## Tur HaArokh, Numbers

###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:1:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/25:1:1)

**לזנות בבנות מואב.**פרש"י ע"י עצת בלעם. וכתב הרמב"ן באמת כי הזנות הזה לא היה מזנות הנשים כי בעצת אנשיהם וגדוליהם נעשה ומזקני מדין היה להם כדכתיב במדינים כי צוררים הם לכם בנכליהם אשר נכלו לכם על דבר פעור ולכן יתכן שהיה בלעם בעצה שדעתו היה להרע לישראל וגם שהוא בעל עצתם ועל כן הרגוהו בחרב. אבל על דרך הפשט לא הזכיר הכתוב העצה בכאן רק הזכירה במה שאמר אחרי כן הן הנה היו לבני ישראל כאשר לא הזכיר הכתוב עצת מדין רק במה שאמר כי צוררים הם לכם שמזכיר מאין יצא להם הרעה ואמר שראוי לנקום מהם שעשו עמהם רעה גדולה שהחטיאום אבל פי' איעצך אשר יעשה העם הזה לעמך באחרית הימים הוא באמת כאשר פרשתיו. ויתכן עוד על דרך הפשט כי בלק בתחלה היה חפץ לקללם ולהלחם בהם וכאשר אמר לו בלעם כי לא יוכל להם והודיעו שלא יחריבו את ארצו רק באחרית הימים אז הוציא לחם ויין בערבות מואב ופיתה אותם כאילו היה אוהב להם וזהו בדבר בלעם כי בעבור דבריו עשה כן אבל מפני שהיה חפץ לקללם ונשכר לבלק על כן הרגוהו בחרב כי השכיר והשוכר שניהם לענש כמו שאמר ואשר שכר עליך וגו':

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
לזנות בבנות מואב, “to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moav.” *Rashi,* basing himself on the Talmud in *Sanhedrin 106* where Bileam is reputed to have suggested to the Moabites that they seduce the Israelites adopts that version in the Talmud as fact.
 Nachmanides writes that the harlotry described here was not a sexually motivated kind of harlotry initiated by the Moabite women at all. These women were encouraged by their husbands to trap the Israelites into committing a capital offence against the moral code of the Torah, as a result of which they would become guilty of the death penalty. The elders of Midian were instrumental in all this, and this is why a Midianite princess had seduced the leader of the tribe of Shimon. (verse 14-15) Seeing that Bileam was one of these, he too was killed subsequently by the sword of the Israelites.
 However, looking at the unadorned text, the פשט, we must remember that the Torah did not spell out the nature of the advice Bileam offered Balak. All the Torah did spell out was that when the members of the punitive expedition against the Midianites returned from their campaign and among the loot there were female prisoners, Moses became angry at their officers, chiding them for having allowed the very women who had seduced the people at Shittim to live. () He explained that the main reason why the campaign had been fought was to take revenge on the seducers. By explaining that the Midianites had a prominent share of the guilt in that debacle, he had hinted at the source of the plan to seduce the Israelites. (25,17-18) Bileam’s prediction of what the Israelites would do to the Moabites in the distant future had its rationale in what the Moabites were now about to do to this people, a people who had not provoked them but had meticulously respected their borders.
 It is possible further, that by following the plain meaning of the text, Balak was originally intent on cursing the Jewish people and to wage war against them, but that when Bileam had warned him that he would not succeed, and he had added that at any rate the Israelites would not pose a threat to him even ecologially, at least not until the distant future, Balak decided to welcome them as neighbours, bringing out food to show that he was interested in friendly relations. He seduced them by making believe that he was sincere, and this is the meaning of the words בדבר בלעם, (31,16) i.e. due to the reassurance received from Bileam that he was in no immediate danger. At that time Balak had no evil intentions. However, the fact that he had harboured hostile intentions and had gone to the length of hiring Bileam is enough reason why he should be punished. In the event, the retribution would be long delayed. The Torah spells this out in Deut. 23,5 when Balak is once more referred to as having hired Bileam


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:5:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/25:5:1)

