Numbers 33-36

Tree of Life Version

Parashat Masei

Israel’s Journeys Reviewed

33 These are the journeys of Bnei-Yisrael when they came out of Egypt by their divisions under the hand of Moses and Aaron. ² Moses recorded the stages of their journeys at Adonai’s command. These then are their journeys by stages.

³ Bnei-Yisrael set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the first day after Passover. They went out with a high hand in the sight of all Egypt. ^{[a] 4} Now the Egyptians were burying those whom Adonai had struck down among them. Adonai had brought judgments on all their first-born and their gods.

⁵ Bnei-Yisrael left Rameses and encamped at Succoth. ⁶ They departed from Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. ⁷ They left from Etham and turned back toward Pi-Hahiroth, east of Baal-Zephon, and camped before Migdol. ⁸ They left from before Pi-Hahiroth and passed through the sea into the wilderness. They traveled three days journey into the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. ⁹ They departed from Marah and went to Elim. There were twelve water springs and 70 palm trees in Elim, so they camped there. ¹⁰ They left Elim and camped by the Sea of Reeds.

¹¹ They set out from the Sea of Reeds and camped in the wilderness of Sin. ¹² They left from the wilderness of Sin and camped in Dophkah. ¹³ They then left Dophkah and camped at Alush. ¹⁴ They left from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

¹⁵ They set out from Rephidim and encamped in the Sinai wilderness. ¹⁶ They departed from the Sinai wilderness and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. ¹⁷ They left from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. ¹⁸ Departing Hazeroth, they camped at Rithmah. ¹⁹ Leaving Rithmah, they camped at Rimmon-perez. ²⁰ They left from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. ²¹ They departed Libnah and camped at Rissah. ²² They left Rissah and camped at Kehelah. ²³ They left Kehelah and camped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴ They departed Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. ²⁵ They departed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. ²⁶ They left Makheloth and camped in Tahath.

²⁷ They left from Tahath and camped in Terah. ²⁸ They left Terah and camped in Mithkah. ²⁹ They departed Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. ³⁰ They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹ They left Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. ³² Departing Bene-jaakan, they camped at Hor-haggidgad. ³³ Leaving Hor-haggidgad, they camped at Jotbah. ³⁴ They left Jotbah and camped at Abronah. ³⁵ They departed from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. ³⁶ They left Ezion-geber and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.

³⁷ Leaving Kadesh, they camped at Mount Hor on the border of the land of Edom. ³⁸ Aaron the kohen went up Mount Hor at Adonai’s command and died there, in the fortieth year since the departure of Bnei-Yisrael from the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. ³⁹ Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ The Canaanite king of Arad, who was living in the Negev in the territory of Canaan, heard of the coming of Bnei-Yisrael. ⁴¹ They departed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴² They left Zalmonah and encamped at Punon. ⁴³ Departing Punon, they camped at Oboth. ⁴⁴ Leaving Oboth, they camped at Ije-abarim on the border of Moab. ⁴⁵ They moved on from Ijim and camped at Dibon-gad. ⁴⁶ They moved on from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. ⁴⁷ They departed from Almon-diblathaim and camped at the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.

⁴⁸ They moved on from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, across from Jericho. ⁴⁹ They camped along the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.

⁵⁰ Adonai spoke to Moses along the Jordan in the plains of Moab across from Jericho saying, ⁵¹ “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² You must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. You must destroy all their idols and cast images, and demolish their high places. ⁵³ You will take possession of the land, so you will settle in it, because I have given it to you to possess.

⁵⁴ “You are to divide the land by lot according to your families. To the large, make their inheritance larger, and to the small, make their inheritance smaller. Whatever comes out of the lot will be theirs. You are to distribute the inheritance according to your ancestral tribes.

⁵⁵ “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, whoever you allow to remain will become to you barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land in which you will be living. ⁵⁶ Then what I had intended to do to them, I will do to you.”

Borders of Israel

34 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “Command Bnei-Yisrael and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, these are the boundaries of the land being allotted to you as an inheritance. ³ Your southern side will run from the wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom to the southern end of the Dead Sea on the east. ⁴ Your border will cross south of the Scorpion Pass and continue to Zin and south of Kadesh-barnea, then go on to Hazar-addar and on to Azmon. ⁵ Then the border will turn from Azmon to the Wadi of Egypt and end at the sea.

⁶ “Your western boundary will be the coast of the Great Sea. This will be your western border.

⁷ “Your northern boundary will be by running a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor, ⁸ then from Mount Hor to Levo-Hamath^[b], then the boundary will go to Zedad. ⁹ The border will continue on to Ziphron, ending at Hazar-Enan. This will be your northern border.

¹⁰ “For your eastern border, run a line from Hazar-Enan to Shepham. ¹¹ From Shepham, the boundary will descend to Riblah on the east side of Ain, continuing along the eastern slopes of Kinneret^[c]. ¹² From there the border will go down along the Jordan, ending at the Dead Sea. This will be your territory with its surrounding borders.”

¹³ Moses commanded Bnei-Yisrael, saying, “This is the land which Adonai has commanded that you are to assign by lot to the nine and a half tribes. ¹⁴ For the tribe of the sons of Reuben by their ancestral houses, the tribe of the sons of Gad by their ancestral houses, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance. ¹⁵ These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan at Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who will allot the land to you: Eleazar the kohen and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸ Also you are to select one prince from each tribe to allot the land. ¹⁹ These are their names: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh. ²⁰ From the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Shemuel son of Ammihud. ²¹ From the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Chislon. ²² From the tribe of the sons of Dan, the prince is Bukki son of Jogli. ²³ From the sons of Joseph, from the tribe of the sons of Manasseh, the prince is to be Hanniel son of Ephod. ²⁴ The prince from the tribe of the sons of Ephraim is to be Kemuel son of Shiphtan.

