Pinechas (parashah)

41st weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading

Pinechas, Pinchas, Pinhas, or Pin'has (פִּינְחָס—Hebrew for "Phinehas," a name, the sixth word and the first distinctive word in the parashah) is the 41st weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the eighth in the Book of Numbers. It tells of Phinehas's killing of a couple, ending a plague, and of the daughters of Zelophehad's successful plea for land rights. It constitutes Numbers 25:10–30:1. The parashah is made up of 7,853 Hebrew letters, 1,887 Hebrew words, 168 verses, and 280 lines in a Torah scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah). Jews generally read it in July, or rarely in late June or early August. As the parashah sets out laws for the Jewish holidays, Jews also read parts of the parashah as Torah readings for many Jewish holidays. Numbers 28:1–15 is the Torah reading for the New Moon (ראש חודש, Rosh Chodesh) on a weekday (including when the sixth or seventh day of Hanukkah falls on Rosh Chodesh). Numbers 28:9–15 is the maftir Torah reading for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. Numbers 28:16–25 is the maftir Torah reading for the first two days of Passover. Numbers 28:19–25 is the maftir Torah reading for the intermediate days (חול המועד, Chol HaMoed) and seventh and eighth days of Passover. Numbers 28:26–31 is the maftir Torah reading for each day of Shavuot. Numbers 29:1–6 is the maftir Torah reading for each day of Rosh Hashanah. Numbers 29:7–11 is the maftir Torah reading for the Yom Kippur morning (שַחֲרִת, Shacharit) service. Numbers 29:12–16 is the maftir Torah reading for the first two days of Sukkot. Numbers 29:17–25 is the Torah reading for the first intermediate day of Sukkot. Numbers 29:20–28 is the Torah reading for the second intermediate day of Sukkot. Numbers 29:23–31 is the Torah reading for the third intermediate day of Sukkot. Numbers 29:26–34 is the Torah reading for the fourth intermediate day of Sukkot, as well as for Hoshana Rabbah. And Numbers 29:35–30:1 is the maftir Torah reading for both Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah.

In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or עליות, aliyot.

In the first reading, God announced that because Phinehas had displayed his passion for God, God granted him a pact of friendship and priesthood for all time. (In a Torah scroll, the letter וֹ in the verse "Behold, I give him My covenant of peace," is split.) God then told Moses to attack the Midianites to repay them for their trickery luring Israelite men to worship Baal Peor.

In the third reading, God told Moses to apportion shares of the land according to population among those counted, and by lot. The Levite men aged a month old and up amounted to 23,000, and they were not included in the regular enrollment of Israelites, as they were not to have land assigned to them. Among the persons whom Moses and Eleazar enrolled was not one of those enrolled in the first census at the wilderness of Sinai, except Caleb and Joshua. The daughters of Zelophehad approached Moses, Eleazar, the chieftains, and the assembly at the entrance of the Tabernacle, saying that their father left no sons, and asking that they be given a land holding. Moses brought their case before God.

In the fourth reading, God told Moses that the daughters' plea was just and instructed Moses to transfer their father's share of land to them. God further instructed that if a man died without leaving a son, the Israelites were to transfer his property to his daughter, or failing a daughter to his brothers, or failing a brother to his father's brothers, or failing brothers of his father, to the nearest relative. God told Moses to climb the heights of Abarim and view the Land of Israel, saying that when he had seen it, he would die, because he disobeyed God's command to uphold God's sanctity in the people's sight when he brought water from the rock in the wilderness of Zin. Moses asked God to appoint someone over the community, so that the Israelites would not be like sheep without a shepherd. God told Moses to single out Joshua, lay his hand on him, and commission him before Eleazar and the whole community. Joshua was to present himself to Eleazar the priest, who was to seek the decision of the Urim and Thummim on whether to go out or come in.

In the fifth reading, God told Moses to command the Israelites to be punctilious in presenting the offerings due God at stated times. The text then details the offerings for the Sabbath and Rosh Chodesh.

The sixth reading details the offerings for Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur.

The seventh reading details the offerings for Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret. At the end of the reading, Moses concluded his teachings to the whole community about the offerings.

Tikva Frymer Kensky called the Bible's six memories of the Baal Peor incident in Numbers 25:1–13 and 31:15–16, Deuteronomy 4:3–4, Joshua 22:16–18, Ezekiel 20:21–26, and Psalm 106:28–31 a testimony to its traumatic nature and to its prominence in Israel's memory. In the retelling of Deuteronomy 4:3–4, God destroyed all the men who followed the Baal of Peor, but kept alive to the day of Moses's address everyone who cleaved to God. Frymer Kensky concluded that Deuteronomy stresses the moral lesson: Very simply, the guilty perished, and those who were alive to hear Moses were innocent survivors who could avoid destruction by staying fast to God. Psalm 106:28–31 reports that the Israelites attached themselves to Baal Peor and ate sacrifices offered to the dead, provoking God's anger and a plague. Psalm 106:30–31 reports that Phinehas stepped forward and intervened, the plague ceased, and it was reckoned to his merit forever. Frymer Kensky noted that the Psalm 106:28–31, like Numbers 25:1–13, includes a savior, a salvation, and an explanation of the monopoly of the priesthood by the descendants of Phineas.

In Numbers 26:2, God directed Moses and Eleazer to "take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from 20 years old and upward, . all that are able to go forth to war in Israel." That census yielded 43,730 men for Reuben, 40,500 men for Gad, and 52,700 men for Manasseh—for a total of 136,930 adult men "able to go forth to war" from the three tribes. But Joshua 4:12–13 reports that "about 40,000 ready armed for war passed on in the presence of the Lord to battle" from Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh—or fewer than 3 in 10 of those counted in Numbers 26. Chida explained that only the strongest participated, as Joshua asked in Joshua 1:14 for only "the mighty men of valor." Kli Yakar suggested that more than 100,000 men crossed over the Jordan to help, but when they saw the miracles at the Jordan, many concluded that God would ensure the Israelites' success and they were not needed.

The story of the daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 27 has a sequel in Numbers 36, and then Joshua 17:3–6 reports the awarding of lands to the daughters of Zelophehad. Moses recalled in Deuteronomy 31:2 that God had told him that he would "not go over this Jordan," complaining that he could "no more go out and come in," perhaps remembering how in Numbers 27:12–13, God had told Moses that upon ascending the mountain of Abarim and seeing the land that God had given to the Israelites, Moses would die, for soon thereafter, in Numbers 27:17, Moses used language like that in Deuteronomy 31:2 to ask God that God might set someone over the congregation "who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in." In 1 Kings 3:7, Solomon would similarly protest to God that Solomon was like a child who did not "know . how to go out or come in." Previously, in Numbers 20:12, at Meribah, God had told Moses that because Moses had not believed in God, to sanctify God in the eyes of the Israelites, Moses would not bring the Israelites into the land that God had given them. And in Deuteronomy 3:27, Moses recalled that God had told him to ascend to the top of Pisgah and look in every direction, for, God told Moses, "You shall not go over this Jordan." The Hebrew Bible refers to the Urim and Thummim in Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8; Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; 1 Samuel 14:41 ("Thammim") and 28:6; Ezra 2:63; and Nehemiah 7:65; and may refer to them in references to "sacred utensils" in Numbers 31:6 and the Ephod in 1 Samuel 14:3 and 19; 23:6 and 9; and 30:7–8; and Hosea 3:4.

In Numbers 28:3, God commanded the Israelite people to bring to the Sanctuary, "as a regular burnt offering every day, two yearling lambs without blemish." But in Amos 4:4, the 8th century BCE prophet Amos condemned the sins of the people of Israel, saying that they, "come to Beth el, and transgress, to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices in the morning."

Isaiah Gafni argued that 1 Maccabees implies that like Phinehas, the Hasmonean dynasty legitimately assumed the role of priesthood by virtue of their zeal.

A letter from Simon bar Kokhba written during the Bar Kokhba revolt found in the Cave of Letters includes commands to a subordinate to assemble components of the lulav and etrog, apparently so as to celebrate Sukkot.

