Pinchas, son of Elazar son of Aharon the Kohen, turned back My wrath from upon the Children of Israel, when he zealously avenged My vengeance among them... Therefore, say: Behold I give him my covenant of peace. And it shall be for him and his offspring after him a covenant of eternal priesthood, because he took vengeance for Hashem, and he atoned for the Children of Israel.
When Hashem said that “Pinchas zealously avenged My vengeance”, Rashi explains it to mean “when he avenged that which had to be avenged by Me”. This needs to be understood; for if it was indeed a vengeance which was meant to be avenged by Hashem Himself, then why didn’t Hashem do so immediately without giving Pinchas a chance to do so in His stead? Moreover, after Hashem rewarded Pinchas and said “Behold I give him my covenant of peace and eternal priesthood”, He gave reason for this reward and said, “because he took vengeance for Hashem”.
We need to understand why Hashem would need to give the reason for this reward after He already clearly explained it to us when he said that “Pinchas zealously avenged My vengeance” and then explicitly went on to say “therefore, behold I give Him my covenant of peace...”.
The Mishnah in Sanhedrin (פא ע"ב) tells us that הבועל ארמית קנאין פוגעין בו – Zealots may kill one who lives with an idolatress. The Gemara expounds on this Halacha and says as follows. If zealots did not kill him what is his punishment? The Gemara replies with the following Passuk; ‘Judah has dealt treacherously... and has lived with the daughter of an alien god’, this is a reference to one who lives with an idolatress, and immediately thereafter the Passuk says; ‘May Hashem cut off the man that does this; from one that initiates and answers in the tents of Yaakov and from one who offers a minchah offering to Hashem’. What this Passuk means is; If he [the one who lived with an idolatress] is a Scholar, his sons will not be qualified, neither to initiate learned discussions among the sages, nor to answer the questions of the disciples, and if he is a Kohen his sons will not be qualified to offer a mincha to Hashem.
This Gemara tells us that one who lives with an idolatress can be punished either by the zealots or by Hashem Himself. Yet, there are two essential differences between when the zealots precede to carry out the punishment, and when the zealots did not do so and thus Hashem Himself must carry it out. For when Hashem punishes the sinner, while it doesn’t happen right away, nonetheless when it finally does happen, the sinner not only loses his life, but also loses the privilege of having scholarly and worthy Priestly descendants. On the other hand, when the zealots kill him, although they kill him immediately, nevertheless all the sinner is punished with is the loss of his life, but his descendants are left unscathed and can merit to become Torah scholars and Kohanim doing service in the Bais Hamikdash.
When Pinchas avenged Hashem’s vengeance and killed Zimri, he simultaneously did two good deeds; he killed a sinner so as not to let him go unpunished until Hashem would punish him, and at the same time he also saved Zimri’s children and descendants, giving them a chance to be worthy of becoming Torah scholars and qualified Kohanim serving in the Bais Hamikdash.
Accordingly, we can understand why the Torah reiterated Pinchas’s deed of avenging Hashem’s vengeance, for Pinchas essentially did two distinct good deeds for which he received two separate rewards. The Torah originally tells us that Pinchas avenged Hashem’s vengeance, which is a reference to the primary good deed of killing a sinner and not letting him wait around unpunished. The Torah proceeds to tell us that for that good deed of rightfully severing a sinner’s life, Pinchas merited the ‘Covenant of Peace’, which was a covenant of eternal life. Subsequently, the Torah tells us of an additional reward that Pinchas merited, that he received the ‘Covenant of Eternal Priesthood’, the lineage of Kehunah - which generally yields Torah Scholars as well, as the Passuk in Malachi tells us כי שפתי כהן ישמרו דעת ותורה יבקשו מפיהו,
‘For the lips of the Kohen should safeguard knowledge and people should seek teaching from his mouth’ - which he would pass on to his children and descendants ever after. This was in reward for the good deed of saving Zimri’s descendants, by giving them a chance to become Torah scholars and Kohanim worthy of serving in the Bais Hamikdash.
(זרע שמשון פרשתנו אות ב)
