Kommentar zu Bamidbar 1:32

OF THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH, NAMELY, OF THE CHILDREN OF EPHRAIM. Scripture mentioned Ephraim before Menasheh, and stated Joseph’s relationship to him [which it does not do in the case of Menasheh],⁶⁴Verse 34. and similarly later [Scripture gave Ephraim precedence] at the [division of the tribes according to their] standards, by making him master of the standard, [whilst Menasheh is mentioned merely as one of the two tribes gathered around him], because in accordance with Jacob’s blessing⁶⁵Genesis 48:20. he was to be [given the honor accorded to] the firstborn, and his brother [Menasheh] was to be second to him. Moreover, the sons of Ephraim were more numerous than those of Menasheh⁶⁶Ephraim totalled 40,500 (Verse 33), whilst Menasheh numbered 32,200 (Verse 35). [and hence Ephraim was mentioned first]. But at the second census in the plains of Moab⁶⁷Further, 26:3. Scripture mentioned Menasheh first, because at that time his sons were more numerous [than those of Ephraim],⁶⁸The children of Menasheh were then 52,700 (ibid., Verse 34), whilst Ephraim had only 32,500 (ibid., Verse 37). and [also because] they took their inheritance first.⁶⁹Half of the tribe of Menasheh joined the tribes of Gad and Reuben in settling during the lifetime of Moses on the east side of the Jordan (ibid., 32:33). Similarly when mentioning the princes of the Land [who were to take possession of the Land for their respective tribes] Scripture mentioned Menasheh first, and also Joseph’s relationship to him.⁷⁰Ibid., 34:23: Of the children of Joseph; of the tribe of the children of Menasheh. In the following verse Scripture mentions the prince of the children of Ephraim. In [the story of] the spies, however, Scripture mentioned Ephraim first, and Joseph’s relationship it stated only in referring to the tribe of Menasheh.⁷¹Ibid., 13:8, 11. It appears to me by way of homiletic exposition that it is on account of the evil report that Joseph brought [to his father] concerning his brothers⁷²Genesis 37: 2. that Scripture, [in the story of the spies], associates with him the spy who [was among those who] spread the evil report [about the Land, namely the spy from the tribe of Menasheh, whereas the spy from the tribe of Ephraim was Joshua the son of Nun, who was not among those who spread the evil report]. Or it may be that Scripture [in relating the story of the spies] gave honor to both [tribes who were descended from Joseph], and Ephraim had sufficient honor in its prince [Joshua the son of Nun who ministered to Moses, therefore Scripture mentioned the honor of descent from Joseph only in the case of Menasheh].

לבני יוסף לבני אפרים, Nachmanides writes that Ephrayim, the younger son of Joseph was given precedence over his older brother Menashe and Joseph’s genealogy is linked to him both here and when it came to the “flags,” the groupings of three tribes each around their flags, seeing that he was the one in his group that was the flag bearer, and also because he was numerically a much larger tribe (41.500) than his brother tribe Menashe. (32.500) However, on the occasion of the census in the 40th year in the wilderness of Moav, you will note that the tribe of Menashe (52.700) had in the meantime become more numerous than Ephrayim. (32.500) They also received their ancestral land before Ephrayim, seeing that half the tribe remained on the East bank of the Jordan with the tribes Reuven and Gad. He also took precedence when the Torah reports the names of the tribal heads in charge at the time of the entry of he people into their ancestral land. (Numbers 34, 23-24) On the other hand, although Ephrayim’s representative of the 12 tribes during the mission of the spies is listed first, Joseph himself, in that connection, is linked directly to Menashe. (Numbers 13,8) In trying to understand the various occasions when the respective brothers Ephrayim and Menashe appear in different sequences, perhaps the fact that just as Joseph, who, in his youth was guilty of slandering his brothers, Menashe, i.e. the spy representing the Tribe of Joseph-Menashe, Gad, did join the majority in slandering the land of Israel, as opposed to the representative of his younger brother Ephrayim, i.e. Joshua, who did not. Moses may have listed Ephrayim first, without mentioning that he was part of the tribe of Joseph. (Numbers 13,8) This may serve as a reminder that sometimes the son commits the same type of error as had his father. (Compare daat z’keynim baaley tossaphot Numbers 13,11) Ibn Ezra explains that the army was made up of 12 tribes excluding the tribe of Levi, so that the tribe of Joseph was represented by his two sons Ephrayim and Menashe. There were four army groups of three tribes each placed in the four directions of the surface of the earth. Leah had 6 sons, Seeing that the tribe of Levi, descended from one of Leah’s sons was not included in the men serving in the army, the first camp, (flag) comprised of the tribes Reuven and Shimon, both from the sons of Leah, co-opted a third, Gad, the senior son of Leah’s maid Zilpah. The second camp (flag) was comprised of the tribes of Yehudah, who was joined by tribes descended from his younger brothers Issachar and Zevulun. The third camp contained only tribes descended from Rachel, i.e. Ephrayim, Menashe and Binyamin. The fourth camp was comprised of Dan, Asher and Naftali. Naftali was the younger one of the three tribes comprising that camp. He was listed first in order that the flag of that camp be guarded by the senior son of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah. The reason why Yehudah’s group was placed at the head and Dan’s at the rear, was that these two tribes excelled in valour and in the art of warfare.