3:1 VE ELEH TOLDOT AHARON U MOSHEH BE YOM DIBER YHVH ET MOSHEH BE HAR SINAI
וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת אַהֲרֹן וּמֹשֶׁה בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר יְהוָה אֶת מֹשֶׁה בְּהַר סִינָי
KJ (King James translation): These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the LORD spake with Moses in mount Sinai.
BN (BibleNet translation): These are the family trees of Aharon and Mosheh, at the time that YHVH spoke with Mosheh on Mount Sinai.
3:2 VE ELEH SHEMOT BENEY AHARON HA BECHOR NADAV VA AVI-HU EL-AZAR VE ITAMAR
וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן הַבְּכֹר נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא אֶלְעָזָר וְאִיתָמָר
KJ: And these are the names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
BN: These are the names of the sons of Aharon: Nadav the first-born, then Avi-Hu, El-Azar and Itamar.
3:3 ELEH SHEMOT BENEY AHARON HA KOHANIM HA MESHUCHIM ASHER MIL'E YADAM LECHAHEN
אֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֲנִים הַמְּשֻׁחִים אֲשֶׁר מִלֵּא יָדָם לְכַהֵן
KJ: These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office.
BN: These are the names of the sons of Aharon, the anointed priests who he consecrated to minister in the office of Kohen.
MESHUCHIM: One of the two words that gives us "Messiah"; an earthly, not a divine title. The other, MOSHI'A, comes from the same root that gives, inter alia, the Prophet Hoshe'a (Hosea - הושע), Mosheh's successor Yehoshu'a (Joshua), and the Christian Jesus; that word really means "saviour", but has come to mean "Messiah", by mingling the process of regal coronation and priestly initiation (anointment) with his "mission".
3:4 VA YAMAT NADAV VA AVI-HU LIPHNEY YHVH BE HAKRIVAM ESH ZARAH LIPHNEY YHVH BE MIDBAR SINAI U VANIM LO HAYU LAHEM VA YECHAHEN EL-AZAR VE ITAMAR AL PENEY AHARON AVIHEM
וַיָּמָת נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא לִפְנֵי יְהוָה בְּהַקְרִבָם אֵשׁ זָרָה לִפְנֵי יְהוָה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי וּבָנִים לֹא הָיוּ לָהֶם וַיְכַהֵן אֶלְעָזָר וְאִיתָמָר עַל פְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן אֲבִיהֶם
KJ: And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.
BN: And Nadav and Avi-Hu died before YHVH, when they offered "strange fire" before YHVH in the wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children; and El-Azar and Itamar ministered in the office of Kohen in the presence of Aharon their father.
VA YAMAT: See Leviticus 10.
U VANIM: No sons, or no children?
LIPHNEY : "in the presence of" (space), or "before" (time)?
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3:5 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying...
But wait a moment; verse 1 announced the family trees of both Mosheh and Aharon, yet it is now moving on without giving Mosheh's. He is married to Tsiporah, has two sons, Gershon and Eli-Ezer ... but no, we are not going to be given this information.
3:6 HAKREV ET MATEH LEVI VE HA'AMADETA OTO LIPHNEY AHARON HA KOHEN VE SHERTU OTO
הַקְרֵב אֶת מַטֵּה לֵוִי וְהַעֲמַדְתָּ אֹתוֹ לִפְנֵי אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן וְשֵׁרְתוּ אֹתוֹ
KJ: Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him.
BN: Have the tribe of Levi approach, and let them stand before Aharon the priest, that they may minister to him.
SHERTU: They "minister to him", or they "serve him", or they "serve as ministers under his authority"? This being his own tribe, and he already their "chief", we need a precise explanation of what "ministering" actually meant; surely not the same as it meant when the boy David ministered to King Sha'ul! (though interestingly that is the phrase in many English translations, but not at all what it says in the original Yehudit - click here). The answer lies in the next verse - though actually we already had it in Numbers 1:50, and it is only the strange wording of this verse that led to my questioning it.
3:7 VE SHAMRU ET MISHMARTO VE ET MISHMERET KAL HA EDAH LIPHNEY OHEL MO'ED LA'AVOD ET AVODAT HA MISHKAN
וְשָׁמְרוּ אֶת מִשְׁמַרְתּוֹ וְאֶת מִשְׁמֶרֶת כָּל הָעֵדָה לִפְנֵי אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לַעֲבֹד אֶת עֲבֹדַת הַמִּשְׁכָּן
KJ: And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of the congregation, to do the service of the tabernacle.
BN: And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the Tent of Meeting, to undertake the service of the Mishkan.
Which sounds rather like Aharon is being retired. See later if this proves correct. And if yes, then we have an answer to the LIPHNEY question above and to the MINISTER question too. And if not...
OHEL MO'ED: Why, in grammatical contexts such as this one, is it not OHEL HA MO'ED?
For the differences between the Mishkan and the Ohel Mo'ed, click here.
For the differences between the Mishkan and the Ohel Mo'ed, click here.
3:8 VE SHAMRU ET KOL KELEY OHEL MO'ED VE ET MISHMERET BENEY YISRA-EL LA'AVOD ET AVODAT HA MISHKAN
וְשָׁמְרוּ אֶת כָּל כְּלֵי אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְאֶת מִשְׁמֶרֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לַעֲבֹד אֶת עֲבֹדַת הַמִּשְׁכָּן
KJ: And they shall keep all the instruments of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle.
BN: And they shall keep all the furniture of the Tent of Meeting, and the charge of the Beney Yisra-El, to undertake the service of the Mishkan.
The Beney Yisra-El too appear to be being retired from Temple service, or at least from the ancient tradition in which every man performed his own sacrifices, wherever it was convenient to him; now the Leviyim are taking sole charge of these matters; though in fact, during the period of the First Temple, we know that each tribe was required to send a delegation to Yeru-Shalayim for the purposes of Mishmeret, each tribe having its own designated month (see my note to Numbers 1:2). Is this perhaps a late addition, from a time when the ten tribes had disappeared, and it was necessary to adjust the Mishmeret; or at another period, when the Leviyim were establishing sole authority?
