בזונו לנו, “we looted for ourselves.” In 2,35 the mode of the verb used for the same word “looting” is בזזנו. Why the difference? Our ages say that in chapter 2 the loot was universally acclaimed as something very welcome. Here, the Torah wanted to convey that the people already related with disdain, בוז, to the loot. This is also why here the Torah adds the words וכל הבהמה, an expression not found in

צדונים יקראו לחרמון שריון, “The people of Tzidon referred to Mount Hermon as “Siryon. Nachmanides explains that the principal intent of this verse is to inform us that the Tzidonim, the descendants of Tzidon the firstborn son of Canaan, called Mount Hermon while they were still in possession of it, “Siryon.” The Emorite, i.e. the fourth son of Canaan who occupied that region at the time when the Israelites were in the desert, having wrested it from their cousins the Tzidonites recently, called that Mountain Snir, another word for שלג, snow. They, called it thus to indicate that this mountain is almost all the time capped by snow. Seeing that it is so cold up there, it is without vegetation, חרב hence the letters חר in the name חרמון. Perhaps in the dialect spoken by the Tzidonim, the word שריון also reflects the fact that it is freezing cold up on that mountain.

כי רק עוג מלך הבשן נשאר מיתר הרפאים, “for only Og, the King of Bashan remained from the remnant of the Refa-im;” Nachmanides feels that the message of the verse is that in spite of the fact that at that time, Og was the King of Bashan, his origin had been among the Refa-im. In order to suitably impress the reader with the physical dimensions of these Refa-im, of whom Og was typical, the Torah describes the size and raw material that his bed was made of. Any wooden bedstead would have collapsed under his tremendous weight. He lived in a city called Rabbah, which became his capital after the Ammonites had destroyed the Refa-im including his capital city, he was the only one who had escaped at that time. The purpose of telling us all this is that the Ammonites must have been a very powerful people if they had succeeded in defeating a race of giants of the dimensions of Og. The Israelites are reminded of the historical testimony of the achievements of the Ammonites down to their own period.

ואת הארץ הזאת ירשנו בעת ההיא, “and we inherited this land at that time.” Rashi says that the words ואת הארץ הזאת refer to the land mentioned just previously. The words מערורר אשר על נחל ארנון, are not connected to what has been described previously, but introduce a new section, seeing that the people of Israel inherited more territory, lands inherited by the tribes of Reuven and Gad mentioned at the end of the verse. This is clear from the fact that Mount Hermon is situated far to the north of the river Arnon. Nachmanides writes that in his view the words הארץ הזאת אשר ירשנו בעת ההיא וגגו' were all regions given to the tribe of Reuven.

כל חבל הארגוב לכל הבשן ההוא יקרא ארץ רפאים, “the entire region of the Argov comprising all of Bashan, that is what used be called the land of the Refa-im.” Nachmanides trying to justify the letter ה [normally representing a definitive article, implying that the noun following is familiar to the reader, Ed.] in the word הארגוב, writes that Bashan and Argav are lumped together as a contiguous region, seeing that both regions formed part of the land of the Refa-im, the reader is familiar with what Moses is describing here. The region still bore that name at that time due to the fact that it was ruled over by the last of the famous Refa-im, the giant Og. It is also possible that Moses wanted to let us know that the region retained its original name although ownership had changed repeatedly.

ואתחנן, “I pleaded;” Nachmanides writes that when Moses mentioned the conquest of the lands of Sichon and Og, (3,21) adding the words ואת יהושע צויתי וגו', “and I commanded Joshua” (in preparation for his becoming his successor) it was because he wanted to stress that he himself was not going to cross the Jordan. He now added the reason why he felt sure about this, namely that he had already pleaded with Hashem to allow him to at least cross that river, but his plea had not been accepted. It was therefore his duty to pray to Hashem to give Joshua the strength without which no one could successfully lead the Jewish people.

בעת ההיא, “at that time;” at the time when the decree that he himself would not cross the Jordan had become final and irrevocable. He had not made mention of his plea on the day it had been rejected. Rashi explains the words בעת ההיא as the period during which the armies of Sichon and Og were crushed and their lands conquered. When G’d had not accepted his prayer, Moses tried once more, including the request to appoint a suitable successor for himself. This was the prayer that he alludes to here, i.e. a prayer that had been well received by Hashem. In other words, only the opening words of our paragraph ואתחנן אל ה' are a reference to his plea on his own behalf. The only reason he made a public reference to his personal plea at all was to let the people know that he valued the merit of being allowed to set foot in that land so highly that he even had asked to revoke the decree that denied him entry, even as a private. He hinted that his not being allowed to enter that land was (at least partially) the people’s fault.