parshat Balak/Pinchas/Matot: Did Pinchas Act On His Own Initiative?

Pinchas scares people. He is traditionally cast as a zealot who assassinated a leader, the prince of a father's house from the tribe of Shimon.

Some on the Jewish left, and some secular Israelis, imagine that the crazy right wingers and charedim are a bunch of zealots who are liable to go off and assassinate people, and they can cite the example of one or two lunatics who did. As a result, Pinchas looms as a dangerous precedent, since they think if he is legitimized some "right-wing Jewish fanatic" will follow his lead. As a result, when dealing with parshat Pinchas, there is a need to delegitimize what he did.

The problem with this approach is that Hashem himself seems to reward Pinchas for his act of zealotry. The parsha begins {Bemidbar 25:10-12}:

י וַיְדַבֵּר ה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר.	10 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
יא פִּינְחָס בֶּן-אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן-אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן, הֵשִׁיב אֶת-חֲמָתִי מֵעַל בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּקַנְאוֹ אֶת-קִנְאָתִי, בְּתוֹכָם; וְלֹא-כִלִּיתִי אֶת-בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּקִנְאָתִי.	11 'Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy.
יב לָכֵן, אֱמֹר: הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת-בְּרִיתִי, שָׁלוֹם.	12 Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace;

Thus Hashem endorses Pinchas' actions.

The response in the two articles cited above is to try to reinterpret Hashem's response. Bolding mine:

After all, doesn’t God reward Pinchas for his zealotry in this week’s parsha? Isn’t Pinchas granted God’s brit shalom (covenant of peace)? Yes, he is. But to my mind, the Torah is telling us not that God rewarded Pinchas, but that God cured him. God tempered Pinchas’ fanaticism so that he would never kill again.

and

And here, once again, a member of the tribe follows in his ancestors’ path – murders and destroys in public, without shame; and God decides to put an end to it.

The zealous killer’s prize is to be a champion of peace, reconciliation and compassion. From this day forward Aaron and his dynasty become peace-lovers, despite, or perhaps because of, the family’s problematic genetics.

God understands the only way to restrain the violent Pinchas is to burden him with a task that is in total contradiction to his character and one that he must carry out.

The fanatic becomes a peace activist, not just Peace Now, but an eternity of being the high priest of peace.

Needless to say, this reasing of the text is anachronistic and ridiculous. It is clear from the immediate context that Pinchas did a good thing. Zimri, and those who were committing harlotry and idolatry, were violating Hashem's will, in an act of rebellion, and Hashem himself was killing many of them in a plague. In verse 4, Hashem had commanded Moshe to execute the heads of this rebellion:

4 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto the LORD in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.'

and Hashem himself was killing many of the people, as we see in that verse, about the fierce anger. This "fierce anger" itself was manifesting itself in a plague that killed some 24,000 people, as we read in verse 9:

9 And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand.

Hashem was thus commanding in verse 4 an execution of the leaders of the rebellion to avert away his anger. And, when Pinchas killed Zimri and Kozbi, who were engaging in harlotry, he stopped this plague. Verse 8:

8 And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

Hashem even mentions that Pinchas' act stayed the plague, in his reward to Pinchas. Verse 11:

11 'Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy.

This immediately before Hashem gives Pinchas his "covenant of peace," whatever that means. It is clear that Hashem is far from displeased with Pinchas' action, and He is not decrying the violence of this action.

Further, it is downright silly to assert that Pinchas has been "cured" of his violent ways, and is now a peace activist! In this week's parsha, Pinchas is sent off to war, for killing Kozbi bat Tzur was not enough. They exact revenge on the Midianite people, and he is in charge of killing even more Midianites! Bemidbar 31:6-8:

ו וַיִּשְׁלַח אֹתָם מֹשֶׁה אֶלֶף לַמַּטֶּה, לַצָּבָא: אֹתָם וְאֶת-פִּינְחָס בֶּן-אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן, לַצָּבָא, וּכְלֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ וַחֲצֹצְרוֹת הַתְּרוּעָה, בְּיָדוֹ.	6 And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
ז וַיִּצְבְּאוּ, עַל-מִדְיָן, כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה, אֶת-מֹשֶׁה; וַיַּהַרְגוּ, כָּל-זָכָר.	7 And they warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew every male.
ח וְאֶת-מַלְכֵי מִדְיָן הָרְגוּ עַל-חַלְלֵיהֶם, אֶת-אֱוִי וְאֶת-רֶקֶם וְאֶת-צוּר וְאֶת-חוּר וְאֶת-רֶבַע--חֲמֵשֶׁת, מַלְכֵי מִדְיָן; וְאֵת בִּלְעָם בֶּן-בְּעוֹר, הָרְגוּ בֶּחָרֶב.	8 And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.

