Earning Kehunah Through Deeds

ובמדרש שהיו השבטים מבזין אותו בן פוטי כמ"ש רש"י ובא הכתוב ויחסו אחר אהרן כי הכהונה ניתן לאהרן שהי' המיוחס ביותר מבני ישראל הוא ואלישבע אחות נחשון

In the Midrash it states that the tribes were disparaging him as 'the son of Puti,' as Rashi explains, and so the verse came and traced his lineage back to Aharon — for the Kehunah was given to Aharon, who was the most distinguished in pedigree of all Bnei Yisrael, he together with Elisheva the sister of Nachshon.

The tribes mocked Pinchas as a descendant of Yisro (the 'son of Puti' who fattened calves for idolatry), so the Torah responds by recording his yichus straight back to Aharon HaKohen, the most distinguished line in all of Bnei Yisrael.

ובאמת פינחס לא נמשח מצד שהי' בא מבנות פוטיאל

And in truth, Pinchas was not originally anointed for the Kehunah, because he descended from the daughters of Puti'el.

Although the Kehunah was conferred upon Aharon and his sons, Pinchas, who was already born before that anointing, was not included because of his maternal descent from Puti'el.

אך עתה זכה לכהונה

Yet now he merited the Kehunah.

Through his zealous act on behalf of Hashem, Pinchas now earned the Kehunah that had not initially been his.

ועליו נתקיים טוב שם משמן טוב שזכה להתקרב בכח מעשיו

And upon him was fulfilled the verse 'A good name is better than good oil' (Koheles 7:1), for he merited to draw near through the power of his own deeds.

The pasuk 'a good name is better than good oil' applies to him: rather than receiving the Kehunah passively through the anointing oil, he acquired a 'good name' by his own actions.

ויום המות מיום הולדו כי יצאתה נשמתו כמ"ש במד' ונעשה ברי' חדשה ומי שזוכה לתקן נפשו במעשיו גדול כחו ממי שנולד מיד מתוקן:

And so too 'the day of death is better than the day of one's birth' (Koheles 7:1) — for his neshamah went forth, as the Midrash explains, and he became a new creation; and one who merits to refine his soul through his deeds, his power is greater than one who is born already refined from the outset.

The Sfas Emes explains that Pinchas underwent a kind of rebirth — his neshamah departed and he became a new creation — teaching that one who repairs and elevates himself through his own avodah stands greater than one who arrives complete from birth.

Summary: The Sfas Emes addresses the tribes' scorn of Pinchas as a mere descendant of Puti'el, on account of which he had not been included in the original anointing of the Kehunah. The Torah responds by tracing his lineage back to Aharon, the most distinguished pedigree in Bnei Yisrael, yet the deeper point is that Pinchas earned the Kehunah anew through the power of his own deeds. Upon him is fulfilled 'a good name is better than good oil' — a status achieved through one's own avodah rather than received passively. So too 'the day of death is better than the day of birth,' for his neshamah went forth and he became a new creation. The lesson is that one who refines his neshamah through his own deeds attains a greater madreigah than one who is born already complete.