**הרגו איש אנשיו.**בירושלמי איתא דכל דיין אחד הורג שנים דהכי איתא בירושלמי דפ' חלק וכמה הן שופטי ישראל ז' ריבוא וח' אלפים ות"ר אמר לון כל חד מינכון ליקטול תרין נמצאו ההרוגים ט"ו ריבוא וח' אלפים ור' (?). ותמה הרמב"ן והלא אין דנין דיני נפשות בדיין אחד ועוד א"כ היו חסרים הרבה ואין החסרון שבחומש הפקודים עולה כ"כ אלא פי' איש את אנשיו שיהרגו השופטים כל הנצמדים כל ב"ד וב"ד ידין את שבטו. והנכון בעיני בפרשה כי מתחלה נאמר ויצמד העם לבעל פעור ויחר אף ה' בישראל והחל הנגף והשם אמר למשה שישפטו השופטים ויתלו הנצמדים ולא יספה האף צדיק עם רשע ומשה צוה כן לשופטים וכאשר נאספו כל העדה פתח אהל מועד לעשות כדבר משה ועוד היה הנגף הווה בעם הקריב זמרי את המדיינית למרוד במשה ובשופטים והתחילו משה והשופטים לבכות ויעמד פנחס ויפלל ותעצר המגפה ולא נידון אחד מכל העם ביד השופטים כי השם אמר והוקע אותם וישוב חרון אפו מישראל וכבר שב אפו מהם ולכך לא הזכיר ויעשו כן שופטי ישראל. ויתכן שתהיה כונת הירושלמי לומר שיהיו ההרוגים לפי המצוה יותר מט"ו ריבוא לומר שהיו החוטאים רבים אבל חיסו עליהם בענין פנחס והנה נשארו מן הנצמדים והב"ה השמידם אחרי כן טרם עוברם את הירדן וזהו שכתוב כי כל האיש אשר הלך אחרי בעל פעור השמידו ה' ואתם הדבקים בה' אלקיכם וגו':

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
הרגו איש את אנשיו, “kill, each one of you, his guilty counterpart.” The Jerusalem Talmud *Sanhedrin* 10,2 reports that each of the judges killed two Israelites, as there were a total of 78600 judges, and according to this 157.200 Israelites were executed on that occasion.
 Nachmanides questions the statement in the Jerusalem Talmud reminding us that a capital crime may not be judged by only one judge. Furthermore, if correct, the tremendous number of missing Israelites should be reflected in the census the Torah reports as having taken place immediately after this event, as per He therefore comes to the conclusion that the words איש את אנשיו refers to the judges who had convicted the active participants and whom G’d had commanded Moses to hang after their execution, would each be executed by the court of his tribe, so that not all judges had to participate in all the executions, but only in the executions of members of their particular tribe. [In other words, the word אנשיו restricts the individual judges’ duties as executioners. Ed.]
 I believe (Nachmanides’ words) that the correct interpretation of the whole paragraph beginning with the words (verse 3) ויצמד העם, is that initially the debacle began with some of the people worshipping the idol known as בעל פעור. This evoked G’d’s anger at the people of Israel and the plague began to take its toll among the people. G’d simultaneously told Moses to tell the judges to carry out their judicial duties in order to insure that the innocent would not fall victim to the plague, which did not distinguish between the loyal and the disloyal Jews. Once the whole community had been assembled at the entrance to the Tabernacle in order to carry out Moses’ instructions, and it was found that the plague continued to kill Israelites, Zimri came and presented the Midianite princess using her to incite a rebellion against Moses. by, among other things, challenging Moses who had himself slept with a Midianite woman, Tzipporah. This caused both Moses and the elders to commence weeping, seeing that Moses did not have an answer that would have sounded convincing, This was the signal for Pinchas to take the law into his own hands in order to put a stop to the plague. We know that he succeeded as the Torah reports that as an immediate consequence of Zimri and Cosbi being stabbed to death the plague ceased. (verse 8) There had not been enough time to convict a single member of the people by court of law. The proof is that G’d ordered them to be hanged, seeing that they had not been convicted legally. [Hanging after execution is called תליה not הוקעה. Ed.] This is the reason why the Torah does not report that Moses’ instructions to the judges had been carried out.
 It is possible that the intention of the sages in the Jerusalem Talmud quoted earlier was to inform us that if the order to execute the guilty people had indeed been carried out, each of the judges would have had to execute two Israelites. The vast majority of them were saved by the courageous deed of Pinchas. They survived at this point, but they did not cross the Jordan into the Holy Land as the Torah testifies that G’d destroyed all the persons that had been actively involved in this sorry affair. (Compare Deut.4,3)


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:11:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:11:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/25:11:1)

**פנחס בן אלעזר וגו' בקנאו את קנאתי.**שבהב"ה נאמר אל קנא שנוקם מעובדי ע"ז ואלמלא שקינא במקומי הייתי מכלה לישראל:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
פינחס בן אלעזר...בקנאו את קנאתי, “Pinchas son of Eleazar. when he displayed his jealousy on My behalf.” Seeing that *Hashem* is also known as a “jealous G’d,” (Exodus 20,5) meaning that He acts as such vis-à-vis people who worship idols, Pinchas’ act of taking the law into his own hands, religious intolerance, need not be interpreted as an act of jealousy on behalf of his own agenda. G’d tells Moses that but for Pinchas’ action and motivation He would have continued killing the Israelites by the plague.