Rabbi Joḥanan taught that Phinehas was able to accomplish his act of zealotry only because God performed six miracles: First, upon hearing Phinehas's warning, Zimri should have withdrawn from Cozbi and ended his transgression, but he did not. Second, Zimri should have cried out for help from his fellow Simeonites, but he did not. Third, Phinheas was able to drive his spear exactly through the sexual organs of Zimri and Cozbi as they were engaged in the act. Fourth, Zimri and Cozbi did not slip off the spear, but remained fixed so that others could witness their transgression. Fifth, an angel came and lifted up the lintel so that Phinehas could exit holding the spear. And sixth, an angel came and sowed destruction among the people, distracting the Simeonites from killing Phinheas. Rabbah bar bar Hana said in Rabbi Joḥanan's name that had Zimri withdrawn from his mistress and Phinehas still killed him, Phinehas would have been liable to execution for murder, and had Zimri killed Phinehas in self defense, he would not have been liable to execution for murder, as Phinehas was a pursuer seeking to take Zimri's life. But based on Numbers 25:8 and 11, the Mishnah listed the case of a man who had sexual relations with an Aramean woman as one of three cases for which it was permissible for zealots to punish the offender on the spot. Reading the words of Numbers 25:7, "When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw," the Jerusalem Talmud asked what he saw. The Jerusalem Talmud answered that he saw the incident and remembered the law that zealots may beat up one who has sexual relations with an Aramean woman. But the Jerusalem Talmud reported that it was taught that this was not with the approval of sages. Rabbi Judah bar Pazzi taught that the sages wanted to excommunicate Phinehas, but the Holy Spirit rested upon him and stated the words of Numbers 25:13, "And it shall be to him, and to his descendants after him, the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the people of Israel." The Gemara told that after Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi, the Israelites began berating Phinehas for his presumption, as he himself was descended from a Midianite idolater, Jethro. The Israelites said: "See this son of Puti (Putiel, or Jethro) whose maternal grandfather fattened (pittem) cattle for idols, and who has now slain the prince of a tribe of Israel (Zimri)!" To counter this attack, the Gemara explained, God detailed Phinehas's descent from the peaceful Aaron the Priest in Numbers 25:11. And then in Numbers 25:12, God told Moses to be the first to extend a greeting of peace to Phinehas, so as to calm the crowd. And the Gemara explained Numbers 25:13 to indicate that the atonement that Phinehas had made was worthy to atone permanently. question how a youth (Phinehas) whose mother's father crammed calves for idol worship could kill the head of a tribe in Israel (Zimri, Prince of Simeon, as reported in Numbers 25). The Gemara explained that the real explanation was that Phinehas descended from both Joseph and Jethro. If Phinehas's mother's father descended from Joseph, then Phinehas's mother's mother descended from Jethro. And if Phinehas's mother's father descended from Jethro, then Phinehas's mother's mother descended from Joseph. The Gemara explained that Exodus 6:25 implies this dual explanation of "Putiel" when it says, "of the daughters of Putiel," because the plural "daughters" implies two lines of ancestry (from both Joseph and Jethro). A Midrash interpreted Numbers 25:12, in which God gives Phinehas God's "covenant of peace," to teach that Phinehas, like Elijah, continues to live to this day, applying to Phinehas the words of Malachi 2:5, "My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, and of fear, and he feared Me, and was afraid of My name." A Midrash deduced from God's giving Phinehas peace as a reward in Numbers 25:12 that peace is a precious thing. Similarly, another Midrash deduced from the same verse that peace is beloved. Reading the words of Numbers 25:13 that Phinehas "made atonement for the children of Israel," a Midrash taught that although he did not strictly offer a sacrifice to justify the expression "atonement," his shedding the blood of the wicked was as though he had offered a sacrifice. The Gemara told that the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannaeus advised his wife not to fear the Pharisees or the Sadducees, but to beware of pretenders who sought to appear like Pharisees, as they acted like the wicked Zimri but sought a reward like that of the righteous Phinehas. Reading Deuteronomy 2:9, "And the Lord spoke to me, 'Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle,'" Ulla argued that it certainly could not have entered the mind of Moses to wage war without God's authorization. So we must deduce that Moses on his own reasoned that if in the case of the Midianites who came only to assist the Moabites (in Numbers 22:4), God commanded (in Numbers 25:17), "Vex the Midianites and smite them," in the case of the Moabites themselves, the same injunction should apply even more strongly. But God told Moses that the idea that Moses had in his mind was not the idea that God had in God's mind. For God was to bring two doves forth from the Moabites and the Ammonites—Ruth the Moabitess and Naamah the Ammonitess.

A Midrash taught that the Israelites were counted on ten occasions: (1) when they went down to Egypt, (2) when they went up out of Egypt, (3) at the first census in Numbers, (4) at the second census in Numbers, (5) once for the banners, (6) once in the time of Joshua for the division of the land of Israel, (7) once by Saul, (8) a second time by Saul, (9) once by David, and (10) once in the time of Ezra. Noting that Numbers 26:1 speaks of "after the plague" immediately before reporting that God ordered the census, a Midrash concluded that whenever the Israelites were struck, they needed to be counted, as a shepherd will count the sheep after a wolf attacks. Alternatively, the Midrash taught that God ordered Moses to count the Israelites as Moses neared death, much as a shepherd entrusted with a set number of sheep must count those that remain when the shepherd returns the sheep to their owner. A Midrash explained that Moses numbered the Israelites like a shepherd to whom an owner entrusted a flock by number. When the shepherd came to the end of the shepherd's time, on returning them, the shepherd had to count them again. When Israel left Egypt, God entrusted the Israelites to Moses by number, as Numbers 1:1 reports, "And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai . 'Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel.'" And Exodus 12:37 records that "the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about 600,000 men on foot," demonstrating that Moses took responsibility for the Israelites in Egypt by number. When, therefore, Moses was about to depart from the world in the plain of Moab, he returned them to God by number after having them counted in the census reported at Numbers 26:1–51. The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that upon entering a barn to measure the new grain one should recite the blessing, "May it be Your will O Lord, our God, that You may send blessing upon the work of our hands." Once one has begun to measure, one should say, "Blessed be the One who sends blessing into this heap." If, however, one first measured the grain and then recited the blessing, then prayer is in vain, because blessing is not to be found in anything that has been already weighed or measured or numbered, but only in a thing hidden from sight. Rabbi Isaac taught that it is forbidden to count Israel even for the purpose of fulfilling a commandment, as 1 Samuel 11:8 can be read, "And he numbered them with pebbles (בְּבֶזֶק, be bezek)." Rav Ashi demurred, asking how Rabbi Isaac knew that the word בֶזֶק, bezek, in 1 Samuel 11:8 means being broken pieces (that is, pebbles). Rav Ashi suggested that perhaps בֶזֶק, Bezek, is the name of a place, as in Judges 1:5, which says, "And they found Adoni Bezek in Bezek (בְּבֶזֶק, be bezek)." Rav Ashi argued that the prohibition of counting comes from 1 Samuel 15:4, which can be read, "And Saul summoned the people and numbered them with sheep (טְּלָאִים, telaim)." Rabbi Eleazar taught that whoever counts Israel transgresses a Biblical prohibition, as Hosea 2:1 says, "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured." Rav Naḥman bar Isaac said that such a person would transgress two prohibitions, for Hosea 2:1 says, "Which cannot be measured nor numbered." Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani reported that Rabbi Jonathan noted a potential contradiction, as Hosea 2:1 says, "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea" (implying a finite number, but Hosea 2:1 also says, "Which cannot be numbered" (implying that they will not have a finite number). The Gemara answered that there is no contradiction, for the latter part of Hosea 2:1 speaks of the time when Israel fulfils God's will, while the earlier part of Hosea 2:1 speaks of the time when they do not fulfill God's will. Rabbi said on behalf of Abba Jose ben Dosthai that there is no contradiction, for the latter part of Hosea 2:1 speaks of counting done by human beings, while the earlier part of Hosea 2:1 speaks of counting by Heaven. Rava found support in Numbers 26:8 for the proposition that sometimes texts refer to "sons" when they mean a single son. A Tanna in the name of Rabbi deduced from the words "the sons of Korah did not die" in Numbers 26:11 that Providence set up a special place for them to stand on high in Gehinnom. There, Korah's sons sat and sang praises to God. Rabbah bar bar Hana told that once when he was travelling, an Arab showed him where the earth swallowed Korah's congregation. Rabbah bar bar Hana saw two cracks in the ground from which smoke issued. He took a piece of wool, soaked it in water, attached it to the point of his spear, and passed it over the cracks, and the wool was singed. The Arab told Rabbah bar bar Hana to listen, and he heard them saying, "Moses and his Torah are true, but Korah's company are liars." The Arab told Rabbah bar bar Hana that every 30 days Gehinnom caused them to return for judgment, as if they were being stirred like meat in a pot, and every 30 days they said those same words. A Midrash explained why the sons of Korah were saved. When they were sitting with their father, and they saw Moses, they hung their heads and lamented that if they stood up for Moses, they would be showing disrespect for their father, but if they did not rise, they would be disregarding Leviticus 19:32, "You shall rise up before the hoary head." They concluded that they had better rise for their teacher Moses, even though they would thereby be showing disrespect for our father. At that moment, thoughts of repentance stirred in their hearts. A Midrash taught that at the moment when the earth opened up, Korah's sons were suspended in the air. When the sons of Korah saw the gaping abyss below on one side and the fire of Gehinnom on the other, they were unable to open their mouths to confess. But as soon as thoughts of repentance stirred in their hearts, God accepted them. Whatever thoughts one of the sons developed, the others developed as well, so that all three were of one heart. The area around them split apart, but the spot on which each stood was not touched. They stood separately like three pillars. Moses, Aaron, and all the great scholars came to hear the song of the sons of Korah, and from this they learned to sing songs before God. The Pirke De Rabbi Eliezer taught that the prophet Jonah saved the fish that swallowed Jonah from being devoured by Leviathan, and in exchange, the fish showed Jonah the sea and the depths. The fish showed Jonah the great river of the waters of the Ocean, the paths of the Reed Sea through which Israel passed in the Exodus, the place from where the waves of the sea and its billows flow, the pillars of the earth in its foundations, the lowest Sheol, Gehinnom, and what was beneath the Temple in Jerusalem. Beneath the Temple, Jonah saw the Foundation Stone fixed in the depths, and the sons of Korah were standing and praying over it. The sons of Korah told Jonah that he stood beneath the Temple of God, and if he prayed, he would be answered. Forthwith, Jonah prayed to God to restore Jonah to life. In response, God hinted to the fish, and the fish vomited out Jonah onto the dry land, as reported in Jonah 2:10. A Baraita taught that the Serah the daughter of Asher mentioned in both Genesis 46:17 and Numbers 26:46 survived from the time Israel went down to Egypt to the time of the wandering in the Wilderness. The Gemara taught that Moses went to her to ask where the Egyptians had buried Joseph. She told him that the Egyptians had made a metal coffin for Joseph. The Egyptians set the coffin in the Nile so that its waters would be blessed. Moses went to the bank of the Nile and called to Joseph that the time had arrived for God to deliver the Israelites, and the oath that Joseph had imposed upon the children of Israel in Genesis 50:25 had reached its time of fulfillment. Moses called on Joseph to show himself, and Joseph's coffin immediately rose to the surface of the water. Similarly, a Midrash taught that Serah (mentioned in Numbers 26:46) conveyed to the Israelites a secret password handed down from Jacob so that they would recognize their deliverer. The Midrash told that when (as Exodus 4:30 reports) "Aaron spoke all the words" to the Israelite people, "And the people believed" (as Exodus 4:31 reports), they did not believe only because they had seen the signs. Rather, (as Exodus 4:31 reports), "They heard that the Lord had visited"—they believed because they heard, not because they saw the signs. What made them believe was the sign of God's visitation that God communicated to them through a tradition from Jacob, which Jacob handed down to Joseph, Joseph to his brothers, and Asher, the son of Jacob, handed down to his daughter Serah, who was still alive at the time of Moses and Aaron. Asher told Serah that any redeemer who would come and say the password to the Israelites would be their true deliverer. So when Moses came and said the password, the people believed him at once. Interpreting Numbers 26:53 and 26:55, the Gemara noted a dispute over whether the land of Israel was apportioned according to those who came out of Egypt or according to those who went into the land of Israel. It was taught in a Baraita that Rabbi Josiah said that the land of Israel was apportioned according to those who came out of Egypt, as Numbers 26:55 says, "according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit." The Gemara asked what then to make of Numbers 26:53, which says, "Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance." The Gemara proposed that "unto these" meant adults, to the exclusion of minors. But Rabbi Jonathan taught that the land was apportioned according to those who entered the land, for Numbers 26:53 says, "Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance." The Gemara posited that according to this view, Numbers 26:55 taught that the manner of inheritance of the land of Israel differed from all other modes of inheritance in the world. For in all other modes of inheritance in the world, the living inherit from the dead, but in this case, the dead inherited from the living. Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar taught a third view—that the land was divided both according to those who left Egypt and also according to those who entered the land of Israel, so as to carry out both verses. The Gemara explained that according to this view, one among those who came out of Egypt received a share among those who came out of Egypt, and one who entered the land of Israel received a share among those who entered the land. And one who belonged to both categories received a share among both categories. Abba Halifa of Keruya asked Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba why Genesis 46:27 reported that 70 people from Jacob's household came to Egypt, while Genesis 46:8–27 enumerated only 69 individuals. Rabbi Hiyya reported that Rabbi Hama bar Hanina taught that the seventieth person was the mother of Moses, Jochebed, who was conceived on the way from Canaan to Egypt and born as Jacob's family passed between the city walls as they entered Egypt, for Numbers 26:59 reported that Jochebed "was born to Levi in Egypt," implying that her conception was not in Egypt. The Gemara taught that the use of the pronoun "he" (הוּא, hu) in an introduction, as in the words "These are (הוּא, hu) that Dathan and Abiram" in Numbers 26:9, signifies that they were the same in their wickedness from the beginning to the end. Similar uses appear in Genesis 36:43 to teach Esau's enduring wickedness, in 2 Chronicles 28:22 to teach Ahaz's enduring wickedness, in Esther 1:1 to teach Ahasuerus's enduring wickedness, in 1 Chronicles 1:27 to teach Abraham's enduring righteousness, in Exodus 6:26 to teach Moses and Aaron's enduring righteousness, and in 1 Samuel 17:14 to teach David's enduring humility. The Gemara asked why the Tannaim felt that the allocation of the Land of Israel "according to the names of the tribes of their fathers" in Numbers 26:55 meant that the allocation was with reference to those who left Egypt; perhaps, the Gemara supposed, it might have meant the 12 tribes and that the Land was to be divided into 12 equal portions? The Gemara noted that in Exodus 6:8, God told Moses to tell the Israelites who were about to leave Egypt, "And I will give it you for a heritage; I am the Lord," and that meant that the Land was the inheritance from the fathers of those who left Egypt. A Midrash noted that Scripture records the death of Nadab and Abihu in numerous places (Leviticus 10:2 and 16:1; Numbers 3:4 and 26:61; and 1 Chronicles 24:2). This teaches that God grieved for Nadab and Abihu, for they were dear to God. And thus Leviticus 10:3 quotes God to say: "Through them who are near to Me I will be sanctified."

