These are the statutes and the ordinances, which you shall observe to do in the land which Hashem, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess it, all the days that you live upon the earth.
verse value 7096 — אֵ֠לֶּה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 84 letters. Notable word values: "these" (אֵ֠לֶּה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֖, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·the·ordinances" (וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֮, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "that·you" (אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּ֥ם). The root אשר appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "God·of" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·possess·it', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 4 words.
Onkelos
These are the statutes and ordinances that you shall take care to observe in the land that Hashem, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live upon the land.
Sforno
אלה החקים והמשפטים אשר תשמרון...-לרשתה כל הימים, observance of all the commandments listed forthwith is, among other things, a condition to ensure that you will remain ancestral owners of this land for all time. כל הימים, during all the time when you are busy wiping out locations dedicated to idolatry and you will not yourselves worship idols by becoming like them by offering your sacrifices wherever it pleases you.
Or HaChaim
לרשתה כל הימים, "to possess it for all time, etc." Moses simply meant that if the Israelites were to keep G'd's commandments then their tenure in the land would continue for ever.
Chizkuni
אלה החוקים, “these are the statutes;” whenever the Torah commences a paragraph with the word אלה, this means that what follows is not a continuation in some form of what had preceded it. In this case too, the subject of the function of the two mountains Gerizim and Eyval are not connected to what follows. The commandment to be performed on or near these mountains, were one time only commandments. The places near there on which the gentiles had worshipped idols had to be totally destroyed.
You shall surely destroy all the places, in which the nations that you are to dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every leafy tree.
verse value 7575
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 88 letters. The shortest word is "destroy" (אַבֵּ֣ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·the·places" (אֶֽת־כׇּל־הַמְּקֹמ֞וֹת, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "all·the·places" (אֶֽת־כׇּל־הַמְּקֹמ֞וֹת), "they·served·there" (עָֽבְדוּ־שָׁ֣ם), "dispossessing" (יֹרְשִׁ֥ים). The root אבד appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "their·gods" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "all·tree" (root כל, 121x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'their·gods', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 6 words.
Onkelos
You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations that you are dispossessing worshipped their idols — on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every leafy tree.
Rashi
אבד תאבדון YE SHALL UTTERLY DESTROY — Destroy and again destroy! (i.e. utterly destroy). From here we learn that he who eradicates an object of idol-worship must thoroughly uproot it (i.e. remove every trace of it) (Sifrei Devarim 60:1). את כל המקמות אשר עבדו שם וגו׳ [YE SHALL UTTERLY DESTROY] ALL THE PLACES (according to Rashi: FROM ALL THE PLACES) WHEREIN [THE NATIONS …] SERVED — And what shall ye destroy from them? Their gods which are upon the mountains (Avodah Zarah 45a).
Ibn Ezra
"You shall utterly destroy all the places" — R. Yonah the grammarian said that 'their gods' (אֱלֹהֵיהֶם) is written defectively, without a vav, and the meaning is 'and their gods'; but this observation amounts to nothing, since the word is simply in construct with the phrase 'where they served there.' — "Every leafy tree" — רַעֲנָן ('leafy') and שַׁאֲנָן ('tranquil') are always spelled with two nuns, and the meaning is like רָטֹב, 'moist/green.'
Or HaChaim
אבד תאבדון את כל המקמזת, "You shall utterly destroy all the sites, etc." We can understand this verse in conjunction with the Mishnah 7 chapter 3 in tractate Avodah Zarah. We are taught there: "there are three categories of houses; 1) a house which was constructed in order to serve as a place of worship. Such a house is (totally) forbidden. 2) A house which originally was not used or intended for such worship but has been redecorated in order to serve as a house of worship. 3) The Gentile made an addition to the existing house which was intended and used as a residence. In the latter two instances the Jew has to demolish all the new decorations or additions and he may have use of the rest of such a house." The Talmud elaborates on this Mishnah saying that if someone prostrates himself in front of any house (indicating he worships it) he has thereby made it completely forbidden to every Jew. From this we deduce that even if someone had only joined together individual stones and attached them to the ground they are still considered as if they were separate and the house is not forbidden until it was used for the purpose for which it has been designated! The Talmud queries why this should be so seeing the Mishnah had forbidden such a house even if the entire house had been built for an idolatrous purpose before anyone had prostrated himself! The Talmud answers that the Mishnah taught us the law that even if the house had only been built for a purpose for which it had not yet been used it is already totally forbidden. Thus far the Talmud on the subject. Maimonides accepts this ruling in his treatise Hilchot Avodah Zarah chapter 8. This ruling is reflected in what our verse says: "all the sites where the Canaanites used to serve idols." The meaning is that it is irrelevant if the place had originally been built for the purpose or not. If idolatrous practices had been performed there the Israelites must destroy it even if only an addition to such a house had been used for idolatry. אשר אתם יורשים אתם, "which you are about to inherit." These words are best understood by reference to Hilchot Avodah Zarah 7,1 by Maimonides. He writes: "in the land of Israel it is one of the positive commandments to pursue (seek out) all places where idolatry is practiced until we have succeeded in eliminating it, whereas in the diaspora or in the countries adjacent to the land of Israel we need to destroy such places only as and when we come across them." Maimonides quotes our verse as proof that only in the land of Israel must we seek out such places. The operative clause is clearly: "which you are about to inherit." Once something is ours, the law applies universally. The reason Moses repeats the word אבד may be understood in conjunction with the statement in Avodah Zarah 43 that in order to cancel or revoke the idolatrous character of an object two conditions have to be met. The object has to be ground into small pieces and scattered into the wind or into the sea. I...
Chizkuni
אבד תאבדון את כל המקומות, “you are to utterly destroy all the sites, etc.; ”the Torah here speaks of vessels used in the worship of idols, [not the earth itself on which the idol stands. Ed.] Besides, it is impossible to forbid the surface of the earth for use, as if so, the idolaters would be able to turn all habitable surfaces on the globe into forbidden areas. (B’chor shor) את אלהיהם על ההרים, “their deities on the mountains;” our sages explain that they had not turned the mountains themselves into deities. (Sifri ) את אלהיהם, “this word has the letter ו missing after the letter ל.” In this way it is a continuation of the line: “upon which the gentile nations had served their idols.” The paragraph is a commandment to remove and destroy all idols everywhere the Canaanites had worshipped such socalled deities.
Rabbeinu Bahya
אבד תאבדון, “you must surely destroy, etc.” The repetition of the verb אבד prompted our sages in Avodah Zarah 45 to say that when destroying idols, etc., one must do more than let the remains lie around, but must scatter them in the wind or drown them in the Dead Sea or a similar place.
Rashbam
אשר עבדו שם הגויים, where the former inhabitants worshipped their deities.
And you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall hew down the graven images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place.
verse value 8058
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 83 letters. The shortest word is "in·fire" (בָּאֵ֔שׁ, 3 letters) and the longest is "their·altars" (אֶת־מִזְבְּחֹתָ֗ם, 8 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·shall·tear·down" (וְנִתַּצְתֶּ֣ם), "their·altars" (אֶת־מִזְבְּחֹתָ֗ם), "and·you·shall·smash" (וְשִׁבַּרְתֶּם֙). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "their·gods" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root הוא, 113x in Deuteronomy); "their·name" (root שם, 101x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you·shall·cut·down', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 4 words. Full calculation: וְנִתַּצְתֶּ֣ם [and·you·shall·tear·down] (986) + אֶת־מִזְבְּחֹתָ֗ם [their·altars] (898) + וְשִׁבַּרְתֶּם֙ [and·you·shall·smash] (948) + אֶת־מַצֵּ֣בֹתָ֔ם [their·pillars] (973) + וַאֲשֵֽׁרֵיהֶם֙ [and·their·asherahs] (562) + תִּשְׂרְפ֣וּן [you·shall·burn] (1036) + בָּאֵ֔שׁ [in·fire] (303) + וּפְסִילֵ֥י [carved·images·of] (196) + אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶ֖ם [their·gods] (91) + תְּגַדֵּע֑וּן [you·shall·cut·down] (533) + וְאִבַּדְתֶּ֣ם [and·you·shall·destroy] (453) + אֶת־שְׁמָ֔ם [their·name] (781) + מִן־הַמָּק֖וֹם [from·the·place] (281) + הַהֽוּא [that] (17) = 8058.
Onkelos
You shall tear down their altars, and shatter their pillars, and burn their Asherahs in fire, and cut down the graven images of their idols, and obliterate their name from that place.
Rashi
מזבח consists of many stones, מצבה of one stone only. It is the בימוס, the pedestal for idolatrous statuary, of which we learn in the Mishna (Avodah Zarah 3:7): A stone which one originally hewed for an idol’s pedestal is forbidden for use. אשרה is a tree that had been worshipped (Avodah Zarah 47a). ואבדתם את שמם AND DESTROY THEIR NAMES by giving them contemptuous nicknames. What they call בית גליא, “a sublime house”, you should call בית כריא, “a base house”, what they call עין כל, “the universal eye”, you call, עין קוץ “the thorn eye” (Avodah Zarah 46a).
Ibn Ezra
"Their Asherahs" — these are trees. "And you shall destroy their name" — so that they will not be remembered.
Or HaChaim
ואבדתם את שמם, "and you will destroy their name, etc." The question is asked in Avodah Zarah 45 what these words can possibly add when we have already been told to utterly destroy every place where idolatry had been performed? The sages answer that even the roots of the trees which were symbols of idolatry have to be uprooted. Rabbi Akiva says that the names of such sites have to changed to something degrading. Thus far the Talmud. Perhaps the Torah wanted to issue a special warning applicable only to the land of Israel, similar to what Maimonides wrote that in the Holy Land we have to seek out such places and destroy them, whereas in other countries we are not obliged to do this. This is why Moses emphasises the words מן המקום ההוא, "from that place."
Chizkuni
ונתצתם את מזבחותם, “you shall break down all their altars;” the phrase is a repetition as it is needed for the other half, the commandment to wipe out the names of these deities, (at the end of the verse). ואשריהם תשרפון באש, “and burn their asherim by fire.” In Deuteronomy 7,5, the Torah instructed that the asherim ought to be hewn down, מגדעון. Our sages explain this difference by saying that if these trees had been planted before they had been worshipped whatever had grown after that has to be cut down. If they had been planted after on that site idolatry had already been practiced, the entire tree or trees have to be burned. ופסילי אלהיהם תגדעון, “and the graven images of their deities you must cut down. In Deuteronomy 7,5, we read that ופסיליהם תשרפו באש, “and their carved images you must burn.” This refers to these images having been carved into the trunk of the tree while the tree was still planted in the earth. If a figure had been carved into the trunk after it had been cut down, you must burn the whole trunk of that tree. If he had cut down the image without burning the tree, the tree may remain standing. An alternate interpretation of the differing methods for destroying symbols of paganism: in both instances either cutting down such symbols or burning them is the appropriate method of destroying them. ואשריהם תשרפון באש, “and their existing asherim you must burn by fire.” Seeing that the Holy Land had been designated as belonging to Israel by G-d, and at the time when the Israelites had said at the time of the golden calf: “these are your deities O Israel,” they yearned for a multiplicity of deities. As a result of this outcry, all the various deities served in the land of Canaan became partially owned by the Israelites. (Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin folio 63) Idols owned by Israelites can never be utterly annulled. (Talmud tractate Avodah Zarah folio 53) They must be destroyed utterly beyond any recognition physically. ואבדתם את שמם, “you must abolish their names, even.” (Compare Numbers 32,38, their names had been changed)
Cross-references: Deuteronomy 16:21; II Kings 10:26
Verse structure: 4 words, 20 letters. Verse gematria: 1089 = 33². The shortest word is "thus" (כֵּ֔ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "you·shall·not·do" (לֹֽא־תַעֲשׂ֣וּן, 7 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·not·do" (לֹֽא־תַעֲשׂ֣וּן). 4 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "you·shall·not·do" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy). Full calculation: לֹֽא־תַעֲשׂ֣וּן [you·shall·not·do] (857) + כֵּ֔ן [thus] (70) + לַיהֹוָ֖ה [to·Hashem] (56) + אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם [your·God] (106) = 1089.
Onkelos
You shall not do so before Hashem your God.
Rashi
לא תעשון כן YE SHALL NOT DO SO [UNTO THE LORD YOUR GOD] — i.e. to burn offerings to God at any place you choose (as do the idolaters, cf. v. 2), but at the place which He will choose (cf. vv. 5—6). — Another explanation is: ונתצתם את מזבחתם … ואבדתם את שמם … לא תעשון כן YE SHALL PULL DOWN THEIR ALTARS … YE SHALL DESTROY THEIR NAMES … BUT YE SHALL NOT DO THIS [TO THE LORD YOUR GOD] — It is a prohibition addressed to one who would blot out the Name of God from any writing, or would pull out a stone from the altar or from the forecourt (cf. Sifrei Devarim 61:12; Makkot 22a). R. Ishmael said: “But can the idea enter your mind that the Israelites would pull down the altars of God?” But the meaning of לא תעשון כן is that you should not do like their doings so that your sins would cause the Sanctuary of (built by) your fathers to be laid waste (Sifrei Devarim 61:7).
Ramban
YE SHALL NOT DO SO UNTO THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D — “to burn offerings to G-d at any place [you choose], but only at the place He shall choose. Another interpretation: And ye shall break down their altars etc., and ye shall destroy their name — ye shall not do so unto the Eternal your G-d, this being an admonition against erasing the Name of G-d, or dismantling any stone of the altar or of the Sanctuary Court. Said Rabbi Yishmael: ‘Could it even occur to you that the Israelites would break down the altars [of G-d]? But the meaning of the verse is that you are not to imitate the deeds [of the idolators] lest your sins cause your ancestors’ Sanctuary to be destroyed.’” This is Rashi’s language. Now the words of Rabbi Yishmael are words of Agadah (homily) based on a Scriptural support [and they are not meant to be taken as the plain meaning of the verse]. However, the verse according to the opinion of our Rabbis, constitutes an admonition against erasing the Divine Name. It is so expressly stated in Tractate Makkoth: “But there is yet the penalty for erasing the Divine Name which is whipping, and the prohibition is to be found in these words, Ye shall not do so unto the Eternal.” And the language of the Sifre is as follows: “Whence do I know that he who dismantles one stone [of the altar] etc.? Rabbi Yishmael says: ‘Whence do I know that he who erases one letter of the Divine Name transgresses a negative commandment? Because it is written, and ye shall destroy their name — Ye shall not do so unto the Eternal your G-d.’ Rabban Gamaliel the son of Rabbi says: ‘But how could it occur to you [that the Israelites would dismantle] etc.’” Thus [it is clear that] the words of Rabbi Yishmael [quoted by Rashi] were not meant to dispute [the opinion of the unnamed First Sage]; rather, they are a clarification that erasing the Divine Name is equivalent to dismantling a stone of the altar. And if so, the meaning of the verses would be: “And ye shall break down their altars etc. and ye shall destroy their name out of that place — but ye shall not do so unto the Eternal your G-d to break down His altar, nor to destroy His Name. Instead, give glory to His Name and His altar, and to the place which He shall choose there to establish His altar; to [the place where] His Name dwells shall you seek, and bring your burnt-offerings before Him.”
Ibn Ezra
"You shall not do so" — the meaning is: you shall not sacrifice on the high places and the hills, but only at the place where He will set His name.
Or HaChaim
לא חעשון כן לה׳ אלוקיכם, "Do not do so to the Lord your G'd!" Our sages in the Sifri on our verse understand this as a reference to the prohibition of erasing the holy name of G'd, or even part of it. They read together the words ואבדתם את שמם לא תעשו כן. Perhaps the wording of our verse is intended to draw attention to two separate halachot concerning erasing any part of G'd's name. We have a law about erasing the name of G'd itself, and there is a law about erasing suffixes appended behind the name of G'd. When the Torah says לשם, it refers to any of the various names of G'd and not merely the Tetragram. When the Torah adds the word אלוקיכם, it alludes to the suffix כם. Maimonides writes in chapter six of his treatise Yesodey Hatorah that the penalty of 39 lashes applies only to someone who actually erased letters of G'd's name, as the Torah is not outspoken about the suffixes. The Sifri also concludes from this verse that removing a single stone from the courtyard of the Temple is a violation of a negative commandment as it says in our verse: לא תעשון", "you must not do." It appears to me that this law is not limited to removal of a whole stone but to the removal of any quantity of stone which leaves a visible void.
Chizkuni
לא תעשון כן, “You shall not do likewise, etc.” you cannot serve the Lord your G-d and sacrifice offerings to Him at any place that you choose.
Rabbeinu Bahya
לא תעשון כן, “do not do likewise, etc.” You must not burn incense on the various mountains even to Hashem, seeing this was where the pagans offered their incense. The only place where G’d welcomes incense as an offering is the one designated by Him in the Holy Temple (Ibn Ezra).
Kli Yakar
“You shall not do so to the Lord your God, etc.” Since the nations choose for their false beliefs the high mountains and leafy trees, as the idols do not honor the place but rather the place honors them, and those who follow the false belief seek the place more than the false belief itself, and since the place is a major factor in this worship, therefore it says you shall surely destroy all the places, etc. But you shall not do so to the Lord your God — you shall not be the ones choosing the place, but rather to the place that the Lord will choose, etc. For He is the one who chooses, not you, because His honor is not dependent on the place; rather, the Holy One honors His place. Therefore, you shall seek His dwelling. Do not seek the place, but rather seek His dwelling — where is the place of His glory, for He is the essential, and the place is secondary to Him. And regarding why it says that the Lord will choose without immediately revealing the place, the Master, the Guide [Maimonides], gave three reasons for this matter, which Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel mentions in his book. And I say that there is a secret in this matter, because even to Abraham He did not reveal it immediately. And He said upon one of the mountains which I will tell you (Genesis 22:2) and called its name the Lord will see (Genesis 22:14), for He, blessed be He, is the One who sees, and we do not know the extent [of His wisdom]. And it is reasonable to suggest that the reason He did not reveal it was so that they would not treat Shiloh, Nov, and Gibeon with contempt when they would know with certainty that these were not the inheritance and the resting place. And you should know that the commentators said that here there is an allusion to Shiloh and the eternal House [the Temple], and they proved this from several variations they saw in the passage. For at first it says regarding Shiloh, but to the place… to put His name there — implying a temporary placing for a limited time, which refers to Shiloh. And afterward it says, and the place that the Lord will choose to establish His name there — to establish implies permanence for generations. In the first instance it says your vows, and regarding the eternal House [it says] the choicest of your vows, and adds and you shall rejoice before the Lord, while in the first instance it does not mention before the Lord. In the first instance it says you and your households, and regarding the eternal House it adds you and your sons and your daughters. In the second instance it says that the Lord your God will choose in it — implying in that place, while in the first instance it does not mention in it. And on this I have a difficulty, for in the first [verse] it says from all your tribes, which implies that he collected money from all the tribes, and Rashi proved this from the end of the book of Samuel (II 24:24) from what is written there fifty shekels, yet in Chronicles (I 21:25) it is written a weight of six hundred. Rather it is that he collected fifty shekels from each and every tribe, which added up to 600. If so, the first verse certainly speaks about the eternal Temple which David built. And further I have a difficulty: Has not the place of the eternal Temple been chosen since ancient times? And the proof is from Adam who sacrificed there, and the incident of the binding of Isaac proves this. So what is meant by that the Lord will choose which implies in the future? And as for what was said that the term “placement” [sima] implies a temporary placement, I am not satisfied with this interpretation, for it is said And teach it to the children of Israel, place it in their mouths (Deuteronomy 31:19). Did the Lord command to place the Torah in their mouths as a temporary placement? See what Rashi explained on the verse that you shall place before them (Exodus 21:1). It implies that the opposite is more reasonable, that the term “placement” [sima] indicates something fixed which will never be removed. Therefore I say the opposite, and with this everything will be resolved. For what was said, But only to the place that the Lord will choose from all your tribes to place His name there refers to the eternal Temple that was collected from all the tribes. And even though that place was already chosen from the days of the Patriarchs, nevertheless it says will choose in future tense because ultimately He will choose to collect money from all your tribes. Therefore, it does not say “will choose it from all your tribes” because “it” refers to the place, and the place was already chosen. And what it says which He will choose means that He will choose to collect from all your tribes to place His name there permanently. You shall seek out His dwelling means you should inquire from the elders and the wise, and they will tell you that this place was chosen for holiness from ancient times. And you shall come there is in singular form because this verse is a warning to the many and a warning to the individual not to offer sacrifices on a private altar. Not only many people, who might be suspected of wanting to separate from the congregation of Israel, but even an individual who is not suspect of this, nevertheless should not offer on a private altar. And you shall bring there, etc. — the reason it does not say “the choicest of your vows” to teach that one should bring from the best, is because this is [understood] a fortiori [all the more so] from Shiloh. Furthermore, even a minimal bringing causes a person greater success in this holy place. And it says And you shall eat there before the Lord because even physical eating is before the Lord there, and all the more so happiness, which is in the soul. And it says you and your households because it is assumed that in Jerusalem, many people, both the masses and the distinguished, bought houses (Nahum 1:12), notable houses, and with this he included all the members of his household. And afterwards, it says, And you shall cross the Jordan, etc. And it shall be the place which the Lord your God will choose, etc. This implies that this is speaking about the place that was chosen soon after crossing the Jordan, which is Shiloh. And concerning it, He says which He will choose because He would eventually choose that place to rest His name there temporarily, as the Tabernacle is called by this name because it was temporary. And you shall rejoice there before the Lord — specifically the joy of the soul before the Lord, and the entire matter is self-explanatory. And the reason why the text repeats and says, But only in the place which the Lord will choose from one of your tribes, refers also to Shiloh, which was in one of the tribes and not in all of them. And the verse comes to establish a negative commandment in this matter, as Rashi explains, even in Shiloh, and all the more so in the eternal Temple. And if the verse had not repeated, But only in the place, etc., I would have said that what it says, Be careful, to establish a negative commandment in this matter, applies only to the eternal Temple. And this interpretation is true and correct.
Rashbam
לא תעשון כן לה' אלוקיכם, to offer sacrifices in every place of your choosing instead of in the Tabernacle.
But to the place which Hashem your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, even to His habitation shall you seek, and there you shall come;
verse value 5150 — יְהֹוָ֤ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 65 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֤ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 5150 is divisible by 50, the years to the Jubilee (yovel). The shortest word is "but" (כִּ֠י, 2 letters) and the longest is "only·to·the·place" (אִֽם־אֶל־הַמָּק֞וֹם, 9 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "from·all·your·tribes" (מִכׇּל־שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֔ם), "his·dwelling" (לְשִׁכְנ֥וֹ), "you·shall·seek" (תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ). The root שם appears 3 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "but" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'there', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 4 words. Full calculation: כִּ֠י [but] (30) + אִֽם־אֶל־הַמָּק֞וֹם [only·to·the·place] (263) + אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֨ר [that·he·shall·choose] (721) + יְהֹוָ֤ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֙ [your·God] (106) + מִכׇּל־שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֔ם [from·all·your·tribes] (471) + לָשׂ֥וּם [to·put] (376) + אֶת־שְׁמ֖וֹ [his·name] (747) + שָׁ֑ם [there] (340) + לְשִׁכְנ֥וֹ [his·dwelling] (406) + תִדְרְשׁ֖וּ [you·shall·seek] (910) + וּבָ֥אתָ [and·you·shall·come] (409) + שָּֽׁמָּה [there] (345) = 5150.
Onkelos
But only to the place that Hashem your God shall choose from all your tribes to cause His Shechinah to dwell there — to the dwelling place of His Shechinah shall you seek, and there shall you come.
Rashi
לשכנו תדרשו AFTER HIS RESIDENCE SHALL YE INQUIRE — This refers to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. (Sifrei Devarim 62:3)
Ramban
UNTO HIS HABITATION SHALL YE SEEK. The meaning thereof is that you are to come from distant countries asking, “Where is the road leading to the House of G-d?,” and you should say to one another, ‘Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Eternal, to the House of the G-d of Jacob,’ similar to the expression, They shall inquire concerning Zion with their faces hit herward. And in the Sifre it is stated: “Ye shall seek — seek [the place where G-d intended that His House be built] through the command of the prophet. I might think that you are to wait until the prophet tells you [when and where to build it]; Scripture therefore states, unto His habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come — seek and find [the place], and afterwards the prophet will tell you [whether your choice is the correct one]. And so you find it in the case of David etc.”And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], l’shichno (unto His habitation) shall ye seek means that you are to inquire after His Glory [that abides there]; and thither thou shalt come to appear before the Lord, Eternal G-d, the G-d of Israel. It is on the basis of this expression here [l’shichno — unto His habitation] that the Sages have spoken of the Shechinah (“Divine Presence”).
Ibn Ezra
"To set His name there" — this is like 'I will cause My name to be mentioned.' "His dwelling place you shall seek" — this refers to the land, and the meaning is: the place where His glory dwells.
Sforno
המקום אשר יבחר ה' אלוקיכם מכל שבטיכם...לשכנו, the place where His Name will have a permanent residence, during the early period at Shiloh, later on in Jerusalem, Solomon’s Temple, better known as בית עולמים, the permanent Temple. תדרשו, you shall seek out this place to worship and to offer your sacrifices, as per Isaiah 11,10 אליו גויים ידרשו, “nations will seek Him out there.” ובאת שמה, G’d will not come to you, as in the case of the idolaters, but you will come to Him.
Chizkuni
כי אם אל המקום אשר יבחר, “except at a place of His choosing.” Moses did not spell out the name of that place, seeing that at different times G-d’s Presence decides to accept homage at different locations. [but never at more than one place at a given time. Ed.]
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי אם אל המקום אשר יבחר ה' אלו-היכם מכל שבטיכם, “except in the place which the Lord your G’d will select from amongst all your tribes, etc.” The place in question is Mount Moriah; it is well known among the Gentiles. They know of its spiritual advantages through tradition. There is no need to mention this location by name. The people all had a tradition that this was where their ancestor Yitzchak had lain bound on the altar. Maimonides writes in his Moreh Nevuchim (3,45) that there were three reasons why the location of the future Temple was not spelled out at this point. 1) If the nations of the world had known that in that location prayers are answered positively by G’d and sacrifices are welcome to Him, every nation would have made a supreme effort to take possession of that site. This would have resulted in untold slaughter among the nations and ongoing strife among them. 2) If the Canaanites who dwelled in the land at the time Moses spoke these words had heard of them and they had realized that the Israelites would dispossess them and take over that site they would have utterly destroyed it before the Jewish people had a chance to conquer it. 3) Even the tribes of the Israelites would have argued among themselves in whose territory this site, would be located at the time the land was distributed among the tribes. Such a division among the people would have been even worse than the rebellion of Korach when the people were not prepared to recognize the preferred hereditary status of the Priests. For all these reasons Moses preferred not to spell out the exact location of where the Temple would be built in the future. If even the Jews did not know the location, it is clear that the Gentiles did not know it either. Although everyone knew of the significance of Mount Moriah in the past, they had no idea of what this meant in terms of its future religious significance, in terms of the place G’d would choose. לשכנו תדרשו, “you shall seek out His Presence.” You should seek out His attribute כבוד which first became manifest on Mount Sinai. In due course this Shechinah would be manifest in the Holy Land, originally in Shiloh (where the Tabernacle stood for over 390 years.). In this instance, seeing that Mount Moriah as the ultimate site of the Temple was not known yet, Moses has in mind the Tabernacle of Shiloh.
Tur HaArokh
לשכנו תדרשו, “you shall seek out His presence.” You are to come from afar and enquire as to the directions you have to travel to get to the location of the Tabernacle/Temple. You are to gradually congregate in larger and larger numbers, each encouraging the other to make the pilgrimage to the House of the Lord.
and there you shall bring your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock;
verse value 6535
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 76 letters. The shortest word is "there" (שָׁ֗מָּה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·your·tithes" (וְאֵת֙ מַעְשְׂרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם, 11 letters). 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·shall·bring" (וַהֲבֵאתֶ֣ם), "burnt·offerings" (עֹלֹֽתֵיכֶם֙), "and·your·tithes" (וְאֵת֙ מַעְשְׂרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·you·shall·bring" (root בוא, 106x in Deuteronomy); "there" (root שם, 101x in Deuteronomy); "hand" (root יד, 83x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root זבח ("sacrifices") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root מעשר ("and·your·tithes") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'hand', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 5 words. 8 of the verse's 12 words begin with the letter ו. Full calculation: וַהֲבֵאתֶ֣ם [and·you·shall·bring] (454) + שָׁ֗מָּה [there] (345) + עֹלֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ [burnt·offerings] (570) + וְזִבְחֵיכֶ֔ם [sacrifices] (93) + וְאֵת֙ מַעְשְׂרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם [and·your·tithes] (1487) + וְאֵ֖ת תְּרוּמַ֣ת [and·contribution] (1453) + יֶדְכֶ֑ם [hand] (74) + וְנִדְרֵיכֶם֙ [vows] (330) + וְנִדְבֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם [freewill·offerings] (532) + וּבְכֹרֹ֥ת [firstlings] (628) + בְּקַרְכֶ֖ם [cattle] (362) + וְצֹאנְכֶֽם [and·your·flock] (207) = 6535.
Onkelos
And you shall bring there your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and your tithes, and the separation of your hands, and your vow offerings, and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your cattle and of your flocks.
Rashi
וזבחיהם AND YOUR SACRIFICES — Obligatory feast-offerings (cf. Sifrei Devarim 63:7) מעשרתיכם [THERE YOU SHALL BRING] YOUR TITHES — i.e. both the tithe of the cattle and the second tithe, in order to consume them within the wall(cf. Sifrei Devarim 63:8). תרומת ידכם THE HEAVE-OFFERING OF YOUR HAND — These are the first-fruits of which it is said, (Deuteronomy 26:4) “And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 63:9). ובכרת בקרכם AND THE FIRSTLINGS OF YOUR HERD — in order to give them to the priest that he may offer them there.
Ramban
YOUR TITHES — “the tithe of cattle and the Second Tithe which are to be eaten within the wall [of Jerusalem]. AND HEAVE-OFFERING OF YOUR HAND — these are the first-fruits of which it is said, And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand. ” This is Rashi’s language quoting the words of our Rabbis. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture the verse mentions the burnt-offerings, and the sacrifices that he is obligated to eat there within the boundary [of Jerusalem] before the Eternal. It mentions also that he is to bring there the tithe and the heave-offering to give them to the priests and Levites who are the ministers of the Sanctuary so that they too, rejoice with you and your families, as it says, Bring ye the whole tithe into the store-house, that there be food in My house, and try Me now herewith, saith the Eternal of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall be more than enough. And so indeed [the prophets and leaders] established an ordinance during the Second Temple concerning the heave-offering and the heave-offering of the tithe that the people bring them to the Sanctuary, as it is said, and that we should bring the first of our dough, and our heave-offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, the wine and the oil, unto the priests, to the chambers of the House of our G-d, and it is further said, [and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes] unto the House of our G-d, to the chambers, into the treasure-house. And the meaning of the expression and heave-offering of your hand is [in line with the simple meaning of Scripture a reference to the heave-offering and not to the first-fruits] because the Torah has set no fixed measure for the heave-offering [which the Israelite gives to the priest]; rather it consists of whatever his hand sets aside [for the priest]. Similarly, that which is said, Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn etc. or the heave-offering of thine hand reminds the Israelite that he is not to eat in his own city the tithe, the firstlings, the vow-offerings, or the heave-offering. And then the verse proceeds to distinguish between them, but thou shalt eat them before the Eternal thy G-d etc. thou, and thy son, and thy daughter whatever may be eaten by you [i.e., the Second Tithe]; and the Levite that is within thy gates shall eat there in your gates [i.e., outside Jerusalem] what is due him [i.e., the First Tithe] as it is stated concerning them, And ye may eat in every place. Scripture thus abbreviates concerning matters that are explained elsewhere. And I am further of the opinion regarding the plain meaning of this verse that the expression [in the verse before us] heave-offering of your hand denotes that which a person lifts up to the Eternal of his silver and gold to buy with it a burnt-offering or a [peace-]offering. And [the verse before us] mentions three kinds of offerings: the vow-offerings which are [assumed as...
Tur HaArokh
מעשרותיכם, “your tithes;” according to Rashi the reference is to the “second” tithe, as well as the tithe of the newly born animals which needs to be consumed in Jeru-salem, (or its equivalent). The expression תרומת ידכם, refers to the first ripe fruit of the seven species for which the Land of Israel is especially famous. Nachmanides writes that Rashi’s commentary is indeed the view of our sages of old, (Sifri, 63) whereas the plain meaning of the text Moses mentions refers to the various sacrificial offerings which all need to be consumed within the holy precincts; having mentioned that requirement, Moses adds the various gifts intended for the priests and Levites, encouraging the Israelites to bring these to Jerusalem (or wherever the Temple stood at that time) in order to rejoice together with the priests and Levites who were found there in large numbers. These were not looked upon as poor people in need of a hand out, but as the people’s representatives who performed the service in and around the Temple as delegates of the people at large. He explains the term תרומת ידכם, as an allusion to the generosity, ידכם, of the donor, seeing that as opposed to the tithes, the Torah had not mentioned how much of the harvest had to be reserved for the priest under the heading of תרומה, “heave offering.” Personally, (still Nachmanides writing) I feel that the term תרומת ידכם refers to free-willed gifts, or offerings on the altar, not connected to obligatory parts of the harvests that the Torah commanded to set aside for various members of the Jewish society. In connection with offerings for the altar, Moses mentions three separate categories, עולה, burnt offering, none of it being eaten by even the priests, זבח, meat-offerings, the major part of the animal being eaten by the donor, and נדר, or נדבה, different categories of vows that have to be fulfilled by a certain time in the holy precincts. The former was promised formally, using specific wording, giving the animal in question the same status as an obligatory offering, the latter was donated without the donor using predetermined language. (Not having said הרי עלי, “I am assuming the obligation of an offering”, but having simply said: “this will be a free-willed offering.”) The תרומה that Moses speaks of does not refer to livestock, but to money or other chattels that the donor elevated to a degree of holiness by the manner in which he designated it for the Temple treasury. He may even bring an animal of his to the Temple and then proclaim: “this is a gift of mine to be used as the Temple treasurer sees fit.” The wording תרומה in this context reflects what we have read in Exodus 35,24 כל מרים תרומת כסף וגו', “every person who elevates a gift of silver, etc.” As long as this gift had been under the control of the donor it had not yet become sanctified at all. What the returning soldiers handed over to Eleazar in Numbers 31,29 as donations from their loot is referred to as תרומה, although its ritual status was completely secular at the time. The reason why Moses did not refer to תרומותיכם, and said תרומת ידכם, was to prevent us erring and thinking that he referred to gifts which the donor had been obligated by the Torah to bring to the priest, although the size of that gift was at his discretion. The common denominator of all the various items mentioned in our verse was that they had to be present within the holy precincts of the Temple Mount.
and there you shall eat before Hashem your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which Hashem your God has blessed you.
verse value 4191 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 64 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "all" (בְּכֹל֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·you·shall·eat·there" (וַאֲכַלְתֶּם־שָׁ֗ם, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 26: Hashem, Hashem. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·shall·eat·there" (וַאֲכַלְתֶּם־שָׁ֗ם), "and·houses" (וּבָתֵּיכֶ֑ם). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root שמח ("and·you·shall·rejoice") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·houses', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַאֲכַלְתֶּם־שָׁ֗ם [and·you·shall·eat·there] (837) + לִפְנֵי֙ [before] (170) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם [your·God] (106) + וּשְׂמַחְתֶּ֗ם [and·you·shall·rejoice] (794) + בְּכֹל֙ [all] (52) + מִשְׁלַ֣ח [undertaking] (378) + יֶדְכֶ֔ם [hand] (74) + אַתֶּ֖ם [you] (441) + וּבָתֵּיכֶ֑ם [and·houses] (478) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + בֵּֽרַכְךָ֖ [he·blessed·you] (242) + יְהֹוָ֥ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ [your·God] (66) = 4191.
Onkelos
And you shall eat there before Hashem your God, and you shall rejoice in all the undertakings of your hands — you and the members of your households — because Hashem your God has blessed you.
Rashi
אשר ברכך ה׳ ACCORDING AS THE LORD [YOUR GOD] HAS BLESSED YOU — in accordance with the blessing bring [the offerings of festive rejoicing] (Sifrei Devarim 64:5).
Ibn Ezra
"And you shall eat there" — the priests and the Levites.
Sforno
(1) BEFORE ADONAI YOUR GOD, AND YOU SHALL FEAST. "Worship Adonai in gladness" (Ps. 100:2) as is appropriate for anyone who serves out of love. (2) IN ALL YOUR UNDERTAKINGS. For then you will succeed in all your ways and then you will prosper.
Chizkuni
ואכלתם שם “ you will eat there;” this is a reference to the priests and the Levites. (Ibn Ezra) אתם ובתיכם, “you and your household members.” The word: “and the Levite,” has not been repeated here seeing that this paragraph had been addressed to the Israelites before the land had been distributed to the tribes, and the Israelites had not yet been warned to give the Levite his due. However, later on, in verse 10, when Moses speaks of the period after the distribution of the land has taken place, as the period in which they will enjoy peace and security, the Torah does warn the Israelite not to neglect the Levites.
You shall not do after all that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes;
verse value 3133
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 43 letters. Verse gematria: 3133 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·straight" (כׇּל־הַיָּשָׁ֥ר, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "doing" (עֹשִׂ֛ים), "all·straight" (כׇּל־הַיָּשָׁ֥ר). The root עשה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "today" (root יום, 168x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'today', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: לֹ֣א [not] (31) + תַעֲשׂ֔וּן [you·shall·do] (826) + כְּ֠כֹ֠ל [all] (70) + אֲשֶׁ֨ר [that] (501) + אֲנַ֧חְנוּ [we] (115) + עֹשִׂ֛ים [doing] (420) + פֹּ֖ה [here] (85) + הַיּ֑וֹם [today] (61) + אִ֖ישׁ [man] (311) + כׇּל־הַיָּשָׁ֥ר [all·straight] (565) + בְּעֵינָֽיו [eye] (148) = 3133.
Onkelos
You shall not do as all that we are doing here today, every man whatever seems right before him.
Rashi
לא תעשון ככל אשר אנחנו עשים וגו׳ YE SHALL NOT DO AFTER ALL [THE THINGS] THAT WE DO [HERE THIS DAY] — This refers back to what is stated above (Deuteronomy 11:31) “for ye shall pass over the Jordan etc.”, the meaning being: when ye have crossed the Jordan, you are at once permitted to offer on Bamahs, during all the fourteen years of subjugating and dividing the land amongst the tribes: but on these Bamahs you must not sacrifice all that you sacrifice “here this day”, in the Tabernacle that is with you and that has been anointed and is thus fit to offer sin and guilt offerings and vows and free-will offerings on it, whilst on a Bamah only that may be sacrificed which has been made the subject of a vow or a free-will offering. And that is the meaning of איש כל הישר בעיניו, “every man whatsoever is right in his eyes” — vows and free-will offerings which you dedicate because it is pleasing in your eyes to bring them, and not because of an obligation imposed upon you, such may you offer on Bamahs, but not sacrifices that are to be offered in consequence of an obligation (sin and guilt offerings) (Sifrei Devarim 65:4; Zevachim 117b).
Ramban
YE SHALL NOT DO AFTER ALL THAT WE DO HERE THIS DAY, EVERY MAN WHATSOEVER IS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote by way of the plain meaning of Scripture, “they have explained it [as follows]: Because they were journeying from stage to stage, [they brought no offerings from the time they left Mount Sinai until after the death of Aaron in the fortieth year after the exodus. Even after his death] a person could bring an offering at any stage as he wished; there were some who gave the firstling of their flock [to the priest] and others who did not give, since the commandment [to give the firstborn] is dependent on the Land. [Hence the verse before us says that after arriving in the Land we are no longer to do whatever is right in the eyes of each individual.] But this is not my own opinion [continues Ibn Ezra]. Rather, the meaning of the verse is that they were not all G-d-fearing [and they sacrificed to the host of heaven; hence Moses warned them against continuing to do so in the Land of Israel]. And the reason Moses used the word ‘we’ [Ye shall not do after all that ‘we’ do — implying that he, too, participated in such transgressions] is because many commandments relating to the offerings apply only within the Land” [and not in the wilderness; hence, Moses himself had never fulfilled those commandments. He, therefore, included himself among the people]. This is Ibn Ezra’s language. But it is not correct, since it is out of context for the section to speak in terms of reproof [that they were sacrificing to the host of heaven] and to say to them now that they were not observing the commandments of G-d, every man doing what was right in his own eyes. [On the contrary, Verses 4-15 contain a positive discussion of the chosen place that awaited them in the Land of Israel.] And how could Moses our teacher say “We are committing sins!” Forbid it! Instead he should have said “You shall not do after all that ‘you’ have done to this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.” And what sense was there to include among the sins the commandments that depend on the Land?Rather, the meaning of the verse is as follows: “When the Israelites were in the wilderness they were commanded to slaughter all their cattle and sheep as peace-offerings before the Tabernacle, but they would perform [the Service of the offerings] in whatever place the Tabernacle was [that is, wherever it halted rather than in a fixed location]. And if someone did not care to eat the meat of bullocks or sheep he was not at all obligated to bring an offering. He was also not obligated to bring firstlings, nor the tithe of cattle and the Second Tithe. Thus a person was not bound, ever to bring an offering to the Tabernacle as an obligation, and even on the festivals they were not obligated to come there. So also in the wilderness, after the sprinkling of the blood and the burning of the sacrificial fat of the peace-offering [on the altar], the owner might eat it wherever...
Ibn Ezra
"You shall not do as we are now doing here" — because they were traveling from encampment to encampment, and there were those who offered a burnt-offering at whatever encampment they chose after the death of Aaron, and there were those who gave their firstborn of the flock, and there were those who did not give it, since the commandment is contingent upon the land. But this is not my view. Rather, the meaning is that not all of them were those who feared Hashem. And because he said 'we,' behold there are many commandments mentioned there, such as burnt-offerings that are contingent upon the land, as it is written.
Chizkuni
לא תעשון ככל אשר אנחנו עושים פה היום, “You are not to act as we are in the habit of doing here at this time;” the Torah connects the prohibition of offering sacrifices on private altars to the building of a central Temple; the reason is that such a Temple cannot be built until all the parts of the country have been conquered. Until such time the people would be afraid to absent themselves for longer periods from their homes for fear of encouraging attacks by the enemy. The Torah therefore links worship at a central Temple to feeling secure from attacks by potential enemies. Such a situation would not arise until four hundred years after the wars fought by Joshua, when we read in Samuel II 7,1 that David told the prophet Natan, that he felt the time had come to provide G-d with a permanent home (in Jerusalem). [We are told in Kings I 6,1 that Solomon’s Temple was not built until four hundred and eighty years after the Exodus from Egypt. David had told the prophet that he felt secure enough to undertake the building of a permanent Temple, seeing that he had vanquished all the enemies surrounding the land of Israel. While agreeing with that statement, the actual building was delayed so that a king who had not had to fight wars, i.e. his son Solomon, would be the symbol of peace, the symbol of G-d’s rule on earth. Ed.] איש כל הישר בעיניו, “everyone whatsoever was right in his eyes;” Rashi is at pains to make sure that we do not understand these words literally, but that it refers to offering sacrifices in his backyard, instead of bringing the animals concerned to the Tabernacle or its successor, such as Shiloh where a permanent structure, but without a solid roof, functioned as the central place of worship for over three hundred and fifty years. [The fact that Rashi is correct is proved, when in verse fourteen, Moses spells out that all sacrifices will have to be offered in a place designated by G-d Himself, or they would not be welcome, and the person doing so would instead be punished with the most severe punishment available, karet, being excised posthumously from membership in the Jewish people. (Leviticus 17,9) Ed.]
Rabbeinu Bahya
לא תעשון ככל אשר אנחנו עושים פה היום, “This verse addresses the problem of private altars which during the transitional 14 years of conquest and distribution of the land were still permitted as sites from which to present offerings, something which had been forbidden while the people were in the desert, seeing the Tabernacle was right in their midst and there was no need to travel in order to offer sacrifices in it.
Tur HaArokh
לא תעשון ככל אשר אנחנו עושים פה היום, “Do not do as we are in the habit of doing here this day;” Ibn Ezra writes that what Moses referred to here, according to the plain meaning of the text, as suggested by some commentators, is that the strict division between holy precincts and less holy precincts had been blurred in the desert due to the frequent need to break camp, and to journey. Accordingly, Moses would warn that such liberties as people took in the desert they will not be able to take once the people are settled on their land. Ibn Ezra does not agree with this explanation, but he feels that Moses refers to the people in the camp who were not so pious, not so observant, who took liberties with the sacrificial offerings after the death of Aaron. He tells these people that they must bring the firstborn of their animals to the priest as prescribed by Torah law. It is most unlikely that Moses included himself in the laxity practiced, even though he uses the word אנחנו, ”we,” when referring to people doing things that were not approved of. Nachmanides explains our verse almost completely different, i.e. Moses referring to restrictive rules that would be relaxed [in some respects, i.e. meat, in order to qualify as food, did not first have to be sanctified. Ed.] After the people were settled on their land. While in the desert, anyone wishing to eat meat, his own animal, had to first designate it as a sacrifice and bring it to the courtyard of the Tabernacle where it would be slaughtered. Seeing that the Tabernacle moved from site to site with the people, there was no fixed site where such offerings had to be presented. It was therefore assumed by them that as long as they offered such animals on an altar, say, next to their own tents, this would be all right. Not only that, but if someone did not feel the urge to eat meat, he did not have to bring any animals as sacrificial offerings at all. He therefore did not feel that he had to come to the Tabernacle even on the Holydays if he did not feel like eating any meat. A situation had arisen where the “man in the street” made his own judgments on such matters. Similarly, the impression had spread that as long as those who wanted to eat meat had performed the burning of the parts of the animal meant to be burned on the altar had been burned there and the blood sprinkled, no more had to be done, seeing that each family would have their own altar next to their home. Moses therefore warns that this was not at all what the situation would be like once they would be settled in their land. This is also what our sages had in mind when they said that it was general practice for the Israelites to offer their vows on private altars. [As opposed to the pilgrimages undertaken to the Temple where the requisite offerings for the festival would be offered. compare Zevachim 117. Historically, it is a fact that even under the most pious kings of the Kingdom of Yehudah, until about 100 years before the destruction of the first Temple, during the reign of Yoshiyahu, the practice of private altars on which people sacrificed voluntary offerings to Hashem had not been eradicated. It took over 900 years after Moses’ death to finally accomplish this Compare Chronicles II 34,3 Ed.] Our author, commenting on the above, questions the line in which Nachmanides claims that while in the desert the people had not been given permission to offer these private offerings near their respective tents instead of having to bring them to the Tabernacle. He claims that from the above-mentioned comment in the Talmud Zevachim it is clear that such permission did exist regarding offerings known as קדשים קלים, offerings of a relatively lower degree of sanctity, i.e. the ones that could be consumed in their tents by the owners. He concludes that what Nachmanides may have meant by the words “wherever they pleased,” was “within the encamp-ment,” which itself was “holy in the sense that the Shechinah rested over the entire camp all the time.
Rashbam
איש כל הישר בעיניו, in every location in the desert where we put up the Tabernacle after making camp we offer our sacrifices.
for you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Hashem your God gives you.
verse value 2476
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 46 letters. The shortest word is "because" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·resting·place" (אֶל־הַמְּנוּחָה֙, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "not·yet·come" (לֹא־בָאתֶ֖ם), "until·now" (עַד־עָ֑תָּה), "the·resting·place" (אֶל־הַמְּנוּחָה֙). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "giving" (root נתן, 176x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'until·now', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 6 words. Full calculation: כִּ֥י [because] (30) + לֹא־בָאתֶ֖ם [not·yet·come] (474) + עַד־עָ֑תָּה [until·now] (549) + אֶל־הַמְּנוּחָה֙ [the·resting·place] (145) + וְאֶל־הַֽנַּחֲלָ֔ה [and·the·inheritance] (135) + אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה [that·Hashem] (527) + אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ [your·God] (66) + נֹתֵ֥ן [giving] (500) + לָֽךְ [for·you] (50) = 2476.
Onkelos
For you have not yet come to the resting place and to the inheritance that Hashem your God is giving you.
Rashi
כי לא באתם FOR YE SHALL NOT HAVE COME [UNTO THE REST] all those fourteen years of conquering and dividing the land. עד עתה is the same as “by that time”. אל המנוחה [FOR YE SHALL NOT HAVE COME YET] TO THE REST — This refers to Shiloh (Sifrei Devarim 66:2), נחלה [AND TO] THE INHERITANCE — This refers to Jerusalem (Sifrei Devarim 66:2; Zevachim 119a).
Ibn Ezra
"To the resting place" — that they and their children will no longer journey; this is the meaning of 'inheritance.' The truth is that 'resting place' is explained by 'He will give you rest,' and 'inheritance' by 'and you shall dwell in security.'
Chizkuni
אל המנוחה, “to the rest;” you will not experience such a feeling until your enemies all around you have been thoroughly defeated. ואל הנחלה, “and to the inheritance;” this will not be the case until after you have crossed the Jordan and have taken possession of the west bank.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי לא באתם עד עתה, “because you have not come so far, etc.” This is a reference to the 14 years during which the conquest and distribution of the land of Canaan would take place אל המנוחה, “to the temporary rest, i.e. Shiloh,” ואל הנחלה “and to the permanent inheritance, i.e. Jerusalem.” We are entitled to ask why the Torah made reference here at all to Shiloh as it would have sufficed to allude to Jerusalem which is the principal inheritance. The reason that the Torah writes both מנוחה and נחלה is that as long as the Israelites were in the desert prior to the erection of the Tabernacle everyone offered personal offerings on private altars, not subject to any rules and regulations. As soon as the Tabernacle was erected all private altars were banned (Zevachim 112) seeing the Torah writes in Leviticus 17,4 “if he did not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle he will be subject to the karet penalty.” Once the people entered the land of Israel and they arrived at Gilgal where the Tabernacle was put up private altars were once again permitted, seeing the Torah had linked the ban on private altars to the existence of “camps,” something which existed only in the desert. (compare Maimonides Peyrush Hamishnayot Zevachim 14,5) based on Leviticus 17,3 אשר ישחט שור או כשב או עז במחנה, “who slaughters an ox, a sheep, or a goat in the camp;” in other words the insistence of the Torah that all sacrificial offerings be brought to the Tabernacle is conditional on there being different camps which surrounded the Tabernacle. As soon as the division of the people into tribal groups and camps was dissolved, the prohibition to offer sacrifices on the private altars was rescinded. It is well to remember that the Tabernacle in Gilgal was the very same which the Israelites had carried with them by dismantling it and putting it together again for the last 38 years. Once the people arrived at Shiloh we find for the first time that the “Tabernacle” is referred to as בית, “house” in Samuel I 1,24. [This “house” though it had solid walls as distinct from the Tabernacle in the desert, did not have a permanent solid roof. This is why it was also known as משכן as we know from Psalms 78,60: “He abandoned the Tabernacle in Shiloh, the tent He had set among men.” At that time private altars were forbidden once again. All of this is reflected in the two terms מנוחה and נחלה used by Moses in our verse. Had Moses not said that in the first instance the people would not come to מנוחה, we would not have had a source for permitting private altars while the Tabernacle stood in Gilgal. This was a period of 14 years. After the destruction of the Tabernacle/House in Shiloh, the Tabernacle which had served as such in the desert was erected in the towns Nov and Givon respectively where it remained for 57 years. The private altars were once again permitted during that period [seeing there were neither camps nor a “house.” Ed.]. Finally, when the Temple was erected in Jerusalem, i.e. נחלה, private altars were outlawed once and for all. By mentioning both the words מנוחה and נחלה, Moses indicates that in the interval between these two stages of “Rest” private altars would once again be permitted, i.e. during the period of Nov and Givon. Our sages in Zevachim 119 explain the separation between the words מנוחה and נחלה by the word ואל as indicative of the permission to offer sacrifices on private altars during the periods between when the Temple stood in Shiloh and when it was built in Yerushalayim. The reason the Torah applied the term מנוחה to the period when the Temple/Tabernacle stood in Shiloh is that the verse (10) promising מנוחה from all our enemies (i.e. the end of the conquest) was fulfilled at that time. The reason that the word נחלה is used by Moses to describe the Temple in Yerushalayim is that David speaks about G’d never abandoning (permanently) עמו ונחלתו in Psalms 94,14. Psalms 132,13 had already mentioned that G’d had selected Zion as His residence which He wanted. Another verse in Psalms 135, כי יעקב בחר לו י-ה לסגולתו, is interpreted by Maimonides as expressing the same thought.
Daat Zkenim
אל המנוחה, “to the rest;” the rest which the Lord will provide for them. ואל הנחלה, “and to the inheritance;” after you have crossed the river Jordan.
But when you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Hashem your God causes you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety;
verse value 4904
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 76 letters. Verse gematria: 4904 is divisible by 613, the number of the commandments (mitzvot). The shortest word is "to" (לָכֶ֧ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "from·all·your·enemies" (מִכׇּל־אֹיְבֵיכֶ֛ם, 9 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·shall·cross" (וַעֲבַרְתֶּם֮), "and·you·shall·dwell" (וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֣ם), "allotting" (מַנְחִ֣יל). The root ישב appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "in·the·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַעֲבַרְתֶּם֮ [and·you·shall·cross] (718) + אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּן֒ [the·Jordan] (670) + וִֽישַׁבְתֶּ֣ם [and·you·shall·dwell] (758) + בָּאָ֔רֶץ [in·the·land] (293) + אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה [that·Hashem] (527) + אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֖ם [your·God] (106) + מַנְחִ֣יל [allotting] (138) + אֶתְכֶ֑ם [you] (461) + וְהֵנִ֨יחַ [and·he·gives·rest] (79) + לָכֶ֧ם [to] (90) + מִכׇּל־אֹיְבֵיכֶ֛ם [from·all·your·enemies] (173) + מִסָּבִ֖יב [from·surrounding] (114) + וִֽישַׁבְתֶּם־בֶּֽטַח [and·you·shall·dwell·in·safety] (777) = 4904.
Onkelos
But you shall cross the Jordan and settle in the land that Hashem your God is granting you as a possession, and He will give you rest from all your enemies round about, and you shall dwell in safety.
Rashi
ועברתם את הירדן וישבתם בארץ BUT WHEN YE GO OVER THE JORDAN, AND SETTLE IN THE LAND — This means, that ye shall have divided it amongst the tribes and every man knows his portion and the territory of his tribe, והניח לכם AND WHEN HE GIVETH YOU REST — i.e., after having conquered and divided the land and having obtained rest from the nations “which the Lord left by which to prove Israel” (Judges 3:1) — which was only in the days of David (cf. Sifrei Devarim 68:3) — then...
Targum Yonatan
But when you have passed over Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God will give you to inherit, and He hath given you repose from all your enemies round about, then shall you build the house of the Sanctuary, and afterward shall dwell securely.
then it shall come to pass that the place which Hashem your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there, there shall you bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to Hashem.
verse value 9229 — וְהָיָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 26 words, 120 letters. Notable word values: "and·it·shall·be" (וְהָיָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "in" (בּוֹ֙, 2 letters) and the longest is "tithes" (מַעְשְׂרֹֽתֵיכֶם֙, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 56: all, to·Hashem. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·bring" (תָבִ֔יאוּ), "burnt·offerings" (עוֹלֹתֵיכֶ֣ם), "tithes" (מַעְשְׂרֹֽתֵיכֶם֙). The root שם appears 3 times in this verse. 21 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 11 words.
Onkelos
And it shall be that the place which Hashem your God shall choose in which to cause His Shechinah to dwell — there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your tithes and the separation of your hands, and all the choicest of your vow offerings that you vow before Hashem.
Rashi
והיה המקום וגו׳ IT SHALL BE [THAT YE SHALL BRING TO] THE PLACE [WHICH THE LORD YOUR GOD SHALL CHOOSE … EVEN THITHER YE SHALL BRING ALL THAT I COMMAND YOU] — then build the “Chosen House” for yourselves in Jerusalem. And so indeed it states of David, (II Samuel 7:1, 2): “And it came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies, that the king said unto Nathan the prophet, ‘See now, I dwell in the house of cedar, but the Ark of God dwelleth within curtains …'” (Sifrei Devarim 67:3; cf. Rashi on that verse). שמה תביאו THITHER SHALL YE BRING [ALL THAT I COMMAND YOU] — Above (v. 6) it (the same expression) is said in reference to Shiloh, but here it is said in reference to Jerusalem. It is for the following reason that Scripture divides the matter into two paragraphs: to give permission to offer on a Bamah in the intermediate period between the existence of the one sanctuary and the other; viz., that after Shiloh was destroyed and they came to Nob and erected the Tabernacle there, and then again when Nob was destroyed and they came to Gibeon, sacrificing on the Bamah was allowed until they finally came to Jerusalem (Zevachim 119a and Mishnah Zevachim 14:1). מבחר נדריכם YOUR CHOICE VOWS — This teaches that one should bring one’s offerings from the choicest (Sifrei Devarim 68:4).
Ibn Ezra
"The choicest of your vows" — the commandment of a vow is to bring from the finest.
And you shall rejoice before Hashem your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and the Levite that is within your gates, forasmuch as he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
verse value 4892 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 85 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·your·maid-servants" (וְאַמְהֹתֵיכֶ֑ם, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "daughters" (וּבְנֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם), "and·your·slaves" (וְעַבְדֵיכֶ֖ם), "and·your·maid-servants" (וְאַמְהֹתֵיכֶ֑ם). 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·your·maid-servants', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 9 words.
Onkelos
And you shall rejoice before Hashem your God — you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your male servants, and your female servants, and the Levite who is in your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.
Ibn Ezra
"And behold, there is yet an addition: 'And you shall rejoice'" — and the Levite: you are obligated to cause him to rejoice, for he has no portion as you have.
Take heed to yourself that you offer not your burnt-offerings in every place that you see;
verse value 3105
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 31 letters. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֔, 2 letters) and the longest is "every·place" (בְּכׇל־מָק֖וֹם, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "lest·you·offer·up" (פֶּֽן־תַּעֲלֶ֖ה), "every·place" (בְּכׇל־מָק֖וֹם). The root עלה appears 2 times in this verse. 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "take·care" (root שמר, 73x in Deuteronomy); "you·shall·see" (root ראה, 69x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'burnt·offerings', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: הִשָּׁ֣מֶר [take·care] (545) + לְךָ֔ [to·you] (50) + פֶּֽן־תַּעֲלֶ֖ה [lest·you·offer·up] (635) + עֹלֹתֶ֑יךָ [burnt·offerings] (530) + בְּכׇל־מָק֖וֹם [every·place] (238) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + תִּרְאֶֽה [you·shall·see] (606) = 3105.
Onkelos
Take care for yourself lest you offer your burnt offerings in any place that you see.
Rashi
השמר לך TAKE HEED TO THYSELF [LEST THOU OFFER THY BURNT OFFERINGS IN EVERY PLACE THAT THOU SEEST] — This negative form of the positive command in v. 11, is stated in order to attach a negative command (לאו) to this matter (Sifrei Devarim 70:1). בכל מקום אשר תראה IN EVERY PLACE THAT “THOU” SEEST — i.e., that enters thy mind, but thou mayest offer anywhere by the command of a prophet, as, for instance, Elijah did on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:21 ff.) (Sifrei Devarim 70:3).
Ibn Ezra
The reason for stating a second time 'in every place that you see' — to exclude profane meat (basar ta'avah), because the peace-offerings are sacred, and there is karet for an impure person who eats sacred meat. Therefore, regarding profane meat, He said: 'the impure and the pure alike.'
Chizkuni
השמר לך פן תעלה עולותיך בכל מקום, “Take heed not to offer your burnt offerings at any place;” the reason why the Torah is so insistent that offerings not be brought other than at a central location, is that seeing the Israelites are supposed to make at least three pilgrimages a year to the Temple in Jerusalem, if they were legally able to offer the sacrifices that they need to offer also on private altars, many would use that as an excuse not to make the pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Once they would get into the habit to offer sacrifices to Hashem on private altars, it would be a small step to also offer some sacrifices, such as calves, to other “deities.” [As we saw once Jerobam erected these calves by blocking the highways to Jerusalem to pilgrims. (Compare Kings I chapter 12) Ed.]
Rabbeinu Bahya
בכל מקום אשר תראה, “in any place that you see.” This is a negative commandment; however, at the bidding of a legitimate prophet, under special circumstances, sacrifices may be offered on an altar outside the Temple such as Elijah’s at Mount Carmel when the purpose was to delegitimize the prophets of the Baal.
but in the place which Hashem shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt-offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.
verse value 4646 — יְהֹוָה֙ = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 60 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "but" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "only·in·the·place" (אִם־בַּמָּק֞וֹם, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "only·in·the·place" (אִם־בַּמָּק֞וֹם), "tribes" (שְׁבָטֶ֔יךָ), "you·shall·offer·up" (תַּעֲלֶ֣ה). The root שם appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "but" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'burnt·offerings', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 6 words.
Onkelos
But only in the place that Hashem shall choose, in one of your tribes — there shall you offer your burnt offerings, and there shall you do all that I command you.
Rashi
באחד שבטיך [BUT IN THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE] IN ONE OF THY TRIBES — namely in the allotment of Benjamin (in whose territory the Temple stood). But above (v. 5) it states, “the place which the Lord … shall choose from all your tribes”? How can this be reconciled with that? In the following manner: when David bought the threshing-floor from Araunah the Jebusite (II Samuel 24:24) to build the Temple thereon, he collected money from all the tribes; however, the threshing-floor itself was situated in the territory of Benjamin (Sifrei Devarim 62:3).
Or HaChaim
אשר יבחר באחד שבטיך, "which He will choose amongst one of your tribes, etc." Moses counters the argument of those who want to belittle the idea that G'd's residence should be limited to the territory of a single tribe and who would therefore assign additional sites for the offering of sacrifices. The Torah says that this is out of the question.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי אם במקום אשר יבחר ה' באחד שבטיך, “except in the place which the Lord will choose amongst one of your tribes.” The Torah speaks in general terms without specifying in whose tribal territory this place will be located. It turned out to be the territory of Binyamin (Zevachim 54). In verse 8 in our chapter the wording had been: מכל שבטיכם, “from among all your tribes.” How can we reconcile these two verses? When David purchased the threshing ground of Ornan the Jebusite, the site on which the Temple would be built, he raised the money for this from all the tribes, a total equivalent to six hundred shekel (in) gold (Chronicles I 21,25). On the other hand, the amount paid for that site described in Samuel II 24,24 was only 50 shekel silver. How do we account for this contradiction? The answer is that the 600 shekels must be divided into 12, (the number of tribes). The Book of Samuel informs us that each tribe contributed an amount of 50 shekel to the purchase of the site on which the Temple was built. The reason the number 50 is mentioned at all is that David personally handed over the share of the tribe of Yehudah consisting of 50 shekels.
Notwithstanding you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to the blessing of Hashem your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.
verse value 5614 — יְהֹוָ֧ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 79 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֧ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "only" (רַק֩, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·gate" (בְּכׇל־שְׁעָרֶ֑יךָ, 8 letters). The root אכל appears 2 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root טמא ("the·unclean") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root טהר ("pure") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'all·gate', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 5 words.
Onkelos
However, you may slaughter and eat meat in all your soul's desire, according to the blessing of Hashem your God that He has given you, in all your towns — the ritually impure and the ritually pure alike may eat of it, like the meat of a gazelle or a deer.
Rashi
רק בכל אות נפשך HOWEVER [THOU MAYEST SLAUGHTER AND EAT FLESH IN ALL THY GATES] IN EVERY LONGING OF THY SOUL — About what is Scripture here speaking? If you say that it speaks about בשר תאוה (flesh eaten for satisfying the appetite — an ordinary meal of meat and not a sacrificial meal) and that this verse is intended to permit it to them without offering the fat portions on the altar, behold, it states in another passage (v. 20) “When the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy boundary … and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, [because thy soul longeth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh in every longing of thy soul]”! About what, then, is this verse speaking? About consecrated animals which had become blemished, — that they must be redeemed and may then be eaten in anyplace (בכל שעריך). One might think that they may be redeemed and thus divested of their holy character also on account of a transitory blemish! Scripture, however, uses the expression רק (which word has a limitative force) (Sifrei Devarim 71:1). תזבח ואכלת THOU MAYEST SLAUGHTER AND EAT [FLESH] — You have no permission to use their fleece or milk (those of consecrated animals that had become blemished), but only the eating of their flesh after ritual slaughtering is permitted (cf. Sifrei Devarim 71:2-3; Bekhorot 15b). הטמא והטהור THE UNCLEAN AND THE CLEAN [MAY EAT THEREOF] — Because they (the consecrated animals that had become blemished) came to their present status by virtue of once having been consecrated animals, of which it is stated, (Leviticus 7:19) “And the flesh of offerings that toucheth any unclean thing shall not be eaten”, it felt it necessary explicitly to permit in their case that an unclean and a clean person may eat out of the same dish (i.e. together) (cf. Sifrei Devarim 71:7), כצבי וכאיל AS OF THE GAZELLE AND OF THE HART of which no sacrifice is ever brought. כצבי וכאיל AS OF THE GAZELLE, AND OF THE HART — These apparently redundant words are intended to exempt them (the פסולי המקדשין שנפדו) from the dues of “the shoulder, the two cheeks and the maw” (Deuteronomy 18:3) which are compulsory gifts to the priests in the case of non-holy (חולין) animals (Chullin 130a; Sifrei Devarim 71:9).
Ibn Ezra
"Like the gazelle and the hart" — which are not offered on the altar, and the fat of the gazelle and the fat of the hart are permitted. This is support for my words, though we rely upon the received tradition of our ancestors.
Chizkuni
תזבח ואכלת בשר, “you will slaughter and proceed to eat meat;” Rashi comments on this that the Torah does not speak about animals raised for food, but about animals raised to be offered as a sacrifice on the altar. What the Torah actually comes to approve here is the killing for food of animals raised for a holy purpose. According to Rashi, based on Sifri, the Torah speaks here of an animal that had been raised by its owner to be offered as a sacrifice. Before it could be sacrificed however, it developed a blemish that disqualified it as the sacrifice it had been intended for. This animal may now be slaughtered and its meat be eaten, though its wool may not be shorn nor may it not be milked for its milk to be drunk. The word: רק, “only, except,” is the hint of what is the true meaning of the verse. An animal destined as a sacrifice, when disqualified through a permanent blemish, may be used by its owner secularly only as food, but not for any other mundane purpose. However, if it had been shorn by someone other than the owner, the wool is not subject to any restrictions just because it had originally grown on the back of an animal that had been sanctified. The subject and its ramifications are discussed in the Talmud tractate Meilah folio 12. [Since, unfortunately for the last 2000 years this subject is not of practical significance, I have not given some more details mentioned in the Talmud there. Ed.] הטמא והטהור יחדיו “the ritually pure and the ritually impure, may eat it together.” Prior to that animal’s disqualification by its blemish, the ritually impure person would have been forbidden to eat of its meat. The penalty for doing so knowingly, is karet, posthumous separation from the Jewish people.
Rashbam
בכל אות נפשך, in parts of the country where the Temple does not stand, where it is not acceptable to G’d for us to offer sacrifices. In such locations meat may be eaten without first having become an offering on the altar.
Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out upon the earth as water.
verse value 2199
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 28 letters. The shortest word is "only" (רַ֥ק, 2 letters) and the longest is "upon·the·earth" (עַל־הָאָ֥רֶץ, 6 letters). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "upon·the·earth" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "eat" (root אכל, 82x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root דם ("blood") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root שפך ("you·shall·pour·it") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'eat', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: רַ֥ק [only] (300) + הַדָּ֖ם [blood] (49) + לֹ֣א [not] (31) + תֹאכֵ֑לוּ [eat] (457) + עַל־הָאָ֥רֶץ [upon·the·earth] (396) + תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּ [you·shall·pour·it] (856) + כַּמָּֽיִם [water] (110) = 2199.
Onkelos
Only the blood you shall not eat; pour it out upon the ground like water.
Rashi
רק הדם לא תאכלו ONLY YE SHALL NOT EAT THE BLOOD — Although I have told you that there is no sprinkling of blood on the altar in its case (it being blemished and thus unfit for the altar), you shall nevertheless not eat it. תשפכנו כמים YE SHALL POUR IT [UPON THE EARTH] AS WATER — This latter word is intended to tell you that although they are compared to these חיות, yet it (the blood) requires no covering with dust as prescribed in the case of these חיות in Leviticus 17:13 (Sifrei Devarim 71:15; Chullin 84a). Another explanation is that the word כמים is intended to suggest: It is like water in so far as to make seed (food) receptive to uncleanness just as water does (cf. Leviticus 11:38) (Sifrei Devarim 71:15; Chullin 35b).
Chizkuni
רק הדם לא תאכלו, “only the blood you must not eat.” Even though the Torah permits every Jew to eat the meat through a process of redemption, i.e. paying compensation to the Temple treasury for the one time sanctified animal, plus a small premium, its blood had been forbidden already prior to this animal having been sanctified, so how could it possibly be released through redemption? The same rule applies to the forbidden fat parts of any animal slated as a sacrifice. The reason why the Torah singled out blood as its example, is that blood of any animal, whether fit to become a sacrifice or not, is forbidden, whereas the fat of those animals not suitable as sacrifices were never forbidden. (Compare Talmud tractate Chulin folio 117)
You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your corn, or of your wine, or of your oil, or the firstlings of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill-offerings, nor the offering of your hand;
verse value 7264
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 80 letters. The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֣ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·your·vows" (וְכׇל־נְדָרֶ֙יךָ֙, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "all·your·vows" (וְכׇל־נְדָרֶ֙יךָ֙), "you·vow" (תִּדֹּ֔ר), "freewill·offerings" (וְנִדְבֹתֶ֖יךָ). The root נדר appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "hand" (root יד, 83x in Deuteronomy); "to·eat" (root אכל, 82x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·your·flock', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 6 words.
Onkelos
You have no permission to eat within your towns the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, nor the firstborn of your cattle and your flocks, nor any of your vow offerings that you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the separation of your hand.
Rashi
לא תוכל THOU MAYEST NOT [EAT WITHIN THY GATES THE TITHE OF THY CORN etc.] — Scripture thereby intends to attach to this matter (the eating of מעשר בכור etc. outside the walls of Jerusalem) a negative command also (the positive command being contained in v. 11). לא תוכל THOU MAYEST NOT (lit., thou canst not) [EAT etc.] — Rabbi Joshua the son of Korcha said: You can, but you are not allowed to (i.e. לא תוכל does not mean: you are unable for some reason or another to do so, but it expresses the inability to do it because of a legal restriction). A similar case we have in (Joshua 15:63) “As to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out” — they could have done so, but they were not allowed to (Sifrei Devarim 72:1); because Abraham had made a covenant with them when he bought from them the cave of Machpelah that they would be spared at the conquest of the Land. — As a matter fact they were not Jebusites but Hittites (the people mentioned in Genesis 23 at the purchase of the cave), but they were called Jebusites after the city the name of which was Jebus. Thus is it explained in the Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 36. And this is the meaning of what is stated, that when David was about to drive out the Jebusites, they said to him (II Samuel 5:6) “Except thou take away the blind and the lame [thou shalt not come in hither]” — by “the blind and the lame” they meant the idols (that stood at the gates) upon which they had written the oath which Abraham had taken. ובכרת בקרך [THOU MAYEST NOT EAT WITHIN THY GATES THE TITHE OF THY CORN …] AND THE FIRSTLINGS OF THY HERD — This, in contradistinction to מעשר דגנך וכו׳, is of course a prohibition addressed to the priests (since the Israelites were not at all permitted to eat firstlings; cf. Zevachim 5:1: הבכור נאכל לכהנים והמעשר לכל אדם). ותרומת ידך AND THE HEAVE-OFFERINGS OF THY HAND — This refers to the first-fruits (cf. Deuteronomy 26:4) (Sifrei Devarim 72:9; Makkot 17a).
Ibn Ezra
"Eating in your gates the tithe of your grain" — He speaks with the Levites and also with the Israelites concerning the second tithe, according to the view of the majority. "And the firstborn of your herd and flock" — He speaks with the priests, for the Levites and the priests are included among Israel, just as 'And I commanded you' speaks with the two and a half tribes; and similarly 'You shall surely redeem' speaks with the Israelites — meaning, whoever is obligated to redeem — and so too 'eating in your gates... before Hashem your God you shall eat it' refers to whoever is obligated to eat it. The deniers said that there are two categories of firstborn: the one is the firstborn that opens the womb, and the other is the firstborn of the herd; but there is no need to refute their nonsense. Others also said that the firstborn and the tithe are eaten by the Israelite even when he is at the chosen place — but this is contrary to the text.
Chizkuni
לא תוכל לאכול, “you cannot eat;” Rashi quotes Rabbi Joshua son of Korchah as saying that the words לא תוכל, do not mean that the Levites are physically unable to eat the tithes in their homes or towns, but that they are forbidden to do so. [What applies to the first tithe given to the Levite also applies to the “second” tithe that the Israelite during the respective years may consume himself but only in Jerusalem, or other designated town housing the Tabernacle at the time. If such second tithe has been redeemed by the farmer, then the money received must be spent in Jerusalem or its equivalent, for food, drink or clothing and such for the farmer and his family. The same applies to other gifts given to the priests, such as the firstlings of the harvest each year. The “gift” known as t’rumah, from the grain fields, may be eaten in the priest’s home by himself and his family and household.] According to Rashi on Joshua 15,63, the words ולא יכלו בני יהודה להורישם, “and the members of the tribe of Yehudah were unable to dislodge the Jebusite from their city (Jerusalem)” are also to be understood as a prohibition. i.e. the covenant made between Avraham and Avimelech for four generations, had not yet expired, so that G-d had not yet given permission for the Israelites to conquer that part of the land of Israel. The inhabitants of that city at that time were not Jebusites, i.e. Canaanites, to whom that covenant did not apply, but were Philistines to whom it did apply.) לאכול בשעריך מעשר דגנך, “you may not eat in your gates tithes of your grain harvest.” After noting that Levites and their families may eat the First Tithe in their homes, Moses addresses the Israelites and instructs them that the second tithe (or food bought with the money used to redeem the second tithe) must not be eaten in their homes but only in Jerusalem. ובכורות בקרך וצאנך, nor the firstlings of your cattle or flocks. Seeing that the firstlings may only be eaten by the priests, this verse appears to present a difficulty; why would it be addressed to the Israelites as a whole? It could not refer to firstlings that had been born blemished. Apparently, the farmers would set aside two “firstlings.” The first would be given to the priest, and the second would be treated as sanctified also, and therefore be consumed only in Jerusalem, as if it were part of a second tithe. An alternate interpretation of this phrase: the verse speaks of firstling animals that had been born as females and thus did not have to be given to the priests. The farmers would eat these female firstborns in Jerusalem, voluntarily. In the Jerusalem Talmud there is a dispute concerning the accuracy of this version. One opinion treats the verse as applying to a regular male firstling animal, in which case Moses would have been addressing only the priests, whereas the second opinion claims that there is no problem as the priests are also Israelites and Moses did not need to address them separately. [Seeing that this quotation from the Jerusalem Talmud has not been found by Rabbi Chavell on whose annotations I base myself, I may be forgiven for feeling a little confused. Ed.] לפני ה' אלוקיך, “in the presence of the Lord your G-d, i.e. on sacred ground in the Temple precincts,” Moses addresses whoever this applies to, without spelling out who they are.
but you shall eat them before Hashem your God in the place which Hashem your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your man-servant, and your maid-servant, and the Levite that is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before Hashem your God in all that you put your hand to.
verse value 5970 — יְהֹוָ֨ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 26 words, 109 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֨ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "but·rather" (כִּ֡י, 2 letters) and the longest is "but·before" (אִם־לִפְנֵי֩, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "but·before" (אִם־לִפְנֵי֩). The root יהוה appears 3 times in this verse. 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·gates', dividing the verse into phrases of 19 and 7 words.
Onkelos
But before Hashem your God shall you eat it, in the place that Hashem your God shall choose — you and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is in your towns — and you shall rejoice before Hashem your God in all the undertakings of your hand.
Rashi
לפני ה׳ [BUT THOU MUST EAT THEM] BEFORE THE LORD — i.e. within the walls of the city of Jerusalem. והלוי אשר בשעריך [BUT THOU MUST EAT THEM BEFORE THE LORD, THOU …] AND THE LEVITE THAT IS WITHIN THY GATES — If you have nought to give him that is due to him as his portion, as, for instance, the first tithe, give him the “tithe of the poor” (the tithe that replaces the “second tithe” in the 3rd and 6th year of the Sabbatical period); and if you have no “tithe of the poor”, invite him to your feast-offering meal (Sifrei Devarim 74:5).
Take heed to yourself that you forsake not the Levite as long as you live upon your land.
verse value 2351
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 31 letters. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֔, 2 letters) and the longest is "upon·your·soil" (עַל־אַדְמָתֶֽךָ, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "lest·you·forsake" (פֶּֽן־תַּעֲזֹ֖ב), "the·Levite" (אֶת־הַלֵּוִ֑י), "upon·your·soil" (עַל־אַדְמָתֶֽךָ). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "all·your·days" (root יום, 168x in Deuteronomy); "take·care" (root שמר, 73x in Deuteronomy); "upon·your·soil" (root אדמה, 38x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root עזב ("lest·you·forsake") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·Levite', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 2 words. Full calculation: הִשָּׁ֣מֶר [take·care] (545) + לְךָ֔ [to·you] (50) + פֶּֽן־תַּעֲזֹ֖ב [lest·you·forsake] (609) + אֶת־הַלֵּוִ֑י [the·Levite] (452) + כׇּל־יָמֶ֖יךָ [all·your·days] (130) + עַל־אַדְמָתֶֽךָ [upon·your·soil] (565) = 2351.
Onkelos
Take care for yourself lest you forsake the Levite all your days upon your land.
Rashi
השמר לך TAKE HEED TO THYSELF [LEST THOU FORSAKE THE LEVITE] — This is intended in addition to the positive command expressed in the previous verse, to attach to it (the neglect of the Levite) a negative command, also. על אדמתך [TAKE HEED TO THYSELF LEST THOU FORSAKE THE LEVITE] UPON THY GROUND — but in exile (outside the Holy Land) you are not admonished as regards him more than as regards the poor of the ordinary Israelites (Sifrei Devarim 74:9; Talmud Yerushalmi Horayot end).
Chizkuni
כל ימיך, “as long as you live.” This includes even the years of sh’mittah and Jubilee years when no crops are harvested. (Sifri) על אדמתך, “on your soil.” Seeing that only the ordinary Israelites possess ancestral land in Israel, as distinct from the Levites, the Israelites are obligated to look after the needs of the Levites as long as they are on their own land, but not when all the Jews are in exile, and the ordinary Israelites do not enjoy the advantage of owning ancestral land.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כל ימיך על אדמתך, “all your days on your land.” The specific command not to abandon the Levite is applicable only in the Holy Land. Levites in the Diaspora do not enjoy preferred status regarding receipt of charity from their brethren.
Rashbam
כל ימיך על אדמתך, for all the years that you dwell in your land.
Daat Zkenim
כל ימיך על אדמתך, “as long as you live on your land.” According to the plain meaning of the verse, the choice of the word אדמה, “soil, earth,” here instead of ארצך “your land,” may have been dictated by the fact that the Levites did not get any ancestral land, and the other tribes therefore had to see to it that they could have a livelihood, i.e. you who have soil have to look after your brethren who have not been given soil.
When Hashem your God shall enlarge your border, as He has promised you, and you shall say: "I will eat flesh", because your soul desires to eat flesh; you may eat flesh, after all the desire of your soul.
verse value 6127 — יְהֹוָ֨ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 77 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֨ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "flesh" (בָשָׂ֔ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "when·he·enlarges" (כִּֽי־יַרְחִיב֩, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 502: flesh, flesh, flesh. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "when·he·enlarges" (כִּֽי־יַרְחִיב֩), "for·you·crave" (כִּֽי־תְאַוֶּ֥ה). The root אכל appears 3 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "as·that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'flesh', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 4 words.
Onkelos
When Hashem your God expands your border, as He has spoken to you, and you say, 'I will eat meat,' because your soul desires to eat meat — in all your soul's desire you may eat meat.
Rashi
כי ירחיב וגו׳ WHEN [THE LORD THY GOD] SHALL ENLARGE [YOUR BOUNDARY … AND YOU SHALL SAY, I WILL EAT FLESH … YOU MAY EAT FLESH] — The Torah teaches the proper rule of life — that one should not desire to eat flesh unless he lives amidst abundance and wealth (cf. Sifrei Devarim 75:5; Chullin 84a; see also Rashi on Leviticus 17:13). בכל אות נפשך וגו׳ [YOU MAY EAT FLESH] IN EVERY LONGING OF YOUR SOUL — In the wilderness, however, the flesh of a non-holy animal was forbidden to them as food, unless one first dedicated it to the altar and offered it as a peace-offering (Sifrei Devarim 75:4; Chullin 16b).
Ramban
WHEN THE ETERNAL THY G-D SHALL ENLARGE THY BORDER. The meaning of this “enlargement” is not like that which he stated, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border [by giving you the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, and Kadmonites] etc. then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, for if it were, then meat of desire [meaning a meat meal prepared solely to satisfy the appetite rather than as a product of a peace-offering] would not have been permissible upon coming into the Land [but only after the enlargement of the border, an event that has yet to take place]. But there it is said, When the Eternal thy G-d shall cut off the nations, whose land the Eternal thy G-d giveth thee, these being the seven nations that he mentions in all places, and then we are to separate three cities [as cities of refuge], and so Joshua did. Afterwards he said, when the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, this being a reference to the ten nations that were given to Abraham. But here he said, as He hath promised thee, meaning these [seven] nations whose land the Eternal your G-d gives you [now], thus indicating that immediately after they captured and apportioned the Land, a secular meal of meat became permitted to them. Now, the purport of the expression If the place which the Eternal thy G-d shall choose to put His Name there be too far from thee is not that meat of desire [i.e., meat from an animal that has been slaughtered for food rather than as an offering] is permissible only at a distance from the Sanctuary, for if so, dwellers in Jerusalem would have been forbidden to eat meat of desire. Instead he [Moses] speaks to all Israel, saying to them that “when G-d will enlarge your border and not all of you will be dwelling around the Tabernacle as you are today in the wilderness, unconsecrated meat will be permitted, because it will be impossible for all of you to go from a distant place to the place that G-d will choose and slaughter sacrifices of peace-offerings as much as you wish to eat.”
Ibn Ezra
He says, 'when you crave to eat meat' — the meaning is: if your soul craves to eat meat. He already mentioned this, to add that the place may be far from you. This verse too concerns a place that is not in the land of Canaan, and its rule is the same rule as your gates.
Or HaChaim
כי ירחיב…את גבולך, "When G'd expands your borders etc." Seeing G'd had objected to the excessive craving for a meat-diet displayed by the Israelites in Numbers chapter 11 where we were told about thousands dying on that account, such a craving had been taboo ever since. Only meat which had first been hallowed as a sacrifice had been permitted to be eaten by the average Israelite during the last 38 years. At this point Moses justifies the new legislation which sanctions the desire to have a meat-diet by referring to the difficulty of making the meat first a sacrifice and having to travel to Jerusalem to do so. It is assumed that the craving will re-surface as a result of most people living a long way from Jerusalem. G'd specifically sanctions the desire to eat meat with the words: "you may eat meat in accordance with all the desire of your soul."
Chizkuni
כי ירחיב, “when He will expand, etc.” the content of this paragraph has already been written in verses 15-16 of our chapter. Why was it repeated? The reason is verse 27, in which Moses emphasises that the law to offer sacrificial offerings only in the Temple designated by G-d, i.e. Jerusalem is not affected by the size of country. An alternate interpretation: seeing that the laws Moses speaks about apply daily, he repeats them so that the people will be thoroughly familiar with them. כאשר דבר לך, “as He has said to you (promised);” We find this promise in Exodus 23,31, 'ושתי את גבולך וגו, “I will set your borders, etc.;” [an area far in excess of the Israel of King Solomon. Ed.] ואמרת אוכלה בשר, and you say: “I wish to eat meat” (other than sacrificial meat) from this verse we see that one should not eat without first having prepared it ritually. [You do not eat meat as you eat an apple or a pear. Meat must be soaked and salted to remove all traces of blood before it is fit to be eaten. Ed.] כי תאוה נפשך, “when you experience a true craving for meat.” The word כי in this verse is used as an alternative for the word אם, “if” or “when.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
ואמרת אוכלה בשר, “and you will say: “I want to eat meat;” This verse teaches the lesson that only economically well-situated people should indulge in a meat based diet; this is why the paragraph is prefaced by the words כי ירחיב ה' את גבולך, “when the Lord expands your borders, etc.” בכל אות נפשך תאכל בשר, “you may eat meat to your heart’s desire.” The Torah permits consumption of non-sacrificial meats with the people’s entry into the Holy Land. As long as the people had been in the desert, meat was basically the meat of the peace-offerings.
Kli Yakar
“When the Lord your God will expand your border, and you will say, ‘I will eat meat.’” This teaches that a person does not crave desires except through excessive abundance, and a lion does not roar except over a basket of meat (Berachot 32). Therefore, it says, When the Lord expands your border. And this will bring you to remove the veil of shame from your face until you say with a full mouth, I will eat meat. This somewhat resembles throwing off the yoke of Heaven’s kingdom and seeking which is the place of sacrifices. The reason for all this is because the place that the Lord will choose will be far from you, for whoever is closer to God’s sanctuary has more fear of Heaven upon him, as it is written, You shall fear My sanctuary (Leviticus 19:29), meaning from the sanctuary is drawn that you should have fear of Heaven upon you. However, because the place will be far from you causes God to be far from your innermost being; therefore, all day you will desire desires, and you will not even be ashamed to say, I will eat meat. Hence I permit this to you: You may slaughter from your cattle, etc., as I have commanded you — not at all times, but periodically, when desire intensifies. And this is what it means: Just as the deer and the hart are eaten, so shall you eat it. And as it is said (there 18:13), When one hunts a wild beast or bird. And our Sages said (Chullin 84a), “The Torah teaches you proper conduct, that a person should not eat meat except with this preparation.” The explanation of the matter is: If a person accustoms himself to eating from the animals that are readily available in his house — ox, sheep, or goat — then all day he will desire desires and habituate himself to eating it on a daily basis. But if he does not eat until he hunts in forests and deserts for game animals or birds, which involves danger and great effort to trap them, then his desire will be quieted because the eating is not worth the greatness of the pain and effort. For it was not without reason that Isaac said to Esau, Go out to the field and hunt game for me (Genesis 27:3). Did he not have in his house something already hunted? Why did he cause all this anxiety to send him to dangerous places? Rather, he was conducting himself according to proper ethics [lit., the way of the world] which the Torah taught — that one should not eat meat except with this preparation, specifically through hunting, so that one would not become accustomed to it. Therefore it says, However, as the deer and the hart are eaten, so shall you eat it. That is to say, only on this condition: that one should not be accustomed to it, and one should eat it as one eats deer and hart, which presumably one is not accustomed to since they are wild animals that require hunting, and because of the effort involved, one minimizes eating them — so should one eat even ordinary meat. This is a precious interpretation and explains the term however [ach] better than Rashi’s interpretation. And since we find, that in everything that is hunted from ownerless places, there is more concern that it might be stolen property, for this reason Isaac warned Esau to bring him from the ownerless and not from theft, because perhaps the hunted animal had owners and escaped from them. Therefore it is said here and you shall slaughter from your cattle and from your flock which the Lord your God has given you — and would it enter your mind that he would slaughter from those which the Lord has not given Him? Rather, it means that he should eat specifically with this preparation when he hunts game or birds, and there is concern about theft as mentioned. Therefore it says which the Lord has given you — even what is in your trap, excluding what is stolen which is not from the Lord. And about this it says as I have commanded you. And I warned you about theft, or I warned you not to eat meat except with this preparation.
Tur HaArokh
כי ירחיב, “When He will expand (your boundaries);” Nachmanides makes the point that the term כי ירחיב, in this paragraph is not to be confused with the expression ואם ירחיב, in 19,8, where the Torah foresees further expansion of the Land of Israel [most commentators consider this a post messianic period. Ed.], but in verse 9 there we read –in connection with the establishment of cities of refuge- that more than the original three on the east bank of the Jordan must be added. In that context the meaning of the word is “when,” in the sense of after completion of the conquest. If the meaning of the two expressions were identical, eating meat that had not first been consecrated as an offering would not be permitted for the Israelites until after Joshua had completed the conquest and settled the people on their allocated parcels of land. In chapter 19 the line we quoted must be understood in connection with the paragraph at the beginning of that chapter, a paragraph which discusses changes that would occur after G’d has more or less wiped out the seven Canaanite tribes from the region of the West Bank of the Jordan. The need to establish additional cities of refuge begins only after the people have been settled. Verse 9 there may even refer to the time when the remainder of the ten tribes mentioned in G’d’s first promise to Avraham in Genesis chapter 15 have also been eliminated. In our verse the reference is to the beginning of the conquest, and according to Chulin 17, בשר תאוה, meat of animals that had been slaughtered without having been consecrated as offerings first, became permissible at once, as soon as settlement began. Even though, on the face of it, permission of such meat appears to be contingent on the owner living far away from the Temple, the words כי ירחק ממך המקום, “when the Temple is far away from you,” (verse 21) is not to be understood as actual physical distance of the individual concerned. The Torah means that when the Israelites, instead of living next to the Tabernacle, as they did for 40 years in the desert, will be scattered throughout the Land of Israel, it would not be practical to require them to come to Jerusalem, to the Temple every time they wanted to eat meat.
Rashbam
כי ירחיב, and as a result you find yourself physically a great distance from the Temple.
If the place which Hashem your God shall choose to put His name there be too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which Hashem has given you, as I have commanded you, and you shall eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.
verse value 7598 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 24 words, 97 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "there" (שָׁם֒, 2 letters) and the longest is "when·it·is·far" (כִּֽי־יִרְחַ֨ק, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "cattle" (מִבְּקָרְךָ֣), "small·cattle" (וּמִצֹּֽאנְךָ֗), "I·commanded·you" (צִוִּיתִ֑ךָ). The root אשר appears 3 times in this verse. 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root רחק ("when·it·is·far") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'I·commanded·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 19 and 5 words.
Onkelos
If the place where Hashem your God chooses to cause His Shechinah to dwell is distant from you, then you may slaughter from your cattle and from your flocks that Hashem has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat within your towns in all your soul's desire.
Rashi
כי ירחק ממך המקום IF THE PLACE [WHICH THE LORD THY GOD HAS CHOSEN TO PUT HIS NAME THERE] BE TOO FAR FROM THEE and thou therefore art unable to come and prepare peace-offerings at any time, as thou doest now when the Tabernacle accompanies you, וזבחת … כאשר צויתך THEN THOU MAYEST SLAUGHTER … AS I HAVE COMMANDED THEE — This teaches us that there was already a commandment regarding the slaughtering of animals — as to how one should slaughter; it is not written in the Torah but it comprises the traditional regulations regarding the slaughter of animals that were given orally (נאמרו) to Moses on Mount Sinai (Sifrei Devarim 75:7; Chullin 28a).
Ramban
AND THOU SHALT SLAUGHTER etc. AS I HAVE COMMANDED THEE. The meaning thereof according to the opinion of our Rabbis is as follows: “As I have commanded thee — orally, by law declared to Moses on Sinai This teaches us that he was commanded with regard to [severing] the windpipe and the gullet, and [severing] the greater part of one [either the windpipe or the gullet] in a bird, and [severing] the greater part of both in an animal.”Know that the term shechitah in the Sacred Language denotes the severing of the two organs in the neck [the windpipe and the gullet], and be not apprehensive because of what it says ‘vayishchateim’ (and He slew them) in the wilderness [which clearly does not signify severing the organs of the neck], for it is but a euphemism [as if to say] that He slaughtered them like sheep. Thus He commanded regarding the offerings, ‘v’shachat’ (and he shall slaughter), ‘v’shachatu’ (and they shall slaughter), which refer to the organs of the neck. Now at first [in the wilderness] He commanded that whatever [meat] they eat be of peace-offerings, that they be slaughtered according to the law of the offerings. Now, when he proceeded to permit the meat of unconsecrated animals, he said, and thou shalt slaughter of thy herd and of thy flock as I have commanded thee when such animals were brought as offerings, and you may eat them unconsecrated after all the desire of thy soul, meaning that He permits unconsecrated animals to be eaten everywhere, provided that they be slaughtered as He had commanded originally, when they were all [permitted only as] offerings. This is the correct meaning of the verse in line with the plain sense of Scripture. Perhaps our Rabbis intended this [thought] when they said in the Sifre: “As I have commanded thee — just as the consecrated animals are slaughtered [in accordance with the traditional regulations] so must also the unconsecrated animals be slaughtered [with the same regulations].” Thus the commandment of slaughtering [animal and fowl] is here expressly stated and is explained in the words of our Rabbis on the basis of tradition.
Or HaChaim
כי ירחק ממך המקום, When the place will be too far from you, etc." The words: "you may eat within your gates" mean that such meat does not have to be sacrificial meat. Our sages differ as to the precise meaning of the word "distant" in our verse (compare Pessachim 93). The Talmud there speaks of the verse in Numbers 9,10 and determines that anyone living as far from Jerusalem as Modin falls under this category. Other opinions hold that even living inside the city of Jerusalem but outside the courtyard of the Hoy Temple is already considered as "distant." We can only wish that the time will soon arrive when this halachah will assume practical significance, i.e. after the arrival of the משיח.
Chizkuni
כי ירחק ממך המקום, “for the place (the Temple) is located far distant from you.” The Torah here addresses Israelites who dwell beyond the borders of the Holy Land. In spite of this, the same law applies to them as to those who dwell within it.
Rabbeinu Bahya
וזבחת...כאשר צויתיך, “you will slaughter..just as I have commanded you.” According to the plain meaning of the text the words “as I have commanded you,” refer to the procedure of ritual slaughter which precedes the offering of animals on the altar. We do not find a single verse commanding slaughter of animals except in connection with sacrificial offerings (compare Leviticus 1,5). A Midrashic approach: Moses had received these instructions while on Mount Sinai though they were not part of the written Torah. He had been told that the windpipe and gullet of the animal has to be cut (most of it) during that procedure, whereas in the case of birds only the greater part of one of these pipes has to be severed (Chulin 28).
Tur HaArokh
וזבחת וגו...כאשר צויתיך, “you will slaughter…in accordance with what I have commanded you.” Our sages understand these last words to mean that Moses had instructed the people orally in the details of ritual slaughter. According to Nachmanides the plain meaning of the words is that Moses refers to the previous occasion in the Book of Leviticus when he had taught the priests all the particulars of ritual slaughter when they had been instructed in the sacrificial Temple service. (Compare Vayikra Rabbah, 22.) At that time the word used by the Torah for ritual slaughter had been ושחט. (Leviticus 1,5 et al) In classical Hebrew the meaning of the word is to sever the trachea and the esophagus of the animal. The reason why a different term for slaughtering has been chosen by Moses on this occasion, is presumably because the word שחט had always been used in connection with animals, some or all of whose blood would be sprinkled on the altar after slaughter, whereas this is not the case when the animal had not been consecrated as an offering. The word זבח implies a secular activity then, but the procedure is the same as that employed for animals to be offered on the altar. The author adds that the verse וישחטם במדבר in Numbers 14,16 refers to the slaughtering of the Jewish people, but not as sacrificial lambs. In that verse Moses puts imaginary words in the mouths of people, about an event that did not even take place. The line could not therefore be used to refute our premise.
Daat Zkenim
כאשר צויתך, “as I have commanded you.” From the formulation, i.e. that G–d had given precise instructions, in this verse, our sages in the Talmud, tractate Chulin folio 28 derive the rule that when slaughtering a mammal both the major part of the gullet and the windpipe of the animal have to be severed. When slaughtering birds, the major part of the windpipe has to be severed. Rabbi Yaakov of Corveillle, found that the numerical value of the letters in the expression כאשר צויתך, equal the numerical value on the words: רוב אחד בעוף ורוב שנים בבהמה, “the major part of one for the bird, and the major part of two for the mammal.” (1047). [What the sages could do without the help of GOOGLE! Ed.] An alternate interpretation of this expression: The three letters in the word אשר, are אלף=1=אחד, for the א, 2 for the ש,=שנים, and the letter ר, short for the word רוב, “major part.”
But just as the gazelle and the stag is eaten, so you shall eat of it; the unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.
verse value 2572
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 51 letters. The shortest word is "however" (אַ֗ךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·the·stag" (וְאֶת־הָ֣אַיָּ֔ל, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "the·gazelle" (אֶֽת־הַצְּבִי֙), "and·the·stag" (וְאֶת־הָ֣אַיָּ֔ל). The root אכל appears 3 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "as·that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "it·is·eaten" (root אכל, 82x in Deuteronomy); "thus" (root כן, 20x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root אך ("however") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root יחד ("together") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you·shall·eat·it', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 4 words. Full calculation: אַ֗ךְ [however] (21) + כַּאֲשֶׁ֨ר [as·that] (521) + יֵאָכֵ֤ל [it·is·eaten] (61) + אֶֽת־הַצְּבִי֙ [the·gazelle] (508) + וְאֶת־הָ֣אַיָּ֔ל [and·the·stag] (453) + כֵּ֖ן [thus] (70) + תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ [you·shall·eat·it] (507) + הַטָּמֵא֙ [the·unclean] (55) + וְהַטָּה֔וֹר [and·the·pure] (231) + יַחְדָּ֖ו [together] (28) + יֹאכְלֶֽנּוּ [they·shall·eat·it] (117) = 2572.
Onkelos
However, just as the meat of a gazelle and a deer is eaten, so shall you eat it — the ritually impure and the ritually pure alike may eat it together.
Rashi
אך כאשר יאכל את הצבי וגו׳ BUT ONLY AS THE GAZELLE [AND THE HART] IS EATEN, [SO THOU SHALT EAT THEM] — i.e. thou art not admonished to eat them in a state of cleanness as is the case with sacrifices which you slaughter in a holy place; if, however, you will argue: How is the case with the gazelle and the hart? Their fat is permitted as food; so, too, is the fat of non-consecrated domestic animals (חולין) permitted! Then I reply: Scripture says אך (which word has a limitative force and thus indicates that חולין are not to be treated like the gazelle and the hart in every respect) (cf. Bekhorot 15a).
Ramban
ACH’ (BUT) ONLY AS THE GAZELLE AND AS THE HART IS EATEN, SO THOU SHALT EAT THEM. This means as he explains [at the end of this verse], the unclean and the clean may eat thereof alike. Since He had commanded in the wilderness that they may not eat of the herd and flock except as peace-offerings and He warned them that the soul that eateth of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace-offerings, that pertain unto the Eternal, having his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off, he states here that [upon coming into the Land] one may eat the meat of unconsecrated animals with the full desire of his soul, and [further that] he may eat it from one vessel together with an unclean person just as, in the wilderness, they may eat the gazelle and the hart which may not be offered upon the altar. Now, the expression as the gazelle and as the hart does not mean that one may eat the fat of unconsecrated animals just as he may eat the fat of the gazelle and the hart [from which all the fat may be eaten], since the verse speaks only of the manner of eating [as if to say:] in the same way that you eat the gazelle and the hart so may you eat the meat which you slaughter in all places. The verse does not state “whatever is eaten of the gazelle and the hart, you may eat of the unconsecrated animals.” Therefore, [in order to avoid the misconception that all fat of unconsecrated animals may be eaten] he explains everywhere the unclean and the clean may eat thereof alike, and says nowhere [only] “they may eat it as the gazelle and the hart,” in order [to make it clear] that the fat should not be included [in the comparison of unconsecrated animals to the hart and gazelle].Now the word ach [but — ‘But’ only as the gazelle etc.] constitutes an admonition: since at first it was forbidden to eat [meat] except for the peace-offerings that were slaughtered in [the court of] the Tabernacle, and now, when he made it permissible to slaughter and eat in their cities after all the desire of thy soul, it might have appeared that one may eat it as unconsecrated meat and [if one wishes] even as consecrated meat, as was originally permitted [before the Tabernacle was erected], offering [the blood and the fat] on a bamah (high place). Therefore he stated and warned, But only as the gazelle and the hart, so thou shalt eat them, meaning that you may offer of them neither fat nor blood [on the bamah] and that you should not handle it in the manner of consecrated meat and not warn unclean people away from them at all. He had to mention Only you should not eat the blood for many reasons. For at first He said with reference to the prohibition of eating blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls, from which it might appear that blood that does not atone, [such as that of] an unconsecrated animal, would not be prohibited; therefore, it was necessary to prohibit it clearly. In the case of fat, however, Scripture did not mention [such a reason for] it...
Sforno
אך כאשר יאכל את הצבי, in a place that has not been consecrated.
Chizkuni
הטמא והטהור יחדו, “the ritually impure together with the ritually pure.” Moses does not suggest that they both eat from the same bowl, as that would result in the ritually pure person becoming contaminated with a degree of the impurity of the ritually impure person. But they can both eat meat which was duly slaughtered etc., but not offered as a sacrifice, at the same table. Another example of the word יחדו, “together,” being used in this sense is Exodus 19,8: ויענו כל העם יחדו, “all the people responded together.”
Tur HaArokh
אך כאשר יאכל את הצבי ואת האיל, “However only in the manner in which the deer or hart may be eaten;” seeing that while in the desert only peace-offerings could be eaten by laymen, not venison, which by definition are not fit for offering on the altar, the former are subject not to be consumed while one is in a state of ritual impurity, a restriction that does not apply to eating venison of the permitted categories. את הצבי ואת האיל, “the deer and the hart;” [most of what follows is culled from Nachmanides’ commentary, although the author here does not attribute it until much later. Ed.] Two mammals with split hooves, chewing the cud, which, because they are free roaming, cannot be offered as sacrifices in the Temple. It is not the objective of this verse to teach that the fat parts on these free-roaming animals that are similar to those on the domestic beasts, must not be eaten, as they must be burned on the altar; they are permitted, seeing the whole animal has remained profane in status. Moses draws a comparison between cows and deer as different categories of mammals only in that henceforth both types may be eaten also when not in a state of ritual purity. This point is clear by the absence of the word כל, “all of it,” when permitting it to be eaten. Nowhere do we have a verse that says יאכלנו כצבי ואיל alone, without this statement being limited by the context in which it appears. The meaning of the word אך in this instance, is that it introduces a warning. Seeing that prior to the latest piece of legislation it had been forbidden to eat any meat unless the person eating it was ritually pure, and the meat had originally been part of a consecrated animal, and had not been remained uneaten for more than the period allocated to that type of sacrificial offering, I might have thought that all the restrictions applicable to consumption of sacrificial meat did not apply to בשר תאוה, meat from non-consecrated animals, and that it would most certainly be in order to also consume meat from animals that had been consecrated and whose blood had been offered on private altars. Moses therefore is at pains to spell out that the only restriction that does not apply to the eating of such animals is that although allowed to be eaten, the fat parts and the blood must not be eaten, although they are not fit for the altar. The reason why Moses had to warn the people at this juncture once more not to eat blood from non-consecrated animals was because when the prohibition to eat blood was spelled out, the Torah had also stated ואני נתתיו לכם על המזבח לכפר, “I have reserved the blood to serve for you as an atonement on the altar.” (Leviticus 17,11) I might have thought that the prohibition to eat blood applies only to blood that could serve as our atonement, and that therefore blood from non consecrated animals is permitted. Moses makes sure that no one can make such a mistake. In connection with the חלב, the fat on the kidneys and parts of the liver that is burnt on the altar, Moses does not repeat the prohibition as applicable also to non-consecrated animals. The קרב, “the entrails” of consecrated animals (Leviticus 1,13) are not all forbidden, whereas that of non-consecrated animals, are not all permitted. Furthermore, seeing that here Moses commanded that the manner of slaughtering these domestic mammals that are potentially fit for the altar, is the same as that of doing so for permissible free-roaming animals, I might have concluded that the domestic animals’ blood when the animal slaughtered as בשר תאוה, meat that may be eaten in a state of ritual impurity, needs to have its blood covered (burial) just as does the blood of the free-roaming beasts after slaughter. Moses therefore adds the words: על הארץ תשפכנו כמים, “you shall pour it out on the earth just as you do with water.” (Verse 23) Moses did not say בארץ תשפכנו, which would mean that the blood of such animals has to be buried inside the earth. There is yet another concern that Moses wanted to address here, again something he was afraid the people might easily misunderstand. It is a fact that while in the desert, none of the שלמים, peace offerings, the ones whose meat are eaten primarily by the owners, could be eaten until after the requisite procedures with its blood had been performed by the priests. It is also a fact that when no such procedures were performed with the free-roaming animals, it was almost automatic that meat would be eaten that still had some blood in it. One might have thought that this was in order, just as one might have thought the same concerning all manner of birds, none of which other than the pigeons are fit for offering on the altar, that therefore such blood would be permissible without the procedure of “burying,” i.e. “covering” it in the earth first. One might also have thought that the birds would not require the same degree of slaughter and that stabbing them to death would suffice. [After all, even with the pigeons that are offered as sacrificial offerings the Torah did not stipulate שחיטה, slaughter, but מליקה, nipping, (Leviticus 1,15) Ed.] Moses therefore had to spell out that the blood of birds, other than the pigeons and turtle doves which qualify as offerings on the altar, must also be covered, the reason being that the pigeons and turtle doves did not qualify as שלמים, peace offerings on the altar, but only as burnt-offerings or as sin-offerings. In both instances the layman did not get to eat of those. I might therefore have assumed that just as mammals that have not been consecrated as offerings, do not need their blood covered, neither do these birds, or that the blood could be consumed after the bird had been stabbed to death. One might even have assumed that bird’s blood could be eaten and was not included in the prohibition of mammals’ blood. Moses therefore goes on record that it must be poured out, just like water. In fact, pouring out the blood might be misconstrued as a practice customary among the pagans who worshipped demons, satyrs, and the like. Moses therefore repeats that צאן ובקר, most of the bodies of which are offered on the altar, must have almost all the blood poured down the drain of the altar, except for the minute amount sprinkled on the altar. This needed to be repeated in the event that an animal had proven to be unfit as an offering, having developed a blemish that had not existed before. In effect, the blood of such a blemished animal is neither treated like the blood of a sacrificial animal, nor like the blood of an animal that had not been consecrated at all. Nachmanides writes further on our subject, adding a historical perspective, which explains the apparent change of attitude to blood. Immediately after the Exodus, when the Israelites were still very much under the influence of the practices of the Egyptians, they considered the new desert environment described by Moses as the region in which all these demons and satyrs were at home. (Compare Deut. 32,10 for a description of that howling wilderness.) The Torah had already stated in Leviticus 17,7 that certain sacrificial rites performed in the Tabernacle were designed, among other reasons, of course, to disabuse the people from still offering sacrifices to the demons and slaughtering animals in that process. According to Maimonides, in his Moreh nevuchim, section 3, chapter 46, it was part of that rite that men and beasts, i.e. the satyrs, sat at the same table and shared the blood of the animal sacrificed in their honour. It became essential then as a first step in reeducating the people to establish that slaughtering livestock was acceptable only if its blood was earmarked for the altar of Hashem. Permitting בשר תאוה, eating of meat from animals that had not been first consecrated to Hashem, would have made the task of weaning the Israelites from their former customs so much harder. Now, however, Moses is addressing a generation who did not have to discard heathen practices as they had been raised under the כנפי השכינה, the protective wings of the presence of Hashem. Therefore, considerations mentioned in Leviticus 17 no longer applied. Moses, i.e. the Torah, was not concerned that once settled in the land of Israel, where due to the distance of most of the people from the Temple, non-consecrated meat had to be made available, did not worry about pouring out the blood. The Egyptians had abhorred cattle and sheep and had not eaten their meat anyways as we know already from when Joseph entertained his brothers at lunch. (Genesis 43,32) However, the Egyptians, great hunters, did feast on venison, and therefore steps had to be taken to prevent the blood of free-roaming bests from being eaten. The Torah therefore decreed burial of a kind for the blood of such animals. (if they were the kind Jews may eat.) Covering such blood with earth would ensure that it is not offered to the satyrs. [Abravanel and others raise many objections against that interpretation, Ed.]
Only be steadfast in not eating the blood; for the blood is the life; and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.
verse value 3053
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 45 letters. The shortest word is "only" (רַ֣ק, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·you·shall·not·eat" (וְלֹא־תֹאכַ֥ל, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 435: the·life, the·life. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·shall·not·eat" (וְלֹא־תֹאכַ֥ל), "with·the·flesh" (עִם־הַבָּשָֽׂר). The root אכל appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "for" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy); "it·is" (root הוא, 113x in Deuteronomy); "to·eat" (root אכל, 82x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·life', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 3 words. Full calculation: רַ֣ק [only] (300) + חֲזַ֗ק [be·strong] (115) + לְבִלְתִּי֙ [so·as·not] (472) + אֲכֹ֣ל [to·eat] (51) + הַדָּ֔ם [blood] (49) + כִּ֥י [for] (30) + הַדָּ֖ם [blood] (49) + ה֣וּא [it·is] (12) + הַנָּ֑פֶשׁ [the·life] (435) + וְלֹא־תֹאכַ֥ל [and·you·shall·not·eat] (488) + הַנֶּ֖פֶשׁ [the·life] (435) + עִם־הַבָּשָֽׂר [with·the·flesh] (617) = 3053.
Onkelos
Only be resolute in not eating the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life together with the meat.
Rashi
רק חזק לבלתי אכל הדם ONLY BE STRONG THAT THOU EAT NOT THE BLOOD — From the fact that it states, “Be strong” (make a special effort), you may learn that they had a prediliction to blood — to the eating of it; it was therefore necessary to state, “be strong”. This is the view of R. Judah. R. Simeon, the son of Azzai, however, says: Scripture merely intends to caution you and to teach you to what great an extent you must strive to fulfil the divine commandments in general. If, as regards blood from which one can easily keep aloof since one does not long for it, it felt it necessary to insist on a strong effort on your part when forbidding it to you, how much the more is it necessary for you to make great efforts in keeping other commands [the fulfillment of which requires much moral strength] (cf. Sifrei Devarim 76:1-3). ולא תאכל הנפש עם הבשר AND THOU MAYEST NOT EAT THE LIFE WITH THE FLESH — This is a prohibition of אבר מן החי, the eating of a limb cut from a living animal (Sifrei Devarim 76:5; Chullin 102a; cf. Rashi on Genesis 9:4).
Ibn Ezra
"For the blood is the life" — I have already explained this.
Sforno
רק חזק לבלתי אכול הדם, even though you hope that by eating the blood you will be able to divine the future as do the demons as our sages said in Chagigah 16 that upon eating blood one can hear the future in the same manner as do the ministering angels.” [On that folio the Talmud does not describe the demons as eating blood, specifically; also the Talmud describes the knowledge of the demons of future events as not based on their intelligence, but as something they overheard in the celestial regions. Nachmanides elaborates on all this, particularly in his commentary on the relevant verse in Acharey Mot. Ed.]
Rabbeinu Bahya
רק חזק לבלתי אכול הדם, “only be strong, not to eat the blood, etc.” Seeing that in the past the Israelites had been consuming lots of blood as parts of the pagan cults they had worshipped while in Egypt, the Torah had to make a special appeal to them to resist the temptation to eat blood. The Torah had to especially legislate in Leviticus 19,26: “do not eat in the presence of blood,” i.e. not to eat meat before all the blood had been removed. Similarly, sacrificial meat must not be eaten until after the animal’s blood has been sprinkled on the altar. In our verse the Torah again exhorts us to resist the temptation based on a long tradition to eat blood. Consuming blood is one of the ways through which the Israelites might suffer a relapse to the ways of paganism. The prohibition to eat blood occurs no fewer than seven times in the Torah. (Leviticus 3,17; 7,26; 17,12; 17,14; 19,26; Deut. 12,16; 12,23). It is quite customary to repeat again and again injunctions against practices considered as especially objectionable in the eyes of the Lord. For instance, the work-prohibition on the Sabbath appears on 12 separate occasions. This is because the Sabbath legislation is considered as equaling in importance all other laws of the Torah combined (Maimonides end of Hilchot Shabbat). The subject of the Exodus from Egypt appears no fewer than 50 times in the Torah, showing how fundamental to Judaism this event is considered by the Torah. Another possible reason why he Torah here uses the unusual phrasing of “only be strong,” is that seeing that it is a widespread perception that consuming the blood of an animal strengthens the body of the person eating it, it is natural for people to think that the whole purpose of eating meat is in order to make the blood part of one’s own body. The Torah therefore has to tell the Israelite that his body will become stronger if he does not eat the blood of the animal. The word רק in our verse exempts the liver, which is all blood, from the prohibition of eating blood. We find a similar exclusion in the words אך כאשר יאכל הצבי in verse 22 where the Torah exempts the consumption of חלב, certain fat parts of the animal reserved for the altar in animals fit as sacrifices from that general prohibition. In other words, חלב of free-roaming beasts such as deer is not forbidden for consumption by Jews. Our verse here was necessary as we might have drawn a parallel between the permission to eat חלב of animals which do not qualify as sacrifices for the altar with blood of animals which do not qualify as sacrifices. The Torah therefore had to repeat the prohibition once more in connection with meat consumed as meat which had not been consecrated first. Also, the Torah wanted to avoid our drawing the conclusion that just as the חלב of a free-roaming beast is permissible, so the חלב of a domestic animal not slaughtered as a sacrifice is permitted. Had it been the intent of the Torah to allow such a conclusion, the Torah would have had to write in verse 22 כל אשר יאכל בצבי ואיל יאכל, “everything which is permitted to eat of the deer, etc. may be eaten (in all non-sacrificial animals). כי הדם הוא הנפש, “for the blood is equivalent to the life-force.” The Torah writes this here to provide a reason for this prohibition. I have discussed this at length in Leviticus 17,11. ולא תאכל הנפש עם הבשר, “and you are not to eat the life-force when you eat the meat.” The literal meaning is that you must not eat the meat which has been cut out of a living animal while this animal remains alive. Even if the animal from which this piece of flesh had been cut off died in the meantime, the piece cut off first is forbidden under the heading of אבר מן החי, “tissue from living animals”, a prohibition which applies to all of mankind as we know from Genesis 9,4. The reason is that inflicting such pain on the animal is an act of cruelty which will engender cruel traits in the person consuming such flesh. The Torah adds the words (apparently unnecessary) לא תאכלנו, “do not eat it” (verse 24), to tell you that you must not eat the blood which is slow in seeping out, (which we remove through salting the meat).
Tur HaArokh
רק חזק לבלתי אכול הדם, “only remain steadfast not to consume the blood!” Our sages quote this line as proof that the Israelites had been deeply steeped in blood. [The prohibition against eating blood is repeated 7 times in the Torah. Ed.] Nachmanides writes that although the reason given by the Torah here and elsewhere for not eating blood, i.e. that it is equivalent to eating the animal’s life-force, its “animalistic soul,” is certainly adequate, and justifies the many repetitions of that prohibition, he, personally, does not feel satisfied with this reason. There must be some additional reason for Moses exhorting the people by calling out “only remain steadfast, etc.” What is the special steadfastness and faith that Moses believes is necessary in order to withstand the supposed allure of eating blood? Expressions such as the one used by Moses here are normally used when someone is encouraged to keep his courage when going to war, as Moses himself used when he charged Joshua with the task of leading the people after he had gone. (Compare Deut. 31,23) We find such exhortations when they concern the whole range of commandments, but never when they concern the observance of only a single commandment, and especially a negative commandment where one is not required to do something but is only required to refrain from initiating an act of rebellion against G’d! But it appears to me that Moses employed this expression because he was aware to what extent the Israelites, while still in Egypt, had clung to this particular kind of idolatrous practice. They had slaughtered animals to these deities, for why else would the Torah in Leviticus 17,7 have accused them of having done so by writing; “so that they will not continue to slaughter to the satyrs, etc.?” They had gathered the blood of these animals in order to present them to the demons and had eaten some of the blood. By doing so they were considered as if they had called upon these demons, especially in order to have their future foretold for them. Clearly, that was not the major reason why the Torah prohibited the eating of blood. The Torah has revealed that reason repeatedly when referring to the blood representing the essence of life, and that we must not eat it, as we would absorb too much animalistic “genes” by doing so. G’d has arranged things so that by presenting the animal’s blood to Him on the Altar, it atones for our cardinal sins, resurrects us in a manner of speaking, instead of us becoming more like animals. The Torah was concerned that people who had their future foretold by them after eating blood, and the predictions had come true, that this would be a strong stimulant for other people copying such practices, and it requires great fortitude to withstand such a temptation.
Rashbam
רק חזק לבלתי אכול הדם, seeing that the blood is scattered and embedded in all parts of the flesh it requires special effort to extract it all before eating the meat.
You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out upon the earth as water.
verse value 1900
Insights
Verse structure: 5 words, 24 letters. Verse gematria: 1900 is divisible by 50, the years to the Jubilee (yovel). The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֖א, 2 letters) and the longest is "you·shall·eat·it" (תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ, 6 letters). 5 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "upon·the·earth" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "you·shall·eat·it" (root אכל, 82x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you·shall·eat·it', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 3 words. Full calculation: לֹ֖א [not] (31) + תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ [you·shall·eat·it] (507) + עַל־הָאָ֥רֶץ [upon·the·earth] (396) + תִּשְׁפְּכֶ֖נּוּ [you·shall·pour·it] (856) + כַּמָּֽיִם [water] (110) = 1900.
Onkelos
You shall not eat it; pour it out upon the ground like water.
Rashi
לא תאכלנו THOU SHALT NOT EAT IT — This is a prohibition against the eating of דם התמצית (the last blood oozing through the cut of a vein: תמצית from מצה “to squeeze”) (Keritot 4b).
Sforno
לא תאכלנו, על הארץ תשפכנו כמים, you are to treat it so that it becomes unfit to eat, just as is water when you pour it on the earth. It is not enough to hide it, as one hides wine or oil and other liquids which are designed as drinks.
You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of Hashem.
verse value 2654 — יְהֹוָֽה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 48 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָֽה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֖א, 2 letters) and the longest is "you·shall·eat·it" (תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 31: not, it·goes·well. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "for·you·do" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you·shall·eat·it', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 9 words. Full calculation: לֹ֖א [not] (31) + תֹּאכְלֶ֑נּוּ [you·shall·eat·it] (507) + לְמַ֨עַן [in·order·that] (190) + יִיטַ֤ב [it·goes·well] (31) + לְךָ֙ [to·you] (50) + וּלְבָנֶ֣יךָ [your·sons] (118) + אַחֲרֶ֔יךָ [after·you] (239) + כִּֽי־תַעֲשֶׂ֥ה [for·you·do] (805) + הַיָּשָׁ֖ר [right] (515) + בְּעֵינֵ֥י [in·the·eyes·of] (142) + יְהֹוָֽה [Hashem] (26) = 2654.
Onkelos
You shall not eat it, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, because you will have done what is right before Hashem.
Rashi
לא תאכלנו THOU SHALT NOT EAT IT — This is a prohibition against eating of the blood contained in the limbs (Keritot 4b). למען ייטב לך וגו׳ THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH THEE, etc. — Go and learn how great is the grant of reward for keeping the divine commandments: if in the case of blood for which the soul of man feels a loathing, he who keeps aloof from it obtains merit for himself and for his children after him, how much the more is it so in the case of robbery or forbidden sexual relations for which the soul of man may feel a longing (Makkot 23b).
Ibn Ezra
"So that it will go well with you" — that one should not consume the life-force of an animal, lest it corrupt his own soul; for the soul and the form are fashioned in the likeness of the father. Therefore: 'and with your children after you.'
Sforno
'לא תאכלנו....כי.תעשה הישר בעיני ה, when you refrain from eating it this shall not be because you despise it, i.e. it repels you; you must not eat it in order to thereby do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Our sages in Torat Kohanim on Kedoshim 9,10 phrase it thus: “one must not say: ‘I am revolted by pig’s meat,’ but one should say: ‘I am perfectly capable of enjoying pig’s meat; the only reason I do not is in order to comply with G’d’s prohibition of it.’”
Rabbeinu Bahya
למען ייטב לך ולבניך, “so that it will be well with you and your children, etc.” Our sages in Makkot 23 use these words to prove that there is a reward in store for keeping the commandments. They argue as follows: if the Torah promises such a comprehensive reward as it does in this verse where even the children of the person observing the commandments are included in the reward for merely abstaining from eating blood, something which disgusts most of us, how much greater must be the reward for performing commandments which really require an effort on our part. Abstaining from sexual relations with partners forbidden to marry surely represents a greater effort and qualifies for even greater reward. The prohibitions of the Torah may be subdivided into three basic categories. 1) Prohibitions of things which human nature craves such as unrestricted sexual relations and robbery, acquisition of property belonging to others. 2) Prohibition of things which normal people do not desire anyway such as the consumption of blood or creeping things and insects. 3) Things which man relates to as neither repulsive nor especially desirable such as the mixing of certain seeds when sowing one’s field or vineyard, or the wearing of garments containing a mixture of wool and linen. Seeing that this is so, the person to whom such prohibitions apply must train himself to detest the matters the Torah has forbidden if they had been something he craved by nature. Seeing the Torah forbade them one must re-orient one’s attitude towards such things because the Torah has forbidden them. This is the meaning of Sifri at the end of Parshat Kedoshim: “a person should not say: ‘I am by nature incapable of eating pig;’ on the contrary, he must acknowledge that by nature he is perfectly capable of eating pig, however, seeing the Torah forbade it he retrained his nature.”
Kli Yakar
“Do not eat it, so that it may be well with you and your children after you.” Here, he specifically mentions your children after you because commentators have said that blood generates cruelty in the body of the one who eats it, and the nature of the father is also passed on to the children, and their offspring will be like them. Therefore, it says that when you do not eat blood, it will be well with you and your children after you, so that cruelty will not become a trait firmly embedded in your descendants. For this reason, it is mentioned nearby regarding the destruction of an idolatrous city [where] women and children [are killed] in a single day, which appears to be a great cruelty, and there is concern that cruelty might become a firmly embedded trait in him and his descendants. Therefore, it says, He will give you compassion, that you will be compassionate by nature, at least toward people, and because of this, God will have mercy on you. And this is what is meant by He will give you compassion and have mercy on you and multiply you — meaning that He will multiply your offspring, as they too will be compassionate like you.
Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which Hashem shall choose;
verse value 3685 — יְהֹוָֽה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 47 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָֽה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "only" (רַ֧ק, 2 letters) and the longest is "that·will·be" (אֲשֶׁר־יִהְי֥וּ, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "your·holy·things" (קׇֽדָשֶׁ֛יךָ), "that·will·be" (אֲשֶׁר־יִהְי֥וּ), "and·your·vows" (וּנְדָרֶ֑יךָ). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that·will·be" (root היה, 170x in Deuteronomy); "and·you·shall·come" (root בוא, 106x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·your·vows', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 5 words. Full calculation: רַ֧ק [only] (300) + קׇֽדָשֶׁ֛יךָ [your·holy·things] (434) + אֲשֶׁר־יִהְי֥וּ [that·will·be] (532) + לְךָ֖ [to·you] (50) + וּנְדָרֶ֑יךָ [and·your·vows] (290) + תִּשָּׂ֣א [you·shall·carry] (701) + וּבָ֔אתָ [and·you·shall·come] (409) + אֶל־הַמָּק֖וֹם [to·the·place] (222) + אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֥ר [that·he·shall·choose] (721) + יְהֹוָֽה [Hashem] (26) = 3685.
Onkelos
Only the tithe of your holy things that belong to you, and your vow offerings, you shall take and bring to the place that Hashem shall choose.
Rashi
רק קדשיך ONLY (i.e. however) THY HOLY THINGS [… THOU SHALT BEAR AND GO UNTO THE PLACE WHICH THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE] — This means: although you are permitted to slaughter non-holy animals I do not permit you to slaughter consecrated animals and to eat them in thy gates (i.e. wherever you please) without sacrificing them on the altar, but bring them to the “House of Choice” (the Sanctuary).
Ibn Ezra
"Only your sacred things" — burnt-offerings, peace-offerings, and vowed offerings. "You shall take" — the meaning is: you shall bring them to the chosen place.
Chizkuni
תשא ובאת אל המקום, “you shall take and go to the place;” when we pray on the festivals we say in our mussaph prayer: והשיאנו ה' אלוקינו את ברכת מועדיך, “cause us O Lord our G-d to take with us the blessing of Your festivals, etc.”
Targum Yonatan
Nevertheless, animals which are your consecrated tenths, and your votive offerings, you shall take and bring to the place which the Lord will choose;.
and you shall offer your burnt-offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of Hashem your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out against the altar of Hashem your God, and you shall eat the flesh.
verse value 3847 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 69 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "the·flesh" (הַבָּשָׂ֣ר, 4 letters) and the longest is "and·blood·of·your·sacrifices" (וְדַם־זְבָחֶ֗יךָ, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 157: upon·altar, upon·altar. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "the·flesh" (הַבָּשָׂ֣ר), "and·the·blood" (וְהַדָּ֔ם), "and·blood·of·your·sacrifices" (וְדַם־זְבָחֶ֗יךָ). The root בשר appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "and·you·shall·offer" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·God', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְעָשִׂ֤יתָ [and·you·shall·offer] (786) + עֹלֹתֶ֙יךָ֙ [your·burnt·offerings] (530) + הַבָּשָׂ֣ר [the·flesh] (507) + וְהַדָּ֔ם [and·the·blood] (55) + עַל־מִזְבַּ֖ח [upon·altar] (157) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ [your·God] (66) + וְדַם־זְבָחֶ֗יךָ [and·blood·of·your·sacrifices] (97) + יִשָּׁפֵךְ֙ [shall·be·poured] (410) + עַל־מִזְבַּח֙ [upon·altar] (157) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ [your·God] (66) + וְהַבָּשָׂ֖ר [flesh] (513) + תֹּאכֵֽל [you·shall·eat] (451) = 3847.
Onkelos
And you shall offer your burnt offerings — the meat and the blood — on the altar of Hashem your God; and the blood of your peace offerings shall be poured out on the altar of Hashem your God, and the meat you may eat.
Rashi
ועשית עלתיך AND THOU SHALT OFFER THY BURNT OFFERINGS — i.e. if they (thy sacrifices) be burnt offerings, put the flesh as well as the blood on the altar, but if they are peace offerings, then “the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured” first on the altar and afterwards you may eat the flesh. Furthermore did our Rabbis deduce that [the words] “thy sacrifices, however, [thou shalt bear, etc.]” are intended to teach with regard to consecrated animals that are outside the Land (abroad) as well as regards such animals that have been exchanged for other consecrated animals, and finally regarding the young of consecrated animals that [all] such must [also] be offered [in Jerusalem] (Sifrei Devarim 77:1; Bekhorot 14b).
Ibn Ezra
"And the flesh you shall eat" — He speaks with the priest, whether it is a firstborn, a sin-offering, or a guilt-offering, the thigh and the breast; but if it is a peace-offering, most of it is eaten by the Israelite.
Chizkuni
ודם זבחיך, “and the blood of your meat offerings,” this is a reference to the socalled sh’lamim, “peace offerings,” (consumed in the main by the donors) והבשר תאכל, “and the meat you may eat;” [as opposed to the blood and the fat parts. Ed.] the meat will be consumed by the priest on duty at that time according to the priestly roster, or the common Israelite, depending on the type of offering and the parts of the animal designated for either priest or laymen. (Ibn Ezra).
Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you for ever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of Hashem your God.
verse value 5277 — יְהֹוָ֥ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 89 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֥ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֜, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·the·words" (אֵ֚ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים, 10 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·the·right" (וְהַיָּשָׁ֔ר). 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'commanding·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 13 words.
Onkelos
Keep and receive all these words that I command you, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, because you will have done what is proper and what is right before Hashem your God.
Rashi
שמר KEEP [AND HEAR (understand) ALL THESE WORDS WHICH I COMMAND THEE] — This (the word שמר) implies the studying of the oral law — that you must keep it within you that it should not be forgotten, just as it is said, (Proverbs 22:18) “[And apply thy heart unto my knowledge] for it is a pleasant thing if thou keep (תשמרם) them within thee”, and only if thou learnest is it possible that thou wilt understand and fulfil the commands, but one who is not amongst those who study (lit., who is not included in learning) cannot be amongst those who act correctly (cf. Sifrei Devarim 79:3; see also Rashi on Deuteronomy 4:6). (The translation is: keep, i.e. study and retain your learning in mind: ושמעת, and then thou wilt understand how to observe the commands). את כל הדברים [KEEP …] ALL WORDS [WHICH I COMMAND THEE] — This implies that a light precept should be as dear to you as a grave precept (Sifrei Devarim 79:4). הטוב [THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH THEE … WHEN THOU DOEST] WHAT IS GOOD — This refers to an action that is proper in the eyes of the Heavenly Father. והישר AND WHAT IS RIGHT — this refers to an action that appears to be proper in the eyes of men (Sifrei Devarim 79:5).
Ramban
OBSERVE AND HEAR ALL THOSE WORDS WHICH I COMMAND THEE. He [Moses] did not mention here the statutes and ordinances, nor His testimonies and His commandments, but said all those words in order to include in this observance the good and the right, as I have explained in the section of Va’ethchanan.
Ibn Ezra
The meaning of "observe and heed" — refers to the blood, that it be poured upon the altar.
Or HaChaim
שמר ושמעת את כל הדברים האלה, "Observe and hearken to all these words, etc." The sequence of the words "observe and hearken" appears to be reversed. The Torah should have written "hearken and observe." Besides, what are the words את and כל meant to include? Furthermore, why is this the only verse in which Moses speaks about the wellbeing of the children due to their parents' observance of the commandments? What is the meaning of the words כי תעשה הטוב which appears to be the result underlying the commandment "so that you and your children will be well off?" Moses had already given the reason for this when he said: "observe, etc." He had added למען, i.e. "in order that as a result of this observance, etc." Clearly the wellbeing was decribed as a result of מצוה-observance. I believe that Moses gives two separate instructions here. 1) To observe and to listen to the Torah and the various commandments, i.e. the ones with which the Israelites were already familiar; 2) the various decrees our rabbis have formulated throughout our history known as "fences." Concerning the Torah and the commandments written therein Moses said שמר, "observe," seeing these were already known; concerning the rabbinic decrees which were not yet known he said ושמעת, "be sure to hearken." Moses said את כל to warn the people to be sure that they include all the various decrees and ordinances that would be enacted by the Rabbis in the future. He said the words כל הדברים, "the whole words," to remind us that unless one fulfils both the biblical and the rabbinic part of the commandments one has not truly fulfilled them. Moses concludes this thought with the words למען ייטב לך ולבניך to remind us that it is the performance of all these rabbinic decrees which will enable the Jewish people to raise Torah-true generations of children and grandchildren. This is what would separate us from the people who indulge in a way of life that is abhorrent to G'd. כי תעשה הטוב, "so that you will do what is good, etc." Moses explains that the purpose of rabbinic decrees and ordinances is designed only to enable you to do what is good and correct in the eyes of the Lord. Accordingly, this part of the verse is also part of the reason why Moses commands us to "observe and hearken." The good which G'd has in mind for us will be the result of our relating with equal seriousness to rabbinic decrees as we relate to biblical injunctions. All of this is additional to the good that will devolve on future generations as a result of the interpretations of Torah left to us by the scholars. The words כי תעשה are an addition to the words שמר ושמעת. Our verse may also remind a person who is in the habit of fulfilling a particular commandment and is fully aware of what it entails not to say that he does not need to study this commandment. Moses tells us that study even of commandments which we fulfil as a matter of routine is a separate מצוה, and is not to be neglected. Still another way of understanding the ord...
Tur HaArokh
שמור ושמעת את כל הדברים האלה, “Safeguard and hearken to all these words;” the reason why Moses changed the customary formula of observing various types of commandments by listing them as חוקים, משפטים, עדות וגו', is that he wanted to include matters which go beyond legislated mode of behaviour and which fall under the category of ועשית הישר והטוב, “do what is fair and good,” to go beyond what is demanded of them, in order to demonstrate that they act in the spirit of the Torah voluntarily, not only under compulsion and threat of penalties.
When Hashem your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land;
verse value 6467 — יְהֹוָ֨ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 65 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֨ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֨ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "when·he·cuts·off" (כִּֽי־יַכְרִית֩, 7 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "in·their·land" (בְּאַרְצָֽם). The root ירש appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·before·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 4 words. Full calculation: כִּֽי־יַכְרִית֩ [when·he·cuts·off] (670) + יְהֹוָ֨ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ [your·God] (66) + אֶת־הַגּוֹיִ֗ם [the·nations] (465) + אֲשֶׁ֨ר [that] (501) + אַתָּ֥ה [you] (406) + בָא־שָׁ֛מָּה [coming·there] (348) + לָרֶ֥שֶׁת [to·dispossess] (930) + אוֹתָ֖ם [them] (447) + מִפָּנֶ֑יךָ [from·before·you] (200) + וְיָרַשְׁתָּ֣ [and·you·shall·dispossess] (916) + אֹתָ֔ם [them] (441) + וְיָשַׁבְתָּ֖ [and·you·shall·dwell] (718) + בְּאַרְצָֽם [in·their·land] (333) = 6467.
Onkelos
When Hashem your God destroys the nations into whose midst you are entering to dispossess them before you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land —
Ibn Ezra
"When He will cut off" — this passage too is connected to 'when He will enlarge,' for if they do not defeat the nations, He will not enlarge the border.
Or HaChaim
כי יכרית…את הגוים…השמר לך, "When G'd will cut down…the nations,….be careful, etc." Why did Moses appear to make being on guard against the lure of idolatry dependent on His cutting down the nations occupying Canaan? Were the Israelites to tolerate with equanimity the idolatry of many nations for many years as long as G'd had not cut down these nations? We know that this is not so as we have been told to wipe out idolatry and to refrain from it ourselves without a word about modifying this commandment by stating that it applied only if our neighbours practiced idolatry! Furthermore, why does the Torah write פן תנקש, "lest you be ensnared..after He has wiped them out?" Surely the sequence of events should have been the reverse? Why would the Israelites be in danger of being ensnared by idolatry performed by people whom G'd has already wiped out? Their very fate has discredited their deities who could not save them! Rashi's comment that after G'd has wiped out these nations we are to reflect about the sins which caused them to be wiped out and to be careful not to commit a similar sin so that we would not meet the same fate, does not really solve our problem. Thirdly, the Torah writes both פן תנקש and פן תדרש. In view of the fact that the "ensnaring," תנקש leads to your enquiring into the idolatrous practices, the Torah should have written פן תנקש לדרוש, "so that you will not be ensnared into enquiring, etc," instead of describing these two phenomena as independent of one another! Fourthly, why did Moses write לאמור? To whom did he expect the Israelites to say this? Fifthly, why did Moses use the word איכה as introducing a question? We do not find this word as having this meaning anywhere else! Sixthly, what did Moses mean (13,1) by forbidding both לא תגרעו, "do not subtract from the laws of the Torah" as well as לא תוסיפו "do not add to them?" Whereas we can understand the former, does not the latter exclude the enactment of rabbinic ordinances? Did not the Torah itself write (Leviticus 18,30) "You shall make fences around My commandments," i.e. that the prohibition of idolatry is to be surrounded with rabbinic decrees to ensure we do not violate the essence of the commandment? Is this not an invitation to make additional laws to keep us from becoming ensnared in the sin of idol worship? Actually, Moses intended to warn against the errors man is apt to make when he observes with his own eyes that wicked people are being destroyed. He is almost bound to arrive at either one of two possible (erroneous) conclusions when he is an eye witness to such a phenomenon. He may conclude that the idolatry these people had practiced was considered substantive and this is the reason why G'd was so concerned with their worshiping something other than Him that He decided to kill them. Alternatively, anyone witnessing the demise of such idol worshipers will conclude that the form of worship these people had indulged in is not substantive and would not arouse G'd'...
Chizkuni
כי יכרית ה' אלוקיך, “when the Lord your G-d will cut off, etc.” this paragraph has been inserted here, as unless G-d cuts off the gentile nations, how is He going to widen the boundaries of your Land? לרשת אותם מפניך, “and to dispossess them on your account;” the word מפניך actually is the continuation of the beginning of the verse, i.e. כי יכרית.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי יכרית ה' אלו-היך את הגוים, “When the Lord your G’d will destroy the nations, etc.” This paragraph warns man not to engage in idolatry supplying a rationale for this. The reason the inhabitants of the land of Canaan forfeit their land is that they practiced all the cults which are an abomination to the Lord. The very manner in which they practiced their idolatry was so abhorrent to the Lord your G’d, especially the cult of child-sacrifice. Even the inquiry into details of the former inhabitants’ religious worship is forbidden especially if it is conducted as a prelude to imitating them. One must not delude oneself that these practices were pleasing to the Lord. What these people did has been described in Psalms 36,3 as “because its speech is seductive to him till iniquity be found out and he be hated,” The author of Psalms describes the cumulative effect of Satan’s urgings. The arguments presented by Satan are so seductive sounding that parents take the most precious creature in the universe, their own children, kill them as an act of sacrifice and persuade themselves that they have thereby done the will of the Creator of such sophisticated forms of life as human beings. את כל הדבר אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם, “the whole matter which I command to you;” this refers to sacrificial service and the Temple service. G’d sums up once more that He hates all aspects of pagan worship and none of it must be added to the ceremonies prescribed by the Torah. A Midrashic approach to the words כי יכרית, based on Tanchuma Re'ey 9: We may best understand the need for this paragraph by means of a parable. A king had planted a vineyard in his field, a field which also contained great cedar trees as well as thorns and weeds. The king cut down the trees, but left the thorns untouched. When his servants observed this they remonstrated with the king saying: “our Lord, the thorns which tore our clothing you left untouched whereas the trees which give shade, etc., you cut down!” The king replied: “if I had uprooted the thorns and left the trees standing what would I use to fence off my vineyard?” This would not have been an appropriate way of doing things. The way I have done things provided me with lumber for the fence and provided more sunshine for my vineyard to produce good grapes. Israel is viewed as G’d’s vineyard as we know from Isaiah 5,7: “for the house of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts.” When G’d made the Israelites enter the vineyard, i.e. the land of Israel, He had already cut down the mighty cedars, i.e. the Emorites who lived there, people as powerful as oaks (Amos 2,10), but He left the children and grandchildren of these powerful Emorites in the meantime until the Israelites arrived so that they would tend the land (the vineyard) pending the Israelites’ arrival. We know this from Judges 3,1: “and these are the nations which the Lord left alive there in order to test the Israelites (who had not been alive at the time of the war of conquest).” We find a similar verse in Judges 2,22: “for it was in order to test Israel by them (the remaining Canaanites) to see whether they would faithfully walk in the ways of the Lord or not.” If the vineyard would remain in place as a result of the Israelites observing the Torah the remaining Canaanites would become “burnings of lime, thorns cut down that are set on fire” (Isaiah 32,12).
Rashbam
כי יכרית ה' אלוקיך את הגויים, the word מפניך still belongs to these initial words of the verse.
take heed to yourself that you be not ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you inquire not after their gods, saying: "How used these nations to serve their gods? even so will I do likewise."
verse value 5360 — אֵיכָ֨ה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 88 letters. Notable word values: "how" (אֵיכָ֨ה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֗, 2 letters) and the longest is "gods" (אֶת־אֱלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם, 8 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "lest·you·be·ensnared" (פֶּן־תִּנָּקֵשׁ֙), "and·lest·you·inquire" (וּפֶן־תִּדְרֹ֨שׁ), "they·serve" (יַעַבְד֜וּ). The root אחר appears 2 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·their·gods" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "and·I·will·do·so" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy); "saying" (root אמר, 144x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root אני ("even·i") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·before·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 10 words.
Onkelos
take care for yourself lest you be ensnared by following after them after they have been destroyed before you, and lest you inquire after their idols, saying, 'How did these nations worship their idols? I too will do likewise.'
Rashi
פן תנקש [TAKE HEED TO THYSELF] LEST THOU BE SNARED — Onkelos renders תנקש as an expression of the same root and meaning as מוקש, a snare. But I say that he was not particular to examine carefully the expression, for we never find a נ in the term that means to snare, not even as a root letter that is sometimes omitted from it; but in the term denoting movement from place to place and knocking we do find a נ, as in (Daniel 5:6) “and his knees knocked (נקש) one against the other”. Here, too, I say that פן תנקש means lest thou run after them so that you cling to their doings. Similar is (Psalms 109:11) “Let the creditor be מנקש to all that he has” — he (the speaker) is cursing the wicked that he may have many creditors and that these may go about running after his money. אחרי השמדם מפניך [TAKE HEED THAT THOU BE NOT SNARED] (according to Rashi, THAT THOU DO NOT RUN AFTER THEM) AFTER THAT THEY BE EXTERMINATED BEFORE THEE — The meaning is: after you see that I exterminate them from before you, you ought to pay attention to why these were exterminated — because of the depraved doings which they practiced. Consequently you should not act likewise lest others come and exterminate you (cf. Sifrei Devarim 81:3). איכה יעבדו HOW DID [THESE NATIONS] SERVE [THEIR GODS? EVEN SO WILL I DO LIKEWISE] — Because Scripture has laid down a punishment for idolatrous worship only in the case of sacrifice, offering incense, libation and prostration, as it is written (Exodus 22:19), “[He that sacrifices unto any god] save unto the Lord only [shall be doomed to death]” — which thus puts under the death penalty only kinds of worship that are performed in honor of the Most High God (i.e. such as have characteristics similar to “sacrifice”; cf. Rashi on Exodus 22:19), Scripture comes and teaches you here that if the usual way of worshiping any idol is by some other rite, as e.g., that one exposes himself in front of Baal Peor, or casts a stone before Mercury — then this is its cult and one who performs it is therefore liable to the death penalty, but for sacrifice, offering incense, libation and prostration one becomes liable to the death penalty even though this be not the usual way of worshiping it (Sanhedrin 60b).
Ramban
TAKE HEED TO THYSELF THAT THOU BE NOT ENSNARED TO FOLLOW THEM, AFTER THEY ARE DESTROYED FROM BEFORE THEE. “After you see that I destroy them from before you, [you should] pay attention as to why these [nations] were destroyed — because of their corrupt practices. So you too, should not do the same so that others should not come and destroy you.” This is Rashi’s language. And if so, this verse becomes an admonition and warning against idol-worship. And Rashi also wrote on the expression [in the verse before us]: “How did these nations serve their gods, even so will I do likewise. Because Scripture has punished idolatry only for sacrificing, burning incense, pouring a libation, and bowing down, as it is written, [He that sacrificeth unto the gods] save unto the Eternal only, [shall be utterly destroyed, thus establishing the penalty only for those] acts which are performed in the service of G-d, therefore it comes and teaches you here that if the method of worshipping a [particular] idol was something other [than the four ways specified above,] — for example, excreting to [Baal] Peor or throwing a stone to Merkulis, this being its customary manner of worship — he is liable [to the death penalty]. One is also liable for [worshipping any idol whatever, in any one of the four specified ways] sacrificing, burning incense, pouring a libation, and bowing down even if it is not the customary way.” Thus far Rashi’s language. But this is not correct, for the [following] verse states, Thou shalt not do so unto the Eternal thy G-d. If so, the verse [before us] is not an admonition against worshipping their gods, [for it would be incongruous to follow this prohibition with an admonition not to worship G-d] but only that we should not worship the Glorious G-d with their forms of worship, just as he gave the reason, for every abomination to the Eternal, which He hateth, have they done unto their gods etc. Rather, the meaning of this section is as follows: Up to here he has commanded many times that when we come into the Land we are to uproot the idols and their appurtenances, and destroy their names, and he further commanded that we do this immediately upon dispossessing the nations. Now he stated that when the Eternal will cut off these nations from before us, and the names of the idols will be forgotten in the Land, and we shall dwell in their land securely, we should not think in our hearts thus: “Now G-d has cut away from before us the worshippers of other gods because they gave honor and reverential service to [the idols, which are] the work of men’s hands. And it is not proper to give His glory to another, neither His praise to graven images, for so He prohibited sacrificing, burning incense, pouring a libation, and bowing down, save unto the Eternal only, and it is customary among kings that anyone who glorifies himself with their honor, putting the crown on his own head or wearing the royal raiment like kings there is one law for him, that he be put t...
Ibn Ezra
The word פֶּן ('lest') — is a condensed expression for: that you do as they do. "And I will do likewise" — in the service of Hashem, thinking that you are doing good. 'You shall not do so, for all their deeds Hashem abhors' — and the proof: 'for even their sons.' 'What I have commanded you, that you shall observe.'
Sforno
ואעשה כן גם אני, that I will serve the Lord in Heaven, my G’d, but by imitating the mode of worship practiced by the people whom G’d drove out on my account.
Tur HaArokh
איכה יעבדו הגוים האלה את אלוהיהם ואעשה כן גם אני, “how did these nations serve their respective gods, and I will do the same.” Nachmanides, disagreeing with Rashi who sees in these words a warning, writes that these words must not be understood as a warning by Moses not to engage in idolatry. The prohibition not to engage in idolatrous practices had been spelled out often enough. Rather, it is a warning to the people not to adapt heathen forms of worship and apply them to the worship of G’d, as the rituals and pomp and ceremony of the heathens appeals to them, and they thought that all that was wrong with it was that it had been directed at the wrong address. Moses stresses that everything connected to idolatry is a תועבה, an abomination, in the eyes of Hashem.
Rashbam
פן תנקש, as in Psalms 109,11 ינקש נושה, “the creditor will seize,” or as in Daniel 5,6 דא לדא נקשן, “knocked against one another.” (the knees) You are not to move in order to follow them (spiritually).
You shall not do so to Hashem your God; for every abomination to Hashem, which He hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.
verse value 5846 — יְהֹוָ֜ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 82 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֜ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "thus" (כֵ֔ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·their·daughters" (וְאֶת־בְּנֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 121: to·gods, to·gods. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "every·abomination·of" (כׇל־תּוֹעֲבַ֨ת), "their·sons" (אֶת־בְּנֵיהֶם֙), "and·their·daughters" (וְאֶת־בְּנֹ֣תֵיהֶ֔ם). The root אלהים appears 3 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "to·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·God', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 14 words.
Onkelos
You shall not do so before Hashem your God, for every abomination that is detestable before Hashem, which He hates, they did for their idols; for even their sons and their daughters they burned in fire to their idols.
Rashi
כי גם את בניהם FOR ALSO THEIR SONS [AND THEIR DAUGHTERS HAVE THEY BURNT IN THE FIRE TO THEIR GOD] — The word גם, “also”, is intended to include amongst those they used to burn, their parents also. R. Akiba related, “I once saw a heathen who bound his father before his dog which thereupon devoured him” (Sifrei Devarim 81:6).
Sforno
כי כל תועבת ה' אשר שנא עשו לאלוהיהם, for even the manner in which they worshipped their idols is largely completely abhorrent in the eyes of the Lord.
Chizkuni
אשר שנא, “which He hates;” He hates these rituals even if you employ them in order to serve Him;” it would enrage him.
Tur HaArokh
כי גם את בניהם ואת בנותיהם ישרפו באש לאלוהיהם, “for they even burn their sons and daughters by fire in honour of their gods.” Clearly, it must be an abomination to G’d to have His creatures burned when they are free from sin. Moses, in insisting that the Israelites observe כל הדברים all the words that he had commanded them, warns that they must neither add so-called “improvements” of their own, nor must they abolish part of the ritual G’d had commanded them. Our sages (Sanhedrin 60) derive from this verse that one is culpable for worshipping idolatry even when one does so in a manner which is most disrespectful according to our mores, seeing it is the method such deities are being worshipped by those believing in them. According to the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, Moses warns at the beginning of the verse: “you must not do so to (or even for) the Lord your G’d,” i e. to worship G’d as they do, on every hill, and in every valley. Neither must you convert such sites to henceforth serve as houses of worship for Hashem.
Onkelos
Sforno
Or HaChaim
Chizkuni