Torah Study Beha'alotcha 5784

Numbers 8:1-12:16, Zechariah 2:14-4:7, Matthew 14:14-21

Basorah Portion Matthew 14:14-21

Matthew 14:19 “Ordering the crowd to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish; and looking up to heaven, He offered the bracha. After breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.”

1. Why does Yeshua pray before everyone eats instead of just afterward as described in Devarim 8:10?

a. He is a good and obdient Jew.

b. The Oral Torah teaches that one should offer a Bracha before eating. The longer prayer is for after one eats.

c. the Shulchan Arukh specifically Orach Chayim 89 discusses the appropriate times and Brachas to offer before eating.

2. Yeshua is looking toward Heaven this implies his eyes are open. Is there a significance to this? #1

a. In Jewish Custom we generally pray with our eyes open. Nothing says this is required and nothing says it is improper to do differently.

b. what does looking toward heaven mean? This is a euphamisim to simply mean concentrating on HaShem.

Looking up toward heaven. Yeshua is reported in six places to have prayed with his eyes open (here; Mk 6:41, 7:34; Lk 9:16; Yn 11:41, 17:1). Jews generally do so today; Christians often pray with them closed. There is no command on the subject in the Bible. In an age when people are easily distracted, closing one’s eyes may help one to concentrate on God. On the other hand, those who choose to keep their eyes open have the Messiah as their model. The phrase, “toward heaven,” can also carry the secondary meaning, “toward God” (see 3:2N). He made a b˒rakhah. The Jewish-English phrase means “said a blessing.” The Greek here is evlogeô, “bless, speak well of”; elsewhere it is often evcharistô, “thank.” Although the text does not say so specifically, it is reasonable to suppose that he recited the customary b˒rakhah (“benediction”; see 9:8N) which Jews have said for more than two thousand years before meals that include bread: Barukh attah, Adonai Eloheynu, Melekh-ha˓olam, haMotzi lechem min ha˒aretz (“Praised be you, Adonai our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth”). Here are two points to note about Jewish blessings at meals. First, the blessing before the meal is short. A longer “Grace” (Birkat-HaMazon) is said after the meal. This seems sensible: one thanks God for something received; moreover, on a full stomach one can relax and express appreciation at length; but on an empty stomach, if the prayers become verbose, one’s mind easily descends from Heaven to the table. Second, the object of the blessing is God, not the food. It is unnecessary to say, as many Christians do, “Lord, bless this food to our bodies”; since food is already God’s blessing to us (Genesis 1:29, 9:3–4)! Rather, we thank him for providing it. See also below, 26:26–27&N.

David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary : A Companion Volume to the Jewish New Testament, electronic ed. (Clarksville: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1996), Mt 14:19.

3. Does Yeshua bless the food?

a. No. Jews do not bless food. The food did nothing. Jews Bless HaShem for providing the food.

Nevi’im/Haftorah Portion Zechariah 2:14-4:7

Zechariah 4:2–5 “He asked me, ‘What do you see?’ I replied, ‘Behold, I see a solid gold menorah with its bowl at the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven pipes for the lamps that are on the top of it. Also two olive trees are by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on the left side of it.’ Then I responded by saying to the angel speaking with me, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who spoke with me responded by asking me, ‘You do not know what these are?’ I replied, ‘No, my lord.’”

4. Why does the angel ask “What do you see?”

a. The angel does not know what the prophet saw.

b. Then angel brings the information but does not know how it is processed.

5. Why does the angel seem surprised that the prophet does not know what the vision means?

a. the angel does not know the prophets mind much less the mind of a human.

b. The angel does not know how the vision will be understood by the prophet.

6. Who is Zerubbabel? # 2

a. He is written about in Haggai, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Zechariah.

b. He started and completed the rebuilding of the Temple before the Harodians expanded it.

The Message of Zechariah The prophecies of Zechariah came to back up the prophecies of Haggai. In Zechariah 4:1–14, a message is given which is an encouragement for the rebuilding of the Temple. The special message to Zerubbabel is found within this prophecy in verses 6–10: Then he answered and said unto me, saying, This is the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says Jehovah of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain; and he shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace, grace, unto it. Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you shall know that Jehovah of hosts has sent me unto you. For who has despised the day of small things? for these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel; these are the eyes of Jehovah, which run to and fro through the whole earth. In this message, Zechariah proclaims that the same person who laid the foundations will also be the one to complete the Temple. Zerubbabel laid the foundation fifteen years earlier; it would be Zerubbabel who would lay the top stone or the final stone, marking the completion of the structure. Then like Haggai, Zechariah encouraged the builders not to be too discouraged over its seeming inferiority to Solomon’s Temple. In verse 10, Zechariah said, “Do not despise the day of small things; the greater is yet to come.”

