Commentary for Joshua 3:3
וַיְצַוּוּ֮ אֶת־הָעָ֣ם לֵאמֹר֒ כִּרְאֽוֹתְכֶ֗ם אֵ֣ת אֲר֤וֹן בְּרִית־יְהוָה֙ אֱלֹ֣הֵיכֶ֔ם וְהַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם נֹשְׂאִ֖ים אֹת֑וֹ וְאַתֶּ֗ם תִּסְעוּ֙ מִמְּק֣וֹמְכֶ֔ם וַהֲלַכְתֶּ֖ם אַחֲרָֽיו׃
and they commanded the people, saying: ‘When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it.
Rashi on Joshua
And follow it. This journey was different than other journeys. During Moshe’s lifetime, the Pillar of Clouds would head the procession, and show them the way, and the Ark1The ark is here referred to as the Ark of the Bris or Covenant but it is also referred to in Scripture as the אַרוֹן הָעֵדוּת, the Ark of Testimony (see Chapter 4:16) because of the Two Tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments that were placed in the Ark. would [first begin to] move after two divisions [lit. flags]2The twelve tribes of the Bnei Yisroel were divided into four divisions or units, three tribes to a unit. When they travelled in the wilderness, two divisions of six tribes would depart the camp, to be followed by the Ark: and the other two divisions would then follow the Ark. Thus the Ark was always amidst the Bnei Yisroel. had left, but now the Ark would travel first.
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Rashi on Joshua
The Kohanim, the Levites. Since they all descended from Levi who was the father of Amram, they [the Kohanim] are called Levites,3While it is true that all Kohanim were Levites, the Levites were not Kohanim, because the Kehunah was confined to the descendants of Aharon. as our Sages explain in Breishis Rabbah, ‘That there are forty eight places where the Kohanim are referred to as Levites.’
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