What does "keep the charge" even mean? "Take responsibility for the spiritual well-being"? That is too narrow; they also have a judicial role, and of course they run the abbatoir and the butcher's shambles.
3:9 VE NATATAH ET HA LEVIYIM LE AHARON U LE VANAV NETUNIM NETUNIM HEMAH LO ME ET BENEY YISRA-EL
וְנָתַתָּה אֶת הַלְוִיִּם לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו נְתוּנִם נְתוּנִם הֵמָּה לוֹ מֵאֵת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are wholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.
BN: And you shall give the Leviyim to Aharon and to his sons; they are dedicated entirely to him by the Beney Yisra-El.
Which makes it sound as if Aharon was not himself a Levite. If he was, as we have been told previously, and second in command of the tribe after Mosheh (in spite of being the elder!), why was there any need to give them to him; he already had them? Then does "give" have an alternate meaning here? The inference is that the "concept" of priesthood is now being conferred on the tribe, so that what was previously just a person's name, and thence a clan-name, now becomes an idea in itself: in the way that Captain Boycott and Vidkun Quisling did.
This giving is also very different from the other transfers of authority in the Torah - Esav supplanted by Ya'akov, Menasheh by Ephrayim etc - because Aharon is the elder brother (cf Exodus 7:7)
And if so, and verse 12 seems to confirm this reading, should the word not then be Leviyut (לביות) rather than Leviyim?
This giving is also very different from the other transfers of authority in the Torah - Esav supplanted by Ya'akov, Menasheh by Ephrayim etc - because Aharon is the elder brother (cf Exodus 7:7)
And if so, and verse 12 seems to confirm this reading, should the word not then be Leviyut (לביות) rather than Leviyim?
3:10 VE ET AHARON VE ET BANAV TIPHKOD VE SHAMRU ET KEHUNATAM VE HA ZAR HA KAREV YUMAT
וְאֶת אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת בָּנָיו תִּפְקֹד וְשָׁמְרוּ אֶת כְּהֻנָּתָם וְהַזָּר הַקָּרֵב יוּמָת
KJ: And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall wait on their priest's office: and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
BN: And you shall appoint Aharon and his sons, that they may carry out their functions as Kohanim; and the common man who approaches shall be put to death.
Because the English tends to translate both the Leviyut and the Kahanut as "priestly", the clear distinction being made in verses 9 and 10 is lost in the translation, Verse 9 is about the Leviyut, verse 10 the Kahanut. The entire tribe of Levi has priestly duties, but only the linear descendants of Aharon himself can serve as Kohanim (see Nehemiah 7, especially v64); this remains the case in Judaism to this day, with all the other Jews in the world belonging to the general tribe of Yisra-El (click here for more detail).
TIPHKOD: As observed previously, this verb generally means "appoint"; yet it was used in the census to mean both "count" and "conscript"; should we use "recruit": which covers all three?
VE SHAMRU: Observe, perhaps, rather than keep?
HA ZAR: a couple of verses ago, referring to the deaths of Nadav and Avi-Hu, ZAR appeared to have a very different meaning: "foreign" rather than "common". If common is correct, then the meaning of the previous changes quite drastically (we encountered this ambivalence earlier, throughout Leviticus).
YUMAT: As before, is this natural causes (divine execution) or stoning (human execution)?
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3:11 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
3:12 VA ANI HINEH LAKACHTI ET HA LEVIYIM MI TOCH BENEY YISRA-EL TACHAT KOL BECHOR PETER RECHEM MI BENEY YISRA-EL VE HAYU LI HA LEVIYIM
וַאֲנִי הִנֵּה לָקַחְתִּי אֶת הַלְוִיִּם מִתּוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל תַּחַת כָּל בְּכוֹר פֶּטֶר רֶחֶם מִבְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהָיוּ לִי הַלְוִיִּם
KJ: And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine;
BN: And I, behold, I have taken the Leviyim from among the Beney Yisra-El, instead of taking every first-born who opens the womb among the Beney Yisra-El; and the Leviyim shall be mine.
TACHAT: "under", or "instead of"?
This is a hugely significant modification of both the previous role of the Leviyim and the previous commandments about sacrifice and redemption: the Leviyim now stand as substitution for either the sacrifice or the redemption of the first-born - in which case, why do we need the Pidyon ha-Ben? It is this level of holiness that makes the YUMAT of the previous verse.
3:13 KI LI KOL BECHOR BE YOM HAKOTI CHAL BECHOR BE ERETS MITSRAYIM HIKDASHTI LI CHAL BECHOR BE YISRA-EL MEY ADAM AD BEHEMAH LI YIHEYU ANI YHVH
כִּי לִי כָּל בְּכוֹר בְּיוֹם הַכֹּתִי כָל בְּכוֹר בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם הִקְדַּשְׁתִּי לִי כָל בְּכוֹר בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאָדָם עַד בְּהֵמָה לִי יִהְיוּ אֲנִי יְהוָה
KJ: Because all the firstborn are mine; for on the day that I smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto me all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast: mine shall they be: I am the LORD.
BN: Because all the first-born are mine: on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Mitsrayim I set all the first-born in Yisra-El apart as holy to me; both man and beast shall be mine: I am YHVH.
And the fruit and vegetables as well.
This hugely modifies our understanding (or at least our traditional understanding) of the 10 plagues: as suggested at the time, they were part of the original Passover ritual from long before the time of Mosheh, and that ritual was tied in with the covenant, which is being given, or more probably renewed, at this pilgrimage to the holy mountain. This verse confirms that view.
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3:14 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH BE MIDBAR SINAI LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי לֵאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh in the Sinai desert, saying
3:15 PEKOD ET BENEY LEVI LE VEIT AVOTAM LE MISHPECHOTAM KOL ZACHAR MI BEN CHODESH VA MA'LAH TIPHKEDEMAH
פְּקֹד אֶת בְּנֵי לֵוִי לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם כָּל זָכָר מִבֶּן חֹדֶשׁ וָמַעְלָה תִּפְקְדֵם
KJ: Number the children of Levi after the house of their fathers, by their families: every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.
