Комментарий к Бамидбар 25:13

והיתה לו AND IT SHALL BE UNTO HIM — this covenant of Mine shall be unto him —

תחת אשר קנא לאלוקיו, seeing he had had the courage to fight My fight, I have ennobled him, granting him “peace” [a fitting reward for a noble fight. Ed.]

תחת אשר קנא לאלוקיו, because he displayed jealousy on behalf of His G'd. This verse provides the reason why G'd decided to give the priesthood to Pinchas as a gift rather than in his capacity of being the son of a priest. By pointing out that what Pinchas had done, he did on account of his G'd, G'd repaid him by elevating him to the priesthood as an act of honouring him personally. He did this by demonstrating that Pinchas did not have to rely on his ancestry, i.e his father and grandfather the High Priests in order to become a priest himself. ויכפר על בני ישראל, he atoned on behalf of the children of Israel. This means that he re-established peace between Israel and their Father in Heaven that G'd in turn called off the angel of death. Inasmuch as Pinchas had caused G'd to call off the angel of death from his people, his people made a pact of peace with him. Inasmuch as the benefits the Israelites derived from Pinchas' calling off the angel of death from them, in other words a benefit extending from generation to generation, Pinchas' elevation to the priesthood was also one that extended from generation to generation, i.e. כהונת עולם.

This covenant of Mine. Meaning that “והיתה” ["it shall be"] is in the feminine form, and it refers to the covenant that was mentioned above, for the word “covenant” is a feminine form. Re’m explains that the word והיתה is not associated with the words “My covenant of peace” because “My covenant of peace” would not become “a covenant of kehunah.” Rather, it is connected with the word “My covenant” [teaching] that this covenant shall be a covenant of eternal kehunah, just as it shall be a covenant of peace.

V. 13. והיתה לו וגו׳. Als Pinchas erzeugt wurde, war Elasar noch זר, daher trug Pinchas bis jetzt nicht den Priestercharakter. Allein wie der Stamm Levi durch sein Auftreten beim Egel sich tatsächlich den Levitenrang errungen, dessen ihn sodann die ausdrückliche Erwählung würdigte, so hatte Pinchas durch seine rettende Tat wahrhaft "den Weg weisend", wahrhaft als "כהן" sich im Volke betätigt und in Tathandlung die sühnende Hingebung vollbracht, die symbolisch die עבודה des Priesters im Heiligtum vollbringt. Darum ward er nach solcher Tat zum Priester erhoben, und bewährte sich der ihm hier für ihn und seine ihm nachfolgenden Nachkommen erteilte ewige Priesterbund darin, dass alle Hohenpriester aus Pinchas Geschlecht waren (siehe Chron. I. 5, 39-41) und auch die Hohenpriester des zweiten Tempels waren nach dem ספרי seine Nachkommen (siehe תוספו׳ Joma 9a). Pinchas war übrigens auch selbst ein sehr langes Leben beschieden. Noch zu den Zeiten des Attentats zu Gibea (Richter 20, 28) finden wir פינחס בן אלעזר בן אהרן als Hohenpriester bei der Bundeslade Gottes. Ja, nach einer Auffassung wäre Pinchas identisch mit Elijahu, in dessen Auftreten für Gottes Sache in Israel ja ebenfalls der Pinchasgeist waltet, und der ja auch einst kommen wird, um durch Heilung des Bruches der Zeiten der Verwirklichung des ברית שלום auf Erden die Bahn zu ebnen, wenn die Zukunft von der Vergangenheit geklüftet ist und in der Gegenwart das junge Geschlecht und das alte Geschlecht einander den Rücken kehren, und es gelten wird, durch Wiederbringung des Horebgeistes des göttlichen Gesetzes den Bruch der Zeiten zu heilen. Lautet doch das letzte Wort des Propheten: זכרו תורת משה עבדי אשר צויתי אותו בחרב על כל ישראל חקים ומשפטים הנה אנכי שלח לכם את אליהו הנביא לפני בא יום ד׳ הגדול והנורא והשיב לב אבות על בנים ולב בנים על אבותם פן אבוא והביתי את הארץ חרם (Maleachi 3, 22-24).

