פירוש על במדבר 10:35

ויהי בנסע הארן AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN THE ARK PROCEEDED [THAT MOSES SAID etc.] — He (the Lord; cf. Shabbat 115a) made for it (for this section) dividing marks (inverted “Nuns”), in front and behind it, in order to indicate that this is not its proper place (it would more fittingly find a place in the section dealing with the march of the people in chapter Numbers II. after v. 17). But why, then, is it written here? In order to make a break between the narrative of one punishment and that of another punishment etc., as is stated in the Talmudic chapter commencing with כל כתבי (Shabbat 115b, cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 84:1).

AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN THE ARK SET FORWARD. “He [the Eternal] made for this section [i.e., this verse and the following one] a special mark in front of it and behind it [by placing two inverted letters nun at the beginning and end of it] in order to indicate that this section is not in its proper place.¹⁴²“And where does it belong? Said Rav Ashi: In the section on the standards” (Shabbath 116 a). That is, above in Chapter 2, after Verse 17, which states: Then the Tent of Meeting … shall set forward etc. This section, beginning with And it came to pass when the ark set forward …, should have followed on there. Why then was it written here? In order to separate between [the narrative of] one punishment and that of another punishment, as is stated in the Chapter of ‘Any of the Holy Scriptures.’”¹⁴³Shabbath 115 a. The text quoted is on 115 b-116 a. This is Rashi’s language. But the Rabbi did not explain to us what is this [first] “punishment” from which it was necessary to separate [the later verses], for there is no “punishment” mentioned here in Scripture before the verse, And it came to pass when the ark set forward. The language of the Gemara there is:¹⁴⁴Ibid., 116 a. “The second punishment is [the section], And the people were as murmurers.¹⁴⁵Further, 11:1. The first ‘punishment’ is that which says, And they set forward from the mount of the Eternal,¹⁴¹Verse 33. on which Rabbi Chanina said: This teaches us that they turned aside from the Eternal.” On this [statement of Rabbi Chanina] the Rabbi [Rashi] wrote there in his commentaries: “Within three days of their journeying the mixed multitude … fell a lusting¹⁴⁶Ibid., Verse 4. complaining about the [lack of] meat, in order to rebel against G-d.” But these are astonishing words, for the “punishment” stated in the verse And the people were as murmurers [… and the fire of the Eternal burnt among them etc.]¹⁴⁵Further, 11:1. is written first,¹⁴⁵Further, 11:1. and that of the lusting is second,¹⁴⁶Ibid., Verse 4. and they are both next to each other [so why did Rashi mention the sin of the lusting following upon their journeying as the first “punishment,” since that of the murmurers is closer to it]? Perhaps the Rabbi [Rashi] thought that these episodes were not written in their [chronological] order, and that He [already] alluded to the first [punishment] in saying, [and they set forward] from the mount of the Eternal,¹⁴¹Verse 33. for perhaps they already intended to do so [to demand meat] from the time that they set forth on that journey; but He made a break [by writing the section of the ark], and then wrote the second [punishment, i.e., that of the murmurers], and afterwards He went back to [relate the actual realization of their original intention to ask for meat, namely] the first punishment. But there is neither rhyme nor reason in this [explanation].
But the meaning of this interpretation [of the Rabbis that they set forward from the mount of the Eternal indicates a punishment, is based on that which] they¹⁴⁷The reference is to the Rabbis in the Talmud, Sabbath 116 a, and Ramban is saying that their interpretation is not based on the explanation given there by Rashi, but on an Agadah, as brought down in the name of Midrash Yelamdeinu by Tosafoth ibid., (see Preface to Vol. I, pp. vii-viii). found in the Agadah, that “they set forward from Mount Sinai with joy, just like a child who runs away from school, saying: ‘Perhaps He will give us more commandments [if we stay]!” This then is the sense of the expression, And they set forward from the mount of the Eternal,¹⁴¹Verse 33. meaning that their intention was to remove themselves from there because it was the mount of the Eternal. This is the first “punishment” [i.e., the first sin, as explained further on], and then He interrupted [with the section on the ark] in order that there should not be three punishments one after the other, so that it would have established a basis for further punishment.¹⁴⁸A repetition of three similar events establishes a legal presumption of recurrence. See also Amos 2:6, that G-d’s long-suffering is at an end with three sins. He called the [first] sin “punishment” even though no actual punishment occurred to them because of it, [but since they deserved to have been punished, it is called a “punishment”]. Perhaps were it not for this sin of theirs He would have brought them into the Land immediately [and so there was indeed a “punishment”].

ויהי בנסוע הארון proceeding to enter the holy Land;