I multiplied his descendants. The word אַרְבֶּ in the text lacks the letter ה,¹ [from which we infer:]² “How many troubles and tests³ did I bring upon him before I gave him a descendant.”

footnotes: ¹ The word should have been written אַרְבֶּה. ² The root of ארב would be רִיב which means to quarrel. ³ Avrohom was tested a total of 10 times, the tenth being the binding of Yitchok on the altar.

**And He brought the sea upon “him.”**⁴ He brought the sea upon each individual among them. If it happened that one of them ran away, in order not to enter the sea, a sea-wave would pursue him and catch him.

footnotes: ⁴ Why is the singular עָלָיו, upon him used in the text? Rashi goes on to explain its significance.

**The people of Yericho went to war against you. As did the Emorites, the Perezites etc.**⁵ All these seven nations are mentioned here because Yericho is on the border, and was the bolt and lock of Eretz Yisroel. Therefore, all these seven nations were gathered there, represented by their elite soldiers.

footnotes: ⁵ Why were these nations involved in the battle of Yericho?

**A holy God.**⁶ In most places, every expression of rulership is found in the plural form, such as: “the ruler of the Land,”⁷ the master of the land, אַדנֵי הָאָרֶץ spoke to us.” Here too, it should have been written אַדוֹן הָאֶָרֶץ in the singular. “the ruler of Yoseif,”⁸ “if his master is with him,”⁹ that God went to redeem¹⁰. The reason for this is because this name is the name of power.

footnotes: ⁶ Why is this Name of God always in the plural form אל־הים instead of א־ל. ⁷ Bereishis 42:30. “The man ⁸ Bereishes 39:20. ⁹ Shemos 22:14. Here too it should have said אִם בַּעַל עִמוֹ in the singular referring to the owner. ¹⁰ II Shmuel 7:23.

You are witnesses against yourselves. Yehoshua foresaw that in the future, they would undermine [the covenant] in the days of Yechezkeil and say, “We want to be like the [other] nations,” and therefore he was so hard on them now. Therefore it was said to them in the days of Yechezkeil, “The thought you entertain will never come to pass etc., As I live says Adonoy, God, I will rule over you with a strong hand etc.”¹¹ You have already accepted upon yourselves [the covenant] in the days of Yehoshua. And you can not say “We only accepted it upon ourselves in the days of Moshe because we wanted [God’s help] to enter the land,” since in the days of Yehoshua you had already entered the land, and [yet] you accepted the covenant.

footnotes: ¹¹ See Yechezkeil 20:32,33.

And he established it as a statute and an ordinance at Shechem. He set in order for them there the statutes of the Torah and they accepted them upon themselves.

**And Yehoshua wrote, etc.**¹² According to Targum Yonasan— And Yehoshua wrote these words, and concealed them in the Sefer Torah of God.¹³ In Maseches Makos,¹⁴ two Amoraim argue [about what Yehoshua wrote]. One says that it refers to the eight verses from ‘And Moshe died’ until ‘in view of all of Yisroel,’ for the Sefer Torah was incomplete and he [Yehoshua] completed it.¹⁵ says therefore that the final eight verses were written by Yehoshua. The other one says that this refers to the chapter of the cities of refuge¹⁶ which he wrote in his book [Sefer Yehoshua] as they were written in the Sefer Torah.

footnotes: ¹² What were the words that Yehoshua wrote and where did he write them? It might be inferred that he wrote the words of his admonishment to the people and inserted them in the Sefer Torah of Moshe, but we know this is not true. ¹³ According to Targum Yonasan, He merely placed them where the Sefer Torah was kept, which was in the Ark. ¹⁴ 11a. ¹⁵ See Devorim 34:5-12. These verses describe the passing of Moshe. Could Moshe have written them himself? How could he have written them while he was alive when they were not yet true? Moshe could not have written that he had died when it had not yet happened. This Amora ¹⁶ See above, Chapter 20.

Under the doorpost. This is translated according to Targum Yonasan, תְּחוֹת אַלְתָא. הָאַלָה refers to the door post of the entrance, as it is said,¹⁷ “the doorposts were a fifth, and¹⁸ the doorposts had one measure.” Other say that [הָאַלָה means ‘the oak tree’] and it refers to the oak near Shechem which is written regarding Yaakov,¹⁹ “And Yaakov hid them beneath the oak.”

footnotes: ¹⁷ I. Melachim 6:31. ¹⁸ Yechezkeil 40:10. ¹⁹ See Bereishis 35:4. As Yaakov was preparing to return to his father, Yitzchok, in the Holy Land, he instructed that all idols and earrings were to be given to him and he buried them under the oak tree near Shechem.

**Which is in the Sanctuary of Adonoy.**²⁰ Since the Ark was brought there [it is referred to as the Sanctuary] as it stated above,²¹ ‘And they stood before God.

footnotes: ²⁰ But the Sanctuary had not yet been built. ²¹ Verse 1.

**Behold this stone will be witness against us, etc.**²² [Here Rashi quotes from Targum Yonasan]: This stone will be for us as the two stone tablets of the covenant,²³ for we have made it for a witness,²⁴ since the words written on it [the stone] are almost similar to all the words of God that He spoke to us. This verse can also be explained according to its plain meaning: for it [the stone] has heard the words that I have spoken to you, on behalf of the Omnipresent.

footnotes: ²² The question is, how could the stone hear? Another problem: the verse states that it heard “all the words of Adonoy that He spoke to us,” and yet there is no mention of Adonoy having spoken to them. ²³ Yehoshua compared it to the two tablets of the Ten Commandments which were witness to the covenant at Mount Sinai, and are therefore always referred to as the לוּחוֹת הָעֵדוּת, the Tablets of Testimony. ²⁴ It would stand as a silent witness to the covenant they had made on that day.

In Simnas-serach. This was its actual name. Elsewhere it is called Simnas-cheres²⁵ because they erected a figure of the sun upon his grave,²⁶ to indicate that he is the one that caused the sun to stand still, and all who pass by it say, “Woe for the loss of this one, who did such a great thing and died.” Others say its actual name was Simnas-cheres, and why was it called Simnas- serach? because its fruit would rot because of their abundant richness.

footnotes: ²⁵ See Shoftim 2:9. ²⁶ See Shoftim 8:13 where חָרֶס refers to the sun. Also See Shoftim 14:18.

The Storming Mountain It was so named to teach us that the hill stormed [shook] and threatened to kill them, because the people did not eulogize him properly.²⁷

footnotes: ²⁷ The verse merely states that “they buried him” and no mention is made of them having eulogized him, or mourned for him.

Lived on after [Lit. they had length of days.] Their days were lengthened but their years were not lengthened for they were punished.

They buried in Shechem. From Shechem he was stolen [kidnapped]²⁸ and to Shechem they returned him.

footnotes: ²⁸ See Bereishis 37:14.

**In the hill of his son, Pinchos.**²⁹ From where did Pinchos have a portion in the land? He inherited it from his wife.

footnotes: ²⁹ These words seem to imply that the hill belonged to Pinchos even during his father’s lifetime. But if he did not inherit it from Elozor, from where could he have gotten it? There are others who say that Pinchos did inherit the land from Elozor, and since inheritance takes effect immediately, it already belonged to Pinchos before Elozor was buried.