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שש עגלת צב SIX COVERED WAGGONS — The word צב means “covered over”. Similar is, (Isaiah 66:20) “(And they shall bring all your brethren …] in covered wagons (בצבים) and upon mules”, where covered wagons are called צבים without the addition of a word denoting “wagons” (Sifrei Bamidbar 46 1).

AND THEY BROUGHT THEIR OFFERING BEFORE THE ETERNAL. Since the wagons [which the princes brought] were for the purpose of the offerings [i.e., for transporting the Tabernacle, where offerings are made before G-d] they are also called “offering.” Similarly, And we have brought the Eternal’s offering, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold,¹³⁵Further, 31:50. meaning “an offering” for the repairs of the Tabernacle. Now the princes thought that it would be impossible for the Levites to carry on their shoulders the boards of the Tabernacle and the sockets, which were very heavy, and therefore they brought the wagons of their own accord, for such is the way that all those who carry houses of kings and their palatial tents adopt, transporting them on wagons.
We may also explain that the expression And they brought their offering before the Eternal, six wagons ‘tzov,’ means six large wagons bearing their offerings, and twelve oxen drawing the wagons. Thus they brought the wagons laden [with the offerings], and the oxen [drawing the wagons] before the Tabernacle. And G-d commanded Moses, Take all of it of them, and the wagons and the oxen which were not brought for offerings shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting.¹³⁶Verse 5. Afterwards the princes took their offerings down from the wagons and brought them before the Tabernacle,¹³⁷Verse 10. intending to offer them all up on that day since they had been given permission to offer them before Him, but G-d commanded, each prince on his day¹³⁸Verse 11. shall they bring their offerings. And because of this [i.e., since the wagons that the princes brought contained the animals that they intended to offer up] it was not necessary now that He should say to Moses “take it of them,” [as the original statement¹³⁶Verse 5. already implies G-d’s consent to the offerings as well].¹³⁹But according to the first interpretation, that the wagons were empty and were brought so that the Levites could transport the Tabernacle in them, and G-d consented by saying to Moses, Take it of them, the question arises: when the princes came back and brought the actual dedication-offerings, why did G-d likewise not tell Moses to take the offerings from them? Hence the second interpretation is to be preferred. And it is a linguistic expression [in the Sacred Language] to say “wagons” when referring to their contents, just like: those who eat ‘shulchan Izebel’¹⁴⁰I Kings 18:19. [literally: “Jezebel’s table,” which means “the food on Jezebel’s table”]. So also: for all ‘sha’ar ami’ do know¹⁴¹Ruth 3:11. [literally: for all “the gates of my people” do know, which means: “for all the people in the gates of my people do know”]. And [likewise we find] in the language of the Sages:¹⁴²Baba Bathra 146 a. “a hundred wagons of pitchers of wine and pitchers of oil, and of silver and golden vessels” [the meaning being “the amount of wine and oil and vessels that can be contained in a hundred wagons,” and not just wagons of pitchers of wine and oil]. It is possible that the word tzov [six wagons ‘tzov’] means “full,” and so also: ‘uvatzabim’ and upon mules,¹⁴³Isaiah 66:20. which means “in wagons full of people.” In that case six wagons ‘tzov’ [in the verse before us] means “six wagons laden full,” their load being the dedication-offerings which Scripture specifies further on.
Now Scripture mentions the offerings of each of the princes individually and afterwards it includes them all in a general statement, saying, This was the dedication-offering of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, at the hands of the princes of Israel: twelve silver dishes,¹⁴⁴Further, Verse 84. and Rashi wrote:¹⁴⁵Ibid., Verse 85. “This teaches you that the vessels of the Sanctuary were exactly equal in weight [as specified in the verses: one silver dish, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels etc.]. If one weighed each one separately and then weighed them all together, it was neither more nor less [than the total should have been]. This is based on [the explanations of] Rabbi Moshe the Preacher.”¹⁴⁶This final statement [“This is based on … “] is not found in our editions of Rashi. Rabbi Moshe the Preacher is however quoted here in Verse 23. He was an older contemporary of Rashi’s who lived in the city of Narbonne. His work was in the nature of a Midrashic commentary compiled from earlier sources. See in Vol. I, p. 424 Note 196. But I cannot understand what they mean in saying this. If we are to consider this a miracle, what benefit is there in the occurrence of this miracle? And if this is the natural result with all weights, why should Scripture specifically mention it? In the Sifre the Rabbis have clearly said:¹⁴⁷Sifre Naso 54. “This is to teach you that the vessels of the Sanctuary¹⁴⁸Literally: “the Permanent House” (see Vol. II, p. 335, Note 598). Here, however, the term beith olamim refers both to the Tabernacle and to the Sanctuary. were not like ordinary vessels. In the case of ordinary vessels, if one weighs each separately and then weighs them all together, the total is sometimes more or less [than it should have been] etc.”