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139

NUMBERS | 26:55 lot — NUM329 Despite the unity of Jacob's family, the r...

NUM329 Despite the unity of Jacob's family, the rivalry and competition between the tribes did not diminish later in the desert. When Moses wished to appoint seventy new Judges to be the Sanhedrin, the highest Jewish Court, he was fearful that if he appointed even one more judge from one tribe (six) while some of the other tribes have one judge fewer (five), those tribes would be angry at Moses and feel like losers of the competition. Since with exactly seventy judges not all the twelve tribes could receive six judges (two tribes would necessarily have five), Moses was forced to conduct a lottery so that the competition would be minimized and the appointment of judges would seem equitable to all, and not a decision by Moses, which would anger the less enfranchised tribes (Sanhedrin 17a). Similarly, in deciding which tribe would permanently receive which part of the land of Israel, there was great competition as well. God was aware of this competition and thus instructed Moses to conduct a lottery to determine not only which tribe would receive which section of land, but also which family within each tribe would receive which parcel of property [this and next verse; Midrash, Yalkut Shimoni, Beraishit 22:98].

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Source KeyAMJV
Verse26:55
Keyword(s)lot
Source Page(s)74

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