וַתִּקְרַבְנָה בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד בֶּן חֵפֶר בֶּן גִּלְעָד בֶּן מָכִיר בֶּן מְנַשֶּׁה לְמִשְׁפְּחֹת מְנַשֶּׁה בֶן יוֹסֵף וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֹתָיו מַחְלָה נֹעָה וְחָגְלָה וּמִלְכָּה וְתִרְצָה
KJ (King James translation): Then came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph: and these are the names of his daughters; Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.
BN (BibleNet translation): Then the daughters of Tselaphchad ben Chepher ben Gil'ad ben Machir ben Menasheh, of the clan of Menasheh ben Yoseph approached; and these are the names of his daughters: Machlah, No'ah, and Chaglah, and Milkah, and Tirtsah.
As pointed out more than once before, these genealogies conflict with the statement in Exodus 12:41 that they were slaves in Mitsrayim (Egypt) for 430 years. 130 years would allow the five generations described here, but only just. In all likelihood the Exodus claim is based on Genesis 15:13, where YHVH tells Av-Ram that his descendants will be exiled for 400 years; rather than make that divine prophesy look foolish, better to get the history wrong and hope nobody notices. Alas, it has been noticed.
TSELAPHCHAD: See Numbers 26:33 for the name first being mentioned, the explanation of the names, and the probable source myth that became this legal tale in later pseudo-history.
27:2 VA TA'AMODNAH LIPHNEY MOSHEH VE LIPHNEY AL-AZAR HA KOHEN VE LIPHNEY HA NESI'IM VE CHOL HA EDAH PETACH OHEL MO'ED LEMOR
KJ: And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,
BN: And they stood before Mosheh, and before El-Azar the Kohen, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting, saying:
27:3 AVINU MET BA MIDBAR VE HU LO HAYAH BETOCH HA EDAH HA NO'ADIM AL YHVH BA ADAT KORACH KI VE CHET'O MET U VANIM LO HAYU LO
KJ: Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.
BN: "Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not one of those who gathered themselves together against YHVH in the company of Korach, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons.
VE CHET'O MET: Which is to say "he died of natural causes".
27:4 LAMAH YIGARA SHEM AVINU MITOCH MISHPACHTO KI EYN LO BEN TENAH LANU ACHUZAH BETOCH ACHEY AVINU
KJ: Why should the name of our father be done away from among his family, because he hath no son? Give unto us therefore a possession among the brethren of our father.
BN: "Why should our father's name become extinct in his family, because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's kinsmen."
The first point being: Yisra-Eli children take their Yisra-Eli identity from their father, not their mother!
27:5 VA YAKREV MOSHEH ET MISHPATAN LIPHNEY YHVH
KJ: And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.
BN: And Mosheh brought their cause to YHVH.
I have mocked Mosheh repeatedly for needing to take anything and everything to YHVH, as though he lacked the competence to deal with it himself. But, as we have seen, YHVH is the explanation, and so the phrase should by now have been understood as a metaphor: Mosheh arranged for the matter to be brought before the Sanhedrin of his day, so that the wise men appointed to that august body could deliberate upon it and pronounce judgement. Be shem YHVH - in the name of the deity. As in the next verse.
pey break
27:6 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
27:7 KEN BENOT TSELAPHCHAD DOVROT NATAN TITEN LAHEM ACHUZAT NACHALAH BETOCH ACHEY AVIHEM VE HA'AVARTA ET NACHALAT AVIHEN LAHEN
KJ: The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.
BN: "Whereas the daughters of Tselaphchad have spoken justly, they shall be awarded the possession of an inheritance among their father's kinsmen. Their father's inheritance is hereby conferred on them."
LAHEM: an error surely; LAHEN is the feminine. Ditto AVIHEM. What is odd is that both are correct in the last part of the verse.
My translation putting the words back into the mouths of the judges, rather than transferring them to the deity, as in the actual text.
