Parashat Mas'ei

(Numbers 33:1 - 36:13)

Israel is here defined as those willing to fight to leave behind the pagan system that enslaved us and who are under the authority of the Torah and a Mediator (now, the Messiah).

It is helpful to occasionally look back to where we have been to see how far we have come, strengthen our gains, and be encouraged to keep on going, for our journey has a goal. Each stage is a new beginning, just as our soul is given back to us with each new day we awaken. YHWH teaches us something with each segment of our return to our Land, and we have to learn to deal with new conditions in each. When we become too comfortable with one point along the way, we are tempted to stay there, when this is not the final resting place He intends for us. (Mikha 2:10) This is how moves of YHWH—whether doctrines, worship styles, or philosophies--turn into sterile denominations. Remember they are just that--moves. When He moves on, we should not stay. So when He brings us into pleasant pastures, we must “rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11), for He may move His cloud again at any moment. But this does not mean we should neglect to put down stakes when he brings us to a stopping point; He says we should do everything with all our might (Eccles. 9:10) Then when it is time to move, if we are truly following Him, there will be nothing to fear.

The name Raamses exemplifies Egypt’s emphasis on the sun, so YHWH took Israel out by the full moon. Today’s pagan festivals are also based on the equinox or solstice of the sun; YHWH based His calendar on the moon, possibly to take away the undeserved attention the sun was receiving. Set out: the Hebrew term will be alternately translated "pulled up stakes", "broke camp", "journeyed", "departed", or "traveled" throughout this account. In the same way, "encamped" is expressed through a variety of phrases to avoid a sense of redundancy and bring out added nuances in the words as an example of the range of meaning that a single Hebrew word often has. High-handedly: boldly, in broad daylight. They were not sneaking out, but wanted Egypt to pay close attention to how superior YHWH was to their gods. As we move out of beliefs and relationships that are not of YHWH, we should not be ashamed or intimidated, but as a city set on a hill, light the way for others as a testimony of what YHWH has done.

Each of the ten plagues was directed against the domain of a particular one of the Egyptians' deities. And finally, not even a dog "sharpened its tongue" against them as they left. (Ex. 11:7) The Egyptians worshipped a dog as well. They had asked for this just vengeance by killing the Israelites’ sons, but even worse, they had been trying to hold YHWH’s “wife” captive (just as a former Pharaoh had done to their ancestor Avram). YHWH did what He had to do to overcome the “man” who had her attention. Pharaoh means “great house”, but YHWH’s war tent was greater still.

Sukkoth was where Yoseyf was buried. They took his bones along with them as he had requested.

Sukkoth is a celebration of the harvest; with the “plowshare” of the unity of all Israel which is renewed at this pilgrimage festival, we can “break new ground” for the next year’s growth. This Sukkoth was still in Egypt—a foreshadowing of the fact that we need to be gathering for this festival even before we can do it in the most ideal way in the Promised Land. Edge of the uninhabited territory (or wilderness): literally “the extremity of the place of speaking”.

Caves: Tz’fon can also mean “winter”. This is a time of darkness in which there are no prescribed times for all Israel to gather. The plowshare of bonding during Sukkoth provides us with a “cave”—a safe haven so there can be light within when it is dark outside. But the tower reminds us to be watchful lest the depressing darkness gain a foothold in us as in Egypt, where it caused everyone to look at himself rather than his brother. When they turned aside, the Egyptians thought they were stupidly walking into a trap, but it was just YHWH’s way of backing them up to a wall to teach them to trust Him.

9. Then they pulled up stakes from Marah, and pitched their tents at Eylim [large trees]. (Now at Eylim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, so they camped there.)

The twelve tribes of Israel have sustained the seventy nations (Gen. 10) with YHWH's word throughout history. But palm trees also represent the righteous. (Psalm 92:12) The time when the nations will be righteous is in the Messianic kingdom, yet, just as Sukkoth, another picture of the Kingdom, must end each year, Israel must keep moving on.

11. When they broke camp by the Sea of Reeds, they pitched camp in the Wilderness of Siyn [a thorn].

12. Then they traveled from the Wilderness of Siyn and set up camp in Dafqah [place of violent beating/hard driving].

13. From Dafqah they journeyed on and encamped at Alush [kneading].

Starting during the feast of Unleavened Bread (after the Exodus) we count fifty days until the loaves leavened with the permeating Kingdom are ready to be kneaded with the right ingredients to form YHWH’s “one bread” of unity.