A Midrash explained why the report of Numbers 27:1–11 about the daughters of Zelophehad follows immediately after the report of Numbers 26:65 about the death of the wilderness generation. The Midrash noted that Numbers 26:65 says, "there was not left a man of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh," because the men had been unwilling to enter the Land. But the Midrash taught that Numbers 27:1 says, "then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad," to show that the women still sought an inheritance in the Land. The Midrash noted that in the incident of the Golden Calf, in Exodus 32:2, Aaron told them: "Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives," but the women refused to participate, as Exodus 32:3 indicates when it says, "And all the people broke off the golden rings that were in their ears." Similarly, the Midrash noted that Numbers 14:36 says that in the incident of the spies, "the men . when they returned, made all the congregation to murmur against him." The Midrash taught that in that generation, the women built up fences that the men broke down. Noting that Numbers 27:1 reported the generations from Joseph to the daughters of Zelophehad, the Sifre taught that the daughters of Zelophehad loved the Land of Israel just as much as their ancestor Joseph did (when in Genesis 50:25 he extracted an oath from his brothers to return his body to the Land of Israel for burial). Chapter 8 of tractate Bava Batra in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud and chapter 7 of tractate Bava Batra in the Tosefta interpreted the laws of inheritance in Numbers 27:1–11 and 36:1–9. Rabbi Joshua taught that Zelophehad's daughters' in Numbers 27:2–4 petitioned first the assembly, then the chieftains, then Eleazar, and finally Moses, but Abba Hanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer taught that Zelophehad's daughters stood before all of them as they were sitting together. Rabbi Hidka recounted that Simeon of Shikmona, a fellow disciple of Rabbi Akiva, taught that Moses knew that the daughters of Zelophehad were entitled to inherit, but he did not know whether they were to take the double portion of the firstborn or not (and thus, as Numbers 27:5 reports, took the case to God). Moses would have in any case written the laws of inheritance in Numbers 27:1–11 and 36:1–9, but as the daughters of Zelophehad were meritorious, the Torah tells the laws of inheritance through their story. Rabbi Hanina (or some say Rabbi Josiah) taught that Numbers 27:5, when Moses found himself unable to decide the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, reports the punishment of Moses for his arrogance when he told the judges in Deuteronomy 1:17: "the cause that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it." Rav Naḥman objected to Rabbi Hanina's interpretation, noting that Moses did not say that he would always have the answers, but merely that he would rule if he knew the answer or seek instruction if he did not. Rav Naḥman cited a Baraita to explain the case of the daughters of Zelophehad: God had intended that Moses write the laws of inheritance, but found the daughters of Zelophehad worthy to have the section recorded on their account. The Mishnah taught that the daughters of Zelophehad took three shares in the inheritance of the Land of Israel: (1) the share of their father Zelophehad, who was among those who came out of Egypt; (2) their father's share among his brothers in the estate of Hepher, Zelophehad's father; and (3) an extra share in Hepher's estate, as Zelophehad was a firstborn son, who takes two shares. A Baraita taught that Zelophehad's daughters were wise, Torah students, and righteous. And a Baraita taught that Zelophehad's daughters were equal in merit, and that is why the order of their names varies between Numbers 27:1 and 36:11. According to the Gemara, they demonstrated their wisdom by raising their case in a timely fashion, just as Moses was expounding the law of levirate marriage, or yibbum, and they argued for their inheritance by analogy to that law. The Gemara implied that the sin of Moses in striking the rock at Meribah compared favorably to the sin of David. The Gemara reported that Moses and David were two good leaders of Israel. Moses begged God that his sin be recorded, as it is in Numbers 20:12, 20:23–24, and 27:13–14, and Deuteronomy 32:51. David, however, begged that his sin be blotted out, as Psalm 32:1 says, "Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned." The Gemara compared the cases of Moses and David to the cases of two women whom the court sentenced to be lashed. One had committed an indecent act, while the other had eaten unripe figs of the seventh year in violation of Leviticus 25:6. The woman who had eaten unripe figs begged the court to make known for what offense she was being flogged, lest people say that she was being punished for the same sin as the other woman. The court thus made known her sin, and the Torah repeatedly records the sin of Moses. Noting that Moses asked God to designate someone to succeed him in Numbers 27:16, soon after the incident of Zelophehad's daughters, a Midrash deduced that when the daughters of Zelophehad inherited from their father, Moses argued that it would surely be right for his sons to inherit his glory. God, however, replied (in the words of Proverbs 27:18) that "Whoever keeps the fig tree shall eat its fruit; and whoever waits on the master shall be honored." The sons of Moses sat idly by and did not study Torah, but Joshua served Moses and showed him great honor, rose early in the morning and remained late at night at the House of Assembly, and arranged the benches and spread the mats. As he had served Moses with all his might, he was worthy to serve Israel, and thus God in Numbers 27:18 directed Moses to "take Joshua the son of Nun" as his successor. Reading Ecclesiastes 1:5, "The sun also rises, and the sun goes down," Rabbi Abba taught that since we of course know that the sun rises and sets, Ecclesiastes 1:5 means that before God causes the sun of one righteous person to set, God causes the sun of another righteous person to rise. Thus before God caused the sun of Moses to set, God caused Joshua's sun to rise, as Numbers 27:18 reports, "And the Lord said to Moses: 'Take Joshua the son of Nun . and lay your hand upon him.'" In Proverbs 8:15, Wisdom (which the Rabbis equated with the Torah) says, "By me kings reign, and princes decree justice." A Midrash taught that Proverbs 8:15 thus reports what actually happened to Joshua, for as Numbers 27:18 reports, it was not the sons of Moses who succeeded their father, but Joshua. And the Midrash taught that Proverbs 27:18, "And he who waits on his master shall be honored," also alludes to Joshua, for Joshua ministered to Moses day and night, as reported by Exodus 33:11, which says, "Joshua departed not out of the Tent," and Numbers 11:28, which says, "Joshua . said: 'My lord Moses, shut them in.'" Consequently, God honored Joshua by saying of Joshua in Numbers 27:21: "He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim." And because Joshua served his master Moses, Joshua attained the privilege of receiving the Holy Spirit, as Joshua 1:1 reports, "Now it came to pass after the death of Moses . that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the minister of Moses." The Midrash taught that there was no need for Joshua 1:1 to state, "the minister of Moses," so the purpose of the statement "the minister of Moses" was to explain that Joshua was awarded the privilege of prophecy because he was the minister of Moses. The Gemara taught that God's instruction to Moses in Numbers 27:20 to put some of his honor on Joshua was not to transfer all of the honor of Moses. The elders of that generation compared the countenance of Moses to that of the sun and the countenance of Joshua to that of the moon. The elders considered it a shame and a reproach that there had been such a decline in the stature of Israel's leadership in the course of just one generation. The Mishnah taught that "one inquired [of the Urim and Thummim] only for a king." The Gemara asked what the Scriptural basis was for this teaching. The Gemara answered that Rabbi Abbahu read Numbers 27:21, "And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim . ; at his word shall they go out . , both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation," to teach that "he" (that is, Joshua) meant the king, "and all the children of Israel with him" (that is, Eleazar) meant the priest Anointed for Battle, and "even all the congregation" meant the Sanhedrin. Rabbi Eliezer noted that in Numbers 27:21 God directs that Joshua "shall stand before Eleazar the priest," and yet Scripture does not record that Joshua ever sought Eleazar's guidance. The Gemara taught that although the decree of a prophet could be revoked, the decree of the Urim and Thummim could not be revoked, as Numbers 27:21 says, "By the judgment of the Urim." A Baraita explained why the Urim and Thummim were called by those names: The term "Urim" is like the Hebrew word for "lights," and thus it was called "Urim" because it enlightened. The term "Thummim" is like the Hebrew word tam meaning "to be complete," and thus it was called "Thummim" because its predictions were fulfilled. The Gemara discussed how they used the Urim and Thummim: Rabbi Joḥanan said that the letters of the stones in the breastplate stood out to spell out the answer. Resh Lakish said that the letters joined each other to spell words. But the Gemara noted that the Hebrew letter צ, tsade, was missing from the list of the 12 tribes of Israel. Rabbi Samuel bar Isaac said that the stones of the breastplate also contained the names of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But the Gemara noted that the Hebrew letter ט, teth, was also missing. Rav Aha bar Jacob said that they also contained the words: "The tribes of Jeshurun." The Mishnah reported that with the death of the former prophets, the Urim and Thummim ceased. In this connection, the Gemara reported differing views of who the former prophets were. Rav Huna said they were David, Samuel, and Solomon. Rav Naḥman said that during the days of David, they were sometimes successful and sometimes not (getting an answer from the Urim and Thummim), for Zadok consulted it and succeeded, while Abiathar consulted it and was not successful, as 2 Samuel 15:24 reports, "And Abiathar went up." (He retired from the priesthood because the Urim and Thummim gave him no reply.) Rabbah bar Samuel asked whether the report of 2 Chronicles 26:5, "And he (King Uzziah of Judah) set himself to seek God all the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God," did not refer to the Urim and Thummim. But the Gemara answered that Uzziah did so through Zechariah's prophecy. A Baraita told that when the first Temple was destroyed, the Urim and Thummim ceased, and explained Ezra 2:63 (reporting events after the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity), "And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim," as a reference to the remote future, as when one speaks of the time of the Messiah. Rav Naḥman concluded that the term "former prophets" referred to a period before Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, who were latter prophets. And the Jerusalem Talmud taught that the "former prophets" referred to Samuel and David, and thus the Urim and Thummim did not function in the period of the First Temple, either.