27:8 VE EL BENEY YISRA-EL TEDABER LEMOR ISH KI YAMUT U VEN EYN LO VE HA'AVARTEM ET NACHALATO LE VITO
KJ: And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.
BN: "And you shall speak to the Beney Yisra-El, saying: 'If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter...
So, as in the manner of all courts of justice, a resolved issue becomes a precedent.
27:9 VE IM EYN LO BAT U NETATEM ET NACHALATO LE ECHAV
KJ: And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.
BN: "And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers...
27:10 VE IM EYN LO ACHIM U NETATEM ET NACHALATO LA ACHEY AVIV
KJ: And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren.
BN: "And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers...
27:10 VE IM EYN ACHIM LE AVI U NETATEM ET NACHALATO LISH'ERO HA KAROV ELAV MI MISHPACHTO VE YARASH OTAH VE HAYETAH LIVNEY YISRA-EL LE CHUKAT MISHPAT KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH
KJ: And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.
BN: "And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to whichever kinsman is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. And this shall be a statute of judgment to the Beney Yisra-El, as YHVH instructed Mosheh."
Which is a victory for the women - so rare in history as to be... except that it gets overturned on appeal later on (Numbers 36); yes, but the appeal is overturned too, in Joshua 17 (and yet still in place, in most European countries, until very recent times; see, for example, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Aurora Leigh", whose story is what it is precisely because cousin Romney, and not she, inherits when her father dies.
KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH: The text is presented as YHVH speaking, until these last six words, which are clearly third person narrtive, later on. Should we then, as I have done at verse 7, put all these verses into the language of the summing-up judge? I think we should.
pey break
27:12 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH ALEH EL HAR HA AVARIM HA ZEH U RE'EH ET HA ARETS ASHER NATATI LIVNEY YISRA-EL
KJ: And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.
BN: Then YHVH said to Mosheh: "Go up into this mountain of Avarim, and look at the land which I am giving to the Beney Yisra-El...
Is Avarim then the name of the mountain on which Mosheh died, and not Nevo? People seem to think he died on Mount Pisgah, but that is only because of mis-translation: he goes up to PISGAT HA HAR, "the summit of the mountain" - Deuteronomy 34:1 (see also Numbers 21:20; 23:14)
27:13 VE RA'ITAH OTAH VE NE'ESAPHTA EL AMEYCHA GAM ATAH KA ASHER NE'ESAPH AHARON ACHICHA
KJ: And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.
BN: "And when you have seen it, you too shall be gathered to your people, as Aharon your brother was gathered...
Which infers very strongly that we are about to reach the end of the epic, in the closing chapters of this Book of Numbers ... and yet there is still the whole of the Book of Deuteroomy to come. Is it possible? Might it be? That this was the end, originally, and Deut added, an alternate version, a need for a revised version of the Law to accommodate later Temple practices and secular law? Do not suggest such a thing to the orthodox or you risk being excommunicated!
27:14 KA ASHER MERIYTEM PI BE MIDBAR TSIN BI MERIYVAT HA EDAH LEHAKDISHENI VA MAYIM LE EYNEYHEM HEM MEY MERIVAT KADESH MIDBAR TSIN
KJ: For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
BN: "Because you disobeyed my instruction in the wilderness of Tsin, when there was strife among the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes. These are the waters of Merivat-Kadesh in the wilderness of Tsin."
I have to say that, of all the pathetic and infantile things that YHVH and Elohim do through these tales, of all their sulks and tantrums and their repeated crimes against humanity, none is more petty and vindictive and downright mean than this one: the great (failed and incompetent, but still great) leader who brought his people out of slavery, across forty years of desert wandering, through mutiny after protest after rebellion after threatened coup, from thirst to hunger to plague, a man who deserves to be carried in a royal litter, or at least a royal coffin if he dies before they get there; but no, go up to the mountain and die there, alone, rejected. And why? Because one time he took responsibility for the needs of his people without getting a signed memo from the deity first. Disgraceful!
