When Hashem your God shall cut off the nations, whose land Hashem your God gives you, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses;
verse value 5568 — יְהֹוָ֤ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 70 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֤ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֖, 2 letters) and the longest is "when·he·cuts·off" (כִּֽי־יַכְרִ֞ית, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 465: the·nations, and·in·their·houses. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "in·their·towns" (בְעָרֵיהֶ֖ם), "and·in·their·houses" (וּבְבָתֵּיהֶֽם). 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). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'their·land', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 4 words. Full calculation: כִּֽי־יַכְרִ֞ית [when·he·cuts·off] (670) + יְהֹוָ֤ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ [your·God] (66) + אֶת־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם [the·nations] (465) + אֲשֶׁר֙ [that] (501) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ [your·God] (66) + נֹתֵ֥ן [gives] (500) + לְךָ֖ [to·you] (50) + אֶת־אַרְצָ֑ם [their·land] (732) + וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֕ם [and·you·dispossess·them] (956) + וְיָשַׁבְתָּ֥ [and·you·dwell] (718) + בְעָרֵיהֶ֖ם [in·their·towns] (327) + וּבְבָתֵּיהֶֽם [and·in·their·houses] (465) = 5568.
Onkelos
When Hashem your God destroys the nations whose land Hashem your God gives you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses —
Ramban
WHEN THE ETERNAL THY G-D SHALL CUT OFF THE NATIONS etc. 2. THOU SHALT SEPARATE THREE CITIES FOR THEE. This also is an explanatory commandment, since He has already commanded thereon, and now he went on to explain the ordinances thereof, saying and dwell in their cities, and in their houses, teaching that they are not obligated [to set aside the cities of refuge] until after taking possession of the Land and dwelling in it. And so Joshua did. He also added here, Thou shalt prepare thee the way, meaning that the roads leading thereto should be direct [without being unnecessarily circumflex], and that [signs reading] “Refuge, Refuge” be set up at the crossroads. So also he added and thou shalt divide the territory of thy Land into three parts [meaning, that the cities shall be equidistant from the frontier and from each other]. And he also went on to teach us [the rules of] the matter of “error” [which require the unintentional murderer to seek refuge] as he said, And when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbor etc. Our Rabbis have based many more interpretations on this section.
Chizkuni
כי יכרית, “When the Lord shall cut off, etc.” after Moses had dealt with the subject of impostors of different kinds, he now turns to the subject of cleansing the earth of the Holy Land of any vestiges of idolatry left behind by its former inhabitants. It must also be cleaned of traces of blood spilled that had belonged to innocent people.
Tur HaArokh
כי יכרית, “When He will cut down, etc.” Nachmanides writes that the basic legislation (Exodus 21,13) following had already been made public, Moses now elaborates on it. וישבת בעריהם, “and you will settle in their cities;” establishment of cities of refuge does not become obligatory until after the people have settled on the land. There are additional midrashim based on the wording of this paragraph.
you shall separate three cities for you in the midst of your land, which Hashem your God gives you to possess it.
verse value 4269 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 45 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לָ֑ךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "you·shall·set·aside" (תַּבְדִּ֣יל, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 50: to·you, to·you. 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 'to·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 8 words. Full calculation: שָׁל֥וֹשׁ [three] (636) + עָרִ֖ים [cities] (320) + תַּבְדִּ֣יל [you·shall·set·aside] (446) + לָ֑ךְ [to·you] (50) + בְּת֣וֹךְ [in·the·midst] (428) + אַרְצְךָ֔ [land] (311) + אֲשֶׁר֙ [that] (501) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ [your·God] (66) + נֹתֵ֥ן [gives] (500) + לְךָ֖ [to·you] (50) + לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ [to·possess·it] (935) = 4269.
Onkelos
three cities you shall set apart for yourself within your land that Hashem your God gives you to possess.
Sforno
שלוש ערים תבדיל, after Moses had explained the function of the judges, the king, the priests, and the prophets, Moses now details some of the tasks that fall under the jurisdiction of the judges, among them the establishment of the cities of refuge, the boundaries of the land, the examination of witnesses to establish that their testimony is truthful and accurate, and that they are acceptable as witnesses. Next, he deals with the tasks that fall within the competence of the king, such as leading the nation in war, especially aggressive wars beyond the boundaries of the land of Israel. (20, 1-9) The priests also have a role to play during the preparation of what are termed מלחמת רשות, “halachically permissible wars,” although they are not fought in order to repel invaders. The priests and judges cooperate in some of their duties, especially the עגלה הערופה, the calf killed when a murder in the field was unresolved. (21,1-9)
Chizkuni
שלש ערים, “three cities, etc.; the people had already been commanded concerning these cities of refuge in Numbers 35,14, and the only reason this is repeated here again is to add the instruction to the population to erect signposts for the benefit of the people searching for such a city in order to escape the wrath of a blood avenger of the slain victim.
Rabbeinu Bahya
שלש ערים תבדיל לך בתוך ארצך, “Three cities you shall set aside for yourself in the midst of your land;” together with the three towns which Moses had already designated as cities of refuge on the east bank of the Jordan as reported in Deut. 4,41-43, this makes a total of 6 such cities. It is essential that these cities are regular, populated cities with all the normal amenities of a city, seeing the Torah wrote in verse 3 תכין לך הדרך, “prepare the way for yourself,” and the Talmud Makkot 10 understands these words to mean that signs with the word מקלט, “refuge,” must be posted on all the roads leading to such cities. This is in order for the unintentional killer not to lose time while trying to escape the vengeance of the slain man’s family. On Psalms 25,8: “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He shows the sinners the way,” the sages say that these signs are designed to help unintentional sinners seeing their sin was inadvertent. We have another verse along similar lines in Job 36,22: “See, G’d is beyond reach in power; Who governs like Him?” The author refers to the unique attribute of G’d who helps the inadvertent sinner to rehabilitate himself. The reason why the Torah continues with: “you shall divide your territory into three parts is that the cities of refuge should be situated so that their location effectively divides the land into three parts which are equi-distant from one another. We should appreciate that the total number of 6 such cities reflects the principle of the 6 extremities of terrestrial earth (six directions) which we discussed already repeatedly. The first three cities which Moses set apart for this purpose on the east bank of the Jordan were quite unable to fulfill their function until they had been joined by these additional three cities on the west bank of which the Torah speaks here and which are as yet unnamed. There is a mystical element connected to this number 6 which also symbolizes 6 extremities in the celestial regions of the universe in which the soul of the sinner will have to receive his pardon from the loving kindness extended to it by Hashem. Although the three cities which Moses had already set aside were by themselves incapable of performing their function until there were six such cities, when Moses designated them as such he had in mind that they should represent the three letters in the tetragrammaton י-ה-ו. We find that seven letters in the aleph bet are described in the Sefer Yetzirah as כפולות, as having a dual function. In chapter 4, Mishnah 12, of that book we read: “whereas with two stones one can only build two houses, with three stones (read letters) one can build six houses, whereas with four stones one can build 24 houses.” [Although I do not profess to understand the deeper meaning of these progressions, or צירופים, permutations, as they are called in kabbalistic terms, it is clear that our author means that the three original cities set aside by Moses enabled the other three cities to become operational when they would be established and as such perform a dual function also. Mishnah 13 in Sefer Yetzirah chapter one, deals with the permutations of the three letters of the tetragrammaton. Ed.] It appears that whereas three cities are intended as a refuge for the body, the other three complement the whole function by being a refuge for the soul. In terms of what happens to the person who killed unintentionally when he arrives in the hereafter then, it is essential that at the time when he was in a city of refuge on earth there had been 6 such cities (although the killer can only live in one of them.) [I am omitting the balance of this paragraph (6 lines) as I do not understand it. It describes the progression of the souls in the hereafter from one part of “Gan Eden” to another. Ed.] The words תכין לך הדרך, are perceived as a preparation for such killers to escape this world for the world to come.
You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land, which Hashem your God causes you to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee there.
verse value 4134 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 59 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 4134 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֮, 2 letters) and the longest is "boundary" (אֶת־גְּב֣וּל, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 26: Hashem, and·it·shall·be. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·prepare" (תָּכִ֣ין), "and·you·shall·divide·into·three" (וְשִׁלַּשְׁתָּ֙), "he·allots·to·you" (יַנְחִֽילְךָ֖). 14 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·God', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 4 words. Full calculation: תָּכִ֣ין [you·shall·prepare] (480) + לְךָ֮ [to·you] (50) + הַדֶּ֒רֶךְ֒ [way] (229) + וְשִׁלַּשְׁתָּ֙ [and·you·shall·divide·into·three] (1036) + אֶת־גְּב֣וּל [boundary] (442) + אַרְצְךָ֔ [land] (311) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + יַנְחִֽילְךָ֖ [he·allots·to·you] (128) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ [your·God] (66) + וְהָיָ֕ה [and·it·shall·be] (26) + לָנ֥וּס [to·flee] (146) + שָׁ֖מָּה [there] (345) + כׇּל־רֹצֵֽחַ [every·manslayer] (348) = 4134.