²⁵ “The prince from the tribe of the sons of Zebulun is Elizaphan son of Parnach. ²⁶ The prince from the tribe of the sons of Issachar is Paltiel son of Azzan. ²⁷ The prince from the tribe of the sons of Asher is Ahihud son of Shelomi. ²⁸ The prince from the tribe of the sons of Naphtali is Pedahel son of Ammihud.” ²⁹ These were those Adonai commanded to apportion to Bnei-Yisrael the land of Canaan.

Cities for the Levites

35 Adonai spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho saying, ² “Command Bnei-Yisrael to give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possessions cities in which to live. They are also to give the Levites pasturelands around the cities. ³ Thus they will have cities to live in and pastures for their cattle, flocks and all their livestock. ⁴ The pastures you give the Levites will extend out from the walls around the cities for 1,000 cubits. ⁵ You are to measure outside the cities 2,000 cubits on the east side, 2,000 cubits on the south side, on the west side 2,000 cubits, and on the north side 2,000 cubits. These are to be pasturelands for the cities.

⁶ “Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be cities of refuge, to which anyone who kills anyone may flee. Besides these, you are to give the Levites 42 more cities. ⁷ In all, you are to give the Levites 48 cities with their pastures. ⁸ The cities that you are to give to the Levites from the possession of Bnei-Yisrael should be proportionate to the inheritance of each tribe—give many from the one who has many and few from the one who has few.”

⁹ Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael saying: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ You are to select cities which will be cities of refuge, to which one might flee if he has killed someone by accident. ¹² They are to be cities for refuge from the avenger, so the manslayer may not die before standing trial before the assembly. ¹³ The six cities you designate are to be your cities of refuge. ¹⁴ Designate three cities on this side of the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.

¹⁵ “These six cities of refuge are to be for Bnei-Yisrael as well as for the outsider and the visitor in their midst, for anyone killing a person by accident. ¹⁶ Now if the manslayer strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer and the murderer must die. ¹⁷ If anyone has a stone in his hand that could be deadly and strikes anyone with it so that he dies, he is a murderer and the murderer must die. ¹⁸ Or if someone has a wooden object that could kill and strikes anyone so that he dies, he is a murderer and the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁹ The blood avenger himself may put the murderer to death. When he finds him, he is to kill him.

²⁰ “If anyone pushes someone maliciously, or throws anything at him with deadly intent, ²¹ or with hostility hits him with his fist so that he dies, the one hitting him is a murderer. The blood avenger may put the murderer to death when he finds him. ²² But if he pushes him suddenly or throws an object at him with no intent, ²³ or without seeing him should drop a stone on him resulting in his death, but he was not his enemy and intended him no harm, ²⁴ the assembly must judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. ²⁵ The assembly must protect the manslayer from the avenger of blood. The assembly should send him back to the city of refuge to which he had fled and he is to remain there until the death of the kohen gadol who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶ “But if the manslayer should go outside the city limit of his city of refuge to which he had fled, ²⁷ and should the blood avenger find him outside the city limits of the refuge city, the blood avenger may put him to death without being guilty of his blood. ²⁸ The manslayer must stay within the limits of his city of refuge until the kohen gadol dies, and after the death of the kohen gadol, the manslayer may return to his property.

²⁹ “These are to be statutes of justice for your generations in all your dwelling places. ³⁰ Everyone killing anyone shall be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of more than one witness. No one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

³¹ “You are not to accept ransom for the life of a murderer. He deserves to die and he is to die. ³² Do not receive a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, allowing him to return to his land before the kohen gadol’s death. ³³ You are not to pollute the land in which you are. Blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for land polluted by bloodshed except by the blood of the one who sheds it. ³⁴ You are not to defile the land where you live, where I dwell, for I dwell among Bnei-Yisrael.”

Further Ruling About Daughters’ Inheritance

36 The heads of the ancestral family of the children of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, from the sons of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and before the princes of the chiefs of the fathers of Bnei-Yisrael. ² They said, “My lord, Adonai commanded to give the land by lot as an inheritance to Bnei-Yisrael. My lord was also commanded by Adonai to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

³ “If they become wives of men from other tribes of Israel, their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be deducted from the allotment of our inheritance. ⁴ When the Jubilee year comes, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry and deducted from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”

⁵ Then Moses commanded Bnei-Yisrael at the mouth of Adonai, “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is correct. ⁶ This is the word that Adonai commands for the daughters of Zelophehad saying: They may become wives to whomever they please, as long as they marry within the family of the tribe of their father. ⁷ So no inheritance may be passed from tribe to tribe among Bnei-Yisrael—each one of Bnei-Yisrael will each keep the inheritance of the tribe of his ancestors. ⁸ Every daughter receiving an inheritance in one of the tribes of Bnei-Yisrael should marry within the family of her father’s tribe, so that Bnei-Yisrael will each possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ No inheritance may pass from tribe to another tribe, for each tribe of Bnei-Yisrael is to keep its inheritance.”

¹⁰ So Zelophehad’s daughters did just as Adonai commanded Moses. ¹¹ Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah—married sons of their uncles. ¹² They married within the families of the sons of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their ancestral family.

¹³ These are the mitzvot and judgments that Adonai gave by Moses’s hand to Bnei-Yisrael, on the plains of Moab at Jericho along the Jordan.