וַתַּעֲמֹדְנָה לִפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה וְלִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן וְלִפְנֵי הַנְּשִׂיאִם וְכָל הָעֵדָה פֶּתַח אֹהֶלמוֹעֵד לֵאמֹר
KJ: And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,
BN: And they stood before Mosheh, and before El-Azar the Kohen, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the tent of meeting, saying:
27:3 AVINU MET BA MIDBAR VE HU LO HAYAH BETOCH HA EDAH HA NO'ADIM AL YHVH BA ADAT KORACH KI VE CHET'O MET U VANIM LO HAYU LO
אָבִינוּ מֵת בַּמִּדְבָּר וְהוּא לֹא הָיָה בְּתוֹךְ הָעֵדָה הַנּוֹעָדִים עַל יְהוָה בַּעֲדַת קֹרַח כִּי בְחֶטְאוֹ מֵת וּבָנִים לֹא הָיוּ לוֹ
KJ: Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but died in his own sin, and had no sons.
BN: "Our father died in the wilderness, and he was not one of those who gathered themselves together against YHVH in the company of Korach, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons.
VE CHET'O MET: Which is to say "he died of natural causes".
27:4 LAMAH YIGARA SHEM AVINU MITOCH MISHPACHTO KI EYN LO BEN TENAH LANU ACHUZAH BETOCH ACHEY AVINU
לָמָּה יִגָּרַע שֵׁם אָבִינוּ מִתּוֹךְ מִשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ כִּי אֵין לוֹ בֵּן תְּנָה לָּנוּ אֲחֻזָּה בְּתוֹךְ אֲחֵי אָבִינוּ
BN: "Why should our father's name become extinct in his family, because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father's kinsmen."
The first point being: Yisra-Eli children take their Yisra-Eli identity from their father, not their mother!
But it is the second point that the women are arguing here:
YIGARA: "Done away from" is a horribly brutal translation, but it is difficult to offer one less brutal, without reducing this to euphemism, and my translation is not strictly accurate, because the name does survive, if only in this text. And it is the family name, not the man's first-name, that matters: as we have witnessed many times, and as is still the case today, the recent dead among the Beney Yisra-El are commemorated, and given a form of life-extension, by naming the next-born after them, including the possibility of cross-gender naming (Yehudit, for example, to acknowledge the late grandpa Yehudah, if there is no boy to take the name). The women have joined their husbands' clans and/or tribes, and therefore taken the husbands' surnames.
The point here is not the name, but the material inheritance: if the daughters cannot have it, and if they are unmarried, they are left destitute, and in the ancient world, the first two letters of that adjective very quickly change. And who does get the material inheritance? An uncle, usually (see verse 9), who may or may not offer to take care of them. And what if... see verse 10.
27:5 VA YAKREV MOSHEH ET MISHPATAN LIPHNEY YHVH
וַיַּקְרֵב מֹשֶׁה אֶת מִשְׁפָּטָן לִפְנֵי יְהוָה
KJ: And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.
BN: And Mosheh brought their cause to YHVH.
I have mocked Mosheh repeatedly for needing to take anything and everything to YHVH, as though he lacked the competence to deal with it himself. But, as we have seen, YHVH is the explanation, and so the phrase should by now have been understood as a metaphor: Mosheh arranged for the matter to be brought before the Sanhedrin of his day, so that the wise men appointed to that august body could deliberate upon it and pronounce judgement. Be shem YHVH - in the name of the deity. As in the next verse.
pey break
27:6 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
27:7 KEN BENOT TSELAPHCHAD DOVROT NATAN TITEN LAHEM ACHUZAT NACHALAH BETOCH ACHEY AVIHEM VE HA'AVARTA ET NACHALAT AVIHEN LAHEN
כֵּן בְּנוֹת צְלָפְחָד דֹּבְרֹת נָתֹן תִּתֵּן לָהֶם אֲחֻזַּת נַחֲלָה בְּתוֹךְ אֲחֵי אֲבִיהֶם וְהַעֲבַרְתָּ אֶת נַחֲלַת אֲבִיהֶן לָהֶן
KJ: The daughters of Zelophehad speak right: thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father's brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them.
