The Maharal explains that it does not mean that Og in the time of Avraham was the same person as the one who fought with Moshe Rabbeinu. Rather, Og’s ancestor survived the flood and the Og of Avrohom’s times and Moshe Rabbeinu’s times were his descendants. This was the Og family, but it was not the same individual throughout the 1000 years. Chazal refer to them as one person because they each had the same root goals and characters. As far as why the original Og survived the Mabul if he was wicked, the Maharal says there were deep spiritual calculations involved.
Other examples of this phenomenon include the midrash that says (Yalkut Shimoni, Shemos 176) Pharaoh was the King of Ninveh at the time of Yona. Once again, if taken literally, that would mean that Pharaoh lived around 700 years. However, after learning the Maharal, we can apply that same rule here.
Thus, perhaps, even according to the view that Pinchas is Eliyahu, it may not mean that they were literally the same person. As the Arizal (Sefer Gilgulim, Hakdamah 32, page 246) says, Pinchas received a neshama chadashah, a new soul, with the advent of Eliyahu. This sounds very much like a gilgul concept, with Eliyahu a different person than Pinchas in the physical world, but with the soul of Pinchas (through reincarnation).
However, there are commentators who outright reject the idea that Pinchas is Eliyahu. The Ibn Ezra (Parshas Pinchas 25:12) says explicitly that Pinchas is not Eliyahu and this is why the pasuk says that Pinchas will have children after him, zaro acharav, meaning after he dies. The Rashbam on Baba Basra 121b is also explicit that Pinchas is not Eliyahu. My rebbe, Rav Yaakov Weinberg (Rosh Yeshivas Ner Yisroel Baltimore, whose 15th yahrzeit is on the 17th of Tammuz), pointed out that the Rambam in his introduction to Mishnah Torah shares this view as well. He delineates the names of the leaders who were responsible for the transmission of Torah from the time of Sinai – Moshe Rabbeinu until Ravina and Rav Ashi of Shas. The Rambam lists Pinchas as receiving the transmission from Yehoshua and Eliyahu is listed separately in his generation as receiving the transmission from Achiyah Hashiloni. They are clearly seen as two different people in the Rambam’s world.
Is Pinchas also Eliyahu? We have seen differing views.
And these are some of the happenings in this week’s haftarah.