והיתה לו ולזרעו אחריו, “and both he and his descendants will enjoy the status of being priests.” This is the case with the descendants of all priests, but what is meant here is that the special priest assigned to soldiers before setting out on a war of conquest will always be one descended from Pinchas. (Compare both Numbers 31,6 and Talmud Zevachim, folio 101)It also follows that prior to Pinchas’ having killed Zimri in an act of zealousness he had not been a priest although he was the son of a priest.This also explains how Pinchas could have permitted himself to kill Zimri as by doing so he would defile himself, something forbidden for a priest to do? We would have been able to answer that up until now only Aaron himself and his sons had been forbidden to defile themselves through contact with a corpse.We find that also during the description of the consecration of Aaron and his sons as priests the Torah had emphasised the anointment of him and his sons, (not any grandsons. Compare Exodus 28,40-41.)It is also possible to answer that when Pinchas withdrew his dagger from Zimri and Cosbi, they had not yet been quite dead. [These speculations are necessary as there is a debate between the sages as to when Pinchas had become a priest. His priesthood might not have been hereditary to his descendants prior to here. Ed.] Concerning this interpretation, Rabbi Sh’muel raises the point that Pinchas must have been a priest in the full sense of the meaning of the word no later than on the eighth day of the consecrations rites, [38 years earlier. Ed.] or the Midrash could not have included him in the seven joyful events that Aaron’s wife Elisheva was supposed to have enjoyed on that day. It is possible that Moses appointed him to that position although he did not permit him to perform service in the Tabernacle until after he had earned that right by being zealous on G–d’s behalf at the right time at the right place. Only now had all the privileges of the priesthood been bestowed upon him and his descendants after him.

Eternal kehunah. This refers to a Kohein Gadol. A regular kohein only serves before Hashem during the watch of his father’s house or on festivals, whereas A Kohein Gadol, serves continuously.

ברית כהונת עולם, “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood;” All the High Priests following the High Priest Pinchas, who succeeded his father Elazar, who functioned during the period of the first Temple, and even beyond, during the early period of the second Temple were direct descendants of Pinchas as spelled out in Chronicles I 5,30.

‎ברית כהנת עולם A COVENANT OF AN EVERLASTING PRIESTHOOD — for although the priesthood had already been given to Aaron’s descendants (cf. Exodus 28:40-41), it was given only to Aaron and his sons who had been anointed together with him and to their offspring whom they might beget after they had been anointed. But Phineas who had been born prior to that and had not been anointed, had not as yet attained the status of priesthood until now. So, too, do we read in Zevachim 101b: Phineas did not become a priest until he had slain Zimri.

ויכפר על בני ישראל, seeing that he did what he did in full view of his peers so that they would obtain expiation for not having protested Zimri’s behaviour, he proved himself fit to become a priest whose primary function it is to secure expiation for the sins of their Jewish brethren. As a priest he could continue in the role he had first adopted on this occasion.

Solely to Aharon and his sons who were anointed with him… (Gur Aryeh) You might ask: Why was Pinchas not anointed like Aharon and his sons? The answer is that at the time he was a minor, and minors were not anointed. However once he became an adult it was no longer appropriate to anoint him [since the time for anointing had passed]. Kitzur Mizrochi answers: However, it appears more likely that because [Hashem] knew he would merit the kehunah through his own merit, by this great act, he did not want to anoint him at that time. For then it would have appeared as if he only merited the kehunah because he descended from Aharon.

A moral/ethical approach to our verse could be based on the statement in Baba Metzia 114, that the prophet Elijah who would usher in the messianic age would be none other than Pinchas (his re-incarnation). Our verse would provide the reason why it would be Pinchas who would perform this task in the future. We are told that the principal function of the prophet Elijah at the time preceding the arrival of the Messiah will be to bridge the generation gap between fathers and sons and vice-versa, harmonising their mutual relationships (compare Maleachi 3,24). In addition to that we have learned in Edioth 8,7 that Elijah would increase שלום, harmony in the world. You will observe that in our paragraph the Torah describes Pinchas twice as being jealous, once in verse 11 and once more in our verse here. The Torah alludes to the jealousy the original Pinchas displayed on G'd's behalf during the time the Israelites were at Shittim, whereas the second reference is to the jealousy the prophet Elijah (Pinchas) displayed during the reign of King Achav when he described himself before G'd as a Kannai, a fanatic on G'd's behalf (Kings I 19,14). There too we find that he repeated the word קנא, "was jealous." At that time, Elijah alluded to the fact that this was already the second time he had played this role of being jealous on behalf of G'd. The Torah therefore mentions here that G'd granted him G'd's covenant of peace.