BN: Count the Beney Levi by their clans and by their families; include in the count every male from a month old and upward.
In the previous chapter Mosheh was told explicitly not to count the Beney Levi; my note at the time referenced this verse and made clear that it was not the counting of the number that was the issue, but its purpose; that was a conscription census for the military, and the Leviyim are exempt from military service. This is a census for the clergy.
Note the age difference; there, because they were conscripts, only 20+; here, everyone who has made it to a single month. And note also that blemishes are not being sought - everyone counts biologically as a member of the tribe, even if they won't be able to serve at the Mishkan or the Temple because of a wart, a lisp, a hare-lip.
Note the age difference; there, because they were conscripts, only 20+; here, everyone who has made it to a single month. And note also that blemishes are not being sought - everyone counts biologically as a member of the tribe, even if they won't be able to serve at the Mishkan or the Temple because of a wart, a lisp, a hare-lip.
3:16 VA YIPHKOD OTAM MOSHEH AL PI YHVH KA ASHER TSUVAH
וַיִּפְקֹד אֹתָם מֹשֶׁה עַל פִּי יְהוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר צֻוָּה
KJ: And Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded.
BN: And Mosheh counted them according to the word of YHVH, as he was instructed.
YIPHKOD: The use of the verb here as "to count" needs to be considered in relation to its uses previously. It had appeared to be specific (see verse 10); here it appears to be general.
3:17 VA YIHEYU ELEH VENEY LEVI BI SHEMOTAM GERSHON U KEHAT U MERARI
וַיִּהְיוּ אֵלֶּה בְנֵי לֵוִי בִּשְׁמֹתָם גֵּרְשׁוֹן וּקְהָת וּמְרָרִי
KJ: And these were the sons of Levi by their names; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
BN: And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kehat and Merari.
GERSHON: Or Gershom? 1 Chronicles 6:16, inter alia, has Levi's son as Gershom rather than Gershon; while Exodus 2:22 reckoned Gershom to be Mosheh's and Tsiporah's first-born.
KEHAT: click here.
MERARI: The name is believed to be Egyptian, having been found on many Egyptian tombs and inscriptions. Yet Levi was Ya'akov's third son, by Le'ah, and Gershon therefore born a long time before Ya'akov went down to Mitsrayim (Egypt).
If Levi was the son of Ya'akov, and Gershon literally "the son of Levi", then he would have been about 400 years old by now. How then do we read "the sons of Levi"? As sub-clans? Or as priestly offices? Yet Levi is described in Genesis as the great-grandfather of Mosheh, Aharon and Mir-Yam (Miriam), reducing the epoch of slavery to only about 100 years. In all probability the words LEVI and KOHEN were connected as priestly offices long before Mosheh, in Mitsrayim and elsewhere, and the names of the "actual" men may themselves have been "dynastic". See further the comments on verses 21 and 23.
3:18 VE ELEH SHEMOT BENEY GERSHON LE MISHPECHOTAM LIVNI VE SHIM'I
וְאֵלֶּה שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי גֵרְשׁוֹן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לִבְנִי וְשִׁמְעִי
KJ: And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families; Libni, and Shimei.
BN: These are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Livni and Shim'i.
LIVNI: see the link.
SHIM'I: see the link.
3:19 U VENEY KEHAT LE MISHPECHOTAM AM-RAM VE YITS'HAR CHEVRON VE UZI-EL
וּבְנֵי קְהָת לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם עַמְרָם וְיִצְהָר חֶבְרוֹן וְעֻזִּיאֵל
KJ: And the sons of Kohath by their families; Amram, and Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
BN: And the sons of Kehat by their families: Am-Ram and Yits'har, Chevron and Uzi-El.
YITS'HAR: see the link.
CHEVRON: see the link.
UZI-EL: see the link.
3:20 U VENEY MERARI LE MISHPECHOTAM MACHLI U MUSHI ELEH HEM MISHPECHOT HA LEVI LE VEIT AVOTAM
וּבְנֵי מְרָרִי לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם מַחְלִי וּמוּשִׁי אֵלֶּה הֵם מִשְׁפְּחֹת הַלֵּוִי לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם
KJ: And the sons of Merari by their families; Mahli, and Mushi. These arethe families of the Levites according to the house of their fathers.
BN: And the sons of Merari by their families: Machli and Mushi. These are the families of the Leviyim according to their clans.
MACHLI: see the link.
MUSHI: see the link.
3:21 LE GERSHON MISHPECHAT HA LIVNI U MISHPECHAT HA SHIMI ELEH HEM MISHPECHOT HA GERSHUNI
לְגֵרְשׁוֹן מִשְׁפַּחַת הַלִּבְנִי וּמִשְׁפַּחַת הַשִּׁמְעִי אֵלֶּה הֵם מִשְׁפְּחֹת הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּי
KJ: Of Gershon was the family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimites: these are the families of the Gershonites.
BN: From Gershon came the family of the Livni, and the family of the Shim'i; these are the families of the Gershuni.
Are the Gershonites, by this verse, somehow separated from the rest of the Leviyim then? If not, why repeat verse 18 in this way, and not do the same for the other verses? And if they are separated, in what manner? Simply as clans? Or as tasks that different groups will perform - choir-priests in this family, carpenter-priests in that one - which was the system instigated among the non-clergy of England in Norman times, and the reason why so many people have trade-names for their surnames (Taylor, Smith, Farmer etc).
The form of the names infers that these are being established as both: but probably the clan-namescame first, and the guild-designation later; we shall witness the outcome of this later in the Tanach, for example in the dedication of certain Psalms. But we can witness it more immediately, by going to verse 25.
GERSHUNI: A grammatical oddity, or possibly a scribal error. GERSHUNI should really be GERSHONI, but for some reason it is rendered in the passive. How does a person's name become passive? Nouns never do, so GERSHON has to be a verb; which would make GERSHON his function rather than his name. If this were correct, then it would help us understand verse 17 better, but we need to go back to the meaning of GERSHON to explain this fully. I tend to the view that it was a scribal error in the Masoretic version (see also verse 24, where it recurs).