BN: "Whereas the daughters of Tselaphchad have spoken justly, they shall be awarded the possession of an inheritance among their father's kinsmen. Their father's inheritance is hereby conferred on them."
LAHEM: an error surely; LAHEN is the feminine. Ditto AVIHEM. What is odd is that both are correct in the last part of the verse.
My translation putting the words back into the mouths of the judges, rather than transferring them to the deity, as in the actual text.
27:8 VE EL BENEY YISRA-EL TEDABER LEMOR ISH KI YAMUT U VEN EYN LO VE HA'AVARTEM ET NACHALATO LE VITO
וְאֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תְּדַבֵּר לֵאמֹר אִישׁ כִּי יָמוּת וּבֵן אֵין לוֹ וְהַעֲבַרְתֶּם אֶת נַחֲלָתוֹ לְבִתּוֹ
KJ: And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a man die, and have no son, then ye shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.
BN: "And you shall speak to the Beney Yisra-El, saying: 'If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter...
So, as in the manner of all courts of justice, a resolved issue becomes a precedent.
27:9 VE IM EYN LO BAT U NETATEM ET NACHALATO LE ECHAV
וְאִם אֵין לוֹ בַּת וּנְתַתֶּם אֶת נַחֲלָתוֹ לְאֶחָיו
KJ: And if he have no daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren.
BN: "And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers...
27:10 VE IM EYN LO ACHIM U NETATEM ET NACHALATO LA ACHEY AVIV
וְאִם אֵין לוֹ אַחִים וּנְתַתֶּם אֶת נַחֲלָתוֹ לַאֲחֵי אָבִיו
KJ: And if he have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his father's brethren.
BN: "And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers...
27:10 VE IM EYN ACHIM LE AVI U NETATEM ET NACHALATO LISH'ERO HA KAROV ELAV MI MISHPACHTO VE YARASH OTAH VE HAYETAH LIVNEY YISRA-EL LE CHUKAT MISHPAT KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH
וְאִם אֵין אַחִים לְאָבִיו וּנְתַתֶּם אֶת נַחֲלָתוֹ לִשְׁאֵרוֹ הַקָּרֹב אֵלָיו מִמִּשְׁפַּחְתּוֹ וְיָרַשׁ אֹתָהּ וְהָיְתָה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְחֻקַּת מִשְׁפָּט כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת מֹשֶׁה
KJ: And if his father have no brethren, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his kinsman that is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it: and it shall be unto the children of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.
BN: "And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to whichever kinsman is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. And this shall be a statute of judgment to the Beney Yisra-El, as YHVH instructed Mosheh."
Which is a victory for the women - so rare in history as to be... except that it gets overturned on appeal later on (Numbers 36); yes, but the appeal is overturned too, in Joshua 17 (and yet still in place, in most European countries, until very recent times; see, for example, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Aurora Leigh", whose story is what it is precisely because cousin Romney, and not she, inherits when her father dies.
KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH: The text is presented as YHVH speaking, until these last six words, which are clearly third person narrtive, later on. Should we then, as I have done at verse 7, put all these verses into the language of the summing-up judge? I think we should.
pey break
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה עֲלֵה אֶל הַר הָעֲבָרִים הַזֶּה וּרְאֵה אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: Then YHVH said to Mosheh: "Go up into this mountain of Avarim, and look at the land which I am giving to the Beney Yisra-El...
Is Avarim then the name of the mountain on which Mosheh died, and not Nevo? People seem to think he died on Mount Pisgah, but that is only because of mis-translation: he goes up to PISGAT HA HAR, "the summit of the mountain" - Deuteronomy 34:1 (see also Numbers 21:20; 23:14)
27:13 VE RA'ITAH OTAH VE NE'ESAPHTA EL AMEYCHA GAM ATAH KA ASHER NE'ESAPH AHARON ACHICHA
וְרָאִיתָה אֹתָהּ וְנֶאֱסַפְתָּ אֶל עַמֶּיךָ גַּם אָתָּה כַּאֲשֶׁר נֶאֱסַף אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ
BN: "And when you have seen it, you too shall be gathered to your people, as Aharon your brother was gathered...
