Pinchas and Eliyahu

(1) While Israel was dwelling/sitting at Shittim, the people profaned themselves by whoring with the Moabite women, (2) who called the people to sacrifice for their god. The people ate them and bowed down to that god. (3) Thus Israel clung to Baal-peor, and Ad-nai was incensed with Israel. (4) Ad-nai said to Moses, “Take all the ringleaders and have them publicly impaled before Ad-nai, so that Ad-nai’s wrath may turn away from Israel.” (5) So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you slay those of his men who are clinging to Baal-peor.” (6) Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, in the sight of Moses and of the whole Israelite community who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. (7) And Pinchas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saw and he left the assembly and, took a spear in his hand. (8) He followed the Israelite man into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite man and also the woman, through her belly. Then the plague against the Israelites was checked. (9) Those who died of the plague numbered twenty-four thousand. /// (10) Ad-nai spoke to Moses, saying, (11) “Pinchas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites by being zealous with My zeal, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My zeal. (12) Say, therefore, ‘I grant him My covenant of peace. (13) It shall be for him and his seed after him a covenant of priesthood for all time, because he took zealous action for his God, and so he atoned for the Israelites.’” (14) The name of the Israelite who was killed, the one who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, chieftain of a Simeonite ancestral house. (15) The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur; he was the tribal head of an ancestral house in Midian.

(21) Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you keep hopping between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; and if Baal, follow him!” But the people answered him not a word. (22) Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only prophet of the LORD left, while the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. (23) Let two young bulls be given to us. Let them choose one bull, cut it up, and lay it on the wood, but let them not apply fire; I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and will not apply fire. (24) You will then invoke your god by name, and I will invoke the LORD by name; and let us agree: the god who responds with fire, that one is God.” And all the people answered, “Very good!” (25) Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority; invoke your god by name, but apply no fire.” (26) They took the bull that was given them; they prepared it, and invoked Baal by name from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and none who responded; so they performed a hopping dance about the altar that had been set up. (27) When noon came, Elijah mocked them, saying, “Shout louder! After all, he is a god. But he may be in conversation, he may be detained, or he may be on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and will wake up.” (28) So they shouted louder, and gashed themselves with knives and spears, according to their practice, until the blood streamed over them. (29) When noon passed, they kept raving until the hour of presenting the meal offering. Still there was no sound, and none who responded or heeded. (30) Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me”; and all the people came closer to him. He repaired the damaged altar of the LORD. (31) Then Elijah took twelve stones, corresponding to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob—to whom the word of the LORD had come: “Israel shall be your name”— (32) and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. Around the altar he made a trench large enough for two seahs of seed. (33) He laid out the wood, and he cut up the bull and laid it on the wood. (34) And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it over the burnt offering and the wood.” Then he said, “Do it a second time”; and they did it a second time. “Do it a third time,” he said; and they did it a third time. (35) The water ran down around the altar, and even the trench was filled with water. (36) When it was time to present the meal offering, the prophet Elijah came forward and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel! Let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your bidding. (37) Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God; for You have turned their hearts backward.” (38) Then fire from the LORD descended and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the earth; and it licked up the water that was in the trench. (39) When they saw this, all the people flung themselves on their faces and cried out: “The LORD alone is God, The LORD alone is God!” (40) Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal, let not a single one of them get away.” They seized them, and Elijah took them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there. (41) Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a rumbling of [approaching] rain,” (42) and Ahab went up to eat and drink. Elijah meanwhile climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, crouched on the ground, and put his face between his knees. (43) And he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the Sea.” He went up and looked and reported, “There is nothing.” Seven times [Elijah] said, “Go back,” (44) and the seventh time, [the servant] reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising in the west.” Then [Elijah] said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Hitch up [your chariot] and go down before the rain stops you.’” (45) Meanwhile the sky grew black with clouds; there was wind, and a heavy downpour fell; Ahab mounted his chariot and drove off to Jezreel. (46) The hand of the LORD had come upon Elijah. He tied up his skirts and ran in front of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. (1) When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets to the sword, (2) Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “Thus and more may the gods do if by this time tomorrow I have not made you like one of them.” (3) Frightened, he fled at once for his life. He came to Beer-sheba, which is in Judah, and left his servant there; (4) he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush and sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “Enough!” he cried. “Now, O LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” (5) He lay down and fell asleep under a broom bush. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” (6) He looked about; and there, beside his head, was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water! He ate and drank, and lay down again. (7) The angel of the LORD came a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, or the journey will be too much for you.” (8) He arose and ate and drank; and with the strength from that meal he walked forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of God at Horeb. (9) There he went into a cave, and there he spent the night. Then the word of Ad-nai came to him. He said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” (10) He replied, “I am zealously zealous for Ad-nai, the God of Hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.” (11) “Come out,” He called, “and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And lo, the LORD passed by. There was a great and mighty wind, splitting mountains and shattering rocks by the power of the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind—an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake. (12) After the earthquake—fire; but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire—a soft murmuring voice. (13) When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his mantle about his face and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then a voice addressed him: “Why are you here, Elijah?” (14) He answered, “I am zealously zealous for Ad-nai, the God of Hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to the sword. I alone am left, and they are out to take my life.” (15) The LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, [and] on to the wilderness of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael as king of Aram. (16) Also anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet. (17) Whoever escapes the sword of Hazael shall be slain by Jehu, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu shall be slain by Elisha. (18) I will leave in Israel only seven thousand—every knee that has not knelt to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Rabbi said: At every place where Israel sat down in the wilderness, they made idols for themselves, as it is said, "And the people sat down to eat and to drink" (Ex. 32:6). What is written here? "And they rose up to make sport" (ibid.); they commenced to worship idols. One verse says, "And Israel sat down in Shittim" (Num. 25:1). What is written here? "And the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab" (ibid.). They commenced to be immoral.