Indeed, while Pinchas is not mentioned there, the command to exact revenge on the Midianites is mentioned even in parshat Pinchas, in the very next Divine command!

So Pinchas has surely not become a peace activist and a man of peace. How then, can people seriously advance such an obviously silly reading of the text? Perhaps a quote from one of the aforementioned articles might shed light on this:

Between those who possess a deep faith in God and those lunatics who are interested only in themselves, who cynically use God, faith, Torah and peace for their own agendas.

Now, if they want to reread the text in a way that does not encourage the individual zealot to go off assassinating leaders willy-nilly, there is indeed an easy way to do so. Turn and consider the question of whether Pinchas acted alone. Traditionally, Moshe's command in verse 4 to "take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto the LORD in face of the sun" is taken to refersto those leaders worshipping Baal Peor, perhaps being led to do this via the harlotry. Meanwhile, Zimri's action of flagrantly bringing the Midianite woman to his tent to sleep with her is taken as a separate act, with a separate response demanded.

Indeed, we see that the command is restricted to those who have "joined themselves to Baal Peor":

ד וַיֹּאמֶר ה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, קַח אֶת-כָּל-רָאשֵׁי הָעָם, וְהוֹקַע אוֹתָם לַיהוָה, נֶגֶד הַשָּׁמֶשׁ; וְיָשֹׁב חֲרוֹן אַף-ה, מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל.	4 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto the LORD in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.'
ה וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, אֶל-שֹׁפְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: הִרְגוּ אִישׁ אֲנָשָׁיו, הַנִּצְמָדִים לְבַעַל פְּעוֹר.	5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel: 'Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto the Baal of Peor.'

Indeed, Rashi cites a midrash that they in fact did this. There were 88,000 judges, and each one slew 2 men who worshipped Baal Peor.

(Just a quick digression to partially explain the mechanics of this midrash. We know the number of judges, because elsewhere Moshe appointed judges over tens, over fifties, over hundreds, and over thousands. In Sanhedrin 18a, this comes to 78,600, based on a population of exactly 600,000. How this equals 88,000 eludes me at the moment. There is a count immediately after which gives 601,730, but the midrash later has each each judge execute 2, for a total of an additional 176,000, which puts us way over the top. About 672,000 men should yield 88,000 judges.
Anyway, each of these judges killed two, because the pasuk stated הִרְגוּ אִישׁ אֲנָשָׁיו - each man killed his men, plural, and the minimum plural is two.
)

However, when Zimri came, his sin is overtly committing harlotry, which Rashi takes as separate from the idolatry. Zimri led specifically brought a Midianite woman, asking whether she was permitted, so as to challenge Moshe, who married the Midianite Tzippora. The response of Moshe, according to Rashi, is not to command Zimri's execution, but rather dismay. He and the judges know not what to do, and are reduced to tears, for they have forgotten the halacha that in such a situation, kanaim {zealots} may execute him. Rashi writes:

The law [that anyone cohabiting with a non-Jewish woman is to be executed by zealots] eluded him. [Therefore,] they all burst out weeping. At the incident of the golden calf Moses [successfully] confronted six hundred thousand as it says, “He ground it until it was powder…” (Exod. 32:20), yet here he appeared so helpless? However, [this happened] so that Phinehas should come and take what was due to him. — [Mid. Tanchuma Balak 20]

This shows an interesting rereading of pasuk 6:

ה וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, אֶל-שֹׁפְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: הִרְגוּ אִישׁ אֲנָשָׁיו, הַנִּצְמָדִים לְבַעַל פְּעוֹר.	5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel: 'Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto the Baal of Peor.'
ו וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא, וַיַּקְרֵב אֶל-אֶחָיו אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִית, לְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה, וּלְעֵינֵי כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְהֵמָּה בֹכִים, פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד.	6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.

