Parsha discussion

Question:  In the narrative of the second part of לוחות, there appears to be a jump in the chronology to the 40th year and then back. Why? Approach: It would seem that the intention is to explain that the punishment for אהרן for his role in חטא העגל (which this section follows on from) was delayed significantly, and that his death was very different from those directly involved in the sin. Perhaps that's why the travelog is provided as well - to show that אהרן's situation was very different to everyone else.

Question:  Why do we need to be told again of the borders of the areas captured from סיחון and עוג? Approach: We are perhaps required to know the exact border on the East side of the ירדן to explain why the ערי מקלט are chosen to be the cities that משה chooses, in terms of being in the centre of the territory (from East to West)

Question:  From the statement made to סיחון, it seems that בני ישראל passed through אדום. How does this fit with the refusal stated explicitly in פרשת חקת? Approach : it would seem that, in order to start moving northward on the Eastern side of the Jordan, בני ישראל had to pass through some part of אדום. So perhaps they were refused access through the Western/central part of the country, but skirted around the Eastern side. And hence, had no way of getting into ארץ כנען except via the territory of סיחון.

Question:  Why are we told only now of the date of אהרן’s death and his age? Approach: Since we're not given any date of death anywhere else in the תורה, and only a few instances of age at death, it seems that this was part of משה's "diary" that got added into the תורה.  The date may also be significant as it's around (at least according to tradition) the anniversary of חטא המרגלים, and it could be that the subsequent war with מלך ערד was part of the test for the generation to see that they would not die in the final year, and actually start the process of capturing land and entering the Land.

Question:  Why are מנשה counted before אפרים, in distinction to most of the rest of the time when the two are mentioned? Approach: It's possible to suggest that the reason is based on the relative sizes of the counts of the two tribes; משנה being larger than אפרים (the opposite to the count in במדבר). Alternatively, we can suggest that the wish to mention the בנות צלפחד - apart from being a preview of the upcoming subject - gave מנשה more importance.