Parshat Behaalotcha #4: BeKetuvim

I know it is parshat Shlach, but I still have some more to say about parashat Behaalotcha so I will continue to post on that for a while. One of the psukim I mentioned earlier was about Eldad and Medad prophesying (there is no word prophesizing, or prophesize) in the camp. In Bamidbar 11:26:

וַיִּשָּׁאֲרוּ שְׁנֵי-אֲנָשִׁים בַּמַּחֲנֶה שֵׁם הָאֶחָד אֶלְדָּד וְשֵׁם הַשֵּׁנִי מֵידָד וַתָּנַח עֲלֵהֶם הָרוּחַ, וְהֵמָּה בַּכְּתֻבִים, וְלֹא יָצְאוּ, הָאֹהֱלָה; וַיִּתְנַבְּאוּ, בַּמַּחֲנֶה
"But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were recorded, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp."

What did they prophesy? Tg Yonatan gives several prophecies. One of them, that of Eldad, was:

אלדד הוה מתנבי ואמר הא משה מתכניש מן עלמא ויהושע בר נון משמש משריתא קאי מן בתריה ומדבר עמא בית ישראל ומיעל יתהון לארע כנענאי ומחסין יתה להון
"Eldad prophesied and said, 'Behold Moshe will be taken from the world and Yehoshua son of Nun who ministered for him (Moshe) will arise in his stead and lead the nation of the House of Israel and enter them into the Land of the Canaanites and inherit it for them.'"

This is a very deep mishrash. I do not think this is some random prophesy ascribed to Eldad. As I have seen on occasion, sometimes you have to look both near and far in order to fully appreciate the midrash.

Consider the next two psukim, 27 and 28:

וַיָּרָץ הַנַּעַר, וַיַּגֵּד לְמֹשֶׁה וַיֹּאמַר: אֶלְדָּד וּמֵידָד, מִתְנַבְּאִים בַּמַּחֲנֶה.
וַיַּעַן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן-נוּן, מְשָׁרֵת מֹשֶׁה מִבְּחֻרָיו--וַיֹּאמַר: אֲדֹנִי מֹשֶׁה, כְּלָאֵם.
"And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said: 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.'
And Joshua the son of Nun, the minister of Moses from his youth up, answered and said: 'My lord Moses, shut them in.'"

We can already see what is happening. The words in close proximity are taken to be Eldad's prophesy. It is Eldad and not Medad because Eldad was listed first in the pasuk: אֶלְדָּד וּמֵידָד, מִתְנַבְּאִים בַּמַּחֲנֶה; Medad's prophecy will come later.

Then, וַיַּעַן is taken from the phrase וַיַּעַן יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן-נוּן to mean "And he said," that is, Eldad said. What follows is Eldad's prophecy. And וַיַּעַן is singular, so it is only Eldad's prophecy, and not that of Medad. What did he prophesy? יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן-נוּן, מְשָׁרֵת מֹשֶׁה מִבְּחֻרָיו. Thus, he prophesied about Yehoshua ben Nun, who ministered to Moshe. Note that in the prophecy Yehoshua is referred to as משמש משריתא, who ministered, paralleling that of the pasuk.

Further, Yehoshua will stand in the place of Moshe. מִבְּחֻרָיו means "from his (Yehoshua's) youth. But, it can be taken as something like Ba Acharav, בא אחריו, "will come after him (Moshe)" thus, "will take his place," thus = קאי מן בתריה as in the prophecy.

Next, where do we get that Moshe will die? וַיֹּאמַר: אֲדֹנִי מֹשֶׁה, כְּלָאֵם could be Eldad speaking further, saying, My Master, Moshe, has perished. Alternatively, speaking about the conquering of the land of Israel: And My Master Moshe said, "Destroy them." Thus, we have Eldad's prophesy.

Medad's single prophesy (there is later a joint prophecy from both Eldad and Medad) is about the slav, the quail, and we see this in pasuk 31:

וְרוּחַ נָסַע מֵאֵת יְהוָה, וַיָּגָז שַׂלְוִים מִן-הַיָּם, וַיִּטֹּשׁ עַל-הַמַּחֲנֶה כְּדֶרֶךְ יוֹם כֹּה וּכְדֶרֶךְ יוֹם כֹּה, סְבִיבוֹת הַמַּחֲנֶה--וּכְאַמָּתַיִם, עַל-פְּנֵי הָאָרֶץ.
"And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought across quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the face of the earth."

That was near? How about far?

Pasuk 26 said, again,

וַיִּשָּׁאֲרוּ שְׁנֵי-אֲנָשִׁים בַּמַּחֲנֶה שֵׁם הָאֶחָד אֶלְדָּד וְשֵׁם הַשֵּׁנִי מֵידָד וַתָּנַח עֲלֵהֶם הָרוּחַ, וְהֵמָּה בַּכְּתֻבִים, וְלֹא יָצְאוּ, הָאֹהֱלָה; וַיִּתְנַבְּאוּ, בַּמַּחֲנֶה.
But there remained two men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad; and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were recorded, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.

The simplest reading of the bolded words were that they were amongst those who had been recorded on paper to be brought to the Tent of Meeting, but they had not been gathered there, and so the spirit hit them in the midst of the camp.

However, perhaps וְהֵמָּה בַּכְּתֻבִים could mean "and they are in the recorded writings." If so, this could refer to some extra-Biblical book of their prophecies which were recorded but for whatever reason did not make it into Tanach. We know Biblical figures wrote down prophecies which were not in the Torah. Thus, Moshe wrote the Torah, sefer Bil'am (perhaps = parshat Bil'am) and perhaps Iyyov, and the chapters in Tehillim attributed to him. (e.g. תְּפִלָּה, לְמֹשֶׁה אִישׁ-הָאֱלֹקִים in Tehillim 90).

Further, there is a dispute about who wrote the last 8 verses of the Torah, that is, Dvarim 34:5-12.
Those psukim describe Moshe's death and burial and Yehoshua's taking over. The problem is, how could Moshe write this if he died. Some say Moshe wrote it in tears, and some say Yehoshua wrote it (see Bava Basra 15a).

Perhaps, then, we could say that these last eight psukim were actually written (or spoken) by Eldad, and this was what was referred to earlier by Moshe when he said VeHeima BaKesuvim, "and their words are in the writings." The issue of writing something that had not come to pass is not an issue since this was a prediction and description made as a nevuah.

We can say Medad's prophecy is also in the Ketuvim - namely, the pasuk I cited above about the quail. And, the joint prophecy of Eldad and Medad about the fight of Gog and Magog would refer to the prophecy as it appears elsewhere in Tanach.