אלה הדברים, “these are the words, etc.” wherever a paragraph is introduced with the word: אלה, it is not to be considered as continuation of what preceded it. Up to now we read about commandments involving ritual and social legislation, whereas from here on in we are reading words of admonition and warnings about a dire future for the Jewish people if these warnings should be ignored. There is no point in countering that Numbers 36,13 also begins with the word: אלה, or to point to Leviticus 26,3 27,34, as in those instances the verse itself concludes the subject matter that had been under discussion.

אל כל ישראל, “to all the Israelites.” This teaches that Moses’ voice was powerful enough to be heard throughout the camp without megaphones.

בעבר הירדן, the term here refers to the Israelites on the east bank of the Jordan, on the plains of Moav as mentioned in verse 5, not to the area settled by the tribes of Reuven and Gad, previously owned by the Emorites.

במדבר בערבה, in the desert, the Aravah. In other words, the things Moses was about to speak to the Israelites here, he had already spoken to them about in the various places that will be named forthwith. We find a similar formulation in Deuteronomy 4,46: במדבר in the desert;” this is the desert facing Mount Sinai.

בערבה, “another place in the same desert known as Aravah. It is referred to again in our portion in chapter 2,8: 'ונעבור....מדרך הערבה מאילת ומעציון גבר וגו; which location precisely was this? The one opposite the reeds, the great desert of Paran which commences at a place known as Eytam. This is why the Torah wrote (Numbers 33,6) ויחנו באיתם אשר בקצה המדבר, “they encamped at Eytam which is at the edge of the desert.” Now we are told that this was also extending to the boundary of the land of Moav. We have proof of this in Deut. 2,8, as well as in Deut. 8,2. The place also appears in Ezekiel 20,35 as מדבר העמים, “desert of nations.” Several nations had a border touching the edge of this desert. This is why sometimes it appears as מדבר שור, or ,מדבר קדמות or מדבר מואב

בין פארן, between Paran, etc., seeing that the desert was very large, Moses supplies more detail concerning where what had occurred.

ובין תופל ולבן, “and between Tofel and Lavan;” we are forced to use our logic concerning these names, as we have no documents to even prove that they existed. It is most likely that they were names of sites where the Israelites had encamped, but many may have received their names only as a result of having served as a base for the Israelites during those years. Quite a few of these names did not appear in the list of the Israelites’ journey enumerated chronologically in parshat Massey. The Hermon for example, according to tradition - appear four times, each time with a different name. Compare our author on Numbers 33,19, and 46.

וחצרות, and Chatzerot; according to Rashi this refers to the rebellion of Korach, which had taken place there. If you were to argue that according to the sequence in which the Torah has documented all these events, the rebellion of Korach must have occurred when the Israelites were encamped in the desert of Paran, shortly after the return of the spies, and you would further argue that according to Targum Onkelos the Israelites were angry at the absence of meat at Chatzerot, whereas the Torah wrote that they journeyed to Chatzerot from Kivrot hataavah, the place where they had received the quails, (Numbers 11,35) you will realise the difficulty in reconciling what appear to be contradictory statements. The desert of Paran is many days’ march long, and to fix a place’s name based on that loose definition is not really helpful at all. [Some of the places named here were quite clearly given names after the occurrence of the event the place was to commemorate. There is no guarantee that the name was given immediately after the event in question.]

אחד עשר יום מחורב, “eleven days’ march from Mount Chorev.” Some of the speeches recalled by Moses here occurred during the journeys of the Israelites after leaving Mount Sinai, during the first eleven days. It took them eleven days to cover the distance from Mount Sinai to Kadesh, the place from which the spies were dispatched. The fact is that no new commandments were revealed to the Jewish people after the return of the spies until the fortieth year, after the last of the men of military age at the Exodus had died, and G-d’s presence returned to be visible.

אחד עשר יום, “eleven days,” there is a letter ב missing in the word אחד, which according to the rules of grammar should have been spelled באחד, so that the phrase would read: באחד עשר יום, “we find a similar anomaly in Exodus 31,17: כי ששת ימים עשה ה' את השמים, “for during six days G-d made heaven, etc,” there too we would have expected the letter ב at the beginning of the word ששת. Our author cites a few more examples of this, adding that it occurs frequently. (Judges 14,12; Samuel II 20,4)

אחד עשר יום, Rashi understands this line as a reproof by Moses, who is telling the people that although normally it takes eleven days to cover the distance from Mount Chorev to Kadesh, with the help of G-d they had covered that distance in only three days, seeing that the Torah had reported that they had broken camp on the twentieth day of the month of lyar. When you consider that the people had spent thirty days at Kivrat Hataavah consuming the quails, and seven days waiting for Miriam to recover from the affliction of Tzoraat at Chatzerot, it followed that they covered the distance in three days, as there had been only three way stations and by the 29th of Sivan the spies had been sent out, so that only thirty eight days had elapsed since their departure from Mount Chorev. (Compare author’s commentary on Numbers 9,1.)