15. so they moved on from Refiydim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai [thorny].

At the “thorny place”, they received the Torah, which was meant to “prick” their hearts in advance to keep their minds off their greedy desires:

This is where the flock of quails encountered the camp after they complained about the lack of savory food.

Chatzeroth: enclosed settlements, or sheepfolds shaped like a trumpet, since that appears to be the root word. The hidden picture here is that at the trumpet's sound, those who died in Y'shua will leave their graves (qibroth), and only our evil desires will be left behind.

A Midrash says that this is where the spies departed from when they went to explore the Land. This is the last place about which we have any other details given in Scripture. But the names of these places still give clues about what may have taken place there, and their order is instructive to us in our journey Home.

Pomegranate of a breach: or "split pomegranate". One archaeological find that is unquestionably from King Shlomo’s time is a carved pomegranate from the end of his scepter. The shield of his father David (the so-called star of David) is based on the shape of the six-petalled pomegranate flower and the shape of the bottom of its fruit. It is full of seeds (a reminder of YHWH’s promise to Avraham) and juice that looks like blood—where Torah says the life of the flesh resides. The Mashiakh holds David’s scepter now, and He stands in the breach for us.

White pavement: reminiscent of the Temple.

Even this far out of Egypt, ruin is still possible. If we turn away now, even our former righteousness will not be remembered. (Y’hezq’el/Ezek. 18:24) But if we continue, we will rebuild ancient ruins. (Yeshayahu/Isa. 58:12)

According to Midrash, the assembly this site was named after was that of Qorach and his followers.

24. When they journeyed on from Mount Shafer, they encamped at Haradah [place of anxious trembling].

A Midrash says the anxious trembling was due to the plague that occurred here. But the glistening beauty is gone from us as soon as we start being anxious about ourselves.

26. Departing from Maq'heloth, they set up camp at Takhath [the place beneath].

27. Then they pulled up stakes from Takhath, and encamped at Tharach [delayed traveler].

28. When they broke camp at Tharach, they pitched tents at Mithqah [sweetness/pleasant water].

29. Moving on from Mithqah, they set up camp at Hashmonah [place of affluence].

30. Setting out from Hashmonah, they camped at Moseroth [bands of chastening].

31. Upon departing from Moseroth, they encamped at B'ney Yaaqan.

B'ney Yaaqan means "sons of twisting", but it is a proper name; the fuller name of the place is The Wells of the Sons of Yaaqan. When YHWH chastens us (v. 30), we tend to twist the facts to make it look like the one doing the chastening is the one at fault.

33. When they set out from Chor haGidgad, they pitched their tents at Yotbathah [pleasantness].

34. Then they departed from Yotbathah and camped at Abronah [the pass].

35. And they pulled up from Abronah and encamped at Etzion-Gever [backbone of a strong man].

Etzion-Gever is at the site of present-day Eilat, at the northern tip of the eastern branch of the Sea of Reeds. The huge copper-smelting forges later built there did indeed become a backbone of Israel’s economy.

This was where Miryam died.

38. And Aharon the cohen went up into Mount Chor upon the command of YHWH, and died there in the fortieth year of the descendants of Israel's exodus from Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first of the month.

First of the month: literally, the "one" or "unifying", or the "sharp watershed" (point of decision to go one way or another). This date (the first of Av) falls during the three weeks later marked between the time Yerushalayim's wall was breached and the burning of the Temple, and there was a loss of a different type.

This is three years older than YHWH told Noach that man's lifespan would be. (Gen. 6:3) Perhaps he had his lifespan extended because he honored his parents, as the fifth commandment promises.

41. they broke camp from Mount Chor, and pitched their tents at Tzalmonah [shady spot].

42. When they pulled up from Tzalmonah, they encamped at Punon [dark perplexity].

Midrash says this was the place where the "burning serpents" bit the people. Such a copper-colored serpent is common in the Jordanian desert near Wadi Rum, which is a more recent theory about where Qadesh-Barnea was actually located, as no remains from the era of the exodus have been found at the traditional site.

44. Traveling from Ovoth, they camped at Iyey-haAvarim [ruins of the fords] on the border of Moav.

45. Then they moved on from the ruins, and set up camp at Dibon-Gad [wasting away of fortune].

46. Then they set out from Dibon-Gad and camped at Almon-Diblathayimah [concealing of the two fig-cakes],

47. then journeyed forward from Almon-Diblathayimah and pitched their tents in the mountains of Avarim, facing Nevo [a prophet].

