Zimri (prince)
Zimrī son of Salu was the prince or leader of a family within the Tribe of Simeon during the time of the Israelites’ Exodus in the wilderness at the time when they were approaching the Promised Land. The Book of Numbers describes how, at Abila or Shittim, he took part in the Heresy of Peor, taking as a paramour a Midianite woman, Cozbi. Zimrī openly defied Moses before the people who were standing at the entrance of the Tabernacle by going in to the Midianite. Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, killed them both by impaling them on a spear.
The Israelites subsequently launched an attack on the Midianites.Reception
According to a midrash, Zimri was the same person as Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai.
According to the Revelations of Saint Bridget, after his death, Zimri's soul was condemned to hell.
Some Islamic scholars link Zimrī to the figure of as-Sāmirī, the builder of the original golden calf ― though this is only one of several theories for the man’s identity.
The Phineas Priests, a modern-day U.S. terrorist movement, believe the story of Phinehas and Zimrī provides a divine mandate for committing atrocities against mixed-race couples; despite the previous divine rebuke of Miriam in, for criticising Moses for marrying a “Cushite woman,” which confounds this reading.
