AND ISRAEL ABODE IN SHITTIM, AND THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO COMMIT HARLOTRY WITH THE DAUGHTERS OF MOAB — “because of the advice of Balaam, as is related in [the Chapter of] Cheilek.”²²⁸, meaning: “I will counsel thee how to lead the people astray, and I will tell you what this people shall do …” Ramban explains the phrase “I will counsel thee” differently. This is Rashi’s language. And indeed this [seduction to] immorality was not instigated as a plan of the [Moabite] women, but was done upon the advice of their men and their leaders. [The idea] came to them from the elders of Midian, as it says of the Midianites, for they harass you, by their wiles wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor,³⁰⁵ for they beguiled them by means of immorality in order to draw them astray [to worship] Baal-peor. Therefore it is [indeed] possible that Balaam was behind this counsel, since he was considered by them [the Moabites] great in counsel,³⁰⁶ and his intention was to bring evil upon Israel, and therefore he did everything in his power to this end, as it is said, And the Eternal thy G-d would not hearken unto Balaam,³⁰⁷ and therefore they slew him with the sword.³⁰⁸ But according to the simple meaning of Scripture, it is not alluding here to the counsel of Balaam, but only [alludes to it] when it says afterwards, Behold, these [women] caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam etc.,³⁰⁹, Verse 16. just as it does not mention here the counsel of the elders of Midian, and only [mentions it] when it says, for they harass you.³⁰⁵ Thus [it is only] after the event [had happened], at the time of [describing] their punishment, that He mentions what was the source of the evil that befell them. He is [thus] saying that what happened [to them] as a result of the desire for sexual pleasure which exists naturally in men and women from [the time of] their youth, was only [the result] of an evil plan [whose purpose was] to lead them astray [into worshipping Baal-peor]; therefore [the instigators of this plan] deserve a severe punishment. The interpretation of the verse, Come and I will counsel thee what this people shall do to thy people in the end of days³¹⁰ is thus indeed as I have explained [there]. It is also possible according to the simple meaning of Scripture that Balak at first wanted to curse them [the Israelites] and to wage war against them, and he did not want to give them permission to enter his borders at all. But when Balaam told him³¹¹ that he would not prevail over them, and informed him that they would only destroy his land and his people in the end of days,³¹⁰ then he [Balak] brought forth bread and wine³¹² in the plains of Moab [i.e., in Shittim], and enticed them [with the daughters of Moab] as if he were their friend. This is [the meaning of the phrase] ‘bidvar’ (through ‘the word’ of) Balaam,³⁰⁹, Verse 16. for it was because of his words [i.e., his prophecy that the Israelites would not conquer their land now, that the Moabites] did so [i.e., that they did not fight them, but tried to seduce them and lead them astray through their women]. But because it was Balaam’s desire to curse them, and he allowed Balak to hire him [and would indeed have cursed them] were it not for the righteous acts of the Eternal³¹³ Who turned the curse into a blessing,³⁰⁷ therefore they slew him with the sword,³⁰⁸ for both the hirer [Moab] and the hired one [Balaam] were punished, just as He said, and because he hired against thee Balaam the son of Beor etc.³¹⁴

footnotes: ²²⁸ Literally: “Portion” — “All Israel have ‘a portion’ in the World to Come.” Sanhedrin 106a. The story of the Israelites committing immorality with the Moabite women is related in the following chapter of the Torah, and tradition has it that this plan was suggested by Balaam in his parting words to Balak. This, as Rashi explains, is the reason why he used the phrase “I will ‘counsel thee’ what this people shall do” ³⁰⁵ Further, 25:18. ³⁰⁶ Jeremiah 32:19. ³⁰⁷ Deuteronomy 23:6. ³⁰⁸ Further, 31:8. ³⁰⁹ Ibid. ³⁰⁵ Further, 25:18. ³¹⁰ Above, 24:14. ³¹¹ See Ramban above, Verse 17. ³¹⁰ Above, 24:14. ³¹² Genesis 14:18. See Ramban to Deuteronomy 23:5, that the Moabites did meet the Israelites with bread and water when they were near their country; only the Ammonites failed to do so. — Ramban introduces here the element of “wine,” as a clear reference to what the Rabbis in the Sifre here have stated: “[The Israelite] entered; a gourd of wine lay near her. Said she to him, ‘Wouldst thou like to drink?’ etc.” ³⁰⁹ Ibid. ³¹³ See Micah 6:5. ³⁰⁷ Deuteronomy 23:6. ³⁰⁸ Further, 31:8. ³¹⁴ Deuteronomy 23:5.