The Work Resumed And so, in obedience to the prophecies of Haggai and Zechariah, the work was resumed according to Ezra 5:2: Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God, helping them. We are told that Zerubbabel resumed the work and encouraging him were the prophets of God. First, Haggai and Zechariah gave the message for the resumption of the work; then once it was resumed, they did not abandon the builders, but stayed with them and encouraged them with prophetic utterances from God.

The Work Completed After three more years, Zerubbabel’s Temple was finally completed in the year 516 b.c. according to Ezra 6:14–15: And the elders of the Jews builded and prospered, through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded it and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxexzes king of Persia. And this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. Therefore, Zerubbabel, who was of the royal house, a descendant of David, and a forefather to Joseph the stepfather of Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah, with the instigation of the prophets of God, completed the Temple.

Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Messianic Bible Study Collection, vol. 24 (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 1983), 18–19.

Torah Portion Bamibar/Numbers 8:1-12:16

Numbers 8:6–7 ““Take the Levites from among Bnei-Yisrael and ceremonially cleanse them. This is what you must do to them to make them clean: Sprinkle the purifying water on them, then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, thus purifying themselves.”

7. Why did the Levites need to shave their whole body to be purified? Or what other purification process requires shaving all the hair from the body? # 3

a. This is like the cleansing of one who had Tzarat. One with Tzarat is as one who is dead.

b. Psalms 106:28 compares sacrifices of idolatry as sacrifices offered to the dead.

c. The levites though individually and tribely all of them where innocent of the sin of the golden calf, collectively or communially the people where guilty of it and so they where as if they had contact with idolaty and thus like dead and so required the same type of purification.

RASHI Sprinkle on them water of purification. The water made from the ashes of the red cow, to purify those among them who had come into contact with a corpse. Let them go over their whole body with a razor. I found the following in the writings of Moses ha-Darshan: Since the Levites had made expiation for the first-born Israelites who had committed idolatry, and since idolatry is called in Ps. 106:28 “sacrifices offered to the dead,” and since a leper too is referred to “as one dead” (12:12), he required them to shave off all of their body hair as a leper must when he is cleansed.

RASHBAM Let them go over their whole body with a razor. The e vowels in the verb show that this form is a converted perfect: “Let them.” Had an a vowel been used instead (see Exod. 8:4; 9:28; 10:17 for a comparable form), the form would be an imperative: “Have them go over their whole body.”

IBN EZRA Sprinkle on them. Though no נ appears in this verb, Moses ibn Gikatilla explains it as coming from the root נזה—and that is correct. Water of purification. Literally, “sin water.” But it does indeed refer to purification, as in “Purge me with hyssop till I am pure” (Ps. 51:9). Or perhaps we are meant to think of a sin offering (for which the same word is used in Hebrew). Let them go over their whole body with a razor. The verb is a perfect, not a converted perfect—“Sprinkle on them water of purification after they have gone over their whole body with a razor.” Tradition explains that this means they are even to shave their beards—but not “the side-growth of their beards” (Lev. 21:5). Wash their clothes. After which, they will have been cleansed by the water of purification. They shall be cleansed. The verb is a Hitpael, the missing ת being represented by the dagesh in the ט. See similarly Isa. 66:17.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS Sprinkle on them water of purification. In case they have been made unclean by contact with the dead. For up to this point, not having a Tabernacle to come to, they had not bothered to take great care about this (Bekhor Shor). This cannot have been stated on the same day as the rest of the passage, since the cow of Numbers 19 was not burnt until the day after the Tabernacle was set up (Hizkuni). The command to sprinkle them shows that the red cow of ch. 19 had already been burnt at this point (Gersonides). Let them go over their whole body with a razor. One would think this was simply to make them look nice for the king, like Joseph in Gen. 41:14, who “shaved and changed his clothes” when called before Pharaoh. But the comparison with the nazirite shows that it is a matter of removing all impurity (Bekhor Shor). See Rashi’s comment; for the same reason, a repentant sinner must also shave (Hizkuni).

