In het Hebreeuws is de uitleg zoiets als: Het is net als in een huwelijk tussen man en vrouw. Zo sta je ook in relatie tot God. Dat is de jaloezie die God hiermee wordt bedoeld. God bedoeld hiermee een zegel van verbond.

2 Korintiërs 11:

2 Ik waak over u zoals God over u waakt. Ik heb u aan één man uitgehuwelijkt, aan Christus, en ik wil u als een kuise bruid aan hem geven.  

Exodus 34:
14 want jullie mogen niet voor een andere god neerknielen. De HEER, de Afgunstige, duldt immers geen andere goden naast zich.
14 Vereer geen andere goden. Ik, de Heer, duld geen andere goden naast me.
14 want u mag zich niet neerbuigen voor een andere god: de Naam van de HEERE is immers de Na-ijverige. Een na-ijverig God is Hij
14 Want gij zult u niet nederbuigen voor een andere god, immers de HERE, wiens naam Naijverige is, is een naijverig God.
14 (Want gij zult u niet buigen voor een anderen god; want des HEEREN Naam is IJveraar! een ijverig God is Hij!)

“Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed 
not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children 
of Israel.” (Numbers 25:11-13)

Zealous or Jealous?

In Parashat Pinchas we see many things worth discussing. In our discussion we will focus on the aspect of Pinchas’ zeal.

First, we must examine the concept of zeal from a Biblical perspective. The text is emphatic in its claim that Pinchas not only acted zealously, but was a zealous man. He was zealous for his God, and had a righteous anger that rose up within him when Zimri and Cozbi flaunted their physical and spiritual adultery. The Hebrew behind the word we translate as “zeal” into English, is the word קנא (“qana”).

Qana is a term that is used to convey strong emotion related to an object of desire. It is always directed toward the object by means of “over” protection. This can manifest itself in one of two ways. If one has qana for what is already in one’s own possession, it is expressed as jealousy. If one has qana for what is in another’s possession, it is expressed in envy/covetousness. Therefore, one can be either zealous or jealous towards an object, or anything that might appear to infringe upon one’s rights to that object.

In the case of being qana for what is already in one’s own possession, this can be best understood in terms of a marriage relationship. Although an unhealthy dose of jealously in a marriage relationship can result in suspicion and skepticism on the part of one partner in the relationship, a healthy does of jealousy ensures that the relationship remains pure. An unhealthy dose of jealousy is one which is unfounded, and always views the relationship with suspect. A healthy dose of jealousy is seen in the husband who continues to court his wife with affection and genuine interest for decades after the honeymoon. In both cases, one member of the relationship is zealous for the relationship. One is selfish and misguided, the other is not. This is how zealous and jealous work together, and how we can understand the meaning behind this word qana.

2 Korintiërs 11:

2 Ik waak over u zoals God over u waakt. Ik heb u aan één man uitgehuwelijkt, aan Christus, en ik wil u als een kuise bruid aan hem geven. 

Pinchas: An Example of Qana

1. 1. Pinchas was zealous for the ways of Hashem.

      We also must be zealous of the things for which Hashem is zealous. If we do not know and live Torah, we will ultimately rationalize away zeal for Hashem’s ways due to our human nature. This has happened within Christianity and Judaism. We have “rationalized” Hashem away in order that His character matches our own. We have effectively molded the Potter into the clay. Here are some examples, based on the concept of the Broken Vav, found in Numbers 25:12. I have included an image for reference.

       

      Commentary from Mordechai Pinchas:

      “The text concerns a covenant of peace (brit shalom) that is offered to Pinchas the somewhat over-zealous and fiery priest who skewered Zimri, the leader of the tribe of Shimon and Kozbi a midianite woman. Pinchas’ act stopped both the Israelite’s bout of immoral behaviour and the plague they had been suffering because of it, and he was rewarded for it.

      However even the Massoretes must have been shocked by the violence of Pinchas’ action as they made his blessing only partial through the broken vav which explains that true peace cannot be brought about through violence and that the two concepts are incompatible.

      Similarly the Talmud (Kiddushin 66b) notes that the service of a person must be perfect and without blemish, by reading shalom without the vav as shalem – whole, perfect, sound and translate Numbers 25:12 as ‘behold I give to him my covenant of perfection’ – only when he is perfect and not found wanting.”¹

      Another commentator writes:

      “Is zealotry a good or a bad characteristic for a person to have? In a positive way, it is energizing, it is purposive – leading an individual to a powerful personal commitment to an idea or cause which might be beneficial to society. On the other hand, zeal can lead to a form of fanaticism which could prove to be extremely destructive.

Early rabbinic tradition was divided on whether the zealousness demonstrated by Pinhas was to be considered commendable or not. On the surface, it would seem that his behavior was indeed to be judged as being commendable since the Torah quotes God as saying, ” I grant him My pact of shalom… because he was zealous for his God..”

But it is interesting to note two anomalies which appear intentionally in the actual text of every written Torah scroll. Examine verse 11 closely and you will note that the Hebrew letter yod (י) in Pinhas’ name (פינחס) is written smaller than the rest of the letters in his name. And in verse 12 the word shalom (שלום) is written in the Torah with a broken vav. These two unusual occurrences juxtaposed so closely to each other just “begged” for some sort of homiletical explanation by our ancient Sages.

