Did they just... fade away? Well, let's talk about Phinehas.
Phinehas, remember him? The zealous grandson of Aaron who, in Numbers 25, took decisive action to stop a plague and was rewarded with a covenant of peace? Turns out, his story didn't end there.
According to Legends of the Jews, a monumental work compiled by Rabbi Louis Ginzberg, God spoke to Phinehas when he reached the ripe old age of one hundred and twenty. That's considered a full life, the "natural term of man's life," as it says. But God had something else in mind for him.
God tells Phinehas to go to Mount Danaben and stay there for many years. Can you imagine? Living in solitude, high on a mountain. But it's not a complete abandonment. God promises to command the eagles to sustain him with food. Think of it: a divinely ordained room service, but with eagles instead of waiters!
The purpose of this isolation? It's fascinating. God says that Phinehas won't return to humanity "until the time when thou lockest fast the clouds and openest them again." This suggests a future role for Phinehas, one connected to controlling the very elements! What does it mean to "lock fast the clouds and openest them again?" It sounds like he's being entrusted with a cosmic responsibility, maybe even a role in bringing rain or ending droughts.
And the story doesn't end even there. God continues, "Then I will carry thee to the place where those are who were before thee, and there thou wilt tarry until I visit the world, and bring thee thither to taste of death." This is perhaps the most intriguing part. Phinehas is promised a sort of suspended animation, a waiting period among other figures from the past until God "visits the world" and brings him back to finally experience death.
It's a remarkable image: Phinehas, the zealous priest, living on a mountaintop, fed by eagles, controlling the clouds, and waiting for a future divine visitation. It certainly adds a layer of mystique to this biblical figure, doesn't it? It makes you wonder about all the untold stories, the unseen roles, and the hidden destinies within the vast tapestry of Jewish tradition.