Onkelos
You shall prepare the road for yourself and divide into three parts the territory of your land that Hashem your God causes you to inherit, and it shall be so that every killer may flee there.
Rashi
תכין לך הדרך THOU SHALT PREPARE THEE A WAY — “Refuge!” "Refuge!" was inscribed at each crossroad (to point the way to the nearest city of refuge) (Makkot 10b). ושלשת את גבול ארצך AND THOU SHALT DIVIDE THE TERRITORY OF THY LAND … INTO THREE PARTS — so that from the point where the boundary begins unto the first city of refuge there should be the same length of journey as there is from it to the second city; and that there should be the same distance from the second to the third and from the third to the other (opposite) boundary of the Land of Israel (Makkot 9b).
Ibn Ezra
"You shall prepare the road for yourself" — the cities should be situated in a place where the road to them is prepared and well-settled. "And you shall divide into three" — you shall divide the land into thirds, or you shall place [a city of refuge] in each third of the land.
Chizkuni
תכין לך הדרך, “prepare the way for yourself;” the route to such cities of refuge should not be a narrow path, etc., but a road that is easy to travel, and has been marked clearly. Rabbi Avin, son of Rabbi Yaakov, is quoted in a Midrash on Psalms 25,10 describing how every mile or so, there were markers how to get to these cities, and in every kiosk, there were directional signals identifying the route. [The purpose was not only for the killer to know how to get to such cities, but to remind the people at large to be careful never to become guilty of killing through negligence. Ed.] This was hinted at two verses earlier in the same chapter of Psalms. ושלשת את גבול ארצך, “so that you will effectively divide the borders of your country into three segments;” how did this work out in practice? The Land of Israel was 400 miles long (from south to north) It was about 100 miles from Chevron to Sh’chem, and from there to Kadesh another 100 miles. The three cities of refuge therefore symbolically divided the land into three sections. You will note that the center section therefore was shorter than the northern and southern section respectively. This is accounted for in the minds of the sages by the fact that both Chevron and Sh’chem were cities in which a lot of bloodshed occurred. They quote a verse in Hosea 6,9, as supporting their interpretation. כל רוצח, “every murderer, regardless of intentional or unintentional.” We explained this already on Numbers 35,14.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ושלשת את גבול ארצך, “you shall divide the territory of your land into three sections.” The simile continues, i.e. in order to make a total of six cities of refuge together with the three on the east bank; they are to correspond to the six extremities in our universe. The author understands this division in terms of the three parts of the universe we described earlier. The celestial regions are perceived as the topmost of these three parts of ארצך. Having attained that level in his penitence, the unintentional killer will begin his ascent to spiritual rehabilitation. This is the meaning of והיה לנוס שמה כל רוצח, the letters of the tetragrammaton are perceived as “open” letters, allowing easy access for the fleeing killer. [I believe the whole allegorical approach is based on the fact that this legislation had been spelled out in Numbers 35,9-34. The author may feel that the repetition is meant to allude to the mystical element of how it is possible to completely rehabilitate oneself for killing a person seeing one cannot bring him back to life. Ed.]
Daat Zkenim
ושלשת את גבול ארך, “you shall divide your land into three sections.” According to tradition, the total area of the Holy Land comprises 400 by 400 Parsah (1 parsah is equivalent to 4480 square meters.). According to the Talmud in tractate Makkot, folio 9, the word ושלשת means that you are to divide this area into three parts 100 parsah from Hebron south 100 , 100 parsah from north from Hebron to Sh’chem (Safed); 100 parsah from Sh’chem to Kadesh. From there to the north 100 parsah. If this is correct, it would follow that the people dwelling between Hebron and Safed were much closer to the nearest city of refuge than people living in any other section of the land. The answer provided by Abbaye is that the region around Safed was known to harbour many killers. He based himself on Hoseah 6,9: חבר כהנים דרך ירצחו שכמה כי זמה עשו, “the gang of priest is like the ambuscade of bandits who murder on the road to Sh’chem, for they have encouraged depravity.” The expression “gang of priests,“ sounds peculiar. What is meant by this? According to Rabbi Elazar this was a band of people who ganged up on priests who illegally raided storage barns of grain to help themselves to the portions meant for priests which the farmers had not distributed although the Torah bids them to do this. Seeing that their conduct was liable to result in at least unintentional killing, the cities of refuge were placed in their vicinity. In the region between kadesh and Hebron, murders also occurred frequently so that cities of refuge were placed there to allow those who had not killed deliberately to take refuge there. If you were to ask that if even on the west bank of Israel there were numerous instances of killings, why did Moses place half the cities of refuge there? We had stated originally that he did so because he felt that that area was more lawless than the “holy” area west of the Jordan? We have to fall back on the explanation that the area around Gilead was even more plagued by violent people than the area west of the Jordan. The prophet Hoseah, in the verse before the one we quoted described Gilead as “drenched in blood.”
And this is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee there and live: whoever kills his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past;
verse value 4875 — וְזֶה֙ = 18 (chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 61 letters. Notable word values: "this" (וְזֶה֙) = 18, chai, 'life'. Verse gematria: 4875 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "to" (ל֖וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "who·flees" (אֲשֶׁר־יָנ֥וּס, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 18: this, and·he. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "who·flees" (אֲשֶׁר־יָנ֥וּס), "he·strikes" (יַכֶּ֤ה). 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "matter" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "and·he" (root הוא, 113x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·he·shall·live', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 9 words.
Onkelos
And this is the matter of the killer who shall flee there and live: one who strikes his fellow without intent, and he did not hate him previously nor before that time —
Chizkuni
את רעהו, “his neighbour;” the word את here is to be understood as meaning: עם, “with;” (while together with him). בבלי דעת, “without intent;” these words are meant to exclude someone who did intend to kill his animal, but instead killed a human being. (Talmud, tractate Makkot folio 7)
Targum Yonatan
And this is the regulation for the manslayer who fleeth thither that he may live: Whoever shall have killed his brother without intention, he not having kept enmity against him yesterday, or the day before,.
as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetches a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the helve, and lights upon his neighbor, that he die; he shall flee to one of these cities and live;
verse value 6031 — יָבֹ֨א = 13 (echad/ahavah)
Insights
Verse structure: 22 words, 96 letters. Notable word values: "he·comes" (יָבֹ֨א) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "he·comes" (יָבֹ֨א, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·cities·these" (הֶעָרִים־הָאֵ֖לֶּה, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 682: together·with·fellow, fellow. 10 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "forest" (בַיַּ֘עַר֮), "to·cut" (לַחְטֹ֣ב), "trees" (עֵצִים֒). The root עץ appears 3 times in this verse. 19 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "he" (root הוא, 113x in Deuteronomy); "he·comes" (root בוא, 106x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·he·dies', dividing the verse into phrases of 17 and 5 words.
Onkelos
such as one who goes with his fellow into the forest to cut wood, and his hand slips with the iron implement to cut the wood, and the iron slips off the wood and reaches his fellow, and he dies — he shall flee to one of these cities and live.
Rashi
ונדחה ידו AND HIS HAND MOVED (SLIPPED) when he was about to let the axe fall upon the tree. The Targum rendering is ותתמריג ידה, the meaning being, “his hand moved itself to let the stroke of the axe fall upon the tree”. The words (II Samuel 6:6) כי שמטו הבקר are rendered in Targum Jonathan on by: ארי מרגוהי תוריא “for the oxen moved it (the Ark)” ונשל הברזל מן העץ — Some of our Rabbis say that this means that the iron (axe) flew off from its handle (העץ); but some of them say that it means that the iron made a splinter of wood fall off from the tree which was being chopped, and it sprang off and killed him (according to this explanation the word העץ in both cases refers to the tree) (Makkot 7b).
Ibn Ezra
"His fellow" — et here means "with," and so in many cases. "And he is driven" — this is from the nif'al binyan; the qal [appears in] "the dispersed of Israel shall be gathered." "With the axe" — the iron implement with which one cuts a tree, from the root of "I was cut off" (נגזרתי). "And the iron slipped" — like "and it set out" (וַיִּסַּע), from the root of "your olives will shed their fruit" (כִּי יִשַּׁל זֵיתֶךָ). Except that here "וְנָשַׁל" is an intransitive verb, while "and he will dislodge many nations" (וְנָשַׁל גּוֹיִם רַבִּים) is transitive. Similarly, "a great voice that did not cease" (קוֹל גָּדוֹל וְלֹא יָסָף) and "Hashem will add sorrow" (יֹסֵף ה' יָגוֹן) — according to the opinion of a great grammarian; but in my opinion both are transitive.
Chizkuni
הוא ינוס אל אחת הערים האל וחי, “he will flee to one of these cities and live.” The population of these towns is deliberately limited, so that a potential blood avenger cannot hide in large crowds and carry out his plan undetected. (Talmud Makkot, folio 10) The city fathers see to it that the persons consigned there will have employment or work enabling them to make a living. If a Torah scholar has the misfortune to have to reside there, his teacher is brought there and looked after also. If he is himself a Rabbi of a Torah academy, his students are brought to him to live there.
