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The Midrash says that Pinchas and Eliyahu are the same person. According to most of the Rishonim, I believe, this (as any other Midrash) should not be taken literally. Which are some of the non-literal interpretations of this particular Midrash?

user15464
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Emilios1995
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    They are both described as zealous servants of God. Connecting their ventures draws out a clear thematic connection between the stories. – Double AA Jul 09 '15 at 15:51
  • To add to @Double AA's point, Reb Dovid Feinstein said that chazzal felt it was hard enough to accept one zealot in this religion, but two?! No way. Musta been the same person. – user6591 Jul 09 '15 at 17:01
  • @user6591 ...and hence the non-literal interpretation is the message that zealotry in Judaism is to be limited as much as possible. – Double AA Jul 09 '15 at 17:03
  • @user6591 IIRC, isn't there another Midrash that Eliyahu and Pinchas, even being separate people, lived at the same time. I.e., Pinchas lived a very long time? – DanF Jul 09 '15 at 17:03
  • @Double that is correct. Reb Yaakov Kaminetsky makes that point on the passuk vayikach romach biyado. We see he wasn't carrying it around with him waiting for a target. – user6591 Jul 09 '15 at 17:05
  • @DanF maybe you are thinking of Rashi in Shoftim 6 8. – user6591 Jul 09 '15 at 17:09
  • @user6591 Thanks. I didn't recall where it was. IIRC, Pinchas died shortly after the incident with Yiftach, but, I don't recall if his lifespan coincided with Eliyahu's. – DanF Jul 09 '15 at 17:13
  • @DanF I think the chazzal that say Moshiach's direct chain of transmission from Moshe gets in on this subject. – user6591 Jul 09 '15 at 17:17
  • @user6591 I'm not following that possibility. Moshiach is from Shevet Yehuda. Pinchas and Moshe were both from Shevet Levi. How could any of them be Mashiach? (I don't recall what Shevet Eliyahu was from. If Eliyahu = Pinchas, then he cannot be Mashiach, either.) – DanF Jul 09 '15 at 17:27
  • @DanF Eiliyahu will teach Moshiach. – user6591 Jul 09 '15 at 17:29
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    which rishonim? – ray Jul 09 '15 at 18:35
  • @ray The ones listed here: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/53351/759 for example. – Double AA Jul 10 '15 at 00:55
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    @DoubleAA made a good point. Rabbi Sacks writes a nice article based on that. http://www.rabbisacks.org/elijah-and-the-still-small-voice-pinchas-covenant-conversation-5775-on-ethics/ – Emilios1995 Jul 10 '15 at 00:07
  • @Emilios1995 Looks interesting! Consider writing it up as an answer. (Note link-only answers are not acceptable around here; try summarizing and/or excerpting the relevant material.) – Double AA Jul 10 '15 at 00:58
  • It should be noted that some refer to this as a minority view, without reinterpreting it. e.g. R. Avraham ben HaRambam in Sefer Hamaspik IIRC. Reinterpreting is not the only way of disagreeing. – mevaqesh Aug 19 '15 at 01:10
  • Here is a collection of midrashim which support that he is NOT Eliyahu: https://rafimollot.wordpress.com/pinchas-is-eliyahu/ – Binyomin Jul 17 '19 at 12:56
  • It's not that some interpret this midrash non-literally, it is that there are opinions in Chazal that argue with that medrash. Most rishonim follow the second opinion. – N.T. Jul 08 '21 at 00:26

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Ralbag discusses this in several places. As one example, in his commentary to I Kings Chapter Seventeen he writes:

ולפי שמצאנו זה האורך הנפלא מן החיים לאליהו והנה מצאנוהו ג"כ לפנחס כמו שזכרנו ומצאנו בשניהם נשיאות רוח ה׳ אותם כאילו הם מלאכי ה' ומצאנו ברית החיים לפנחס כמו שזכרנו הנה מן הראוי שנא' כי פנחס זה אליהו כי יותר ראוי שיונח זרות אחד משיונחו שני זריות

And because we find this astounding length of life for Elijah, and we find it as well for Phineas as we have mentioned, and we find with both of them the resting of God's spirit on them as if they were angels of God, and we find a covenant of life for Phineas as we mentioned, it is proper to say that Phineas is Elijah. For it is more proper to assert one anomaly than to assert two anomalies.

Alex
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