Baḥya ibn Paquda taught that because humans cannot understand anything about God except for God's Name and that God exists, Moses associated God's Name with the spirits when he said in Numbers 27:16, "the God of the spirit of all flesh."

Maimonides proposed reasons for the festivals discussed in Numbers 28:1–29:39. Maimonides taught that the object of the Sabbath (mentioned in Numbers 28:9–10) was the rest that it affords. One seventh of the life of every person, small or great, passes in comfort and rest from trouble and exertion. In addition, the Sabbath perpetuates remembrance of the Creation. Maimonides taught that the object of Yom Kippur (mentioned in Numbers 29:7–11) is the sense of repentance that its fast creates. Maimonides noted that it was on Yom Kippur that Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the second tablets and announced to the Israelites God's pardon of their sin with the Golden Calf. God therefore appointed Yom Kippur forever as a day devoted to repentance and the true worship of God. For this reason, the law interdicts all material enjoyment, trouble and care for the body, and work, so that people might spend the day confessing their sins and abandoning them. Maimonides taught that Shavuot (mentioned in Numbers 28:26–31) is the anniversary of the Revelation on Mount Sinai. To increase the importance of this day, Jews count the days that pass from the preceding festival of Passover, just as one who expects an intimate friend to visit on a certain day counts the days and even the hours until the friend comes. This is why Jews count the days that pass since the offering of the Omer, between the anniversary of the Israelites' departure from Egypt and the anniversary of the Lawgiving. The Revelation at Mount Sinai was the object of the Exodus from Egypt, and thus God said in Exodus 19:4, "I brought you to myself." As the Revelation at Mount Sinai took place on one day, so Jews keep its anniversary only one day. Maimonides taught that Sukkot (discussed in Numbers 29:12–34), which is a feast of rejoicing and gladness, is kept seven days, so that the festival may be more noticeable. It is kept in the autumn because, as Exodus 23:16 says, it is "When you have gathered in your labors out of the field," and thus when people can rest free from pressing labors. Maimonides cited the ninth book of Aristotle's Ethics for the proposition that harvest festivals were a general custom, quoting Aristotle to report, "In ancient times, the sacrifices and assemblies of the people took place after the ingathering of the corn and the fruit, as if the sacrifices were offered on account of the harvest." Maimonides noted the temperate nature of autumn as another reason for Sukkot falling in that season, making it possible to dwell in booths free of great heat and troublesome rain. Maimonides taught that Sukkot reminds Jews of the miracles that God performed in the wilderness, once again to induced Jews to thank God and lead a modest and humble life. Jews thus leave their houses to dwell in sukkot, as inhabitants of deserts do, so as to remember that this had once been their condition, as reported in Leviticus 23:43, "I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths." And Jews join to Sukkot the Feast of Shemini Atzeret to complete in the comfort of their homes their rejoicings, which cannot be perfect in booths. Maimonides taught that the lulav and etrog symbolize the rejoicing that the Israelites had when they replaced the wilderness, which was in the words of Numbers 25:5, "no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, or of water to drink," with a country full of fruit trees and rivers. To remember this, Jews take the most pleasant fruit of the land, branches that smell best, most beautiful leaves, and also the best of herbs, that is, the willows of the brook. The four species joined in the lulav and etrog also were (1) plentiful in those days in the Land of Israel, so that everyone could easily get them, (2) of a good appearance, and in the case of the etrog and myrtle, excellent smell, and (3) keep fresh and green for seven days.

Rashi taught that the 70 bulls that Numbers 29:12–34 calls for sacrificing during Sukkot corresponded to the 70 nations, and that the number of bulls sacrificed progressively decreased over the course of Sukkot symbolized the nations' eventual destruction. The sacrifices during the time of the Temple shielded the nations from adversity.