      The interpretations put forward by them unilaterally convey a strong disdain of fanatical behavior. They maintained that the letter yod in Pinhas’ name is written smaller than the other letters in order to show visually that there was a diminution of his Jewishness due to his fanaticism (Note: A Jew is called a “Yid” – from the yod in yehudi) Additionally, it was pointed out, that the yod in Pinhas’ name is intentionally diminished in size because it is meant to convey the message that through his act of violence his identity with God (written with two Yod’s) was diminished . 

As for the word shalom (שלום), it is written in the Torah with a broken letter; that is to say, part of its vav is missing. This anomaly is to serve as a reminder that the experience and memory of Pinhas’ act will forever diminish the “peace” that he was to merit. It would be an imperfect peace.”²

   2. Although Pinchas’ act was violent, it brought about peace 
(שלום—“shalom”).

      As we have seen above, when we try to “tame” Hashem, he tends to start looking a little too much like us. We must remember that His ways are perfect, and our job in this life is to emulate Him. Sometimes this doesn’t set well with us. Why would Hashem use violence in order to bring about peace? Doesn’t this seem contradictory? For most people it does. But we must remember that we can’t just subjectively dissect Scripture and remove the parts that we don’t like, nor can we give it a face-lift so that it will appear “better” than what we see.

      In our particular case, Pinchas’ act of violence was not only a zealous act, but a righteous one which met with the approval of Hashem. This cannot be interpreted any other way due to the context in which immediately prior to Pinchas’ slaying of the adulterous couple, Hashem tells Moshe to slay all of the leaders of the wickedness in the sight of the entire assembly. When Zimri and Cozbi had the audacity to commit their lewdness directly in front of Moshe while his tongue had not yet finished the words, the zeal of Hashem rose up within Pinchas and he slew them in accordance with Hashem’s directive.

      Think about it. If we say that peace cannot come through violence, we have to reject the concept of Mashiach ben David—the conquering King who will destroy those who oppose Hashem and usher in the Messianic Age of Shalom. Isn’t this why many Jews cannot accept Yeshua, because He didn’t conquer Rome, and bring the nations into subjection of Israel? How could this have happened without the sword?

      Another option for interpreting the two anomalies is one that praises Pinchas for partnering with Hashem in protecting His name. If we examine the two anomalies, they both have something in common. They are both connected to the Hebrew letter yod (י). The first appears as a unusually small letter in the name of Pinchas. The second appears as an unusually large letter in the word shalom. The large yod is formed by the broken vav (a vav is a yod with the tail extended to the baseline). What we must keep in mind is that, unlike English, all Hebrew letters are actual words and have meaning. The letter yod is equivalent to the Hebrew word “yad,” which means “hand.” Thus we have a picture of two hands—one small, and one large. What could this mean?

      Although this—the sod (Hebrew for “secret”) level of interpretation—is very speculative, we can at least examine an alternate meaning and gain insight and encouragement if it appears to be a reasonable explanation. And although we can gain insights into the text through the sod level of interpretation, we must keep in mind that the pashat (“simple” or “face-value”) meaning of the text cannot be violated. It can only be enhanced to bring about a nuance which would otherwise be missed in the pashat reading.

      With that in mind, the picture I see in this passage is that of the hand of man (e.g. the small hand) working in conjunction with the hand of Hashem (e.g. the large hand) to make atonement for the Israelites (vs. 13) and turn away the penalty they were due. This seems a much more reasonable interpretation than that of a promise of “broken peace,” by which many of the other commentators agree. The idea of Hashem promising a brit shalom (“covenant of peace”) which will be “unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood,” and secretly making it an “imperfect” or “broken” peace would appear to be forcing the text into saying something contrary to the pashat interpretation.

   3. Not only does the violent act of Pinchas bring about peace, but came at a price.

      Unfortunately, peace is not free. It comes at a price. We can look at the armies around the word from ages past to present. There have been many who have lost their lives or loved ones for the price of peace.

   4. Yeshua also establishes peace, but at a price.

      Just as peace from the hands of man comes at a price, so too did the peace that Messiah brought come at a price. It cost him his life.

   5. We must establish peace, but it will come at a price—we must die to self.

      The price we must pay is that we must die to ourselves. We have to remember that the root of all conflict between individuals is pride/selfishness. When we die to ourselves, we can begin to live at peace with those around us.

   6. The pain from Hashem may hurt, but our wounds will heal and we will ultimately be made whole.

      In the encounter with Korah back in chapter sixteen, Korah’s entire family is thought to have been destroyed. In this parashat, however, we learn that there is a remnant of Korah that has survived (26:11). Hashem has spared a remnant who can testify to His greatness and His glory, and appreciate His mercy and protection. We later see the descendants of Korah proclaiming the praises of Hashem’s greatness in Psalms 42-49, and 84-88. The one that stands out the most, however, is Psalm 46. In it we can almost see the moment the ground swallowed up Korah and his followers, and “though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea,” the author boldly proclaims that we need not fear, because Hashem is “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

Psalm 46

To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.