ויהי בארבעים שנה, “it was during the fortieth year, etc.” the Torah reveals here that Moses addressed the people on the east bank of the Jordan, recalling what he had told the earlier generation already while they were at Mount Sinai. בעשתי עשר חדש באחד לחדש, “in the eleventh month , on the first day of the month. In other words, he began this speech 36 days prior to his death.

ככל אשר צוה ה' אותו, “in accordance with all the Lord had commanded him.” The word אותו which is not really needed, was added to emphasise that Hashem had not issued such instructions to any other prophet.

אחרי הכותו את סיחון, “after He had smitten Sichon, etc.;” we have been told in Deut. 2,30 that Sichon was not willing to allow the Israelites to cross his territory on their way to the land of Canaan. Both the campaigns against Sichon and Og took place in the fortieth year of the Israelites’ wanderings. This comes to teach you that Moshe gave all the speeches in Deuteronomy after the war with Sichon.

הואיל משה באר, “Moses undertook to expound this Torah;” he expounded all the commandments in the Torah, including the Ten Commandments that the people had heard from G-d directly. Hashem wished that the new generation which had been born after the revelation at Mount Sinai, should hear the Ten Commandments at least from the mouth of Moses. He was the most reliable human being that this task could be entrusted to.

דבר אלינו בחרב, “which He spoke to us at Chorev.” He commenced with words of encouragement (Compare Aruch hashalem under the entry בדח.

פנו וסאו לכם וגו׳, “turn around and start journeying, etc.” ראה נתתי לפניכם, see, I have given before you’” (verse 8) Moses refers back to Exodus 23,20-32, where G-d had told Moses that He appointed His angel to proceed ahead of the people on their journey to the Holy Land.

בערבה, “on the plains,” this is the plain that Moses had spoken of earlier in verse 1.

ואומר אליכם בעת ההיא, “and I had said to you at that time;” this includes everything until verse 18 that Moses had commanded the people. It had been the subject in Exodus 18,18 where Moses’ father in law Yitro had cautioned him against overexerting himself, and Moses’ response by appointing judges to act as his delegates.

וריבכם, “and your quarrels;” this refers to internal quarrels between Jew and fellow Jew.

ואשמם, “I will appoint them;” the letter י before the first letter מ, is missing hereRashi comments on this as follows: this י was deliberately removed in order to tell us that when the Israelites commit sins, much of the blame can be laid at the doorstep of the heads of the legal system that have not enforced Torah laws diligently and fairly. (one version of Rashi) Our author’s version did have the letter י in his Torah scroll. Clearly, Rashi’s Torah scroll did not have that letter.

אנשים חכמים וידעים, “wise and knowledgeable men;” Rashi points out that apparently Moses had not found men possessed of בינה, insight, one of the criteria Yitro had told him to look for in men appointed to judge others. He had only found men that could be called: righteous, wise, and knowledgeable. If you were to ask what happened to the other four qualifications stipulated by Yitro as a precondition for acting as a judge? (Compare Exodus 18,21) The fact that the seven qualifications do not appear consecutively, but only four of them appear in the verse quoted, is a hint that if all these virtues could not be found in one man, then we would have to settle for less. Solomon in Proverbs 31 already pointed out how difficult it is to find even one woman who can be described as אשת חיל, “a woman of valour.”Rabbi B’rechyah in the name of Rabi Chama, son of Rabbi Chanina, is quoted in Deuteronomy Rabbah, 1,10, as having said: judges must possess seven virtues: wisdom, insight, knowledge, plus the four listed in Exodus 18,21. The reason that do not all appear together is to teach that the seven virtues are meant as in the best case scenario. If it is impossible to find people with all these virtues, naturally we have to settle for less, [just as we never had a king that possessed all the virtues listed in Deuteronomy 17,15-20.]

לא תגורו מפני איש, (Moses is speaking to the judges, or potential judges) “do not display fear of anyone;” [you cannot be commanded not to have fear just as you cannot be commanded to love; but you can be commanded not to display your fear. Ed.] If a judge is afraid that the party whom he will convict will hate him henceforth, he is reminded that ultimately the judgment is G-ds and he had only carried out G-d’s will.

