Commentary for Numbers 7:2

הם נשיאי המטת THESE ARE THE LEADERS OF THE TRIBES — They were the officers [appointed] over them in Egypt, and they were beaten on account of them, as it says (Exodus 5:14),“The officers of the children of Israel were beaten” (Sifrei Bamidbar 45).

הם נשיאי המטות, הם העומדים על הפקודים. Seeing they all occupied official positions the gift/offering each one brought was on behalf of his tribe and its members. Seeing each one was in charge of other people, he felt a sense of some members of his tribe being suspected of some misdemeanour. At the same time, seeing that they did not only represent the members of the tribes but were נשיאים, “princes” in their own right, they agreed to act as the interlocutors of their tribe in trying to obtain atonement for the errors committed by members of their tribe by offering a communal offering on their behalf.

הם העומדים על הפקודים. The ones who have already been mentioned by name in Numbers 1,5-16.

They were officers. Rashi is answering the question: What is the Torah teaching by saying that they were the leaders of the tribes? In response Rashi explains that they were officers over them in Egypt, and the verse is saying that they were the leaders who were appointed officers over them in Egypt. The taskmasters would beat the officers with clubs because they did not pressure Bnei Yisroel to fulfill their quota of bricks. [However this presents a difficulty:] Even those who stood by during the counting were not appointed until Iyar. The answer is that the Torah speaks about the future, when they would stand by during the counting on the first of Iyar. (Nachalas Yaakov) is puzzled: The officers who were beaten were only chosen for the Sanhedrin at the incident of the complainers in Parshas Beha’alosecha (11:16) where the Torah writes “gather seventy men for Me, from among the elders of Israel, men] whom you know to be the people’s elders and its officers.” Rashi explains that they are those “whom you know,” who were appointed as officers over them in Egypt during the hard labor. The incident of the complainers was on the twenty-second of Iyar and here it was Rosh Chodesh Nissan. Rather one must say that the greatness of becoming the Sanhedrin was more than the greatness of becoming the leaders. Therefore, here on Rosh Chodesh Nissan they merited to become leaders and on the twenty-second of Iyar at the time of the complainers they merited to become the Sanhedrin.

V. 2. ויקריבו וגו׳. Das Objekt zu ויקריבו ist קרבנם des folgenden Satzes, es heißt eigentlich: ויקריבו ויביאו את קרבנם וגו׳. Der Satz ist unterbrochen durch nähere Bezeichnung des Subjekts: נשיאי ישראל. Es waren נשיאי ישראל, Israels "gehobene Träger", die Männer, die vermöge ihrer Stellung, auf der Höhe der nationalen Bestimmung standen und von dieser Stellung aus die Nation zur gleichen Höhe hinanerheben sollten. Sie waren בית אב .ראשי בית אבותם sind die durch Abstammung aus einem Stammeshause zur Stammeseinheit vereinigten Familien. Diese in der Gesamtnation als die נשיאי ישראל hervorleuchtenden Männer waren eben diejenigen, welche innerhalb der zur Stammeseinheit vereinigten Familien vermöge des ihrer Persönlichkeit und ihrem sozialen Charakter geschenkten Vertrauens und gewährten Einflusses an die Spitze aller die Stammesinteressen berührenden Angelegenheiten berufen waren. Vermöge dieser doppelten Eigenschaft, als נשיאי ישראל und ראשי בית אבתם waren sie die Geeignetsten: נשיאי המטות zu sein. — Der seiner inneren Beziehung zufolge בית אב genannte Stamm heißt: מטה als "Ast" des großen Nationalganzen, der als solcher aus der Gesamtwurzel und dem Gesamtstamme den Nationalgeist in die Besonderheit der Stammeseinheit überleitet, um die Gesamtaufgabe innerhalb der Eigenart des Stammes zur Verwirklichung zu bringen. Als נשיאי ישראל der Gesamtheit und als ראשי בית אב der Stammesbesonderheit angehörend, waren sie daher die Berufensten als ראשי המטות die Gesamtinteressen innerhalb ihres besonderen Stammes zu vertreten; daher waren sie auch: הם העומדים על הפקודים diejenigen, die einen Monat später der Zählung der einzelnen nach Familien und Stämmen für die Gesamtgemeine zu assistieren hatten (siehe zu Kap. 1, 2 — 4).

ויקריבו נשיאי ישראל, “the princes of the house of Israel offered etc.;” the Torah follows up with telling us what it was that the princes of the house of Israel offered, i.e. the offering was individual and collective at one and the same time; (verse 3) [Their sacrifices (pl.) are described as קרבנם, “their offering” (singular) instead of קרבנותיהם, “their offerings, pl.)

הם העמדים על הפקדים THEY WHO STOOD OVER THE COUNTING — They stood with Moses and Aaron when they counted the Israelites, as it says,“With you [Moses and Aaron] there shall be [a man from each tribe]” (Numbers 1:4).

העומדים על הפקודים, “the ones who supervised the census.” According to Rashi, each prince had stood beside Moses and Aaron when the members of that prince’s tribe were being counted. He based himself on Numbers 1,4: ואתכם יהיו איש איש למטה איש ראש לבית אבותיו הוא, “and with you there shall be a man of every tribe, everyone head of his father’s house.” Therefore the construction of ויביאו את קרבנם, “they brought their atonement offering for counting the people of Israel,” is justified. We find another example of such an offering as atonement for counting in Numbers 31,50 after the successful punitive campaign against Midian, [both the soldiers who found that there had been no casualties, and the huge amount of booty collected. Ed.]