Parashat Mattoth

(Numbers 30:1 - 32:42)

In the remaining chapters of this book, Moshe is trying to prepare the children of those who perished in the wilderness to receive their inheritance of land. But before they can do so, they—and we, who are in the same position—have to learn to appreciate something else. The Torah is a large part, but not the totality of that thing. What is it? It is their heritage—the intangible things we inherit that make us who we are. It encompasses much more than our physical inheritance of land, possessions, or money. It has to do with who we are and where we came from. It includes how we reason, how we approach life, and what we see as important. It is defined, in part, by the character of our forebears. An Israelite is by definition hospitable, or he brings shame to his ancestor Avraham. Yaaqov's endurance and Yitzhaq's constant searching for water also tell us what kind of people we are supposed to be as we return to the heritage that we had lost for 2,700 years. We will not all be identical, but we must embrace the best examples of righteousness that our forefathers exemplified. Only by protecting these can we properly protect the physical inheritance. This verse already gives us two aspects of our heritage: Israel's tribes and their leaders. If there is no one in charge, our unity will very quickly fall apart. All of Israel is responsible for the whole Torah, but the heads, to whom he is speaking, are responsible for the Torah to a greater degree and in more ways. The Hebrew word for "head" comes from a word for "first", so the leaders should be the first to respond to YHWH's will and then inform the rest of the people of that will and enforce their obedience. But the deeper root of the word for "first" means "shaken", as a head can shake, and as heads of grain are shaken to loosen their hulls to expose the kernels, since the outer shells are useless in the process of making bread. Then comes the crushing between two stones (the two tablets of the Torah) so the individual kernels can no longer be told apart and we can become "one bread" (1 Cor. 10:17). Avram was shaken loose from everything he knew. Moshe was twice shaken loose from his comfort zones, and was made the shepherd of al Israel. David was shaken from his shepherding to become the king of both houses. The 12 apostles were shaken from their lucrative jobs and families to become the foundation for the restoration of the Kingdom. They were made responsible to turn others into leaders as well. When one responds to YHWH's shaking by removing the prioritizing of self, he is a candidate for leadership. Moshe knew he was about to die, so he was trying to get enough instruction into the leaders of Israel so they would be wise enough to go on and keep Israel going without him. They had recently broken their vow to YHWH and had an adulterous "affair" with Ba'al-Peor. Pin'has stopped YHWH's wrath, but the stench of adultery is still on the people. So He addresses the issue at the most basic level--the personal one:

Integrity is a big part of our heritage. The corporate drawing-near outlined in ch. 29 depends on Israel being built of trustworthy individuals. Israelites are to be people who live up to their word. Whatever proceeds from one's mouth IS a vow. Words are extremely powerful. (Yaaqov/James 3:1-6) One who makes a vow by Hebraic definition promises to complete something, so it can be considered "done", and be depended upon. The person to whom we make the promise is incomplete until we fulfill the vow, and so are we. Obligation onto his soul: That is, we must do everything within our power to see that what we have said takes place. The term "bind" means "to yoke" or "to hitch", but also (very appropriate to this context) to "join in battle". We win battles by what comes out of our mouths. We are bound to one another. In fact, we are yoked to whomever we make a promise to, so we must not make agreements with those who do not keep the Torah if they will in any way require us to break or even loosen the Torah. (Ex. 23:32; Hoshea 1:3ff) We must be careful who we say "yes" to, and even what we imply. An oath involves more than just what we say. If we respond to a call for volunteers, just being present implies that we are there to help. If we do not follow through, we cannot simply say, "But I never said that I would." Sitting under a teacher is in itself a vow. Showing up at community meetings implies we will be there for one another whenever needed. Simply saying, "I'll see you next Sabbath" includes all the expectations that go along with that, whether it means we will have something to teach or simply that we will show up prepared to do justice in our worship to YHWH. The words of a leader bind his soul to the people whom he is responsible to teach that their words are just as binding. They may be judged less strictly than he, but take no comfort in that; it is to our shame if we are. Break his word: literally, "profane his word"--make it common rather than holy. The term also means to wound by piercing. Now his blood, which contains our life, will leak out. How can we win the battle if we cannot trust those in the foxholes beside us? Moshe brought YHWH's words to the people, and their words back to Him—the promise to do all that YHWH had spoken. (Ex. 19:7ff; 24:3.7) Our covenant is based on words, and our ancestors bound not just themselves, but their descendants—us—to it as well. Now, after almost 3,000 years of not upholding it, Israel is returning to it. Ecclesiastes 5:4 tells us to fulfill our vows since YHWH has no pleasure in fools. We must think before we speak, weighing out our words in advance. If someone forgets his vow, he becomes responsible to do something about it as soon as he remembers. (Lev. 5:4) Scripturally, a vow usually refers to something in regard to the Temple--that is, a vow is made to YHWH Himself. This is why Yahshua stressed how wrong it was to say that to swear by one thing was binding but to swear by another was not. His brother Yaaqov would echo that such a man is a spring that gives two kinds of water; if one cannot trust someone when he speaks plainly (a simple "yes" or "no", Mat. 5:33), his word is worthless. Yahshua says it is better not to make any oath at all. One has not committed a wrong if he refrains from making any vows (Deut. 23); it is a voluntary means of expressing his love for YHWH in a deeper way than was required, but when it came to be expected and one had to resort to such circumlocution to excuse himself from responsibility, Yahshua had to take stringent measures to correct it. We are to speak the truth to all men, since we belong to the Truth; but if we have made a promise that would require us to miss an appointment with YHWH or break His Torah, we must find a way out of this yoke. (Prov. 6:1-5) Those Yahshua set over our house have already nullified any oath we have made to them. (See v. 5 below.) Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 9 tells us the outcome if there is untruth within the Body: no one will trust his brother or neighbor (Yirmeyahu 9). Who is empowered then? The one new Man, or the "father of lies"? If you have said it, then carry it out. The Heberw term for "vow" here connotes an exchange or agreement, such as, "If You get me out of this crisis, I will so something for you." If we have to "cut such deals" with YHWH, these obligations apply. Anything that comes out of the mouth of a holy person changes things in the spirit world; it is as strong as a vow, and commits us, or "imprisons our life" (an alternate reading of "bind his soul"); i.e., we have opened a door in the spiritand we no longer have a say in whether we will do the thing. Avraham called heaven and earth to witness when he made a vow (Gen. 24:2), and that meant heaven and earth would both come against him if he broke it. Anything less desecrates YHWH's name. (Lev. 19:12). Giving credit to "luck", "fortune", or "opportunity" robs YHWH. What comes out of our mouths is alive and binding in the unseen realm that is more real than the changing, temporary one that we can see, because it is eternal. We must be extremely carerful what we say.