3:22 PEKUDEYHEM BE MISPAR KOL ZACHAR MI BEN CHODESH VA MA'LAH PEKUDEYHEM SHIV'AT ALAPHIM VA CHAMESH ME'OT
פְּקֻדֵיהֶם בְּמִסְפַּר כָּל זָכָר מִבֶּן חֹדֶשׁ וָמָעְלָה פְּקֻדֵיהֶם שִׁבְעַת אֲלָפִים וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת
KJ: Those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred.
BN: Those of them that were numbered, according to the total number of the males, from one month old and upward, the total of those numbered: seven thousand, five hundred.
Gershon as the elder gets the more important jobs; Kehat as the younger the less important; so we can see the hierarchy of the holy things more clearly now - almost a caste system, like the one in the Hindu world, except that is a caste within a caste - breaking down the equivalent of the Brahmins into levels. The ark, for example, has lower status than the Sanctuary: which is to say: the Ark (and therefore the Torah which it contains) is less important than the act of sacrifice. That is no small statement.
Confirming that the 273 were indeed the difference between the two numbers, as in verse 46; though we are still not told how the 273 were chosen.
VE NATATAH: Note the use of the Vav Consecutive.
At verse 48 I left Odephim in my translation; here I have gone for "overage", but not with any comfort - it makes it sound like produce in a factory, where these were living human beings. Overage is what you get at Auschwitz, when the gas chambers are full, but there are still people pouring off the trains.
This only counts the Gershonites; verse 39 gives the total Leviyim as 22,000, a total which seems remarkably small in comparison with the census of all the other tribes; and what is more, in the previous census, only males of military age were counted, whereas the Levites get counted from a month old, so statistical probability suggests that there should be more male Levites than any other tribe. Both Exodus and Numbers give the conscription total at around 600,000, which breaks down to around 50,000 per tribe. So which is the one we should believe? If the Levitical count was medial, there would only have been about 200,000 people fleeing Egypt on the night of Passover.
3:23 MISHPECHOT HA GERSHONI ACHAREY HA MISHKAN YACHANU YAMAH
Note yet again the absence of a specific verb in the verse - the verb "to be" functions in that manner, inferred by context, but it is not helpful to a translator or commentator or student, because the absence of a verse is also the absence of a tense: is this "were" or "will be"? a divine instruction for the future, or a historian's account of the past?
TEYMANAH: Associating them with Re'u-Ven, Shim'on and Gad. The first two are also - with Levi and Yehudah - sons of Le'ah; Gad was a son of Zilpah, Le'ah's maidservant. Geographically Shim'on would inherit the most southerly portion of Yisra-El, in the Negev desert - and very quickly disappear, absorbed either into the lands of the Pelishtim, or into Yehudah - while Re'u-Ven took the north-east corner of the Yam ha Melach (Dead Sea) - and likewise disappeared very quickly, in his case into Mo-Av, with Bin-Yamin to his immediate north-west; so all southern-associated tribes.
3:30 U NESI VEIT AV LE MISHPECHOT HA KEHATI ELI-TSAPHAN BEN UZI-EL
מִשְׁפְּחֹת הַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּי אַחֲרֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן יַחֲנוּ יָמָּה
KJ: The families of the Gershonites shall pitch behind the tabernacle westward.
BN: The families of the Gershonites shall pitch their camp behind the Mishkan, on the western side.
This text is also unusual in that it most of it (but not all of it - see for example verse 25, which may be an instruction, or may be a description: the restricted usage of verbs, as in the last chapter, obscures this) appears to be being narrated by a historian, where the normal technique is to have YHVH instruct Mosheh. Does this allow us to recognise it as a much later text?
YAMAH: Around the Mishkan, as we saw in the last chapter, there is a protective square made of 3 tribes at each face. Now we are being given an inner protective square; the Gershonites are on the western side, which is protected by Ephrayim, Menasheh and Bin-Yamin, which means they are included with the Rachel tribes, who were all Mitsri (Egyptian). See the comment on verse 17.
How does the deployment around the Mishkan compare with the geography of the tribes in Yisra-El? Ephrayim and Menasheh would form the central hinterland of Yisra-El, with Bin-Yamin to their immediate south. So again we are seeing a configuration around the MISHKAN that prefigures the map of Yisra-El.
3:24 U NESI VEIT AV LA GERSHUNI EL-YASAPH BEN LA'EL
וּנְשִׂיא בֵית אָב לַגֵּרְשֻׁנִּי אֶלְיָסָף בֶּן לָאֵל
KJ: And the chief of the house of the father of the Gershonites shall be Eliasaph the son of Lael.
BN: The clan-chief of the Gershuni was El-Yasaph ben La-El.
GERSHUNI: see my note in verse 21.
EL-YASAPH: Or possibly Eli-Asaph, but definitely not Eliyasaph, as some transations offer - that would require either a doubling of the Yud, or at least a Yud Medugash (a yud with a dot in it to indicate the double). The name is a variation on Yoseph.
LA-EL: Given that a covenant to follow and worship only YHVH that has just been agreed by the entire people, is it not somewhat odd that children are continuing to be given EL names? LA-EL literally means "to El" - which is the equivalent of a convert to Islam taking the name Jesus or Vishnu as a way of showing the totality of his commitment! (And yes, obviously, it was late-grandpa's name, and this matters too; and mum really likes the name, which has a huge part to play in the decision... but even so).
Note yet again the absence of a specific verb in the verse - the verb "to be" functions in that manner, inferred by context, but it is not helpful to a translator or commentator or student, because the absence of a verse is also the absence of a tense: is this "were" or "will be"? a divine instruction for the future, or a historian's account of the past?
3:25 U MISHMERET BENEY GERSHOM BE OHEL MO'ED HA MISHKAN VE HA OHEL MICHSEHU U MASACH PETACH OHEL MO'ED
וּמִשְׁמֶרֶת בְּנֵי גֵרְשׁוֹן בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְהָאֹהֶל מִכְסֵהוּ וּמָסַךְ פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד
KJ: And the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tabernacle of the congregation shall be the tabernacle, and the tent, the covering thereof, and the hanging for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,
BN: And the duties of the Beney Gershon were [will be?] in the Tent of Meeting: the Mishkan, and the tent itself, its covering, and the screen for the door of the Tent of Meeting.