Dennis Olson noted parallels between the incident at Baal Peor in Numbers 25:1–13 and the incident of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32, as each story contrasts God's working to ensure a relationship with Israel while Israel rebels. Olson noted these similarities: (1) In both stories, the people worship and make sacrifices to another god. (2) Both stories involve foreigners, in the Egyptians' gold for the calf and the women of Moab and Midian. (3) In the aftermath of the Golden Calf story in Exodus 34:15–16, God commands the Israelites to avoid what happens in Numbers 25: making a covenant with the inhabitants, eating their sacrifices, and taking wives from among them who would make the Israelites' sons bow to their gods. Numbers 25 displays this intermingling of sex and the worship of foreign gods, using the same Hebrew word, zanah, in Numbers 25:1. (4) The Levites kill 3,000 of those guilty of worshiping the Golden Calf, and the Israelite leaders are instructed to kill the people who had yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. (5) Because of their obedience in carrying out God's punishment on the idolaters, the Levites are ordained for the service of God, and in Numbers 25, the priest Phinehas executes God's punishment on the sinners, and a special covenant of perpetual priesthood is established with him. (6) After the Golden Calf incident, Moses "makes atonement" for Israel, and in the Baal Peor episode, Phinehas "makes atonement" for Israel. (7) A plague is sent as punishment in both incidents. George Buchanan Gray wrote that the Israelite men's participation in the sacrificial feasts followed their intimacy with the women, who then naturally invited their paramours to their feasts, which, according to custom, were sacrificial occasions. Gray considered that it would have been in accord with the sentiment of early Israelites to worship the Moabite god on his own territory. Similarly, Frymer Kensky wrote that the cataclysm began with a dinner invitation from the Moabite women, who perhaps wanted to be friendly with the people whom Balaam had tried, but failed, to curse. Noting that the story of Baal Peor in Numbers 25 shifts abruptly from Moabite women to the Midianite princess Cozbi, Frymer Kensky suggested that the story may originally have been about Midianite women, whom Moses held responsible in Numbers 31:15–16. Frymer Kensky suggested that "Moabite women" appear in Numbers 25 as an artistic device to create a symmetrical antithesis to the positive image of Ruth. Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv) wrote that in reward for turning away God's wrath, God blessed Phinehas in Numbers 25:12 with the attribute of peace, so that he would not be quick tempered or angry. Since the nature of Phinehas's act, killing with his own hands, left his heart filled with intense emotional unrest, God provided a means to soothe him so that he could cope with his situation and find peace and tranquility. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi found the opening scene of Numbers 25 disturbing for a number of reasons: (1) because the new generation of Israelites fell prey to idolatry within view of the Promised Land; (2) because God rewarded Phinehas for acting violently and without recourse to due process; and (3) because women receive disproportionate blame for the people's downfall. Eskenazi taught that God rewarded Phinehas, elevating him above other descendants of Aaron, because of Phinehas's swift and ruthless response to idolatry, unlike his grandfather Aaron, who collaborated with idolaters in the case of the Golden Calf. By demonstrating unflinching loyalty to God, Phinehas restored the stature of the priests as deserving mediators between Israel and God. Eskenazi noted that although God ordered death for all the ringleaders in Numbers 25:4, Phinehas satisfied God's demand for punishment by killing only two leaders, thereby causing less rather than more bloodshed.

Noting the absence of Levi from Numbers 26:1–51, James Kugel explained that modern scholars see a midcourse correction in Israel's list of tribes in Jacob's adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh in Genesis 48:1–6. That there were 12 tribes seems to have become unchangeable at an early stage of Israel's history, perhaps because of the number of lunar months in a year. Levi had originally been a tribe like any other with its own tribal land, but then Levi became essentially landless, a scattered people of priests and religious functionaries, with only a few cities of their own. To compensate for its absence, the Israelites counted the territory elsewhere attributed to Joseph as two territories, each with its own ancestor figure. And thus the tribal list in Numbers 26:1–51 could omit the Levites and, by replacing Joseph with Ephraim and Manasseh, still include the names of 12 tribes.

Bernard Bamberger noted that Numbers 27:1–5 is one of four episodes in the Torah (along with Leviticus 24:12 and Numbers 9:6–8 and 15:32–34) in which Moses had to make a special inquiry of God before he could give a legal decision. Bamberger reported that the inability of Moses to handle these cases on his own troubled the Rabbis. Pinchas Peli argued that even though God endorsed Phinehas's action and Moses no doubt approved, it frightened Moses, the experienced and trained leader, who could not see how this zealot, who in a moment of crisis decided to take the law into his own hands, could become the permanent leader of the Israelite people. Thus, Peli suggested, in Numbers 27:15–17, Moses asked God to name the new leader and specified qualifications that he would like to find in the appointee. Citing Rashi and the Midrash, Peli read Moses's prayer to ask God for a leader who would be able to bear with the Israelites' differing spirits. Peli argued that a true leader is not a single minded fanatic, but a person able to tolerate all views, able to stand up for what is right, but also capable of changing his or her mind. Neḥama Leibowitz noted that children of Moses did not inherit their father's position or any other appointment. Numbers 27:15–23, the passage concerned with his successor, does not refer to his children. Nowhere in his prayer regarding his successor did Moses nominate his sons to succeed him or express any echo of his grievance that God had not allowed him into the Promised Land. Leibowitz concluded that this absence drives home the lesson that the Torah does not come to people by inheritance, but only to those who labor in it.

In April 2014, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of Conservative Judaism ruled that women are now equally responsible for observing commandments as men have been. Women are thus responsible for observing the commandments of hearing the shofar on Rosh Hashanah (mentioned in Numbers 29:1–6) and residing in a sukkah and taking up the lulav on Sukkot (discussed in Numbers 29:12–34).

In the Weekly Maqam, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parashah. For Parashat Pinechas, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Saba, the maqam that symbolizes a covenant (בְּרִית, berit), which is appropriate because in the very opening of this parashah, God told Phinehas that due to his heroic acts, he was granted an eternal covenant of peace with God.

In leap years when the preceding Rosh Hashanah was a Thursday (or, in Israel, when the following Rosh Hashanah is a Monday), Parashat Pinechas comes before the Seventeenth of Tammuz; and, the haftarah for the parashah is 1 Kings 18:46–19:21. When the parashah falls after the Seventeenth of Tammuz, as it does during most years, Jews read for the haftarah the first of three readings of admonition leading up to Tisha B'Av, Jeremiah 1:1–2:3. In leap years, when the haftarah for Pinechas is taken from 1 Kings, the haftarah from Jeremiah is not omitted. Instead it is read on the Sabbath following Parashat Pinechas; the parashah for that Sabbath is Matot, read separately rather than in combination with Parashat Masei as is done in non leap years.

The haftarah in 1 Kings 18:46–19:21 tells the story of the prophet Elijah's flight from King Ahab, his theophany, and his anointing of Elisha. God's hand was on Elijah, and he ran from King Ahab to Jezreel. Ahab told Queen Jezebel how Elijah had killed all the prophets of Baal, and Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah that she intended to have him killed by the next day in recompense. So Elijah ran for his life to Beersheba in the Kingdom of Judah, left his servant there, and went a day's journey into the wilderness. Elijah sat down under a broom tree, asked God to take his life, and lay down and slept. An angel touched Elijah and told him to arise and eat, and Elijah found at his head a cake and a jar of water, and so he ate, drank, and went back to sleep. The angel again touched him again and told him to arise and eat, and he did and on the strength of that meal journeyed 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb, the mount of God. When he came to a cave and lodged there, God asked him what he was doing there. Elijah said that he had been moved by zeal for God, as the Israelites had forsaken God's covenant, thrown down God's altars, and killed God's prophets, leaving only Elijah, and they sought to kill him, too. God told Elijah to stand on the mount, and God passed by. A great wind rent the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces, but God was not in the wind. Then an earthquake came, but God was not in the earthquake. Then a fire came, but God was not in the fire. And then came a still small voice, which asked him what he was doing there. Elijah repeated that he had been moved by zeal for God, as the Israelites had forsaken God's covenant, thrown down God's altars, and killed God's prophets, leaving only Elijah, and they sought to kill him, too. God told him to go to Damascus and anoint Hazael to be king over Aram, to anoint Jehu to be king over Israel, and to anoint Elisha to succeed Elijah as prophet. God foretold that any who escaped the sword of Hazael would be killed by Jehu; any who escaped the sword of Jehu would be killed by Elisha; and God would leave alive in Israel only the 7 thousand who had not bowed to Baal. So Elijah found Elisha, who was plowing with one of his 12 yoke of oxen, and Elijah cast his mantle on Elisha. Elisha left the oxen, asked Elijah for permission to kiss his parents goodbye, killed the oxen and distributed their meat to the people, and went to follow Elijah.

The parashah and haftarah both address protagonists who showed zeal on behalf of God against apostasy by the Israelites. Numbers 25:11 and 13 report that God lauds Phinehas's zeal for God (בְּקַנְאוֹ אֶת קִנְאָתִי and קִנֵּא לֵאלֹהָיו, be kan'o 'et kin'ati and kinnei' le 'lohav), while in 1 Kings 19:10 and 13 Elijah tells God of Elijah's zeal for God (קַנֹּא קִנֵּאתִי לַיהוָה, kanno' kinnei'ti la YHVH). Immediately before the parashah, Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi to stem the Israelites' following of Baal Peor in the Heresy of Peor, while immediately before the haftarah, Elijah killed the prophets of Baal to stem the Israelites' following of Baal. Targum Jonathan to Exodus 6:18 thus identified Phinehas with Elijah. Additionally, the parasha and haftarah both address changes in leadership, from Moses to Joshua in the parashah, and from Elijah to Elisha in the Haftarah.