ויכפר על בני ישראל, “now that he had achieved atonement on behalf of the whole Jewish nation, he would henceforth be an instrument gaining atonement on other occasions.”

לאלהיו means [HE WAS ZEALOUS] FOR THE SAKE OF HIS GOD, just as, (Numbers 11:29) “Are you zealous for My sake (לי)?” and (Zechariah 8:2) “I am zealous לציון", i.e., for Zion’s sake.

ברית כהונת עולם, “a covenant of everlasting priesthood.” In this instance the word מלח, “salt,” normally associated with the wordברית is absent although it appears in 18,19 when Aaron and all his offspring are mentioned seeing they have been assured of two worlds, the terrestrial world when the covenant is effective to provide the priests with their sustenance from “G’d’s” table, i.e. the gifts listed as being given to the priests in Parshat Korach. Secondly, as recorded in 18,20, G’d uses two separate terms describing Himself as bothחלקך and נחלתך. The former word refers to the priests being G’d’s share in the terrestrial world, the latter word to His being the priest’s share in the hereafter. Seeing that in Korach the subject is both worlds, the word מלח symbolizing something enduring is used whereas in connection with Pinchas and his covenant there is no need to reinforce the promise of G’d that he is assured of an eternal future by adding the word מלח. Pinchas merited his promotion from the attribute of Mercy which, as opposed to the attribute of Justice, does not envisage death, i.e. impermanence. The priesthood and what it stands for is an emanation of the attribute of חסד, an attribute over which death has no control.

What is the meaning of that covenant? The word שלום is to be understood as "complete, whole." The first covenant G'd concluded with the first Jew Abraham in Genesis 15, 1-21 contained the promise that Abraham's descendants would take possession of the lands of 10 nations all of which are named in that chapter. Even at the time when the prophet Elijah was active on earth for the first time, the lands of no more than seven of these nations had been given to the Jewish people. When G'd said in our verse הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום, He hinted that Pinchas/Elijah would preside over the completion of the part of G'd's promise to Abraham which was still outstanding. The vision of Maleachi includes the vision of Isaiah 11,7 and 9 concerning a period when the lion will lie down with the lamb without harming it, etc. In the latter verse Isaiah predicts that from that time onwards "nothing evil or vile shall be done, for the land will be filled with devotion to the Lord, etc. etc."The reason that in our verse G'd does no longer speak of Pinchas' descendants is that when Elijah will return at that time it will be Pinchas' final appearance on earth, his task will not have to be completed by his offspring. The Torah mentions that the covenant G'd concludes with Pinchas also comprises the priesthood, giving a reason for this second covenant which is an everlasting one. By using the introductory word תחת, the Torah refers to Pinchas as also qualifying for this latter covenant on account of two things he had done or was still going to do, i.e. the jealousy he would display on behalf of G'd during the reign of Achav when the Israelites worshiped the Baal and abandoned their G'd. The reason that the Torah added the word לאלקיו here is that it alludes to the sin of idol worship. We know from Deut. 6,15 that the sin of idol worship arouses G'd's jealousy. When Elijah demonstrated the miracles of G'd on Mount Carmel in Kings I 18,39, he did not conclude until the people had exclaimed that the Lord G'd is the true G'd. This is the reason why when Elijah will appear once more prior to the coming of the Messiah it will be during a period which the prophet Maleachi described as a time when "G'd and His name will be one," the mystical dimension of "the Lord G'd is the true G'd."

And made atonement for Bnei Yisroel. Since Pinchas made atonement for Bnei Yisroel he deserves to continue to make atonement for them, for someone who shows self-sacrifice for a mitzvah is helped by Heaven afterwards.

ויכפר על בני ישראל, “he obtained atonement for the Children of Israel.” This verse teaches that he who spills the blood of the wicked is considered as if he had offered a sacrifice. The idea is reflected in Exodus 21,14: “from My altar you shall remove him to die.” The meaning of the verse is that even if the party concerned is a priest involved in performing his priestly duties on the altar, he must be removed and executed (Yuma 85).

The word ויכפר, etc. also refers both to the future and to the past. The Torah means that just as Pinchas had atoned for the Jewish people in Shittim, so Elijah would atone for the Jewish people in the future. Basically, this is the function of the priest, as we know from Leviticus 4,20 et al.