פְּקֻדֵיהֶ֖ם לְמַטֵּ֣ה מְנַשֶּׁ֑ה שְׁנַ֧יִם וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֛ים אֶ֖לֶף וּמָאתָֽיִם׃ (פ)
Los contados de ellos, de la tribu de Manasés, treinta y dos mil y doscientos.
Ramban
AND THE ETERNAL SPOKE UNTO MOSES IN THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI. The reason for this statement is that since Scripture said above in the day that the Eternal spoke with Moses in Mount Sinai,154Above, Verse 1. it refers back and says [here] that the command for counting the Levites was not given in Mount Sinai; for only the choosing of the [four] children of Aaron [as priests] took place in Mount Sinai on the day that He commanded Moses about the making of the Tabernacle, but he was not given the command about the choosing of [all] the Levites [as ministers to the priests] at Mount Sinai, but in the wilderness of Sinai in the Tent of Meeting, just like the commandment mentioned [above] concerning [the counting of] the children of Israel [about which it is clearly stated that it was in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting].135Above, 1:1.
Now the tribe of Levi was not like all the other tribes, for [even though they were counted] from a month old and upward155Verse 15 here. [unlike the other tribes who were counted only from the age of twenty years and over], they were still only twenty and two thousand,156Further. Verse 39. and from thirty years old and over they were all together [only] eight thousand [and five hundred and fourscore].157Ibid., 4:48. Thus, their number from twenty years old and over does not reach even a half of the [number of the] smallest of [the other] tribes of Israel!158The smallest tribe was that of Menasheh, which numbered — from the age of twenty and over — 32,200 (above, 1:35). Thus the Levites, who numbered 8000 men above the age of thirty, certainly do not reach half of the numbers of Menasheh, even after taking into consideration a few more thousand between the ages of twenty and thirty. And they did not as yet carry the ark, [that we should say] that its holiness took a toll of them!159According to tradition, the carrying of the ark involved great risk. Any of the Kohathites who was unworthy of carrying it immediately suffered a punishment; so also anyone who attended to it with an unwilling heart (Bamidbar Rabbah 5:1). But, as Ramban points out, when this census of the Levites was taken, they were not yet carrying the ark, since they only journeyed from Mount Sinai on the twentieth of Iyar. So the question reappears, why were their numbers so few? This is indeed astonishing, that His servants and His pious ones should not be blessed of the Eternal160Isaiah 65:23. as were the rest of the people!
Therefore I am of the opinion that this is a confirmation of what our Rabbis have said,161Tanchuma Va’eira 6. See also Ramban on Exodus 5:4. that the tribe of Levi was not [subject to] the enslavement of Egyptian bondage and the rigorous work [that was imposed on the rest of the tribes]. Now since the children of Israel’s lives were made bitter by the Egyptians with hard work162Exodus 1:14. in order to diminish them, the Holy One, blessed be He, increased them [miraculously] to overcome the decree of the Egyptians, just as He said, And as they afflicted them, so they multiplied and so they grew,163Ibid., Verse 12. and just as it is said also with reference to the decree that if it be a son, then ye shall kill him164Ibid., Verse 16. — and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty165Ibid., Verse 20. — since the Holy One, blessed be He, said: “We shall see whose words shall stand, Mine or theirs. ”166Jeremiah 44:28. See Vol. I, p. 457. But the tribe of Levi [which was not subject to bondage] reproduced and increased in a normal way, and therefore they did not become as numerous as the other tribes. Perhaps also [their small numbers were] on account of the anger of the patriarch [Jacob] towards them,167Genesis 34:25-30, and 49:5-7. for the tribe of Shimon which now had a large population168See above, 1:23, where the verse numbers them at fifty-nine thousand and three hundred. decreased, so that at the time of their entry into the Land [they numbered only] twenty-two thousand [and two hundred169Further, 26:14. — whereas most of the other tribes increased in the same period, or decreased relatively slightly]; similarly, Levi, the tribe of His pious ones,170See Deuteronomy 33:8. was not decreased in the plague [caused because of Peor,171Further, 25:9. and yet at the time of entry into the Land they numbered only one thousand more172Ibid., 26:62. than their present twenty-two thousand! Thus we see that it was the anger of the patriarch which affected the numbers of both Shimon and Levi.]
