The Six Miracles Done for Pinchas
When Zimri sins publicly with a Moabite woman, Pinchas kills him with a hidden spear; Zimri never calls for help, and a plague stops his tribe from killing Pinchas.
The Gemara discusses the events surrounding Pinchas’s act of zealotry. One Jewish man after another began to indulge in base acts of immorality. The situation became so awful that Zimri, son of Salu, one of the leaders of the tribe of Shimon, committed acts of immorality in his tent with one of the Moabite women, within the sight of Moshe and the entire assembly of the Jewish people. The only one to stand up against this abomination was Pinchas, son of Elazar, grandson of Aaron, the Kohein Gadol. As a true zealot, he grabbed a spear and killed them.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 82b) records that six miracles occurred for Pinchas at that time. The second miracle on the list is that Zimri did not call out and summon help. Pinchas had disguised his spear by hiding the metal blade in his clothing and using the wooden handle as a walking stick. In this way he was able to gain access to Zimri’s tent. When Zimri saw him assembling the spear he should have called out for help. The tent would have been rushed by the thousands of people gathered outside who were ready to save Zimri. Yet, Hashem decreed that Zimri should not summon help, so none was forthcoming.
The sixth miracle on the list is that Pinchas was not killed himself after he slew Zimri. The Midrash says that the members of the tribe of Shimon were in fact ready to kill Pinchas when he exited the tent holding their slain leader. However, just as they were prepared to act, Hashem sent an angel who began striking them down with a plague. Without this miracle, Pinchas would surely have been killed.