Parashat Pinchas — Phinehas (mouth of brass / oracle)
פִּינְחָס
Pinchas (פִּינְחָס) means "phinehas (mouth of brass / oracle)" — taken, as every parashah name is, from the portion's opening words in the Hebrew.
The Readings
Torah Numbers 25:10-30:1 Read →
Haftarah I Kings 18:46-19:21 Read →
B'rit Chadashah Romans 11:1-6 Read →
What Happens in Pinchas
Pinchas son of Elazar, son of Aharon the priest, has turned My wrath away from the children of Yisrael, in that he was zealous with My zeal — and the reward for the spear at Peor is startling: behold, I give him My covenant of shalom... the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the children of Yisrael. Peace, given to the zealous; atonement, made without an altar. War on Midian is commanded for the treachery of Peor, and then the portion turns to the future: a new census on the plains of Moav, family by family — 601,730 fighting men — to these the land shall be divided for an inheritance, by lot. The count carries its own obituary: among these there was not a man numbered by Moshe and Aharon in the wilderness of Sinai... except Kalev son of Yefunneh and Yehoshua son of Nun. The sentence of Shlach is complete; the sons now stand where the fathers fell.
Then five sisters change Israel's law. The daughters of Tzelofchad — Machlah, Noah, Choglah, Milkah, and Tirtzah — stand before Moshe, Elazar, the princes, and all the congregation at the door of the tent of meeting: our father died in the wilderness... and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family? Give us a possession. Moshe brings their cause before YHVH, and the ruling from heaven is unambiguous: the daughters of Tzelofchad speak rightly; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance — and the case law of inheritance is set down for all generations. Then Moshe is told to ascend Mount Avarim and see the land he will not enter, because of Merivah; and his response is not protest but a shepherd's prayer: let YHVH, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation... that the congregation of YHVH not be as sheep which have no shepherd. Yehoshua, a man in whom is the Spirit, receives the laying on of Moshe's hands before Elazar and all the congregation, commissioned in their sight.
The portion closes with the complete public offering calendar — the rhythm of drawing near that will structure Israel's worship forever. The daily tamid: two lambs, morning and evening, a continual burnt offering ordained at Sinai. The Shabbat's additional lambs; the new moon's bulls, ram, and lambs with a goat for atonement. Then each appointed time in order with its offerings: Pesach and the seven days of Matzot; Shavuot, the day of firstfruits; Yom Teruah, the day of blowing; Yom Kippur, the day of affliction; and Sukkot's magnificent week — seventy bulls in descending order across seven days, which tradition offers on behalf of the seventy nations, and the solemn eighth day with its single bull, as if, after the nations, God keeps one intimate day for Israel alone.
Main Themes
Zeal that turns wrath away The covenant of shalom and lasting priesthood Daughters who claimed — and changed — inheritance law A shepherd sought so the flock is not scattered The offerings of the calendar — devotion in rhythm
Key Events
· The covenant of peace given to Pinchas
· The census of the new generation
· The daughters of Tzelofchad and the inheritance ruling
· Moshe views the land from Avarim
· Yehoshua commissioned as successor
· The daily, Shabbat, new moon, and festival offerings
Key People
Pinchas Moshe The daughters of Tzelofchad Yehoshua Elazar
Key Verses
Numbers 25:12 Read →
“Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace.”
Numbers 27:7 Read →
““The daughters of Zelophehad speak right. You shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers. You shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them.”
Numbers 27:17 Read →
“who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.””
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