## Tur HaArokh, Numbers

###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:1:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/3:1:1)

**ואלה תולדות אהרן ומשה וגו' בהר סיני.**כתב הרמב"ן הזכיר בהר סיני לומר שמיום דיבר י"י אל משה בהר סיני נבחרו אלו למשחה אותם ולהיות להם משחתם כהונת עולם ושאר השבט לא נצטוה בבחירתו עד עתה ולכך נאמר בישראל ולוים במדבר סיני שלא נבחרו עד שבאו למדבר. ומה שהזכיר כאן תולדותיהם שכיון שצוה לפקוד שבט לוי התחיל בראשי השבט. ועל דרך הפשט טעם תולדות אהרן ומשה לומר שהיו בני אהרן הכהנים משוחים נבדלים מן השבט להיות קדש קדשים ותולדות משה העמרמי אשר יזכיר למטה כי אין בעמרמי שנמנים בלויים זולתי בני משה. והדרש סמכוהו מפני שלא פירש ואלה בני משה כאשר בבני אהרן לרמוז כי בני אהרן גם הם תולדות משה מפני שלימדם תורה. יש מפרשים במנין ישראל ולויים כתיב במדבר סיני ובאהרן כתיב ואלה תולדות וגו' בהר סיני לפי שאהרן נבחר במצרים שנאמר הנה אהרן הלוי אבל הלוים נבחרו במדבר:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ואלה תולדות אהרן ומשה....בהר סיני, “And these are Aaron’s and Moses’ immediate biological offspring…at Mount Sinai.” Nachmanides explains the apparently irrelevant mention of the words: “at Mount Sinai,” as well as the absence of any names of Moses’ children, by saying that Aaron’s children were also considered as if they were Moses’ children seeing that they learned the Torah from their uncle Moses, and we have it on the authority of our sages that anyone teaching someone else’s children Torah is accorded the merit of being the (spiritual) father of such a youngster. Moreover, the Torah hints by the wording of this verse that although these children of Aaron had not been anointed as priests until over nine months later, from the day, G’d in His mind, had already designated them to become priests at the time of the revelation at Mount Sinai. These appointments had not only been for life, but hereditary, whereas the other appointments, such as the leaders of the tribes, did not have their root already at the time of the revelation at Mount Sinai, nor were those appointments hereditary. One of the reasons why the chapter commences with the descendants of Aaron is that seeing that we will be reading about the count of the Levites shortly, it is appropriate to commence with the children of the leader of the tribe of Levi.
 Looking at the plain meaning of the text the meaning of the words “the descendants of Aaron and Moses,” is simply that seeing that Aaron’s sons had been especially anointed to become priests, they were in a category all by themselves compared to the other members of the tribe of Levi. If the tribe of Levi was considered “holy,” then the priests so anointed were considered “holiest of the holy.”
 The allegorical commentaries, *drush,* support this approach, seeing that Moses’ own children have not even been mentioned, the Torah failing to add: “and these were the offspring of Moses, etc,” especially in view of the fact that the *Midrash* told us that even Aaron’s sons were considered as if they had been Moses’ own, how is it then that Moses’ own have not even been mentioned?
 Some commentators hold that inasmuch as in connection with the count of the other tribes the Torah speaks of “in the desert of Sinai,” whereas when the sons of Aaron are mentioned these are referred to in conjunction with Mount Sinai, the reason is that their father had already been chosen by G’d to be the High Priest even before the people left Egypt, whereas the other Levites had only been chosen as special in the desert. [After the firstborn had participated in the sin of the golden calf. Ed.]


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:4:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:4:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/3:4:1)

**וימת נדב ואביהוא לפני ה'.**שמתו מאתו וכן נאמר במרגלים לפני י"י:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
וימת נדב ואביהו לפני ה', “and Nadav and Avihu had died in the presence of *Hashem,* etc.” They died as a direct act of G’d. We find a similar expression used in Numbers 14,37 when the Torah reports the death of the 10 spies who had reported negatively on the people’s chances to conquer the land of Canaan.


