Ba’Midbar/In the wilderness — במדבר

TORAH:

Numbers 1:1-4:20

HAFTORAH/HAFTARAH:

Hosea 2:1-22

BRIT CHADASHAH (a.k.a NEW COVENANT/TESTAMENT) – GOSPEL:

Note: The regular readings above are often interrupted with special readings on Jewish holidays, special Sabbaths, and Rosh Chodesh. Refer to the annual Torah Portion schedule for these special portions.

Portion Summary

The Hebrew name of the fourth book of the TORAH (also the name of the first reading) is Bamidbar (במדבר), which means “In the wilderness.” It comes from the first words of the first verse, which say, “Then the LORD YAHUVEH (a.k.a YAHWEH) spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai” (Numbers 1:1).

The English title of the book is “Numbers,” which is derived from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) version of the TORAH.

The book of Numbers tells the story:

of Israel’s trek through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land,
their failure at the edge of the land

and

the subsequent forty years of wandering.
It concludes with the story of the second generation’s triumphs over the first Canaanite resistance.
The book ends with the Israelites poised on the edge of Canaan, ready to take their inheritance. Woven in the midst of these narratives is a significant amount of legal material.

The first reading from Bamidbar and the thirty-fourth reading from the TORAH begins with a census of the tribes of Israel and the Levitical families just prior to the departure from Sinai.

Portion Outline

TORAH
- Numbers 1:1 | The First Census of Israel
- Numbers 2:1 | The Order of Encampment and Marching
- Numbers 3:1 | The Sons of Aaron
- Numbers 3:5 | The Duties of the Levites
- Numbers 3:14 | A Census of the Levites
- Numbers 3:40 | The Redemption of the Firstborn
- Numbers 4:1 | The Kohathites
PROPHETS
- Hos 2:2 | Israel’s Infidelity, Punishment, and Redemption

YAH & Numbers: The Census Of YAH’S Beloved People

Numbers 1 New King James Version (NKJV)

The First Census of Israel

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: ²“Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, ³from twenty years old and above—all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. ⁴And with you there shall be a man from every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house.

⁵“These are the names of the men who shall stand with you: from Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur; ⁶from Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ⁷from Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁸from Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; ⁹from Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; ¹⁰from the sons of Joseph: from Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; from Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ¹¹from Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; ¹²from Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ¹³from Asher, Pagiel the son of Ocran; ¹⁴from Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel;^[a] ¹⁵from Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.” ¹⁶These were chosen^[b] from the congregation, leaders of their fathers’ tribes, heads of the divisions in Israel.

¹⁷Then Moses and Aaron took these men who had been ^[c]mentioned by name, ¹⁸and they assembled all the congregation together on the first day of the second month; and they recited their ancestry by families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, each one individually. ¹⁹As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰Now the children of Reuben, Israel’s oldest son, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²¹those who were numbered of the tribe of Reuben were forty-six thousand five hundred.

²²From the children of Simeon, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, of those who were numbered, according to the number of names, every male individually, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²³those who were numbered of the tribe of Simeon were fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

²⁴From the children of Gad, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²⁵those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

²⁶From the children of Judah, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²⁷those who were numbered of the tribe of Judah were seventy-four thousand six hundred.

²⁸From the children of Issachar, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ²⁹those who were numbered of the tribe of Issachar were fifty-four thousand four hundred.

³⁰From the children of Zebulun, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³¹those who were numbered of the tribe of Zebulun were fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

³²From the sons of Joseph, the children of Ephraim, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³³those who were numbered of the tribe of Ephraim were forty thousand five hundred.

³⁴From the children of Manasseh, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³⁵those who were numbered of the tribe of Manasseh were thirty-two thousand two hundred.

³⁶From the children of Benjamin, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³⁷those who were numbered of the tribe of Benjamin were thirty-five thousand four hundred.

³⁸From the children of Dan, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ³⁹those who were numbered of the tribe of Dan were sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

⁴⁰From the children of Asher, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ⁴¹those who were numbered of the tribe of Asher were forty-one thousand five hundred.

⁴²From the children of Naphtali, their genealogies by their families, by their fathers’ house, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war: ⁴³those who were numbered of the tribe of Naphtali were fifty-three thousand four hundred.

⁴⁴These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each one representing his father’s house. ⁴⁵So all who were numbered of the children of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and above, all who were able to go to war in Israel— ⁴⁶all who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

⁴⁷But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe; ⁴⁸for the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying: ⁴⁹“Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, nor take a census of them among the children of Israel; ⁵⁰but you shall appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings, and over all things that belong to it; they shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they shall attend to it and camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹And when the tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. ⁵²The children of Israel shall pitch their tents, everyone by his own camp, everyone by his own standard, according to their armies; ⁵³but the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep^[d] charge of the tabernacle of the Testimony.”

⁵⁴Thus the children of Israel did; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did.

In the first chapter of this book, we see YAHUVEH counting HIS people. The census in the wilderness illustrates the family structure and relationship of the nation of Israel. All the Children of Israel were one large family. The hierarchical family relationships reveal the Bible’s patriarchal worldview.

YAHUVEH (a.k.a YAHWEH) is All-seeing and All-knowing, so why did he require a census of the people of Israel?

Well, the answer is that HE knows but we the future readers of HIS WORD will not know. HE wanted it to be recorded for future purposes known to HIM.
Additionally, it was for us to see the fulfillment of HIS WORD given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob concerning their descendants becoming like the sand of the sea, etc

Note that by the end of Ha Sefer BaMidbar/The Book of Numbers, the number of the people of Israel had reduced enormously.

This book highlights the importance of numbers to ABBA YAHUVEH!

The census was carried out as per the tribes of Israel (a.k.a Jacob). Jacob was blessed with twelve tribes.

ABBA YAHUVEH (a.k.a YAHWEH) keeps carrying out a census of HIS beloved people throughout the generations.

Revelation 7:1-8 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Sealed of Israel

7 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. ²Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, ³saying, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” ⁴And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:

⁵of the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand were ^[a]sealed;
of the tribe of Gad twelve thousand were sealed;
⁶of the tribe of Asher twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand were sealed;
⁷of the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Levi twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand were sealed;
⁸of the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand were sealed;
of the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were sealed.