[AND MOSES SAID UNTO THE JUDGES OF ISRAEL]: ‘SLAY YE EVERY ONE HIS MEN [THAT HAVE JOINED THEMSELVES UNTO BAAL-PEOR].’ “Each one of the judges of Israel killed two [men, as the word anashav — his ‘men,’ in the plural, indicates], and the judges of Israel were seventy-eight thousand,³¹⁵ as is stated in Tractate Sanhedrin.”³¹⁶ This is Rashi’s language. But I cannot understand this, that [we should say that] those who joined themselves [to Baal-peor] who were judged [liable to death] were more than a hundred and fifty thousand — a quarter [of the total population] of Israel!³¹⁷ Heaven forbid! [Moreover], cases punishable by death [cannot be decided] by [only] one judge, but [require] a court of twenty-three judges. And [even if we were to say that two people were killed by each court of twenty-three judges], they would still be very many people! And the difference between the [two] censuses is not so great,³¹⁸ although all those who joined themselves to Baal-peor died, as it is written, for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the Eternal thy G-d hath destroyed them from the midst of thee.³¹⁹ But the meaning of every one his men is that the judges should kill all those who joined themselves [to Baal-peor], that is to say, each court should judge [the men of] its own tribe and its [groups of] thousands, as it is written, So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and full of knowledge, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds … and officers, ‘tribe by tribe’.³²⁰, 1:15. The phrase tribe by tribe indicates that each tribe had its own judges who dealt with offenses committed by men of this tribe. And afterwards I found in the Gemara Yerushalmi [the following statement] in the Chapter *Cheilek:*³²¹, see above, Note 228. “And how many were the judges of Israel? Seventy-eight thousand and six hundred. Moses said to them: ‘Each one of you should kill two.’ Thus you find that those killed were one hundred and fifty-seven thousand and two hundred.”³¹⁷ If so, we must say that according to their opinion [that of these Rabbis] the Israelites increased very remarkably between the [time of the first] census and the [second] census [in order to make up the loss of the many people killed because of this sin of Baal-peor]! The correct interpretation of the meaning of this section [of the Torah] appears to me to be that at first it says, And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor; and the anger of the Eternal was kindled against Israel,³²² [meaning] *that there is wrath gone out from the Eternal; the plague is begun;*³²³ and G-d in His mercy told Moses that the judges should [first] try and then hang those who joined themselves [to Baal-peor], so that the wrath will not indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked.³²⁴ And Moses gave this command to the judges; and when all the congregation was assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting³²⁵ to do as Moses commanded, and the plague was still raging amongst them, this Simeonite [Zimri the son of Salu]³²⁶ brazenly brought unto his brethren a Midianite woman³²⁵ to rebel against Moses and the judges, and to do so publicly, because he was a prince³²⁶ and a great man and [knew that] many would come to his help. Or it may be [that he dared to do this publicly] because, as our Rabbis have said,³²⁷ [the people of] his tribe complained to him: “We are being sentenced to death, and you keep quiet!” Then [when Zimri came forth] Moses and the judges began weeping,³²⁵ and Phinehas stood up, and wrought judgment, and so the plague was stayed.³²⁸ Thus none of the people was [actually] sentenced by the judges, for G-d had said, and hang them up unto the Eternal in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the Eternal may turn away from Israel,³²⁹ and His anger had already turned away [by the action of Phinehas, so that the judges no longer had to proceed with the execution of the judgment]. It is for this reason that Scripture does not say: “and the judges of Israel did so [as they had been commanded].” It is possible that the intention of the text mentioned [above as to the number of men slain in this episode is not that they were actually killed, but means, as explained above], that according to [the strict] command [of G-d] there ought to have been more than one hundred and fifty thousand killed, meaning to say that there were many sinners, but the act of Phinehas protected them. Thus there remained [many of those] who had joined themselves [to Baal-peor], and the Holy One, blessed be He, destroyed them later on before they crossed over the [river] Jordan. This is [the meaning of] the verse which says, for all the men that followed after Baal-peor, the Eternal thy G-d hath destroyed them from the midst of thee. But ye that did cleave unto the Eternal your G-d are alive every one of you this day.³³⁰ Pinchas

