E- Num_33:1-56; Num_34:1-29; Num_35:1-34; Num_36:1-13
Pgs. 459-471
Ch. 33-36
SECTIONXLIII. MASEY.
XXXIII.These are the journeys of the Beni Israel who came out from Mizraim by their hosts,after the miracles bad been wrought for them by the hand of Mosheh and Aharon.And Mosheh recorded their outgoings by their journeys by the Word of the Lord;and these are their journeys by their goings forth.
They departed from Pelusin in the mouth of Nisan, on the fifteenth dayof the month; after they had eaten the sacrifice of the Pascha did the childrenof Israel go forth, with uncovered head, in sight of all the Mizraee.[JERUSALEM. And they went out from Pelusin in the first month.] And the Mizraeeburied those whom the Lord had killed among them, even all the first-born;and upon their idols did the Word of the Lord do judgments; their molten idolswere dissolved, their idols of stone were mutilated, their idols of earthenwarebroken in pieces, their wooden idols turned to ashes, and their cattle godswere slain with death. And the sonsof Israel went forth from Pelusin, and encamped in Sukkoth, a place where theywere protected by seven glorious clouds. And they removed from Sukkoth, andencamped in Etham, on the side of the wilderness. They removed from Etham, andreturned unto Pumey Hiratha, which lie in front of the idol of Zephon, andencamped before Migdol. [JERUSALEM. And removing from Etham. they returned tothe caravansaries of Hiratha, which are in front of the idols.] Arid from thecaravansaries of Hiratha they removed, and passed through the midst of the sea,and went upon the shore of the sea, collecting onyx stones and pearls.Afterwards they proceeded three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, andencamped in Marah. Lind they removed from Marah, and came to Elim; in Elim weretwelve fountains of water for the twelve tribes, and seventy palm trees,answering to the seventy sages; and they encamped there by the waters.[JERUSALEM And they removed from Marah and came to Elim: in Elim were twelvefountains of water, answering to the twelve tribes of Israel, and seventy palmtrees, answering to the seventy elders of the Sanhedrin of Israel; and theyencamped there.] And they removed from Elim, and camped on the banks of the Seaof Suph; and they removed from the banks of the sea, and encamped in thewilderness of Sin; thence[1] <l > to Dopheka, Kerak Takiph (the strongtower), Rephidim, where, because their hands were (raphin) neglectful of the words of the law, there was nowater for the people to drink; thence to the Graves of those who desired flesh;thence to Hazeroth, where Miriam the prophetess was struck, with leprosy;thence to Rithema, the place of many juniper trees; thence to Rumana, whosefruit is hard;[2] <l > thence to Libnah, whose borders arebuilt of bricks (Iibnetha); thenceto Beth Rissa; thence to Kebelath, where Korach and his companions bandedtogether against Mosheh and Aharon; thence to the mountain whose fruit is good;thence to Harada, where they were confounded by the evil plague; thence toMakheloth, the place of congregation; thence to the lower Makheloth; thence toTharach, and Muka, whose waters were sweet; thence to Hasmona; thence toMeredotha, the place of rebellion (or chastisement); thence to Bere-Haktha,Gudgad, at the Rocks, Jotebath, a good and quiet place; thence to the Fords;thence to Tarnegolla, the tower of the cock; thence to the wilderness of Zin;at the Iron Mount, which is Rekem; thence to Mount Umano, on the borders of theLand of Edom. And Aharon the priest went up to Mount Umano by the Word of theLord, and died there, in the fortieth year from the going out of the childrenof Israel from Mizraim, in the fifth month, on the first of the month. AndAharon was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on MountUmano.
AndAmalek the wicked, who was combined with the Kenaanites, and reigned in Arad,-thehouse of his abode was in the land of the south,-heard that the sons ofIsrael were coming to wage war against them, and utterly to destroy theircities.
Andthey removed from Mount Umano, and encamped in Zalmona, a place of thorns, andnarrow (or squalid), in the land of the Edomaee; and there the soul of thepeople was distressed on account of the way; thence to Punon, where the Lordsent burning serpents among them, and their cry went up to heaven. And theyremoved to Oboth; thence to the passage of the Fords, on the border of theMoabaee; thence to Dibon, the place of fortune;[3] <l > thence to AlmonDiblathaimah, where the well was hidden from them, because they had forsakenthe words of the law, which are as delicious as figs (diblatha); thence to the Mount Ibraee, in front of the placeof the burial of Mosheh; thence they removed and encamped in the fields ofMoab, by Jordan, near Jericho; and they encamped by the Jordan, fromBethjeshimon unto the plain of Sillan in the fields of Moab. And theLord spake with Mosheh, in the fields of Moab, at the Jordan, by Jericho,saying: Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: When you have passedover the Jordan into the land of Kenaan, you shall drive out all theinhabitants of the country from beforeyou, and lay waste all the houses of their worship, destroy all their moltenimages, and overthrow all their high places. [JERUSALEM. You shall destroy allthe inhabitants of the land from before you, make an end of all their idols,break their molten images, and overthrow all their high places.] And you shalldrive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein, for I have given youthe land to possess it. And you shall inherit the land by lots, according toyour families; to the tribe whose people are many you shall enlarge, and to thetribe whose people are few, you shall diminish. According to the place whereone’s lot falleth, there shall his place be; you shall inherit by the tribes ofyour fathers.
