בכל קראנו אליו. Moses refers to matters which have been documented in Exodus 2,24 וישמע אלוקים את נאקתם, “G’d heard their moaning,” and Exodus 14,10 ופרעה הקריב ויצעקו בני ישראל אל ה', “when Pharaoh (in his pursuit) drew near, the Children of Israel cried out to the Lord.” Similar appeals were made before G’d gave them the manna, the quails, and the traveling well. (compare Exodus 16,12 and 17,6)

'ותקרבון ותעמדון תחת ההר וגו. Moses refers to Exodus 19,17 ויוצא משה את העם לקראת האלוקים מן המחנה ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר,”Moses led the people out of the encampment in order to meet G’d. They remained standing at attention near the bottom of the mountain.” Anything which is higher than that which is lower by comparison to it is referred to by the preposition על, whereas the place which is lower is referred to with the preposition תחת. [the author warns against understanding both of these prepositions literally as “above” and “below.” Ed.] Thus Genesis 18,1-2 where we find Avraham’s guests (the angels, before he knew they were angels) described as נצבים עליו does not mean that “they were standing above him,” but that when standing beside him they were taller. The wordsתחת ההר in our verse are therefore also not to be understood as “beneath” the mountain, but the preposition is used on account of the people being lower than any mountain, they are automatically תחת in relation to it. The reason why the entire verse had to be written is because in 5,21 Moses related how at the time the people had been afraid that the fire enveloping the mountain would cause their death. Had we not been informed of where these people had been standing at the time we would have had difficulty in accounting for their fear.

ואותי צוה, in addition to the Ten Commandments.

סמל; a symbol of something, as in Ezekiel 8,3 סמל הקנאה המקנא, “a likeness, a symbol, of the jealousy which provokes jealousy. (an ancient idol)

אשר חלק, in order to provide light. According to the principal meaning of the text the meaning is that these celestial bodies were put at the disposal of all nations to serve them. By doing so G’d wanted to show that He is not concerned about their competition as influences that could override His authority in the universe.

את השמים ואת הארץ, as spelled out in 11,17 where it is described that these “witnesses” would withhold the harvests the people depend on if they failed to observe the laws of the Torah.

ועבדתם שם, as per Onkelos, i.e. you will be servants of idolaters

ולא יריחון, as spelled out in Psalms 135,17 אשר אין רוח בהם, “these idols are not even alive, cannot even breathe.”

ויוציאך בפניו, as documented in Exodus 12,12 and 23,21.

כיום הזה, when you have already commenced the conquest by occupying the lands formerly owned by Sichon and Og.

אז יבדיל משה, Why did the Torah interrupt Moses’ speech which were coherent, sequential and continuous, and it now introduced another subject in the form of a narrative? Actually, Moses had dwelled at length on the past and the time had come to do what the Torah had said at the outset, i.e. to elaborate on aspects of the Torah on which Moses had either not elaborated previously, or had not presented to the people at all, or felt that it was essential to repeat the legislation in question to prevent problems after he was no longer on the scene to deal with them. The subject of the cities of refuge is of concern to the judges and the whole system of the judiciary introduced by Moses as the first subject of legislation which he reviews. Already in chapter one, Moses addressed primarily the judges on whom rests the responsibility of ensuring a functioning government. In chapter 19,2 the Torah commands the setting aside of 3 such cities of refuge each on the west bank and on the east bank of Jordan (verse 9). Since it did not mention the three cities Moses had already established on the east bank of the Jordan this had to be added here, to show that the numbers given in the Torah are flexible, i.e. that as the territory of the Jewish people expands the need to add more such cities may arise. The command issued in Numbers 35,14 was not to be effective immediately as the Israelites had not yet crossed the Jordan. Moses had nonetheless set aside such cities although they did not yet function as such.