Which infers very strongly that we are about to reach the end of the epic, in the closing chapters of this Book of Numbers ... and yet there is still the whole of the Book of Deuteroomy to come. Is it possible? Might it be? That this was the end, originally, and Deut added, an alternate version, a need for a revised version of the Law to accommodate later Temple practices and secular law? Do not suggest such a thing to the orthodox or you risk being excommunicated!
27:14 KA ASHER MERIYTEM PI BE MIDBAR TSIN BI MERIYVAT HA EDAH LEHAKDISHENI VA MAYIM LE EYNEYHEM HEM MEY MERIVAT KADESH MIDBAR TSIN
כַּאֲשֶׁר מְרִיתֶם פִּי בְּמִדְבַּר צִן בִּמְרִיבַת הָעֵדָה לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי בַמַּיִם לְעֵינֵיהֶם הֵם מֵי מְרִיבַת קָדֵשׁ מִדְבַּר צִן
KJ: For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.
BN: "Because you disobeyed my instruction in the wilderness of Tsin, when there was strife among the congregation, to sanctify me at the waters before their eyes. These are the waters of Merivat-Kadesh in the wilderness of Tsin."
I have to say that, of all the pathetic and infantile things that YHVH and Elohim do through these tales, of all their sulks and tantrums and their repeated crimes against humanity, none is more petty and vindictive and downright mean than this one: the great (failed and incompetent, but still great) leader who brought his people out of slavery, across forty years of desert wandering, through mutiny after protest after rebellion after threatened coup, from thirst to hunger to plague, a man who deserves to be carried in a royal litter, or at least a royal coffin if he dies before they get there; but no, go up to the mountain and die there, alone, rejected. And why? Because one time he took responsibility for the needs of his people without getting a signed memo from the deity first. Disgraceful!
Disgraceful - but also metaphorical, mythological. We have to learn to separate those two from pseudo-history.
samech break
27:15 VA YEDABER MOSHEH EL YHVH LEMOR
KJ: Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
BN: "Let YHVH, the god of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation...
But of course, in Mosheh's response, there is also "god as explanation" again: he knows that it's just old age, probably high blood pressure, prostate cancer, cholesterol, problems with his hips or his back or his knees... but in this world, everything bad that happens has to be the consequence of sin (see verse 3 where even the choice of language confirms this), so Merivah it is... and given that death is the ultimate goal of every human journey, better to organise it in advance, by establishing the succession...
27:17 ASHER YETS'E LIPHNEYHEM VA ASHER YAVO LIPHNEYHEM VA ASHER YOTSIY'EM VA ASHER YEVIY'EM VE LO TIHEYEH ADAT YHVH KA TSON ASHER EYN LAHEM RO'EH
KJ: Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
BN: "Who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of YHVH be not like the sheep that has no shepherd."
samech break
27:15 VA YEDABER MOSHEH EL YHVH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל יְהוָה לֵאמֹר
KJ: And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying,
BN: Then Mosheh spoke to YHVH saying:
27:16 YIPHKOD YHVH ELOHEY HA RUCHOT LE CHOL BASAR ISH AL HA EDAH
BN: Then Mosheh spoke to YHVH saying:
27:16 YIPHKOD YHVH ELOHEY HA RUCHOT LE CHOL BASAR ISH AL HA EDAH
יִפְקֹד יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל בָּשָׂר אִישׁ עַל הָעֵדָה
BN: "Let YHVH, the god of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation...