Her father's house: The most basic building-block of leadership in Israelite society. There are then leaders of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands within each tribe (Ex. 18:25).

If her father knows of a way in which her well-meant vow may disrupt the life of the household as a whole, he has the right and responsibility to overrule it. Silence implies consent. The father has no option to be lazy and decide not to make the decision right away.

Biblically, a son is not accountable or expected to act on his own until age 20, though if he marries before that, he is the head of a new household; but a woman remains under authority. The theme of taking responsibility for those entrusted to us, seen in verse 1, continues here. The constituted authority of one who has one's best interests at heart takes precedence over personal vows. A loving father may nullify rash words on the part of his immature daughter. On the day he hears: not necessarily the day she makes the vow, but the day he finds out about it. The one in authority had to make immediate response, because after that day he had no recourse and must bear the responsibility if it turns out to be a foolish vow. These laws exemplify how far popular culture has gotten from YHWH's standard.

Belonged in any way: i.e., from the point at which she is betrothed, though they might not yet live together. At the point when he agrees to her marriage, the authority over her is transferred from her father to her husband. Unadvisedly: She may have spoken out of genuine enthusiasm or compassion, but hastily because she did not know about some other plans her husband had with which it would conflict.

This behooves every man to be very aware of what his wife and children are doing. A bride under authority is a picture of Yahshua's called-out congregation; someone has to bear the guilt for iniquity, and Yahshua did this for us, relieving us of the death that was due us. But Yahshua, our Head, is even called "the Word", so our words too must be true.

The soul of a husband is already bound to his wife, but any agreement she makes becomes binding on him as well, and if he does not want his soul bound to this other thing or person, he may nullify it. But he must overrule it immediately. He has only until sundown to pray, ask authorities, or study to determine what is appropriate. This means he must have a strong background in the Torah in order to be in authority, and have a strong sense of who he is, because he must decide very quickly which vows to annul and which not to. In Y'hezq'el 16, we see Yerushalayim portrayed as YHWH's orphan bride, abandoned by her Kanaanite parents, so she had no father to annul her vows. YHWH annulled the implied "vows" of His bride to a false elohim (Ba'al-Peor) to whom she had bound herself. (25:3) But when Israel made the vow, "we will do and we will hear" in regard to His commands (Ex. 19:8), YHWH never annulled it, so it must stand. Yahshua gave his students the authority to "bind and loose", so their words are binding on us; however, if one vows to never eat meat, he would "nullify Torah", which tells us to eat lamb at one festival (when there is a Temple) and priests to eat their portion of the sacrifices. Vowed: LXX, bound herself. Bound herself: LXX, "contracted upon her soul".

Be established in regard to: or, stand against. She is not under any direct authority who can revoke a vow for her. She must therefore, being older than the other women mentioned, exercise that maturity and be more careful about what she says, for she alone is responsible for what comes out of her mouth.

11. "and her husband has remained silent when he heard it rather than forbidding her, then all her vows will stand; every obligation to which she has bound herself will also stand. 12. "But if her husband has indeed rendered them void on the day which he heard [of] them, then whatever went forth from her lips concerning the obligation of her soul will not stand; her husband has nullified them, and YHWH will forgive her.

Rendered them void: LXX, utterly canceled. YHWH does not hold liable one who is under authority and therefore cannot fulfill the vow if the authority overrules it because of his perspective on the big picture.

Humble herself: or weaken her desires, be busy with or respond to her soul; often an idiom for fasting. (29:7; Lev. 16:29; clearly linked in Psalm 35:13) It would be difficult for her to cook for her family if she were fasting. Ironically, the Hebrew term for fasting itself means to cover one's mouth--seemingly the opposite of a vow, in which one opens it. Yeshayahu 58:5-6 tells us that the purpose of such fasting is to break every yoke. Yoking ourselves to self or to security keeps us from being bound to one another. Yahshua tells us to take His yoke (Mat. 11:27-30), which is lighter and easier than anything else we might yoke ourselves to, even though it means taking up our execution-stake and dying to self daily. (Luke 9:23; 1 Cor. 15:31) But Yeshayahu 58 also says the reason to fast is to share our bread with the hungry, and to bring the poor into our homes. A woman might, out of compassion, invite into her home one she thinks is needy, but whom her husband knows is a shyster who has been unwilling to work for and thus not deserving. Even if it is someone she knows, if it would cause chaos in the household or expose the wife or daughter to what she should not see, he has the right to say, "No, you did not promise to do this."

From day to day: i.e., he waits until a later date.

LXX: "If he cancels them after the day in which he heard them..." The husband is given the right to nullify her words, but "of him to whom much is given, much is required"; he bears full responsibility if he does nothing about a foolish vow as soon as he hears it, then later says, "I don't want you to do that after all." There is a price to pay, and he may even have to carry out the oath in her stead. Yahshua, ironically, paid the price and made reparation for our ancestors' adultery with foreign deities by remaining silent. (Isa. 53:7) He nullified the oaths they and we had made to all the pagan elohim we had worshipped, but since the day had passed, he had to bear the crookedness of the one he loved. He had the authority to do so since the head of the House of David is also the ruler over all Israel, not just his own tribe.