Rashbam
ונשל הברזל, the actual axe is called here ברזל, iron, by the Torah, as distinct from its wooden handle. We find the word ברזל used in the same sense in Kohelet 10,10 ואם קהה הברזל, “if the axe is blunt.” The scenario described by our verse is that the axe while hitting the wood it splits sends a piece of that wood sailing through the air, with fatal consequences for the victim it hits. This is clearly something that was entirely unplanned by the person swinging the axe.
lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not deserving of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
verse value 5065 — ל֖וֹ = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 22 words, 88 letters. Notable word values: "to" (ל֖וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֠י, 2 letters) and the longest is "death·penalty" (מִשְׁפַּט־מָ֔וֶת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 42: and·he·strikes·him, and·to. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "lest·he·pursues" (פֶּן־יִרְדֹּף֩), "when·it·is·hot" (כִּי־יֵחַם֮), "and·he·overtakes·him" (וְהִשִּׂיג֛וֹ). 22 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "for" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy); "he" (root הוא, 113x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root נשג ("and·he·overtakes·him") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'soul', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 10 words.
Onkelos
Lest the blood-redeemer pursue the killer because his heart burns, and overtake him, because the road is long, and strike him fatally — yet he has no liability of capital judgment, because he did not hate him previously nor before that time.
Rashi
פן ירדף גאל הדם LEST THE AVENGER OF THE BLOOD PURSUE [THE SLAYER] — therefore I tell you to prepare the way for you and [to prepare] many cities of refuge.
Ibn Ezra
"And he struck him fatally" — this is an abbreviated expression: he struck him a mortal blow in the place from which his soul would depart.
Chizkuni
והכהו נפש, “and strike him fatally;” there is a word missing in this phrase, i.e. the word מכת “a blow;”. ולו אין משפט מות, “while he was not deserving of the death penalty;” this teaches that even an intentional killer who has not been sentenced to death by the court (for some technical reason connected to the evidence presumably) may still be subject to death at the hands of the blood avenger.
Rashbam
פן ירדוף, these words refer back to the need to establish three such cities as outlined in verse 2. If there were to be only one such city of refuge, the avenger in his pursuit would be more likely to succeed.
And if Hashem your God enlarge your border, as He has sworn to your fathers, and give you all the land which He promised to give to your fathers—
verse value 5534 — יְהֹוָ֤ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 66 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֤ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֙, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·if·he·enlarges" (וְאִם־יַרְחִ֞יב, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 463: your·fathers, your·fathers. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·if·he·enlarges" (וְאִם־יַרְחִ֞יב). The root אשר appears 2 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 'your·fathers', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְאִם־יַרְחִ֞יב [and·if·he·enlarges] (277) + יְהֹוָ֤ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ [your·God] (66) + אֶת־גְּבֻ֣לְךָ֔ [boundary] (456) + כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר [as·that] (521) + נִשְׁבַּ֖ע [he·swore] (422) + לַאֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ [your·fathers] (463) + וְנָ֤תַן [and·he·gives] (506) + לְךָ֙ [to·you] (50) + אֶת־כׇּל־הָאָ֔רֶץ [all·the·land] (747) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + דִּבֶּ֖ר [he·spoke] (206) + לָתֵ֥ת [to·give] (830) + לַאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ [your·fathers] (463) = 5534.
Onkelos
And if Hashem your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land that He spoke of giving to your fathers —
Rashi
ואם ירחיב … כאשר נשבע AND IF [THE LORD THY GOD] ENLARGE [THY TERRITORY], AS HE HATH SWORN [UNTO THY FATHERS] to give thee the land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite (Sifrei Devarim 184:3).
Ramban
AND IF THE ETERNAL THY G-D ENLARGE THY BORDER. This section deals with a future event, and I have already mentioned it in the section [i.e., the Seder] of Behold, I set before you. For first he stated, When the Eternal thy G-d shall cut off the nations, whose land the Eternal giveth thee, the expression whose land the Eternal giveth thee referring to all the seven nations that He mentions everywhere. So also he speaks with reference to them, And the Eternal thy G-d will cast out those nations before thee; whereas for the wickedness of these nations; and the Eternal will drive out all these nations from before you; but of the cities of these peoples, and so also in many other places. And now he commanded that after taking possession of their land and dwelling in it, he shall set aside three cities, completing [the performance of] the commandment with their designation, as He said there, there shall be for you six cities of refuge, and He further said, Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan. He did not command in the Torah that there be more than these six cities. Similarly all commandments of the Torah that become binding after taking possession and settling upon [the Land] become obligatory after the conquest of these seven nations. Only regarding this commandment, however, he added here, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border and he did not say “as He hath promised thee,” as he said in the section, When the Eternal thy G-d shall enlarge thy border, as He hath promised thee with reference to meat of a secular meal. This was because G-d did not promise them anywhere to give them [land] except for [that of] these seven nations. However, here he mentioned the patriarchs, as he said, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which He promised to give unto thy fathers, this being an allusion to all ten nations that were promised to Abraham. Now he made here a condition, if thou shalt [in time to come] keep all this commandment to do it etc. [then another three cities of refuge would be designated in addition to the six already discussed in Scripture]. Now it is clear that they will not inherit even the seven nations if they transgress the Torah as he has said many times — hearken unto the statutes etc. that ye may live, and go in and possess the Land; and thou shalt write upon them all the words of this Law etc. that thou mayest go in unto the Land; For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment etc., then will the Eternal drive out all these nations from before you. And when Achan, who was but an individual, transgressed the devoted thing, it was stated, Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, they turn their backs before their enemies. If so, [the question arises], why was this condition made only concerning these three cities, stating, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border...
Ibn Ezra
"And if Hashem your God enlarges" — [this expansion will come] if they observe the entire Torah; therefore it is written: "because you keep this entire commandment." And those are the three cities.
Or HaChaim
ואם ירחיב ה׳ את גבולך, "And if the Lord your G'd will expand your boundary, etc." The Torah assures the Israelites that if they will observe all the Lord's commandments not only out of fear but out of love for Him the time will come when He will include the lands of the other 3 tribes in the boundaries of ארץ ישראל, the lands of the Kenite, the Kenizzite and the Kadmoni, all of whose lands were included in G'd's first promise to Abraham in Genesis 15,19. Our sages in Sanhedrin 99 confirm that the redemption in the future depends on our serving G'd out of love.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ואם ירחיב ה' אלו-היך את גבולך, “and if the Lord your G’d will expand your borders, etc.” This paragraph is a promise pertaining to the more distant future. It deals with aspects of what G’d had promised Avraham at the covenant between the pieces in Genesis 15,18: “to your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt until the great river, the river Euphrates.” In that connection G’d mentioned ten tribes all of whom would be dispossessed in favor of the Israelites. Seven of these nations were dispossessed in the days of Joshua whereas the other three the Keyni, Kenizi, and Kadmoni have never been conquered by the Jewish people, though they will be conquered in due course. In this instance the word ואם at the beginning of our verse is not to be understood as something conditional but as definitive. We must translate it as “when G’d will expand, etc.,” not “if G’d will expand.” The proof that this is the meaning of the word ואם in our verse are the words כאשר נשבע, "as He has sworn.” There was never anything “iffy” about this oath by G’d to our patriarchs. This is not the only instance in which the word אם means “when” instead of “if.” Another example is Exodus 20,22:ואם מזבח אבנים תעשה לי, where the meaning is: “when you make an altar of stones for Me;” a third example of the word אם meaning “when,” is in Exodus 22,24 אם כסף תלוה את עמי, where the meaning is not “if you will lend money to My people,” but “when you will lend money to My people.” Still another example of this meaning of the word אם is found in Leviticus 2,14 ואם תקריב מנחת בכורים, “when you offer a meal-offering of first ripe grain, etc.” (compare Mechilta בחודש 11 Parshat Yitro).
Tur HaArokh
ואם ירחיב ה' אלוקיך את גבולך, “and if the Lord your G’d will expand your boundaries, etc.;” (condensed version of Nachmanides) At the beginning of the paragraph Moses spoke of the nations that G’d would dispossess, i.e. the seven well known Canaanite nations, and he commanded that after these cities had been resettled with Israelites, three cities of refuge in addition to the ones Moses himself had already set aside as such on the east bank of the Jordan were to be designated as such. (Compare Deut. 4,41) With the addition of the cities mentioned here the commandment of setting aside such cities would have been fulfilled in its entirety. All the commandments that were legislated with a view to being observed after conquest of the land are understood to become effective after the people had received their share of the land and had settled thereon. It is interesting that at this point, though Moses is apparently speaking about a law already formulated when the people had just received the Ten Commandments, that he does not add the words כאשר דבר לך, “as He (Hashem) had said to you” [40 years ago. Moses had used this formula no fewer than 5 times when elaborating on laws in the first 4 Books of the Torah. Ed.] The reason may be that what Moses refers to as the “broadening of the borders of the land of Israel” is the inclusion of the land of the three tribes promised at the covenant between the pieces to Avraham, but soft-pedaled since that time. (Compare Genesis, 15,19-21). This may be the reason why he adds the words כאשר נשבע לאבותיך, “as He has sworn to your patriarchs,” and again in verse 9 אשר דבר לתת לאבותיך, “which He has spoken about to give to your forefathers.” This is in sharp contrast to when he informed the people that after they would settle in the land, meat that has not been consecrated first would be allowed in their respective dwellings. On that occasion, although a broadening of the borders is clearly spelled out, (Deut. 12,20) Moses failed to mention that this had anything to do with promises Hashem had made to the patriarchs. He offered as a rationale for this new law only the fact that the journey to the Temple each time might be tedious. It is fairly obvious, that just as tenure in the land is dependent on the observance of the Torah’s command-ments, so Hashem’s fulfilling the unfulfilled portion of His promise to Avraham would have to await the time when the people‘s claim to the part of the land they had already inherited would prove to be deserved by their loyalty to the Torah. We may conjecture that it had always been Hashem’s intention to let the people inherit the lands of the seven tribes during the lifetime of Moses and Joshua, and that in order to qualify for the balance He gave them all the commandments in the Torah to test them if they were worthy of the remainder of the lands promised to the first of the patriarchs, Avraham.