Michael Carasik, ed., Numbers: Introduction and Commentary, trans. Michael Carasik, First edition, The Commentators’ Bible (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 2011), Nu 8:7.

Numbers 8:17 17“For every firstborn among Bnei-Yisrael is Mine, whether human or animal. On the day I struck down the firstborn of the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for Myself.

8. In this verse we read about a reference to the consecration ritual for the 1st born Male. Where in the Basorah do we also read about this in regards to Yeshua?

Luke 2:21-24 21When eight days had passed for His brit-milah, He was named Yeshua, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. 22And when the days of their purification were fulfilled, according to the Torah of Moses, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present to Adonai. 23As it is written in the Torah of Adonai, “Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to Adonai.” 24So they offered a sacrifice according to what was said in the Torah of Adonai: “a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.”

9. Why would Yeshua need to have the consecration ritual performed? How could he be made Holy unto himself?

Yeshua was still born of a woman and thus had a human component. This component required this ritual.

HaShem is Holy unto himself.

Numbers 9:4–5 “So Moses told Bnei-Yisrael to observe Passover. They celebrated Passover at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month in the Sinai wilderness. In accordance with all that Adonai commanded Moses, so Bnei-Yisrael did.”

10. When is the next time that Yisrael would observe Pesach?

a. After entering the Promised Land

b. Joshua 5:10 “While Bnei-Yisrael camped at Gilgal, they observed Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho.”

11. Why did they not observe Pesach before then?

a. Part of the requirement to observe the Pesach is the men must be circumcised. If they are not they may not eat of it or participate.

b. the males had not be circumcised while in the desert for fear of complications.

c. Joshua 5:8 “Now it came to pass after they had finished circumcising the entire nation, they remained in their places in the camp until they recovered.”

Numbers 11:24–30 “So Moses went out and told the people Adonai’s words. He gathered 70 of the elders of the people and had them stand around the Tent. Adonai descended in the cloud and spoke with him. He took some of the Ruach that was on him and placed it on each of the 70 elders. It so happened that when the Ruach first rested on them, they prophesied—but never again. Two men, however, had remained in the camp. The name of one was Eldad and the name of the other was Medad. The Ruach rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the Tent. So they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and told Moses and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!” Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses since his youth, cried out and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous on my behalf? If only Adonai would make all the people prophets! If only Adonai would put the Spirit on all of them!” Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.”

12. What does it mean “… they prophesied - but never again...” especially considering we know that Joshua did prophesy later as did some of the elders?# 4

a. the word in Hebrew here could be continue like we understand it or it could be continue like continue to expound or add to.

b. in other words they did not add to the prophecy of Moshe rather they affirmed or repeated his prophecy.

c. The Targums of Onkelos actually translates this as “… and never ceased...”

RASHI But did not continue. They never prophesied except on that very day. That is how the Sifrei explains our phrase. But Onkelos translates, “and did not stop.” Prophecy never ceased among them.

IBN EZRA He drew upon the spirit. By contrast with v. 17, the verb here is a Hiphil. They spoke in ecstasy. The va- at the beginning of this word cannot be “and” in this context; as it often is in Biblical Hebrew, it is used here like the Arabic fa to emphasize the word. But did not continue. Literally, “they did not add” a second occurrence. You will find the same idiom in “The Lord spoke those words—those and no more” (Deut. 5:22) and “And he was not intimate with her again” (Gen. 38:26). The verb sounds quite similar to “lest you be wiped out for all their sins” (16:26) but grammatically this is impossible.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS But did not continue. Rather, they added “no more” (OJPS) to what Moses had already prophesied (Hizkuni).

Michael Carasik, ed., Numbers: Introduction and Commentary, trans. Michael Carasik, First edition, The Commentators’ Bible (Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 2011), Nu 11:25.

13. Why is Yehoshua and the people disturbed by Eldad and Medad prophesying in the camp?

a. 2 common reason

b. geniuine concern for these righteous men’s well being. For someone to start prophesying in the presence of a greater prophet and to contradict his prophecy would invite at the least confusion and scorn and at the worst condemnation from HaShem.

c. the prophecied of Moshe not being able to enter the promised land and this scared Yehoshua and the people. The phrase “… a youth ran up...” could also be translated as “… he ran up in youthfulness...” meaning kind of in panic or immaturely as a youth would have.