Who was Cozbi in the Bible?

Cozbi was a Midianite woman, the daughter of a tribal leader named Zur. She is mentioned in the Book of Numbers in the context of Israelite men engaging in sexual immorality and idolatry with Moabite and Midianite women (Numbers 25:15).

Why was Cozbi killed in the Bible?

Cozbi was killed by Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, as part of God's judgment. She and an Israelite man named Zimri were slain for their public act of immorality, which was part of a larger pattern of idolatry that brought a plague upon Israel (Numbers 25:6-8, 14-15).

What is the significance of Cozbi's story?

Cozbi's story highlights the severe consequences of idolatry and breaking covenant with God. Her death at the hands of Phinehas stopped a plague and was credited to Phinehas as an act of righteous zeal, securing a covenant of peace for him and his descendants (Numbers 25:10-13).

Cozbi

Old TestamentEgypt & WildernessFemaleDaughter of zur

Cozbi, a Midianite woman, was killed along with an Israelite man for their immorality. (Num.25.15,18)

Cozbi

Biography

Cozbi was a Midianite woman, the daughter of Zur, a tribal chief among the Midianites (Numbers 25:15). She was brought into the Israelite camp by Zimri, a prince of the tribe of Simeon, in a blatant act of covenant transgression during Israel's apostasy at Baal-Peor. While the congregation wept at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and a plague ravaged the camp, Zimri paraded Cozbi into his tent in public defiance of Moses and the community's grief. The priest Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, intervened by thrusting a spear through both Zimri and Cozbi in their tent, an act that halted the plague and was credited to him as righteousness (Numbers 25:6-15). Her father Zur was later killed in the subsequent military campaign against Midian (Numbers 31:8).

Significance

Cozbi's story dramatizes the lethal danger of covenant compromise and the spiritual warfare underlying what might appear to be merely a personal moral failing. The apostasy at Baal-Peor was not simply sexual immorality but an assault on Israel's exclusive devotion to God, a breach of the first commandment enacted through intimate transgression. Cozbi functions in the narrative as the instrument of a coordinated Midianite strategy (Numbers 31:16; cf. Numbers 25:18) to seduce Israel away from Yahweh. Her death at Phinehas's hand, while striking to modern readers, underscored the biblical conviction that the holiness of the covenant community is not negotiable and that zeal for God's honor is itself a form of mercy toward the many.

Authority Records

Wikidata

Verse Appearances (2)

Numbers

Numbers 25:15 Numbers 25:18

References

Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

View all sources & licensing →

See our editorial standards →

Content compiled from public domain scholarship, academic sources, and verified references. Editorial standards · View all sources