Rashbam
ואם ירחיב ה' אלוקיך את גבולך, this paragraph speaks of future events, a time when G’d would give the Israelites also the territory of the remaining three Canaanite tribes mentioned in the covenant at the pieces in Genesis, 15, the first covenant made between G’d and Avraham.
if you shall keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you this day, to love Hashem your God, and to walk ever in His ways—then you shall add three cities more for you, beside these three;
verse value 7415
Insights
Verse structure: 22 words, 100 letters. The shortest word is "for·you" (לְךָ֥, 2 letters) and the longest is "whole·the·commandment" (אֶת־כׇּל־הַמִּצְוָ֨ה, 9 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "if·you·observe" (כִּֽי־תִשְׁמֹר֩), "and·you·shall·add" (וְיָסַפְתָּ֨), "three" (הַשָּׁלֹ֥שׁ). The root יום appears 2 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 'all·the·days', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 8 words.
Onkelos
because you will observe all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love Hashem your God and to walk in the ways that are upright before Him all your days — then you shall add three more cities to these three.
Rashi
ויספת לך עוד שלש THEN THOU SHALT ADD THREE [CITIES] MORE FOR THEE — Thus you have nine altogether: the three on the east side of the Jordan, the three in the land of Canaan and three more in the future to come when God will enlarge thy territory (Sifrei Devarim 185:1).
Ibn Ezra
"And to walk in His ways all the days" — without interruption between them.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויספת לך עוד שלש ערים, “then you shall add three more cities to these three.” A third group of three cities of refuge in addition to the two groups of three already established (in the territory which used to belong to seven of the ten tribes).
Tur HaArokh
כי תשמור את כל המצוה וגו'...לאהבה את ה' וללכת בדרכיו, “When you observe this entire commandment….to love the Lord your G’d and to walk in His ways, etc.” This means that the people collectively observe the laws of the Torah in all its aspects. According to Ibn Ezra the word מצוה in the singular mode does not refer to a specific commandment other than the three cities of refuge to the existing ones no additional legislation could be expected in the future. כי תשמור...כל הימים, “when you will observe for all times etc.” Nachmanides raises the question that seeing that no one (human being) knows the future, how is anyone to know when this time is ripe? He rejects Ibn Ezra (without saying why) who understands the words כל הימים to mean “without interruption,” i.e. that there will not be intervals during which not all the people keep all the commandments. Instead, Nachmanides understands the whole verse as an outline of a historical development of the Jewish people who will culminate in all of them observing all of the commandments from a feeling of love for Hashem. When this idyllic state will have been reached so that there is no longer any fear that the people will backslide from the lofty spiritual niveau, the setting aside of the additional three cities of refuge will become operative because then the territories of the last three Canaanite tribes mentioned in the prophecy to Avraham in Genesis chapter 15 will become part of the Jewish state. Only Hashem knows when that stage of development of the Jewish people will be reached, so that He will be able to fulfill that stage of expanding the boundaries of the Jewish state.
that innocent blood be not shed in the midst of your land, which Hashem your God gives you for an inheritance, and so blood be upon you.
verse value 2752 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 53 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 2752 is divisible by 86, the value of Elohim. The shortest word is "blood" (דָּ֣ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "your·God" (אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 26: Hashem, and·it·shall·be. The root דם appears 2 times in this verse. 14 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 נקי ("innocent") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'inheritance', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 3 words.
Onkelos
So that innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land that Hashem your God gives you as an inheritance, and there would be upon you liability of capital judgment for bloodshed.
But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die; and he flee into one of these cities;
verse value 3381 — לוֹ֙ = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 58 letters. Notable word values: "to" (לוֹ֙) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to" (לוֹ֙, 2 letters) and the longest is "if·there·be" (וְכִֽי־יִהְיֶ֥ה, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 311: man, his·neighbor. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "his·neighbor" (לְרֵעֵ֔הוּ), "and·he·lies·in·wait" (וְאָ֤רַב). 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "if·there·be" (root היה, 170x in Deuteronomy); "these" (root אל, 98x in Deuteronomy); "upon" (root על, 87x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·he·dies', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 4 words.
Onkelos
But if a man hates his fellow and lies in wait for him, and rises against him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and then flees to one of these cities —
Rashi
וכי יהיה איש שנא לרעהו BUT IF A MAN HATE HIS FELLOW [AND LIE IN WAIT FOR HIM] — It is through his hatred that he comes to such a point as to “lie in wait for him”. From here they (the Rabbis) derived their statement: If a man transgresses a light command he will in the end transgress a weighty command; — because he transgressed the command (Leviticus 19:17) “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart”, he will in the end come to such a point as to shed blood. It is for this reason that it is stated here, apparently redundantly, “but if a man hate his fellow [and lie in wait for him]”, for it ought to have written only: “But if a man rise up and lie in wait for his fellow and smite him mortally” (Sifrei Devarim 186:2).
Or HaChaim
וכי יהיה איש שנא לרעהו, "And if there will be a man who hates his fellow, etc." This paragraph alludes to what is taught in Makkot 12 that the guardian angel of Esau, i.e. Samael, will make three errors of judgment in the future. One of them is that although the cities of refuge will provide refuge only for someone who kills inadvertently, this guardian angel is under the impression that such cities also provide refuge for intentional murderers. [The Talmud deals with an interpretation of Isaiah 63,1 assuming the prophet refers to the guardian angel of Edom, i.e. Samael who also mistakes the city Bazrah for Betzer (spelled similarly in Hebrew) and tries to take refuge there. Ed.] כי יהיה לאיש שונא, the worst enemy a person has is his evil urge, he is the root cause of all feelings of enmity. לרעהו, "against his fellow," i.e. that he represents himself as man's friend whereas in reality he means to harm you. He uses the pretense of loving you as a means to harm you. וארב לו, "and he ambushes him," i.e. he causes him to sin. You must remember that the first sin a person commits is considered as if it had been inadvertent. Having committed that sin, however, he thereby provides the evil urge with access to his soul as we know from Genesis 4,7 "that sin crouches at the entrance (to your soul)." As long as man has not sinned the evil urge is till outside the entrance. Not only that, but Satan tries to convince you that what you thought was evil is actually good. This is the worst kind of ambush one can be exposed to. The Torah continues וקם עליו, "and he rises up against him," i.e. once he has caused you to sin he now confronts you openly whereas previously he was treading very carefully, so that you almost did not notice his presence (compare Sukkah 52). והכהו נפש, "and he kills someone, etc." the reference is to Samael who injures man's soul because sinning leads to the death of not only the body but eventually to the death of the soul. ונס אל אחת הערים האל, "and he flees to one of these cities;" if he flees to one of these cities of refuge, i.e. Betzer which is one of them, ושלחו זקני עירו, "and the elders of his town have to send messengers there" (to bring him to justice). This is a reference to the Celestial Court which is known as the city of the guardian angel of Esau. ולקחו אותו And they will take him from there and hand him over to the redeemer of blood, i.e. to G'd Himself. ומת, "and he shall die." Here the Torah alludes to a mystical aspect of Sanhedrin 38 that G'd pointed His small finger at several groups of the angels who opposed the creation of man, and that He burned them. ביד גואל הדם ומת, "in the hand of the redeemer of blood and he will die." This means that G'd will strike him dead, not the relative of the deceased. Seeing that our sages have said that Samael [the angel of death, -compare the Chad Gadyah song in the Haggadah shel Pessach Ed.] will be killed also by the Israelites who will combine with G'd to kill him, the Torah...
