What is the significance of the name 'Kozbi', whose real name was Sh'lona'ei bas Balak (or bas Tzur)?
Sanhedrin, 82b #1: She was called 'Kozbi' because she deseived her father who instructed her to do Z'nus with Moshe and not Pinchas. 1
Sanhedrin, 82b #2: 'Kozbi' is the acronym of what she asked of her father 'Kos bi Am Zeh!' - 'Slaughter via me this nation!'. 2
What is the significance of the fact that Kozbi was the daughter of a king?
Rashi: The fact that Midyan sent a princess to make Yisrael stumble in Z'nus demonstrates the deep hatred 1 that they bore Yisrael. 2
Yerushalmi Sanhedrin, 10:2: When Bil'am presented his plan to Balak to send the Moabite women to seduce the men of Yisrael, he queried it because the women would never agree to such a plan, until he suggested that he should send his own daughter, nd the other women would follow suite. 3
Who was Tzur?
Rashi: He was the most esteemed 1 of the five kings of Midyan who ruled over one of the five Midyanite families. 2
Targum Yonasan: He was alias Balak, king of Mo'av.
If Tzur was the most esteemed of the five kings of Midyan. Why does the Torah - in 31:8 - list him only third?
Rashi: Because he denigrated himself by sending his daughter for Z'nus, the Torah relegated him to third place. 1
See Sifsei Chachamim.
If Tzur was the king of Mo?av, why does the Torah conclude ?be?Midyan Hu??
