Numbers

בְּמִדְבַּר

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פָּרָשַׁת בְּמִדְבַּר Bamidbar ch 1–4

Parshat Bamidbar opens the fourth book of the Torah in the wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Exodus from Mitzrayim (Egypt). Read the summary →

1 2 3 4

פָּרָשַׁת נָשֹׂא Naso ch 4–7 from 4:21

Parshat Naso, with 176 pesukim, is the longest parsha in the Torah. Read the summary →

4 5 6 7

פָּרָשַׁת בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ Behaalotcha ch 8–12

Parshat Behaalotcha begins with Aharon lighting the seven lamps of the Menorah and takes Bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel) from Har Sinai (Mount Sinai) into the wilderness of Paran. Read the summary →

8 9 10 11 12

פָּרָשַׁת שְׁלַח Shlach ch 13–15

Parshat Shlach tells of the twelve tayarim (tourists/scouts) who are sent out to spy the land of Israel and prepare for entry. Read the summary →

13 14 15

פָּרָשַׁת קֹרַח Korach ch 16–18

Parshat Korach tells of the rebellion against Moshe and Aharon, and how Hashem shows that the kehunah (priesthood) is His choice. Read the summary →

16 17 18

פָּרָשַׁת חֻקַּת Chukat ch 19–22

Parshat Chukat opens with the parah adumah (red heifer), the model of a chok (statute, a law that has no rational explanation other than that Hashem commanded it), and then follows Bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel) into the last year of their forty years in the wilderness. Read the summary →

19 20 21 22

פָּרָשַׁת בָּלָק Balak ch 22–25 from 22:2

Parshat Balak tells how Balak, king of Moav, hires Bilam to curse Bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel), and how Hashem turns every curse into a blessing. Read the summary →

22 23 24 25

פָּרָשַׁת פִּינְחָס Pinchas ch 25–30 from 25:10

Parshat Pinchas opens with Hashem's reward for Pinchas, who stopped the plague at Baal Peor by killing Zimri ben Salu, a nasi (leader) of the tribe of Shimon, and Kozbi bat Tzur, the daughter of a nasi of Midyan. Read the summary →

25 26 27 28 29 30

פָּרָשַׁת מַטּוֹת Matot ch 30–32 from 30:2

Parshat Matot tells how Bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel), camped in Arvot Moav (the plains of Moav), complete the last tasks before they cross the Yarden (Jordan). Read the summary →

30 31 32

פָּרָשַׁת מַסְעֵי Masei ch 33–36

Parshat Masei, the last parsha of Sefer Bamidbar, looks back over the whole road from Mitzrayim (Egypt) and forward to life in the land. Read the summary →

33 34 35 36

Sefer Bamidbar Summary

Sefer Bamidbar, the fourth book of the Torah (Chumash), follows Bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel) through forty years in the wilderness, from Har Sinai (Mount Sinai) to the plains of Moav by the Jordan. The Chachamim (Sages) call it Chumash HaPekudim, the book of the counts. In the second year after the Exodus, Moshe counts the men of fighting age, 603,550, arranges the twelve tribes around the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) under their banners, and sets apart the Leviim (Levites) in place of the firstborn.

On the journey the people complain about the manna and crave meat. Twelve meraglim (spies) return from Kenaan after forty days, and ten of them turn the people against the land; Hashem decrees forty years in the wilderness, a year for each day, and only Kalev son of Yefuneh and Yehoshua son of Nun will enter. Korach rebels against Moshe and Aharon, the ground swallows the rebels, and Aharon's staff blossoms with almonds to confirm his kehunah (priesthood).

Near the end of the forty years Miriam and Aharon die, and Moshe strikes the rock instead of speaking to it and is told he will not bring the people into the land. Bnei Yisrael defeat Sichon and Og; Bilam, hired by Balak to curse them, can only bless them, and Pinchas stops a plague. A second pikud (census) counts 601,730 men. On the edge of the land, Yehoshua is appointed to lead after Moshe, the korban musaf offerings of Shabbat and the festivals are commanded, Reuven, Gad and half of Menashe settle east of the Jordan, and the borders of the land and the arei miklat (cities of refuge) are set.

Bamidbar has thirty-six perakim and ten parshiyot, from Bamidbar to Masei. In most years Parshat Matot is read together with Masei as a double parsha. Each perek on TorahSages carries the Hebrew text with the mefarshim of the Mikraot Gedolot, and each parsha has its own summary page.