What are the implications of the phrase "Hirgu Ish Anashav!"?
Rashi (citing Sanhedrin, 18a): It implies that each judge, of whom there were seventy-eight thousand six hundred 1 , was ordered to kill two sinners.
Ramban #1, Moshav Zekenim #1 and Targum Yonasan: It implies that the Beis-Din (Sanhedrin, consisting of twenty-three judges) of each tribe was to kill the sinners of their tribe (and the thousand over which [each of them] was appointed - Ramban). 2
Ramban #2 and Moshav Zekenim #2: Hashem in his mercy, told Moshe to instruct the judges to sentence the sinners to death, in order to stop the plague that was killing the innocent and the guilty alike. However when Pinchas sprang into action, 'Davened and stopped the plague,' 3 causing Hashem's anger to abate, the plague ceased and there was no longer any need for Beis-Din to carry out the death-sentence. 4
The correct text of Rashi should say so, like the Gemara. Refer to 25:5:151:1. See Torah Temimah, citing the Yerushalmi Sanhedrin, 10:2 as to how the Gemara arrives at that number.
Ramban: See Devarim, 1:15.
Ramban: They were not let off the hook however, because Hashem destroyed all those who sinned by Ba'al Pe'or before Yisrael crossed the Yarden, as the Pasuk testifies in Devarim, 4:3 & 4. (If there were witnesses and warning, Beis Din is commanded to execute! Refer to 25:4:4:2 and the first note there. ? PF)
What is the difference between "ha'Nitzmadin le'Ba'al Pe'or" here and "ve'Atem ha'Deveikim ba'Hashem Elokeichem" in Devarim 4:2 (which the Torah inserts immediately after discussing Ba?al Pe?or), both of which have connotations of clinging?
Sanhedrin, 64a #1: 'You clung firmly to Ba'al Pe'or ? like the lid of an earthenware vessel that is firmly shut, but only loosely to Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu ? like two date-palms that are lightly joined together'. 1
Sanhedrin, 64a #2: You clung loosely to Ba'al Pe'or ? like a bracelet on a woman, but to Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu ? you clung firmly and totally. 2
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes that each of the seventy-eight thousand six hundred judges killed two sinners. If so, more than a quarter of Yisrael were executed, and we must say that the population had increased dramatically, since just after this, they counted six hundred thousand men?
Ramban: Indeed, the Yerushalmi says so. However, perhaps it refers to the number who should have been killed. Refer to 25:5:1:3 and note. 1
Why is it difficult to say that the population had increased? They multiplied greatly in Egypt (a Midrash says, six children at a time), so there should have been a disproportionably high number of youths below twenty at the first census, all of whom were eligible to be counted now! And according to Rashi (Shabbos 89b), that every wife become pregnant with a male after Matan Torah, even if no one else was born in the Midbar, the number of men should have been at least nine hundred thousand, even if there were only three hundred thousand youths at the beginning! (PF)
