Who was Phinehas in the Bible?

The name Phinehas appears around two dozen times in the Old Testament. In five of those verses, Phinehas is identified as the brother of Hophni—both sons of Eli served as priests (see 1 Samuel 1:3). But there is another Phinehas mentioned in Scripture, and he played a significant role in Israel’s history.

The other Phinehas, who lived long before the son of Eli, is the priestly son of Eleazar, who in turn was a son of Aaron (see Exodus 6:25; Numbers 25:7, 11; 31:6; Joshua 22:13, 30–33; and Judges 20:28). While the name of the mother of Phinehas is not mentioned, we know that she was “one of the daughters of Putiel” (Exodus 6:25). Phinehas, son of Eleazar, is also mentioned in 1 Chronicles 6:50 and 9:20, as well as in Ezra 7:5; 8:2, 33 and Psalm 106:30.

So, we know that Phinehas was the son of Eleazar the priest and the grandson of Aaron. This would have made him a grandnephew of Moses. Numbers 25 relates the story of how Phinehas killed an Israelite man, Zimri, and a Midianite woman, Kozbi, who were committing sin in the camp (Numbers 25:14–15).

The context of Phinehas’s killing of Zimri and Kozbi is important. As the Israelites traveled near Shittim in Moab on the way to the Promised Land, “the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them” (Numbers 25:1–3). As a judgment on the Israelites’ idolatry and immorality, God sent a plague among the people (verse 9). In Numbers 25:5, Moses instructs the Israelite judges as follows: “Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”

At that time, Zimri “brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel” (Numbers 25:6). Zimri flaunted his forbidden relationship with Kozbi, the daughter of a tribal chief of the Midianites, and Phinehas took action: “He left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach” (Numbers 25:7–8). Phinehas’s decisiveness stopped the plague that God had sent (verse 8). Even so, “those who died in the plague numbered 24,000” (Numbers 25:9).

The Lord then blessed Phinehas: “Since he was as zealous for my honor among [the Israelites] as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. Therefore . . . I am making my covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites” (Numbers 25:11–13).

The bold and zealous actions of Phinehas are recalled in Psalm 106:30–31:
Later, Phinehas the priest took part in the expedition to destroy the Midianites (Numbers 31:6). After the conquest of Canaan, the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar on the other side of the Jordan River, and Phinehas headed the delegation sent to investigate (Joshua 22:13–33).

Phinehas received a land allotment of his own in Canaan—Gibeah in the hill country of Ephraim (Joshua 24:33). Upon his father’s death, Phinehas became high priest of Israel. During the time of the judges, Phinehas is found in Bethel, serving as the high priest before the ark of the Lord. Before the tribes went to war against the Benjamites, they sought counsel from Phinehas, who gave them the Lord’s answer (Judges 20:26–28).

The last portion of the book of Joshua (Joshua 24:29–33) is traditionally thought to be written by Phinehas, as it records the deaths of Joshua and Eleazar.