SECTION XLIII.

MASEY.

      XXXIII. These are the journeys of the Beni Israel who went forth from the land of Mizraim in their hosts, by the hand of Mosheh and Aharon. And Mosheh wrote their goings out, and by their journeys by the Word of the Lord; and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

      And they went forth from Ramesis in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, after the day of the Pascha, the children of Israel went out in full view of the eves of all the Mizraee. And the Mizraee buried all the firstborn which the Lord had slain among them, and upon their idols had the Lord wrought judgments.

      And the children of Israel proceeded from Ramesis, and encamped in Succoth. And they went on from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is on the side of the wilderness.And they removed from Etham, and returned upon PumHiratha, before Baal-Zephon, and pitched before Migdol. And they departed from Pum-Hiratha, and went through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went, going three days in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah. And they removed from Marah, and came to Elim; and in Elim were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. And they removed from Elim, and pitched by the Sea of Suph. And they removed from the Sea of Suph, and pitched in the wilderness of Sin. And they departed from the wilderness of Sin, and pitched in Dapheka; and they removed from Dapheka, and encamped in Alush. And they removed from Alush, and pitched in Rephidin; and there was no water for the people to drink. And they removed from Rephidin, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai.

      And they removed from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped at the Sepulchres of Desire.  And they removed from the Sepulchres of Desire, and pitched in Hazeroth; and they removed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithema. And they removed from Rithema, and pitched in Rimmon-pharez. And they removed from Rimmon-pharez, and encamped in Libnah. And they removed from Libnah, and pitched in Resah. And they removed from Resah, and pitched in Kehelatha. And they removed from Kehelatha, and encamped at Mount Shapher. And they removed from Mount Shapher, and encamped in Harada. And they removed from Harada, and pitched in Makheloth. And they removed from Makheloth, and pitched in Tachath. And they removed from Tachath, and pitched in Tharah. And they removed from Tharah, and pitched in Mitheka. And they removed from Mitheka, and encamped in Hashmona. And they removed from Hashmona, and pitched in Moseroth. And they removed from Moseroth, and encamped in Beni Jaakan. And they removed from Beni Jaakan, and pitched at Mount Hagidgad. And they removed from Mount Hagidgad, and pitched in Jetbatha. And they removed from Jetbatha, and pitched in Ebrona. And they removed from Ebrona, and pitched in Ezion-Geber. And they removed from Ezion-Geber, and encamped in the wilderness of Zin, which is Rekem. And they removed from Rekem, and encamped at Mount Hor, on the borders of the land of Edom. And Aharon the priest went up on Mount Hor by the Word of the Lord, and died there in the fortieth year of the outgoing of the children of Israel from the land of Mizraim, in the fifth month, on the first of the month. And Aharon was a son of one hundred and twenty-three years when he died on Mount Hor.

      And the Kenaanite, king of Harad, who dwelt in the south, in the land of Kenaan, heard of the coming of the Beni Israel.

      And they removed from Mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmona. And they removed from Zalmona, and pitched in Phunon. And they removed from Phunon, and pitched in Aboth. And they removed from Aboth, and encamped at the Passing Fords on the border of Moab. And they removed from the Fords, and pitched at Dibon Gad. And they removed from Dibon Gad, and pitched in Elmon Diblathaimah. And they removed from Elmon Diblathaimah, and pitched at the mountains of Abaraee, which are before Nebo. And they removed from the mountains of Abaraee, and encamped in the plains of Moab by Jordan (over against) Jericho. And they encamped by the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth unto the vale of Sittin in the fields of Moab.

      And the Lord spake with Mosheh in the fields of Moaba by the Jordan (near) Jericho, saying: Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: When you have passed over Jordan to the land of Kenaan, you shall cast out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, demolish all the houses of their worship, destroy all their molten images, and lay waste all their high places. And you shall cast out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell in it; for I have given you the land to inherit.