¹⁴⁹Now this Sifre “clearly” states [as Ramban wrote above] that there was some special phenomenon in the weighing of the vessels. It does not yet explain what purpose it served; hence Ramban continues to quote from the Sifre the words of Rabbi Nathan. And there [in the Sifre] the Rabbis further said: “Rabbi Nathan says: If one were to weigh all the vessels of the Sanctuary together¹⁴⁸Literally: “the Permanent House” (see Vol. II, p. 335, Note 598). Here, however, the term beith olamim refers both to the Tabernacle and to the Sanctuary. and then turn them into bullion, and again make vessels of it, they would be neither more nor less [than the original weight].” He means to say by this that [these vessels were made of] a very pure gold [or silver, as the case may be], so that even if one melted them down and turned them into bullion, they still remained at their original weight. This was not because a miracle happened to them, but because they were made of a very pure gold.
The correct interpretation of the verse is that the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows honor upon those who fear Him, just as He said, for them that honor Me I will honor.¹⁵⁰I Samuel 2:30. Now all the princes brought this offering on the same day, because they all agreed to it simultaneously. But since it was impossible that one of them should not precede the others, He honored those who came first in [the position of] the standards to bring their offerings on the earlier days. He wanted, however, to mention them all by name and the details of their offerings, and to cite the day of each one, rather than honoring the first one by saying, This was the offering of Nachshon the son of Amminadab¹⁵¹Verse 17. and then saying “and so did each of the princes offer on his day,” for that would have been a diminution of the honor of the others. Afterwards [i.e., after having listed them all separately] He included them all again in a general verse,¹⁴⁴Further, Verse 84. in order to tell us that they were all equal before Him, blessed be He. And so did the Rabbis say in the Sifre:¹⁵²Sifre Naso 53. “Scripture tells us that just as they were all equal in the thought [of bringing these offerings] so were they all alike in merit. Twelve silver dishes¹⁴⁴Further, Verse 84. — these were the same ones that they donated, and nothing which would have invalidated them¹⁵³Such as becoming chipped or perforated, in which case a sacred vessel may no longer be used. (Kether Kehunah, commentary to Sifre ibid.). occurred to them.”
There is another explanation of this [chapter] in the interpretations of the Rabbis,¹⁵⁴Bamidbar Rabbah 13:13. namely that each of the princes intended to bring a dedication-offering to the altar which would be of the amount [specified in the verses, each one of them intending to bring the same offerings], but Nachshon [prince of the tribe of Judah] had a particular reason for [bringing] this number [of offerings], and each of the other princes thought of an independent reason. Thus the Rabbis said¹⁵⁵Mentioned by Rashi (in Verse 19) in the name of Rabbi Moshe the Preacher, who doubtless quoted an older source. that Nachshon thought he would bring a ka’arath keseph (a silver dish),¹⁵⁶Verse 13. since the numerical value of its [Hebrew] letters is nine hundred thirty,¹⁵⁷Kuph is 100; ayin 70; reish, 200; tav 400. Kaph is 20; samech 60; pei 80. The total is 930. corresponding to the years of the first man;¹⁵⁸Genesis 5:5. and the weight thereof was a hundred and thirty shekels¹⁵⁶Verse 13. indicating the years when he [Adam] begot children [to maintain the existence of the world, i.e., when he begot Seth,¹⁵⁹Ibid., Verse 3. from whom the world was founded] — and likewise the whole Midrash, as Rashi wrote it.¹⁵⁵Mentioned by Rashi (in Verse 19) in the name of Rabbi Moshe the Preacher, who doubtless quoted an older source. Or [the offerings of each prince were,] according to another Midrash,¹⁵⁴Bamidbar Rabbah 13:13. [an allusion to] the tradition each tribe had from our father Jacob about all that would happen to it until the days of the Messiah. And so Nachshon [prince of the tribe of Judah] began by bringing his offerings with reference to royalty. The dish and the basin¹⁵⁶Verse 13. corresponded to the two kings who would be descended from him, who would rule over the sea and land, these being Solomon and the Messianic King. This was why Nachshon brought a ka’arah (silver round dish), to symbolize the ocean which covers the whole world and is like a [round] dish.¹⁶⁰The basin indicated the earth, as will be explained further on. Incidentally we see clearly that the Midrashic Sages were aware of the spherical shape of the earth. [The weight of the dish was] a hundred and thirty shekels,¹⁵⁶Verse 13. since it was on the third day [of Creation] that the Holy One, blessed be He, gathered all seas together to one place and called them yamim, the numerical value of these letters being one hundred;¹⁶¹Yod is 10; mem 40; yod 10; mem 40 — totalling 100. and Solomon added one sea to the work of the Sanctuary, and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.