According to Rashi, and midrash Tanchuma, the weeping was a response to Zimri, and highlighted their inability to act. Into this vacuum stepped Pinchas.

Pasuk 7:

ז וַיַּרְא, פִּינְחָס בֶּן-אֶלְעָזָר, בֶּן-אַהֲרֹן, הַכֹּהֵן; וַיָּקָם מִתּוֹךְ הָעֵדָה, וַיִּקַּח רֹמַח בְּיָדוֹ.

7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.

According to Rashi, he recalled this law, and reminded Moshe of it, and Moshe even told him to carry it out!

Phinehas…saw He saw the deed and reminded himself of the law. He said to Moses, “I learned from you, ‘If someone cohabits with an Aramean [heathen] woman, zealots have a right to strike him [dead].’ ” He replied to him, “Let the one who reads the letter be the agent to carry it out.” Immediately,“he took a spear in his hand….” - [Sanh. 82a]

So even without proceeding further, we have, according to the traditional (midrashic) interpretation, forwarded by Rashi, that Pinchas first take leave of the current leader before acting. He acts on a command from Moshe. True, at the same time, the law he acts upon is one for zealots, but there is also a direct command from the one in charge, who previously ordered the judges to execute. This is not really someone taking the law into his own hands.

If we consider further, perhaps on a peshat level there was not even a separate consideration of the law for Zimri, but Pinchas was actually acting on Moshe's previous command to the judges. Let us take it from the top, at the end of parshat Balak. Bemidbar 25:1-3:

א וַיֵּשֶׁב יִשְׂרָאֵל, בַּשִּׁטִּים; וַיָּחֶל הָעָם, לִזְנוֹת אֶל-בְּנוֹת מוֹאָב.	1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab.
ב וַתִּקְרֶאןָ לָעָם, לְזִבְחֵי אֱלֹהֵיהֶן; וַיֹּאכַל הָעָם, וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ לֵאלֹהֵיהֶן.	2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
ג וַיִּצָּמֶד יִשְׂרָאֵל, לְבַעַל פְּעוֹר; וַיִּחַר-אַף ה, בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל.	3 And Israel joined himself unto the Baal of Peor; and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

The first and second pesukim are related. The English translation in verse 2, "and they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods," leaves much to be desired, because English does not currently distinguish between genders for third person plural. They and their are feminine, which means that it is the daughters of Moav, who were committing harlotry with the people, who then called the people to sacrifice to their gods, which angered Hashem.

Indeed, the midrash, in Sifrei on Balak, as cited by Rashi, links these further, thus highlighting the connection. As Rashi states:

and prostrated themselves to their godsWhen his urge overcame him, and he said to her, “Submit to me,” she took out an image of Peor from her bosom and said to him, “Bow down before this.” - [Sifrei Balak 1]

Thus, the harlotry and the idolatry are linked. This linking may be seen further on. Let us assume that Kozbi, though a Midianite, was part of this harlotry with the "daughters of Moav."

טז וַיְדַבֵּר ה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר.	16 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
יז צָרוֹר, אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִים; וְהִכִּיתֶם, אוֹתָם.	17 'Harass the Midianites, and smite them;
יח כִּי צֹרְרִים הֵם לָכֶם, בְּנִכְלֵיהֶם אֲשֶׁר-נִכְּלוּ לָכֶם עַל-דְּבַר-פְּעוֹר; וְעַל-דְּבַר כָּזְבִּי בַת-נְשִׂיא מִדְיָן, אֲחֹתָם, הַמֻּכָּה בְיוֹם-הַמַּגֵּפָה, עַל-דְּבַר-פְּעוֹר.	18 for they harass you, by their wiles wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.'

This seems to link the two together, so Kozbi seems to be one of the enticers to harlotry, and in turn to idolatry.

Indeed, when we read of Kozbi's lineage in pasuk 15, Rashi comments, citing the midrash:

The name of the slain… woman…To inform you of the the hatred of the Midianites [toward Israel], for they submitted a princess to prostitution to entice Israel into sin. — [Mid. Tanchuma Pinchas 2, Num. Rabbah 21:3]

So the midrash certainly takes her as a participant in the aforementioned enticement to harlotry/idolatry.

