“And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.”
Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levitical families, clan by clan. Phinehas — born here in the genealogy — will become one of the most dramatic figures of the wilderness period. Numbers 25:7–8 records Phinehas acting with zeal against an Israelite man who brought a Midianite woman into the camp during a plague, an act for which God grants him a covenant of lasting priesthood. Psalm 106:30–31 says it was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations. The child named in this genealogical aside will stand at a pivotal moment of Israel's wilderness history and act in a way that turns away God's wrath from the community. He is named before the moment; the moment will reveal who he is. Every name in this genealogy is a person who will matter.
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
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