The haftarah in Jeremiah 1:1–2:3 begins by identifying its words as those of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, a priest in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom God's word came in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah the son of Amon as king of Judah, in the reign of Josiah's son Jehoiakim, and through the eleventh year of the reign of Josiah's son Zedekiah, when Jerusalem was carried away captive. God's word came to Jeremiah to say that before God formed him in the womb, God knew him, sanctified him, and appointed him a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah protested that he could not speak, for he was a child, but God told him not to fear, for he would go wherever God would send him, say whatever God would command him to say, and God would be with him to deliver him. Then God touched Jeremiah's mouth and said that God had put words in his mouth and set him over the nations to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. God asked Jeremiah what he saw, he replied that he saw the rod of an almond tree, and God said that he had seen well, for God watches over God's word to perform it. God's word came to Jeremiah a second time to ask what he saw, he replied that he saw a seething pot tipping from the north, and God said that out of the north evil would break forth upon all Israel. For God would call all the kingdoms of the north to come, and they would set their thrones at Jerusalem's gate, against its walls, and against the cities of Judah. God would utter God's judgments against Judah, as its people had forsaken God and worshipped the work of their own hands. God thus directed Jeremiah to gird his loins, arise, and speak to the Judean people all that God commanded, for God had made Jeremiah a fortified city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the land of Judah, its rulers, its priests, and its people. They would fight against him, but they would not prevail, for God would be with him to deliver him. God's word came to Jeremiah to tell him to go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem that God remembered the affection of her youth, her love as a bride, how she followed God in the wilderness. Israel was God's hallowed portion and God's first fruits, and all that devoured Israel would be held guilty and evil would come upon them.

The first of three readings of admonition leading up to Tisha B'Av, the haftarah admonishes Judah and Israel in Jeremiah 1:13–19. And then in Jeremiah 2:1–3, the haftarah concludes with consolation. The Gemara taught that Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations, and as Jews read Lamentations on Tisha B'Av, this probably accounts for why a selection from Jeremiah begins the series of haftarot of admonition.

Genesis 48:14 (laying on hands). Exodus 6:24 (sons of Korah); 12:3–27, 43–49 (Passover); 13:6–10 (Passover); 23:14–19 (three pilgrim Festivals); 28:30 (Urim and Thummim); 29:1–42 (program of sacrifices); 32:1–35 (sacrifices to another god; zealots kill apostates; zealots rewarded with priestly standing; plague as punishment; leader makes atonement); 34:15–16 (foreign women and apostasy); 34:22–26 (Three Pilgrim Festivals). Leviticus 23:1–44 (holidays); 24:10–16 (inquiry of God on the law). Numbers 1:1–46 (census); 3:32 (Eleazar's family in charge of the sanctuary); 8:10–12 (laying on hands); 8:19 (Levites make atonement so that there be no plague because of children of Israel coming near to the sanctuary); 9:1–14 (Passover, inquiry of God on the law); 15:32–36 (inquiry of God on the law); 18:22 (children of Israel not coming near to the sanctuary); 20:2–12; 25:6–9; 28:16–29:34 (holidays). 31:6–18 (Phinehas, war with Midian); 36:1–12 (daughters of Zelophehad)
Deuteronomy 3:21–22 (Joshua); 4:3 (Baal Peor); 7:3–4 (foreign women and apostasy); 16:1–17 (Three Pilgrim Festivals); 31:10–13 (Sukkot). Joshua 1:6–9; 17:3–6 (daughters of Zelophehad); 22:11–34 (Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh; Baal Peor); 24:33. Judges 20:28; 21:19 (Sukkot). 1 Samuel 28:6 (Urim). 1 Kings 2:26–27 (banishment of Abiathar, competitor for the priesthood with Zadok of the line of Phinehas); 8:1–66 (Sukkot); 12:32 (northern feast like Sukkot). Jeremiah 33:18–22 (permanent priesthood). Ezekiel 45:13–46:24 (program of sacrifices); 45:25 (Sukkot). Hosea 9:10 (Baal Peor). Zechariah 14:16–19 (Sukkot). Psalms 35:13 (I afflicted my soul with fasting); 47:6 (God amidst the sound of the horn); 106:17, 28–32 (Dathan and Abiram; Baal Peor; Meribah); 145:20 (God will destroy the wicked). Ezra 3:4 (Sukkot); 7:5 (Phinehas); 8:2 (Phinehas). Nehemiah 8:14–18 (Sukkot). 1 Chronicles 5:30–41 (the line of Phinehas); 6:35; 7:15; 9:20 (Phinehas as chief of the sanctuary guards). 2 Chronicles 5:3–14 (Sukkot); 7:8 (Sukkot); 8:12–13 (Three Pilgrim Festivals).

1 Maccabees chs. 1–16. (parallel to Phinehas). 4 Maccabees 18:12. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 3:10:1–4; 4:6:12–13; 4:7:1–2. Circa 93–94. In, e. g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William Whiston. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987. Instruction for Catechumens, and A Prayer of Praise of God for His Greatness, and for His Appointment of Leaders for His People, in "Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers," in James H. Charlesworth. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, volume 2, pages 687–88. New York: Doubleday, 1985. Pseudo Philo 28:1–4. John 7:1–53 (Sukkot). Targum Jonathan to Exodus 6:18 (Phinehas was Elijah).

Mishnah: Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Yoma 1:1–8:9; Sukkah 1:1–5:8; Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Rosh Hashanah 1:1–4:9; Taanit 4:2; Megillah 3:5–6; Sotah 7:7; 9:12; Bava Batra 8:1–8; Sanhedrin 9:6; Shevuot 1:3; Zevachim 10:1; Menachot 4:2–3, 8:7–9:2; Tamid 1:1–7:4. Land of Israel, circa 200 C. E. In, e. g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, pages 229–51, 265–307, 313, 321, 459, 464, 574–76, 604, 620, 721, 740, 750–51, 862–73. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. Tosefta: Pisha (Pesachim) 1:1–10:13; Kippurim (Yoma) 1:1–4:17; Sukkah 1:1–4:28; Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:1–4:11; Rosh Hashanah 1:1–2:18; Taanit 3:2; Megillah 3:7–9; Bava Batra 7:1–18; Makkot 3:4; Menachot 7:7, 9; 10:1; Meilah 1:16. Land of Israel, circa 250 CE. In, e. g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, volume 1, pages 471–522, 541–618, 629–30, 645–46; volume 2, pages 1126–30, 1206, 1434–36, 1449, 1541–42. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002. Jerusalem Talmud: Berakhot 43b; Sheviit 5b; Orlah 2b; Shabbat 24a; Pesachim 1a–86a; Yoma 1a–57a; Sukkah 1a–33b; Beitzah 1a–49b; Rosh Hashanah 1a–27a; Taanit 22a; Megillah 19b, 26a, 32a; Chagigah 6b; Yevamot 68a; Nedarim 9b; Sotah 4b; Kiddushin 21b; Bava Batra 24a–25a, 27b; Sanhedrin 16a, 60b, 65b; Shevuot 5a, 6a, 7a–b, 21a. Tiberias, Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. In, e. g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, volumes 1, 6a, 12–13, 18–19, 21–23, 25–27, 30, 33, 36, 40, 43–46. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005–2019. Genesis Rabbah 1:4; 6:3; 16:5; 37:3. Land of Israel, 5th century. In, e. g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis. Translated by Harry Freedman and Maurice Simon, volume 1, pages 6–7, 42–43, 130, 296; volume 2, pages 510, 600, 655, 743, 875, 899, 911, 952, 968, 976, 980, 994. London: Soncino Press, 1939. Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 54b; Shabbat 21b, 24a–b, 36a, 64a, 80b, 96b–97a, 103b, 131b, 133a; Eruvin 40a, 63a–b; Pesachim 2a–121b; Yoma 2a–88a; Sukkah 2a–56b; Beitzah 2a–40b; Rosh Hashanah 2a–35a; Taanit 2b–3a, 17b, 26a; Megillah 11a, 14a, 20b, 21b, 28a, 29b, 30b–31a; Moed Katan 9a, 19a, 20a, 27a; Chagigah 6a–b, 7b, 9a, 16a, 17a–18a; Yevamot 78b, 90b, 100b, 104b; Ketubot 13b, 52b; Nedarim 78a; Nazir 23b, 30a; Sotah 12a, 13a, 14a, 22b, 40b, 43a, 46a, 48a–b; Gittin 85a; Kiddushin 33b, 66b; Bava Kamma 38a, 42b, 82b, 88b, 92b, 111a, 112a; Bava Metzia 52b; Bava Batra 75a, 106b, 108a–39b, 141a, 143b, 147a; Sanhedrin 8a, 11b, 13b, 16a, 34b–35a, 40b, 43b–44b, 64a, 82a–b, 105b–06a, 110a; Makkot 7b, 12a; Shevuot 2a, 9a–11a; Avodah Zarah 8b, 19b, 44b; Horayot 6a, 10b, 12b; Zevachim 6b, 12a, 84a, 89a, 101b, 110b, 118a; Menachot 44b–45b, 46b, 49b, 52a, 65a, 72b, 84b, 87a–b, 89a, 91b, 93b, 99b, 103b, 104b, 107a; Chullin 60b, 134b; Bekhorot 5b, 17a; Arakhin 3b, 13b; Temurah 14a–b, 29a; Keritot 4a, 28b; Meilah 11b, 13b; Tamid 25b–33b; Niddah 26a. Sasanian Empire, 6th Century. In, e. g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 volumes. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.

