Chronology of Bemidbar 1 – 10/1

Chronology of Bemidbar 1 – 10

Introduction

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Mixed Up Dates

Much of Torah is not dated at all, often leading commentators to dispute the chronological order of events. The introductory chapters of Sefer Bemidbar are exceptional in that they not only provide the reader with dates, but also explicitly suggest a lack of chronological order.

The book opens in the second month of the second year, with a command to count the nation:

EN/HEע/E

(א) וַיְדַבֵּר י"י אֶל מֹשֶׁה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר. (ב) שְׂאוּ אֶת רֹאשׁ כׇּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת כׇּל זָכָר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָם.

(1) And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after the were come out of the land of Egypt, saying:
(2) 'Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of names, every male, by their polls;'

The next few chapters discuss the arrangement of the camp (Chapter 2), the appointment and census of the Levites (Chapter 3-4), and assorted legal matters (Chapters 5-6).  These are all undated, but as most relate to the census discussed in Chapter 1,¹ it is likely that they too occurred in the second month.  However, Chapter 9, which is the next dated passage, reverts back to the first month with Hashem commanding the nation to observe Pesach:

EN/HEע/E

(א) וַיְדַבֵּר י"י אֶל מֹשֶׁה בְמִדְבַּר סִינַי בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן לֵאמֹר. (ב) וְיַעֲשׂוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת הַפָּסַח בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ.

(1) And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying:
(2) 'Let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed season.'

How can we understand the organization of the chapters?  Why are the events of Chapter 9 not recorded prior to those of Chapter 1?

Dating the Dedication of the Altar

In between the two dated events discussed above, we read of the dedication of the altar by the tribal princes in Chapter 7.  Although this narrative does not provide the number of the month in which it occurred, it does open with a time marker:

EN/HEע/E

(א) וַיְהִי בְּיוֹם כַּלּוֹת מֹשֶׁה לְהָקִים אֶת הַמִּשְׁכָּן וַיִּמְשַׁח אֹתוֹ וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ וְאֶת כׇּל כֵּלָיו וְאֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְאֶת כׇּל כֵּלָיו וַיִּמְשָׁחֵם וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתָם. (ב) וַיַּקְרִיבוּ נְשִׂיאֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רָאשֵׁי בֵּית אֲבֹתָם הֵם נְשִׂיאֵי הַמַּטֹּת הֵם הָעֹמְדִים עַל הַפְּקֻדִים.

(1) And it came to pass on the day that Moses concluded setting up the tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the furniture thereof, and the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them and sanctified them;
(2) that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, offered — these were the princes of the tribes, these are they that were over them that were numbered.

A simple reading of verse 1 suggests that the events of the chapter took place when Moshe finished erecting the Tabernacle, i.e. on the first day of the first month.²  Two aspects of the subsequent story, however, raise questions regarding this understanding.  First, the princes are described as "those who officiated in the counting", yet the census seems to have occurred only in the second month!  Moreover, a few verses later in the chapter, the princes give the Levites wagons to aid them in their tasks as holy porters, even though the assignment of the Levites to their various tasks appears to have happened only after their census.

Does this suggest that the heading should be understood differently?   Does the wording of "בְּיוֹם כַּלּוֹת מֹשֶׁה לְהָקִים", perhaps suggests a prolonged process, thereby changing the dating?  Does the opening relate to all of the events of the chapter or just to some? Alternatively, might this problem suggest that the dating of other chapters needs to be reconsidered?

Dating the Consecration of the Levites

The last undated chapter of the unit is Chapter 8 which discusses the purification of the Levites.  On one hand, its content connects it to the appointment of the Levites in Chapters 3–4, and thus, perhaps to the second month.  On the other hand, it is sandwiched between two chapters which appear to be dated to the first month, suggesting that it too might have occurred then. If so, however, why are the Levites being consecrated before they are appointed?  And conversely, if the purification did not happen in the first month, why is this event recorded here?

¹ Chapter 2 explicitly integrates information from the census of Chapter 1 in discussing the organization of the nation's camp.  Similarly, Chapters 3–4 contain the census of the Levites and their encampment which parallels that of the nation in Chapters 1-2 and is alluded to in Bemidbar 1:49-53.  Finally, the legal passages of Bemidbar 5-6 open with the need to guard the nation's camp from ritual impurity.

² See Shemot 40:1-17.