48. Then they pulled up from the mountains of Avarim, and encamped in the transitional lands of Moav [from the father] by the Yarden of Yericho.

49. Then they camped by the Yarden, from Beyth Yeshimon [place of wasteland] to the Meadow of Acacias in the transitional lands of Moav.

There were 42 stages in their journey, which lasted 40 years. After all this wandering, the time was finally coming to settle down. (v. 53)

51. "Speak to the sons of Israel and tell them, ‘When you have crossed the Yarden into the Land of Kanaan,

52. "‘then you must drive out all the inhabitants of the Land from your presence, destroy all their carved figures, blot out all their molten images, and cause all their cultic platforms to be annihilated.

Drive out: humanely give them the opening to leave or convert to following YHWH, but if they stay to fight, kill them. Figures: or stones. If we are concentrating on praising Him instead of in winning the battles as such, He will defeat our enemies for us, though we are the ones that carry out the action.

54. "‘Now you shall allot the land [systematically] by lot to be an inheritance for your clans; those that are large you shall give a larger share, and those who are few you shall give a smaller share. To whomever the lot falls out, it is his. You shall receive your inheritance for the tribal staffs of your ancestors.

For the tribal staffs: actually for the sake of one's ancestors. It could read: "according to the tribes of your fathers". To whomever the lots falls: This way no one could be accused of unjust treatment.

Cramp you: perhaps they would continue contending for space, as with Yitzhaq's wells, and today's Land of Israel, where the inhabitants were allowed to return after they fled in 1948. Israel needs the things from ourt past pagan lives out of the way so we can stay as close as possible to YHWH. Paul’s Roman citizenship opened some doors for him, but also ended up being his demise. (Acts ) Thorn: This raises the question of whether Paul went too far in "becoming as one without Torah to those not under Torah",to the point of encouraging their customs, since he too was given a "thorn in the flesh". (2 Cor. 12:7)

If we don't obey, we will become "them" if we let them remain, for we will become like them, and He will let our blood cleanse the Land instead. (We will be destroyed because of being in their midst.)

CHAPTER 34

2. "Give the descendants of Israel orders, telling them, ‘When you enter the land of Kanaan, this is the territory that will fall to you as inherited property (the Land of Kanaan up to its borders):

The overall boundaries of the Land were established before they went into it, lest they decide to only claim what they might win in war.