Prescribed boundaries: the limits of the woman's authority. It also means the rulings for a household, and Moshe has already established that these rulings will stand in every household in Israel, whether we agree with them or not, for they are YHWH's rulings.

CHAPTER 31

2. "Avenge the descendants of Israel from the Midyanites with a vengeance, and afterward you will be gathered to your people."

Gathered: or "added" (LXX) to one's people is an idiomatic reference to his death. Though he has cared for this ungrateful, stiff-necked generation, he does not belong to them, but to Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov. His reward is to be with those who did not question YHWH's words. But before he can be in better company, he must complete this unfinished business. Before he died, King David also assured his son's kingdom by making sure some would be avenged whom he had not been able to avenge during his own lifetime because of promises he made too hastily. (1 Kings 2) Avenge: or punish with a vengeance. It needs to be extreme. Why? Because though there appear to have been more Moavites than Midyanites who seduced the Israelites, the Midyanites were behind the scheme. (25:15ff) The Midyanite princess defiled the tabernacle, and Israelite leaders had to be killed, so YHWH told Israel to harass them. (25:16) In Hebrew this means, essentially, cramp them; give them no space to breathe. Here He says to finish the job. No one in his right mind really wants to go to war, but part of our heritage is that we are to avenge, on YHWH's behalf, any who would seek to lead Israel astray. We are not a vengeful people, but those who attract Israelites to another deity, whether by overt war or with the method they used, must be dealt with decisively. The Midyanites' name also means "people of strife", and Moshe is representative of the Torah, whose work it is to put an end to strife so all the peoples can be gathered together in a legitimate way, rather than the way they are gathering now. Though they are outside the Land of Israel, and would probably pose no direct threat to Israel anymore, they do not escape YHWH's notice, because they were the ones who "set His wife up with another man", so they must serve as an example for all. In the meantime he had taken a count of the men of war and made rulings that resulted from this. He had ordained the general, announced the specifics of the offerings that were commanded in a military manner. He explained how to draw near to YHWH so He could go before us into battle. And he made sure Israel would be a trustworthy people so that everyone could trust his brother in the "trenches" to "watch his back". Ever since the first order was given, Moshe has been setting the people in order to carry it out, because he knew that before everything is right at home, it would be dangerous to go into battle, whether against physical enemies or simply the internal enemies of laziness, apathy, selfishness, or our own wrong assumptions. Why was it up to Moshe to remedy this situation? Because it was strife ("midyan") among his own people that had so frustrated Moshe that he acted in anger rather than following specific instructions, and it cost him his "ticket into the Promised Land". Strife is contagious, and is carried along by its mother, gossip. For some reason, Israel tends to embrace strife rather than finding its source and destroying it at the root. Moshe needed to ensure before he died that this irritant would not be left to come tempt Israel again.

YYHWH did not tell Moshe to speak to them this time, as on many previous occasions. (v. 1) He only told Moshe to take this vengeance. Yet Moshe did speak to them. Did he do wrong? No: he knew he had no choice. How could he single-handedly fight five kings? Could he even harass them himself? He had prepared the people, and finally he has learned to use his resources, the children of Israel, as Y'hoshua also would. They are his way to attack strife. And we are the resources given to the Torah today. We do not even know who we are unless we look into the Torah. Even what we have locked away in our closets we cannot defeat by ourselves. Moshe needed all of Israel as a wall of guards around him. Vengeance is YHWH's (Deut. 32:35-43), but we are the instrument of YHWH's justice (32:35), though when His vengeance is against His own people, He usually used foreigners. (32:21) He says He will judge us and have compassion on us once our power is gone—that is, when we stop trying to go our own way. The vengeance is paradoxically His mercy, because it is to get us back into a place of yielding. Why could He not simply forgive this mistake the Midyanites made? Because there must be a balance between judgment and mercy. Neither can function without the other. Love includes and depends on both judgment and mercy. Strife cannot go unchecked, or it will consume the whole people. Though many have twisted Yahshua's words to make it seem that we should let the wicked have the upper hand and always forgive even when there is no repentance, this simply does not agree with the rest of Scripture. (e.g., Psalm 58:10) As we readjust ourselves to YHWH's perspective after being so long immersed in "political correctness", our emotions will be unbalanced for a while, but it will ultimately bring about a better balance. We are forbidden from taking vengeance on our fellow Israelites (Lev. 19:17), and instead told to teach one another the right way instead, but those who cause Israel to stumble must be paid back. For those within Israel, proper court procedures for restitution as found in the Torah preclude the need for personal grudges. Yirmeyahu 50:28-32 shows that it is those who escape the enemy who are to call on YHWH to avenge them. (Compare Rev. 6:10.) But He usually uses His people as His instrument (Deut. 32:35), unless they are in sin, in which case He may call on an outside nation (Deut. 32:21). YHWH told them to take vengeance for themselves; Moshe told them to do so for YHWH's sake. It may have seemed the higher motive than simply fighting to take our own revenge, but ultimately what is done for YHWH will benefit Israel. It is stated in both ways to show us that there is ultimately no difference.