Rabbeinu Bahya
וכי יהיה איש שונא לרעהו וארב לו וקם עליו והכהו נפש, “if there will be a man who hates his fellow and he sets an ambush or him and rises up against him and strikes him fatally;” because he hates him he eventually spills his blood; he started with the relatively minor offense of hating a fellow Jew which led to the serious offense of murder (compare Sifri Shoftim 186).
then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
verse value 3204
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 44 letters. Verse gematria: 3204 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "him" (אֹת֖וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·they·shall·send" (וְשָֽׁלְחוּ֙, 5 letters). Words sharing gematria 407: him, him. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·they·shall·send" (וְשָֽׁלְחוּ֙). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·they·shall·give" (root נתן, 176x in Deuteronomy); "there" (root שם, 101x in Deuteronomy); "hand" (root יד, 83x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'there', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words. Full calculation: וְשָֽׁלְחוּ֙ [and·they·shall·send] (350) + זִקְנֵ֣י [elders·of] (167) + עִיר֔וֹ [his·town] (286) + וְלָקְח֥וּ [and·they·shall·take] (150) + אֹת֖וֹ [him] (407) + מִשָּׁ֑ם [there] (380) + וְנָתְנ֣וּ [and·they·shall·give] (512) + אֹת֗וֹ [him] (407) + בְּיַ֛ד [hand] (16) + גֹּאֵ֥ל [redeemer] (34) + הַדָּ֖ם [blood] (49) + וָמֵֽת [and·he·shall·die] (446) = 3204.
Onkelos
the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the blood-redeemer, and he shall die.
Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you.
verse value 2312
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 37 letters. The shortest word is "for·you" (לָֽךְ, 2 letters) and the longest is "not·shall·spare" (לֹא־תָח֥וֹס, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "blood·of·the·innocent" (דַֽם־הַנָּקִ֛י). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "upon" (root על, 87x in Deuteronomy); "for·you" (root לך, 75x in Deuteronomy); "from·Israel" (root ישראל, 61x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 5 words. Full calculation: לֹא־תָח֥וֹס [not·shall·spare] (505) + עֵֽינְךָ֖ [eye] (150) + עָלָ֑יו [upon] (116) + וּבִֽעַרְתָּ֧ [and·you·shall·purge] (678) + דַֽם־הַנָּקִ֛י [blood·of·the·innocent] (209) + מִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֖ל [from·Israel] (581) + וְט֥וֹב [and·it·shall·go·well] (23) + לָֽךְ [for·you] (50) = 2312.
Onkelos
Your eye shall not show pity for him; you shall purge the shedding of innocent blood from Israel, and it shall go well with you.
Rashi
לא תחוס עינך THINE EYE SHALL NOT PITY [HIM] — i.e. that thou shall not say, The first (the one) person has already been killed, why should we kill this also, so that two Israelites will be killed? (Sifrei Devarim 187:7).
Ramban
THINE EYE SHALT NOT PITY HIM. “This means that you shall not say, ‘The first person has already been killed. Why should we kill him also, with the result that two people will be killed?’” This is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre. The meaning thereof is that you should not say, “Rather than having pity on the blood of the slain it would be better to have pity on the blood of the living one.”The correct interpretation of the verse is as follows: Scripture has commanded concerning those liable to death, so thou shalt put away the evil from the midst of thee, this being a positive commandment. But in matters of prevalent danger [to society], He warned further with a negative commandment that [the murderers] not be spared from [punishment at] our hands, neither on account of fear of them nor because we might show them mercy. He mentioned the same in the case of the inciter. He also stated, Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live because of her being full of tumult who sells many through her sorceries. And thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall have no pity — this was commanded because the fools praise her for having been a help to her husband [who was fighting with another man], or because embarrassment is common and involves no monetary loss [and therefore the Torah was strict in the punishment thereof]. Similarly in the case of plotting witnesses He commanded that we have no pity on them, [thinking that] because nothing had yet been done to the accused [therefore we should not punish them], or perhaps [the strictness is] due to the prevalence of their danger. THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH THEE. The meaning thereof is that avenging innocent blood is a commandment and is a great blessing to you to deliver your soul from death, because pity upon murderers causes more bloodshed by these murderers and by others who break away [from society].
Sforno
ובערת דם נקי מישראל, the penalty for spilling innocent blood in the Holy Land is normally the shedding of the murderer’s blood, which alone brings atonement, no substitutes being allowed, such as financial reparations (compare Numbers 35,33) וטוב לך, because the murderer cannot kill additional people, the ones surviving the execution will be awed by having heard or witnessed the execution. (verse 20)
Chizkuni
וטוב לך, “that it may go well with you,” so that the number of people guilty of bloodshed may not increase in your land.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
לא תחוס עינך עליו,”your eye shall not pity him,” that you refuse to hand him over to the blood-avenger. You should not argue: “what is the point in another person being killed seeing the first one cannot be brought back.” This is one instance when pity is not only misplaced but is a form of cruelty.
Tur HaArokh
לא תחוס עינך, “Your eye shall not pity him.” Rashi, (basing himself on Sifri) understands the psychology of such “pity” as the argument that it suffices that one person has been killed, how can the situation be improved by killing another person? Nachmanides writes that the correct interpretation here is that the principal message of the verse is the positive commandment to eliminate perpetrators of evil (compare Nachmanides’ comments on rule 14 of Maimonides’ tractate ספר המצוות, describing why he included what in his list of 613 commandments.) A secondary consideration, added to reinforce the urgency with which observance of the positive commandment is to be pursued, is this negative commandment to refrain from finding excuses for the killer. Moses already offered a similar consideration when he warned the people not to have pity on people who try to seduce others to worship idols. [A crime committed in the privacy of one’s home. Ed] (Deut. 13,9) When the Torah, in Exodus 22,17 legislates bluntly, without further ado, מכשפה לא תחיה, “you must not allow a sorceress to live,” apparently addressing the commandment only to the female gender, this is misleading. Seeing that women are more involved than men when it comes to sorcery, the wording of the commandment reflects the fact that the lawgiver is aware of this. Men sorcerers are equally liable to execution. (Compare Ezekiel 22,5 and Nachum 3,4) [One tends to have more pity with women, even if they committed crimes, trying to excuse their crimes because of valid motives that might have prompted them. By singling out the women as the standard perpetrators of certain crimes, the Torah tries to counter such tendencies. Another example, even more easily understandable, is found in Deut. 25, 11-12 where the wife who came to the assistance of her husband who was in a life and death struggle with another man, is subject to a severe penalty for the manner in which she intervened. Most people would have sided with the wife, whose motive was simply to save the life of her husband. [The Torah teaches that Hashem’s psychology operates on a different wavelength. Ed.] Humans tend to overlook wrongs done when the wronged party did not suffer tangible loss, money, loss of property, loss of limb, etc., but if “only” pride, dignity, embarrassment were at stake there is a tendency to go easy on the guilty party. “Witnesses” who claim to have witnessed a crime who have been found as having lied before their intended victim has suffered retribution for the supposed crime he had committed, are convicted of precisely the harm they meant to inflict on their victim. Once the damage had been done, and their chicanery did not come to light until it was too late to save their victim, their crime is left to Hashem to deal with, seeing that He is the ultimate arbiter of what is just and what is not וטוב לך, “and it shall be good for you.” The removal of sources of spilling the blood of innocents is a great mitzvah and in turn will prove to be of great benefit to you, as it will save your own lives, as wasting one’s mercy and pity on murderers will only spawn more deaths by violence not only by the murderers whose lives have been spared, but by others who will be encouraged to achieve their ends by violent means
You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that Hashem your God gives you to possess it.
verse value 5848 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 65 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 5848 is divisible by 86, the value of Elohim. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֤א, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·ancients" (רִאשֹׁנִ֑ים, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that, that. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·move" (תַסִּיג֙), "set·border" (גָּבְל֖וּ), "in·your·inheritance" (בְּנַחֲלָֽתְךָ֙). The root אשר appears 3 times in this verse. 15 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 'the·ancients', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 10 words.
Onkelos
You shall not alter the boundary of your fellow that the predecessors set, within your inheritance that you will inherit in the land that Hashem your God gives you to possess.
Rashi
לא תסיג גבול THOU SHALT NOT REMOVE [THY FELLOW-MAN’S] LANDMARK — תסיג is of the same meaning as (Isaiah 42:17) “they are turned back (נסגו אחור)”. The meaning is, that one moves the mark that shows the division of the land (i.e. the division between two adjoining fields) backwards into the field of his neighbour in order thereby to enlarge his own. — But does it not already state. (Leviticus 19:13) “Thou shalt not rob”, why, then, is it also commanded “Thou shalt not remove the landmark”? It teaches that one who obliterates his neighbour’s border line transgresses two negative commands (לא תגזול and לא תסיג). One might think that this is the case also if one does so outside the Land of Israel! Scripture, however, states, “in thine inheritance which thou shalt inherit [in the land]”;— thus in the Land of Israel one who does this transgresses two negative commands, whilst outside the Land he transgresses only the command of לא תגזול (Sifrei Devarim 188:1-2).
