ויקרבו ראשי האבות, “the heads of the father’s houses approached, etc.” the reason that this paragraph is appended here is that Moses had recently issued instructions about how the land is to be distributed and according to what criteria, especially the status of the cities of the Levites.

אלה המצות, “these are the commandments;” this concludes the list of sacrificial offerings, vows and oaths, purification of loot captured in war, and treatment of vessels that had become ritually contaminated, as well as the paragraphs dealing with murder and unintentional killing and ancestral lands and their distribution. (Compare Ibn Ezra)