Now the tribe of Levi was not like all the other tribes, for [even though they were counted] from a month old and upward155Verse 15 here. [unlike the other tribes who were counted only from the age of twenty years and over], they were still only twenty and two thousand,156Further. Verse 39. and from thirty years old and over they were all together [only] eight thousand [and five hundred and fourscore].157Ibid., 4:48. Thus, their number from twenty years old and over does not reach even a half of the [number of the] smallest of [the other] tribes of Israel!158The smallest tribe was that of Menasheh, which numbered — from the age of twenty and over — 32,200 (above, 1:35). Thus the Levites, who numbered 8000 men above the age of thirty, certainly do not reach half of the numbers of Menasheh, even after taking into consideration a few more thousand between the ages of twenty and thirty. And they did not as yet carry the ark, [that we should say] that its holiness took a toll of them!159According to tradition, the carrying of the ark involved great risk. Any of the Kohathites who was unworthy of carrying it immediately suffered a punishment; so also anyone who attended to it with an unwilling heart (Bamidbar Rabbah 5:1). But, as Ramban points out, when this census of the Levites was taken, they were not yet carrying the ark, since they only journeyed from Mount Sinai on the twentieth of Iyar. So the question reappears, why were their numbers so few? This is indeed astonishing, that His servants and His pious ones should not be blessed of the Eternal160Isaiah 65:23. as were the rest of the people!
Therefore I am of the opinion that this is a confirmation of what our Rabbis have said,161Tanchuma Va’eira 6. See also Ramban on Exodus 5:4. that the tribe of Levi was not [subject to] the enslavement of Egyptian bondage and the rigorous work [that was imposed on the rest of the tribes]. Now since the children of Israel’s lives were made bitter by the Egyptians with hard work162Exodus 1:14. in order to diminish them, the Holy One, blessed be He, increased them [miraculously] to overcome the decree of the Egyptians, just as He said, And as they afflicted them, so they multiplied and so they grew,163Ibid., Verse 12. and just as it is said also with reference to the decree that if it be a son, then ye shall kill him164Ibid., Verse 16. — and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty165Ibid., Verse 20. — since the Holy One, blessed be He, said: “We shall see whose words shall stand, Mine or theirs. ”166Jeremiah 44:28. See Vol. I, p. 457. But the tribe of Levi [which was not subject to bondage] reproduced and increased in a normal way, and therefore they did not become as numerous as the other tribes. Perhaps also [their small numbers were] on account of the anger of the patriarch [Jacob] towards them,167Genesis 34:25-30, and 49:5-7. for the tribe of Shimon which now had a large population168See above, 1:23, where the verse numbers them at fifty-nine thousand and three hundred. decreased, so that at the time of their entry into the Land [they numbered only] twenty-two thousand [and two hundred169Further, 26:14. — whereas most of the other tribes increased in the same period, or decreased relatively slightly]; similarly, Levi, the tribe of His pious ones,170See Deuteronomy 33:8. was not decreased in the plague [caused because of Peor,171Further, 25:9. and yet at the time of entry into the Land they numbered only one thousand more172Ibid., 26:62. than their present twenty-two thousand! Thus we see that it was the anger of the patriarch which affected the numbers of both Shimon and Levi.]
Rashi
For until now so much has Adonoy blessed me. For you have seen that my population has increased from the first counting to the second counting by twenty thousand, five hundred, which is the numerical equivilent of כּה (25). In the first counting you found the number of Menashe, stated in Seifer Bamidbar,7Parshas Bamidbar 1:35. to be thirty two thousand, two hundred, and in Parshes Pinchos8 Bamidbar 26:34. their number was fifty two thousand, seven hundred. Another explanation is: until now, until כּה referring to the blessing that was said to Avrohom, “So (כּה) shall be your seed.”9Bereishis 15:5. This blessing has been fulfilled in my tribe. And according to its plain meaning, until now-as I am now— until I am the multitude you see now.
Ramban
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].