Commentary for Numbers 10:17

והורד המשכן THEN THE TABERNACLE WAS TAKEN DOWN — As soon as the division of Judah was on the point of journeying, Aaron and his sons went in (into the Tabernacle), took down the Partition Vail and covered the Ark with it, as it is said, (Numbers 4:5) “and when the camp setteth forward (i. e. is on the point of setting forward) Aaron shall come, and his sons, [and they shall take down the Partition Vail, etc.]”; the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari then dismantled the Tabernacle, and loaded it on the waggons, and started off (so Berliner’s edition which adds ונוסעים). The Ark and the other holy vessels, the burden of the sons of Kohath (cf. Numbers 3:31), remained as they were, covered over, the latter hanging on poles, until the division of the sons of Reuben set out, and only after that did (v. 21) “the Kohathites set forward”.

AND THE TABERNACLE WAS TAKEN DOWN; AND THE SONS OF GERSHON AND THE SONS OF MERARI WHO BORE THE TABERNACLE SET FORWARD. The indication of the verses on this subject is as follows: After the standard of Judah had set forward, they would begin dismantling the Tabernacle, and the beginning of this dismantling was when Aaron and his sons came [into the Tabernacle] and took down the partition Veil, as it says, And when ‘the camp’ setteth forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the Veil etc.,¹²⁵Above, 4:5. that is to say, when the first camp [i.e., that of Judah] set forth. When they [the priests] finished covering the ark and all the holy vessels which were to be borne by the Kohathites, the Levites would take down the whole Tabernacle and load it upon the wagons; and the sons of Gershon and Merari then journeyed [with these wagons] after the standard of Judah, the ark and the holy vessels remaining covered and placed upon the staves until the standard of Reuben set forth. And the meaning of the verse Then the Tent of Meeting, with the camp of the Levites, shall set forward in the midst of the camps¹²⁶Ibid., 2:17. is that the Tent of Meeting together with all the camps of the Levites shall set forward in the midst of those camps perviously mentioned, for the Gershonites and Merarites journeyed between the standard of Judah and that of Reuben, while the Kohathites journeyed between the standard of Reuben and that of Ephraim, as He is to explain. He mentioned the reason [for the Gershonites and Merarites journeying before the Kohathites, namely] so that they might set up the Tabernacle before they [the Kohathites who carried the ark and the holy vessels] arrive¹²⁷Verse 21. [and thus they could immediately deposit the holy vessels therein].
However, in the Beraitha of the Work of the Tabernacle¹⁰⁵Beraitha of M’lecheth Hamishkan, Chapter 13. I have seen the following text: “They blew t’kiah, t’ruah, ‘t’kiah,¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. and the standard of Judah would set forth first, as it is said, And in the first place the standard of the camp of the children of Judah set forward.¹²⁸Verse 14. The sons of Aaron would then enter [the Tent of Meeting] and take down the Veil, and cover the ark with it, as it is said, And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons etc.¹²⁵Above, 4:5. They then blew t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah,¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. and the standard of the camp of Reuben would set forth. The sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari would immediately enter and dismantle the Tabernacle, and load it upon wagons and re-erect it [in the new resting-place] by the time the sons of Kohath arrived, as it is said, And the Kohathites the bearers of the Sanctuary set forward, that the Tabernacle might be set up against their coming.¹²⁷Verse 21. They blew t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah,¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. and the standard of Ephraim would set forth. The sons of Kohath would immediately enter and dismantle the Sanctuary,¹²⁹The word hamikdash (the Sanctuary) is evidently to be understood as in Verse 21 here: And the Kohathites the bearers of ‘the Sanctuary’ set forward, which Rashi explains as meaning: “the bearers of ‘the holy vessels’” [and not of the Sanctuary itself, for it was carried by the sons of Gershon and Merari]. This explanation is also clearly evident from the language of Ramban further on [“and the sons of Kohath would … load the holy vessels upon their shoulders”]. and put it upon their shoulders, as it is said, And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the Sanctuary etc.”¹³⁰Above, 4:15. — The Beraitha of the Work of the Tabernacle thus contradicts the previous explanation, that the Gershonites and the Merarites set forward immediately after the standard of Judah, since the Beraitha states that they journeyed after the standard of Reuben. Ramban now interprets the Beraitha so that it accords with the above interpretation which is in line with the simple meaning of Scripture. But perhaps the following is the correct interpretation of the Beraitha: “They blew t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. to alert the standard of Reuben to set forth, [but they did not actually set forth at once, for] immediately the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari would precede them and dismantle the Tabernacle, but they would journey before the sons of Reuben. Similarly, they blew t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. that the standard of Ephraim be ready to set forth, and the sons of Kohath would immediately set forth and load the holy vessels upon their shoulders, and they would journey before the sons of Ephraim.” Thus the Rabbis taught that the journeying of the Levites should be preceded by blowing [of the trumpets], and immediately after them came the standard which followed them.

והורד המשכן, “The Tabernacle was dismantled.” The meaning of the paragraph starting with ויהי בשנה השנית in 10,11 is to describe the journey of the Tabernacle, i.e. the camp of the Levites traveling surrounded by the various army groups, as Rashi has outlined when he described that as soon as the army group of Yehudah had started marching the sons of Aaron would lower the dividing curtain in the Tabernacle and would wrap up the various sacred furnishings. When these had been wrapped, the Levites, i.e. Gersonides and Merarites, took apart the beams comprising the walls of the Tabernacle and loaded them onto the wagons, etc. These wagons with those Levites would be traveling behind the army group of Yehudah, ahead of the army group of Reuven.

V. 17. והורד המשכן וגו׳ und V. 21. ונסעו הקהתים וגו׳, siehe zu V. 6.