The Israelites are approaching the end of their journey to the Promised Land. In preparation for the next stage a census is performed, and the population is recorded. Immediately following the enumeration of the people, the Torah deals with the apportionment of the land.
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Among these shall the land be apportioned as shares, according to the listed names: with larger groups increase the share, with smaller groups reduce the share. Each is to be assigned its share according to its enrollment. The land, moreover, is to be apportioned by lot; and the allotment shall be made according to the listings of their ancestral tribes. Each portion shall be assigned by lot, whether for larger or smaller groups.” Bamidbar/Numbers 26:52-56
If you are confused by these verses, know that you are in the good company of generations of biblical commentators who struggled to resolve the conundrum of apportioning the land both by lot and by population.
The great medieval French commentator Rashi (1040-1105), suggested that the assigned portions were of unequal sizes, determined based on population size in the just completed census. The lottery was a ritual performed by the Kohen Gadol to provide God’s imprimatur to the results, a lottery outcome in accordance with the size of the tribes.
In contrast the noted medieval Spanish commentator Ramban (1194-1270) believed that each tribe would receive an equal sized portion, determined exclusively by lottery. Ramban understands the later passage regarding population size as referring to the division of tribal land amongst its clans.
Don Isaac Abravanel (Portugal, 1437–1508) attempts to resolve the issue suggesting that the lottery determined the location of the tribal territory within the Promised Land while the size of each portion was adjusted relative to its population.
Amongst modern biblical commentators the apparent contradiction is resolved by ascribing each land allocation model to a separate narrative strand. Still to be determined is why the final redactor of the Torah allowed, or more notably, created, the obvious conflict in the text. I would suggest that the equitable sharing of the land, with each tribe receiving sufficient and necessary resources to thrive and succeed, appealed to the final redactor. By incorporating the lottery model the redactor affirms that the fair distribution of the panoply of God’s blessings reflects divine desire; an ideal that remains as desirable as it is elusive.
Shabbat Shalom –
Rabbi David M. Eligberg
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