And we see later, in parshat Matot, that the Midianite women in general were active participants in this enticement. When the Israelites spare the Midianite women, Moshe berates them (Bemidbar 31:15-16):

טו וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם, מֹשֶׁה: הַחִיִּיתֶם, כָּל-נְקֵבָה.	15 And Moses said unto them: 'Have ye saved all the women alive?
טז הֵן הֵנָּה הָיוּ לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, בִּדְבַר בִּלְעָם, לִמְסָר-מַעַל בַּה, עַל-דְּבַר-פְּעוֹר; וַתְּהִי הַמַּגֵּפָה, בַּעֲדַת ה.	16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to revolt so as to break faith with the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD.

Perhaps the Moabite women were somehow equal to the Midianite women, or perhaps the Midianite women somehow formed a large component of the Moabite women. Either way, this was a role the Midianite women played, presumably Kozbi bat Tzur among them.

So Kozbi was part of the general enticement to harlotry/idolatry, and Zimri was engaging in the harlotry aspect of this, at least, and, it follows, also the idolatry of Baal Peor. Returning now to God's, and Moshe's command, in parshat Balak (Bemidbar 25:4-5):

ד וַיֹּאמֶר ה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, קַח אֶת-כָּל-רָאשֵׁי הָעָם, וְהוֹקַע אוֹתָם לַה, נֶגֶד הַשָּׁמֶשׁ; וְיָשֹׁב חֲרוֹן אַף-ה, מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל	4 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up unto the LORD in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.'
ה וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה, אֶל-שֹׁפְטֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: הִרְגוּ אִישׁ אֲנָשָׁיו, הַנִּצְמָדִים לְבַעַל פְּעוֹר.	5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel: 'Slay ye every one his men that have joined themselves unto the Baal of Peor.'

We just read (in pasuk 3) that Hashem's anger had kindled against the Israelites, and we see later this anger manifested itself in a plague that killed 24,000 Israelites. Here, Hashem is telling Moshe a way to end the plague, by stopping the ongoing rebellion, by taking the leaders who are rebelling, killing them, and hanging their corpses for all to see, in the face of the sun. This will demoralize the followers, and they will stop sinning, and the plague will end. Alternatively, it will demonstrate that there are those opposing the rebellion within the Israelite camp itself, such that the rebellion will be quashed, such that there is no more reason for Hashem to attack with plague.

We need not read the hanging in the sun as a method of execution. After all, elsewhere (in parshat Ki Tetzei) we read regarding one who has been executed, how we should not leave his corpse hanging overnight, and we also see that ten sons of Haman, who were previously killed, had their corpses hung. Further, hanging up before Hashem in the face of the sun seems to be for the purpose of making known these people's deaths, rather than specifying the method of execution. In the next verse, when Moshe relays Hashem's command, he does not even mention hanging, but just slaying. Indeed, Rashi cites midrashim that highlight that the method of execution was by stoning followed by hanging, (for it was punishment by idolatry), though this is read as part of the punishment - and that the purpose of hanging was for all to see them:

and hang them Heb. הוֹקַע. This refers to [death by] hanging, as we find with the sons of Saul [where a similar expression is used,]“and we shall hang them (הוֹקַעֲנוּם) for the Lord” (II Sam. 21:6), and there hanging is specifically mentioned. Idolatry is [punishable] by stoning, and all those stoned are also hanged [as is stated in Sanh. 45b according to Rabbi Eliezer].facing the sunfor all to see. The Midrash Aggadah (Mid. Tanchuma Balak 19) says: The sun identified the sinners, for the cloud folded back from the area above him and the sun shone on him.

Moshe tells the judges, who have gathered by him, to slay anyone joining Baal Peor, and we know from elsewhere that these are they who are committing harlotry with the Moabite/Midianite women. Now comes Zimri ben Salu, leading the Midianite woman Kozbi bat Tzur.

ו וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּא, וַיַּקְרֵב אֶל-אֶחָיו אֶת-הַמִּדְיָנִית, לְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה, וּלְעֵינֵי כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְהֵמָּה בֹכִים, פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד.

6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.

According to the command Moshe just issued, a judge should slay him. While Rashi cites a midrash that the judges did slay those they were commanded to slay (that is, each of the 88,000 slew two Israelites who sinned with Baal Peor), we see no explicit mention in the text that they had yet fulfilled the command.