¹⁶²I Kings 7:23. Thus you have one hundred and thirty. One silver basin of seventy shekels¹⁵⁶Verse 13. corresponds to the world which is shaped like a sphere. The seventy shekels symbolize that they [Solomon and the Messiah] will rule over the seventy nations.¹⁶³See Megillah 11b, where Solomon is mentioned as having ruled over the whole world. Both of them full,¹⁵⁶Verse 13. for gifts will be brought to them from all peoples.¹⁶⁴Isaiah 66:20. ‘Soleth’ (fine flour)¹⁵⁶Verse 13. corresponds to these [two kings — as in the expression: the precious sons of Zion] ‘hamesulaim’ (who were comparable to) ‘fine’ gold.¹⁶⁵Lamentations 4:2. Mingled with oil¹⁵⁶Verse 13. — A good name is better than precious oil.¹⁶⁶Ecclesiastes 7:1. Silver — as it is said, The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver.¹⁶⁷Proverbs 10:20. One golden pan of ten shekels,¹⁶⁸Verse 14. The continuation of the verse (“full of incense”) affords the basis for the allusion to the ten generations full of righteous deeds. this corresponds to the ten generations from Peretz to David¹⁶⁹See Ruth 4:18-22: And these are the generations of Peretz … and Jesse begot David. Ten generations are listed there. who were all righteous men full of good deeds, [as pleasant] as the odor of the incense.¹⁶⁸Verse 14. The continuation of the verse (“full of incense”) affords the basis for the allusion to the ten generations full of righteous deeds. One young bullock¹⁷⁰Verse 15. — in allusion to Abraham;¹⁷¹Of Abraham it is stated, And Abraham ran unto the herd (Genesis 18:7). one ram¹⁷⁰Verse 15. — in allusion to Isaac;¹⁷²Ibid., 22:13: and he [Abraham] took the ram — as a substitute for Isaac. one he-lamb¹⁷⁰Verse 15. — in allusion to Jacob.¹⁷³Ibid., 30:40: And Jacob separated the lambs. One male of the goats for a sin-offering,¹⁷⁴Verse 16. to atone for the deed of Judah who brought Joseph’s coat to his father [dipped in the blood of a he-goat].¹⁷⁵Genesis 37:31-32. And for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen — alluding to David and Solomon, who began the royal line [of the House of David], and who were righteous men [during whose reigns] the kingdom was whole.¹⁷⁶During the lifetimes of David and Solomon the kingdom was complete, ruling as they did over all the twelve tribes. After Solomon’s death the kingdom was divided into two parts — Judah and Israel. Hence the allusion here, and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen. These are the two kings — David and Solomon — whose reigns were characterized by shelamim [“peace-offerings,” a term which also suggests “peace” and “completeness”]. Five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year¹⁵¹Verse 17. — in allusion to the fifteen monarchs from Rehoboam to Zedekiah,¹⁷⁷See I Chronicles 3:10-16 — where all these fifteen kings of Judah are listed. who were kings and sons of kings [and may be classified in three groups, just as the fifteen peace-offerings came in three groups], some completely righteous, some average, and some very wicked. This was what Nachshon thought [in bringing these offerings, which symbolized the history of his tribe].
And Nethanel the son of Zuar [prince of the tribe of Issachar] also thought in his heart that he would bring a dedication-offering of this amount, but he had a different reason for it, bringing his offerings in allusion to the Torah, because the special merit of the tribe of Issachar was [in their knowledge] of the wisdom of the Torah.¹⁷⁸I Chronicles 12:33. See above, in Seder Bamidbar, Note 117. A silver dish¹⁷⁹Verse 19. — referring to the Torah which is called “bread,” as it is said, Come, eat of my bread,¹⁸⁰Proverbs 9:5. and it is said of the showbread, And thou shalt make the dishes thereof.¹⁸¹Exodus 25:29. And [the prince of the tribe of] Zebulun brought his offerings in relation to commerce, which he engaged in and exerted himself in, and [from the profits of which he maintained [through his generosity the Torah-studying tribe of] Issachar, with whom he [equally] shared the reward [for the studying of the Torah]. The [round] dish¹⁸²Verse 25. was symbolic of the ocean, since he [Zebulun] dwelled at the shores of the sea.¹⁸³Genesis 49:13. — Generosity in support of the study of Torah is thus evident throughout the generations, and its reward is extraordinary as the generous person becomes an equal partner in the sacred venture. Similarly the Rabbis found in that Midrash¹⁸⁴Bamidbar Rabbah, Chapters 13-14. a special reason for the offering of each and every tribe and for the amount of the offerings [in accordance with the subsequent history of the tribe]. It is for this reason that Scripture treated them all equally, giving the details of each one separately as if the others had not been mentioned, after which it mentioned them all together, to hint that at the same moment it occurred to each of them to bring the dedication-offering, and none of them preceded the other either in thought or in the actual bringing of the offerings to the Tabernacle. It is because of this Scripture mentioned them all in identical words.

