Timing of the Princes' Appointment

Question

Parshas Bamidbar begins with the apparent appointing of 12 nesiim (princes) who would help Moshe with the counting (and presumably have some other administrative or authoritative role). Parshas Naso discusses their contribution to the Mishkan.

However, there's a bit of an issue here: the events of Parshas Bamidbar occurred in the second month (Iyar) of the second year, and the setting up of the Mishkan and subsequent princely gifts began on the first month - before their appointment!

The pesukim at the beginning of Bamidbar seem to imply that Moshe was told to appoint them specifically for/at the time of the count, but Parshas Naso implies otherwise. Were they actually appointed (or otherwise known) before the Parshas Bamidbar counting? (I'm inclined to say yes, but I'd like to see the issue discussed somewhere)

Answer 1

You ask a great question, but are incorrect that no one addresses it...

The Torah tells us (Bamidbar 7:2, all translations from Alhatorah):

וַיַּקְרִ֙יבוּ֙ נְשִׂיאֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רָאשֵׁ֖י בֵּ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם הֵ֚ם נְשִׂיאֵ֣י הַמַּטֹּ֔ת הֵ֥ם הָעֹמְדִ֖ים עַל־הַפְּקֻדִֽים׃

that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, offered. These were the princes of the tribes. These are they who were over those who were numbered:

If it wasn't clear enough from the verse itself that these leaders were already appointed in some capacity, Rashi comments that these leaders were already known to them from when they left Egypt:

הם נשיאי המטות – שהיו שוטרים עליהם במצרים והיו מוכים עליהם, שנאמר: ויכו שוטרי בני ישראל (שמות ה׳:י״ד).

הם נשיאי המטת THESE ARE THE LEADERS OF THE TRIBES – They were the officers [appointed] over them in Egypt, and they were beaten on account of them, as it says (Exodus 5:14),"The officers of the children of Israel were beaten" (Sifrei Bamidbar 45).

(Many of the other Mefarshim, including some of the Mefarshei Rashi, understand that the next part of the verse is speaking about the future, but you can check virtually any of the mefarshim yourself to see how they address it, as some provide alternatives - link here.)

One possible explanation that I didn't see in any of the mefarshim there would be to say that the counting was a very long process, and that they were appointed earlier to begin organizing it.

In short - Yes, many of the mefarshim ask this explicitly, and understand that that the Nesi'im were already known to them.