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:4:2
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:4:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/3:4:2)

**על פני אהרן אביהם.**פירש"י בחייו. וכתב הרמב"ן ואין הענין לומר שכהנו בחיי אביהם כי כל איש מבני הכהנים יכהן בחיי אביו רק בעבור שאמר הכהנים המשוחים אמר שגם הם ככהנים גדולים נמשחים כמוהו בחייו ולא יעשה כן לדורות. והנכון בעיני כי הוא חוזר למעלה על וימת נדב ואביהוא לפני י"י על פני אהרן אביהם וכן נאמר בדברי הימים וימת נדב ואביהוא לפני אביהם ובנים לא היה להם ויכהן אלעזר ואיתמר:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
על פני אהרן אביהם, “during the lifetime of their father Aaron.” *Rashi* explains that the expression על פני means “during the lifetime of.”
 Nachmanides elaborates that what the Torah means is not that the sons who died had not had already functioned as priests during the lifetime of their father, in the sense of “substituting for their father.” All four sons had been anointed as priests and had functioned or were ready to function as priests. [After all they died on the very first day that Moses had handed over service in the Tabernacle to the priests, as we know from Leviticus Ed.] The reason that the Torah adds the words על פני אהרן אביהם, is only that seeing the Torah had spoken of the priests who had been anointed, it was made plain that these two had also been properly anointed. They were potentially High Priests just as their father was in practice.
 I, personally believe, (author speaking) that the words על פני אביהם refer to the beginning of our verse, i.e.לפני ה' as in Chronicles I 24,2 we also read the words לפני אביהם, not על פני אביהם, followed by the words ובנים לא היו להם ויכהן אלעזר ואיתמר תחתיהם, “and they were not survived by children, and Eleazar and Ittamar became priests in their stead.” [Just as in our verse here. Ed.]


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:14:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/3:14:1)

**וידבר י"י אל משה במדבר סיני.**כתב הרמב"ן בעבור שאמר למעלה ביום דבר י"י אל משה בהר סיני חזר ואמר כי לא היתה צוואת הפקידה של הלויים בהר סיני כי בהיות (בחירת) תולדות בני אהרן לבדם היתה בהר סיני ביום צוותו על מעשה המשכן אבל הלויים לא נצטווה בבחירתם אלא במדבר סיני. והנה לא היו הלויים כשאר השבטים כי מבן חודש ומעלה לא היו רק כ"ב אלף ומבן ל' שנה ח' אלפים ועדיין לא נשאו הארון שנאמר שהיה הארון מכלה בהם והטעם מפני שלא היו בעבודת פרך ולכך לא היו גם כן בברכת כן ירבה וכן יפרוץ ואולי היה מפני כעסו של יעקב עליהם כי גם שמעון שהיה עתה מרובה באוכלסין נתמעט בכניסתו לארץ לכ"ב אלף:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
וידבר ה' אל משה במדבר סיני, “*Hashem* spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai.” Nachmanides writes that seeing that the last communication by G’d to Moses had been introduced with the words ביום דבר ה' את משה בהר סיני, “on the day that G’d had spoken with Moses on Mount Sinai,” the Torah draws attention to the fact that this most recent communication took place in the desert of Sinai, when Moses was not in the lofty regions where he had existed for 40 days without bread and water. 
 [I wonder at the difference in the nuance of וידבר את משה, and וידבר אל משה, the former perhaps suggesting a more intimate relationship between G’d and Moses while the latter was on the mountain. Ed.]
 At any rate, the Torah wants us to know that the appointment of the Levites as a tribe more holy than the others had not surfaced or been revealed to Moses already on Mount Sinai, i.e. before the sin of the golden calf. Only the sons of Aaron, as part of the tribe of Levi, had already been designated as possessing a holier status at Mount Sinai, even though they had not been told about it at that time.
 The Levites were different from the other tribes even in the manner in which they were counted. Whereas the general census of the other tribes began with males who had attained the age of 20, the male Levites were included in the count as soon as they had attained the age of one month. Even so, their total number amounted only to some 22000. They were counted from one month old although they could not perform their function until they had attained the age of 30. According to Nachmanides, at the time of the count of the Levites only some 8000 had attained the age of 30. At the time when the count took place the Holy Ark had not yet been carried, as since being placed in the Tabernacle (holy of holies) the Israelites had not moved from their encampment around Mount Sinai. Moreover, moving the Holy Ark was forbidden on pain of death. The reason why the Levites numbered relatively few members was that while in Egypt, the members of that tribe never had to perform hard labour, for just as Joseph at the time had exempted the priestly caste in Egypt from having to sell their property in order to secure food supplies from his storage chambers, the Egyptians had recognized already then that the Levites were to the Israelites what the priests were to the Egyptians. The phenomenal increase in the numbers of the other tribes had been G’d’s reward, compensation to them for the Egyptians having tried to hold down their birthrate by imposing a cruel regime on them, one involving back-breaking labour. 
 It is also possible that the tribe of Levi was not so blessed, as Yaakov on his deathbed had failed to accord them the generous blessings he had bestowed on the other sons. Although the tribe of Shimon, at this stage, had become quite numerous, in spite of having shared Levi’s fate in Yaakov’s blessings, by the time the Israelites entered the Holy Land, their numbers had been drastically reduced also.