Ramban
THOU SHALT NOT REMOVE THY NEIGHBOR’S LANDMARK. This is a warning against changing the boundaries of the division by which the princes apportioned the Land to the tribes or to any individual among them. Therefore he stated, which they of old time have set, these being Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the princes of the tribes, and therefore he mentioned in thine inheritance which thou shalt inherit etc. And the reason for this commandment is that no one should contemplate to say, “My portion which they gave me is not as valuable as the portion of my friend, because the dividers erred,” or he may feel suspicious of the lots, thus he will not consider it [his removal of the boundary marker] to be robbery at all. Therefore he commanded here that no one should controvert that division, and he may not make any change in the boundaries, either secretly or openly. Now this is an explanatory commandment, deriving from what He commanded, According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer, and He further stated, These are the names of the men that shall take possession of the Land for you. And in the opinion of our Rabbis that this verse is an admonition, teaching us that one who encroaches on his neighbor’s land in the Land of Israel transgresses two commandments, the meaning of the expression which they of old time have set means that one is not to secretly change an old boundary and say “It was always here.” Scripture admonishes [concerning an old boundary] because it speaks of what usually happens, for a new boundary is recognized and known and no one changes it. Our Rabbis themselves have mentioned [the first interpretation, for thus they said in the Sifre]: “Whence do we know that one who uproots the boundaries of the tribes transgresses a negative commandment? Because Scripture states, Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark, [which they of old time have set].” This is truly the plain meaning of Scripture.
Ibn Ezra
"You shall not move your fellow's boundary" — "תַּסִּיג" is well known, and similarly "do not move an ancient boundary" (אַל תַּסֵּג גְּבוּל עוֹלָם); it is close in meaning to "destroy." "Those of former times" — those who apportioned the land. This passage is placed here because moving a boundary leads to quarreling, blows, and bloodshed; therefore what follows is: "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth."
Chizkuni
לא תסיג, “do not remove, etc.;” the reason why this legislation has been written here [when on the face of it, it is not related to what preceded it. Ed.] is that most serious disagreements resulting in bloodshed have their origin in disputes over borders. This is why immediately afterwards we also have the line: “an eye for an eye, a life for a life etc.” (verse 21). We also have the warning not to convict anyone on the basis of the testimony of only a single witness. (Verse 15). אשר גבלו ראשונים, “which (the borders) have been marked by those who divided the Land,” that is, by Joshua, Elazar and the tribal leaders.
Rabbeinu Bahya
לא תסיג גבול רעך, “do not move the boundary of your fellow.” According to Rashi the meaning of our verse is moving markers between fields, etc., surreptitiously depriving one’s neighbour while enlarging one’s own property. This prohibition, though spelled out separately, would be part of the general prohibition not to rob. The Torah repeated this only to tell us that when one moves such borders inside Eretz Yisrael one has violated two commandments instead of merely one. This is why the Torah added the words בנחלתך אשר תנחל, “in your inheritance which you shall inherit.” Nachmanides writes that this is a warning not to tamper with the distribution of the plots of land within tribal boundaries which had been allocated by lottery, The tribal chief was in charge of these distributions to individual families. The Torah warns that one must not defy the tribal chief’s decisions in this matter. This is why the Torah added the words אשר גבלו ראשונים, “which the earlier ones had determined,” the “earlier ones” being the tribal chiefs in the days of Joshua whose decisions were made with the approval of the High Priest Eleazar and the national leader Joshua. The reason why this commandment has been recorded is to teach that a person does not have the right to accuse the people who had made the original delineation as having erred. It is also possible to understand the whole verse in terms of whether the universe as we know it preceded G’d. Anyone who believes this is described as משיג גבול, “having the wrong priorities.” He turns the clock backward (philosophically speaking), seeing that he makes G’d the totally free and unlimited, subject to the limitations of time and space. The ראשונים mentioned in our verse are none other than the אביך וזקניך, “your father and your elders” mentioned in Deut. 32,7 who have taught you in response to your inquiry that G’d preceded all phenomena which we call universe. There is no need for that verse to testify to the truth of Moses and his prophecy seeing the people had been eye witnesses to that. Why would they have had to ask their fathers and elders? The reason the verse adds here בנחלתך אשר תנחל, [an obvious reference to something which is yet to happen, Ed.] is to stress that the whole focus of our existence on earth is ארץ ישראל which is the אמצעות העולם, “the centre of the universe.” The reason why this verse was written immediately following the discussion of murder, etc., is to remind us that just as such border violations will eventually lead to murder, i.e. a situation described in verse 11 as והכהו נפש, “he will kill a soul (deliberately), and will have no place to escape to, so heretical views about the universe having preceded the Creator will also result in the soul of a person believing this not having anywhere to escape to. The six extremities (boundaries) of both the physical and celestial world will not find room to accommodate the soul of such heretics.
Tur HaArokh
לא תסיג גבול רעך אשר גבלו הראשונים, “You must not move the boundary of your fellow which earlier ones have marked as such.” The “earlier ones” referred to are the generation of Israelites entering the land with Joshua. Nachmanides writes that the reason behind this commandment, is that later generations, observing that though they have a large family they only have a small piece of land, whereas their neighbours who have only one or two children have a much larger piece of land, will claim that the original clerks doing the measuring had erred at that time. Some people may even challenge the whole system of distributing the land by lottery that had been the basis of the distribution in the time of Joshua. Changing borders is not only forbidden when done at night without anyone seeing it, but also when done in daylight in plain view of everyone. The message Moses leaves the people is that if they wish to live in peace with one another they will never challenge the method of the original parceling out of the land during the years Joshua was their leader. The phrasing of the verse is in the present tense, as only present borders are easily recognizable, not any changes that might or might not have occurred before the problem surfaces. Present boundaries are sacrosanct.
Rashbam
לא תסיג, the word is similar in meaning to Isaiah 42,17 נסוגו אחור, “they retreat backwards.” Our verse describes someone who adjusts his neighbour’s boundary backwards in order to increase the size of his own land.
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins; at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
verse value 3888 — אֶחָ֜ד = 13 (echad/ahavah)
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 74 letters. Notable word values: "one" (אֶחָ֜ד) = 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). Verse gematria: 3888 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "witness" (עֵ֨ד, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·sin" (וּלְכׇל־חַטָּ֔את, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 206: all·iniquity, matter. 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "not·shall·stand" (לֹֽא־יָקוּם֩), "all·iniquity" (לְכׇל־עָוֺן֙), "all·sin" (וּלְכׇל־חַטָּ֔את). The root קום appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "matter" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "man" (root איש, 85x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'he·shall·sin', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 8 words.
Onkelos
A single witness shall not rise up against a man for any wrongdoing or for any sin, for any transgression that he may commit; by the testimony of two witnesses or by the testimony of three witnesses shall the matter be established.
Rashi
עד אחד ONE WITNESS [SHALL NOT RISE UP AGAINST A MAN FOR ANY INIQUITY] — This is the classic passage from which the general principle is derived that wherever the term “witness” (עד) occurs in the Torah, it means two witnesses, unless it specifically mentions in connection with it the word אחד (Sanhedrin 30a). לכל עון ולכל חטאת [ONE WITNESS SHALL NOT RISE UP AGAINST A PERSON] FOR ANY INIQUITY OR ANY SIN — i.e. that his fellow man should be punished on account of his evidence either by bodily punishment or by a monetary punishment; but he may rise up against his fellow men to compel him to take an oath. If, for instance, one says to his fellow, “Return me the maneh which I lent you”, and he replies “I have nothing of yours in my possession”, and one witness testifies that he has, he (the defendant) must take an oath to satisfy him (Shevuot 40a; cf. Sifrei Devarim 188:9). על פי שני עדים [AT THE MOUTH OF TWO WITNESSES ... SHALL THE MATTER BE ESTABLISHED] — at their mouth, but not that they may write their evidence down in a letter and send it to the court, nor that an interpreter stand between the witnesses and the judges (Sifrei Devarim 188:10).
Ibn Ezra
One who claims that his fellow moved his boundary must bring witnesses; therefore "one witness shall not stand" — whether in a case of a murderer, or one who strikes, or one who moves a boundary, or any matter — only on the testimony of two witnesses. This is an abbreviated expression, since elsewhere it states "on the testimony of two witnesses."
Chizkuni
לא יקום עד אחד באיש, “one witness shall not rise up against a man;” as written here it appears as if this restriction applies only in cases involving a possible death sentence; how do we know that it applies also in matters involving only damages of a financial nature? This is why the Torah adds: לכל עון, “concerning any sin;” how do I know that it applies even in matters involving ritual matters, sacrifices? This is why the Torah added: בכל חטא אשר יחטא, “concerning any sin that he may become guilty of,” between man and G-d or between man and man. How do I know it applies also concerning any misdemeanor? This is why the Torah had commenced with the comprehensive words: לכל עון.