Rashi. Commentary. Numbers 25–30. Troyes, France, late 11th Century. In, e. g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi's Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, volume 4, pages 319–67. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. Judah Halevi. Kuzari. part 2, ¶¶ 25–26, 80. Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. In, e. g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Introduction by Henry Slonimsky, pages 101, 133. New York: Schocken Books, 1964. Numbers Rabbah 21:1–25. 12th Century. In, e. g., Midrash Rabbah: Numbers. Translated by Judah J. Slotki. London: Soncino Press, 1939. Abraham ibn Ezra. Commentary on the Torah. Mid 12th century. In, e. g., Ibn Ezra's Commentary on the Pentateuch: Numbers (Ba Midbar). Translated and annotated by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver, pages 215–37. New York: Menorah Publishing Company, 1999. Maimonides. Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah (The Laws that Are the Foundations of the Torah), chapter 7, ¶ 6. Egypt, circa 1170–1180. In, e. g., Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah: The Laws which Are the Foundations of the Torah. Translated by Eliyahu Touger, volume 1, pages 252–59. New York: Moznaim Publishing, 1989. Maimonides. Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Talmud Torah (The Laws of Torah Study), chapter 3, ¶ 1. Egypt, circa 1170–1180. In, e. g., Mishneh Torah: Hilchot De'ot: The Laws of Personality Development: and Hilchot Talmud Torah: The Laws of Torah Study. Translated by Za'ev Abramson and Eliyahu Touger, volume 2, pages 186–89. New York: Moznaim Publishing, 1989. Maimonides. Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Shevitat Yom Tov (The Laws of Resting on the Holidays). Egypt, circa 1170–1180. In, e. g., Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Eruvin: The Laws of Eruvin: and Hilchot Sh'vitat Asor: The Laws of Resting on the Tenth (Day of Tishrei): and Hilchot Sh'vitat Yom Tov: The Laws of Resting on the Holidays). Translated by Eliyahu Touger, volume 11, pages 174–313. New York: Moznaim Publishing, 1993. Maimonides. Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Chametz U'Matzah (The Laws of Chametz and Matzah). Egypt, circa 1170–1180. In, e. g., Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Chametz U'Matzah: The Laws of Chametz and Matzah: The Rambam's Text of the Haggadah Translated by Eliyahu Touger. New York: Moznaim Publishing, 1988. Maimonides. Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Shofar, Sukkah, V'Lulav (The Laws of the Shofar, Sukkah, and Lulav). Egypt, circa 1170–1180. In, e. g., Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Shofar, Sukkah, V'Lulav: The Laws of Shofar, Sukkah, and Lulav Translated by Eliyahu Touger. New York: Moznaim Publishing, 1988. Maimonides. Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Issurei Bi'ah (The Laws Governing Forbidden Sexual Relationships), chapter 12, halachot 4–5. In, e. g., Mishneh Torah: Sefer Kedushim: The Book of Holiness. Translated by Eliyahu Touger, pages 150–53. New York: Moznaim Publishing, 2002. Maimonides. The Guide for the Perplexed, part 3, chapters 42, 46–47. Cairo, Egypt, 1190. In, e. g., Moses Maimonides. The Guide for the Perplexed. Translated by Michael Friedländer, pages 351, 363, 365, 369. New York: Dover Publications, 1956. Hezekiah ben Manoah. Hizkuni. France, circa 1240. In, e. g., Chizkiyahu ben Manoach. Chizkuni: Torah Commentary. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 4, pages 997–1020. Jerusalem: Ktav Publishers, 2013. Naḥmanides. Commentary on the Torah. Jerusalem, circa 1270. In, e. g., Ramban (Nachmanides): Commentary on the Torah: Numbers. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, volume 4, pages 296–343. New York: Shilo Publishing House, 1975. Midrash ha Ne'lam (The Midrash of the Concealed), part 1, pages 4d, 7a, 14a, 22d; part 2, page 21b. Spain, 13th century. In, e. g., The Zohar: Pritzker Edition. Translation and commentary by Nathan Wolski, volume 10, pages 17–18, 35–36, 118, 255, 521, 539. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2016. Zohar, part 3, pages 213a–241b. Spain, late 13th Century. In, e. g., The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 volumes. London: Soncino Press, 1934. Jacob ben Asher (Baal Ha Turim). Rimze Ba'al ha Turim. Early 14th century. In, e. g., Baal Haturim Chumash: Bamidbar/Numbers. Translated by Eliyahu Touger, edited and annotated by Avie Gold, volume 4, pages 1667–709. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2003. Jacob ben Asher. Perush Al ha Torah. Early 14th century. In, e. g., Yaakov ben Asher. Tur on the Torah. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 3, pages 1180–201. Jerusalem: Lambda Publishers, 2005. Isaac ben Moses Arama. Akedat Yizhak (The Binding of Isaac). Late 15th century. In, e. g., Yitzchak Arama. Akeydat Yitzchak: Commentary of Rabbi Yitzchak Arama on the Torah. Translated and condensed by Eliyahu Munk, volume 2, pages 777–91. New York, Lambda Publishers, 2001.

