Amidst a deadly plague and a severe moral crisis, an unprecedented act of public rebellion paralyzed the Israelite leadership. Just as Moses ordered the judges to execute those who had sinned at Baal Peor [גור אריה, בעלי ברית אברם], the tribe of Simeon faced the threat of annihilation. Desperate, they gathered around their leader, Zimri, demanding he take action to protect them [רש״י, מזרחי, חומש קה״ת].
The perpetrator is initially identified simply as an Israelite man. This temporary anonymity serves to deny honor to the wicked before justice is served, while also magnifying the impending bravery of Phinehas, who would not hesitate to strike down a high-ranking official [רבנו בחיי]. Alternatively, this simple description highlights the fundamental severity of any Jew desecrating God's name, regardless of his elevated status [רש ר הירש]. Unlike others who committed their sins secretly within the Midianite tents, Zimri acted with brazen audacity. He brought the woman directly into the Israelite camp, presenting her to his family to appease them [משכיל לדוד, אבן עזרא], an act that also served as a euphemism for engaging in intimate relations [חזקוני, רשב״ם], ultimately turning his own tent into a place of public prostitution [בכור שור, שד״ל, רלב״ג].
The woman involved was not an ordinary figure, but a Midianite princess [משכיל לדוד]. When Zimri initially approached her, she refused, claiming her mission was solely to seduce Moses. In response, Zimri arrogantly boasted that his lineage as a descendant of Simeon, Jacob's second son, was superior to that of Moses, who descended from Levi, the third son [צאינה וראינה, מזרחי]. Zimri deliberately chose a Midianite rather than a Moabite to create a demagogic comparison with Moses, who was himself married to a Midianite woman [ברכת אשר]. He paraded her directly before Moses and the entire assembly of the Sanhedrin and judges [רש ר הירש, מלבי״ם]. In a public display of defiance, Zimri challenged Moses, demanding to know if this woman was forbidden or permitted. He taunted that if she were forbidden, then the daughter of Jethro should have been forbidden to Moses as well. This claim was entirely baseless, ignoring the fact that Moses had married Zipporah before the giving of the Torah, prior to the Israelites entering the covenant that forbade intermarriage [תורה תמימה, שפתי חכמים, חומש קה״ת].
The leadership responded to this public desecration with total paralysis, weeping openly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The primary approach among commentators is that this weeping stemmed from a sudden, temporary loss of legal knowledge. The specific law dictating that zealots may strike down a person engaging in public intimacy with a foreign woman was hidden from Moses at that exact moment, leaving the leaders feeling utterly helpless in the face of such a massive abomination [שטיינזלץ, רש ר הירש]. They wept specifically at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting because it was the source of all law, which was now inexplicably inaccessible to them [תורה תמימה]. Practically and legally, the judges were bound; the law regarding zealots is unique in that a judge cannot formally instruct someone to execute it if asked beforehand. Furthermore, the leadership was intimidated by the armed mob of Simeonites who stood ready to back their leader [מלבי״ם].
It is striking that Moses, who had bravely faced down six hundred thousand people during the sin of the Golden Calf, suddenly found his strength depleted. This uncharacteristic faltering occurred because the direct, highly personal nature of Zimri's attack weakened him after forty years of leadership [ברכת אשר]. Ultimately, this momentary lapse was orchestrated by God to clear the stage for Phinehas. It allowed Phinehas to recall the forgotten law, act with immense bravery against great danger, experience the miracles that assisted him, and earn his rightful reward [רש״י, רבנו בחיי, צאינה וראינה]. Other perspectives suggest that the tragic weeping of the assembly was also a reaction to the raging plague [רבנו בחיי], a desperate prayer to God for salvation [אבן עזרא], or an expression of deep emotional grief because Moses had just ordered them to execute their own sinning relatives [חזקוני].