5. So from the thousands of Israel, a thousand per tribe were assigned: 12,000 equipped to go out to battle,

Why did Moshe not send the whole army and get the job done quickly and easily? Because he wanted to make sure Israel and her neighbors all recognized that it was YHWH who was bringing this vengeance. Having a small army go against five city-states at once will let them see His power more easily, and this is what is most beneficial to the whole world. No single leader is capable of ending strife and bringing true balance; only YHWH can, and even He can only when we walk in Torah. When we do, it is only a matter of time--and probably some more battles like this one--util the rest of the world comes into line. The Levites did not go to battle since they were the "personal bodyguards" of YHWH's sanctuary. But there was one exception:

Priest to the army: This "warrior for YHWH" (see chapter 25) was the first recorded "army chaplain". There was no one better to carry out this task, and it would appear he was "immortal" until his days were fulfilled, since he was given a "covenant of completeness." He was already a war hero in his own right, as he made war on this very Midyanitess who had precipitated the plague (chaper 25). Vessels of the sanctuary: or, holy weaponry. But the feminine form of the word "vessels' is the Hebrew word for kidneys, which is used in Scripture as the equivalent of "mind". (Psalms 7:9; 16:7; 26:2; 73:21; Prov. 23:16) So on a deeper level, we can read that Pin'has was the one with a set-apart mind, for YHWH had already praised his attitude of caring more for YHWH's reputation than his own. (25:12) Pin'has thought differently. He had just saved the whole nation, or at least all of the leaders, from being killed, so he was already seen as an agent of salvation. Such a leader deserved to be out in front, motivating the armies of Israel to do what he himself had already done. He would direct the movements of the army through the particular soundings on the trumpets. (Compare 1 Cor. 14:8.) He was the precursor to the war priest of Deut. 20. Here, he was a visible sign of YHWH's presence with His people, as Moshe's rod had been in the battle against Amaleq. This was not magic, but gave the Israelite warriors encouragement, motivation, and strength, much as a flag can do, as seen in the song, "The Star-Spangled banner".

Killed all the males: could also read, "destroyed all remembrance", since the Hebrew word for "male" means "remembered"; most mothers are not recorded in genealogies. The women were less "Midyanite" in this sense, being defined instead by whomever was their head. If their name were erased, it would be as if they had never existed. This account only pertains to the part of the Midyanite population that had come to assist Balaq in his campaign against Israel. (22:4) It would not apply to Moshe's in-laws, who lived near Mt. Sinai in Midyan's original territory, whom tradition even says were actually outcasts from among their people since Yithro, once their priest, had turned to the true worship of YHWH. The Midyanites spread far down along the Red Sea coast of Arabia (some even think the Medina of Muslim fame may have had its etymology in the name Midyan), and lived along the edge of the desert as far north as the eastern edge of Moav. So this does not make the Midyanites of Gid'on's day (Judges 6) anachronistic.

Diversity: variegated or of mixed colors--the very byword of the "New World Order". The kings of Midyan: not the entire people of Midyan, because they show up again in the days of Gid'on the judge, but the portion of them who harassed the Israelites. Why would they kill Bilaam, who had blessed Israel so many times? (ch. 22-24) Because when he saw that YHWH was with Israel, he should have allied himself with them. Instead, he remained with the people who had paid him to find a way to destroy Israel. Though he only prophesied what YHWH had said, on the side he gave their enemies a clue as to where to find the back door, which was not as securely guarded. (v. 16) He was still motivated by his greed, so YHWH finally punished it. Though chapter 24 says he had gone back to his land, apparently he could not stay away from this kind of company, and had returned to stay with them again, sealing his downfall.

Even Bilaam's faithful donkey was therefore blessed by being allowed to become an "Israelite"! She would be less likely to have such a cruel master now.

Fortifications: or strongholds; the Aramaic Targum Onqelos renders it "houses of worship", where they kept their idol sanctuaries "under guard" (the Aramaic root). Their memory had to be erased as completely as possible, and they were near the memorial at the place where Israel crossed the Yarden. (Y'hoshua 4) To have this utter destruction of a people who marred the community life of Israel right at the gateway to the Land would be a sober warning to any who would try to do the same again.

12. and they had all the captives, booty, and spoils brought to Moshe, El'azar the cohen, and the congregation of the descendants of Israel at their encampment on the transitional lands of Moav which are by the Yarden of Yericho.

Transitional lands: the meaning of Aravah, the proper name of this section of the Great Rift Valley. Outside the Land of Kanaan, Israel is permitted to take spoils from those we conquer; not so inside the Land. Israelite levels of settlement have been easily identified by archaeologists by the fact that gold items and animal carcasses were left intact and simply buried. A higher standard of holiness is required there.

14. Moshe was displeased with the officers [appointed over] the force, the captains of thousands, and the centurions who came [back] from having served in the battle.

15. And Moshe said to them, "Have you let all the females live?!

Compare Ezra 10. They may have thought they could get away with this because Moshe had a Midyanite wife. They were apparently dark-skinned women (12:1), thought more beautiful because they were more exotic. They were not afraid women would take up swonrds against them. But in this case not just the memory, but the source of the trouble they had experienced at Baal-Peor had to be removed so no one else would be brought into bondage by them:

If they hurt us before, they can hurt us again. How did Moshe know that Bilaam was behind all of this? How did he even know Bilaam was involved? Bilaam himself may have told his story to Moshe when captured, hoping to find mercy because of his association of sorts with YHWH. But it appears from v. 8 that he was actually executed rather than killed in the battle itself.

This is unthinkable under the Geneva Conventions; they were even to kill prisoners of war. And killing toddlers seems as bad as King Herod! Sometimes YHWH asks us to do things that seem repulsive to our natural minds, but the focus of our concern has to be on Israel more than on what is outside when a choice is necessary. (Gal. 6:10) Israelites would not drag out the death of innocent children. But male toddlers, though not particularly guilty themselves, still carried the seed of Midyan, and would thus keep its memory alive. Aside from the fact that the women might also be carrying that seed with them, among pagans, one typically lost he virginity at the temple of their deity as a ritual request for fertility. Their very sexuality had thus been dedicated to their divinity, so YHWH saw them as already married to Baal. We have indeed "come a long way" in thinking of all of this as mere cruelty, when in fact it was the only way for the righteous to have peace.

