את מוסר, disciplinary measures as described in Deut.8,5 “as a father disciplines his son, so the Lord your G’d disciplines you.”

כי עיניכם, for your own eyes have seen this.

כי הארץ אשר אתה בא שמה לרשתה לא כארץ מצרים היא, This is part of the structure of these portions of the Torah, i.e. you need to observe the commandments of the Lord your G’d for the land of Israel cannot be compared to the land of Egypt, being superior in quality to the land of Egypt for the people who observe G’d’s laws. At the same time, it will prove inferior to the land of Egypt for people who do not observe G’d’s laws. Proof of this can be seen already in the fact that the land of Egypt enjoys constant irrigation from the river Nile, does not need rain, whereas the land of Israel is totally dependent on rainfall at the proper time of the year. The Egyptians enjoy their irrigation regardless of their being G’d fearing or not. Their staple foods are assured. The land of Israel, on the other hand, seeing that

עיני ה' אלוקיך בה, being constantly under the detailed scrutiny of the Lord your G’d, מרשית שנה ועד אחרית השנה, to ensure that you will have the necessary rainfall at the right time in the right amount, makes you aware of the need to conduct yourself so that He approves of you.

והיה אם שמוע תשמעון...ונתתי מטר, so that you will be able to eat without being subjected to strenuous work. If you do not observe the commandments,

ועצר את השמים ולא יהיה מטר, He will lock the gates of heaven and there will not be any rain.

כימי השמים על הארץ, meaning: “when I provide rain from the heavens, the earth will yield its produce.”

אשר תדרך כף רגלכם, to make war against the seven Canaanite tribes,

from the desert in the south,

to the river Euphrates in the north,

as far as the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

לא יתיצב איש, within the regions just described.

ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום, the commandments

ברכה וקללה, as explained later in verse 29, that the “blessing” would be recited toward the tribes standing on Mount Gerizim, whereas the curse would be addressed to the tribes standing on Mount Eyvol. (compare author on 27,12-14)

את הברכה, which would be on Mount Gerizim on condition that 'אשר תשמעו אל מצות ה', וגו, that you will listen, etc.

אחרי דרך, it looks as if we encounter two successive vowel patterns both pashta, both tone-signs employed as separators, something most unusual. However, if we look closely we will find that the word דרך is accented on the first syllable, so that this results in the word אחרי sounding like an שופר הפוך, a term used in Hebrew grammar for a connecting tone-sign. [Minchas Shay suggests that when reading this line the reader should briefly pause after the word אחרי, in order to achieve the same result. Heidenheim, explaining Rashi, also states that Rashi understands the word אחרי as not belonging to the word דרך following it. Ed.]

מבא השמש, where the sun sets, i.e. in the west.