Salt Sea: also called the Dead Sea. The land of Edom is just south of the Dead Sea, in the mountains of Seir toward Petra. But in the Hebrew text here we can see a deeper pattern that links Israelites ourselves and our very clothing to our Land. The word for “edge” here is peah, which is also used of the sides of the head and extremities of the beard, which YHWH commands us not to shave or disfigure. (Lev. 19:27) These are to serve as reminders like “guards” posted around the gates of the eyes, nose, and mouth, at the four corners of our face. YHWH used them as an allegory of Israelites. (Y’hezq’el 5) Peah is also sometimes translated “quarter”, and in Num. 15:38 and Deut. 22:12 YHWH commands us to put fringes on the four corners of our outer garments as a reminder to keep His commandments and be thereby set apart. They are called tzitziyoth, which essentially means “attention-getters”. Y’hezq’el’s actions bespeak Israel divided into three portions, only one of which would survive judgment, and only a small portion of it would be placed in the corners of YHWH’s garments—i.e., tied into His tzitziyoth--for safe-keeping. The word for border here means an area enclosed or bound together by a cord. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 speaks of how much better it is to have a companion to help in times of difficulty, but that having a threefold cord makes the bond very hard to break. The two houses of Israel can be bound together by the words of the prophets, the priesthood functioning as commanded, a king, or by the Messiah Himself. But the common denominator that all of these are based on is the Torah. Our focus should not be so much on introducing Yehudah to the Messiah as pointing them back toward the Torah that only a minority actually observe, and the prophets which few read, for they plainly define the parameters for the Messiah. Our focus should also not be on finding ways to unite with the Jews in their current condition, but on keeping the Torah ourselves, and then our commonalities will be obvious to them. As each becomes interwoven with Torah, we cannot help but become interwoven with one another as well, but it must come in that order. Our focus should not be on finding political ways to emigrate to Israel, for under its present regime we have to deny Israel’s true King to do so. That would be entering the sheepfold like a robber; Y’shua says to enter by the door. (Yoch. 10:1-9) The tzitziyoth are outside a garment, yet attached to it as an extension of it. They guard the corners. Though we cannot at present get to within the walls, we can build watchtowers on its very edges. As we move into the Torah, we will establish the way back into the Land. While we are in exile from the Land of Israel proper, there is something else we need to enter into before we can be fit to dwell in His set-apart Land again, and we already have access to it. It is the Torah—the specifics of the covenant by which we can be tenants on YHWH’s Land. (Lev. 25:23) Y’shua said we must not loosen this cord. (Mat. 5:19) We cannot expand the boundaries of the Torah, though within them we have great freedom. (Psalm 119:45; Gal. 5:13; Yaaqov/ James 1:25) He gave His students authority to bind or loose (Mat. 16:19)—legal terminology for how strictly we rule on specific ways of walking out the commands. He said whatever we bind on earth will be “having been bound” in heaven (a shorthand for “the Kingdom of Heaven”). That Kingdom is the age that the Sabbath foreshadows. Just as we have to live with whatever preparations we have been able to finish prior to the Sabbath, and cannot add to them once it begins, the things we do not bind firmly in place before the Kingdom will be the rulings we have to live by once the Kingdom is fully here. That is why He tells us to tighten rather than loosening. The Torah defines the boundaries by which we can interpret any other Scripture. (Yeshayahu/ Isa. 8:20) This eliminates confusion; our yes will be yes and our no a clear no. Nothing Y’shua or Paul says may be construed to appear contradictory. (Mat. 5:17; Acts 21:24; 28:17; Rom. 3:31) Thus our focus must first be on becoming Israelites so that we can remain inhabitants of Israel once YHWH’s time is fulfilled for us to go there. If not, the last verses of the previous chapter will certainly come to pass again. We must be holy, or our being in the Holy Land will only defile it again. We cannot consider anyone Israel if they want to act outside of the boundaries it sets. Y’hoshua takes only the people who submit to Moshe into the Land.

Tzin: the LXX specifies Ennak, possibly a particular place in that wilderness.

Wadi of Egypt: not actually in Egypt, but southwest of Gaza miles beyond where today’s border ends. However, the Negev (within today’s borders) was not fully possessed until Shlomo’s time. (1 Kings 9:26)

With a coast: Hirsch, "with its district"—i.e., the waters under Israel’s jurisdiction; he cites Gittin 8a, which says an island archipelago was included. It appears that in the Kingdom, each of the twelve tribes will have a coastline. (Y’hezq’el 47-48)

Mount Hor: not the same mountain where Aharon died; this one is in Lebanon.

The entrance to Hamath: or the way into Hamath, a city close to Damasek [Damascus]. How would they draw a straight line to a road? The full title of the location is seen in 13:21: "the wide place at the entrance to Hamath"—i.e., the landmark was a gap or pass into Syria that leads to Hamath from Israel.

10. "‘Then you shall mark out a line for yourselves from Chatzer-Eynan to Sh'fam [barren, wind-swept place] to be your eastern border.

Some of the exact locations are unknown, but the future borders of Israel will be much larger when all the tribes return. (Zech. 10:10)

12. "‘Then the border shall go down to the Yarden, then its termination point will be the Salt Sea; this shall be your land, by its borders on every side.'"

13. So Moshe gave orders to the descendants of Israel, saying, "This is the Land which you shall receive as an inheritance by lot, which YHWH has ordained to be given to the nine and a half tribes,

14. "since the tribe of Reuven by their ancestral households and the tribe of Gad by their ancestral households have received, and half of the tribe of Menashe have received their share;

15. "the two and a half tribes have received their apportioned property across the Yarden from Yericho--eastward toward where the sun rises."

16. Then YHWH spoke to Moshe, saying,

17. "These are the names of the men who will divide out the Land for you: El'azar the cohen and Y'hoshua the son of Nun.

Y’hoshua and El’azar would divide the land only between tribes, according to how large each tribe was (26:54-56); the division within tribes was to be handled by leaders YHWH designated within each tribe:

Select: yet YHWH identified for him whom he was to choose:

20. "for the tribe of the sons of Shim'on, Shmuel ["El is his name"] the son of Ammihud [my nation is majestic];

21. "for the tribe of Binyamin, Elidad [My Elohim has loved] the son of Kislon [confidence];

22. "for the tribe of the sons of Dan, Prince Buqi [one who lays waste] the son of Yaugli [my exile];

Prince: the pattern changes here and continued for the rest of the tribes. The previous three are those that would later be counted as the Southern Kingdom.

