6 And lo, a man of the sons of Israel hath come, and bringeth in unto his brethren the Midianitess, before the eyes of Moses, and before the eyes of all the company of the sons of Israel, who are weeping at the opening of the tent of meeting; 7 and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, seeth, and riseth from the midst of the company, and taketh a javelin in his hand, 8 and goeth in after the man of Israel unto the hollow place, and pierceth them both, the man of Israel and the woman—unto her belly, and the plague is restrained from the sons of Israel; 9 and the dead by the plague are four and twenty thousand. 10 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 11 'Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, hath turned back My fury from the sons of Israel, by his being zealous with My zeal in their midst, and I have not consumed the sons of Israel in My zeal. 12 'Therefore say, Lo, I am giving to him My covenant of peace, 13 and it hath been to him and to his seed after him a covenant of a priesthood age-during, because that he hath been zealous for his God, and doth make atonement for the sons of Israel.' 14 And the name of the man of Israel who is smitten, who hath been smitten with the Midianitess, 'is' Zimri son of Salu, prince of the house of a father of the Simeonite;
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 25:6-14
Commentary on Numbers 25:6-15
(Read Numbers 25:6-15)
Phinehas, in the courage of zeal and faith, executed vengeance on Zimri and Cozbi. This act can never be an example for private revenge, or religious persecution, or for irregular public vengeance.