Isaac Abravanel. Commentary on the Torah. Italy, between 1492 and 1509. In, e. g., Abarbanel: Selected Commentaries on the Torah: Volume 4: Bamidbar/Numbers. Translated and annotated by Israel Lazar, pages 274–317. Brooklyn: CreateSpace, 2015. Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno. Commentary on the Torah. Venice, 1567. In, e. g., Sforno: Commentary on the Torah. Translation and explanatory notes by Raphael Pelcovitz, pages 784–801. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. Moshe Alshich. Commentary on the Torah. Safed, circa 1593. In, e. g., Moshe Alshich. Midrash of Rabbi Moshe Alshich on the Torah. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 3, pages 911–26. New York, Lambda Publishers, 2000. Saul Levi Morteira. "When They Agitated Against God." Budapest, mid 1640s. In Marc Saperstein. Exile in Amsterdam: Saul Levi Morteira's Sermons to a Congregation of "New Jews," pages 430–46. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press, 2005. Avraham Yehoshua Heschel. Commentaries on the Torah. Cracow, Poland, mid 17th century. Compiled as Chanukat HaTorah. Edited by Chanoch Henoch Erzohn. Piotrkow, Poland, 1900. In Avraham Yehoshua Heschel. Chanukas HaTorah: Mystical Insights of Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel on Chumash. Translated by Avraham Peretz Friedman, pages 278–87. Southfield, Michigan: Targum Press/Feldheim Publishers, 2004. Thomas Hobbes. Leviathan, 3:40, 42. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, pages 506, 572. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. Shabbethai Bass. Sifsei Chachamim. Amsterdam, 1680. In, e. g., Sefer Bamidbar: From the Five Books of the Torah: Chumash: Targum Okelos: Rashi: Sifsei Chachamim: Yalkut: Haftaros, translated by Avrohom Y. Davis, pages 460–533. Lakewood Township, New Jersey: Metsudah Publications, 2013. Chaim ibn Attar. Ohr ha Chaim. Venice, 1742. In Chayim ben Attar. Or Hachayim: Commentary on the Torah. Translated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 4, pages 1637–99. Brooklyn: Lambda Publishers, 1999. Robert Burns. I Murder Hate. Scotland, 1790. In, e. g., The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Burns: Arranged in the Order of their Earliest Publication: Volume Second: Pieces Published Posthumously. Edited by William Scott Douglas, page 428. Kilmarnock, Scotland: M'kie and Drennan, 1876. Reprinted by Nabu Press, 2010. ("But let me have bold Zimri's fate, / Within the arms of Cozbi!") Samson Raphael Hirsch. Horeb: A Philosophy of Jewish Laws and Observances. Translated by Isidore Grunfeld, pages 136–41, 225–31, 487, 492–93, 512–13. London: Soncino Press, 1962. Reprinted 2002. Originally published as Horeb, Versuche über Jissroel's Pflichten in der Zerstreuung. Germany, 1837. Emily Dickinson. Poem 112 (Where bells no more affright the morn —). Circa 1859. Poem 168 (If the foolish, call them "flowers" —). Circa 1860. Poem 597 (It always felt to me—a wrong). Circa 1862. In The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, pages 53, 79–80, 293–94. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1960. Samuel David Luzzatto (Shadal). Commentary on the Torah. Padua, 1871. In, e. g., Samuel David Luzzatto. Torah Commentary. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 4, pages 1107–12. New York: Lambda Publishers, 2012. Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter. Sefat Emet. Góra Kalwaria (Ger), Poland, before 1906. Excerpted in The Language of Truth: The Torah Commentary of Sefat Emet. Translated and interpreted by Arthur Green, pages 263–67. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1998. Reprinted 2012. Alexander Alan Steinbach. Sabbath Queen: Fifty four Bible Talks to the Young Based on Each Portion of the Pentateuch, pages 129–32. New York: Behrman's Jewish Book House, 1936. Julius H. Greenstone. Numbers: With Commentary: The Holy Scriptures, pages 279–311. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1939. Reprinted by Literary Licensing, 2011. Abram Spiro. "The Ascension of Phinehas." Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research, volume 22 (1953): pages 91–114. Isaac Mendelsohn. "Urim and Thummim." In The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, volume 4, pages 739–40. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1962. Electric Prunes. "Kol Nidre." In Release of an Oath. Reprise Records, 1968. (track based on the Yom Kippur Kol Nidre prayer). J. Roy Porter. "The Succession of Joshua." In Proclamation and Presence: Old Testament Essays in Honour of Gwynne Henton Davies. Edited by John I. Durham and J. Roy Porter, pages 102–32. London: SCM Press, 1970. Stefan C. Reif. "What Enraged Phinehas? : A Study of Numbers 25:8." Journal of Biblical Literature, volume 90, number 2 (June 1971): pages 200–06. Moshe Greenberg. "Urim and Thummim." In Encyclopaedia Judaica, volume 16, pages 8–9. Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House, 1972. Jacob Milgrom. "Magic, Monotheism, and the Sin of Moses." In The Quest for the Kingdom of God: Studies in Honor of George E. Mendenhall. Edited by H. B. Huffmon, F. A. Spina, A. R. W. Green, pages 251–265. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1983. Philip J. Budd. Word Biblical Commentary: Volume 5: Numbers, pages 274–319. Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1984. Michael Fishbane. Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel, pages 98–99, 102–05, 112, 150, 152, 169, 171, 198, 209–10, 213, 224, 236, 256, 258, 304, 397–99, 529. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985. Pinchas H. Peli. Torah Today: A Renewed Encounter with Scripture, pages 185–87. Washington, D. C.: B'nai B'rith Books, 1987. Marc Gellman. "The Announcing Tool." In Does God Have a Big Toe? Stories About Stories in the Bible, pages 85–88. New York: HarperCollins, 1989. Mary Douglas. In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers, pages 55, 58, 86–87, 103, 108, 111–12, 114, 116, 121–23, 130, 135–36, 138, 141–42, 144–45, 147, 162, 170, 180, 182–83, 188, 190–92, 194, 197, 200, 203, 206, 235–36. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Reprinted 2004. Judith S. Antonelli. "The Daughters of Zelophechad." In In the Image of God: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah, pages 377–82. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, 1995. Ellen Frankel. The Five Books of Miriam: A Woman's Commentary on the Torah, pages 234–36. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996. W. Gunther Plaut. The Haftarah Commentary, pages 396–406. New York: UAHC Press, 1996. Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden. Teaching Torah: A Treasury of Insights and Activities, pages 272–77. Denver: A. R. E. Publishing, 1997. Robert Goodman. Teaching Jewish Holidays: History, Values, and Activities. Denver: A. R. E. Publishing, 1997. Judith Hauptman. "Inheritance." In Rereading the Rabbis: A Woman's Voice, pages 177–95. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1997. Harriet C. Lutzky. "The Name 'Cozbi' (Numbers XXV 15, 18)." Vetus Testamentum, volume 47, number 4 (October 1997): pages 546–49. Cornelis Van Dam. The Urim and Thummin: A Means of Revelation in Ancient Israel. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1997. Tal Ilan. "How Women Differed." Biblical Archaeology Review, volume 24, number 2 (March/April 1998). William H. C. Propp. "Why Moses Could Not Enter The Promised Land." Bible Review, volume 14, number 3 (June 1998). Rachel Adelman. "Serah bat Asher: Songstress, Poet, and Woman of Wisdom." In Torah of the Mothers: Contemporary Jewish Women Read Classical Jewish Texts. Edited by Ora Wiskind Elper and Susan Handelman, pages 218–43. New York and Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2000. (Numbers 26:46). Dennis T. Olson. "Numbers." In The HarperCollins Bible Commentary. Edited by James L. Mays, pages 182–85. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, revised edition, 2000. Sarah Idit (Susan) Schneider. "The Daughters of Tzlafchad: Towards a Methodology of Attitude Around Women's Issues." In Torah of the Mothers: Contemporary Jewish Women Read Classical Jewish Texts. Edited by Ora Wiskind Elper and Susan Handelman, pages 155–69. New York and Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2000. Pamela Wax. "Daughters and Inheritance Law." In The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions. Edited by Elyse Goldstein, pages 307–14. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000. Lainie Blum Cogan and Judy Weiss. Teaching Haftarah: Background, Insights, and Strategies, pages 173–80. Denver: A. R. E. Publishing, 2002. Louis H. Feldman. "The Portrayal of Phinehas by Philo, Pseudo Philo, and Josephus." The Jewish Quarterly Review, volume 92, number 3/4 (January–April 2002): pages 315–45. Michael Fishbane. The JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot, pages 250–62. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002. Tikva Frymer Kensky. "Cozbi." In Reading the Women of the Bible, pages 215–24. New York: Schocken Books, 2002. John J. Collins. "The Zeal of Phinehas: The Bible and the Legitimation of Violence." Journal of Biblical Literature, volume 122, number 1 (Spring 2003): pages 3–21. Robert Alter. The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary, pages 819–37. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2004. Susan P. Fendrick. "Haftarat Pinchas: I Kings 18:46–19:21." In The Women's Haftarah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Haftarah Portions, the 5 Megillot & Special Shabbatot. Edited by Elyse Goldstein, pages 195–99. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004. Nili S. Fox. "Numbers." In The Jewish Study Bible. Edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, pages 335–43. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Professors on the Parashah: Studies on the Weekly Torah Reading Edited by Leib Moscovitz, pages 280–83. Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2005. W. Gunther Plaut. The Torah: A Modern Commentary: Revised Edition. Revised edition edited by David E. S. Stern, pages 1072–97. New York: Union for Reform Judaism, 2006. Suzanne A. Brody. "A bonanza." In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, page 100. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007. Shai Cherry. "The Daughters of Zelophehad." In Torah Through Time: Understanding Bible Commentary, from the Rabbinic Period to Modern Times, pages 161–88. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2007. James L. Kugel. How To Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now, pages 64, 186, 197, 286, 318, 324, 355, 358, 404, 535. New York: Free Press, 2007. The Torah: A Women's Commentary. Edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea L. Weiss, pages 961–88. New York: URJ Press, 2008. R. Dennis Cole. "Numbers." In Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary. Edited by John H. Walton, volume 1, pages 386–90. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009. Steven Greenberg. "Pinchas, Zimri, and the Channels of Divine Will: Parashat Pinchas (Numbers 25:10–30:1)." In Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible. Edited by Gregg Drinkwater, Joshua Lesser, and David Shneer; foreword by Judith Plaskow, pages 216–19. New York: New York University Press, 2009. Reuven Hammer. Entering Torah: Prefaces to the Weekly Torah Portion, pages 237–41. New York: Gefen Publishing House, 2009. Raymond Westbrook and Bruce Wells. "Property and Inheritance." In Everyday Law in Biblical Israel: An Introduction, pages 91–106. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009. Alcita Ferreira Brown. Milcah. Booklocker, 2010. (novel about a daughter of Zelophehad). Jonathan P. Burnside. "A 'Missing Case' in the Biblical Laws of Homicide and Asylum?" Vetus Testamentum, volume 60, number 2 (2010): pages 288–91. Terence E. Fretheim. "Numbers." In The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha: An Ecumenical Study Bible. Edited by Michael D. Coogan, Marc Z. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins, pages 228–34. New York: Oxford University Press, Revised 4th Edition 2010. Adriane Leveen. "Inside Out: Jethro, the Midianites and a Biblical Construction of the Outsider." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 34, number 4 (June 2010): pages 395–417. The Commentators' Bible: Numbers: The JPS Miqra'ot Gedolot. Edited, translated, and annotated by Michael Carasik, pages 193–218. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2011. Josebert Fleurant. "Phinehas Murdered Moses' Wife: An Analysis of Numbers 25." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 35, number 3 (March 2011): pages 285–94. Calum Carmichael. "Sexual and Religious Seduction (Numbers 25–31)." In The Book of Numbers: A Critique of Genesis, pages 135–58. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012. Shmuel Herzfeld. "Three Educational Lessons." In Fifty Four Pick Up: Fifteen Minute Inspirational Torah Lessons, pages 234–37. Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2012. Shlomo Riskin. Torah Lights: Bemidbar: Trials and Tribulations in Times of Transition, pages 205–42. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2012. Juliana Claassens. "'Give us a portion among our father's brothers': The Daughters of Zelophehad, Land, and the Quest for Human Dignity." Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, volume 37, number 3 (March 2013): pages 319–37. Jonathan Sacks. Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, pages 221–25. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2015. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg. Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers, pages 263–311. New York: Schocken Books, 2015. Jonathan Sacks. Essays on Ethics: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, pages 257–62. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2016. Shai Held. The Heart of Torah, Volume 2: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, pages 168–78. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017. Steven Levy and Sarah Levy. The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary, pages 138–40. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017. Jonathan Sacks. Numbers: The Wilderness Years: Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, pages 313–60. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2017. Andrew Tobolowsky. "The Problem of Reubenite Primacy: New Paradigms, New Answers." Journal of Biblical Literature, volume 139, number 1 (2020): pages 27–45.