Parshat Bamidbar:Discrimination? Judgment v. Mercy

After the Torah describes the order and population of how the Israelites traveled in the desert, we are told of how the tribe of Levi was not counted with everyone else, nor did they travel amongst the people. Their camp was around the Mishkan, and their jobs focused on breaking down, carrying and reconstructing the Mishkan as per the travels of the nation.

Verse 1:51 says: “When the Mishkan is moved, the Levites shall take it down, and when it is to remain in one place, they shall set it up. Any non-Levite who participates shall die.” The instructions are pretty straightforward as to who may or may not participate in these efforts.

But the translation easily drops a hidden message embedded in this verse.

Rabbenu Bachaye points to eight words in the verse – two groups of four words – that happen to spell out G-d’s name in their “roshei teivot” (acronym). Both times G-d’s name appears backwards, with the “heh” (last letter of G-d’s name) coming in the word “Ha’Leviim.”

This is not Bible codes. This is not word jumps or counted spaces between letters. Compare the following to the translation given above: “When the Mishkan is moved it will be taken down by Ha’Leviim (Heh) U’vachanot (Vav) HaMishkan (Heh) Yakumu (Yud) [it will be set up by] Ha’Leviim (Heh). V’hazar (Vav) Hakarev (Heh) Yumat (Yud).”

The Tetragrammaton appears in acronym form, twice backwards, in one verse, with no skips between the words that make the letters that spell G-d’s name.