This sheet on Numbers 25 was written by Erica Brown for 929 and can also be found here
“So Moses said to Israel’s officials, ‘Each of you slay those of his men who attached themselves to Baal-peor.’ Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman over to his companions, in the sight of Moses and of the whole Israelite community who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. When Phinehas, son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly and, taking a spear in his hand, he followed the Israelite into the chamber and stabbed both of them, the Israelite and the woman, through the belly. Then the plague against the Israelites was checked.” (Num 25:5-8).
One of the most difficult passages in Numbers presents yet another leadership collapse. Moses, unable to check the rebelliousness in his camp, is shown up by Pinchas, who swept into the scene fully armed and ready to stop the open promiscuity in the camp. All were paralyzed by the affront. They wept, unable to believe the brazenness of this sight and how it happened. By charging to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, Pinchas invites us to think of our own possible response and to contemplate religious violence through the ages. Pinchas accomplished his objective and was even rewarded for taking these two lives, but at what cost?
In The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt helps us understand the way in which religion and any group commitment can create a unity oblivious to reality. “…when a group of people make something sacred, the members of the cult lose the ability to think clearly about it. Morality binds and blinds. It binds us into ideological teams that fight each other as though the fate of the world depended on our side winning each battle. It blinds us to the fact that each team is composed of good people who have something important to say.”
Our own ideologies can make us strong and can also make us insensitive to situations that require more nuance and less judgment. Haidt concludes that this, “…is why it's so important to have intellectual and ideological diversity within any group or institution whose goal is to find truth...” Pinchas may have stopped the problem right in front of him. He was rewarded with a covenant of peace. Some may regard this as a validation of his violence. Perhaps instead it was a farewell consolation prize to a leader who had his moment and only that. Pinchas quelled a rebellion but would be unable to create a longer legacy of leadership. That requires the capacity to sustain lasting peace and unity.
One of the most difficult passages in Numbers presents yet another leadership collapse. Moses, unable to check the rebelliousness in his camp, is shown up by Pinchas, who swept into the scene fully armed and ready to stop the open promiscuity in the camp. All were paralyzed by the affront. They wept, unable to believe the brazenness of this sight and how it happened. By charging to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, Pinchas invites us to think of our own possible response and to contemplate religious violence through the ages. Pinchas accomplished his objective and was even rewarded for taking these two lives, but at what cost?
In The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt helps us understand the way in which religion and any group commitment can create a unity oblivious to reality. “…when a group of people make something sacred, the members of the cult lose the ability to think clearly about it. Morality binds and blinds. It binds us into ideological teams that fight each other as though the fate of the world depended on our side winning each battle. It blinds us to the fact that each team is composed of good people who have something important to say.”
Our own ideologies can make us strong and can also make us insensitive to situations that require more nuance and less judgment. Haidt concludes that this, “…is why it's so important to have intellectual and ideological diversity within any group or institution whose goal is to find truth...” Pinchas may have stopped the problem right in front of him. He was rewarded with a covenant of peace. Some may regard this as a validation of his violence. Perhaps instead it was a farewell consolation prize to a leader who had his moment and only that. Pinchas quelled a rebellion but would be unable to create a longer legacy of leadership. That requires the capacity to sustain lasting peace and unity.
Dr. Erica Brown is associate professor at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University
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