24. "and from the tribe of the sons of Efrayim, Prince Q'muel [raised up by Elohim] the son of Shiftan [judicial];

25. "and of the tribe of the sons of Z'vulun, Elitzafan [Elohim has protected] the son of Parnach [delicate];

26. "and of the tribe of the sons of Issachar, Prince Paltiel [Elohim delivers] the son of Azzan [firm and prevailing];

27. "and of the tribe of the sons of Asher, Prince Achihud [my brother is majestic] the son of Shlomi [my peace];

28. "and of the tribe of the sons of Nafthali, Prince Pedah'el [ransomed by Elohim] the son of Ammihud."

29. These are [the ones] whom YHWH appointed to divide the allotment to the descendants of Israel in the Land of Kanaan.

No leader is designated to divide Reuven’s and Gad’s land, for it is outside the Land of Israel proper, and has presumably already been mapped out so their families could occupy all of this extra territory to keep the former inhabitants from coming back. Thus only ten men are listed here, which is considered a minyan, or quorum, for an entire congregation. (Based on Gen. 18:32; compare Z’kharyah 8:23)

CHAPTER 35

2. "Give orders to the descendants of Israel, and they will grant to the Levites, from the property of their inheritance, cities to dwell in. You shall also provide for the Levites open land around the cities.

Levites: Their name means “attached” or “joined”, and indeed this tribe was joined to YHWH in a special way beyond the rest of Israel’s relationship to Him. They were an “upper class”, highly respected because they were the ones who gave more and served more. They had no inheritance except these cities and the small amount of land that came with them, for they were occupied with YHWH’s particular business and with teaching the Torah to the rest of Israel and providing for widows and orphans. Open land: or common land, since it includes the city itself (v. 5). But the word stems from a word meaning to cast out, expel, or drive out—even used of divorce. It was like a buffer of protection for those seeking asylum there (v. 6ff) It most likely had a hedge of thorns at the extremity in addition to the city wall, as an added way of designating the safe zone. The term for “keeping” the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:15) implies (in Hebrew) building such a hedge about it for the sake of guarding it or keeping it confined, as the kh’ruvim with flaming swords later had to do. (Gen. 3:15) Chavvah had actually begun to do this, for she knew that if she did not touch the fruit (3:3), she certainly would not eat it. There was nothing wrong with this. Avraham was told to guard YHWH’s covenant in the same way (Gen. 17:9-10), and indeed the fences that were built around Torah to help people stay at least one step further away from disobedience have, for the most part, been very healthy measures. It is only when they have excluded Y’shua or obscured the actual commandments that Yehudah’s fences have become excessive. (Mat. 15:3, 6) We cannot re-enter the Land before courts of judgment for Israel are established, as was done under Moshe the first time. Yehudah has just recently again established a Beyth Din (House of Judgment) such as has not existed since shortly after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. Qayin asked if he was his brother’s keeper (Gen. 4:9), and we are indeed intended to “keep our brothers confined” within the parameters of the Torah. We are responsible to help one another drive out our personal ambitions so we can look out for the interests of our fellows and help one another guard against making covenants with those outside (Ex. 34:12), who are really out to consume Israel for their own ends. By guarding YHWH’s set-apart times (Ex. 12:17ff; 31:14) we also guard Israel with in a hedge. This common land is still set-apart—i.e., it is for Israel alone and those who want to join her, not just anyone.

Animals: As we saw in chapter 34, the Torah is like the hem around a garment to which we attach our tzitziyoth, and serves as the proper gateway to our further inheritance as Israel. Here YHWH speaks of some additional borders that must be established before He lets Israel into the Land. As there was extra area annexed to Israel to deal with animals in particular (chapter 32), this added land is for animals as well. The Torah deals with our “animal” nature so that we can have our Land in common. As Israel had to drive out the former inhabitants of the Land, we need to displace the parts of ourselves that act like selfish animals, so that we can live in community with one another. And living in community also helps us displace even more of it. What we guard in common is what attaches us to one another. Storage: for tithes to be taken to the Temple during the three pilgrimage festivals and the two additional trips each "course" took each year to serve in the Temple, as well as the storehouses for assistance for widows and orphans, for which the Levites are responsible. Livelihood: literally, "living things", often another word for animals, but this would seem redundant here; Hirsch translates it, "amenities of their lives".