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:12:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/25:12:1)

**לכן אמור.**לבני ישראל והודיע להם שהוא כהן לעולם:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
לכן אמור, “Therefore, say! etc.” the words “to the Children of Israel,” are implied here. Moses was to announce to the Israelites that Pinchas had acquired hereditary rank as a priest.


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:12:2
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:12:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/25:12:2)

**הנני נותן לו את בריתי.**לפי הפשט הבטיח שלא יפחד מאחי זמרי וקרוביו אף כי הוא נשיא וגדול בישראל והיה לו רבי' שינקמו נקמתו. ושכרו יהי' שיהי' לו ולזרעו ברית כהונ' עול':

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
הנני נותן לו את בריתי שלום, “I herewith grant him My covenant of peace.” According to the plain meaning of the text family members who might act as גואל הדם, having the license to kill him by reason of being blood relations. Seeing that Zimri was a high-ranking member of the Israelite society there might have been numerous people who would have welcomed a chance to do just this. Apart from this assurance, his real reward would be that both he and his descendants would be priests.


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:17:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/25:17:1)

**צרור את המדיינים.**אמר צרור לשון יחיד ואמר: **והכיתם.**לשון רבים אמר צרור לשון יחיד רמז שעל ידך נעשית זו שכך צוה לה אביה אל תבעלי אלא לגדול שבהם שהוא משה ואמר והכיתם לשון רבי' שהם יכו אותם אבל משה לא יכם לפי שנתגדל במדין:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
צרור את המדינים, “Harass the Midianites!” On the one hand, the word צרור is in the singular mode, whereas the word following i.e. והכיתם is in the plural mode. This is a hint to Moses that seeing he will give the necessary orders and select the soldiers that campaign will be credited to him, although, naturally it would require quite a few people to wage the actual war. The reason why Moses, personally, should not go with those soldiers is the fact that he had been raised and given refuge in Midian and the hand that had been fed by the Midianites should not now turn and bite that hand.


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:18:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 25:18:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/25:18:1)

