate her with prostitution and imply that her reputation also disgraced her mother
והיינו דאמרי אינשי:
״בין קני לאורבני, שוילנאי מאי בעיא?!״
״בהדי קלפי דקני, שוילנאי מאי בעיא?!״
גפתה לאמה.
Her name was Shevilnai;
and this is as people say in reference to a famous prostitute:
Between reeds and willows, what does Shevilnai seek?!
Among the peels of the reeds, what does Shevilnai seek?! I.e., Clearly, she seeks illicit sex.
She prostituted (גפתה) her mother.
Apparently, Shevilnai became a name popularly used to connote a prostitute. Since everyone refers to her as prostitute, daughter of prostitute, she has implicated her mother with her licentiousness.
R’ Yohanan - Zimri had five names: Zimri, “son of Salu,” Saul, “son of the Canaanite woman,” and “Shelumiel son of Zuri Shaddai” - Numbers 1:6
(See footnote.)8
אמר רבי יוחנן:
חמשה שמות יש לו:
זמרי,
ובן סלוא,
ושאול,
ובן הכנענית,
ושלומיאל בן צורי שדי.
R’ Yoḥanan says:
Zimri has 5 names:
Zimri;
and son of Salu;
and Saul;
and son of the Canaanite woman;
and Shelumiel, son of Zuri Shaddai.
Each is homiletically connected with his sin; his actual name was Shelumiel son of Zuri Shaddai
זמרי –
על שנעשה כביצה המוזרת,
בן סלוא –
על שהסליא עונות של משפחתו,
שאול –
על שהשאיל עצמו לדבר עבירה,
בן הכנענית –
על שעשה מעשה כנען,
ומה שמו? שלומיאל בן צורי שדי שמו.
He was called Zimri
because of the fact that he became like an addled [ha-muzeret] egg as a result of engaging in multiple acts of sex.9
He was called son of Salu
because of the fact that he evoked [she-hisli] the sins of his family.
He was called Saul [Shaul]
because of the fact that he lent [she-hishil] himself to sinful matters.
He was called son of the Canaanite woman
because of the fact that he performed an act of Canaan, as the Canaanites are renowned for their licentiousness.
And what is his actual given name? Shelumiel, son of Zuri Shaddai, is his name, the leader of the tribe of Shimon (Numbers 1:6).
Compare the famous Mishnah in tractate Shabbat (6:4, = Shabbat/63a#3):
לא יצא האיש
לא בסייף
ולא בקשת
ולא בתריס
ולא באלה
ולא ברומח.
ואם יצא —
חייב חטאת.
Just as it is prohibited for a woman to carry out certain items unique to a woman into the public domain, the rabbis said that a man may neither go out on Shabbat
with a sword,
nor with a bow,
nor with a shield [teris - from Greek],
nor with an alla,
nor with a spear.
And if he unwittingly went out with one of these weapons to the public domain —
he is liable to bring a sin-offering.
רבי אליעזר אומר:
תכשיטין הן לו.
R’ Eliezer says:
These weapons are ornaments (תכשיטין) for him;
just as a man is permitted to go out into the public domain with other ornaments, he is permitted to go out with weapons.
וחכמים אומרים:
אינן אלא לגנאי,
שנאמר:
״וכתתו חרבותם לאתים
וחניתותיהם למזמרות
ולא ישא גוי אל גוי חרב
ולא ילמדו עוד מלחמה״.
And the Rabbis say:
They are nothing other than reprehensible (גנאי)
and in the messianic future these weapons will be eliminated, as it is written:
“And they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation will not raise sword against nation,
neither will they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).
As stated earlier in the sugya, see Part 2, section “If Zimri had stopped having sex before Pinehas killed him, Pinehas would have been liable for murder“.
זכרותו - literally: “his maleness/manhood/masculinity”.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “זַכְרוּת”, sense #1:
(denominative of זָכָר)
1) male genitals; male sex.
Bamidbar Rabbah 20, end.
Avodah Zarah 44a:5 (explaining מפלצת, II Chronicles 15:16) - כמין זכרות - “a phallus”
Menachot 6a:12 תמות וז׳ בבהמה unblemished condition and male sex of sacrifices are required only of cattle.
Jerusalem Talmud Yevamot 8:6:4 צד ז׳ the male side of the hermaphrodite; מכח
זַכְרוּתוֹ in as much as he is a male;
and frequently.
נקבותה - literally: “her femaleness/femalehood/femininity”.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “נְקֵבוּת”, sense #1:
1) female genitals, female sex.
(Yerushalmi ibid. 10, 28d bottom of page, and elsewhere. קיבה).
Yevamot 83b:9 בנקבות שלו - “at his (the hermaphrodite’s) female organ”
(Yerushalmi ibid. 8, end, 9d מקום נְקֵיבָה).
Ibid. צר נְקֵיבוּתוֹ (ed. Krot. נְקֵיבָתוֹ) inasmuch as he is a female, see זַכְרוּת.
מוזרת.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “זָרַר”:
(Biblical Hebrew; see זוּר a.
1) to press, stamp;
2) to scatter.
Nif’al - נָזַר, נִיזָּר to be scattered.
Pesikta Vayhi, p. 64b היתה נדקת … ונִזֶּרֶת was crushed, ground, and scattered;
Mekhilta Bo s. 13 וכִזָּרוֹת … (plural:).
Hof’al - הוּזָר to be smashed.
Part. מוּזָר, feminine מוּזֶרֶת, plural: מוּזָרוֹת. ביצה מ׳ an egg smashed in the nest, rotten (compare מָאַס).
Midrash Tanḥuma Pinchas. 2;
מושבה, a euphemism for female genitalia.
קבר - literally: “grave”, another euphemism for female genitalia.
On this word, see Jastrow (modernized), entry “קֶבֶר”:
Transferred sense: uterus (containing an embryo).
Niddah 21a:44 באיפשר לפתיחת הק׳ וכ׳ they differ as to whether the uterus can open (to pass the embryo) without discharging blood.
Shabbat 129a:2 חיה כל זמן שהק׳ פתוח וכ׳ for a woman in confinement you must violate the Sabbath laws as long as the uterus is open, whether she says that she needs it or that she needs it not.
Ibid. מאימתי פתיחת הק׳ when does the opening of the womb begin (in regard to Sabbath laws)?; עד מתי … הק׳ how long is it considered open?
Oholot VII, 4 אין לנפלים פ׳ הק׳ וכ׳ in the case of abortions the laws of levitical cleanness connected with the opening of the womb do not apply, unless etc., see פִּיקָא I;
Tosefta ibid. VIII, 8;
and frequently.
I cited this passage previously, in my piece on Talmudic homiletic interpretations of names.
As stated earlier, in section “Baraita - Zimri had sex with Cozbi 60 times, until he became physically depleted and Cozbi was compared to a water-filled garden bed“.