Comentário sobre Números 31:49

ולא נפקד means THERE IS NOT LACKING. Its translation in the Targum is לא שגא which, too, in the Aramaic language means “lacking”, just as the words (Genesis 31:39) אנכי אחטנה “I will make good the shortage”, are translated in the Targum by דהות שגיא ממנינא that which was lacking of the number (cf. Rashi on that verse), and so, too, is (I Samuel 20:18) “For thy seat יִפָּקֵד”, i.e., the place where you sat will lack the man who usually sat there. And similar is (I Samuel 20:15) “וַיִפָּקֵד the place of David” — his place lacked, and no man sat there.

THY SERVANTS HAVE TAKEN THE SUM OF THE MEN OF WAR THAT ARE UNDER OUR CHARGE, AND THERE LACKETH NOT ONE MAN OF US. [The meaning of this is]: “G-d has wrought a great salvation through us, for not one of all those men of war that were under our charge died, or was wounded by the sword so that he would be missing from the host; and therefore we want to bring the Eternal’s offering¹¹⁴Verse 50. [to Him] Who saved us, to give before Him the atonement for our souls¹¹⁴Verse 50. because He redeemed [us] from death, and in war from the power of the sword.”¹¹⁵Job 5:20. And our Rabbis have interpreted [the verse as follows]:¹¹⁶Shabbath 64a. “And there lacketh not one man — [going off] to commit a sin.” That is to say, they were continually under our charge, and not a single one of our brothers who were in the host went off to another place to commit a sin.” And Moses said to them: “If so, what is this offering for?” They replied, “To make atonement for our souls¹¹⁴Verse 50. — sinful “thoughts of the heart.”

-50. ויאמרו אל משה…ונקרב, They said to Moses:…"we have brought the Lord's offering, etc." The meaning of the soldiers saying that after counting who had returned from the battle it became clear that they had not suffered a single casualty was designed to convince Moses that not one of these soldiers who had volunteered had previously been guilty of any sin even remotely connected to the parts of the body on which these pieces of jewelry were worn , and which they had offered as atonement offerings for themselves. The expression ונקרב alluded to הרהורי עברה, fantasies about committing a sin. The purpose of the sacrifice was to atone for any such fantasies one had entertained (compare Shabbat 64). I have elaborated on this theme in my booklet called חפץ השם (on a variety of Talmudical subjects)

עבדיך נשאו את ראש.....לא נפקד ממנו איש, by pestilence. [Even when no casualties are suffered in battle, it would be normal for someone among 12.000 men to experience some fatal disease such as a pestilence. This is why we will present our offering to G’d consisting of items of captured gold jewelry, which we vowed as such before making the count, hoping thereby to protect ourselves against any plague This is why G’d commanded to use these items as something to be used in connection with the Temple service. We have already heard about contributions of such coins serving the purpose of fending off pestilence or plague in Exodus 30,12 where Moses had been commanded to accept silver coins as a form of expiation and to utilise them in the construction of the Tabernacle. The same was to be done with these contributions called קרבן, a gift to assure oneself of becoming closer to G’d. I have heard this interpretation from my father Rabbi Meir, and it is the principal meaning of our verse.

עבדיך נשאו את ראש אנשי המלחמה, “Your servants took a census of the men of war under our command;” they meant that not a single one had fallen, become a casualty during this campaign.

עבדיך נשאו את ראש אנשי המלחמה אשר בידינו ולא נפקד ממנו איש, “your servants have counted the heads of the warriors entrusted to us and not a single man is missing.” This was a remarkable miracle. In fact, it may be described as one of the greatest miracles amongst all the miracles which were performed for the Jewish people ever. When we consider the number of prisoners taken we can imagine how many adult males there must have been participating in this war. The Israelites killed each one of them without sustaining a single casualty. The reason why this miracle occurred was that every one of these 12,000 soldiers was a righteous individual who felt morally superior enough to take part in this punitive expedition. This is what our sages had in mind (Shabbat 64) when they said that the words ולא נפקד מהם איש mean that not one of them was guilty of a sin that would be held against him [the word being used as in Exodus 20,5. Ed.] When Moses heard this, he asked: ”if this is so why do you want to offer this sacrifice of gold, etc.?” They answered: ”we want to atone for lewd thoughts which we may have entertained.”

V. 49. ולא נפקד. Wir haben bereits (Bereschit Kap. 21, 1) die Verwandtschaft der Wurzel פקד mit בגד und בית hervorgehoben und bemerkt, dass פקד das geistige Bekleiden eines Gegenstandes mit den ihm zukommenden Attributen, Verhältnissen und Beziehungen bedeute. So wie nun in der Regel פקד bedeutet: zu einem vorhandenen Gegenstande die ihm zukommenden, aber noch fehlenden Attribute hinzudenken, so heißt es oft auch: zu vorhandenen Verhältnissen und Beziehungen den ihnen zukommenden, aber noch fehlenden Gegenstand hinzudenken, also durch vorhandene Verhältnisse und Beziehungen zum Gedenken des für sie gehörigen aber abwesenden Gegenstandes veranlaßt sein, d. i. aber nichts anderes als: vermissen.

ולא נפקד ממנו איש, “and not one of us who had been counted is unaccounted for.” The remarkable thing here was that we have a rule that a headcount is liable to result in a plague, and that there is no remedy against this. Our sages therefore do not understand the word נפקד here in the conventional sense, but they translate it to mean that none of the 12000 soldiers in this campaign had become guilty of a personal sin, which might have resulted in Satan having an excuse to kill him. (Talmud tractate Shabbat folio 64)

ולא נפקד ממנו איש, “and not a single one of us is missing.” No one has even been injured so that he would be hospitalized, etc.