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[150]
Now when Zimri had said these things, about what he and some others
had wickedly done, the people held their peace, both out of fear of what
might come upon them, and because they saw that their legislator was not
willing to bring his insolence before the public any further, or openly
to contend with him; for he avoided that, lest many should imitate the
impudence of his language, and thereby disturb the multitude. Upon this
the assembly was dissolved. However, the mischievous attempt had proceeded
further, if Zimri had not been first slain, which came to pass on the following
occasion: - Phineas, a man in other respects better than the rest of the
young men, and also one that surpassed his contemporaries in the dignity
of his father, (for he was the son of Eleazar the high priest, and the
grandson of [Aaron] Moses's brother,) who was greatly troubled at what
was done by Zimri, he resolved in earnest to inflict punishment on him,
before his unworthy behavior should grow stronger by impunity, and in order
to prevent this transgression from proceeding further, which would happen
if the ringleaders were not punished. He was of so great magnanimity, both
in strength of mind and body, that when he undertook any very dangerous
attempt, he did not leave it off till he overcame it, and got an entire
victory. So he came into Zimri's tent, and slew him with his javelin, and
with it he slew Cozbi also, Upon which all those young men that had a regard
to virtue, and aimed to do a glorious action, imitated Phineas's boldness,
and slew those that were found to be guilty of the same crime with Zimri.
Accordingly many of those that had transgressed perished by the magnanimous
valor of these young men; and the rest all perished by a plague, which
distemper God himself inflicted upon them; so that all those their kindred,
who, instead of hindering them from such wicked actions, as they ought
to have done, had persuaded them to go on, were esteemed by God as partners
in their wickedness, and died. Accordingly there perished out of the army
no fewer than fourteen 1
[twenty-four] thousand at this time.
1 The mistake in all Josephus's copies, Greek and Latin which have here fourteen thousand instead of twenty-four thousand, is so flagrant, that our very learned editors, Bernard and Hudson, have put the latter number directly into the text. I choose rather to put it in brackets.
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