Toddler: since Midyanite rites of passage at puberty included "serving their time" as a temple prostitute, only the very young girls would still be virgins. Once taken by Israelites and put through the procedure YHWH had prescribed (Deut. 21:12), they were no longer Midyanites. They no longer had natural brothers, older sisters, and mothers; their relatives were now the people of Israel. (Compare Mat. 12:48-49) This is one of the first instances of the salvation YHWH wants to extend to the nations through Israel. A remnant even of evil Midyan is preserved through being grafted into the seed of Israel. (Gen. 28:14)

Purify from sin: literally, "lose" or "miss"--i.e., let the guilt incurred both by the Midyanites' past idolatry or the Israelites' association with the carnage of battle be removed, probably through a ceremonial washing. Note that corpse uncleanness results not from just touching an already-dead corpse, but also from "making" someone into a corpse. They cannot say, "He was not yet dead when I touched him!" No matter how just and lawful a particular war may be, a bloodguilt ensues from killing another human being (Gen. 9:6), so YHWH gave us this as well as the half-sheqel sanctuary tax to provide a definite point of covering of this guilt (see also v. 50), so it will not continue to eat away at us.

Garments would be defiled by the dead bodies. Leather would be used for quivers, sandals, slings, etc. Tents are still made from goats' hair by the Bedouins because it is the best natural material from which to make a tent for all seasons. It swells when wet, thus tightening up theseams when it rained, but it shri nks when very hot, allowing air to flow through the weave in the tent as natural air conditioning. Spoils taken outside the Land cannot be brought into Israel in the form in which they were received, not so much because of bacteria or lice that might be on them; these spoils in most cases were expressions of idolatry. All their associations with Midyan had to be removed. They had to be melted down or taken apart thread by thread and recast into something appropriate to Israel. On the mystical level (because of their etymologies), these terms mean to purge ourselves of everything associated with deceitful treachery, skin ("the flesh" or the temporary substitute covering YHWH gave us in place of the light that covered Adam and Chawwah), everything demonic, and everything of corruptible human design. Valuables from many nations will one day enter the New Yerushalayim (Rev. 21:24), especially the one-time exiles of Israel (Yeshayahu/Isa. 49:22), but undoubtedly all will have to go through such a purification from their association with the profane things of the world.

22. "The gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead--indeed

23. "everything that [can] go through the fire--you shall cause to pass through the fire, and it will be ceremonially pure, though indeed it will be purified with the water of separation, while whatever cannot stand the fire, you must cause to pass through the water.

These things should not even smell like Midyanites anymore! On a figurative level, YHWH shows here that He is sensitive to the varying abilities of each person to tolerate the means He uses to sanctify us; He will not "boil a kid" in the milk of His Torah. Some can handle the more abrasive kinds of purification, but all must be washed with His Word. (Eph. 5:26) People must be "bathed" in the Torah before being exposed to the scathing prophets. Yet if we do not respond to the Torah, we must be ready to face the trial by fire. Note that if something could not even survive water, it was automatically discarded. Doctrines like the trinity dissolve when tested by the Torah, for they are useless as part of the Kingdom.

While we cannot skip the "third day"--the rebirth made possible only by Yahshua's resurrection, we will not have fully removed the sin from ourselves until the Kingdom (the seventh millennium, cf. Psalm 90:4); on the "eighth day" we may enter the New Yerushalayim which descends to earth only after everything that can be salvaged has been made suitable for YHWH's dwelling to be fully established among us. (Rev. 21:3)

26. "Take a count of the acquisitions that were captured, among human and animal--you, El'azar the cohen, and the heads of the fathers of the congregation--

Take a count: literally, "Lift the heads". Among human and animal: literally, "in Adam and in a beast"--the only two entitities that will be left by the time the time of the Restoration of All Things begins.

Yahshua's application to the two houses of Israel is found in Matthew 20:1-16.

28. "Then have a tax levied for YHWH from the men of war who go out to battle: one soul of five hundred, from men, herds, donkeys, and flocks.

29. "Take [it] from their half and give it to El'azar the cohen as a contribution [lifted off] for YHWH.

Their half: i.e., the army's. El'azar would wave it before YHWH to acknowledge that it was His, but then most of it would belong to the priesthood as their food, because that is how YHWH wants it used, since the priesthood is directly attached to Him even more than the rest of Israel is. (Ex. 29:24-27)

Grasping: one "draw" with the hand. Those who did the fighting are not taxed nearly as heavily. These Levites would be those who were not priests.

32. and the acquisitions--the remainder of the spoils which the men of war had plundered-- [totalled] 675,000 sheep,

33. 72,000 cattle,

34. 61,000 donkeys,

35. and of human beings--of the women who had not become familiar with the bed of a male--the souls were 32,000.

36. Now the half apportioned to those who went out into battle numbered 337,500 sheep,

37. and the tribute for YHWH from [these] flock animals was 675;

38. the cattle [numbered] 36,000, [of which] the tribute to YHWH was 72;

39. the donkeys, 30,500, and their tribute to YHWH, 61;

40. and the human beings, 16,000, with their tribute to YHWH being 32 souls.

32 souls: Plunder includes people as well. Those given to YHWH would become part of the tribe of Levi and thus be available for marriage, as well as to be servants. It would be a great blessing to be enslaved to an Israelite, unlike other nations, because they would be included in the Sabbath rest.

42. And the half [apportioned to] the descendants of Israel, which Moshe had divided from the men who had gone to fight--

Of those counted, there were 589,730 people to share the other half of the spoils divided with the 12,000 who went to war. So they received much less per capita, and had to give ten times as much to the Levites. (vv. 28, 30) Those who went to fight were rewarded by having less required of them.

44. 36,000 of the cattle;

45. 30,500 donkeys;

46. and 16,000 human beings.

47. Moshe received from the children of Israel's half the one grasped from fifty of human and animal, and delivered them to the Levites who watched over what was kept under guard [belonging to] the Dwelling Place of YHWH, just as YHWH had commanded Moshe.

