Sanhedrin 82b — the Talmud in English

And when he reached the tribe of Simeon, he said

to them in language admitting of two interpretations, and as a question: "

Where do we find that the tribe of Levi

is the tribe of Pinhas

greater than Simeon!?"

is greater than that of Simeon!?”

And when they heard this,

the tribe of Simeon

said—those at the entrance, who understood it as though he had said to them: I too shall do as you do, for is my tribe, by any chance, greater, more separated and pure than your tribe?: "

Let him enter

the kuba, for

he too has entered to attend to his needs

sexual intercourse,

;

and surely

the separated ones have permitted the matter,

for Pinhas too is doing as we do."

Rabbi Yohanan said:

Six miracles were performed for Pinhas

at that time:

One: Zimri should have separated

from the gentile woman before Pinhas killed him,

but he did not separate.

And one: he should have

Zimri

speak

and cry out to the members of his tribe to come to assist him,

but he did not speak.

And one: Pinhas aimed

at

the male organ of the man and the female organ of the woman,

so that when everyone saw them attached to one another upon the spear in Pinhas’s hand, everyone knew that permission had been given to the zealot to strike him, and they would not say: There was hatred in his heart toward him.

And one: they did not slip off the spear

and separate from one another after the stabbing, so that everyone would see them attached to one another.

And one: an angel came and raised the lintel,

so that when Pinhas came out of the kuba he would not need to lower the spear into which they had been fixed, for then they would have fallen from the spear.

And one: an angel came and destroyed among the people,

and the members of Zimri’s tribe were driven away, and they did not kill him.

Pinhas came

and

shook them

that is, he threw them from the spear forcefully

before the Omnipresent. He said before Him: "Master of the world!

But

because of these shall twenty-four thousand of Israel fall"!?

As it is stated, "

And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand."

And this is what is written

in Psalms 106: "And they attached themselves to Baal Peor and ate sacrifices of the dead. They provoked Him with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them.

And Pinhas stood and interceded,

and the plague was stopped."

And

Rabbi Elazar said: "

'And he prayed'

was not said, but rather

'and he interceded,'

teaching that, as it were, he conducted a legal dispute

a quarrel

with his Creator."

The ministering angels sought to push him

Pinhas, because he had conducted a dispute with his Creator.

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them

the ministering angels:

"Leave him! He is a zealot, the son of a zealot.

He is from the tribe of Levi, and even his father was zealous in the incident of Shechem and Dinah;

he is the son of one who turns away wrath, the son of one who turns away wrath,

he is the grandson of Aaron, who brought the incense when the anger broke out in the incident of Korah."

The tribes began to disparage him: "

Have you seen this son of Puti, whose mother’s father fattened

Jethro, who was a priest of Midian

calves for idolatry, and"

he

killed the prince of a tribe of Israel."

The verse came and traced his lineage

to Aaron, in contrast to the way they traced his lineage to Jethro, as it is said after the deed of Zimri: "

Pinhas son of Elazar son of Aaron the priest

turned back My wrath from upon the children of Israel by his zealously avenging My vengeance among them, and I did not destroy the children of Israel in My vengeance."

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Precede him with a greeting of peace

Pinhas,

as it is stated

there: "

Therefore say: Behold, I give him My covenant of peace.

And it shall be for him and for his offspring after him a covenant of eternal priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and atoned for the children of Israel."

And this atonement

that Pinhas performed

was worthy that it should be

atoning and continuing forever.

Rav Nahman said in the name of Rav:

What is the meaning of that which is written: "

A girded one, or a he-goat, and a king with whom no one can stand

the alef with a patah, and the kuf with a shuruk

with him"?

Four hundred and twenty-four—

the numerical value of "girded one"—

acts of intercourse the wicked man performed on that day—

and Pinhas waited for him

before killing him

until his strength weakened,

the strength of Zimri from the multitude of acts of intercourse, as it is stated, "'Girded one'—or a he-goat [he waited until his strength weakened]":

And he

Pinhas

does not know that

he need not wait, because the Holy One, blessed be He, whose name is

"a king with whom no one can stand"

is with him.

And

it was taught in a beraita

in a beraita we learned, to explain the verse in another manner:

sixty

acts of intercourse,

until he became like a misshapen egg

that is, "girded one," because of the multitude of acts of intercourse that he performed; and his strength weakened, that is, "he-goat," and his semen did not become cooked.

And she

Cozbi

was

full of his semen

like a bed of earth full of water.

Rav Kahana said: And

the place of

her dwelling

Cozbi’s was large, measuring

a beit seah,

that is, she was exceedingly broad, and by sitting she occupied a beit seah.

Rav Yosef taught: Her grave

the opening of her womb

was one cubit.

Rav Sheshet said:

It was not "

Cozbi

daughter of Zur"

the name

of the Midianite woman,

but rather "

Shuilnai daughter of Zur"

was her name.

And why was her name called "

Cozbi"?

Because

she deceived her father,

for he said to her: "Listen only to the greatest among them," whereas she listened to this one.

Alternatively:

For this reason her name was called "

Cozbi,"

because she said to her father: "

Slaughter

a term of slaughter

me with this people,"

that is, through this you will cause them to be slaughtered.

And this is what people say,

that is, and because of "Shuilnai," the prostitute, people customarily say concerning every prostitute: "

Among the reeds and the willows

between the reeds and the thin willows that grow among the pools

what is Shuilnai doing there

what is the prostitute doing there!?" unless she goes there for prostitution.

