Masei: conclusioin

Masei, the last parsha of Bamidbar is the conclusion of the Torah.(The book of Dvarim is a coda.) Masei forms the closure of the Torah. It echoes back to the early stories of Breshith.

Masei deals with the exile of the negligent (murderer). Cain is a negligent murderer, he does not know (or understand) the law. The law, in Masei, is presented as an element of nature.

לג וְלֹא-תַחֲנִיפוּ אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם בָּהּ, כִּי הַדָּם, הוּא יַחֲנִיף אֶת-הָאָרֶץ; וְלָאָרֶץ לֹא-יְכֻפַּר, לַדָּם אֲשֶׁר שֻׁפַּךְ-בָּהּ, כִּי-אִם, בְּדַם שֹׁפְכוֹ.	33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood, it polluteth the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

The solution to this problem is exile. Cain is exiled.
Adam and Eve are also exiled from from the garden of Eden for taking of the tree of knowledge and thus , negligently, bringing death to the world.

The story of Adam and Eve is also echoed in the very last item in the parsha, the last story in the Bamidbar, the acquisition of a portion in the land by the daughters of Zelophchad. In this story the women lay claim to a precious item. But ultimately, the men husband it. Eve brought the knowledge and her penalty was her husband’s mastery over her. The daughters of Zelophchad successfully argued for a portion of the land, but they were forced to marry within the patriarchal tribe. Are women the origin of action?