“Pinchas, son of Elazar son of Aharon the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelite by displaying among them his passion for Me, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people in My passion. Say, therefore, ‘I grant him My pact of friendship. It shall be for him and his descendants after him a pact of priesthood for all time, because he took impassioned action for his God, thus making expiation for the Israelite.’” (25:11-13) Rashi explains:
m Ÿ e «l ̈W i−¦zi ¦x §A covenant — peace — This means: I give him my covenant that it should be to him as a covenant of peace; just like a man who shows gratitude and friendliness to one who has done him a kindness. So here, too, the Holy One, blessed be He, expressed to him His peaceful feelings towards him.
The Ibn Ezra explains m Ÿ e «l ̈W i−¦zi ¦x §A covenant of peace. The meaning is: My covenant, a covenant of peace. Its meaning is that Pinchas should not fear the brothers of Zimri, for Zimri was a prince of a father’s house. Pinchas was rewarded with the covenant of priesthood for himself and his seed forever, for all the high priests were descendants of Pinchas. It is possible that Elazar had other sons.
The Seforno explains: ,l`xyi ipa lr xtkie seeing that he did what he did in full view of his peers so that they would obtain expiation for not having protested Zimri’s behavior, he proved himself fit to become a priest whose primary function it is to secure expiation for the sins of their Jewish brethren. As a priest he could continue in the role he had first adopted on this occasion.
Pinchas was rewarded from Hashem for doing an act to save the Yidden from the wrath of Hashem. He received two rewards, the covenant of peace, and the priesthood for himself and his children. According to Rashi’s explanation, the reward of covenant of peace, is Hashem showing His gratitude to Pinchas for his act. This says that there was only one reward of priesthood, as the covenant of peace is only gratitude.
I thought that it can be said that Rashi was bothering the difficulty asked by the Midrash Rabbah (21:1) `ed oi ¦c §a Ÿ ex ̈k §y l Ÿ eh¦i¤y "By rights he should claim his recompense." But this gives us pause. A well known principle holds that "There is no reward in “This World” for performing mitzvos" ,d ̈e §v ¦n x©k §y ` ̈ki¤l ` ̈n §l©r i`¥d §a (ywwk ihaushe) so on what grounds did Pinchas receive the payback, in full public view, of appointment to the Kohen Gadol's chair? Therefore, Rashi answers that a reward stemming from Hashem’s gratitude, is able to be rewarded in this world. Hence, Pinchas received the reward of Kehuna. As per the Seforno above, Pinchas was repaid measure for measure. He atoned the sin of Klal Yisrael by killing Zimri, therefore, he would be the Kohen Gadol, and x−¥R©k§i©e l«¥` ̈x §U¦i i¬¥p §A l©r who atones the sins of Klal Yisrael daily and on Yom Kippur.
This is a powerful lesson of showing gratitude we must learn from Hashem, and apply it to us and show gratitude to Hashem for all He does for us, as well as showing gratitude to another person who did you a favor or a good deed for you.
According to the Ibn Ezra, the covenant of peace, was a reward too. Pinchas could have been killed by revenge of Zimri’s brothers. Hashem promised him peace, and that no harm would come to him. This indeed was a miracle of Hashem, to calm down the situation, and remove the anger from the family of Zimri. This was a reward, in addition to the reward of Kehuna. Hence, we have two opinions here: according to Rashi, the covenant of peace was not a reward, rather the showing of gratitude. However, according to the Ibn Ezra, the covenant of peace was also a reward, and a great miracle.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick).
