THOU SHALT NOT SACRIFICE UNTO THE LORD THY GOD. Look, when Moses mentions the asherah and the pillar he also mentions that it is prohibited to slaughter any blemished animal to God.¹ and the pillar are prohibited, he also mentions that it is prohibited to sacrifice any blemished animal to God, for these acts are an abomination to God.

footnotes: ¹ That is, since Moses mentions that the asherah

EVEN ANY EVIL THING. Any evil thing explains any blemish.

FOR THAT IS AN ABOMINATION. Its meaning is similar to Present it² now unto thy governor³ (Mal. 12:8). The one who offers it is punished. However, no punishment befalls one who does not sacrifice at all, unless he is obligated to bring an offering.⁴

footnotes: ² A blemished animal. ³ As a gift. Will he accept it? No, he will reject it and despise you for insulting him. ⁴ Such as the Passover or sin offering.

IF THERE BE FOUND IN THE MIDST OF THEE. After Moses mentions that one is prohibited to plant an asherah near an altar which is in public view, he backtracks and warns the individual not to worship idols.⁵

footnotes: ⁵ In private.

IN TRANSGRESSING HIS COVENANT. La’avor brito (in transgressing His covenant) is the reverse of keeping His covenant. I have previously explained grammatically the word vayishtachu (and worshipped), in the Sefer Ha-Yesod.⁶

footnotes: ⁶ See I.E. on Gen. 23:7 (Vol. 1, p. 230) and Ex. 18:7 (Vol. 2, p. 351).

OTHER GODS. Idols, the work of man.

OR THE SUN, OR THE MOON, OR ANY OF THE HOST OF HEAVEN. Which are the work of God.

WHICH I HAVE COMMANDED NOT. To serve them, even though they are My works.

THEN THOU SHALT INQUIRE DILIGENTLY. Hetev (diligently) means very much. Similarly hetev (greatly) in Art thou greatly angry (Jonah 4:9). It is a bit far-fetched to connect hetev to the word tov (good).⁷ to the word tov (good), the meaning of our clause is, then thou shalt inquire well.

footnotes: ⁷ If we connect hetev

AND THOU SHALT STONE THEM. The man or the woman.⁸ cannot refer to both of them, for Scripture speaks of a man or a woman. It is similar to they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they (Lev. 20:14).⁹ (ethen) can’t refer to both women, for what sin did the first woman commit? It is only the second woman taken who is put to death. If he first takes the mother, then it is the daughter who is put to death. If he first takes the daughter, then it is the mother who is put to death. The meaning of ethen (they) thus is, one of them. Since Scripture says, and it be told thee (v. 4) in secret,¹⁰ and thou hear it (Ibid.) in public,¹¹ it had to explain that even though it was told to you, and you heard, they shall not be put to death except upon the testimony of two witnesses.¹²

footnotes: ⁸ Who worshipped idols. And thou shalt stone them ⁹ The verse speaks of a man who takes a mother and daughter, or a daughter and mother. They shall be burnt with fire, both he and they ¹⁰ I.E.’s elaboration of the verse. ¹¹ I.E.’s elaboration of the verse. ¹² The law of witnesses follows the law of idolatry because the punishment of idolaters requires two witnesses to the act of idol worship.

OR THREE WITNESSES. Who accept the testimony of two witnesses.¹³?” So says the Gaon.¹⁴ Look, the Torah does not state whether we accept the testimony of relatives or of a woman or the testimony of an enemy of the deceased.¹⁵ Some say that if two witnesses contradict two witnesses, then a third witnesses determines innocence or guilt.¹⁶. Others say two witnesses from among the wise men and three from the others.¹⁷ We are thus forced to rely on the words of tradition.¹⁸ is, just as two witnesses form one unit, so do three witnesses form one unit, and if one of the three is disqualified the entire unit is disqualified.

footnotes: ¹³ According to the Gaon two witnesses may testify before three witnesses. The latter may then testify as to what they heard. However, two witnesses cannot testify before two other witnesses. Thus according to the Gaon our verse should be read as follows: at the mouth of two witnesses who saw the event that they are testifying to, or at the mouth of three witnesses who heard it from two witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death. The Gaon so interpreted our verse because he wanted to avoid the question, “If two witnesses are enough to convict a person, why does Scripture go on to say or three witnesses ¹⁴ Rabbi Saadiah Gaon. ¹⁵ We must rely on tradition in these instances. I.E. comments thus because he will soon say that we must rely on tradition regarding the understanding of our verse. ¹⁶ Hence Scripture reads, At the mouth of two…or three witnesses shall he…be put to death ¹⁷ Non-scholars. ¹⁸ In understanding our verse, as we must with regard to the testimony of relatives, or of a woman, or the testimony of an enemy of the deceased. According to the rabbis the meaning of At the mouth of two…or three witnesses

THE HAND¹⁹. OF THE WITNESSES.²⁰. The hand of each one of the witnesses.²¹ is the singular. Edim is in the plural. We would thus expect yede haedim. Hence I.E.’s explanation. Similarly and the heart of the people melted²² (Josh. 7:6).²³ There are many other such instances.

footnotes: ¹⁹ Hebrew, yad ²⁰ Hebrew, edim ²¹ Yad ²² Heart is in the singular, people is in the plural. Thus our text should have read, the hearts of the people. ²³ Translated according to I.E.

SO THOU SHALT PUT AWAY. I have previously explained the meaning of u-vi’arta (so thou shalt put away).

IF THERE ARISE A MATTER TOO HARD FOR THEE. Moses speaks to the judges. This follows the previous law because two witnesses are required in order to execute a person. The meaning of between blood and blood is, between innocent blood and guilty blood.²⁴

footnotes: ²⁴ In other words, the previous verse deals with executing a culprit. Our verse tells us what the judge is to do if he cannot determine whether the accused is guilty or not.