Let us assume that Moshe had just issued this command to the judges, at the tent of meeting. Meanwhile, all the congregation (adat) of the children of Isreal were weeping at the door to the tent of meeting.

Why were they weeping? The midrashic answer, advanced by Rashi, was that this was a response of dismay to Zimri's act. However, there are two forms of vav - vav hachibbur = connecting vav and vav hahipuch = reversing vav. The typical vav we see in narrative, as the narrative advances, is the vav hahipuch, which generally transforms an imperfect (=future tense) formed verb into a perfect (=past tense) verb. This form is va + doubling of the following letter. However, the word וְהֵמָּה, referring to their crying, has a vav hachibbur, and so it is not advancing the narrative, but filling in information. The implication of this, on a pshat level, may well be that rather than being a reaction to Zimri's act, it was what they were engaged in when Zimri passed by with this woman.

If so, it stands to reason that this occurred just after Moshe's command. The congregation, afflited by a deadly plague, had gathered at the tent of Meeting to plead, in tears, for salvation. Moshe was informed of the reason for this plague, and how to resolve it. He issues a command, and just then, Zimri, a leader among the Shimonites who is sinning in just this way, passes by.

(Further, as I have posted elsewhere, eda, congregation, often does not refer to the common Israelite but rather the elders and leaders.)

Now, Pinchas has just heard this command, and he sees a ready target pass by, about to engage in harlotry and in the process also idolatry. He is part of this congregation who has received this command, and as member of the leadership, he perhaps has a role of quasi-shofet, judge. Thus, in the next verses:

ז וַיַּרְא, פִּינְחָס בֶּן-אֶלְעָזָר, בֶּן-אַהֲרֹן, הַכֹּהֵן; וַיָּקָם מִתּוֹךְ הָעֵדָה, וַיִּקַּח רֹמַח בְּיָדוֹ.	7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand.
ח וַיָּבֹא אַחַר אִישׁ-יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל-הַקֻּבָּה, וַיִּדְקֹר אֶת-שְׁנֵיהֶם--אֵת אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאֶת-הָאִשָּׁה אֶל-קֳבָתָהּ; וַתֵּעָצַר, הַמַּגֵּפָה, מֵעַל, בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.	8 And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
ט וַיִּהְיוּ, הַמֵּתִים בַּמַּגֵּפָה--אַרְבָּעָה וְעֶשְׂרִים, אָלֶף.	9 And those that died by the plague were twenty and four thousand.

thus fulfilling Moshe's, and Hashem's command, and not at all working independently, as a zealot.

We see that this stops the plague, just as Hashem said would killing those who had joined Baal Peor. It thus is only logical that Pinchas was fulfilling Hashem's command.

Then, we read in the beginning of parshat Pinchas:

י וַיְדַבֵּר ה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר.	10 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
יא פִּינְחָס בֶּן-אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן-אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן, הֵשִׁיב אֶת-חֲמָתִי מֵעַל בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּקַנְאוֹ אֶת-קִנְאָתִי, בְּתוֹכָם; וְלֹא-כִלִּיתִי אֶת-בְּנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, בְּקִנְאָתִי.	11 'Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned My wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was very jealous for My sake among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy.
יב לָכֵן, אֱמֹר: הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת-בְּרִיתִי, שָׁלוֹם.	12 Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace;
יג וְהָיְתָה לּוֹ וּלְזַרְעוֹ אַחֲרָיו, בְּרִית כְּהֻנַּת עוֹלָם--תַּחַת, אֲשֶׁר קִנֵּא לֵאלֹהָיו, וַיְכַפֵּר, עַל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.	13 and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.'

That is, he acted to turn away the plague by punishing a leader in the rebellion, thus making atonement for the Israelites and being the first judge to act on Hashem and Moshe's command.

If we do not say this, we must find some answer to why the judges' killing of those leaders involved in Baal Peor did not stop the plague, as Hashem promised it would. Perhaps one could claim that Pinchas acted before the judges could act, or that Zimri's act rekindled God's wrath...

At any rate, this would make Pinchas one of the judges, and recipient and executor of a Divine command, and not a zealot who acted entirely on his own.