A thousand cubits: 1,500 to 1,667 feet, depending on the cubit, or approximately half a kilometer.

Common land of the cities: i.e., the entire precinct (v. 27), including the city itself. If we consider verses 4 and 5 an “algebra problem” that leaves out the fact that the city itself must also be rebuilt as a square 2,000 cubits by 2,000 cubits. Then the 2,000 cubits “from the outside” (v. 5), i.e., the outer edge of the designated area, measured toward the center and meeting at the center from all four directions, agrees with the 1,000 cubits measured outward from the city wall (v. 4). Any other interpretation seems to become contradictory at some point. There are thus two concentric squares. The entire area, then, measures 4,000 by 4,000 cubits, or 16 million square cubits. This is over a mile (close to two kilometers) in each direction. The area surrounding the city would constitute over 625 acres for all the uses listed in v. 3. The four corners would extend beyond the 1,000 cubits from the city if brought to a right angle. The corners might have been used to grow food for the widows and orphans, in a larger-scale example of Lev. 19:9, like tzitziyoth on the four corners of a square garment (Num. 15:38), reminding the rest of Israel to keep this commandment for the sake of the very same needy persons.

Asylum: See v. 11ff.

8. "And the cities which you shall dedicate [shall come] from the inherited property of the descendants of Israel. From where [there are] many you shall [require] more, and from where [there are] few, diminish [what you require]; each tribe shall give of its cities to the Levites according to the size of the property which he acquires as a possession."

YHWH gave this instruction before the Land was divided among the tribes so that this requirement could be taken into account when determining how much area each tribe needed. Size: an Aramaic paraphrase for the Hebrew "mouth", an idiom for what it can afford or what it has to provide for--how many "mouths it has to feed".

9. Then YHWH told Moshe,

10. "Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you cross the Yarden into the land of Kanaan,

11. "‘you shall appoint cities to be asylum-cities to which the manslayer--one who kills a person inadvertently--may escape [for refuge].

Asylum: or "reception". Inadvertently: literally, without paying attention; i.e., he was not careful, and ended up killing someone, though he meant no harm.

Avenger: the same word as the "kinsman redeemer" illustrated in the book of Ruth. Usually the closest male relative, or the firstborn male of one’s generation. He had a dual role of restoring the inheritance to a relative who lost it, as well as avenging the blood of a relative. Hirsch renders it "acceptor of responsibility for the blood" (see v. 33). The Man of Light, the original Adam who fully bore Elohim's image, was "destroyed" when Adam ate the forbidden fruit. By being born of Adam, his "murderer", we all share in the guilt he incurred when we were within him (Rom. 5:12-19), and thus his kinsman, the "king of Tzor", another heavenly being, has a right to the blood of each of us. But as long as we stay under Y’shua our advocate--the protection designated by YHWH--he cannot attack us. Until: If he is found by two or more credible witnesses to have hated the victim or wanted to harm him, there is no further protection for him. (Heb. 10:26)

14. "‘You shall designate three of the cities on [this] side of the Yarden, and three of the cities you shall designate within the Land of Kanaan; they shall serve as cities of asylum.

Only one sixth of the population lived east of the Yarden, yet half of the Cities of Refuge were there. Those who preferred to live apart from the rest of the community of Israel may have been less careful to avoid situations where they might accidentally harm someone, and thus had more occasion to utilize the cities. The particular cities are listed in Y’hoshua 21:13, 21, 27, 32, 38.

Though the intent was not malicious, there is a price to pay for one's carelessness: he could not live at his own home for a designated amount of time (v. 28), unless he wished to risk allowing the avenger to carry out his right at any time without warning. (v. 19)

Murderer: the term connotes intentional slaughter. The old adage, “He doesn’t know his own strength” comes into play here, as a stronger man might injure a weaker with very little effort, whereas anything that can be realistically construed as a weapon takes away one’s disadvantage. If he could pick up a tool he had enough time to think of what he was doing, and is thus responsible for his action. Such persons, when proven guilty, are no longer under the protection of this law.

18. "‘Also, if he hits him with a hand-tool [made] of wood by which one can die, and he does die, he [too] is a murderer; the murderer must die by execution.

By which one can die: certain kinds of wood are not strong enough to be considered weapon material.

May: or, must. (See v. 33.) While the government is to ensure justice in the matter, in Israel it is not the government that carries it out, but the one with the same bloodline as the one wronged.

