"And the Lord spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tabernacle of the congregation, on the first day of the second month, in the second year..." (Numbers 1:1).1Guggenheimer explains that this means that the laws mentioned in Numbers from 1:1 to 19:22 were given at the time of the consecration of the Tabernacle or during the second year after the Exodus. He notes that the remaining 38 years before the events described in Numbers 20 are without record, except for the list of stations in Num. 33 and a few remarks in Deuteronomy. "Take ye the sum of all the congregation..." (Numbers 1:2). "From twenty years old and upward..." (Numbers 1:3). "And with you there shall be a man of every tribe..." (Numbers 1:4). After that [it says] "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead: Both male and female shall ye put out..." (Numbers 5:1-3). After that "...take the sum of the sons of Kohath..." (Numbers 4:2). After that "...Take the sum of the sons of Gershon..." (Numbers 4:22). After that "(...Number the sons of) Merari..." (Numbers 4:29). After that "...On the commandment of the Lord they were numbered by the hand of Moses..." (Numbers 4:49).2Guggenheimer explains that Seder Olam's computations are all based on the premise that the Israelites did not travel more than one day from one recorded station to the next, in an extreme application of the principle "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain." On the 14th of Iyar those ritually impure by [contact with] a corpse slaughtered the Passover sacrifice,3Guggenheimer notes that the date is not explicitly mentioned in Numbers, but that Seder Olam derives it from the fact that the second Passover is on 14 Iyyar. as it is written "And there were certain men, who were defiled..." (Numbers 9:6)..."And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying..." "If any man of you..." (Numbers 9:9-11).4Guggenheimer explains that Seder Olam uses the term "the second Passover" for the Passover celebrated one month later by anyone who was ritually impure on 14 Nisan, even if they could have purified themselves before the holiday. "And it came to pass in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud was taken up..." (Numbers 10:11). It follows that they dwelled in the Wilderness of Sinai [for] twelve months less ten days.5Guggenheimer notes that in order to travel from the Wilderness of Sinai to the Graves of Lust, they would have needed at least two additional days; therefore, their stay at the Wilderness of Sinai cannot be computed to be less than 11 months and 20 days. And it says "And Moses wrote their goings out..." (Numbers 33:2). They went out from the wilderness of Sinai and came to the Graves of Lust, and dwelled there thirty days,6Guggenheimer explains that Seder Olam's computation follows the statement that they never travelled more than one day from one recorded station to the next. as it is written "And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold..." (Numbers 11:19-20). They journeyed from the Graves of Lust and came to Hazeroth, and dwelled there seven days, as it is written "And Miriam was shut up..." (Numbers 12:15). They went out from Hazeroth and came to the Wilderness of Paran. On the 28th of Sivan,7Guggenheimer notes that 28 Sivan is the latest possible date for sending out the spies since the first grapes in Israel appear on the market in Sivan. If the spies were sent when grapes were still primeurs, the 28th of Sivan is the latest possible date for sending them out. This is another instance where Seder Olam infers a date from an indirect remark in the biblical text. The Babylonian Talmud (Taanit 29a) notes that according to Seder Olam, Moses sent out the spies on 29 Sivan, but that by the principle that "Moses did everything always very early in the morning," the spies must have returned on 8 Av. Since Av is a short month of 29 days, the spies were gone for 39 days, and not 40 as explicitly stated in Numbers. Abbai explains the discrepancy by saying that in that year Tammuz was made to be 30 days long in order to compensate for the shortening of the winter by one day because of the inauguration of the Tabernacle (see Chapter 4). Guggenheimer rejects this explanation, noting that according to Seder 'Olam, Tammuz always has 29 days, and that the spies simply spent an additional day waiting for the assembly of the people. Moses sent out the spies, as it is written "And the time was..." (Numbers 13:20). "And they returned from searching...forty days" (Numbers 13:25), that was the ninth of Av.8This date follows from the preceding by simply adding 40 days to the 28th of Sivan. See also previous note. So it turns out saying: On the Ninth of Av it was decreed...that they would not enter the Land. After the spies was the strife of Korah, and his being swallowed up..., as it is written "Wilt thou put out..." (Numbers 16:14). "And the anger..." (Numbers 16:46). And it says "And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea..." (Deuteronomy 2:14). Nineteen years they were circling about..., and nineteen years they dwelled in Kadesh-barnea,9The 19 years of wandering and the 19 years in Kadesh-barnea add up to the 38 years mentioned in Deuteronomy. as it is written "Ye abode in Kadesh..." (Deuteronomy 1:46).10Guggenheimer explains that this means that the total time spent at Kadesh was equal to the total time spent at all other stations. So it turns out, all the journeys were 42 journeys.