Phinehas was the grandson of Aaron and the son of Eleazar. He is best known for his zealous act when he pierced an Israelite man and a Midianite woman during Israel's sin at Baal-Peor, which stopped a deadly plague. For his zeal, he received God's covenant of an everlasting priesthood.
When the Israelites sinned with Moabite and Midianite women and began to worship Baal-Peor, Phinehas intervened and pierced Zimri and the Midianite woman Cozbi with a spear. This act stopped the plague that had killed 24,000 Israelites.
4The LORD said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and impale them before the LORD in the open sunlight, so that the LORD's burning anger may turn away from Israel."
6Just then an Israelite man came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in full view of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
8followed the Israelite into the inner chamber, and drove the spear through both of them—the Israelite man and the woman, through her body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped.
God gave Phinehas a covenant of peace and promised him and his descendants an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Israel.
11"Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, for he was zealous with my own zeal among them; so I did not put an end to the Israelites in my zeal.
13It will be a covenant of a lasting priesthood for him and his descendants after him, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites."
Phinehas was chosen by Moses to lead the holy war against the Midianites as vengeance for their attempt to lead Israel into sin. He carried the sacred utensils and the trumpets.
6Moses sent them out to war, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the holy vessels and the trumpets for sounding the alarm.
Phinehas as Mediator in the Dispute Over the Altar at the Jordan
When the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar by the Jordan, Phinehas was sent as leader of a delegation to investigate the matter and prevent a possible war between the tribes. His diplomatic efforts resolved the conflict peacefully.
16"This is what the whole assembly of the LORD says: What is this treachery you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away this day from the LORD by building yourselves an altar and rebelling against the LORD today?
19If the land you hold is unclean, then cross over to the land the LORD holds as his own, where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and take your possession among us. But do not rebel against the LORD, and do not rebel against us by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the LORD our God.
20When Achan son of Zerah broke faith concerning what was devoted to destruction, did not wrath fall upon the whole assembly of Israel? And he was only one man—yet he was not the only one who died for his sin."
30When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the assembly and the heads of the clans of Israel who were with him heard what the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites said, they were satisfied.
31And Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Manassites, "Today we know that the LORD is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the LORD. Now you have delivered the Israelites from the hand of the LORD."
32Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders left the Reubenites and the Gadites in the land of Gilead and returned to the land of Canaan, to the Israelites, and reported to them.
33The Israelites were satisfied with the report and praised God; they spoke no more of going up to wage war against them and ravaging the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived.
34And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: "A Witness Between Us That the LORD Is God."[^1]
[^1]: The Hebrew text does not state the name itself; it reads simply "they named the altar, for it is a witness between us that the LORD is God." The name given here is drawn from the words that follow.
28with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, ministering before it—and they asked, "Shall we go out again to fight against the Benjaminites, our brothers, or shall we stop?" The LORD answered, "Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands."
Phinehas is mentioned in several genealogies as an important link in the Aaronic priesthood, and his descendants served as high priests in Israel through many generations.
1A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjaminite.[^shiggaion: a musical or literary term of uncertain meaning, perhaps an impassioned song.]