עגלה על שני הנשיאים. The reason that they shared a cart each was not that they were stingy, but that they wanted to demonstrate that there was no rivalry between them, but that, on the contrary, they felt like brothers one toward the other. Such sentiments have been recorded in the Torah in Deuteronomy 33,5 ויהי בישורון מלך בהתאסף ראשי עם, יחד, “Moses was king in Yeshurun when all the people gathered together;” [a king is not someone aloof, in an ivory tower, but his distinction becomes relevant only in his being part of his people, יחד, together.” The opposite is reported in Hoseah 10,2 חלק לבם עתה יאשמו, “when its collective heart is divided, this is they their guilt.”

עגלות, seeing that the word is in a construct mode, i.e. עגלות צב, the vowel pattern is “eglot,” “draught carts”, instead of “agalot,” “carts.” We know similar vowel pattern changes in the word “essrot,” “tens of,” instead of simply assarot, tens. When the Torah writes that “one” cart was brought by a team of two princes it uses the standard vowel pattern agalah, as in that part of the verse the princes are the adjective (so to speak) and not the carts, as in the beginning of the verse.

ויביאו את קרבנם, “they brought their offering, etc.” Nachmanides, in justifying the Torah’s referring to the wagons presented by the princes as קרבן, a sacrificial offering, writes that seeing that these wagons were an indispensable part of the entire process known as service involving sacrificial offerings, claims that their description is קרבן are quite correct. He cites as proof for his approach Numbers 31,50 ונקרב את קרבן ה' איש אשר מצא כלי זהב וגו', “we have brought an offering each man who has found golden vessels [in the loot of the war against the Midianites. Ed.] There too the term קרבן, is applied to man-made items. The gold in question was brought as a gift to the Temple treasury. It appears that what motivated the princes to bring the wagons was that they could not imagine that the Levites would be able to carry all these heavy beams on their shoulders, nor that they would be able to carry the heavy silver sockets of each of those beams. They therefore brought these wagons without their having been requested. It was customary in those days that Royalty and similarly highly placed individuals would transport their belongings on wagons. It is also possible to interpret the words ויביאו את קרבנם לפני ה' שש עגלות צב וגו', to mean that the six wagons transported the sacrificial offerings of the princes, whereas the 12 oxen transported the wagons. The oxen and wagons came to a halt before the entrance of the Tabernacle, and then G’d commanded Moses to also accept the oxen and the wagons from them as gifts for the Temple treasury. As a result, both the oxen and the wagons now became לעבוד את עבודת המשכן “tools to perform the service connected with the work connected with the Tabernacle.” Subsequently, the princes took their respective sacrificial offerings and presented them in front of the Altar. They had meant originally to all present all their offerings on that very day. At this point in time, G’d told Moses that they were to present these offerings one prince at a time, one day at a time. This is why there was no need for the Torah to write קח מאתם, “accept it from them,” in connection with the princes’ respective sacrificial offerings. Why would Moses not accept these offerings until G’d had given him specific instructions to accept them? What they had been doing was no more than commonplace; however, in connection with the oxen [too old for the Altar as animal sacrifices, Ed.] as well as for the wagons Moses did have to have special instructions to accept these also. It is a norm in our holy tongue to describe even what is being transported on the wagons as being a part of the wagons, similar to when the prophet in Kings I 18,19 speaks of אוכלי שולחן איזבל, which, of course does not mean that “people were eating Izzevel’s table,” but that “people were eating food at Izzevel’s table.” It is possible that the meaning of the word צב in our context is: “loaded with,” as in Isaiah 66,20 where these “covered wagons“ are understood as being loaded with many travelers each. In that case the Torah describes the six wagons as fully loaded with the various sacrificial offerings of the princes.