And you shall possess the land by lot, according to your families; to the many you shall make their possession large, and to the few diminish the possession: where the lot falleth to anyone, there shall he be; according to the tribes of your fathers you shall possess. But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the country from before you, it will be that those who remain of them, combining, will take arms against you, and surrounding you with camps they will distress you in the land wherein you dwell. And it shall be that what I had thought to do unto them, I will do unto you.

      XXXIV. And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying: Command the sons of Israel, and say to them: When you have entered into the land of Kenaan, that land which shall be divided to you for a possession, the land of Kenaan by its coasts, then your south border shall be from the wilderness of Zin on the frontier of Edom, and your south border shall be from the extremities of the Sea of Salt eastward.

      And your border shall turn from the south to the going up of Akrabbim, and shall pass over to Zin; and the going out of it shall be from the south unto Rekem Giah, and go on to Hazar-Adar, and pass over to Azemon.

      And the border shall turn from Azemon to the stream of Mizraim, and its goings out shall be toward the west, (Heb., the sea,) and for the western border you shall have the Great Sea; this shall be your western border.

      And this shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall appoint for you Mount Hor; from Mount Hor you shall appoint to the entrance of Hamath, and the goings forth of the border shall be unto Zedad. And the border shall be unto Zaphron, and its goings forth to Ezarenan; this shall be your north border.

      And you shall appoint your eastern border from Ezarenan to Shepham;[1] and the border shall go down from Shepham unto Riblah, eastward of the fountain, and the border shall go down and come to the bank of the Sea of Genesar on the east. And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its going out be at the Sea of Salt. This shall be your land with its confines round about.

      And Mosheh commanded the sons of Israel, saying: This shall be the land which you are to possess by lot, which the Lord hath commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half tribe.  For the tribe of the Beni Reuben by the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the Beni Gad by the house of their fathers, and the half tribe of Menasheh, have received their inheritance. The two tribes and the half tribe have received their inheritance across the Jordan by Jericho towards the east.

      And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying: These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you: Elazar the priest, and Jehoshua bar Nun. And you shall take of each tribe one prince to apportion the land, and these are the names of the men: of the tribe of Jehudah, Kaleb bar Jephuneh; of the tribe of the Beni Shemeon,. Shemuel bar Ammihud; of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad bar Kiselon; of the tribe of the Beni Dan, Rabba Bokki bar Jagli; of the Beni Joseph, of the tribe of the Beni Menasheh, Rabba Haniel bar Ephod; of the tribe of the Beni Ephraim, Rabba Kemuel bar Shiphtan; of the tribe of the Beni Zebulon, Rabba Elizaphan bar Parnak; of the tribe of the Beni Issakar, Rabba Peltiel bar Ezar; and of that of the Beni Asher, Rabba Ahihud bar Shelomi; and of that of the Beni Naphtali, Rabba Phadael bar Ammihud. These are they whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance of the children of Israel in the land of Kenaan.

      XXXV. And the Lord spake with Mosheh in the plains of Moab, on the Jordan-Jericho, saying: Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to inhabit, and a space (suburb) with the cities round about shall they give to the Levites.  And the cities they shall have to inhabit, and their spaces, shall be for their cattle, and for their possessions, and for all their animals. And the spaces of the cities which you give to the Levites (shall extend) from the wall of the city outward, a thousand cubits round about.

 And you shall measure without the city, on the east side[2] two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, and the city in the midst; this shall be for you the spaces of the cities.

      And (of) the cities which you give to the Levites, six shall be cities of refuge, which you shall appoint for the (man) slayer[3] to flee thereunto, and to them you shall add forty-two cities. All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, they and their suburbs. And the cities that you give shall be of the inheritance of the Beni Israel; of those who have many you shall give many, and of the few you shall give few; each according to his possession he inherits shall he give of his cities to the Levites.

      And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying: Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: When you have passed the Jordan to the land of Kenaan, then shall you appoint to you cities, cities of refuge shall they be for you, that the slayer who hath killed a life unawares may flee thither. And they shall be for you cities of refuge from the avenger of blood, that the slayer may not die until he hath stood before the congregation for judgment. And of those cities that you give you shall have six cities of refuge: three cities you shall give beyond Jordan, and three cities in the land of Kenaan; cities of refuge shall they be. For the sons of Israel, and for the sojourner among you, there shall be these six cities of refuge, that thither may flee everyone who bath slain a person unawares.

