Pinchas is Eliyahu?

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Parshat Pinchas opens with the same words as the Brit Milah (circumcision) ceremony (Bamidbar 25:10-12):

 

“God spoke to Moshe saying: Pinchas, son of Elazar, son of Aharon the Kohen turned back my wrath from upon the children of Israel, when he zealously avenged Me among them, so I do not consume the Children of Israel in My vengeance. Therefore, say: Behold! I give him “Briti Shalom” my covenant of peace”.

 

These verses are recited at the Brit Milah based on the Midrashic opinion (Yalkut Shimoni, Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer) that Pinchas the Kohen and Eliyahu HaNavi were the same person.

 

Rashi on Baba Metzia 114b states that Pinchas was described as acting zealously for God and Eliyahu describes himself as acting zealously for God (Kings 19:10) therefore Eliyahu is assumed to be Pinchas.

 

Pinchas, Aharon’s grandson risked his life to avenge the desecration of God’s name. In the merit of this zealous act, God gave him a “Brit Shalom”, covenant of peace.

 

The custom of a Kiseh Shel Eliyahu (Throne of Eliyahu) dates back the the 6th to 10th centuries and is based on Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer 29, a Midrash composed by the school of the Tanna Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus.

 

Rabbi Paysach Krohn explains that when the Jews entered the Land of Israel, they observed the mitzvah of Brit Milah. However, after the death of King Solomon, the Jewish kingdom was divided into two and the kingdom of Ephraim stopped observing the mitzvah of Brit Milah. Eliyahu, a prophet at the time cried out to God and swore that he would restrain the heavens from giving rain or dew. God told Eliyahu that because the mitzvah of Brit Milah was so important to him, he would be rewarded with being present at every Brit Milah that the Jews would perform. (Yoreh Deah 265:25)