But of course, in Mosheh's response, there is also "god as explanation" again: he knows that it's just old age, probably high blood pressure, prostate cancer, cholesterol, problems with his hips or his back or his knees... but in this world, everything bad that happens has to be the consequence of sin (see verse 3 where even the choice of language confirms this), so Merivah it is... and given that death is the ultimate goal of every human journey, better to organise it in advance, by establishing the succession...
27:17 ASHER YETS'E LIPHNEYHEM VA ASHER YAVO LIPHNEYHEM VA ASHER YOTSIY'EM VA ASHER YEVIY'EM VE LO TIHEYEH ADAT YHVH KA TSON ASHER EYN LAHEM RO'EH
אֲשֶׁר יֵצֵא לִפְנֵיהֶם וַאֲשֶׁר יָבֹא לִפְנֵיהֶם וַאֲשֶׁר יוֹצִיאֵם וַאֲשֶׁר יְבִיאֵם וְלֹא תִהְיֶה עֲדַת יְהוָה כַּצֹּאן אֲשֶׁר אֵין לָהֶם רֹעֶה
KJ: Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.
BN: "Who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in; that the congregation of YHVH be not like the sheep that has no shepherd."
This conversation started in verse 12 with YHVH telling Mosheh to go and look at the land, for which the verb used is RE'EH (רְאֵה); it now ends with Mosheh asking YHVH to name a metaphorical "shepherd", someone who will "look after" the people and "see" that all is well with them, for which the verb used is RO'EH (רֹעֶה). A change from Aleph (א) to Ayin (ע), of the sort we have witnessed so often in these texts, but still it can only be deliberate punning. See also Psalm 23.
27:18 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH KACH LECHA ET YEHOSHU'A BIN NUN ISH ASHER RU'ACH BO VE SAMACHTA ET YADCHA ALAV
KJ: And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;
BN: Then YHVH said to Mosheh: "Take Yehoshu'a bin Nun, a man who has exactly the right spirit, and lay your hand on him...
ISH ASHER RU'ACH: Every living creature has Ru'ach, or they wouldn't be alive: the word literally means "the breath of life". So this has to mean something different. My translation probably goes too far down the "jolly old chap" route, but it is something of this order.
27:18 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH KACH LECHA ET YEHOSHU'A BIN NUN ISH ASHER RU'ACH BO VE SAMACHTA ET YADCHA ALAV
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה קַח לְךָ אֶת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר רוּחַ בּוֹ וְסָמַכְתָּ אֶת יָדְךָ עָלָיו
KJ: And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him;
BN: Then YHVH said to Mosheh: "Take Yehoshu'a bin Nun, a man who has exactly the right spirit, and lay your hand on him...
ISH ASHER RU'ACH: Every living creature has Ru'ach, or they wouldn't be alive: the word literally means "the breath of life". So this has to mean something different. My translation probably goes too far down the "jolly old chap" route, but it is something of this order.
As though this appointment hadn't been made years ago, when Yehoshu'a accompanied Mosheh up the mountain, for the receiving of the law, and then when he was chosen as one of the twelve spies, and even earlier really, when he was Mosheh's personal assistant. This is simply the formalisation of the apprenticeship, the smicha, the graduation.
27:19 VA HA'AMADETA OTO LIPHNEY EL-AZAR HA KOHEN VE LIPHNEY KOL HA EDAH VE TSIVITA OTO LE EYNEYHEM
KJ: And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.
BN: "And set him before El-Azar the Kohen, and before all the congregation; and put him in charge in their sight...
Presidential inauguration - we have to imagine, despite the paucity in the text, a grand affair, with military march-past and trumpets, and the full choir of the Beney Korach.
27:20 VE NATATAH MEHODCHA ALAV LEMA'AN YISHME'U KOL ADAT BENEY YISRA-EL
KJ: And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.
BN: "And you shall bestow your powers and authorities on him, so that all the congregation of the Beney Yisra-El may witness the hand-over...