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:23:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:23:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/3:23:1)

**משפחות הגרשוני אחרי המשכן יחנו ימה.**הקדים משכן לחנייה וכן במררי על ירך המשכן יחנו לפי שקהת נושא כלי הקדש בכתף וחונה קרוב למשכן וגרשון ומררי מסעם בעגלות ומרוחקים מן המשכן יותר מקהת. בגרשון וקהת הקדים לפרש מקום חנייתן לשם הנשיא ובמררי הקדים שם הנשיא למקום חנייתן לפי שגרשון מקום חנייתו במערב שהוא מקום נכבד עם דגל ראובן הבכור וכן קהת בדרום עם דגל אפרים שנקרא גם כן בכור דכתיב אפרים בכורו הוא אבל חניית מררי היה בצפון עם דגל דן שהיה בן השפחה לכך איחר אותו. כתב הרמב"ן ולא החל הכתוב במשמרת הלויים במזרח כאשר עשה בדגלים לפי שאין שם משמרת ללויים רק לאהרן ולבניו הנותרי' ולמשה ובניו והחל מן המערב שהוא מעמד כנגד המזרח ונתן בדרום שהוא הנכבד מן הרוחות אחרי מזרח בני קהת שהם הנכבדים מכל שבט לוי שהרי נשאו הארון וכל כלי הקודש ובעבור שגרשון הבכור ולו מעל' על בני מררי נתן אותו במערב שהוא הנכבד אחר דרום ועם דגל בני אפרים ונתן להם המשכן והאהל ונתן למררי רוח צפון שהוא הפחות שברוחות ועם דגל דן מבני השפחות ונתן להם תשמישי המקדש:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
משפחות הגרשוני אחרי המשכן יחנו, ימה, “The families of Gershon were encamped behind the Sanctuary, in a westerly direction.” The Torah makes a point of mentioning the Sanctuary before mentioning the fact that the Gershonites were encamped there. We find a similar pattern when the Torah describes the encampment of the Merarites in verse 35. This was due to the fact that the members of the Kehatites, who were charged with transporting the Holy Ark on their shoulders during the journeys, had to be encamped immediately adjoining the Sanctuary. The Merarites and Gershonides carried items that were transported on the wagons donated by the 12 princes. (Ccompare Numbers 7,3-11). It is also interesting that the Torah mentions the name of their leader first, as the location did not have anything special to commend it, when giving details of the encampment of the three families of Levites the names of the heads of the family of Gershon and Kehat are mentioned only after the location where they placed their tents, whereas the place of encampment of the Merarites, i.e. in the north, the name of their leader, Tzuriel ben Avichayil, is mentioned before we are told the location of their encampment. The reason is that the Gershonites had their tents in a most honoured position to the west of the Sanctuary, next to the Holy of Holies, and adjoining the flag of the camp of Reuven, the most senior of the tribes. The Kehatites who were encamped in the south of the Sanctuary, also were next to the camp of Ephrayim, the senior tribe of the family of Rachel. In the case of the family of Merari, who were encamped in the northerly direction, the Torah first tells us of the name of their leader, who was more distinguished than the leader of the tribe of Dan, descendant of one of Rachel’s maids.
 Nachmanides writes that the Torah deliberately did not begin by describing the watch being kept on the Tabernacle as starting from the east, [although that was the entrance to the Tabernacle. Ed.] not as when the Torah listed the direction where the army groups were encamped, listing the eastern group first, because the Levites did not post guards at the entrance to the Tabernacle, only the priests, i.e. Aaron and his surviving sons did that, alternating with Moses and Moses’ sons. [Nachmanides tries to show that the order in which the Torah describes everything here reflects the fact that order of preference was very important in every detail. Perhaps, this very fact later on led to distinguished people answering the rebellious call of Korach, who appealed to all those who felt that they had somehow been slighted. Ed.]