Rabbi Yehudah said: "The counsel of the wicked is far from me" (Job 21:16). This (verse) refers to the counsel of Bilam, the wicked, who advised Midian, and there fell of Israel twenty-four thousand men. He said to them [Midianites]: You will not be able to prevail against this people unless they have sinned before their Creator. They made for themselves tents/stores outside the camp of Israel, and they sold all kinds of merchandise of the market. The young men of Israel went beyond the camp of Israel and they saw the daughters of Midian, who had painted their eyes like harlots, and they took wives of them, and went astray after them, as it is said, "And the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab" (Num. 25:1).

Simeon and Levi were exceedingly zealous because of immorality, as it is said, "And they said: 'as with an harlot should he deal with our sister?'" (Gen. 34:81). Each man took his sword and they slew the men of Shechem. [However, in the episode involving Pinchas] The prince of the tribe of Simeon did not remember that which his ancestor had done, and he did not rebuke the young men of Israel, but he himself came publicly to the Midianite woman for immorality, as it is said, "Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri… a prince of a fathers' house among the Simeonites" (Num. 25:14).

All the princes with Moses, Eleazar, and Pinchas saw the angel who was to destroy the people, and they sat down and wept, and they did not know what to do. Pinchas saw how Zimri went publicly to the Midianite woman for an immoral purpose, and he was moved by a great zeal, and he snatched the spear out of the hand of Moses, and ran after (Zimri) and pierced him through the back, through the genitals, and the spear went into the belly of the woman. Therefore the Blessed One gave a good reward to him and to his sons with the food of the shoulder. And the jaws/mouths were separated, the jaws of the man (from) the jaws of the woman; therefore the Blessed One gave him and his sons a good reward with the food of the cheeks, as it is said, "And they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the jaw" (Deut. 18:3).

He arose like a great spiritual leader and he judged Israel, as it is said, "Then stood up Pinchas, and he executed judgment [vayipalel]" (Ps. 106:30). What is the meaning of this expression, "vayipalel"? Like a great judge. Just as you say, "And he shall pay as the judges [pelilim] determine" (Ex. 21:22). And he smote the young men of Israel so that all Israel should see and fear, as it is said, "And all Israel shall hear, and fear" (Deut. 21:21). The Blessed One saw what Pinchas had done, and forthwith was filled with compassion; the plague was stayed [as it is said, "and so the plague stopped" (Num. 16:50).]

Rabbi Eliezer said: He called the name of Pinchas by the name of Elijah—Elijah, may he be remembered for good, (who was) of those who sat [toshvei] in Gilead, for he brought about the repentance [teshuvah] of Israel in the mountain of Gilead. The Blessed One gave him and his righteous sons a good reward, in order that (he might have) the everlasting priesthood, as it is said, "And it shall be to him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood" (Num. 25:13).

Hence the sages instituted that they should cover the foreskin and the blood with the dust of the earth, as it is said, "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth" (Gen. 28:14). Thus the Israelites did circumcise until they were divided into two kingdoms. The kingdom of Ephraim cast off from themselves the covenant of circumcision. Elijah, may he be remembered for good, arose and was zealous with mighty zealotry, and he adjured the heavens to send down neither dew nor rain upon the earth. Jezebel heard (of this), and sought to slay him. Elijah arose and prayed before the Holy One of Blessing.

