פנחס

After the plague ended, God spoke to Moses about Pinchas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest. God said that Pinchas had turned back His anger from the Israelites by acting with passion for God. So God promised him a “brit shalom,” a covenant of peace, meaning a lasting promise of friendship and wholeness. God also said Pinchas and his descendants would have a covenant of priesthood for all time, because he made expiation for the people.

Moses also recorded the names of the two leaders who had been killed at the time of the plague: Zimri son of Salu, a Simeonite chieftain, and Cozbi daughter of Zur, from a leading Midianite family. Then God commanded, “Assail the Midianites and defeat them,” because they had tricked Israel in the affair of Peor.

Next, God told Moses and Eleazar to take a new census on the steppes of Moab, near the Jordan by Jericho, counting men twenty and older who could bear arms. The total came to 601,730.

The census listed the tribes and their clans, reminding everyone of earlier events in the wilderness. In Reuben’s line, Moses noted Dathan and Abiram, the men who had stirred up trouble with Korah’s band; the earth swallowed them, but the sons of Korah did not die. The Levites were counted separately, 23,000 males from one month old and up, because they would not receive a land share like the other tribes.

God explained that the land would be divided among the tribes: larger groups would receive larger portions, smaller groups smaller portions, and the exact locations would be assigned by lot.

Then the daughters of Zelophehad, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the chieftains, and the whole assembly at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Their father had died in the wilderness and left no sons. They asked for his share so his name would not be lost. Moses brought their case before God, and God said their plea was just, setting rules for inheritance when there is no son.

God told Moses to climb the heights of Abarim and look at the land He was giving Israel. After seeing it, Moses would be gathered to his kin, because at the waters of Meribah in the wilderness of Zin he had not upheld God’s sanctity as commanded. Moses prayed that God, Source of the breath of all flesh, would appoint a leader so the community would not be like sheep without a shepherd.

God chose Joshua son of Nun, “an inspired man.” Moses brought Joshua before Eleazar the priest and the whole community, laid his hands on him, and commissioned him. Joshua would seek God’s decision through Eleazar by the Urim, and by that instruction the people would go out and come in.

Then God commanded Israel to be careful to bring offerings at the right times: two yearling lambs every day, one in the morning and one at twilight, with grain and drink offerings. Extra offerings were brought on Shabbat and on new moons, and special sets of offerings were commanded for Passover and the seven days of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, the horn-sounding day in the seventh month, Yom Kippur, and the seven-day festival beginning on the fifteenth day of that month.