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Person Old Testament

Zimri

Zimri, a prince of the Simeonites, was one of the Israelites killed in the incident involving the worship of Baal-Peor. Mentioned once in Scripture, at Numbers 25:14.

Why it matters. Simeonite prince, killed in the Baal-Peor incident

Primary passages
Last reviewed
2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team

About Zimri

Zimri was a prince of the tribe of Simeon who was involved in the idolatrous worship of Baal-Peor during the Israelites' journey through the wilderness. In Numbers 25, the Israelites began to engage in sexual immorality with the Moabite women and participated in their sacrifices to the Moabite gods. This angered the Lord, and He sent a plague among the Israelites. In the midst of this crisis, Zimri brazenly brought a Midianite woman named Cozbi into his tent in full view of Moses and the congregation. Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, took a spear and pierced both Zimri and Cozbi through their bodies, thus halting the plague. The Lord commended Phinehas for his zeal and granted him a covenant of perpetual priesthood. The incident with Zimri and Cozbi highlights the dangers of idolatry and the importance of maintaining purity and faithfulness to God. It also demonstrates the role of the priesthood in upholding the holiness of the Israelite community.

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.

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Family

Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.

Parents
Salu

Appears in Scripture

Named in 1 verse across 1 book. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.

Record type: Person. FaithGraph explanations on this page are editorial and are not Scripture.