footnotes: ³¹⁵ Our texts of Rashi have the figure 88,000, but 78,000 [the number found in a Ramban manuscript] is correct [to the nearest thousand] — and this is also the figure quoted in Tractate Sanhedrin. The exact figure for the 600,000 Israelites is 78,600 judges, as follows: Captains of thousands, 600; captains of hundreds, 6,000; captains of fifties, 12,000; captains of tens, 60,000 — which total 78,600. It should be noted that in the first edition of Rashi (Reggio 1475) this whole text is missing. ³¹⁶ Sanhedrin 18a. ³¹⁷ For if the judges of Israel who numbered 78,600, each killed two men, a total of 157,200 men is reached! This is more than a quarter of the total population of the people! ³¹⁸ In the census taken in the second year after the exodus, the people totalled 603,550 (above 1:46) and now after the incident of Baal-peor, they totalled 601,730 (further 26:51), the decrease being only 1,820! That figure is nowhere near the total number of people killed according to Rashi, for even if two people were killed by each court of twenty-three judges, over 7,000 people were killed. Ramban further on, explains that in actual fact none of the people were put to death. ³¹⁹ Deuteronomy 4:3. ³²⁰ Ibid. ³²¹ Yerushalmi Sanhedrin X, 2. For the term Cheilek ³¹⁷ For if the judges of Israel who numbered 78,600, each killed two men, a total of 157,200 men is reached! This is more than a quarter of the total population of the people! ³²² Verse 3. ³²³ Above, 17:11. ³²⁴ See Genesis 18:23. ³²⁵ Verse 6. ³²⁶ Further, Verse 14. ³²⁵ Verse 6. ³²⁶ Further, Verse 14. ³²⁷ Sanhedrin 82a. ³²⁵ Verse 6. ³²⁸ Psalms 106:30. ³²⁹ Verse 4. ³³⁰ Deuteronomy 4:3-4.

PHINEHAS, THE SON OF ELEAZAR. The Holy One, blessed be He, [here] informed Moses that He would give Phinehas a good reward for his zeal, because he was zealous for his G-d,¹ and for the righteousness² [Phinehas] for righteousness. which he did for Israel by bringing about atonement for them, so that they did not all die in the plague. He [also] commanded Moses to tell Israel that he [Phinehas] would be a priest forever,³ and this is the sense of the phrase, Therefore say,⁴ …] was G-d’s communication exclusively to Moses, telling him that He is desirous of rewarding Phinehas for the reasons stated in that verse, but He did not tell him what was to constitute the reward. Verse 12 then continues with the thought: “Since it is My desire to reward Phinehas, Therefore say to the children of Israel … ” Thus the contents of Verse 11 was not to be told to Israel (Aboab). This interpretation of Ramban is unlike that of Rashi from whose words it may be implied that even the contents of Verse 11 was to be told to the people, the object being that they were not to speak disparagingly of Phinehas for having killed a prince of Israel, for G-d testified that he is a descendant of Aaron, who was a lover of peace, and what Phinehas did was to save the honor of Israel. that Moses was to tell this to Israel. Now Scripture does not say: “and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him ‘an everlasting priesthood, ’” as He said about Aaron,⁵. but instead it says: ‘the covenant’ of an everlasting priesthood,¹ and it [also] says, I give unto him ‘My covenant’ of peace, meaning that He will give him a covenant with peace cleaving to it, whereas in the case of Aaron it says for splendor and for beauty.⁶ and tiphereth, which represent certain Emanations], it was not necessary to mention ‘the covenant of’ an everlasting priesthood, indicating the perfect Unity. But in the case of Phinehas it does not say that his priesthood was for splendor and for beauty; therefore the verse had to mention ‘the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, indicating that Phinehas’ priesthood was also in the perfect Unity, because he was zealous for his G-d (Abusaula). See also my Hebrew commentary, p. 305. Therefore it says [here concerning Phinehas]: because he was zealous for his G-d. The student learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand. Scripture mentions, *Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain;*⁷ And the name of the Midianite woman that was slain,⁸ in order to indicate that [Phinehas] deserved this great reward because he killed a prince of Israel, and the daughter of a heathen king and [nonetheless] he feared them not in his zeal for his G-d. And after He had requited His good reward to the righteous one [Phinehas], He commanded Moses to punish the wicked ones, and He told him, Harass the Midianites,⁹ but first He commanded him to count the people. This is the intent of [the phrase] And it came to pass after the plague [that the Eternal spoke unto Moses … ‘Take the sum etc.’],¹⁰ meaning that the taking of the census should be done first [before the punishment of the Midianites].