Now we are told precisely what their Levitical function was, or will be from now on - remember that these clans were Leviyim (the tribe), but not Kohanim (Aharon's clan within the tribe), so they had no ceremonial priestly duties. The KOHANIM are the sacrificers, and the ones who watch and map the heavens. Maintenance and administration is in the hands of the Leviyim.
3:26 VE KALEY HE CHATSER VE ET MASACH PETACH HE CHATSER ASHER AL HA MISHKAN VE AL HA MIZBEYACH SAVIV VE ET MEYTARAV LE CHOL AVODATO
וְקַלְעֵי הֶחָצֵר וְאֶת מָסַךְ פֶּתַח הֶחָצֵר אֲשֶׁר עַל הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְעַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ סָבִיב וְאֵת מֵיתָרָיו לְכֹל עֲבֹדָתוֹ
KJ: And the hangings of the court, and the curtain for the door of the court, which is by the tabernacle, and by the altar round about, and the cords of it for all the service thereof.
BN: And the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court, which is by the Mishkan, and around the altar, and its cords, and anything that pertains to its usage.
Maintenance and administration - right down to the janitorial and the dry cleaning.
samech break
3:27 VE LI KEHAT MISHPACHAT HA AM-RAMI U MISHPACHAT HA YITS-HARI U MISHPACHAT HA CHEVRONI U MISHPACHAT HA AZI-ELI ELEH HEM MISHPECHOT HA KEHATI
וְלִקְהָת מִשְׁפַּחַת הַעַמְרָמִי וּמִשְׁפַּחַת הַיִּצְהָרִי וּמִשְׁפַּחַת הַחֶבְרֹנִי וּמִשְׁפַּחַת הָעָזִּיאֵלִי אֵלֶּה הֵם מִשְׁפְּחֹת הַקְּהָתִי
KJ: And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and the family of the Izeharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites: these are the families of the Kohathites.
BN: And from Kehat came the family of the Am-Rami, and the family of the Yits'hari, and the family of the Chevroni, and the family of the Azi-Eli; these are the families of the Kehati.
3:28 BE MISPAR KOL ZACHAR MI BEN CHODESH VA MA'LAH SHEMONAT ALAPHIM VE SHESH ME'OT SHOMREY MISHMERET HA KODESH
בְּמִסְפַּר כָּל זָכָר מִבֶּן חֹדֶשׁ וָמָעְלָה שְׁמֹנַת אֲלָפִים וְשֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת שֹׁמְרֵי מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ
KJ: In the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were eight thousand and six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.
BN: The total number of all the males, from a month old and upward, eight thousand, six hundred, keepers of the charge of the sanctuary.
KAL or KOL? The difference is probably mediaeval rather than Biblical, a distinction between the Sephardi (Spanish and north African) and the Ashkenazi (western European).
3:29 MISHPECHOT BENEY KEHAT YACHANU AL YERECH HA MISHKAN TEYMANAH
מִשְׁפְּחֹת בְּנֵי קְהָת יַחֲנוּ עַל יֶרֶךְ הַמִּשְׁכָּן תֵּימָנָה
KJ: The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward.
BN: The families of the Beney Kehat will pitch on the south side of the Mishkan.
3:30 U NESI VEIT AV LE MISHPECHOT HA KEHATI ELI-TSAPHAN BEN UZI-EL
וּנְשִׂיא בֵית אָב לְמִשְׁפְּחֹת הַקְּהָתִי אֱלִיצָפָן בֶּן עֻזִּיאֵל
KJ: And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel.
BN: The clan-chief of the families of the Kehati was [will be?] Eli-Tsaphan ben Uzi-El.
UZI-EL: Do we have an Uzi-El and an Azi-El (see verse 27 et al)?
3:31 U MISHMARTEM HA ARON VE HA SHULCHAN VE HA MENORAH VE HA MIZBECHOT U CHELEY HA KODESH ASHER YESHARTU BAHEM VE HA MASACH VE CHOL AVODATO
וּמִשְׁמַרְתָּם הָאָרֹן וְהַשֻּׁלְחָן וְהַמְּנֹרָה וְהַמִּזְבְּחֹת וּכְלֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר יְשָׁרְתוּ בָּהֶם וְהַמָּסָךְ וְכֹל עֲבֹדָתוֹ
KJ: And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.
BN: And their duties were the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the screen, and everything that pertains to their usage.
3:32 U NESI NESIYEY HA LEVI EL-AZAR BEN AHARON HA KOHEN PEKUDAT SHOMREY MISHMERET HA KODESH
וּנְשִׂיא נְשִׂיאֵי הַלֵּוִי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן פְּקֻדַּת שֹׁמְרֵי מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ
KJ: And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be chief over the chief of the Levites, and have the oversight of them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.
BN: El-Azar ben Aharon the priest was the prince of the princes of the Leviyim, overseeing those who had duties in the sanctuary.
The Leviyim are thus subordinate to the Kohanim, and El-Azar is effectively the secular CEO.
3:33 LI MERARI MISHPACHAT HA MACHLI U MISHPACHAT HA MUSHI ELEH HEM MISHPECHOT MERARI
לִמְרָרִי מִשְׁפַּחַת הַמַּחְלִי וּמִשְׁפַּחַת הַמּוּשִׁי אֵלֶּה הֵם מִשְׁפְּחֹת מְרָרִי
KJ: Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the family of the Mushites: these are the families of Merari.
BN: To Merari the family of the Machli, and the family of the Mushi; these are the families of Merari.
3:34 U PHEKUDEYHEM BE MISPAR KAL ZACHAR MI BEN CHODESH VA MA'LAH SHESHET ALAPHIM U MATAYIM
וּפְקֻדֵיהֶם בְּמִסְפַּר כָּל זָכָר מִבֶּן חֹדֶשׁ וָמָעְלָה שֵׁשֶׁת אֲלָפִים וּמָאתָיִם
KJ: And those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two hundred.
