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Pinchas

פנחס, the grandson of Aaron and son of Eleazar, the High Priests 

The Maccabean Victory Explained: Between 1 and 2 Maccabees

1 and 2 Maccabees have different understandings of why the Maccabean revolt succeeded. 1 Maccabees emphasizes the zealous killing of sinners as the element that wins God's favor, while 2 Maccabees emphasizes the tragic death of righteous Jewish martyrs as bringing about God's mercy and compassion.

Prof.

Katell Berthelot

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The War Against Midian: A Study for How the Priestly Torah Was Compiled

In revenge for the Midianite seduction, Phinehas takes the sacred utensils from the Tabernacle and leads the war against Midian. Many details in this story contradict other Priestly texts, giving us a glimpse into how the Priestly Torah was compiled.

Dr.

Ariel Kopilovitz

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Sedition at Moab: Josephus’ Reading of the Phinehas Story

The Torah describes Phinehas as a zealot, who kills Zimri in an act of vigilante fervor, and is rewarded by God with eternal priesthood. Anticipating the rabbis’ discomfort with Phinehas’ vigilantism, Josephus transforms Phinehas into a military general and Zimri’s sin into a dangerous sedition requiring a military response.

Dr.

Yonatan Miller

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Pinchas’ Extrajudicial Execution of Zimri and Cozbi

Pinchas is portrayed as a hero in the Torah and Second Temple sources for killing Zimri and his Midianite lover, Cozbi. Rabbinic sources struggle with the absence of any juridical process or deliberative body, which contravenes their own judicial norms, and therefore recast or minimize his act in subtle ways.

Dr.

David Bernat

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How Ancient Scribes Tried to Make Sense of the Composite Story of Baal Peor

Prof.

Itamar Kislev

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Critiquing the Moral Failings in the Bible

A Time-Honored Tradition

Dr. Rabbi

Eugene Korn

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Is Elijah Pinchas?

Elijah the prophet is immortal, and Pinchas appears in a story long after the wilderness period. Both figures are described as zealots, leading to their identification as the same person by Pseudo-Philo (ca. 1st cent. C.E.) and later midrash. In a heated exchange preserved in a 13th-century fragment from the Cairo Genizah, two cantors and a congregant debate the rationality of this identification.

Dr.

Moshe Lavee

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