Phinehas is known in the Bible as a heroic defender of the faith, especially the proper worship of the Lord. This is because of his actions at Peor. Peor was the place where Moabite women enticed Israelite men to sacrifice to Baal. A death sentence was pronounced on the men who did this. Phinehas showed his devotion to the Lord by driving a spear through a couple thereby averting the wrath of the Lord and stopping the plague which had killed many people (Numbers 25:1–13; Psalm 106:28–31). Most likely Phinehas was chosen on account of his past actions and the fact that the western tribes were convinced that the eastern tribes were involved in sacrificing to Canaanite gods. Given his past fervour for the proper worship of the Lord, he was the ideal candidate to send on this mission.
13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,