Because Moshe did not accept. Because if this were not so what would be meant by “before the Mishkon,” surely it had already written “They brought their offerings before Hashem” meaning before the Mishkon where His Glorious Presence rested. For this reason Rashi also explains that “before the altar” (v. 10) means that he did not accept it from them. Since it had already written “The leaders brought forward the [offerings for] the consecration of the altar,” why would I need it to add that they placed them before the altar?

V. 3. ויביאו את קרבנם. Wir haben bereits zu Wajikra 1, 2 bemerkt, wie alles, womit man sich Gott zu nähern sucht, קרבן heißt. Auch diese Wagen waren vermittelst des Zweckes, für welchen sie dargebracht wurden, eine Spende, die die zu Gott hinanstrebende Gesinnung der Spender kund gab. צב ,עגלת צב findet sich auch Jesaias 66, 20 als Transportmittel wieder. Es dürfte, lautverwandt mit סבב, eine allseitige Umgebung des Wagenraums bedeuten, durch welche die in den Wagen gebrachten Personen oder Gegenstände geschützt werden. Hier, zum Transport der unverhüllt auf die Wagen geladenen Bestandteile der Wohnung, war eine solche Bedeckung unerlässlich. So auch כד מחפין :ת׳׳א. Diese Wagen brachten sie als נשיאי ישראל, als die Häupter der Gesamtnation. Sie betätigten darin das Nationalbewusstsein, dass die Nation das Gesetzesheiligtum als den Nationalschatz begriff, den die Nation auf allen ihren Wanderungen, wie der Körper die ihn belebende Seele, mit fort zu tragen habe. Dass sie diese Wagen als נשיאי ישראל, und nicht als ראשי בית אבתם und נשיאי המטות dem Heiligtume widmeten, sprach sich in der Vereinigung je zweier נשיאים zu einem Wagen nebst dessen Gespann aus. Es trat also keiner für seinen Stamm allein in einer Spende hin. מלמד שהביאום ומסרום לצבור :ויקריבו אותם לפני המשכן, sie machten die Wagen zum Nationaleigentum (מדרש רבות).

And they placed them. The leaders themselves, in all their honor, brought the wagons and their load before Hashem.

שש עגלות צב, “six covered wagons;” the expression צב, is derived from צבא, “army,” in the sense of mobilising.

ויקרבו אותם לפני המשכן AND THEY BROUGHT THEM BEFORE THE TABERNACLE — because Moses would not accept them (the gifts) at their (the princes’) hands until he was so bidden by the mouth of the Omnipresent (cf. v. 5). — Rabbi Nathan said: What reason had the princes to give their contributions here first of all the people, whereas at the work of the Tabernacle they were not the first but the last to contribute? But — he replied — the princes spoke thus: “Let the community in general contribute all they wish to give and then what will then be lacking we shall supply”. As soon as they saw that the community gave everything needed in its entirety (lit., that the community completed everything) — as it said, (Exodus 36:7) “For the stuff they had was enough [for all the work to make it]” — the princes asked, ‘What can we now do’? Therefore they brought the onyx stones, and stones for setting for the Ephod and for the breast plate. That is why they were here the first to contribute” (Sifrei Bamidbar 45 1).

צב, the word has different meanings in different contexts. In Isaiah 66,20 בצבים ובפרדים, “with mules and dromedaries,” it clearly refers to a category of animal. In our context it means animals that are used to be traveling with an army, צבא. The animals in question are able to travel long distances.