{N}7,{/}1 This chapter, even more than the previous ones, might surprise us with its interminable repetition of numbers and details. Yet this does not justify eliminating some of them, for the same reason that we would not cut short a great procession or eliminate some of the one hundred and fifty Hail Marys of the rosary. Life's routine of repetitious tasks, many done automatically, forms part of the asceticism preparing us to receive God's gifts. For thousands of years women especially have spent their strength and lost their beauty and health in washing and mending clothes and tending fires. Possibly this was not as brutalizing in God's eyes as sitting bored in front of the television, changing channels in a desperate search to satisfy that "greed of the eyes" that John speaks of (1 Jn 2,15). All of the great spiritual leaders have accepted this way of faithfulness in monotony. For many this consists of performing some non-gratifying task in which one ends up adapting oneself to it or exhausting oneself to the point of losing a sense of self, and maybe then the hour of God will strike.

{N}8,{/}5 {N}THE LEVITES{/}
This chapter complements what was read in Exodus 13, 1-4, 11-15. Israel belongs totally to Yahweh. The tenth plague with the death of the first-born Egyptians shows that the vindication of the Lord is concentrated on the first-born. These are the ones then who must be rescued. In the beginning they are presented in the Temple when the mother, on the fortieth day after giving birth, goes to "purify herself of her bleeding" (Lev 12; Lk 2,22). But God demands a more personal gift: one tribe from among the twelve. The Levites replace the first-born of the whole people and are consecrated to the worship of God. This tribe does not have a territory of its own and is consecrated to the service of the Temple. It lives off the tithes offered for worship by the other tribes.

{N}9,{/}15 {N}THE DWELLING AND THE TENT{/}
Here as elsewhere in Exodus and Numbers (3,25), the Dwelling, whose construction occupies the major part of Exodus 25-40, is identified with the Tent of Meeting. It is also clear that the Book of Exodus uses the terms Testimonial Tent and Meeting Tent interchangeably.
By way of clarification, we should point out that the two words, Testimony and Meeting, are related in Hebrew. "Testimony" is the Testimony or Divine Declaration that is kept in the Ark and is expressed among other things through the Ten Commandments. The term, "Meeting," indicates the place where God meets Moses when he wants to speak to him (Ex 29,42; Num 12,5; 17,7-8). Both terms refer to a tent where God secretly and solely manifests himself to Moses (Num 12,5).
But later when they wanted to create the vision of a grandiose Dwelling, a first outline of the Temple of Jerusalem, they wanted to identify it with this Tent whose memory was conserved in the most ancient traditions (See especially Ex 38,21). In fact, if a grandiose Dwelling was desired for divine worship, they were most probably dreaming of a time when God met his friend and spoke to him face to face (Num 12,7-8). Throughout the Book of Job, this dream is implied about which the prophets sometimes spoke of with longing (Is 30,20).
The present paragraph praises a time in which God personally intervened, giving orders and taking the direction of his people into his own hands. We have already had the occasion to mention that the holy books present past history as a great epic poem in which God carried out all things to a point in which his justice and salvation were manifest. This is seen in the story of Abraham, again in the Book of Job, and much later in the Chronicles. But all of this was expressed from a perspective of faith. What the historical individuals actually experienced was quite different. The little that had been achieved with great effort actually contained many shadows, and God's presence was usually very discreetly manifest, although it was never doubted. In several places we see the surprise and even the scandal of the believer who compares what is happening before his eyes with what past traditions relate about God. The believer can't understand that God seems to have changed (Ps 77). Why are the heavens now closed and do not respond anymore? (Is 63,7-16; Ps 74,9-10).
What secret desire drives people of faith to make the past more beautiful than it was and God more generous? In the first place, the people of faith projected onto ancient history what they would like to happen in the present, beginning with the story of Adam and continuing with the stories of Moses and David. At a later time, the idealized past history was then projected into the future, which the people then hoped would become a reality. It was the spur of hope that made Israel mature in its hope for a new era with a Messiah sent by God. All cultures have described a golden age at the beginning of time, but later revised this hope more realistically in terms of being an Iron Age. Truly, there have been men and women at every place on the globe who have "hoped against all expectation" (Rom 4,18), but nowhere has this madness of hope been more deeply rooted than in biblical revelation.