Butif you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, it willbe that the residue whom you have spared looking at you with an evil eye willsurround you as shields (terisin) onyour sides, and afflict you in the land wherein you dwell; and it shall be thatas I had thought to do to them I will do to you.
XXXIV. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying: Command the sons ofIsrael, and say to them: When you have entered into the land of Kenaan, thisshall be the land that shall be divided to you for an inheritance, the land ofKenaan by its limits. Your south border (shall be) from the Wilderness ofPalms, by the iron mountain, at the confines of Edom, even the south border atthe extremities of the Sea of Salt, eastward. And your border shall turn fromthe south to the ascent of Akrabbith, and pass on to the palms of the mountainof iron, and the going forth thereof shall be southward of Rekem Giah, andshall go onward to the tower of Adar, and pass over to Kesam. And the bordershall wind round from Kesam unto Nilos, of the Mizraee, and its outgoings shallbe to the west. And for thewestern border you shall have the Great Ocean Sea; its limits are the waters of the beginning[4] <l > withthe waters of old which are in its depth; its capes and havens, its creeks andits cities, its islands and ports, its ships and its recesses:[5] <l > thisshall be your border westward.
Andthis shall be your northern border;-from the Great Sea you shall appointto you unto Mount Umanis.[6] <l > From Mount Umanis you shall appointto you (a line) as thou goest up to the entrance of Tebaria, and the outgoingsof the border at its two sides, unto Kadkor Of Bar Zahama, and to Kadkol of BarSanigora, and Divakinos and Tarnegola unto Kesarin, where thou goest up toAbelas of Cilicia. And the border shall go on unto Keren Zekutha, and to GibraHatmona, and its outgoings shall be at Keria Bethsekel, and to the midst of thegreat court (darela rabtha), which is atMizeha, between the towers of Hinvetha and Darmeshek: this shall be yournorthern limit. And you shallappoint your eastern border from the of Hinvetba unto Apamea; and the bordershall descend from Apamea to Dophne, eastward of Hinvetha; thence the bordershall go down to the cavern of Panias, and from the cavern of Panias to themountain of snow, and from the mountain of snow to Henan, and from Henan theborder shall go down and encompass the plain of the river of Arnon, and arriveat the wilderness and the palms of the mountain of iron, take in the Waters ofContention, and rest at Ginesar, a city of the kings of the Edomites, theinheritance of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Menasheh;and the border shall descend and encompass the Sea of Genesar on the east.
[JERUSALEM. And your border shall be southward, from the wilderness of Rekem,over against the frontier of the Edomaee, and southward shall it be to you untothe extremity of the Sea of Salt, eastward. And your South border shall goround from the ascent of Akrabim, which passeth over by the mountain of iron,and its outgoings shall be from the south unto Rekem Giah, and proceed to thebuildings of the threshing floors, and pass on to Kesam. And the border shallwind round from Kesam unto Nilos Mizraim,[7] <l > and the going out ofit shall be at the sea. And the (west) border shall be the Great Ocean Sea; its isles, ports,and ships, with the ancient waters that are in it, the waters of the beginning;this shall be your western border. And thisshall be your northern limit: from the Great Sea you shall appoint to you untoMount Manos. From Mount Manos you shall extend to the entrance of Antiochia,and the outgoing shall be unto Abelas of the Cilicians; and the border shall goto Zapherin, and its outgoing be at the dwellings of Hainutha, unto Apamea,unto Dopline, east of Hainutha, and shall descend and come down upon the Sea ofGinesar at the west.] And the border shall descend to the Jordan, and itsoutgoing be at the Sea of Salt. Rekem Giah on the south, Mount Umanos on thenorth, the Great Sea on the west, the Sea of Salt on the east,-this shallbe your country, the Land of Israel, by the extent of its borders round about.[JERUSALEM. And it shall descend to Jordan, and have its outgoings at the Seaof Salt. This shall be your land by its limits round about.] And Moshehcommanded the sons of Israel, saying: This is the land which you are to inheritby lot, which the Lord hath commanded to give to the nine tribes and the halftribe. For the tribe of the children of Reuben, according to the house of theirfathers, and tribe of Gad, and the half tribe of Menasheh have received theirinheritance beyond the Jordan on the eastern side. [JERUSALEM. The two tribesand the half tribe have received their inheritance beyond Jordan-Jerichofirst. Their border goeth forth on the east from the plain of the Salt Sea toKinnereth, the city of the kingdom of the Amorites, and thence to the mountainof snow, and to Hamatha of Lebanon; thence to Hoba, on the northern side ofHainutha, of