Rabbeinu Bahya
לא יקום עד אחד באיש, “A single witness shall not stand up against any man, etc.;” this verse follows the legislation about moving boundaries to teach that if an owner of a field accuses his neighbor of having moved the mutual boundary between their fields, he has to bring no less than two witnesses to substantiate his accusation. The words of a single witness have no value as testimony, neither when matters of corporal punishment nor monetary punishment is involved. לכל עון ולכל חטאת, “for any iniquity or for any error;” such as if the single witness testifies that the party he has seen committed a sin against the Lord, such as a violation of the Sabbath, be it intentional or unintentional. בכל חטא, “of any sin.” This refers to sins involving only words between himself and his fellow. אשר יחטא, this refers to sins involving money between one person and another. In all of these situations the testimony of a single witness is legally meaningless. Only the testimony of two witnesses can result in the accused being punished. Our sages in Shevuot 40 interpret the words לכל עון ולכל חטאת restrictively, i.e. only in order to testify concerning sins committed by an action is a single witness useless; however regarding matters of oaths, the testimony of a single witness is not irrelevant at all. Example: Reuven claims that Shimon owes him a sum of money and Shimon denies it. A single witness, Levi, testifies that Shimon does owe Reuven the money. In that instance the testimony of Levi is enough for Shimon to have to repeat his denial on oath. על פי שנים עדים, “according to two witnesses, etc.” our sages in Gittin 71 interpret the words על פי in our verse as meaning only oral testimony; written depositions are not acceptable as valid testimony. How do we reconcile this with the halachah that money may be extracted by the court on the basis of the signature of witnesses on a document such as an I.O.U? This is a Rabbinic decree designed to help potential borrowers obtain loans. If the Rabbis had not made this concession, many lenders might refuse to lend fearing that when the time comes there would be no witnesses around to testify orally on their behalf.
Tur HaArokh
על פי שני עדים, “on the basis of testimony of to witnesses, etc.” The Torah here uses the number “two” in the construct mode, שני עדים, whereas the last time we had a similar verse the Torah wrote the word שנים עדים. This serves our sages as a hint that sometimes (monetary disputes) even a lone witness is not altogether ineffective but can evoke the need for the accused to swear an oath that he is not guilty of the charge brought by the litigant who only backs it up with a single acceptable witness. (Sifri)
If a malicious witness rise up against any man to bear perverted witness against him;
verse value 1510
Insights
Verse structure: 6 words, 25 letters. The shortest word is "in" (בּ֖וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "if·one·rises" (כִּֽי־יָק֥וּם, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "witness·of·violence" (עֵד־חָמָ֖ס), "to·answer" (לַעֲנ֥וֹת), "rebellion" (סָרָֽה). 6 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "man" (root איש, 85x in Deuteronomy); "if·one·rises" (root קום, 35x in Deuteronomy); "in" (root בו, 23x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'man', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 3 words. Full calculation: כִּֽי־יָק֥וּם [if·one·rises] (186) + עֵד־חָמָ֖ס [witness·of·violence] (182) + בְּאִ֑ישׁ [man] (313) + לַעֲנ֥וֹת [to·answer] (556) + בּ֖וֹ [in] (8) + סָרָֽה [rebellion] (265) = 1510.
Onkelos
If a false witness rises up against a man to testify against him with wrongdoing —
Rashi
לענות בו סרה [IF A WITNESS FOR VIOLENCE RISE UP AGAINST A MAN] TO TESTIFY AGAINST HIM סרה — i.e. a thing which does not exist at all; this term is used because this witness is far removed (הוסר) from having anything to do with this testimony. How is this? (Give an example of such a case)?! That two other witnesses say, “But were you not with us on that day (when you say you saw the defendant committing this crime) in such and such a place (different from that where the alleged crime, according to you, has taken place)?!” (Makkot 5a).
Ibn Ezra
"To testify against him with perversity" — such as accusing him of idol worship.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי יקום עד חמס באיש, “If a false witness stands up against a man, etc.;” whenever the Torah speaks of עד without identifying the number of witnesses, 2 witnesses are meant. The meaning of our verse is that if two false witnesses testify against someone, i.e. claiming that something had been done which had never occurred that is the meaning of the word סרה, i.e. the witness is removed, הוסר, from such testimony. For instance, if two witnesses confront the original witnesses saying “how could you testify to an occurrence in such and such a place on such and such a date when in fact you were in our company on that date in a totally different place?” (Makkot 5)
then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Hashem, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days.
verse value 3315 — יְהֹוָ֑ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 64 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֑ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 3315 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֥ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "two·men" (שְׁנֵֽי־הָאֲנָשִׁ֛ים, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 170: before, before. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·they·shall·stand" (וְעָמְד֧וּ), "two·men" (שְׁנֵֽי־הָאֲנָשִׁ֛ים), "that·to" (אֲשֶׁר־לָהֶ֥ם). The root פנים 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); "shall·be" (root היה, 170x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Hashem', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְעָמְד֧וּ [and·they·shall·stand] (126) + שְׁנֵֽי־הָאֲנָשִׁ֛ים [two·men] (766) + אֲשֶׁר־לָהֶ֥ם [that·to] (576) + הָרִ֖יב [the·dispute] (217) + לִפְנֵ֣י [before] (170) + יְהֹוָ֑ה [Hashem] (26) + לִפְנֵ֤י [before] (170) + הַכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ [the·priests] (130) + וְהַשֹּׁ֣פְטִ֔ים [the·judges] (450) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + יִהְי֖וּ [shall·be] (31) + בַּיָּמִ֥ים [in·the·days] (102) + הָהֵֽם [those] (50) = 3315.
Onkelos
then the two men who have the dispute shall stand before Hashem, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days.
Rashi
ועמדו שני האנשים THEN BOTH THE MEN ... SHALL STAND [BEFORE THE LORD] — Scripture here is referring to the witnesses, and teaches firstly that no evidence is valid when given by women, and teaches secondly that they (the witnesses) must submit their testimony while standing (Shevuot 30a; cf. Sifrei Devarim 190:1-3). אשר להם הריב BETWEEN WHOM THE STRIFE IS — this refers to the contestants (Sanhedrin 19a). 'לפני ה BEFORE THE LORD — It should seem to them as though they are standing before the Omnipresent God, for it is said, (Psalms 82:1) “He (God) judges amongst the judges” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 190:5; Sanhedrin 6b). אשר יהיו בימים ההם [AND THEY ... SHALL STAND BEFORE ... THE JUDGES] WHO SHALL BE IN THOSE DAYS — The apparently redundant words “who shall be in those days” suggest: Jephthah in his generation must be regarded as was Samuel in his generation: you must treat him with respect (Rosh Hashanah 25b; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 17:9 and Deuteronomy 26:3).
Rabbeinu Bahya
ועמדו שני האנשים, “then the two men shall stand, etc.” the “men” are the witnesses. The verse teaches that testimony has to be given while standing. Also, the word האנשים means that women do not qualify as witnesses. אשר להם הריב, “the ones who have a grievance;” the litigants. לפני ה', “in the presence of the Lord.” The Torah warns the parties that when they are in court before a judge or judges they should consider themselves as standing in front of the Lord. This is why Assaph says (Psalms 82,1) בקרב אלו-הים ישפוט, “G’d is present among the judges.” Had the Torah here meant that G’d, i.e. the Sanhedrin, must judge every case it should have written בקרב ה' אלו-הים ישפוט, Had the Torah used the attributes ה' אלו-הים here as it does throughout the Book of Deuteronomy, I would have concluded that all litigants have to go to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem for every case of litigation. This would have been the meaning of the words לפני ה' אלו-היך. The words (pertaining to the court)) אשר יהיו בימים ההם, “who (pl) will be in those days,” makes it clear that any of the courts in the various cities is included in that description. The words לפני הכהנים לפני ה' are all designed to prevent us misunderstanding what is meant. We find already with Moses that people seeking out his advice or judgment are described by the Torah as והיה כל מבקש ה', “anyone seeking the Lord.” (compare Exodus 33,7) at a time when Moses had put up his tent outside the camp of the Israelites. Even the angels are occasionally referred to by the tetragram, such as in Exodus 20,3 and 33,7 as I have mentioned on several occasions.
And the judges shall inquire diligently; and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother;
verse value 2557 — הֵיטֵ֑ב = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 38 letters. Notable word values: "thoroughly" (הֵיטֵ֑ב) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "witness" (הָעֵ֔ד, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·judges" (הַשֹּׁפְטִ֖ים, 6 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·they·shall·investigate" (וְדָרְשׁ֥וּ), "the·judges" (הַשֹּׁפְטִ֖ים), "witness·of·falsehood" (עֵֽד־שֶׁ֙קֶר֙). The root שקר appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "witness" (root עד, 50x in Deuteronomy); "brother" (root אח, 44x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'thoroughly', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 6 words. Full calculation: וְדָרְשׁ֥וּ [and·they·shall·investigate] (516) + הַשֹּׁפְטִ֖ים [the·judges] (444) + הֵיטֵ֑ב [thoroughly] (26) + וְהִנֵּ֤ה [behold] (66) + עֵֽד־שֶׁ֙קֶר֙ [witness·of·falsehood] (674) + הָעֵ֔ד [witness] (79) + שֶׁ֖קֶר [lie] (600) + עָנָ֥ה [he·testified] (125) + בְאָחִֽיו [brother] (27) = 2557.
Onkelos
And the judges shall investigate thoroughly, and behold, if the witness is a false witness and has testified falsely against his brother —
Rashi
ודרשו השפטים היטב AND THE JUDGES SHALL DILIGENTLY ENQUIRE concerning the statement of those who assert them (the first witnesses) to be “plotting witnesses”, in that they investigate and crossexamine those who assert them to be “plotting witnesses” by diligent enquiry and scrutiny. והנה עד שקר העד AND, BEHOLD, IF THE WITNESS BE A FALSE WITNESS — Wherever עד is written, [except if the numeral אחד, “one” is added (cf. Rashi on v. 15)], Scripture is speaking of two witnesses (Sanhedrin 30a).