{N}11,{/}13 {N}THE QUAILS{/}
We said in the commentary that two traditions are combined in this chapter: the one related to the manna and the other referring to the Elders, who were in fact the judges (Ex 18; Dt 1,9). It is startling to trace the thread of this story from the complaints of the people in verses 1-6 to verses 18-23 and the conclusion in 31-35. The tradition of the manna must have been very old judging from verses 7-9, which are so concretely descriptive (as in Ex 16,14 and 31). Manna was a type of resin that was collected under and on top of some bushes. With regard to the quails, compare Ex 16,12 and Num 11,18.
This story of the people who demand meat is one of the examples in the Bible of how God interacts with what we request. It is not enough to say that God listens to our prayers, because he judges whether what we request will be good for us or not. If he does not grant our request, it is because we need something else. God guides us on a way leading to our own self-knowledge as well as to knowledge him. Only he knows the true nature of our petitions and our motive for asking, and it is there that he wants to interact with us. Many times we recognize the generosity of God when he answers our faith-filled-prayers. At other times no one can adequately explain things that happen, for example, the miraculous arrival of the quails, which was immediately followed by the death of the avaricious people. We must simply remain silent before the mystery and holiness of God.

{N}11,{/}24 {N}THE ELDERS{/}
In contrast to this text, Exodus 18 indicates that the origin of the judges or the Elders took place at the suggestion of Moses' midianite father-in-law. In our text, it is God who commands it. Whichever the case, these elders will become the authority with the deepest roots in Israelite tradition. In the time of the Kings, the centralized power will limit their role and will manipulate them, as is seen in 1 Kgs 21,8-12. However, they will again occupy the first place during the exile in Babylon, as can be seen in Ez 8,1; 14,1; 20,1. Returning from the Exile their authority will be combined with that of the priests. In New Testament times, the Jewish Sanhedrin or supreme council will be composed of priests, elders, and teachers of the Law. In reality, these Elders are the chiefs of the most important families. However, in communities dispersed among the nations outside of Palestine, the priests will not play an active role, since the Temple is not there. Those in authority in the synagogues will be the Elders.
The Elders express the image of the people of God made up of communities in which leaders do not consider themselves superior to the community and problems are solved through consultation rather than by administrative decisions. This model of shared responsibility contrasts to an authority that imposes itself from above. The Bible supports the authority of the king and the high priest, as having been chosen by God, but maintains a critical attitude toward any ruler imposing himself on the people of God as their master (1Sam 8,11; 2Sam 24; 1Kgs 12). In the Apocalypse, where we see the people of God assembled in heaven to receive the victorious Christ, their representatives are twenty-four elders seated around the throne. No reference is made of any kings (Rev 4,4).
Let us not forget that in the primitive Church, the authority of the Apostles, the authentic witnesses of Christ and of the faith, does not diminish the role of the elders in the least. They were chosen, following the model of the synagogues. They presided over the community and the Eucharist, and the title, elder, may have had the same meaning as priest for them, but that is certainly not identical with our modern concept of "priests" today. In the New Testament, the Apostles are faithful to the communitarian spirit of the past, while being conscious of their authority as witnesses of Christ. It is not by accident that Peter and John both give themselves the title of Elder (1Pt 5,1; 2Jn 1; 3Jn 1). 
The communication of the spirit to the elders contains several teachings. First, the authorities of the people of God can make decisions only under the inspiration of divine wisdom, yet the spirit that the elders receive is the same that resided in Moses. This means that no one will be able to change the bases of revelation. It may surprise us that Deuteronomy already foresees the coming of the Prophet to whom all must listen. Thanks to this text the future remains open, and if it is true that Jesus mentions the divine inspiration of the Law, this does not obligate him to stay within the framework of Moses alone.

{N}14,{/}11 {N}GOD'S WAY OF PARDONING{/}
The following page and Moses' prayer are very similar to what we read in Exodus 32,9-13. We find something equivalent in Jeremiah also. This dialogue is certainly a way to express both the reaction of a just God who punishes disobedience, as well as the attitude of a God who sees beyond the present moment. He never feels himself limited by our faults. He forgives everything by punishing. One might wonder if this "pardon of God" manifests only the continuity of his work throughout the ages. He punishes the present generation by not allowing them to enter the Promised Land. That, however, does not deter the work that he began by choosing a people. That work will continue until the end of history.
But there is more to how God pardons. He in no way suffers our psychological limitations. On the contrary, he IS the maximum of self-giving in understanding, in love, and in mutual encounter. And as deep as God's mystery is, it is supremely important for us to realize that we can understand the meaning of divine pardon only in as much as our mutual relationship with God allows us to recognize in love what our true debt to God is. We must not expect the Book of Numbers to express the development and nuances that will only become evident later on. Here we are dealing only with ancient traditions. The prophets, in general, speak about God's faithfulness, more than his patience. Only later on we will encounter an awareness of a mutual relationship between God and humans in the Spirit (1Cor 6,17). There, everything is forgiven and God is more than patient, since he has already given himself up (communicated himself to us?).