MEHODCHA: I am not happy with the translation as "honour"; this has been used before when translating KAVOD YHVH, the radiance of the deity when it appears in the Ohel, and the two are clearly not the same. I think the intention here is for the people to know that Mosheh has not been fired or force-retired, that he is, so to speak, leaving the White House after making proper transition arrangements, providing office space in the interim, and granting full access to security briefings with immediate affect. So the people will transfer their loyalty and obedience, and there will be no anarchy of inter-regnum.
27:21 VE LIPHNEY EL-AZAR HA KOHEN YA'AMOD VE SHA'AL LO BE MISHPAT HA URIM LIPHNEY YHVH AL PIYV YETSE'U VE AL PIYV YAVO'U HU VE CHOL BENEY YISRA-EL ITO VE CHOL HA EDAH
KJ: And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counselfor him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.
BN: "And he shall stand before El-Azar the Kohen, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before YHVH; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the Beney Yisra-El with him, even all the congregation."
Why only the Urim and not the Tumim as well? Lazy writing, probably.
This is a very useful verse from a sociological and anthropological point of view. It helps us understand the real nature of the dialogue between Mosheh and YHVH, the relationship between religious and secular authority, and the hierarchy of power. I imagine that it was not very different from that of the Chinese Emperors, for which Nikos Kazantzakis provides a splendid description in his "Travels in Japan and China":
27:19 VA HA'AMADETA OTO LIPHNEY EL-AZAR HA KOHEN VE LIPHNEY KOL HA EDAH VE TSIVITA OTO LE EYNEYHEM
וְהַעֲמַדְתָּ אֹתוֹ לִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן וְלִפְנֵי כָּל הָעֵדָה וְצִוִּיתָה אֹתוֹ לְעֵינֵיהֶם
KJ: And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight.
BN: "And set him before El-Azar the Kohen, and before all the congregation; and put him in charge in their sight...
Presidential inauguration - we have to imagine, despite the paucity in the text, a grand affair, with military march-past and trumpets, and the full choir of the Beney Korach.
27:20 VE NATATAH MEHODCHA ALAV LEMA'AN YISHME'U KOL ADAT BENEY YISRA-EL
וְנָתַתָּה מֵהוֹדְךָ עָלָיו לְמַעַן יִשְׁמְעוּ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: "And you shall bestow your powers and authorities on him, so that all the congregation of the Beney Yisra-El may witness the hand-over...
MEHODCHA: I am not happy with the translation as "honour"; this has been used before when translating KAVOD YHVH, the radiance of the deity when it appears in the Ohel, and the two are clearly not the same. I think the intention here is for the people to know that Mosheh has not been fired or force-retired, that he is, so to speak, leaving the White House after making proper transition arrangements, providing office space in the interim, and granting full access to security briefings with immediate affect. So the people will transfer their loyalty and obedience, and there will be no anarchy of inter-regnum.
27:21 VE LIPHNEY EL-AZAR HA KOHEN YA'AMOD VE SHA'AL LO BE MISHPAT HA URIM LIPHNEY YHVH AL PIYV YETSE'U VE AL PIYV YAVO'U HU VE CHOL BENEY YISRA-EL ITO VE CHOL HA EDAH
וְלִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן יַעֲמֹד וְשָׁאַל לוֹ בְּמִשְׁפַּט הָאוּרִים לִפְנֵי יְהוָה עַל פִּיו יֵצְאוּ וְעַל פִּיו יָבֹאוּ הוּא וְכָל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִתּוֹ וְכָל הָעֵדָה
KJ: And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counselfor him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.
BN: "And he shall stand before El-Azar the Kohen, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before YHVH; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the Beney Yisra-El with him, even all the congregation."
Why only the Urim and not the Tumim as well? Lazy writing, probably.
This is a very useful verse from a sociological and anthropological point of view. It helps us understand the real nature of the dialogue between Mosheh and YHVH, the relationship between religious and secular authority, and the hierarchy of power. I imagine that it was not very different from that of the Chinese Emperors, for which Nikos Kazantzakis provides a splendid description in his "Travels in Japan and China":
“... the tragic fate that weighed on this unapproachable idol, full of responsibility. His person was so sacred that he could not come in contact with his people. He lived isolated, a holy prisoner in his court, and his every act was regulated according to the strictest protocol...