48. Now the officers who were [appointed over] the thousands of the army--heads of thousands and centurions--approached Moshe,

Heads of thousands: The people went to war in the same order as in everyday life. One's leader in the camp was his leader in battle as well, until he was too old to go to war. One's rank in daily life was thus the same on the battlefield. Usually one would be from the same extended family as his authorities, and it is the same among Yehudah in the Land today; every loss is a personal one, for if one did not actually know the person who died in battle, he would at the most distant be a friend of a friend.

Under our jurisdiction: literally, "in our hand". These armies they had fought were from a people large enough to have 32,000 girls under the age of about 12, and no one was missing when they came back from battle. This is because of all the preparations made in the last 6 chapters. In addition to military training, they drew near to YHWH in the way He required, so He fought for them. When we do things YHWH's way, even if we lose our physical lives, Yahshua says "not a hair of our heads" will be missing in the final analysis. (Luk. 21:18)

It is easy to see why they would wish to bring a thanksgiving offering, but why did they need atonement (a covering)? Because even though it was the right thing to do, they had killed many people, especially women and innocent children, and had not paid any price for it in blood. When we experience His mercy and favor in such a dramatic way, we see more clearly that we do not deserve it and where we fall short and that we do need to express this in some way. And since He ordered this battle, no matter how hard they fought, it was His victory. So rather than using it to throw a party or buy a yacht, we give back some of what we have acquired because of Him, saying "thank You" with our hands as well as our lips (for the root word of "thanks" in Hebrew is "to stretch out one's hands). This would also be a way of celebrating YHWH's victory over the elohim of the defeated persons, for what had belonged to it was now in YHWH's possession. We need to establish ways to keep alive the memory of the victories YHWH has brought us, to provide encouragement when we need it most.

52. And all the gold of the contribution that they lifted off for YHWH [weighed] 16,750 sheqels from the captains of thousands and the centurions--

This may have been used to support the many new children and flocks the Levites and priests acquired. 32 more daughters were added to their household in one day.

54. So Moshe and El'azar the cohen received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and they brought it into the Tent of Appointment [to serve] as a memorial for the descendants of Israel before the face of YHWH.

CHAPTER 32

Livestock: This is the denotation, but the root word is connected to the idea of acquisition, hinting at how important a part of one's wealth livestock were considered in this day. They had probably just added more livestock to their herds, but these two tribes were now among the smallest in population, so they would not have received a disproportionately-large share of the spoils from the Midyanites (v. 31). We are not even told that they had more than other tribes had; it was only that these two tribes were becoming obsessed by them. Re'uven had the tendency to grab for things that were not rightfully his because he liked them. However many cattle they had, there was room for their herds to grow much larger here, allowing them to become rich. They wanted to stay outside the Land for the sake of wealth.

3. "Ataroth, Dibon, Yaazeyr, Nimrah, Heshbon, El'aleh, S'vam, Nevo, and Beon--

Beon: a shortened version of the full name given in v. 38, and designed to blot out the name of a false deity after which it had been named.

5. So they said, "If we have attained to acceptance in your eyes, let this territory be designated as your servants' [inherited] property; don't make us cross over the Yarden."

This is another way of saying, "Don't force us to be Hebrews." They may have been daunted by the prospect of having to lead so many animals across the river. But they had stopped focusing on the Land of Promise. They were willing to give up the promise made to Avraham to serve their possessions. They were forgetting the dream of their ancestors when it within their reach, and were spitting on the fact thata that so many--even Egyptian babies--had had to die for. Possessions are meant to serve us, but they were basing their decisions on what served their possessions. They were ready to trade their share in the kingdom for security now. Do our possessions--or the desire for them--keep us from YHWH's presence? If Israel had not moved into this territory, since it was already conquered, they could have kept it as a buffer zone to keep enemies further from the Land and provide a "transition into holiness" zone for those who come to Israel for the right reasons--a place to learn the laws of the Land before being held fully responsible to keep them, much like what we are in today. So we especially have to be careful that we do not consider this stage of our journey to be "home", even if it does provide well for us. What we make important now will only become something we have to untie from ourselves so that we can cross the river without sinking. When we start concentrating more on things other than Israel--not only physical possessions, but also knowledge, power, renown, or even YHWH's gifts, we begin to serve those, to the detriment of the Kingdom. It might indeed best serve them and their families to stay on this side of the river, but it would not best serve the rest of Israel:

7. "And why would you discourage the descendants of Israel from crossing into the Land that YHWH has given them?

Discourage...from crossing: literally, "make the heart refuse to cross"--which is also the etymology of the English word "discourage". It could read "hold the hearts...back". Moshe was careful to reiterate that when going up to possess the Land, Israel is not be discouraged. (Deut. 1:21) Being discouraged is essentially believing that YHWH cannot enable us to do what He has told us to do. The war to conquer had not even begun; they should have been sharpening their swords for the next battles and speaking courage into one another, for being courageous and entering the Land go hand in hand. (Deut. 1:21) One of the biggest battles we have to fight is to put away our fear. They may have actually been fearful themselves, because they were already saying, "I wouldn't mind staying right here and settling down!" Now Moshe himself was becoming discouraged by what he assumed they intended. Had no progress been made in a whole generation? They might have thought, "Moshe did not need us fight; after all, he had needed only 12,000 to fight the five Midyanite kings (ch. 31). And there would be more land left for everybody else! We could be guardians at the gate. We aren't trying to discourage anyone; this has nothing to do with them." But it does. Even if we do not say a word, what we do has an effect on others. They may have actually been afraid to fight, and that is contagious--but so is courage and determination. The problem was that the nation's unity would be broken, and no amount of land is worth that. Withholding one piece of the body handicaps the whole, especially when it is because of personal possessions. They needed to finish the reason they came out of Egypt, and go all the way into the Land. Until we cross over from our political correctnesses or even from Christian views, we will not truly find the Messiah, because He is already in the Kingdom, waiting for us.

