God Himself steps in to clarify Pinḥas's lineage. But why now? What did God see that prompted this?

The Midrash, specifically Bamidbar Rabbah 21, digs deep into this. The Rabbis of old, in their insightful way, suggest that Zimri, son of Salu, wasn't just known by one name. In fact, they say he had six names! (Though some suggest it was actually five – the texts can be tricky sometimes! See Sanhedrin 82b). They list them: Zimri, son of Salu; Shaul, son of the Canaanite woman; Shelumiel, son of Tzurishadai. Each name, they argue, reflects a different aspect of his transgression.

Zimri, they say, shares a root with the word muzeret, meaning "rotten." He was like a rotten egg, devoid of life, spent from his illicit encounter. Think of it as being so exhausted by the act that he was like an egg that would never hatch. Son of Salu? He magnified, sila, his family's iniquity. Shaul? He lent, shehishil, himself to transgression. And son of the Canaanite woman? He performed a Canaanite act, an idolatrous act.

According to the Midrash, as Zimri lay slain, the tribes murmured, questioning Pinḥas's right to act as he did. "Have you seen," they said, "this son of Putiel, whose mother's father fattened calves for idol worship, kill a prince of Israel?" The commentary Etz Yosef and others explain that Pinḥas's mother was a descendant of Yitro, who was also called Putiel (see Shemot Rabba 7:5). So, the question was: did Pinḥas, with his potentially questionable lineage, have the right to take such drastic action?

That's why the verse emphasizes his lineage: "Pinḥas, son of Elazar, son of Aaron the priest." God Himself validates his lineage and, more importantly, His covenant with him: "Therefore, say: Behold, I am giving him My covenant of peace" (Numbers 25:12). This covenant of peace, according to some interpretations, continues to this day! The Etz Yosef even suggests this alludes to the belief that Pinḥas is actually Elijah, still alive and active in the world. We see echoes of this promise in Malachi 2:5: "My covenant was with him, life and peace, and I gave it to him for the fear that he feared Me."

But what about the act itself? Did Pinḥas offer a sacrifice? Not in the traditional sense. Instead, the Midrash teaches that "anyone who sheds the blood of the wicked, it is as though he sacrificed an offering." A powerful, and perhaps unsettling, statement about the weight of justice.

The Torah then contrasts Pinḥas's legacy with Zimri's: "The name of the Israelite man who was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, prince of a Simeonite patrilineal house" (Numbers 25:14). Just as God praises the righteous, He also publicly shames the wicked. Pinḥas is praised; Zimri is defamed. As Proverbs 10:7 says, "The memory of the righteous is for blessing, and the name of the wicked will rot."

The Midrash sees Zimri as someone who breached a fence, violating a boundary set by his ancestors. "One who breaches a fence, a serpent will bite him" (Ecclesiastes 10:8). His ancestor Simeon, along with Levi, had acted zealously against harlotry (Genesis 34:25). Zimri, in his actions, undermined that legacy.

Even Kozbi, the Midianite woman, isn't spared scrutiny: "And the name of the Midianite woman who was slain: Kozbi daughter of Tzur; he was head of the nations of a patrilineal house in Midian" (Numbers 25:15). The Midianites, the Midrash emphasizes, went to great lengths to lead Israel astray. Tzur, Kozbi's father, was even a king who sacrificed his daughter's reputation for this cause. He was the greatest of them all, a king who "demeaned himself and publicized his daughter in disgrace."

So, what does it all mean? This passage isn't just about a single event. It's about lineage, legacy, and the consequences of our choices. It's about how we uphold or betray the values of our ancestors. And it's about the enduring power of God's covenant, a covenant that extends not just to individuals, but to generations. It reminds us that our actions echo through time, shaping not only our own destinies but the destinies of those who come after us.