Cozbi
Who she was
Cozbi was a Midianite woman, the daughter of Zur, a tribal head in Midian. During Israel's stay in Shittim, Cozbi engaged in sexual immorality with Zimri, an Israelite man from the tribe of Simeon. This act of defiance against God's commands occurred in the sight of Moses and the entire congregation of Israel, who were weeping at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting due to a plague that had broken out as a result of the people's immorality and idolatry.
Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron the priest, took a spear and followed Zimri into his tent, where he found him with Cozbi. Phinehas drove the spear through both of them, killing them and halting the plague that had claimed the lives of 24,000 Israelites. God commended Phinehas for his zeal and granted him a covenant of perpetual priesthood.
Cozbi's name is mentioned again in Numbers 25:18, where God instructs Moses to treat the Midianites as enemies and attack them because of their treachery and the incident involving Cozbi, which led Israel into sin.
Family
Every mention
Numbers 2 mentions
What the dictionary says
(deceitful), daughter of Zur, a chief of the Midianites.
Sources
- STEPBible TIPNR · Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References · CC BY 4.0 · github.com/STEPBible/STEPBible-Data
- Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (1869) · Public domain