Here and there throughout these commentaries, I have made weighty reference to the word מדבר (“MEED-bar”). The word describes the setting of most of the Torah, so it comes up a lot: The desert. The wilderness. But that’s not the only way those four letters describe the setting, nor is it the only usage of them that comes up a lot.

The root דבר is one of those mission-critical Hebrew roots with an unavoidably mystical meaning. It means both “word” and “thing.” Spelled the exact same way, but pronounced differently, מדבר (“me-da-BEAR”) is the verb “speak.” The book of ba’Midbar — “in the wilderness” — begins with that constant Torah formula: “וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה” — “and God spoke to Mosheh,” and the next word is “בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר.” I almost unconsciously combine the meanings of this magical word to translate this as, “And God spoke to Mosheh in the Speaking Place.”

It’s a pretty key teaching in the Torah that the wilderness is the Speaking Place — the place where God speaks — and it’s embedded right in its very language. Not that you’d know that from outside of the Torah’s language and culture. But indeed, that’s the very trouble that I contend is foreshadowed (or you might say prophesied) throughout the text: We’re not going to remain in the speaking place forever.

We’ve been out of the action for a while and mostly downloading lists of very specific and strict laws, so it’s pretty understandable of Mosheh to take a minute here and take attendance to remember who all is actually out here in the desert again. This, presumably, is why the English name for this book is “Numbers.” On the first day of the second month of the second year (remember, that’s mid-spring by this ancient calendar), God commands Mosheh to take a military census, counting all men over the age of 20 who are able to bear arms, clan by clan, named by the name of the male leader of each clan. Mosheh and Aharon are to run it, and chieftains from each tribe of Yisra’el are named to assist them in the count.

I find this part kind of exciting. It’s like the briefing scene in the squad action movie where each of the specialists gets named and shown on screen doing their signature move. Not all of these people become important characters later, but some of them do, so take note of their names now.

Then they assemble the troops and begin the count. This part doesn’t make for the most gripping reading, but it definitely creates a tonal shift. We’ve gotten used to reading exhaustive lists of building materials and ritual implements (not to mention priestly laws). Now we’re zooming out and getting a sense of the scale the whole people, specifically its capacity as a fighting force. Preparations have begun to conquer the promised land.

Re’uvein has 46,500 men. Shim’on has 59,300. Gad has 45,650. Yehudah has 74,600. Yisaschar has 54,400. Zvulun has 57,400. Efrayim has 40,500. Menasheh has 32,200. Binyamin has 35,400. Dan has 62,700. Asher has 41,500. Naftali has 53,400. The total number of soldiers comes to 603,550. (Yes, it adds up.)

The tribe of Levi is not counted. In fact, God instructs Mosheh quite strictly not to count them in this census. Their job is not military; their job is to keep track of all those lists we had before, the lists of the Mishkan’s materials and implements. They are to carry it all through the desert, camp around it, unpack it, set it all up, and take it all down again. The punishment for outsiders encroaching on this holy process is death.

Each other tribe shall camp together under its banner, but the tribe of Levi shall camp encircling the Mishkan, providing heavenly protection while the others provide earthly protection.

In chapter two, the numbers and chieftains of each tribe are given again as their encampment’s directional orientation to the Mishkan is assigned. Yehudah, led by Nahshon ben ’Aminadav, is to camp in the east, which in this celestially oriented culture is considered the front. This, along with Yehudah’s stature as the largest tribe, foreshadows which tribe will be the one whose descendants remain to this day to read this text. Going around sunwise (or clockwise from the east, if you haven’t brushed up on your sky literacy lately), next is Yisaschar, then Zvulun. These three tribes on the eastern side are designated the division of Yehudah, 186,400 strong, and they shall march first.

In the south is Re’uvein, then Shim’on, then Gad. The division of Re’uvein, 151,450 strong, marches second.

In between the four divisions, the Levi’im march with the Tent of Meeting.

In the west is Efrayim, then Menasheh, then Binyamin. The division of Efrayim, 108,100 men, marches third.

In the north is Dan, then Asher, then Naftali. The division of Dan, 157,600 strong, keeps up the rear.

If this whole thing, with 12 divisions and their sunwise movement, and the first month being in the spring and all that, sounds a bit astrological to you, you’re not wrong. That’s just how the world worked in those days. Maybe it will work like that again someday, b’ezrat ha’Shem.

Now our attention turns back to the priesthood. We are reintroduced to Aharon’s line, reminded of his sons, Nadav and Avihu, and their alien offering that caused them to be consumed by fire, leaving no sons. This is by way of saying that his other two sons, El’azar and Itamar, served as priests in the lifetime of their father.

God speaks to Mosheh, telling him to organize the tribe of Levi around service to Aharon, taking care of the facilities and the low-level duties of the Mishkan and the daily offering services. Aharon and his sons, the hereditary priesthood, are responsible for overseeing all this, and any outsider who encroaches — it is said again — is to be executed. God then declares the firstborn males of the tribe of Levi to be consecrated to belong specially to God, a sort of mirror image of the slaying of the Egyptian firstborn.

Then God commands a separate census for the tribe of Levi, this time counting all males over one month of age, as their job is not to fight. Levi had three sons: Gershon, Kohat, and Merari. Their sons are also named as clans.

The clans of Gershon come to 7,500 males. Their encampment is behind the Mishkan to the west (we’re going in reverse-sunwise order this time?). Their duties are the central tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its screens, its hangings, the cords for all these things, and the altar.

The clans of Kohat come to 8,600 males. They camp to the south, and they are responsible for the ark, the table, the lampstand, those altars and their utensils, and the screen, and all the service connected to those. El’azar, son of Aharon, is named as head chieftain of Levi and placed as administrator of these duties.

The clans of Merari come to 6,200 males. They camp in the north. They handle the planks, bars, posts, sockets, furnishings, and cords of the Mishkan and its enclosure.

On the eastern side of the Tent of Meeting, the front, is where Mosheh and Aharon and their families camp. This is named as extra sacred space, and for a third time encroachment is forbidden on pain of death.

The total number of males of Levi recorded at this time is 22,000. And no, this one does not add up. This is very weird, and much commentator and Talmudic number-fuzzing ensues down the generations. Most ways out involve math involving firstborns, which are counted next (getting us to 22,273, 273 of whom are then redeemed by silver offerings to the priests), and which commentators figure must mean that some number of the firstborns of the three lines of Levi are unredeemed firstborns that are not counted. Whatever!

Then God instructs Mosheh and Aharon to conduct a separate census of the clans of Kohat for men between 30 and 50 years of age. They are to be assigned to the most sacred objects in the Mishkan, the Ark of the Pact and its surrounding implements. Very detailed procedures are then given for how this part should be handled when breaking camp, with Aharon and his sons themselves handling the most sensitive parts. The sons of Kohat are not allowed to even touch these furnishings until the priests have covered them properly, lest they die. Then these elder men of Kohat shall carry them on the march.

El’azar is named as the person who does the lighting and giving the primary offerings in this space.

God ends this section with a specific warning about protecting the clans of Kohat in these duties. The priests must handle the disassembly of the Mishkan and the assignment of what each Kohat man will carry. If they go in and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary, they will die.

It seems the main download is done, and now it is time for the people to begin to mobilize.

🏜️