Like the ten spies, they were also slandering the Promised Land, saying that what they had found was satisfactory, and they did not really need to go kill more people. After all, the land they had already conquered was nearly as large as the Promised Land; why should they keep "pressing their luck"? A modern equivalent might be to ask why the Church isn't good enough, since it has programs for our children and the bare essentials; at least it teaches them decent morals. But they are not truly Hebrew until they "cross over". We are not called to settle down or be men of peace until the Time of Peace after Yahshua returns. (Mat. 10:34)

After all: the term for "would not go" includes the sense of frustrated or nullifying an existing plan.

11. "'If the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and up, ever see the Land that I promised to Avraham, Yitzhaq, and Yaaqov...! Because they have not fulfilled [their duty] to follow after Me--

Fulfilled their duty to follow: Hirsch; LXX, "not closely followed"; Aramaic, "did not completely follow". The fuller sense is that they did not satisfy YHWH's full intent as to what they were to accomplish.

Another way of translating this is that they had followed YHWH completely. Not only had they themselves not been discouraged, nor had they discouraged others, but they had gone to great lengths to encourage them as well. Now they would be allowed to go all the way, because they were willing to lead the rest of the nation in the right direction. The standard is high because everything has an effect on others. If we make excuses, others will use them as an excuse to make even more excuses. It is bad enough to sin against YHWH, but when we live in a community of His people, sin spreads to others as well.

The uncultivated land, or wilderness, means "place of the word" in Hebrew. It is a necessary transition because we need to learn His ways before we enter fully in, so that we do not pollute His Land. But we were not meant to stay there so long. It is better to both have the word of YHWH and be in the Land. But we will only wander--or literally, reel and stagger--in the wilderness if we do not consider how our words and actions will affect our brothers. Moshe has usually been a relatively mild-mannered man. Now, just as he is preparing to die, he is learning to do better at what the Torah is meant to do: make us focus on the rest of Israel. This time YHWH did not tell him what to tell the people; he knows he must rebuke them for not finishing their job.

Proven to be under: or "risen up in your parents' place". Had they learned nothing from their parents' mistake? Were they about to bring the same punishment on the nation again? Stir up: or, add to.

Leave them: Aram., "delay them". The damage they would do by failing to remain united with the rest of Israel would extend further than he thought they anticipated. They are about to destroy something very precious because they are fainthearted and have the world caught in their eye. Do we forget to consider how our short-sighted wishes will affect not just our local community, but the rest of Israel as well? We are connected to all of Israel if we are part of it. What flows out of us either brings life to the rest or pollutes them. It is a scary thought that we could be responsible for the rest of Israel to die outside the Land as well. Our sentence of exile which is just ending could again be doubled (as in Yirmeyahu 16:18) if we do not keep the Torah faithfully this time. But do not be afraid; take up joy instead so that this is what gets spread instead of fear. Remember how, before we were walking in the Torah, we always heard that it was something that would put us in bondage and chains? Yet when we enter in, though the transition is initially a challenge, we find that what had been painted as a haunted house is actually a glorious mansion. And this challenge is no different.

Came close: They were showing that they had gotten his point and received the rebuke, and were confident that he would understand when they explained. It is YHWH's love that leads Him to rebuke us through His spokesmen. (Lev. 19:17) It is not meant to discourage us, but to heal us--to challenge us to line up with where we should have been by now. Teaching, in Hebrew, literally means prodding or goading, as a shepherd does to sheep. (Psalm 25:1-7) It can get people to do what they did not think they could do. We need to embrace the chastening, not just accept it, because it means YHWH wants us as his children and in His Kingdom. (Heb. 12:3-13) Psalm 94:12 says the one YHWH "beats with a rod" and teaches with His Torah is blessed. We sometimes need to use the sharp end of the Torah when we teach. We will either be broken by it (and able to be re-set) or crushed by it. (Luke 20:18) And receiving rebuke is the key to our returning home from exile. (Yirmeyahu/Jer. 31:16-20 in context) We have done shameful things, but there is hope of restoration if we respond to His correction.

Hurry before: Aram., "forge ahead in advance of"; Hirsch: "push forward in the van[guard]. The term connotes a sense of eagerness of enjoyment. They would not only go along; they would go first! Inhabitants: Like Lot, who also chose what he considered the better land and broke up the unity of the people (Gen. 13), and the Jews who remained in Germany after doors had opened for them to leave because it was where their wealth was, Gad may have been putting himself in the position to be overcome by a troop (per Yaaqov's prophecy in Gen. 49:19), having no natural defense on the east except the forbidding desert, which might have kept some enemies away, but not all. Yahshua emphasized how hard it is for someone with great wealth to enter the Kingdom. (Mat. 19:23; Mark 10:22)

19. "since we will not take a share on the far side of the Yarden or beyond [there], because our share has turned out to be across the Yarden to the east."

This is better than nothing, but still they are asking Moshe (symbolic of the Torah) to compromise with their plans. This is still far from the ideal and a big mistake.

21. "and cross over the Yarden armed before the face of YHWH until He disinherits His enemies before Him,

Before the face of YHWH: i.e., if you are honestly, in His sight, planning to do just this.

23. "But if you do not do so, take note! You will have sinned against YHWH [Himself], and recognize the [punishment for] your sin that will catch up with you!

When they finish the job, they are on their own, but there is no deal at all until they finish. Why did Moshe not simply tell them, "no" when they asked? Because he sees in them an inclination toward possessions which would not be healthy to spread to the other tribes, so since they had already decided what they wanted (as they came back and made a deal even after rebuked), he will let them learn their lesson the hard way, because they will learn it better that way. He essentially "sent them to military school so the other children could thrive". He reminded them of YHWH's warning to Qayin that sin crouches at the door, and if we let our brothers down rather than act as their keeper, it will capture us. (Gen. 4:7) The closer we weave ourselves together, the harder it is for sin to get a foothold, but the harder it then tries, and we have to be more adept at recognizing it.

