Phinehas פנחס
Aharon's grandson, granted the «covenant of peace» and eternal priesthood
Pinchas is the son of Elazar and grandson of Aharon. He appears at the darkest moment of the forty years: after Bilam's counsel Israel falls into immorality and the cult of Baal Peor, a plague breaks out, and a tribal prince openly takes a Midianite woman into his tent. Moshe and the elders weep at the entrance of the sanctuary; Pinchas acts.
The Torah reports the deed without enthusiasm and without condemnation — as the fact that halted the death of 24,000. Then God says: «Behold, I give him My covenant of peace.» The sages dwell on that word: the violent man is given peace, because the aim was not rage but the end of a catastrophe. The Talmud stresses that the law here «is not taught» — it cannot be turned into a rule.
He and his line receive eternal priesthood; he serves as High Priest under Yehoshua and into the age of the judges, and averts a civil war over the altar built by the Transjordanian tribes.
Midrash identifies Pinchas with Eliyahu the Prophet.