footnotes: ¹ Verse 13. ² Psalms 106:31: And that was accounted to him ³ The promise is expressed here in Verse 13; Ramban’s language though is taken from Psalms 110:4. ⁴ Ramban’s intent is that Verse 11 [Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron ⁵ Exodus 29:9: and they shall have the priesthood by a perpetual statute ¹ Verse 13. ⁶ Exodus 28:2. Since this indicates the very high spiritual status achieved by Aaron [as alluded to in the words of kavod ⁷ Verse 14. ⁸ Verse 15. ⁹ Verse 17. ¹⁰ Verse 19 of this chapter, and Verses 1-2 of Chapter 26.

FOR THEY [the Midianites] HARASS YOU BY THEIR WILES. The meaning [of the expression by their wiles] is, as I have explained,¹¹ that this evil plan [to lead the Israelites astray through their seduction by the Moabite women] was contrived by the elders of Midian, as it is said, And Moab said unto the elders of Midian,¹², 22:4. [thus showing] that it was with them [the elders of Midian] that the Moabites originally took counsel. And they gave this advice [later on] to Moab, to encourage their daughters to prostitute themselves with them [the Israelites], and thereby cause them to join Baal-peor, and to draw them away from G-d, even though this advice is not [explicitly] mentioned there. Moreover, [a proof that the Midianites gave this idea to the Moabites is] that they even sent them their own king’s daughter to commit harlotry with them, this being the meaning of the expression, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister.¹³ For were this not done with the knowledge [and encouragement] of the counsellors of the [Midianite] kingdom, what was the distinguished Midianite princess seeking in Shittim, in the plains of Moab, that she should come to the camp of a foreign people, for Israel was in the plains of Moab, in Shittim, and how did this [important] Midianite woman come to be there? But [the only reasonable explanation of this is that] she was very beautiful, and therefore the elders of Midian sent her there, because they said: “Through the figure of a beautiful woman many people become corrupted.”¹⁴ It is probable that Balaam was also involved in [giving] this counsel, for on his return from the land of Moab [after he departed from Balak]¹⁵ he passed through Midian, from where he had come, and he deliberated with the counsellors of the kingdom. Perhaps Balaam stayed there a while in order to know what would [ultimately] happen to them [i.e., the Israelites], and that is why the Israelites found him in Midian and killed him.¹⁶ In that case the meaning [of the verse], And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place¹⁵ is that Balaam “went on his way [with the intention] of returning to his land” [but he did not actually get there, since he stayed on the way in Midian]. And it indeed appears so [that Balaam participated in giving this evil advice], for the Israelites would not have killed one who had prophesied except after [receiving a special] permission of the Torah [to do so, and we do not find any mention of such permission]. But after they had been told [that they were to punish the Midianites because] they harass you by their wiles wherewith they have beguiled you etc.,¹⁷ [it is self-understood] that all those who took part in this beguilment were liable to the death penalty, and therefore they killed Balaam as well, since they knew that he was the one who had proposed this evil design. Now the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded [the Israelites] to avenge themselves of them [the Midianites], but as for the Moabites, He had already warned them, Be not at enmity with Moab.¹⁸ For Israel had at first come to the border of Edom, and He had warned them [against fighting] them, [as it is said], *and take ye good heed unto yourselves;*¹⁹, Verse 4. and afterwards they arrived at the border of Moab, and He told Moses, Be not at enmity with Moab.¹⁸ He said furthermore, Thou art this day to pass over the border of Moab, even Ar; and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, harass them not,²⁰, Verses 18-19. and He [further] stated, Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of Arnon; behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon.²¹, Verse 24. And after all this Balak saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites,²² that is, to the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, and then this whole episode [of the blessings of Balaam, and the seduction at Shittim by the Moabite women] took place. If so, [we must perforce say] that the warning Be not at enmity with Moab¹⁸ was declared before the command Harass the Midianites.