I believe the standard explanation of verses 17:27,28 is that these verses are an introduction to chapter 18. The next verses (chapter 18) record that G-d spoke to Aharon to tell him about his work in the mishkan to guard the mishkan. Rashi (on 18:1) explains that this message to Aharon at this point was for him to ensure that the priests and Levites would stop the general public from improperly entering the mishkan since the people just said they would die if they entered the mishkan. Similarly, Ibn Ezra (on 17:27) explains that the people had just seen the 250 men die by the rebellion of Korah when they attempted to offer an incense offering, and they were worried that they too would die if they came to the mishkan. This approach is difficult since if the people were scared of entering the mishkan, then why was there a need for the priests and the Levites to keep them out since they would stay out on their own?
Yet, maybe there was a fear that one person would enter the mishkan improperly since he/ she was not scared, and the entire nation would be punished due to that person. The basis for this idea could be that 18:5 refers to the Levites saving the people from a ketsef and a ketsef could mean a punishment for the entire nation. Yet, ketsef can also refer to punishments that are focused just on the sinners, and the term negef in 8:19 indicates that the potential danger here to the people was only to the person would enter the mishkan improperly and not to the entire nation.
Rashi (on 17:28, also see Rashbam and Bekhor Shor on 17:28) explains that in 17:27,28, the people were expressing their fear that they would accidentally enter the mishkan and die. This is also difficult. The people stated in 17:27,28 that they were gavenu and all lost, but if they were referring to a person who accidentally entered the mishkan, then this would be a few people, and does not relate to the fears of everybody dying.
There is also a discontinuity between the statements of 17:27,28 and chapter 18. The people complained to Moshe in 17:27, and there is no record in chapter 18 that Moshe responded to them. In the beginning of chapter 18, G-d spoke to Aharon and there is no indication that the message was to be immediately passed on to the people in response to their fears expressed in 17:27,28.
My guess is that the people’s statement in 17:27,28 is a conclusion to the rebellion of Korah, and not an introduction to chapter 18.
My understanding is that Korah's rebellion occurred after the sin of the spies. (This follows the Ramban's position, on 16:1, and not the Ibn Ezra's position, also on 16:1.) The sin of the spies caused the people to be punished that they would die in the desert. This decree must have been pretty depressing because it meant that their lives were literally going nowhere. After the people heard this decree they tried to go to Israel on their own, but this failed, 14:40-45. What was left for the people to do?
Maybe they thought that if they would increase their worship of G-d, then the decree could be rescinded. The desire of the 250 men to be priests was an expression of this desire to increase their worship of G-d. However, this was also unsuccessful when the 250 men died (16:35) since man is to worship G-d as G-d commands and not as man chooses. Afterwards, the test of the staffs showed that the people could not even become helpers in the mishkan like the Levites, 17:16-26. Thus, the people were now at a complete loss since they realized that they could not become priests or Levites, which meant that the decree of dying in the desert was not going to be rescinded.
17:27,28 expresses the people's realization of the hopelessness of their situation. The word gavah (twice) in these verses does not refer to death, but to a condition where a person is alive but something (in this case, G-d’s decree) is impacting the person that he/ she will die because of this thing, the person understands that the thing will kill him, and a person has no ability to reverse this thing, see our discussion on Bemidbar 20:29 and Devarim 10:6, "Where did Aharon die?" and Bereshit 47:18. This was the situation of the people once they realized that they were doomed to die, 17:27. This dying is referring to the decree of death for their initial refusal to enter the land of Israel. They also said (the first half of 17:28) that if they went to the mishkan they would die since this shows that they understood that they could not increase their worship of G-d to have the decree rescinded since they would die if they entered the mishkan. There is nothing left for them to do other than to state, the second half of 17:28, Ha-im tamnu legvoah, which can be understood as the people saying “Is there no way to stop G-d’s decree from being fulfilled?” This was a rhetorical question with the answer being no. The people understood that they would have to accept the punishment of dying in the desert, and there was nothing for Moshe to say.
Alter, Robert, 2004, The five books of Moses: A translation and commentary, New York: W. W. Norton and Company.
Fox, Everett, 1995, The Five Books of Moses: A new translation, New York: Schocken Books.
No comments:
Post a Comment