Commentary for Sanhedrin 163:13

מה ראה אמר רב ראה מעשה ונזכר הלכה אמר לו אחי אבי אבא לא כך לימדתני ברדתך מהר סיני הבועל את כותית קנאין פוגעין בו אמר לו קריינא דאיגרתא איהו ליהוי פרוונקא

And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one of his men that were joined unto Baal Peor.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Num. XXV, 5. ');">²³</span> Thereupon the tribe of Simeon went unto Zimri ben Salu and said unto him, 'Behold, capital punishment is being meted out, yet you sit silent [i.e., inactive].' What did he do? He arose and assembled twenty-four thousand Israelites and went unto Cozbi, and said unto her, 'Surrender thyself unto me.' She replied, 'I am a king's daughter, and thus hath my father instructed me, "Thou shalt yield only to their greatest man"'. 'I too,' he replied, 'am the prince of a tribe; moreover, my tribe is greater than his [Moses], for mine is second in birth, whilst his is third.'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Simeon was Jacob's second son; Levi, to which Moses belonged, the third. ');">²⁴</span>

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