And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it<\/strong>,…. Saw the man pass by in this impudent manner, and his whore with him; his spirit was stirred up, he was filled and fired with zeal for the glory of God, and with an holy indignation against the sin and sinner, and with a just concern for the honour of the righteous law of God; and, to prevent others from falling into the same sin, led by the public example of so great a personage, as it appears afterwards this man was:<\/p>\n he rose up from among the congregation<\/strong>; who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle, or from the midst of the court of judicature, set for trying and judging such persons who were charged with idolatry; for he was not only the son of the high priest and his successor, but a ruler over the Korahites, and had, besides his priestly office, a civil authority, 1Ch 9:20<\/span><\/p>\n and took a javelin in his hand<\/strong>; a spear or pike; the Jews say y he snatched it out of the hand of Moses; and, according to Josephus z, it was a sword; but the word rather signifies an hand pike; this being ready at hand, he took it up and pursued the criminal.<\/p>\n y Pirke Eliezer, c. 47. fol. 56. 1. z Antiqu. l. 4. c. 6. sect. 12.<\/p>\n 7. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar. The courage of Phinehas is celebrated, who, whilst the rest were hesitating, inflamed with holy zeal, hastens forward to inflict punishment. The backwardness of others is therefore condemned by implication, though their tears were praiseworthy; but, since they were almost stupified by grief, their virtue was not dear from all defect. And certainly, whilst the yet unbridled licentiousness of the people was foaming like a tempestuous sea, we cannot wonder that the minds of the good were altogether or partially disabled. Hence was the zeal of Phinehas the more distinguished, when he did not hesitate to provoke so many worthless and wicked persons infuriated by their lechery. If any object that he transgressed the limits of his calling, when he laid hold of the sword with which God had not armed him, to inflict capital punishment, the reply is obvious, that our calling is not always confined to its ordinary office, inasmuch as God sometimes requires new and unusual acts of His servants. As a priest, it was not the office of Phinehas to punish crime, but he was called by the special inspiration of God, so that, in his private capacity, he had the Holy Spirit as his guide. These circumstances, indeed, ought not to be regarded as an example, so that a general rule may be laid down from them; though, at the same time, God preserves His free right to appoint His servants by privilege to act in His behalf as He shall see fit. God’s judgment of this case may be certainly inferred from its approval, so that we may correctly argue that Phinehas was under His own guidance, since He immediately afterwards declared that He was pleased with the act, as is also stated in Psa 106:30<\/span> <\/p>\n Now, if any private person should in his preposterous zeal take upon himself to punish a similar crime, in vain will he boast that he is an imitator of Phinehas, unless he shall be thoroughly assured of the command of God. Let the answer of Christ, therefore, always be borne in mind by us, whereby he restrained His disciples, when they desired, like Elijah, to pray that those who had not received them should be destroyed by fire from heaven, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” (Luk 9:54<\/span>.) In order, therefore, that our zeal may be approved by God, it must be tempered by spiritual prudence, and directed by His authority; in a word, the Holy Spirit must go before and dictate what is right. <\/p>\n (7) And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest . . . <\/strong>In accordance with this punctuation, the designation the priest <\/em>(which generally denotes the high priest) refers to Aaron, not to Phinehas. Eleazar was the high priest at this time (Num. 20:26<\/span>); and consequentlyalthough as a general rule any designation which follows the words the son of such an one refers to the former, not to the latter nounit appears most probable that the designation the priest <\/em>has reference here to Aaron, not to Phinehas, who, although a priest, was not the high priest at this time. He was invested, however, with civil as well as ecclesiastical authority. (See 1Ch. 9:20<\/span>, where he is described as a ruler<\/em>Hebrew, nagid.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Phinehas, Son of Eleazar, Slays the Chieftain and The Woman ( Num 25:7-8<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> a). <\/p>\n Num 25:7-8<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> a <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n ‘And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the inner portion of the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body.’ <\/p>\n Phinehas, the son of the High Priest Eleazar, was appalled at this behaviour, and constrained at the plague which had broken out. He rightly saw the man’s behaviour as an insult against Yahweh and as bringing shame on Yahweh’s name, and as defiling the camp. And leaving the gathered throng he seized a spear, and followed them into their tent, and thrust the spear, first through the man and then the woman. Someone who saw it remembered that it was through her stomach. That was where her childbearing would become apparent, and he made the punishment fit the crime <\/p>\n In acting like this Phinehas would see himself as fulfilling his priestly duty, for the penalty for idolatry was instant death. He was acting as public executioner against an open sin (see Deu 13:9<\/span>), but because the plague had broken out he had recognised the need for fast action. He was also in principle carrying out Yahweh’s command in Num 25:4<\/span>, for those who were hung out in the sun would have to be slain before they were hung out. <\/p>\n His action was actually very similar to that commanded by Moses at the incident of the molten calf at Sinai when he had commanded the responding Levites to slay those who had sinned (Exo 32:27<\/span>). Indeed he may well have remembered that and been determined to demonstrate that he was on Yahweh’s side. <\/p>\n As A Result of His Action Judgment By Plague Is Stayed ( Num 25:8<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> b). <\/p>\n Num 25:8<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> b <\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n ‘So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.’ <\/p>\n We are now told that in fact a plague, previously unmentioned, had broken out in the camp. But as a result of the decisive action of Phinehas the plague was now stayed, and its effect began to die down <\/p>\n Num 25:7-8<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>When Phinehas, the son of Eleazarsaw it, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> Phinehas was a man of great authority, being next to the high priest, whom he succeeded in office. Warmed with a religious zeal at this insolent and unfeeling crime, he rose from amongst the congregation; i.e.<\/em> from among the judges, <\/em>and with his own hand put the criminals to death, in the very moment of their offence. Considering Phinehas as one of the judges appointed to pass sentence on those Israelites who were guilty in this matter, Num 25:5<\/span> we may look upon this step as the generous action of a magistrate, who, seeing justice affronted and not intimidated by the audacity and quality of one of the criminals had the courage to transcend the regular modes of proceeding, to execute, with his own hand, a just sentence against a notorious criminal, whose offence was so heinous. <\/p>\n This blow of vengeance, struck at such a pressing juncture, and by a man whom we must suppose to have been led to it after a miraculous manner by the spirit of God, cannot be made a precedent to any other persons. Nothing can be more absurdly advanced, than the judgment which the Jews build upon this circumstance, and which they call a judgment of zeal. <\/em>The very examples which they quote establish what we maintain; namely, that these extraordinary strokes of vengeance are only allowed to extraordinary men. The case of Matthias may be numbered among these. See 1Ma 2:24<\/span>. It is notorious, however, that the Jews abused this judgment of zeal upon several occasions. They put it in practice very often, not only against innocent persons, but against those who were endowed with the most eminent virtues. Of this St. Stephen, whom they inhumanly stoned, and St. Paul, whom they vowed to assassinate without any form of justice, are glaring proofs. See Saurin’s 65th Dissertation. <\/p>\n What a lovely view is here afforded of Phinehas? How ought it to have endeared him to the congregation? How hath it endeared his name in the church! The psalmist recorded the memorable and holy zeal of this man many ages after, when it said of him, that it was accounted unto him for righteousness unto all generations. Psa 106:30-31<\/span> . But above all, how did it procure the testimony and approbation of the LORD. But Reader, do not overlook in this view of Phinehas, him whom Phinehas represented, and whose zeal for his FATHER’S house is said to have consumed him. See Psa 69:9<\/span> with Joh 2:17<\/span> .<\/p>\n Num 25:7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw [it], he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;<\/p>\n Ver. 7. He rose up.<\/strong> ] A heroical act, by an extraordinary motion: as was also that of Ehud; and therefore is not to be made a rule of practice, as Burchet conceited, when by this example he held himself warranted to kill a great personage in this kingdom, whom he took to be a vicious man, and God’s enemy.<\/p>\n Phinehas. Compare Psa 106:30. <\/p>\n Phinehas: Exo 6:25, Jos 22:30, Jos 22:31, Jdg 20:28 <\/p>\n a javelin: 1Sa 18:10, 1Sa 18:11, 1Sa 19:9 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Exo 22:20 – sacrificeth Exo 32:27 – slay every man Num 8:9 – shalt gather the whole Num 31:6 – Phinehas Jos 22:13 – Phinehas Jdg 3:21 – thrust it 1Sa 15:33 – hewed Ezr 7:5 – Phinehas Eze 9:5 – Go Eph 4:26 – ye<\/p>\n Num 25:7. Phinehas rose up The psalmist says, He stood up and executed judgment; which seems to import that he acted as a judge; but in a crime so presumptuous, and so openly committed, he thought it not necessary to wait for a judicial process against the offenders, but cut them off directly with his own hand. It is thought too, not without reason, that the number and dignity of the offenders intimidated the judges from executing their office. So that unless Phinehas, by this seasonable zeal for God, and the interests of the public, had supported the authority of the laws, either a total anarchy had ensued, or the whole body of the people been exposed to the severest judgments from God.<\/p>\n And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw [it], he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it,…. Saw the man pass by in this impudent manner, and his … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 25:7”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4487\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"