Portion 43 of 54 · Numbers
מַסְעֵי
Masei
Forty two stops are listed by name, and cities are set aside where someone who killed by accident can be safe.
Start by reading it
Numbers 33:1–36:13
4 chapters. About 16 minutes at an unhurried pace.
Paired reading from the prophets: Jeremiah 2:4–28; 3:4
What happens
- 01
Every place the people camped, from Egypt to the Jordan, written out in order.
- 02
The borders of the land, and instructions for dividing it.
- 03
Six cities of refuge, so that a person who killed unintentionally is not hunted down.
- 04
The daughters of Zelophehad again, and how their inheritance is protected.
The thing most people walk past
Even the bad stops are named
The list includes the places where they rebelled and where people died. Nothing is edited out. The route is recorded as it happened, which is a particular way of telling your own history.
One verse to carry
And Moses wrote their goings forth, stage by stage, by the commandment of the LORD.
Someone kept a record of every stage, including the hard ones. The wandering was written down as it was lived.
A question to sit with
Why build cities where someone who caused a death by accident can live, rather than simply declaring them innocent?
There is no answer key. This is the part you take with you.