Introducing: Zimri and Cozbi, Prince of Shimon, Princess of Midyan
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). ...When people of Shimon saw punishment meted out to members of their tribe who had participated in idolatrous worship of Baal, and licentiousness... The tribe of Simeon went to Zimri, son of Salu, their leader, and said to him: They are judging cases of capital law and executing us and you are sitting and are silent? What did Zimri do? He arose and gathered twenty-four thousand people from the children of Israel, and went to Cozbi, daughter of Zur, princess of Midian, and said to her: Submit to me and engage in intercourse with me. She said to him: I am the daughter of a king, and this is what my father commanded me: Submit only to the greatest of them. Zimri said to her: He, too, referring to himself, is the head of a tribe; moreover, he is greater than Moses, as he is the second of the womb, as he descends from Simeon, the second son of Jacob, and Moses is the third of the womb, as he descends from Levi, the third son of Jacob.
תפשה בבלוריתה והביאה אצל משה אמר לו בן עמרם זו אסורה או מותרת ואם תאמר אסורה בת יתרו מי התירה לך נתעלמה ממנו הלכה געו כולם בבכיה והיינו דכתיב (במדבר כה, ו) והמה בוכים פתח אהל מועד וכתיב (במדבר כה, ז)
The Halakhah Eludes Moshe Rabbeinu
He seized her by her forelock 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 engaging in intercourse with a gentile woman [zealots may kill one who cohabits with an idolator] eluded Moses. All of the members of the Sanhedrin bawled in their weeping, and that is the meaning of that which is written: “And they were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Numbers 25:6). And it is written thereafter:
וירא פנחס בן אלעזר.
מה ראה? אמר רב ראה מעשה ונזכר הלכה אמר לו אחי אבי אבא לא כך לימדתני ברדתך מהר סיני הבועל את כותית קנאין פוגעין בו אמר לו קריינא דאיגרתא איהו ליהוי פרוונקא.
... ויקח רמח בידו
Pinhas of the Family of Aharon Grasps the Halakhah and Seizes the Moment
“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).
The Gemara 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. He said to Moses: Brother of the father of my father, as Moses was the brother of his grandfather Aaron, did you not teach me this during your descent from Mount Sinai: One who engages in intercourse with a gentile woman, zealots strike him? Moses said to him: Let the one who reads the letter be the agent [parvanka] to fulfill its contents.
Rashi - And straightaway - taking spear in hand...
ושמואל אמר ראה שאין (משלי כא, ל) חכמה ואין תבונה ואין עצה נגד יי. כל מקום שיש חילול השם, אין חולקין כבוד לרב.
ר' יצחק אמר ר"א ראה שבא מלאך והשחית בעם.
Righting the Wrong
And Shmuel says: Pinehas saw and considered the meaning of the verse: “There is neither wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord” (Proverbs 21:30), which the Sages interpreted to mean: Anywhere that there is desecration of the Lord’s name, 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.
Rabbi Yitzḥak says that Rabbi 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.
ולא עוד אלא שאם פירש זמרי והרגו, פנחס נהרג עליו.
Limiting the Category
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 engaged in the act of intercourse.
א"ר חסדא הבא לימלך אין מורין לו איתמר נמי אמר רבה בר בר חנה א"ר יוחנן הבא לימלך אין מורין לו
Rav Ḥisda says: Concerning one who comes to consult with the court when he sees a Jewish man engaging in intercourse with a gentile woman, the court does not instruct him that it is permitted to kill the transgressor.
It was also stated that Rabba bar bar Ḥana says that Rabbi 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 engaging in intercourse with a gentile woman.
ותעצר המגפה שכבר גזר האל יתעלה כאמרו וכל מנאצי לא יראוה:
ותעצר המגפה, for G’d had already decreed previously that all the people who had spurned Him would not see the land of Israel. (Numbers 14,25).
(י) סנהדרין נוהגת בארץ ובחוצה לארץ. סנהדרין ההורגת אחד בשבוע נקראת חבלנית. רבי אלעזר בן עזריה אומר, אחד לשבעים שנה. רבי טרפון ורבי עקיבא אומרים, אלו היינו בסנהדרין לא נהרג אדם מעולם. רבן שמעון בן גמליאל אומר, אף הן מרבין שופכי דמים בישראל:
(10) A Sanhedrin that would execute somebody once in seven years would be considered destructive. Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah says: "Once in seventy years." Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva said: "If we were on the Sanhedrin , nobody would have ever been executed." Rabban Shim'on Ben Gamliel said: "They too would have increased violence in Israel."
נהפך זמרי והרגו לפנחס אין נהרג עליו שהרי רודף הוא
Pinhas as Rodef
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. One is allowed to kill a pursuer in self-defense, provided that the pursued is not liable to be executed by the court.