Ambush: Hirsch, "intended aim". Of course this refers to internal affairs in Israel; it does not apply in war situations.

The Aramaic paraphrase adds the phrase "after he is convicted".

Premeditation: or "ambush". Pushes: or "thrusts away" or "thrusts through". Suddenly: literally, "in the opening of an eye"; i.e., without premeditation and ostensibly by "accident" on his part, leaving the responsibility with YHWH's sovereign decision.

Without seeing him: he might have aimed at what he thought was an animal attacking his sheep at night, when in fact it was a neighbor approaching.

Verdict: i.e., determination of a fair restitution price, only permissible if it is not judged to be a murder.

The community: on a deeper level, it is being part of a community in itself that keeps us from being left alone against the wiles of the adversary and from falling into further sin. Safe conduct back: The trial would be conducted where the event took place. Anointed high priest: a clear prototype of the Messiah, who died not for intentional wrongdoers, but for those who were in sin by virtue of being born in exile under parents who had inherited lies. Our sins are what killed him, but at the same time, our High Priest died, allowing us the right to return to our inheritance of being part of the Commonwealth of Israel. (Eph. 2:12) As the Cities of Refuge became vacant for a while (except for the permanent Levite residents) after the high priest's death, so when Y'shua died he "descended" and proclaimed release (Eph. 4:9-10) to the "spirits under guard"--kept waiting in such a "detention center"(1 Kefa/Peter 3:19), and their graves were emptied out, and they returned to the holy city (Mat. 27:52-3).

27. "‘and the avenger of blood catches up with him outside the precinct of the city, and the avenger of blood strikes down the manslayer, no blood [guilt is incurred] for him,

28. "‘because he [should have] remained in the asylum city until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the manslayer may return to the land of his inheritance.

The high priest is the one who bears the blood of atonement for the entire community of Israel at Yom Kippur. Part of his prayer on that day is that YHWH will remove the blood-guilt of the Land. Therefore, he is the HaSatan is portrayed by the "nearer kinsman" in the story of Boaz and Ruth, who can legally claim our lives if we are not hidden within the "ark of refuge", the amnesty that comes only through the death of the Y'shua, our "Great High Priest" as well as our redeemer. This also applies on the level of the exiled Northern Kingdom, who were permitted to begin the walk back to their inheritance as soon as the proclamation went forth.

Please you settle: or "place you sit", as when holding court.

The final phrase literally says, "One witness may not testify against a soul to death."

Ransom: or bribe. If someone who is guilty is let off the hook, the Land will not be redeemed. Thus avenging the individual is not the only consideration. Only justice can keep the Land from being defiled; no amount of money can do so, even if it seems to satisfy the one who lost a relative. Forgiveness is not a virtue when YHWH has commanded retribution.

33. "‘so you will not defile the Land which you are in, because blood profanes the Land, and the Land cannot be covered over for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it,

Defiles: profanes or makes common rather than holy (set apart); i.e., it makes Israel just like the rest of the world, as it is today until atonement (this covering, propitiation, reconciliation) is made again. The High Priest can thus be the only legitimate substitute for the killer if he did so by accident. But there is still guilt for the death, and this pollutes the Land until one of these two dies.

CHAPTER 36

Heads of the fathers: i.e., of the fathers' households.

3. "But [if] they should become the wives to one of the sons of the [other] tribes of Israel, then their inherited property will be withdrawn from the inherited property of our ancestors and be added onto the inheritance of the tribe to which they will belong; thus it will be diminished from the lot assigned as our property!

Withdrawn: diminished, "clipped back", taken away. To which they will belong: i.e., into which they marry.

This was not a selfish complaint such as Moshe was used to hearing (e.g., 16:14), but one that reflected the fact that they had put much thought into the possible consequences of an earlier ruling. (27:1-11) They wanted clarification to ensure that it did not remain ambiguous so that no one might twist the properly ordered pattern of justice for their own gain.

Right: fair, well-founded, in the right place.

7. "so the inherited property of the descendants of Israel will not be turned over from tribe to tribe, because each of the descendants of Israel will stick to the inheritance of the tribe of his ancestors.