Damasek, and from Hoba to Divakinos, at the snowy mount ofKisarion, eastward of (the town of) Dan, on the west, and from thence to theGreat River, the river Phrat, upon which is the order of the victories of thewars of the Lord, which are to be wrought there. And from the Great River, thePhrat, their border goeth forth to the cities of Zavatha, beyond all the Tarkon(Trechonites), unto Zimra, the royal house of Sihon, king of the Amoraee, andthe royal house of Og, king of Mathnan, going to Raphiach and to Shokmezai,until thou comest to the shore of the Salt Sea. This is the portion of the twotribes and the half tribe.] And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying: These are the names of themen who shall make to you the inheritance of the land: Elazar the priest, andJehoshua bar Nun, and one prince from each of the tribes you shall choose togive you the inheritance of the land. And these are the names of the men. Ofthe tribe of Jehudah, Kaleb barJephunneh; for Shemeon, Shemuelbar Ammihud; Benjamin, Elidad barKiselon; Dan, Buki bar Jageli; Joseph,J1enasheh,Haniel bar Ephod; Ephraim, Kemuel bar Shipbtan; Zebulon, Elizaphan bar Parnak; Issakar, Paltiel bar Azan; Asher, Abihud bar Shelomi; Naphtali, Pedahael bar Ammihud. These are they whom the Lordcommanded to divide the inheritance of the land of Kenaan to the children ofIsrael.
XXXV. Andthe Lord spake with Mosheh in the plains of Moab, by Jordan-Jericho,saying: Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from theirinheritance cities to dwell in, and suburbs (open spaces) to the cities roundabout shall you give to the Levites. [JERUSALEM. And suburbs to the citiesround about them shall you give to the Levites.] And the cities shall be forthem to dwell in, and the suburbs for their cattle, their property, and alltheir needful things. But of the cities which you give to the Levites thesuburbs round the city shalt be one thousand cubits without the city roundabout. [JERUSALEM. But the suburbs.] And you shall measure outside the city, onthe east side, two thousand cubits; on the South two thousatid, on the west twothousand, and on the north two thousand cubits, with the city in the midst;these shall be to you the suburbs of the cities. And of the cities you give tothe Levites, six shall be for refuges to manslayers, that the manslayer mayescape thither. Beside these you shall give them forty-two other cities.All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be fortyeiaht cities withtheir suburbs. But when you give the cities from the inheritance of the BeniIsrael, from the tribe wbose people are many you shall give many, and from thetribe whose people are few you shall diminish; every one shall give of hiscities to the Levites, according to the inheritance he possesses. And the Lordspake with Mosheh, saying: Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them, Whenyou have passed over Jordan unto the land of Kenaan, you shall provide youcities with streets and houses of living (boarding houses), cities of refuge shallthey be to you, that thither the maiislayer may flee who hath killed a maninadvertently. And they shall be to you for cities of refuge for the manslayerfrom the avenger of blood, that the man may not be put to death till he shallhave stood before the congregation for judgment. And these cities which yougiveshall be six cities of refuge for the manslayer; three you shall appoint beyondJordan, and three in the land of Kenaan; cities of refuge shall they be. Forthe sons of Israel and the sojourners among you shall be these six cities ofrefuge, that thither whoever hath killed a man through ignorance may flee. But if he smotehim with an instrument of iron and killed him, he is a murderer; and themurderer shall be surely put to death. Or if, filling his hand with a stonelarge enough to kill any one, he struck him, and killed him, he is a murderer,and the murderer dying shall die. Or if, filling his hand with an instrument ofwood sufficient to kill any one, he struck him, and killed him, he is amurderer; the murderer shall be put to death. The avenger of blood may himselfkill the manslayer, if he meet him outside of these cities; he may kill him injudgment. But if(the manslayer) had assaulted in enmity and intentionally with a club or staff,or thrown stones upon him with purpose of heart, and killed him; or cherishingenmity had struck him with his hand and killed him; he is a murderer; dying heshall die. The avenger of blood may slay the homicide when he hath beencondemned. But if in ignorance, without keeping of malice, he let any thingfall upon him, having no intention to kill; or if without intention he let astone sufficient to kill any one, or any other thing, fall upon him, and killhim, without having hated, or purposed to do him harm, then the congregationshall judge between him who had smitten him, and the avenger of blood,according to these judgments; and the congregation shall release the manslayerfrom the hand of the avenger of blood, and make