{N}17,{/}1 {N}A PUNISHING GOD{/}
Once again "God punishes" appears in this story. Some people, by reading too superficially, only see this teaching. It is always the same, they say. Those who misbehave will be punished. The present text speaks about those who rebel against God's representatives. Other readers will focus on the image of a very angry and rancorous God, perhaps reacting with the same hopelessness as did the Israelites in 17,27: If we continue this way, we will all perish.
It should not surprise us that these books depict God acting authoritatively, becoming angry and punishing the people, even when the guilty parties may have acted out of ignorance. And what does it matter to God today, if we are scandalized by such behavior? (see the book of Job). Without question, God adapts himself to whatever image that we make of him. Unlike a professor who generally pays no attention to how his teaching might be interpreted, God speaks to each person in a manner corresponding to his / her particular mentality. To those who condemn, he responds with condemnation, and to those who accuse he gives signs that they will be able to understand. Since God chose to reveal himself to a primitive people accustomed to speedy justice without inquiring about the motivations of the guilty parties, he adopted the characteristics that they would best understand.
Even in the case that this story were true, what did the guilty ones lose? What happiness and how many years of life did they have a right to before God? Can we speak of authority, when we refer to the one who from the beginning has seen our entire life? In him the number of our days on earth does not count, nor the years we might enjoy in retirement, nor perhaps the even horrible sufferings that might take us to our eternal "maturity" (destiny?).

{N}14,{/}20 What follows actually alludes to ancient traditions referring to the penetration into Palestine by some of the southern tribes. See the comments on Ex 17,8 and the note on Gen 49,3.

{N}22,{/}9 {N}BALAAM{/}
See the note on Gen 32,27. The peoples on the other side of the Jordan conserved the memory of a certain Balaam, who had gone down in history as a true and powerful prophet of the god of Penuel. It is evident that the sacred author is caught between two conflicting traditions about Balaam. On the one hand, the author could not deny the tradition that identified him as a man of God. On the other hand if Balaam, who was known for his ferocious reproaches, came to curse Israel, then he must be an agent of evil. This is why the author sometimes presents Balaam speaking intimately with the Lord, whereas immediately afterwards the Lord gets angry because Balaam responds to Balak's call. The image of Balaam that predominates in this story is the positive one. In that context the feared prophet proclaims that Israel is a just people (23,10 and 21) and that the future belongs to them. In contrast, a later tradition describes Balaam as a perverse prophet who allows himself to be bought. Num 31,16; 2 Pt 2,15; Jud 1,11; Rev 2,14.
How do we react to opposing traditions in the Bible? The obvious incoherence of a story indicates that it came from divergent sources. It can also be read as a Word of God that calls on us to overcome partisan presentations. In general God's point of view does not coincide with sectarian or passionate classifications of the true religion.

{N}35,{/}22 {N}THE HIGH PRIEST{/}
See the regulation in verses 25 and 28: up to the death of the High Priest.
The High Priest is not only the one in charge of fulfilling rites of worship. From the moment he was consecrated with a solemn anointing (Ex 29; Lev 8) he becomes, and will be until his death, a defense against divine punishments. As was seen in the episodes dedicated to Aaron, the High Priest is the one who protects the people from God's wrath (Num 17,12). He has the tremendous privilege of entering each year during the Festival of Pardon into the deepest sanctuary of the Temple, the Holy of Holies (Heb 9,7). There he pours the blood of the sacrificed cow (Num 19) over the cover of the Ark, the Instrument of Expiation. The sacred vestments that he wears are an essential part of the worship, that is why such importance is given in Exodus (Ex 26 and 39) to the way in which they are made. During the Roman occupation in Jesus' time, the governor kept this vestment in his possession, surrendering it only at the time of the Festival. Immediately afterwards he retrieved it as a way of keeping the High Priest at his mercy.
The death of the High Priest was the occasion for an amnesty similar to that of the Jubilee Year. In Jesus' time, the women of the High Priest's family showed particular interest in the welfare of the prisoners, giving them alms. Their motive was to avoid the possibility that the prisoners might pray to God for release from prison, which would cause the High Priest's death. The precept contained in Ex 22,27 refers especially to the High Priest. As the Anointed One or Messiah of the Lord, he is a sacred personage (in biblical language a holy person), in spite of any negative aspects he might have. In relation to this, consult the presentation of Christ as the High Priest of the new times in Heb 5-10.