      But if he hath smitten him with a weapon of iron and killed him, he is a murderer; and the murderer is to be surely put to death. Or, if with a stone which he carried in his hand, that he who was struck with it should die, he who killed him is a murderer, and the murderer is to be surely put to death. Or, if with a weapon of wood which he carried in his hand that he who was struck with it might die, and he killeth him, he is a murderer, and the murderer shall be verily put to death. The avenger of blood himself shall kill the murderer, when condemned by the judgment he shall kill him. And if he smote him in enmity, or threw at him in concealment and killed him, or in enmity smote him with his hand and killed him, the smiter is a murderer, he shall be surely put to death: the avenger of blood shall slay the slayer when he is condemned.

      But if he have struck him suddenly without enmity, or have thrown anything upon him without lying in wait for him, or struck him with a stone sufficient to kill him, but cast it upon him without seeing, and have killed him without hating him or seeking to do him evil, then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood, according to these judgments. And the congregation shall deliver the slayer from the avenger of blood, and return him to the city of his refuge to which he had fled, and he shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

      But if the slayer shall come out of the boundary of the city of his retreat to which he hath fled, and the avenger of blood find him outside of the bounds of the city of his retreat, and the avenger of blood slay the slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. Because he should have abode within the city of his retreat until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer may return to the land of his inheritance.

      And these shall be to you a decree of judgment for your generations in all your dwellings. Whosoever killeth a person shall die, by the mouth of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify against a man to put (him) to death. Neither may you take money on account of a manslayer who is guilty of death, for dying he shall die. Nor may you take money for him who hath fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to dwell in the land till the high priest shall die. But you shall not make guilty the land in which you are; for blood maketh the land guilty; and the land is not expiated for innocent blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him who shed it. Defile not then the land in which you dwell, for My Shekinah dwelleth in the midst of it; for I, the Lord, by My Shekinah dwell among the children of Israel.

      XXXVI. And the chief fathers of the families of the Beni Gilead, bar Makir, bar Menasheh, of the family of the Beni Joseph, came and spake before Mosheh, the princes and chief fathers of the Beni Israel, and said: The Lord commanded Rabboni to give the land an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel; and Rabboni was commanded by the Word of the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophechad our brother to his daughters. But if they become wives to any of the sons of the (other) tribes of the Beni Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and added to the inheritance of the tribe which will have become theirs, and be (thus) diminished from the portion of our inheritance. And when the Jubela of the children of Israel come, their inheritance will be added to the possession of the tribe that hath become theirs, and our possession will pass away from the inheritance of our father's tribe.

      And Mosheh commanded the sons of Israel by the Word of the Lord, saying: The tribe of the sons of Joseph have spoken well. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded for the daughters of Zelophechad, saying: Let them become the wives of those who are proper in their eyes, only of (men) of their father's tribe may they become wives. And the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not turn from tribe to tribe; for every man of the Beni Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of his father's tribe.

      And every daughter inheriting a possession (in one) of the tribes of the children of Israel shall be wife of one of the families of her father's tribe: that the sons of Israel may each man inherit the possession of his fathers. And the inheritance shall not pass from one tribe to another tribe, but every one of the tribes of the Beni Israel shall keep to its own inheritance.

      As the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did the daughters of Zelophechad: and Maalah, and Thirzah, and Hegela, and Milchah, and Nohah, the daughters of Zelophechad, became wives of sons of their father's brethren. They were married into the family of the Beni Menasheh bar Joseph, and their inheritance (remained) with the tribe of their father's family.

      These are the commandments and judgments which the Lord commanded by the hand of Mosheh to the children of Israel, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho.

END OF THE TARGUM OF ONKELOS ON THE

SEPHER BEMIDBAR.