The Holy One of Blessing said to him (Elijah): "Are you better than your fathers?" Esau sought to slay Jacob, as it is written "and the days of my father's mourning will come, and I will kill my brother Jacob" (Gen. 27:41) but he fled before him, as it is said, "And Jacob fled into the field of Aram" (Hos. 12:12). Pharaoh sought to slay Moses, who fled before him and he was saved, as it is said, "Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. And Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh" (Ex. 2:15). Saul sought to slay David, who fled before him and was saved, as it says, "And David fled and escaped" (1 Sam. 19:18). Learn that everyone who flees is saved. Elijah, may he be remembered for good, arose and fled from the land of Israel and was saved as it is said, "And he arose, and did eat and drink" (1 Kings 19:8). There the Holy One of Blessing revealed Godself him, and said to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" (1 Kings 19:9). He answered Him, saying: "I have been zealously zealous" (1 Kings 19:10). The Holy One of Blessing said to him: You are always zealous! You were zealous in Shittim on account of the immorality, as it is said, "Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was zealous with My zeal among them" (Num. 25:11). Here also you are zealous. By your life! They shall not observe the covenant of circumcision unless you see it (done) with your eyes.

Hence the sages instituted (the custom) that people should have a seat of honor for the Messenger of the Covenant [Elijah, may he be remembered for good, is called the Messenger of the Covenant] as it is said, "And the messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in, behold, he comes" (Malachi 3:1). The God of Israel will hasten and will bring to us, in our lives, the Mashiach to comfort us and to renew our hearts, as it says "and he will return the hearts of the parents to the children" (Malachi 3:24).

And it will be for his seed - From here they said that Pinchas was not a kohen until that very moment, when he stood up - as it is written (Malachi 2:5) "My covenant was with him was life and peace"

In the commentary of Eliezer Ben Hyrkanus: "And he said 'I certainly was zealous for Ad-nai'" (I Kings 19:14) The Holy One of Blessing said to Eliahu: You were zealous regarding idolatry in Shittim, as it says: 'Pinchas the son of Eleazar etc.' and here you were certainly zealous! For your life [I swear] that there will be no brit milah that Israel does and you don't see with your eyes. From here the sages established that a honorary seat will be made for Eliahu, who is the angel of the brit [milah] as it says "And the angel of My brit" (Malachi 3:1)

Resh Lakish said: Pinchas and Eliahu are one and the same. The Holy One of Blessing said to him: you established peace between Me and the children of Israel, so too even in the future you will establish peace between Me and them, as it is written "behold I am sending to you Elijah the prophet" (Malachi 3:23)

Elijah the Prophet was accustomed to come and visit Rav Anan, as the prophet was teaching him the statements that would later be recorded in the volume Seder deEliyahu, the Order of Elijah. Once Rav Anan did this and caused a miscarriage of justice, Elijah departed. Rav Anan sat in observance of a fast and prayed for mercy, and Elijah came back. However, when Elijah came after that, he would scare him. Then Rav Anan made a box where he settled himself down and he sat before Elijah until he took out for him, i.e., taught him, all of his Seder. And this is what the Sages mean when they say: Seder deEliyahu Rabba, the Major Order of Elijah, and Seder Eliyahu Zuta, the Minor Order of Elijah, as the first order was taught prior to this incident and the second came after it.

The Zohar asks - what do you have here? Who do you have here? The established covenant [brit] is the mouth of G!d. Since you did not want to use your mouth, the mouth that was zealous for the brit, I will take back the mouth that I gave you that is, the brit shalom, to its place beforehand, meaning, back to G!d. We learned that in that very moment He took the gift given to Moshe, that is, the brit shalom, since we learned: He arose and ate and drank; and with the strength from that meal he walked forty days and forty nights as far as the mountain of God at Horeb (I Kings 19:8). That is, to ask from there. You say, he asked from there? Shouldn't you say he asked from G!d? Answer: Rather, he asked what was his from the beginning, from the one Moshe who had inherited the brit on the mountain of G!d. Pinchas is Eliahu - obviously they are in the same level. And Moshe said: you can't receive from me the brit shalom, rather, you need to go to the youth/children of Israel, they have the brit milah and from them you will make known the secret of the brit - and he did so.

The faithful shepherd said to him: all that you said was good, but since Eliyahu is Pinchas, who was zealous for the brit, we need to renew great things about him, because this parsha was written on his name Pinchas, who is Elyiahu, because about him it is written: 'I was zealously zealous' (I Kings 19:10) there are two zealotries, one for the aspect of Shad"ai of the upper realm and the second for the aspect of Shad"ai of the lower realm, and because of this He made two oaths regarding them, twice 'no' 'no.'