BN: The total number of all the males, from a month old and upward, six thousand, two hundred.
3:35 U NESI VEIT AV LE MISHPECHAT MERARI TSURI-EL VEN AVI-CHAYIL AL YERECH HA MISHKAN YACHANU TSAPHONAH
וּנְשִׂיא בֵית אָב לְמִשְׁפְּחֹת מְרָרִי צוּרִיאֵל בֶּן אֲבִיחָיִל עַל יֶרֶךְ הַמִּשְׁכָּן יַחֲנוּ צָפֹנָה
KJ: And the chief of the house of the father of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail: these shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle northward.
BN: The clan-chief of the families of the Merari was Tsuri-El ben Avi-Chayil; they pitched on the north side of the Mishkan.
TSAPHONAH: Associating them with Dan, Asher and Naphtali. Dan was a son of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaiden, as was Naphtali; Asher was a son of Zilpah, Le'ah's handmaiden. Geographically, after the conquest, Asher and Naphtali would be adjacent, and in the north, whereas Dan would be on the Mediterranean coast, centrally, surrounded by Yehudah to the south, Ephrayim to the east and Menasheh to the north; however, after the first invasions by the Pelishtim (Philistines), around 1100 BCE, Dan moved to the north-east, in fact into the north of Naphtali; so this configuration reflects the map of Yisra-El from the time of Shemu-El (Samuel) onwards and may well help us to set an earliest possible date for the text.
3:36 U PHEKUDAT MISHMERET BENEY MERARI KARSHEY HA MISHKAN U VERICHAV VE AMUDAV VA ADANAV VE CHAL KEYLAV VE CHOL AVODATO
וּפְקֻדַּת מִשְׁמֶרֶת בְּנֵי מְרָרִי קַרְשֵׁי הַמִּשְׁכָּן וּבְרִיחָיו וְעַמֻּדָיו וַאֲדָנָיו וְכָל כֵּלָיו וְכֹל עֲבֹדָתוֹ
KJ: And under the custody and charge of the sons of Merari shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the vessels thereof, and all that serveth thereto,
BN: And the duties of the sons of Merari were [will be] the boards of the Mishkan, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, and all its tools and instruments, and everything that pertains to their usage;
VE CHAL AVODATO: What exactly does "pertain" to the service? Not the service itself, which is the role of the KOHEN. In modern-day equivalence, the Leviyim made sure there were candles and candlesticks and matches and a becher and wine and a challah and challah cover and a prayer book and kipot for the participants; but they also had to provide basic mechanical maintenance, carpentry and metalwork and plumbing, and this, it appears, was the role of the Beney Merari, though probably not as Harijan as the sweeping of the yard.
3:37 VE AMUDEY HE CHATSER SAVIV VE ADNEYHEM VIY'TEDOTAM U MEYTREYHEM
וְעַמֻּדֵי הֶחָצֵר סָבִיב וְאַדְנֵיהֶם וִיתֵדֹתָם וּמֵיתְרֵיהֶם
KJ: And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.
BN: And the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords.
Is there any overlap between the roles of the different "sons"? It does appear to be very precisely worked out to avoid any. Check though.
What we can now state, is that the tribe of Levi was different from every tribe in another way too, in that it has just been established not only on tribal, and clan, and family lines, but on caste lines too - to be Beney Machli and Beney Mushi was somewhat the equivalent of being Harijan in the Hindu caste system, a position in society that you were born into, and which your descendants in perpetuity will be born into, a holy state, but one at the very bottom of the societal ladder: "bespoke toilet-cleaner to the gods", in the case of the Harijan. But not in the case of the Leviyim, who now become the equivalent of the Worshipful Companies of the European Middle Ages: the Guild of Plasterers or Basket-Weavers, the Guild of Musicians or Choristers...
3:38 VE HA CHONIM LIPHNEY HA MISHKAN KEDMAH LIPHNEY OHEL MO'ED MIZRACHAH MOSHEHH VE AHARON U VANAV SHOMRIM MISHMERET HA MIKDASH LE MISHMERET BENEY YISRA-EL VE HA ZAR HA KAREV YUMAT
וְהַחֹנִים לִפְנֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן קֵדְמָה לִפְנֵי אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד מִזְרָחָה מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו שֹׁמְרִים מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְהַזָּר הַקָּרֵב יוּמָת
KJ: But those that encamp before the tabernacle toward the east, even before the tabernacle of the congregation eastward, shall be Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the sanctuary for the charge of the children of Israel; and the stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death.
BN: And those who pitched [will pitch] on the eastern side of the tabernacle, in front of the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise, were Mosheh, and Aharon and his sons, those who had duties in the Sanctuary, who were in charge of the Beney Yisra-El; and any common man who drew nigh was to be put to death.
KEDMAH...MIZRACHAH: Untranslateable into precise English, because all three usages for KEDMAH are employed simultaneously here - "forward" and "eastward" and "towards the sunrise", which of course is indeed eastward - emphasising beyond dispute in which direction the Beney Yisra-El were travelling, with their leaders where their leaders should be; but, as stated before, if they had crossed the Yam Suph (Red Sea) and were now therefore in southern Jordan, KEDMAH would make it a pilgrimage to Mecca, not Yeru-Shalayim!
MOSHEH VE AHARON U VANAV: If Mosheh had any sons, they would surely have been given jobs too, and would have been included in this list; so can we assume that he was either childless, or had only daughters? Yet Exodus 2:22 told us he had Gershom, and Exodus 18:2-4 Eli-Ezer. So where were they in all this? Please don't tell me they were a pair of spoiled brats who got away with doing nothing except preening their feathers as daddy's boys.
YUMAT: Again it is not clear if the man would be put to death by Man or god.
3:39 KOL PEKUDEY HA LEVIYIM ASHER PAKAD MOSHEH VE AHARON AL PI YHVH LE MISHPECHOTAM KAL ZACHAR MI BEN CHODESH VA MA'LAH SHENAYIM VE ESRIM ALEPH
כָּל פְּקוּדֵי הַלְוִיִּם אֲשֶׁר פָּקַד מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן עַל פִּי יְהוָה לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם כָּל זָכָר מִבֶּן חֹדֶשׁ וָמַעְלָה שְׁנַיִם וְעֶשְׂרִים אָלֶף
KJ: All that were numbered of the Levites, which Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, throughout their families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.
