Phinehas Research Articles

Phinehas' Priestly Zeal and the Violence of Contested Identities

Phinehas' Priestly Zeal and the Violence of Contested Identities

Visible Violence: Numbers 25 and the Atonement of Phinehas

Prior to the episode at Ba’al Peor, the reader of the Torah knows little of Phinehas, the otherwise unremarkable son of Eleazar. It is thus all the more noteworthy that by the end of Numbers 25, this same Phinehas has been promised an enduring priestly primacy. The text’s own explanation of this meteoric rise and indeed, the most likely cause of the text’s preservation within the tradition, is of course Phinehas’ execution of the man and woman narrated in Numbers 25:8. Revered by some, reviled by others, this act of violence has often been understood and interpreted under the rubric of the ‘zeal of Phinehas’. While the narrative does indeed foreground the notion of zeal (Numbers 25:11) as the motivation for Phinehas’ actions, it will be suggested here that the mechanism of his action is best understood with reference to not the zeal, but rather the atonement of Phinehas.

The Figure of Phinehas from Different Perspectives

The Figure of Phinehas from Different Perspectives

The Portrayal of Phinehas by Philo, Pseudo-Philo, and Josephus

The Portrayal of Phinehas by Philo, Pseudo-Philo, and Josephus

The Ascension of Phinehas

The Ascension of Phinehas