And they likewise say: "

Among the peelings of the reeds, what is Shuilnai doing there? She has committed adultery against her mother

what is the prostitute doing among the peelings of the reeds, unless for prostitution; and she commits adultery against her mother, for they call her 'a prostitute, daughter of a prostitute'."

Rabbi Yohanan said:

He has five names

for Zimri:

a.

Zimri;

b.

and son of Salu;

c.

and Shaul;

d.

and son of the Canaanite,

as the verse says concerning the sons of Simeon: [Genesis 46:10] "And Shaul, son of the Canaanite";

and Shlumiel son of Zurishaddai,

as the verse says [Numbers 1:4]: "And with you there shall be a man, each man for a tribe, a man who is head of his fathers’ house ... for Simeon, Shlumiel son of Zurishaddai."

And for this reason he was called

Zimri: because he became like a misshapen egg,

as explained above.

And he was called

son of Salu: because he embellished

as in—Lamentations 4—"the precious sons of Zion, embellished with fine gold," for they valued them as fine gold

the sins of

his family,

that is, when they spoke about his family they attributed adultery to the entire family.

And he was called

Shaul: because he lent himself to a transgression.

And he was called

son of the Canaanite: because he performed the deed of Canaan,

who said to them, "Love licentiousness."

And what was his name? "

Shlumiel son of Zurishaddai"

was his name.

We learned in the Mishna:

A priest who performed the service in impurity,

his fellow priests do not bring him to the court; rather, the young priests take him outside the azarah and split open his skull with logs:

Rav Aha bar Huna asked Rav Sheshet: A priest who performed the service in impurity,

whether

is he liable

he

for death at the hands of Heaven, or is he not liable for death at the hands of Heaven?

He said to him,

Rav Sheshet to Rav Aha bar Huna:

You have learned it

in our Mishna:

A priest who performed the service in impurity: his fellow priests do not bring him to the court; rather, the young priests take him outside the azarah, and split open his skull with logs—

And if it enters your mind that he is liable

for death

at the hands of Heaven, let us leave him, so that he may be killed by the hand of Heaven

let us leave him to himself until he dies at the hands of Heaven!?

The Gemara rejects this proof, for on the contrary, the reasoning is the reverse:

Rather, what do you say: he is not liable

for death at the hands of Heaven?

Is there anything for which the Merciful One exempted him, and we shall arise and kill him

that is, is there someone whom the Holy One, blessed be He, exempted from death, while we put him to death? Rather, certainly: even an impure priest who performed the service is liable for death at the hands of Heaven, and therefore we are able to kill him.

And we raise an objection to this:

Is that so!?

Is there no one who is not liable for death according to the Torah, and yet we kill him!?

But we learned

above, 81b:

One who was flogged and repeated the offense, the court places him in a cell,

so here

the Merciful One exempted him, and

nevertheless

we kill him.

And we answer:

Did Rabbi Yirmeya not say in the name of Resh Lakish

in the Gemara there:

We are dealing with lashes for offenses punishable by karet, for the man is fit for death

for the person is one liable for death by karet.

And we still raise an objection:

But the one who steals

the

vessel

against whom zealots strike, even though the Merciful One exempted him—the one who steals the vessel against whom zealots strike, even though the Merciful One exempted him—!?

And we answer:

Rav Yehuda said: We are dealing with a service vessel, and it is hinted at

in the Torah, in the statement written: “

They shall not come to see the holy objects as they are being swallowed up, and die.”

And we still raise an objection:

But the one who curses the sorcerer

against whom zealots strike, even though the Merciful One exempted him—the one who curses the sorcerer against whom zealots strike, even though the Merciful One exempted him—!?

And we answer:

This is what Rav Yosef taught:

in a case where he says, “

Let the sorcerer curse his sorcery,”

for it appears as though he is blessing the Name.

And we still raise an objection:

But the one who has intercourse with a gentile woman

against whom zealots strike, even though the Merciful One exempted him.

And we answer:

They recited to Rav Kahana in his dream

they recited to Rav Kahana in a dream the verse “May the Lord cut off...” which indicates liability for karet from the words of the Traditions],

and Rav recalled it from his learning [and as a result Rav remembered that this is what he had learned from his teachers], as explained above on the first side.

[and as a result, Rav remembered that he had learned this from his teachers], as explained above on the previous side.

He raised an objection

to Rav Sheshet, who said: “A ritually impure person who performed a Temple service is not liable to death at the hands of Heaven,” from what we learned in the Mishna in Zevahim 112b concerning the law of offerings slaughtered outside:

The one who pours

the oil over the meal-offering [as it is written, “And you shall pour oil upon it”],

and the one who mixes

the meal-offering with its oil [as it is written, “Fine flour mixed with oil, unleavened shall it be”],

and the one who breaks

the baked meal-offering into pieces [as it is written, “You shall break it into pieces”],

the one who salts

it [as it is written, “And every meal-offering of yours you shall salt with salt”],

the one who waves

the meal-offering,

the one who presents

the meal-offering at the southwestern corner of the altar, opposite the point of the corner,

and the one who arranges the table

with the showbread,

the one who tends the lamps, and the one who takes the handful

of the meal-offering,

and the one who receives the blood

from the offerings—

if he performed one of all these services

outside

[outside the Courtyard], then he is

exempt

from karet—

And because the Torah rendered liable for performing services outside only when he performs a service after which it is not necessary to perform another service [“a complete service”], such as burning upon the altar; but one who performs a service after which another service is needed, such as taking the handful, after which it is necessary to burn it, this is not a service for which one is liable; and all these are services after which there is another service, and therefore he is exempt.

And one is not liable for them,

because they are services after which there is another service: