והוא לא היה בתוך העדה הנועדים על ה', “and he had not been among the assembly that had assembled against Hashem, etc.’” The daughters of Tzelofchod had to state publicly that their father had not been a member of the rebels with Korach who had at any rate forfeited their claim to ancestral land in the land of Israel, they had to mention that their father had died on account of another sin. Nachmanides writes that according to the plain meaning of the text, the reason that these girls mentioned that their father had not been a member of the gang of rebels with Korach was that they thought that Moses must surely hate anyone who had been connected with that group, as they had targeted him personally in their uprising and incitement of the people against him. They were therefore afraid of not getting a fair hearing from him. They also had to hint that their father had not died during the plague G’d had sent on several occasions in which groups of Israelites had been killed. This is why they had to mention that he had died as a result of a sin committed as an individual, not as part of a group.

כי בחטאו מת, “but he died as the direct result of his personal sin.” They meant that he had died in the desert and therefore could not cross the Jordan and take possession of his ancestral heritage. Rabbi Yehudah Halevi, the famous poet, comments that the word בחטאו is to be understood as belonging to the words ובנים לא היו לו, meaning that part of his punishment was that he was not granted male offspring. Many people attribute the fact that they have been denied certain normal blessings in life to the fact that they had been guilty of some sin, as a result of which G’d denied them these blessings.

והיתה לבני ישראל לחוקת משפט, “This shall be for the Children of Israel as a decree of justice.” This will be a law from now on not only for the people that were about to enter the Holy Land.

עלה אל הר העברים, “ascend Mount Avarim, etc.” Nachmanides writes that the true name of the mountain was Nebo, as has been spelled out in Deut. 32,49 and elsewhere. The reason it has been referred to here by a different name, one that reflects its precise location, is that it is near the place where the river Jordan would be crossed by the Israelites. It is approximately directly opposite the ancient city of Jericho. The word עלה!, an imperative, was not meant to be complied with immediately, otherwise how could Moses have waited until after the 12000 men engaged in the punitive expedition against Midian had returned from there before ascending that mountain?. The reason why this command is reported here is that the Torah wanted to tell us that when Moses would ascend that mountain he would be shown the various locations where the different tribes would settle, and he would, at least, have the satisfaction of having seen all this with his own eyes.

קח לך את יהושע בן נון, “take to yourself Joshua son of Nun;” this too was a reference to the day on which Moses was to die. The Torah concludes with reporting that Moses displayed no reluctance in carrying out these orders, on the contrary, he asked G’d to appoint a suitable successor who would take his place when the time came.

וצוית אותו לעיניהם, “you will command him before their eyes;” Rashi comments that Moses presented the Israelites to Joshua as a nation that sorely tried any of its leaders, a people most difficult to govern, their having assumed that Moses would tolerate their difficult behaviour as a matter of course. [He wanted Joshua to know what kind of a burden he would assume by becoming leader. Ed.] Nachmanides writes that Rashi’s comment is not correct, as it would not be good manners for Moses to make such statements in public at that time. On the contrary, instead of being effective, psychologically speaking, such a comment by Moses at a time such as this would have a counterproductive effect and the people would become even more difficult. Accordingly, Nachmanides understands the words וצוית אותו לעיניהם as G’d’s instruction to Moses to impress upon Joshua, that now that he would assume such an awesome responsibility he must become very sensitive to the needs of the people, to their sense of dignity, etc. At the same time, he must know that the final responsibility rested on him when major decisions had to be made and he must be firm and fearless. When the people would hear how Moses had publicly impressed upon Joshua the qualities that a leader must display at all times, they in turn would feel confident that a man so instructed by the incomparable Moses would indeed do everything to live up to the task entrusted to him. Moses acted precisely in this manner, as we know from verses 22 and 23. According to my personal opinion (Nachmanides speaking) the plain meaning of the text is that the appointment of Joshua as Moses’ successor had to be made in public, in the presence of all the people so that it could not be challenged later on, or so that it could not be viewed as an high handed act by Moses. Nachmanides quotes several examples from Scripture where the expression ויצוהו על is used to describe the appointing of someone as a prominent leader with wide ranging powers.