6. Rabbi Shimon said: Yisrael at that time would have deserved to have been extirpated from the world had not Pinchas first done the deed OF KILLING ZIMRI AND COZBI, and thus the anger abated. This is what is said: "Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away" (Bemidbar 25:11). Another explanation: "Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of...:" Rabbi Shimon said, The word son occurs twice to complete the act.