**בנכליהם.**פי' הרמב"ן כי זקני מדין חשבו המחשבה הרעה הזאת כי בהם נתיעצו תחלה ונתנו להם העצה שתזנינה בנותיהן עמהם ויצמדו לבעל פעור. ועוד ששלחו להם בת מלכים לזנות וזה טעם ועל דבר כזבי בת נשיא מדין אחותם כי לולי שנעשה מדעת יועצי המלכות בת מלך מדין מה תבקש בערבות מואב ובשטים לזנות עם ישראל אלא בשביל שהיתה יפת תואר שלחו אותה זקני מדין שם כי אמרו בתואר אשה יפה רבים נשחתו. וקרוב הוא שהיה גם בלעם בעצה זו כי בשובו מארץ מואב עבר דרך מדין כי דרכו משם והיה מיועצי המלכות. ואולי נתעכב שם לדעת מה יהיה בהם ולפיכך מצאוהו במדין והרגוהו וכן נראה כי ישראל לא יהרגו המתנבא רק ברשות התורה אבל כאשר נאמר להם כי צוררים הם לכם בנכליהם הנה כל המתנכלים מחוייבי מיתה ולכן המיתו גם בלעם כי ידעו שהוא היה בעל העצה הרעה הזאת. והנה צוה הב"ה להנקם מהמדינים אבל על המואבים כבר הוזהר עליהם שנאמר אל תצר את מואב. ואני תמה על לשון ההגדה שאמרו בב"ק אל תצר את מואב וכי היאך תעלה על דעתו של משה לעשות מלחמה שלא ברשות אלא נשא משה ק"ו בעצמו ומה מדין שלא באו אלא לעזור את מואב אמרה תורה צרור את מדין מואב עצמו לא כ"ש והרי קודם הוזהרו על מואב ממה שנצטווה עליו אל תצורם ואמר קומו ועברו את נחל ארנון ראה נתתי לפניך את סיחון ואחר זה ראה מואב את כל אשר עשה ישראל לאמורי ואחר כל זה נצטוו' צרור את המדינים. וי"ל לפי שהיה גלוי וידוע לפני הקב"ה שמשה ידון זה הק"ו לכך הקדים והזהירו. והזכיר וקרבת מול בני עמון גם להזהירו עליהם שלא ידון הק"ו כי גם הם גמלו אותם רעה שלא קדמו אותם בלחם ובמים. ועל דרך הפשט עוד השם נתן ארץ עמון ומואב לבני לוט בעבור לוט אביה' ששרת את הצדיק וגלה עמו ולכך לא הרשו לעשו' להם רעה בארצם אבל מפני חטאם שרחקו את ישראל ולא קרבו אותם הענישם להרחיקם מעל עמו וצוה לא יבא עמוני ומואבי בקהל ה' מדה כנגד מדה. ור"א פי' ועל דבר כזבי בת נשיא מדין פי' צרור את המדין כי צוררים הם לכם במחשבתם הרעה ועוד כי יחשובו לעשות לכם רעה בעבור כזבי אחותם:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
בנכליהם, “with their conspiracies,” according to Nachmanides the Midianites were the ones who originated the plot to seduce the Israelites by even supplying their own socially high ranking women for the purpose. They also conspired to make sleeping with their women dependent on at least a superficial show of respect for their deity the *Baal Pe-or.* According to tradition, the manner in which that deity was worshipped was so revolting, i.e. one excreted in front of that idol, that no one in their right minds could have believed that this was a form of worship rather than an insult to their deity. Having dispatched Cosbi, whose rank the Torah describes here, to seduce the highest-ranking Israelite she could find, is an indication of the Midianites’ hatred for the Israelites. It is most likely that even if he did not think up this devious plot himself, Bileam was at least aware of it. This Cosbi, no doubt, was a woman of great physical allure, and she was sent on her ill-fated mission precisely because she was so attractive. It is quite possible that the reason why Bileam detoured on his way home via the land of Midian was in order to find out how the plot to seduce the Israelites had worked out. As a result, the army of the Israelites found him there and killed him. The officers were well aware that he must have had a hand in that plot. Israelites do not kill people who prophesy something negative concerning them unless specifically ordered to do so by the Torah or its authorized representatives. Incitement is a different story, however. In this instance, G’d had ordered all those that had been part of that incitement actively or by not protesting it, to be killed. The campaign was aimed only at the Midianites, as G’d had already forbidden the Israelites to harass the Moabites in any way.
 I am somewhat at a loss how to understand the wording of the *aggadah* according to which (*Baba Kamma* 38) it had never occurred to the Israelites to either harass or invade Moav so that G’d had to specifically for bid this? Where had there ever been a precedent that Moses would initiate warfare without express permission by G’d? The Talmud there answers that Moses used his logic, reasoning that if G’d had told him to launch a punitive expedition against the Midianites who had only been involved in the plot at arm’s length, so to speak, and G’d ordered us to punish them, how much more must we launch a similar expedition against the Moabites who were the instigators of all of this? The Talmud appears to have put the cart before the horse seeing that the warning not to harass Moav or wage war against it had been issued by G’d before the incident at Shittim or Bileam’s being hired to curse the Israelites! We may have to answer that it was clear to *Hashem* that once Israel had defeated and occupied the lands of Sichon and Og, with G’d’s permission, of course, Moses would reason that it was natural that the next step would be to cross into Moabite territory by crossing the river Arnon. G’d pre-empted such reasoning by Moses by forbidding the Israelites to provoke any confrontation with the Moabites. [The Talmud there has G’d explain to Moses why He forbade this, also in light of future events. Ed.] The matter was especially hard for Moses to understand because the very people who were not to be harassed were the people that because of hostility to the Israelites in the past, had been forbidden forever to convert to Judaism and become part of our nation. (Compare Deut. 23,4-8)
 Looking at the plain text, the reason why at this stage at least, no confrontation with either Moav or Bney Ammon was permitted, is the fact that G’d had allocated their lands to them in recognition of the years when their founding father Lot had faithfully served Avraham and had kept his secret and not reveled that Sarah was not only a blood-relation to him but was also his wife. Lot had joined Avraham at the time when the former moved to the land of Canaan, and this was akin to voluntary exile, all in order to keep company with his uncle whom he admired. The eventual commandment not to accept proselytes from either of those two nations, was explained as an act of מדה כנגד מדה, the punishment fitting the crime, as the Torah explained in Deut.