There is very pictorial language here. The word for "inherited property" or heritage (nakhalah) is literally "that which flows", and the term for "turned over" here could mean "turn about" or "loop around", like a river that changes its course and leaves stagnant oxbow lakes in its wake. Aramaic, "circulate". A parallel idea is the command for a childless widow to remarry within the same family so that her husband’s name is not blotted out. (Deut. 25:5ff) The nearest of kin is also the one with the primary responsibility to redeem a lost inheritance that a family member had lost. We see this exemplified best in the history of Ruth, where there are two men capable of redeeming Naomi’s heritage after her now-deceased husband left the land during a famine, though he had wealthy relatives. The first in line is unwilling to accept her son Kilyon’s widow and raise up a son in his name, because it would cut into what he could leave to his own children. Kilyon’s name means “pining, wasting away, failing, or spent”. He is a picture of all of us who were born in an exile our ancestors imposed on us, for it left us seriously weakened. Yet the one who joined herself to him accepted his heritage as her own, and she is also described as having “returned” to Israel (Ruth 1:22), though she had grown up as a pagan. The hearer kinsman (Ruth 4), whose name means “distinguished divorced one or outcast”, did not understand this. The one who was created first in line to be YHWH’s bride has the first right of redemption, but did not want to help the Northern Kingdom reclaim its heritage, preferring rather to grasp for an inheritance never offered her—equality with YHWH. Y’shua, on the other hand, refused that temptation (Phil. 2:5ff) and paid the higher price so that not only Yehudah, but Efrayim as well, could be bought back, and because of this was given still more as his inheritance. (Yeshayahu 49:6) Because of Boaz, Kilyon’s name is still known today. In fact, his grandson Yishai’s name means, “I exist!” Boaz means “swiftness”, for he was quick to respond to his relatives’ need, and now they were no longer wasting away as before. So though Boaz fathered this child for Kilyon, the genealogies list this son, Oved, as Boaz’s son rather than Kilyon’s. (1 Chron. 2:12; Mat. 1:5) Though we were brought back to YHWH first through the Church, but it proved fruitless since it did not bring us back to our heritage, so it no longer receives credit, whereas the heritage the Jews preserved has borne for Y’shua the kind of fruit He was looking for. Oved means “serving”, and that is how those who have realized that the Northern Kingdom again “exists” are manifesting themselves, proving that existence to be real. And because of this, Yishai’s son, David—the beloved one—can return, for now He (as Y’shua) has a kingdom to reign over.

This case was established as a precedent for all comparable cases in all Israel. Daughter who inherits property: applies only to one who has no brothers.

10. So the daughters of Tz'lafchad did just as YHWH had commanded Moshe:

11. Machlah, Tirtzah, Choglah, Milkah, and Noah, Tz'lafchad's daughters, became wives to the sons of their father's brothers.

12. They married into the families of the sons of Menashe, the son of Yoseyf, and their inheritance remained upon the tribe of the family of their father.

13. These are the orders and legal procedures that YHWH caused to be commanded by the hand of Moshe to the descendants of Israel on the transitional land of Moav, by the Yarden of Yericho.

This account underlines the importance of protecting our heritage. The root word of nakhalah (inherited property) is nakhal, which is a river bed or a mine shaft—a channel for life-giving water or a way to get to the treasure. Water is often a picture of YHWH’s word, and indeed, as we saw in the previous chapters, the heritage that we must inhabit before we can proceed any further and inhabit the Land of our heritage is the Torah. YHWH has begun to restore it to us, letting us know that Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov are indeed our ancestors. We have the name Israelite—itself an inheritance deeper than anything our more recent forebears could leave to us. And YHWH has promised an inheritance to Israel (Ps. 136:21-22), so receiving it depends on accepting that identity and that perspective. Like Esau (Gen. 25:30), we had sold our inheritance because of our fleshly cravings. The Church pawned away its heritage for some other red stuff—“the blood of Jesus”, opting instead for the diversionary offer of a new inheritance--going to heaven --rather than receiving the Messiah’s intent—the return to our original inheritance, which is merely stored in heaven where nothing can ruin it until it is time to return to earth. (1 Kefa/Peter 1:4; Mat. 6:20) Part of our inheritance is to be His inheritance. (Ex. 34:9) The yovel year is a season for everyone to return to his inheritance. There is no guarantee that if someone remained outside the Land that year, a relative could buy it back for him. Let us not risk letting the season pass. The only way to be ready is to get in step with His pattern of cycles now so that we are already in season and ready to recognize it when it arrives. Until we guard the inheritance He has given us (e.g., Lev. 19:30), we cannot receive the rest.