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:32:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:32:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/3:32:1)

**ונשיא נשיאי הלויים אלעזר וגו'.**שהוא היה נשיא על שלשה הנשיאים. וכתב ר' אברהם מלת נשיאי מושכת עצמה ואחרת עמה ופי' ונשיא נשיאי הלויים אלעזר נשיאי פקודת שומרי משמרת הקדש זו הג' פקידים על השומרים שהם הלויים:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
ונשיא נשיאי הלוי אלעזר בן אהרן הכהן, “and the leader of the Levites’ leader was Eleazar, son of the High Priest Aaron.” Eleazar was the leader of the three leaders of the families of Gershon, Kehat, and Merari. 
 Ibn Ezra writes that the word נשיאי carries both itself and the following word הלוי with it, so that the meaning of the sequence ונשיא נשיאי הלוי אלעזר is: “and the prince of the respective leaders of the Levites was Eleazar.”


###### Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:45:1
[Tur HaArokh, Numbers 3:45:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tur%20HaArokh/s/Numbers/r/3:45:1)

**תחת כל בכור בבני ישראל.**כתב הרמב"ן הבכורות נתקדשו מעת שצוה משה קדש לי כל בכור והיו בכורי' רבים בישראל ולא נפדו עד הנה שעדיין לא נאמר למי יהיה הפדיון כי עדיין לא נתקדשו במתנות כהונה והנה היו עומדים בקדושתם סתם. ויתכן שהיה בהם עבודת הקרבנות כדברי רבותינו. והנראה בעיני כי הבכורים האלה לא נולדו כולם במדבר בשנה אחת כי לא נתרבה העם כל כך אלא כל הבכורים שהיו בהם נמנו כי כולם נתקדשו ועתה החליפם בלויים והוא פדיונם וצום שיפדו העודפים ונתן הפדיון לאהרן ובניו כאשר הוא מצוה לדורות:

**Sefaria Community Translation:**
תחת כל בכור בבני ישראל, “in place of every firstborn of the Children of Israel.” According to Nachmanides the firstborn males of Israel had attained the status of being sanctified ever since Exodus 13,2 when G’d had told Moses to sanctify the firstborn to Him, seeing that He had not killed the Jewish firstborn when the Egyptian firstborn had been slain. There were in the meantime very many firstborn who had never been redeemed, as up until now it had not been revealed to whom the money for redeeming them was to be given. They were therefore in a state of arrested sanctity, unable to all perform priestly duties, and unable to lead ordinary lives. It is possible, as argued by our sages, that some of them had performed as priests. Nachmanides adds, that as far as he personally is concerned, it is most unlikely that all these 22000 firstborns had been born during the year that had elapsed since the Exodus, as we have no reason to believe that the people had multiplied at such a rapid rate since they had been in the desert. The count included all the firstborn, including the many who had been born prior to the Exodus. All of them were redeemed now for the Levites. The 273 for whom no matching Levites could be found, were redeemed for 5 shekels each, the money being given to Aaron and his sons, as became the law for all subsequent generations.