him return to his city ofrefuge whither he had fled; and he shall dwell there until the time that thehigh priest die, whom the multitude (sagia)had anointed with the oil of anointing;-because he did not pray on theDay of Atonement in the Holy of Holies concerning the three greattransgressions, that the people of the house of Israel might not be smitten forstrange worship, or impure connexions, or the shedding of innocent blood, whenit was in his power to obviate them by his prayer, and he prayed not, thereforehath he been condemned to die in that year. But if, while the high priest is yet alive, the manslayer goeth outindeed from the bounds, of his city of refuge whither he had fled, and theavenger of blood find him without the bounds of his city of refuge, he may killthe manslayer, without being guilty of death, for he should have abode in hiscity of refuge until the death of the high priest; but after the high priest isdead he may return to the land of his inheritance. And theseindications shall be to you a decree of judgment for your generations in allyour dwellings: Whosoever killeth a man, according to the word of witnesses fitto give testimony against him, the avenger of blood, or the house of judgment,shall put him to death. But one witness only shall not testify against a man toput him to death. You may not take a ransom for the release of a murderer whois guilty of death, for dying he shall die. Neither may you take ransom for himwho hath fled to his city of refuge, so as that he may return to dwell in theland before the time of the high priest’s decease. Nor contaminate ye the landin which you are, because innocent blood which hath not been avenged willoverflow the land, and there is no atonement made for the land upon whichinnocent blood hath been shed, but by the shedding of the blood of him who shed it. Therefore defile not the land in which youare; for My Shekinah dwelleth in the midst of it; for I am the Lord whoseShekinah dwelleth among the children of Israel.
XXXVI. And the heads of the fathers of the family of the Beni Gileadbar Makir bar Menasheh, even the family of the Beni Gilead bar Joseph, came tothe house of judgment, and spake before Mosheh and the princes, the chieffathers of the Beni Israel, and said: The Lord commanded Rabboni to give theland an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and Rabboni was commandedbefore the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to hisdaughters. But if these marry into any of the tribes of the children of Israel,their inheritance will be withdrawn from that of our fathers, and will be addedto the inheritance of the tribe which will have become theirs, and our lot willbe diminished. And at the Jubilee of the Beni Israel their inheritance will beadded to that of their tribe in which they will be; and their possession willhave been withdrawn from the inheritance of our father’s tribe.
ThenMosheh commanded the children of Israel by the Word of the Lord, saying: Thetribe of the Beni Joseph have said well. This is the thing which the Lord hathcornmanded,-not for the generations that shall arise after the divisionof the land, but for the daughters of Zelophehad, saying: They may be the wivesof them who are proper in their eyes, only such must be of the families oftheir father’s tribe. That the inheritance of the children of Israel may notpass about from one tribe to another: for the children of Israel shall everyone keep to the inheritance of their father’s tribe. (Verses 9 and 10 arewanting.) As the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; andMahalah, Thirzah, Hogelab, Milchah and Nohah, the daughters of Zelophehad,became wives of sons of their kindred; of the family of the children ofMenasheh bar Joseph were they wives, and their inheritance was with the tribeof their father’s family.
These are thecommandments and orders of judgmengts which the Lord commanded the children ofIsrael, by Mosheh, in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.
END OF THE PALESTINIAN TARGUM ON THE SEPHER BEMIDBAR.
[1] The expression "and they removedfrom" such a place occurs in the recital of all these stages. I havehenceforward omitted it, and given only the place of each encampment insuccession.
[1] From rimmon, "a pomegranante." (?) [1] BethMazala, "the house of the planet."
[1] Or,"the creation."
[1] Or ,"interior."
[1] This nameis here given to Mount Lebanon.
[1] Not the Nile, but a small river fallinginto the Mediterranean, a little below Gaza. Compare Joshua xv. 47.
[1] <l > The expression "and they removedfrom" such a place occurs in the recital of all these stages. I havehenceforward omitted it, and given only the place of each encampment insuccession.
[2] <l > From rimmon, "a pomegranante." (?) [3] <l > Beth Mazala, "the house of theplanet."
[4] <l > Or, "the creation [5] <l > Or , "interior."
[6] <l > This name is here given to MountLebanon.
[7] <l > Not the Nile, but a small riverfalling into the Mediterranean, a little below Gaza. Compare Joshua xv. 47.