BN: The total number of the Leviyim, whom Mosheh and Aharon counted on the instruction of YHVH, by their families, all the males from a month old and upward: twenty-two thousand.
Is this a rounded-up number, or the precise count? Previously we appeared to get rounded numbers. Verse 43 and following is about to make this question significant.
3:40 VA YOMER YHVH EL MOSHEH PEKOD KOL BECHOR ZACHAR LI VENEY YISRA-EL MI BEN CHODESH VA MA'LAH VE SA ET MISPAR SHEMOTAM
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה פְּקֹד כָּל בְּכֹר זָכָר לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִבֶּן חֹדֶשׁ וָמָעְלָה וְשָׂא אֵת מִסְפַּר שְׁמֹתָם
KJ: And the LORD said unto Moses, Number all the firstborn of the males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
BN: Then YHVH said to Mosheh: Number all the first-born males of the Beney Yisra-El from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
This returns us to the first census: we are again counting the tribes, where this chapter has until now been counting only the Leviyim.
Where previously all the males were counted, but only from the age of 20 upwards, and specifically for the purpose of military conscription, now it is all the first-born who are being counted. In verse 12 YHVH told Mosheh he was claiming the Leviyim in place of the redemption of the first-born - and he will repeat this in the verse that follows - and we have seen what happens to first-borns from Kayin (Cain) to Passover; so we should now be reading in trepidation for what the great divine has up his sleeve.
Where previously all the males were counted, but only from the age of 20 upwards, and specifically for the purpose of military conscription, now it is all the first-born who are being counted. In verse 12 YHVH told Mosheh he was claiming the Leviyim in place of the redemption of the first-born - and he will repeat this in the verse that follows - and we have seen what happens to first-borns from Kayin (Cain) to Passover; so we should now be reading in trepidation for what the great divine has up his sleeve.
3:41 VE LAKACHTA ET HA LEVIYIM LI ANI YHVH TACHAT KAL BECHOR BI VENEY YISRA-EL VE ET BEHEMAT HA LEVIYIM TACHAT KAL BECHOR BE VEHEMAT BENEY YISRA-EL
וְלָקַחְתָּ אֶת הַלְוִיִּם לִי אֲנִי יְהוָה תַּחַת כָּל בְּכֹר בִּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֵת בֶּהֱמַת הַלְוִיִּם תַּחַת כָּל בְּכוֹר בְּבֶהֱמַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the LORD) instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children of Israel.
BN: And you shall take the Leviyim for me - I am YHVH - instead of all the first-born among the Beney Yisra-El; and the cattle of the Leviyim instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the Beney Yisra-El.
And with some relief we find it was only a reiteration of verse 12, with the addition of the Levite cattle being used to redeem... but wait a moment; doesn't this redeem all the other cattle too? Is this not a statement of the end of sacrifice? How are we to eat, if we cannot sacrifice our livestock? Or is this a shift, and now we can only sacrifice second and thirdborns? Are we reading the work of some later Prophet, with his "YHVH does not want your sacrifices, only your obedience"? This verse is problematic, and not just in the matter of the Pidyon ha Ben.
And if sacrifice is still intended, but the Levite's cattle alone can be sacrificed, thereby redeeming everybody else's - where, given that they have no land but only refuge-cities, with a few acres of pasture in their suburbs, where are the Levites supposed to procure these cattle, and pasture and graze them? Go back to the redemption passages in Leviticus, the ones relating to cheating at the sacrifices, and you will find the answer.
And why can I not find a single Rabbinic commentary, a single encyclopaedic entry, not even Rashi, to answer the questions posed in this verse?
3:42 VA YIPHKOD MOSHEH KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVH OTO ET KAL BECHOR BI VENEY YISRA-EL
וַיִּפְקֹד מֹשֶׁה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֹתוֹ אֶת כָּל בְּכוֹר בִּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And Moses numbered, as the LORD commanded him, all the firstborn among the children of Israel.
BN: And Mosheh made the count, as YHVH instructed him, of all the first-born among the Beney Yisra-El.
3:43 VA YEHI CHOL BECHOR ZACHAR BE MISPAR SHEMOT MI BEN CHODESH VA MA'LAH LI PHEKUDEYHEM SHENAYIM VE ESRIM ELEPH SHELOSHAH VE SHIIVIM U MATAYIM
וַיְהִי כָל בְּכוֹר זָכָר בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמֹת מִבֶּן חֹדֶשׁ וָמַעְלָה לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם שְׁנַיִם וְעֶשְׂרִים אֶלֶף שְׁלֹשָׁה וְשִׁבְעִים וּמָאתָיִם
KJ: And all the firstborn males by the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore and thirteen.
BN: And all the first-born males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that were counted, were twenty-two thousand, two hundred and seventy-three.
The number is really very surprising. Mosheh is counting all the firstborn males, not from the Leviyim but from the entire congregation.This is a world where parents were having 8 or 10 or 12 children, unlike our 1.9 or 2.4; let's take a median of 12 children per family, and allow for two girls, to get a generous median of 10 boys per family - one tenth (first-borns only are being counted) of 603,550 (Numbers 1:46) rounds out at sixty thousand; and to get that 603,550 down to the 22,273 counted here, we would need three times as many children in each family, or one-third as many people in the overall total. So which number is the wrong one?
And now look at verse 46!
And now look at verse 46!
3:44 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר
KJ: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
BN: Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh, saying:
3:45 KACH ET HA LEVIYIM TACHAT KOL BECHOR BI VENEY YISRA-EL VE ET BEHEMAT HA LEVIYIM TACHAT BEHEMTAM VE HAYU LI HA LEVIYIM ANI YHVH
קַח אֶת הַלְוִיִּם תַּחַת כָּל בְּכוֹר בִּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶת בֶּהֱמַת הַלְוִיִּם תַּחַת בְּהֶמְתָּם וְהָיוּ לִי הַלְוִיִּם אֲנִי יְהוָה
KJ: Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be mine: I am the LORD.