“... imprisoned by invisible laws, the emperor was a religious puppet who was dressed, washed, scented and transferred from temple to temple. No one was allowed to look into his eyes. One had to bend to look at him and not glance above his neck or below his waist. And when one wanted to talk to him, one had to put before one’s mouth a tablet of precious green stone, lest the breath reach him and infect him...
"His responsibilities were superhuman. He was the intermediary between his people and heaven, and all the success and failure of his nation was attributed to him. If the emperor was good, the rice grew, the cows were productive, the rivers did not flood, and no plague fell on the people. A Chinese religious song says: ‘The thought of the emperor is omnipotent; when he thinks of the horses they become vigorous. The thought of the emperor is wild; when he thinks of the horses they rush to battle’.
“The emperor was the centre
of the mystic forces. His strength sat coiled within him, he unleashed it on
his country and brought good crops, health, peace. Every year he alone marked
the course of the first stream in the Temple of Earth. And he was the first to
taste the early fruit. If the earth stopped producing, he was blamed because he
no longer had the power to intercede with the heavens and bring happiness.”
To what extent this was the case with Moshah and Yehoshu'a is impossible to say, but the evidence of Egyptian archaeology is that it was absolutely true of the Pharaohs, and the Solomonic archaeology confirms it for later Yisra-El too.
27:22 VA YA'AS MOSHEH KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH OTO VA YIKACH ET YEHOSHU'A VA YA'AMIDEHU LIPHNEY EL-AZAR HA KOHEN VE LIPHNEY KOL HA EDAH
KJ: And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation:
BN: And Mosheh did as YHVH instructed him; and he took Yehoshu'a, and set him before El-Azar the priest, and before all the congregation.
There is surely a verse missing here; the one in which Kalev witnesses the ceremony, and wonders how come Yehoshu'a got appointed and not him, and seethes, and embeds that deep seething into the psyche of his clan, so that it will continue to cause trouble, in Chevron, in David's time especially, but actually forever after.
27:23 VA YISMOCH ET YADAV ALAV VA YETSAVEYHU KA ASHER DIBER YHVH BE YAD MOSHEH
KJ: And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.
BN: And he laid his hands on him, and handed power over to him, as YHVH had spoken, by the hand of Mosheh.
And in the same manner, the same metaphorical manner, the monarch of England is crowned "in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ". The formal language of ceremony.
27:22 VA YA'AS MOSHEH KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH OTO VA YIKACH ET YEHOSHU'A VA YA'AMIDEHU LIPHNEY EL-AZAR HA KOHEN VE LIPHNEY KOL HA EDAH
וַיַּעַשׂ מֹשֶׁה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֹתוֹ וַיִּקַּח אֶת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ וַיַּעֲמִדֵהוּ לִפְנֵי אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן וְלִפְנֵי כָּל הָעֵדָה
BN: And Mosheh did as YHVH instructed him; and he took Yehoshu'a, and set him before El-Azar the priest, and before all the congregation.
There is surely a verse missing here; the one in which Kalev witnesses the ceremony, and wonders how come Yehoshu'a got appointed and not him, and seethes, and embeds that deep seething into the psyche of his clan, so that it will continue to cause trouble, in Chevron, in David's time especially, but actually forever after.
27:23 VA YISMOCH ET YADAV ALAV VA YETSAVEYHU KA ASHER DIBER YHVH BE YAD MOSHEH
וַיִּסְמֹךְ אֶת יָדָיו עָלָיו וַיְצַוֵּהוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָה בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה
KJ: And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.
BN: And he laid his hands on him, and handed power over to him, as YHVH had spoken, by the hand of Mosheh.
And in the same manner, the same metaphorical manner, the monarch of England is crowned "in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ". The formal language of ceremony.
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