Moshe corrects their priorities (cf. v. 16), mentioning their children before their animals. Their response in the same manner is evidence that they accepted his rebuke. If it took Nekhemyah 52 days to just repair the wall of Yerushalayim, how long would it take to build cities? Most likely they were also just rebuilding, but they also had the whole community of Israel, whose parents had been expert builders of cities, to help them; undoubtedly they still knew these skills to some extent. They probably moved all of their families into just these few cities, then built more cities later when they came back so they would not remain overcrowded.

26. "Our toddlers, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will be there in the cities of Gil'ad,

The children under age 20 would be the main ones responsible to care for the livestock and probably farm the land while their fathers and older brothers went to war.

28. So Moshe gave orders to El'azar the cohen, Y'hoshua the son of Nun, and the chief heads of clans among the tribes of the descendants of Israel concerning them;

29. Moshe told them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Re'uven cross the Yarden with you, every one armed for battle before YHWH, then when the Land is subdued before you, give them the territory of Gil'ad as a possession.

Told them: because he would not be there to ensure that this was carried out. Though he recognized that these tribes had a point, he kept alive some suspicion of their motives. Y'hoshua would soon be the shepherd, and needed to recognize that though he could not see any wolves, there might still be some lurking in the bushes. Moshe had accepted his rebuke as well, and was not whining about being barred from the Land, but was setting everything in order so that everyone who could enter would do so in a way that pleased YHWH. They were allowed to stay there, but it was not officially to be called theirs until they fulfilled their promise.

Will not: i.e., do not go willingly. That all depended on how they answered. They would not be harmed, but they would not get their wish either. They would indeed go into the Land, one way or the other, unless they kept the whole community from going. No one rests while Israel is still at war.

32. "We will cross over armed before YHWH [into the] Land of Kanaan so that the territory [on this] side of the Yarden may be our share to inherit."

Again they accepted their rebuke and repented immediately. They proved to Moshe that they were indeed a new generation, different from their parents. They not only were willing to go in, but rushed to be first. True repentance indeed adds "interest" to one's debt.

Why was so much land given to Menashe, when they had not asked for it? Partly because, as a son of Yoseyf (as is emphasized here), Menashe was more trustworthy than Re'uven, so they were put there to keep an eye on the other two tribes. Also, because Moshe might have remembered that they would need it; Yaaqov had prophesied that Efrayim and Menashe would become a great multitude--indeed, a nation in themselves, possibly as part of the compensation for accepting the loss of the firstborn status graciously. (Gen. 48:16-19) They were men of war, and were therefore needed here, though they did not ask to be exempted from being Hebrews as the other two tribes had. Moshe knew he could trust them to go to battle when their brothers needed them; they would be an example to the other two tribes across the river. Yoseyf, likewise, had had to live outside the Land in order to keep the rest of Israel alive. So these descendants of his are chosen because they have the right pedigree for this task.

Rebuilt: or simply built, established, continued; Hirsch, "built out", i.e., extended.

Yaazeyr had been home to some Emorites. (21:32)

37. while the sons of Re'uven [re]built Heshbon, El'aleh, Qiryathayim,

Qiryathayim ("twin villages") was a Moavite border fortress. (Y'hezq'el 25:9) Since it is not referred to separately in verse 3, it may refer to the two villages in the next phrase:

Changed: possibly meaning they exercised the right to do what they wished with what was now theirs, but the LXX simply says "surrounded" and interprets it as meaning adding walls, saying nothing about names. But we can see some changes when we compare verse 3, which appears to give the new names. Atroth-Shofan became Ataroth. Beyth Nimrah became Nimrah, or vice versa. Baal-Meon became Beon, a shortening for the obvious reason of obscuring the pagan name; elsewhere it is called Beyth-Meon (Yirm. 48:23), which means "place of habitation". Sibmah became S'vam, or vice versa. S'vam may mean "spice", and Sibmah simply means, "at S'vam". Called by name: the Aramaic targum interprets it as meaning they gave new names to the existing cities, but Hirsch renders it, "otherwise they kept the names of the cities that they had built out." The LXX is ambiguous: "they called the names of the cities which they had built after their own names", which may mean they named them after the clans of Reuven.

This land grant was unanticipated, so they may have gone to conquer it while their brother tribes rebuilt their cities. Though it was a gift, it may have still had to be conquered, though this might be a flashback to when the whole nation was fighting in this region and dispossessed Og king of Bashan, which forms the majority of Menashe's territory on that side of the Yarden. They went further north than the rest of Y'hoshua's army had gone; their main concern seems to have been not to have these cities, but to have no enemies so close to Israel's border with only a small river in between. The "sub-tribe" of Makhir's story is told in more detail in chapter 26, as well as in Y'hoshua 17:1 and Deut. 3:15.

Bestowed upon: "gave", "granted to", or "entrusted with". Gil'ad (just south of the Golan Heights) is a large territory, and this one son of Menashe received it all. As the one counted as Yoseyf's firstborn, he was given more land than anyone else. Yoseyf's own name means "He will add", so added territory was one fulfillment of his lot. Menashe would also receive one of the largest territories within the Land, contiguous with their territory across the Yarden--possibly including the areas that would have otherwise been given to Reuven and Gad, for we are told that though Gad regarded his own first, a portion of what was his was reserved for the lawgiver. (Deut. 33:21, using the same term used to described some from Makhir in Judges 5:14) Yet this still did not prove to be enough to solve the problem, because in 1 Chron. 5:23ff, we find that this part of M'nasheh, though they become great leaders of their family and mighty warriors, end up unfaithful to their Elohim, and the other two tribes must have followed their example as leaders, because the three tribes are the first carried into exile in Assyria. Apparently the two tribes had a corrupting influence on those they were meant to keep in line, because they were all outside the Land.

Their villages: i.e., the Gil'adites' villages, not the Makhirites'. More of Yair's story is told in Judges 10:3ff.