BN: Take the Leviyim instead of all the first-born among the Beney Yisra-El, and the cattle of the Leviyim instead of their cattle; and the Leviyim shall be mine. I am YHVH.
3:46 VE ET PEDUYEY HA SHELOSHAH VE HA SHIVIM VE HA MATAYIM HA ODEPHIM AL HA LEVIYIM MI BECHOR BENEY YISRA-EL
וְאֵת פְּדוּיֵי הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה וְהַשִּׁבְעִים וְהַמָּאתָיִם הָעֹדְפִים עַל הַלְוִיִּם מִבְּכוֹר בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל
KJ: And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and threescore and thirteen of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which are more than the Levites;
BN: And as to the redemption of the two hundred and seventy-three first-born of the children of Yisra-El, over and above the number of the Leviyim...
PEDUYEY: connected to PIDYON.
ODEPHIM: This is where the text becomes seriously problematic. We have just been told that there were 22,273 first-born males among the Beney Yisra-El, not including the Leviyim. But of these it appears, from this verse, that only 273 are going to be redeemed, leaving the other 22,000 (SHENAYIM VE ESRIM ELEPH in verse 43) as... we are not told what, and we are not told why. Verse 39 told us that the total number of first-born Leviyim was 22,000 (ignore for a moment the oddity that the smallest tribe should have as many as all the other tribes combined), so the 273 appears to be the leftovers if one Levite firstborn male is regarded as equivalent to one non-Levite firstborn male. That excess (ODEPH; see also verse 48) must therefore be redeemed by a payment of five shekels for each. But again, we are not told why. And, perhaps more significantly, we are not told who, or how they were selected? Do they now have special status within the tribe, whether higher or lower? Given that 273 ÷ 11 = 24.82, there can't even have been an equal distribution among the tribes. 273 is written in Yehudit as רזג (RAZAG) - from which there is no root to any other word in the language and therefore no gammatrial mystification that cane be made from it. But shhhhh! a RAZ is a "secret" or an "act of concealment" or even a "mystery" (Daniel 2:18), so maybe, maybe the website at this link really does have the god-given explanation.
3:47 VE LAKACHTA CHAMESHET CHAMESHET SHEKALIM LA GULGOLET BE SHEKEL HA KODESH TIKACH ESRIM GERAH HA SHAKEL
וְלָקַחְתָּ חֲמֵשֶׁת חֲמֵשֶׁת שְׁקָלִים לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ תִּקָּח עֶשְׂרִים גֵּרָה הַשָּׁקֶל
KJ: Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them: (the shekel is twenty gerahs:)
BN: You shall take five shekels apiece by the poll; after the shekel of the sanctuary you shall take them - the shekel is twenty gerahs.
But nevertheless and however, this is indeed the Pidyon ha-Ben, just not in the form that modern Judaism is accustomed.
GULGOLET: I have discussed this word before (see especially Numbers 1:2, and remain unconvinced either by the standard translation as "poll", or by my own alternative on this occasion. Note the link to Gil-Gal, and other forms of wheel.
I have also commented before on this "shekel of the Sanctuary", which must reflect a later period - Mosheh is unlikely to have been minting coins in the desert; and on the lack of economics training in YHVH, who appears not to know that the gold standard shifts, as do exchange rates, and that there is something called inflation.
GERAH: Equivalent in weight to about 5 grams - for more on this, click here.
GERAH: Equivalent in weight to about 5 grams - for more on this, click here.
3:48 VE NATATA HA KESEPH LE AHARON U LE VANAV PEDUYEY HA ODEPHIM BA HEM
וְנָתַתָּה הַכֶּסֶף לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו פְּדוּיֵי הָעֹדְפִים בָּהֶם
KJ: And thou shalt give the money, wherewith the odd number of them is to be redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.
BN: And you shall give the money with which the Odephim are redeemed to Aharon and to his sons.
Confirming that the 273 were indeed the difference between the two numbers, as in verse 46; though we are still not told how the 273 were chosen.
VE NATATAH: Note the use of the Vav Consecutive.
3:49 VA YIKACH MOSHEH ET KESEPH HA PIDYOM MEY EY HA ODEPHIM AL PEDUYEY HA LEVIYIM
וַיִּקַּח מֹשֶׁה אֵת כֶּסֶף הַפִּדְיוֹם מֵאֵת הָעֹדְפִים עַל פְּדוּיֵי הַלְוִיִּם
KJ: And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites:
BN: And Mosheh took the redemption-money from those who constitued the overage that was redeemed by the Leviyim.
At verse 48 I left Odephim in my translation; here I have gone for "overage", but not with any comfort - it makes it sound like produce in a factory, where these were living human beings. Overage is what you get at Auschwitz, when the gas chambers are full, but there are still people pouring off the trains.
3:50 ME ET BECHOR BENEY YISRA-EL LAKACH ET HA KASEPH CHAMISHAH VE SHISHIM U SHELOSH ME'OT VA ELEPH BE SHEKEL HA KODESH
מֵאֵת בְּכוֹר בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לָקַח אֶת הַכָּסֶף חֲמִשָּׁה וְשִׁשִּׁים וּשְׁלֹשׁ מֵאוֹת וָאֶלֶף בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ
KJ: Of the firstborn of the children of Israel took he the money; a thousand three hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
BN: He took the money from the first-born of the Beney Yisra-El: one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary.
Do a calculation of this based on the numbers counted, and the amount given - is it correct?
3:51 VA YITEN MOSHEH ET KESEPH HA PEDUYIM LE AHARON U LE VANAV AL PI YHVH KA ASHER TSIVAH YHVVH ET MOSHEH
וַיִּתֵּן מֹשֶׁה אֶת כֶּסֶף הַפְּדֻיִם לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו עַל פִּי יְהוָה כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת מֹשֶׁה
KJ: And Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.
BN: And Mosheh gave the redemption-money to Aharon and his sons, according to the word of YHVH, as YHVH instructed Mosheh.
pey break
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