The word yippale (too hard) is similar to the word hayippale (is anything too hard) (Gen. 18:14). I have explained it there.²⁵

footnotes: ²⁵ See I.E. on Gen. 18:14 (Vol. 1, p. 195).

BETWEEN PLEA AND PLEA. With regard to money.

AND BETWEEN STROKE AND STROKE.²⁶. Literally, between plague and plague. See Rashi. Such as wounds and bruises.²⁷ here does not have its usual meaning of plague, but rather means a wound. Even matters of controversy is a general term.

footnotes: ²⁶ Hebrew, ben nega la-nega ²⁷ In other words, nega

THEN THOU SHALT ARISE, AND GET THEE UP. I have explained this before.²⁸

footnotes: ²⁸ See I.E. on Num. 16:12 (Vol. 4, p. 130).

THE PRIESTS THE LEVITES. For, as I have explained,²⁹. there are kohanim who are not descended from Levi.³⁰ at times connotes a prince (Rashbam on Ex. 19:6). Cf. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests (Ex. 19:6).

footnotes: ²⁹ See I.E.’s commentary on Gen. 14:18 (Vol. 1, p. 167) and his Short Commentary on Ex. 19:6. I.E. there notes that anyone who serves God is called a kohen ³⁰ The term kohen

AND UNTO THE JUDGE. The reference is to the king who writes a copy of the Torah from the one which is in the hands of the kohanim.³¹

footnotes: ³¹ See verse 18.

AND UNTO THE JUDGE. In the place where he is.³²

footnotes: ³² The judge is not necessarily near the sanctuary.

ACCORDING TO THE LAW WHICH THEY SHALL TEACH THEE. With regard to the matter that is too hard for you.

EVEN THAT MAN SHALL DIE. The court shall put him to death. The reason for the latter is so that the people shall hear, and fear (v. 13). When Moses mentions the judge, he explains the laws that the judge must keep.

THOU SHALT IN ANY WISE SET HIM KING OVER THEE. This is optional.

WHOM THE LORD THY GOD SHALL CHOOSE. Via a prophet or via the urim (Ex. 28:30). The point of the clause is you shall not choose him.³³

footnotes: ³³ The Lord, not you, shall choose the king.

THOU MAYEST NOT.³⁴. Literally, you cannot. From a rational point of view.³⁵ does not mean you are physically restrained. It means you are rationally restrained. It is irrational for you to place a non-Jew on the throne of Israel.

footnotes: ³⁴ Hebrew, tukhal ³⁵ Literally, from the true way. In other words, You cannot

WHO IS NOT THY BROTHER. Who is not of the family of Israel, and also one who is an Edomite even though Scripture refers to Edomites as “your brother.”³⁶ Now in those days horses were brought from Egypt. Scripture’s words concerning Solomon, And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt (I Kings 10:29), is proof of this. The king would thus cause Israel to sin if he wanted to multiply his horses, for he would cause the people to return to Egypt. This is clearly so:³⁷ God took Israel out of Egypt, and by going back they would desecrate God’s name. Uriah the prophet fled to Egypt because his life was in danger.³⁸ Also Jeremiah went to Egypt against his will.³⁹

footnotes: ³⁶ See Deut. 23:8. ³⁷ That is, that multiplying horses would entail going down to Egypt. ³⁸ Otherwise he would not have gone down to Egypt. See Jer. 26:21. ³⁹ See Jer. 43:5-9.

YE SHALL HENCEFORTH RETURN NO MORE. This was a commandment that was not written down.⁴⁰ [to Egypt]. The problem is that Scripture does not record such a command earlier. Hence I.E.’s comment. Some say that this law is derived from ye shall see them again no more for ever (Ex. 14:13). However, the latter has a different meaning.⁴¹

footnotes: ⁴⁰ Our verse reads, As the Lord hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more ⁴¹ It is a prophecy, not a command.

THAT HIS HEART TURN NOT AWAY. For he will go after his lusts.

NEITHER SHALL HE GREATLY MULTIPLY TO HIMSELF SILVER AND GOLD. So that he does not punish⁴² Israel. Now Israel complained about Solomon who, because of his great love of money, made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones (I Kings 10:27). They said [to his son], Thy father made our yoke grievous (I Kings 12:10). Some say that they complained because of the buildings.⁴³ However, this is not so, for strangers built the house.⁴⁴ The latter is clearly stated in Scripture.⁴⁵ Look, following Solomon’s death Adinoram, who was over the levy,⁴⁶ was stoned to death by the Israelites (I Kings 10:18).⁴⁷

footnotes: ⁴² That is, oppress. ⁴³ That is, they complained because Solomon forced them to build his buildings. ⁴⁴ The temple and, by extension, all the other royal buildings. ⁴⁵ See I Kings 9:20-22; II Chron. 2:16,17. ⁴⁶ I.E. takes this to mean in charge of the taxes. ⁴⁷ For taxing them.

AND IT SHALL BE, WHEN HE SITTETH UPON THE THRONE. At the beginning of his kingship.

A COPY. The meaning of mishneh is a second rendition.⁴⁸

footnotes: ⁴⁸ That is, a copy.

it [feminine] will be with him i.e., the Torah [feminine].

he will read it [masculine] i.e., the book [masculine].

He will personally revere; ...

whereas observe all the words means that he will enforce observance upon others.

that he may not be haughty which would occur, if he were above the law.

that he may not turn away for if he did not study, he would not know the law. His reward will be that he lengthen the days .