ואצוה אתכם בעת ההיא, I commanded you at that time;” you have not been held up in the desert for 40 years in order to study the Torah, because I could have taught you the Torah in a few hours, but you were held up on account of your sins.

ונסע מחורב, ”we journeyed from Mount Chorev;” Moses referred to what the Torah had written in Numbers10,1.

כאשר צוה ה' אלוקינו אותנו, “as the Lord our G-d commanded us;” our author has explained this already in verse 7.

ונבא עד קדש ברנע, “and we came as far as Kadesh Barnea.” This was on the 29th day of Sivan, as I have already explained on verse 2.

ואומר אליכם, באתם עד הר האמרי, “and I said to you: you have arrived at the Mountain of the Emorite;” here Moses refers to what has been written in Numbers 13,17: עלו זה בנגב ועליתם את ההר, “ascend here in the south and climb the mountain!” it also says there in chapter 14,40: וישכימו בבקר ויעלו על ראש ההר, “they arose early in the morning and ascended the top of the mountain.”

ויחפרו לנו, “and espy on our behalf;” the expression חפר describes someone searching for something, generally below the surface of the earth; the principal meaning is to search for something which has been deliberately hidden. (Ibn Ezra)

שנים עשר אנשים, “twelve men;” on this Rashi comments that there was no representative of the tribe of Levi among these 12 men. The reason was that they would not inherit any ancestral land in Eretz Yisrael, as Rashi already explained on Numbers 13,16.

עד נחל אשכול, “as far as the valley of Eshkol;” Rashi comments that the spies walked in a formation of crisscrossing the land in four directions. This has been explained already in the Talmud tractate Baba Metzia, folio 91.

הוציאנו מארץ מצרים, “He took us out of the land of Egypt;” Rashi, basing himself on Sifrey, says that G-d’s taking us out of Egypt was interpreted by the Israelites as an act of hatred; he quotes a parable with a king who owned two fields and had two sons. One field was very productive, as it was well irrigated, whereas the other one was far less so. He gave the productive one to his beloved son, and the inferior one to the son he disapproved of. The people of Israel were aware that Egypt was very well irrigated from the waters of the Nile, never depending on rainfall. On the other hand, Moses himself told them that the earth in the land of Israel depended on rainfall, and that by withholding rainfall this could make it very hard to work. They therefore reasoned that G-d must hate them why else would He expect them to exchange fertile Egypt for hilly Canaan?

מלא אחרי ה, “who has fully followed G-d’s instructions.” Moses refers to the instructions he had issued in the name of G-d. [G-d did not address Calev directly, ever. Ed.]

.'גם בי התאנף ה, “the Lord was angry at me also.” He took the position of leader from me and gave it to Joshua; all of this happened only on your account when you caused me to lose my temper and therefore not carry out G-d’s instructions to me to the letter. I was punished for hitting the rock instead of speaking to it.

ואתם פנו לכם וסעו וגו, as for you, (as opposed to the ten spies who died on the spot), “turn around and begin journeying in a reverse direction.” (Moses was quoting Numbers 14,25).

ותענו ותאמרו וגו, you answered and said to me: “we have sinned;” we have explained verses 41-49 already in Numbers 14,41-43.

כאשר תעשינה הדבורים, “as bees do;” Rashi comments just as a bee sting results in that bee dying immediately after it has stung a human being, in other words, the effort expended in stinging weakens the bee so that it dies from exhaustion, so the Emorites who defeat you, though being successful, will not live to enjoy their victory, but die soon after. Nonetheless they did inflict a defeat on your soldiers so that these fled as they struck you and injured you; but, they did not succeed in killing a single one of you.

ויכתו אתכם, as far as Chormah. An alternate interpretation; when a single bee leaves its formation, all the other bees immediately follow suit. Example: וירד העמלקי והכנעני, (verse 45) As soon as Amalekite descended all the Canaanites followed suit.

ותשובו ותבכו, “you returned (repented) and wept.” Moses here referred to Numbers 14,39: ויתאבלו, “they mourned;” as soon as they mourned for what they thought would be their fate in accordance with the majority report of the spies, G-d issued instructions concerning their immediate future. You commenced reversing your journeys in the direction of the sea of reeds.

ותשבו בקדש ימים רבים, “you remained in Kadesh for many years.” Here we are told by Moses that they stayed at Kadesh Barnea for a long time, something that had not been spelled out in Numbers chapter 14.