As there had not fallen to their lot. A suitable inheritance for them in the conquered territory, as it is said in Yehoshua, "The boundry of Bnei Don extended from them."¹² This, too, teaches us that this episode took place at the very beginning of the period of the judges.³

footnotes: ¹ Yehoshua, 19:47. See Rashi there. ² When the apportioning of the land among the tribes was completed. ³ In addition to the evidence presented by Rashi above, 17:1.

Who brought you here. There are numerous questions here. Are you not descended from our teacher Moshe, to whom it was said, "Do not come close here,"⁴ "Who provided mankind with the mouth?"⁵ and "What is this in your hand?"⁶

footnotes: ⁴ Shemos, 3:5.הֲלוֹם, “here”, in our passage corresponds with הֲלוֹם, “here”, in the statement to Moshe. ⁵ Ibid, 4:11. פֶז in our passage coresponds with פֶה “mouth”, there. ⁶ Ibid, 4:2. מָה…בָּזֶה corresponds with מַה זֶה there.

Please inquire of God through the figurines, which communicate by sorcery.

The route you will follow is before Adonoy It is revealed before the Holy One, blessed is He, but these [figurines] are worthless.

With nothing to put them to shame. No one ever needed anothers' help, who might have rebuffed him empty handedly, thus humiliating him, as stated below, "Nothing is lacking."⁷ So I have heard.

footnotes: ⁷ Below v.10.

There is a dearth of heirs. There are few heirs, so that if they should be killed, no other claimants will wage war against those who occupy the territory.

They were distant. From the support of the Tzidonians.

And they were not allied with anyone. They had not entered into any treaty requiring others to come to their assistance in times of need.

What is your response? As if to say, "what is your response?" What have you found, in the territory apportioned to us? Are the people strong or weak?'

You are apathetic Lazy.

The bulky cargo. The loads. Anything which moved ponderously, thus making it impossible to move quickly should the local inhabitants pursue them.

The bulky cargo. "Pezantume" in old French.

They turned their faces. The sons of Don turned towards those who shouted at them.

What else do I have. What else remains for me?

Bitter tempered men. There are angry men in our company.

Laish. The city's name. The book of Yehoshua entitles it "Leshem,"⁸ because they discovered, there, a precious gem called "leshem." This was inlaid in the Choshen plate,⁹ and symbolized the tribe of Don, whose name was inscribed on it. Thus, they were certain that this was actually their ancestral property.

footnotes: ⁸ Yehoshua 19:47. ⁹ The sacred Urim Vetumim oracles, which spelled out the Divine message for those inquirii of Adonoy. (Yoma, 73:b).

Ben Menasheh. In deference to Moshe, the letter "nun" was included, thus altering the name. It is scripturally suspended to indicate that he was actually not Menasheh, but Moshe.¹⁰

footnotes: ¹⁰ Bava Basra 109b.

Until the day of the exile from the land. During the time of Sancheriv, at the first exile.