⁹ And therefore I am astonished at the expression of the Agadah [homiletic exposition], where the Rabbis say in Tractate Baba Kamma:²³ “Be not at enmity with Moab, [neither contend with them in battle].¹⁸ But would it have entered Moses’ mind to wage war [against Moab] without the permission [of G-d, so that he had to be especially told to refrain from doing so]! But Moses of his own accord reasoned by [the syllogism of] a kal vachomer,²⁴ saying: ‘If, in the case of the Midianites, who only came to assist the Moabites, the Torah said, Harass the Midianites, and smite them,⁹ surely [this duty applies] even more so to the Moabites!’ But the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: ‘It is not so as it has entered your mind! I have two [good] doves who are to come forth from them — Ruth the Moabitess, and Naamah the Ammonitess.’”²⁵ But He had already warned Moses [against waging war on Moab] long before the kal vachomer [could have occurred to Moses, since He had, as explained above, given the command not to harass Moab before the incident with the women, and thus before the command to punish Midian for their share in that incident]! Moreover, if [it was only to negate] Moses’ kal vachomer [that he had to be warned against fighting Moab], why did He have to warn him [also] not to fight the children of Ammon²⁰, Verses 18-19. [since they played no part at all in the incident at Shittim]! Perhaps the Rabbis were not so particular in their language in the Agadah [about the actual chronological order of events]; since their main [intention] was to say that it was known [beforehand] to Him, blessed be He, that when He would command Moses, Harass the Midianites,⁹ Moses would have [an opportunity to argue by the syllogism of] a kal vachomer²⁴ that he ought to wage war against Moab, without any other [special] permission, therefore He warned him in advance not to do so. And because He warned him about Moab, therefore He also admonished him with respect to the children of Ammon, so that Moses should not think that [the fact that] He only forbade him [not to fight] Moab was [tantamount to an implied] permission to [wage war] against the children of Ammon who had also dealt evil to the Israelites because they met them not with bread and with water.²⁶, who were guilty of this, whereas the Moabites [also mentioned there] did meet the Israelites with bread and water. They are excluded, however, from the assembly of the Eternal because they hired Balaam to curse the Israelites. According to another Midrash²⁷ [the reason why Israel was commanded to punish Midian but not to attack Moab], was because the Moabites acted out of fear that they [the Israelites] would plunder them, but the Midianites meddled with a strife not their own,²⁸ as Rashi wrote in the section of Eileh Mas’ei.²⁹ — further, 31:2. According to the plain meaning of Scripture, a further reason [for the different treatment that G-d commanded with respect to the Midianites and with respect to the Moabites] is that the lands of Ammon and Moab G-d had given unto the children of Lot for a possession,³⁰ because of Lot their father who ministered to the righteous one [Abraham] and went into exile with him to that Land; therefore He did not allow [anyone] to do them evil in their countries. However, because of their sin in showing hostility to Israel and not treating them in a friendly manner, He punished them by excluding them from [the possibility of joining] His people, by commanding, An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Eternal,³¹, 23:4. measure for measure.

footnotes: ¹¹ Above, 25:1. ¹² Ibid. ¹³ Verse 18 here. ¹⁴ This saying is quoted in Tractate Yebamoth 63b, from the book Ben Sira. ¹⁵ Above, 24:25. ¹⁶ Further, 31:8. ¹⁵ Above, 24:25. ¹⁷ Verse 18 here. ¹⁸ Deuteronomy 2:9. ¹⁹ Ibid. ¹⁸ Deuteronomy 2:9. ²⁰ Ibid. ²¹ Ibid. ²² Above, 22:2. ¹⁸ Deuteronomy 2:9. ⁹ Verse 17. ²³ Baba Kamma 38 a-b. ¹⁸ Deuteronomy 2:9. ²⁴ “Minor and major.” See Vol. II, p. 133, Note 208 for a full explanation of this term. ⁹ Verse 17. ²⁵ See Ruth 1:4; I Kings 14:21. Naamah was the mother of Rehoboam, who was one of the righteous kings of the kingdom of Judah. ²⁰ Ibid. ⁹ Verse 17. ²⁴ “Minor and major.” See Vol. II, p. 133, Note 208 for a full explanation of this term. ²⁶ Deuteronomy 23:5. Ramban there explains that it was only the Ammonites mentioned in Verse 4 ibid. ²⁷ Also quoted by the Rabbis in Baba Kamma 38b. ²⁸ See Proverbs 26:17. ²⁹ In our text of Rashi this explanation is found in the section of Matoth ³⁰ Deuteronomy 2:19. ³¹ Ibid.