Ramban
AND THE JUDGES SHALL INQUIRE DILIGENTLY; AND, BEHOLD, IF THE WITNESS BE A FALSE WITNESS. Scripture has not explained how it became known that he is a false witness, for, since the testimony was presented by two witnesses, even if a hundred witnesses were to come and contradict them it would still not be established that they testified falsely [because the testimony of two witnesses carries the same weight as that of a hundred]. Nor can we say that the alleged murder-victim walked [into court], for, in that case Scripture would not say and the judges shall inquire diligently [for an investigation of testimony is incongruous when it is so demonstratively false]. Therefore, trustworthy tradition came and explained that the refutation of witnesses takes place when they [the second pair of witnesses] say to the first “But you were with us on that day [and hour in such a place — away from the alleged scene of the crime].” The reason [that such testimony of the second pair of witnesses is accepted as conclusive] is because their testimony refers to the first witnesses themselves [rather than to their testimony, and the first pair, in order to defend itself, would therefore have to testify as to its own whereabouts at the time of the alleged crime]. Witnesses, however, are not given credence when testifying about themselves saying, “We have not done so,” and the second pair could say of the first pair that they killed someone or that they profaned the Sabbath.
Ibn Ezra
"Testified" — this means the same as "bore witness" (הֵעִיד), also with regard to the blows and the punishment.
Sforno
והנה עד שקר העד, שקר ענה באחיו. His testimony was deliberately false, meant to incriminate his fellow Jew. He did not err in what he thought he had witnessed, such as there having been poor lighting on a cloudy day. Neither did he err in the day of the month when the supposed crime occurred, having been unaware that the most recent month had been extended by a day.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ודרשו השופטים היטב, “and the judges shall investigate thoroughly;” by means of the second set of witnesses who claim that the first witnesses could not have witnessed what they say they did. They employ the means of investigation we have described in detail in 13,15. והנה עד שקר העד “and it emerges that the original witnesses were liars.” They were both lying.
Tur HaArokh
והנה עד שקר העד, “and behold, the testimony was false testimony!” Nachmanides draws our attention to the fact that the Torah did not mention anything concerning how the court knew that the testimony of these witnesses was false. Even when two witnesses contradict a group of twenty, this is not proof that the two have been lying. Unless the person supposedly killed would appear before us alive, we have no definitive proof that the testimony was false. Clearly, when the Torah speaks about the investigations the judges have to carry out, it does not have in mind such incontrovertible evidence to the contrary as the “dead” appearing in front of us alive. This is why we have a reliable tradition which tells us that the nature of the “false” testimony in our verse does not relate to the substance of the testimony but to the alibi of the witnesses, who, though they claim to have been at one location at a certain time, are confronted by other witnesses claiming they had seen them elsewhere at that time. Seeing that the testimony of the second set of witnesses relates to the actual bodies of the first set of witnesses it is relevant. They do not contradict the substance of the first witnesses’ testimony, but to their ability to testify to something they could not have seen at that time. The first set of witnesses, by wanting to deny the claim of the second set of witnesses are not qualified to testify concerning their own selves. Ergo, unless they can produce independent testimony that had been at the location they had claimed to be in the first place, they are declared as “false” witnesses, and will be dealt with accordingly, provided that their testimony has not yet resulted in the judicial murder they had had in mind.
then you shall do to him, as he had purposed to do to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.
verse value 3646 — ל֔וֹ = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 38 letters. Notable word values: "to" (ל֔וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "to" (ל֔וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·you·shall·do" (וַעֲשִׂ֣יתֶם, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "he·schemed" (זָמַ֖ם). The root עשה appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "as·that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "and·you·shall·do" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy); "to" (root לך, 75x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'brother', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַעֲשִׂ֣יתֶם [and·you·shall·do] (826) + ל֔וֹ [to] (36) + כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר [as·that] (521) + זָמַ֖ם [he·schemed] (87) + לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת [to·do] (806) + לְאָחִ֑יו [brother] (55) + וּבִֽעַרְתָּ֥ [and·you·shall·purge] (678) + הָרָ֖ע [the·evil] (275) + מִקִּרְבֶּֽךָ [midst] (362) = 3646.
Onkelos
you shall do to him as he schemed to do to his brother, and you shall purge the evildoer from your midst.
Rashi
כאשר זמם [THEN SHALL YE DO UNTO HIM] AS HE HAD INTENDED TO HAVE DONE [UNTO HIS BROTHER] — as he had intended to do, but not as he has done! Hence they (the Rabbis) stated that if they (the false witnesses) have already killed (i.e. if by their evidence the defendant has already been executed) they are not put to death (Makkot 5b). לעשות לאחיו [THEN SHALL YE DO UNTO HIM AS HE HAD INTENDED] TO HAVE DONE TO HIS BROTHER — What is the force of לאחיו? Would it not have sufficed to state כאשר זמם לעשות? But it teaches in regard to witnesses who have been proved to have “plotted” against a married daughter of a priest by an accusation of adultery, that they are not to be punished with burning (as would have been the punishment of the accused woman, if she had been found guilty), but with the death penalty to which the alleged adulterer would have been subject, which is strangulation. For it is said of such a woman, (Leviticus 21:9) “she shall be burnt to death” — ‘‘she”, but not her paramour (he is not burnt but strangled) — therefore it states here לאחיו, “unto his brother” — ‘‘[ye shall do unto him] as he had intended to have done to his brother” but not as he had intended to have done to his sister. This case, however, is an exception, but with regard to any other death penalties Scripture puts women on the same level with men, and consequently those who are proved to have “plotted” against a woman are made to suffer the same death penalty as those who are proved to have “plotted” against a man. For instance, they have testified against her that she killed a person, or that she desecrated the Sabbath, then they are made to suffer the death she would have suffered, for Scripture excludes here by the word אחיו the “plotting” witnesses from the death penalty of the sister (i.e. which the woman would have suffered) only because it is a case where the law regarding plotting witnesses can be applied to them by letting them suffer the death-penalty of the paramour (Sifrei Devarim 190:14; Sanhedrin 90a).
Ramban
THEN SHALL YE DO UNTO HIM [the refuted witness], AS HE HAD PURPOSED TO DO — “but not as he has done! Deriving from this, the Rabbis have said: If they [the refuted witnesses] have already killed [i.e., if the judgment based on their testimony was executed prior to the refutation] they are not put to death.” This is Rashi’s language quoting from the words of our Rabbis. The reason for this is that the law of punishment of plotting witnesses is by the decree of the Ruler, for they are two witnesses against two [even in the case of “refutation” and, logically, we should not believe the second more than the first, were it not that such is the decree of the King]! Now, when two witnesses come and testify against Reuben that he killed a person and then another two come and “refute” [their claim of] having been witnesses, Scripture commanded that [the first pair] be killed for it was due to the merit of Reuben who was innocent and righteous that this affair [of “the refutation”] came to pass. Had Reuben been wicked, liable to a death-penalty, G-d would not have saved him from the hand of the court, as He said, for I will not justify the wicked. But if Reuben had already been killed we are to consider that whatever the first witnesses testified against him was true, for he died due to his iniquity. If he were righteous, G-d would not have left him in their hand, just as Scripture says, The Eternal will not leave him in his hand, nor suffer him to be condemned when he is judged. Moreover, G-d would not allow the righteous judges who stand before Him to spill innocent blood for the judgment is G-d’s, and in the midst of ‘elohim’ (the judges) He judgeth. Now all this indicates the high degree of the judges in Israel and is a promise that the Holy One, blessed be He, agrees with them and He is with them pronouncing judgment. This is the sense of the verse, And both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Eternal, for it is before G-d that they stand when coming before the priests and the judges and He will lead them in the right way. I have already mentioned this in the section And these are the ordinances.
Or HaChaim
ועשיתם לו כאשר זמם, "and you will do to him in accordance with what he had planned to do." Our sages in Makkot 5 derive from this word that if the party falsely accused had already been executed on the strength of this fabricated testimony, the court cannot execute the witnesses. This seems a problematical exegesis. Perhaps what the Torah wanted here by writing the word כאשר זמם was to incriminate the false witnesses for merely planning to testify falsely even if they had not yet done so before a court? Once the victim of such testimony has been executed the witnesses had become guilty not only of כאשר זמם, "as he [they, as the singular is used by the Torah for a halachically valid witness, i.e. a minimum of two witnesses. Ed.] had planned," but also of כאשר עשה, "as he had done!" In that case one could not use the argument that we do not condemn somebody to be executed based only on a logical argument, i.e. if we execute them even if they did not succeed with their testimony it is only logical that we must execute them if they did succeed with the intention behind their false testimony. In the scenario we presented this principle of אין עונשין מן הדין would not apply and therefore would not stop us from executing these witnesses. However, the fact is that the principal exegetical argument is derived from the fact that the Torah should have written כאשר ענה על אחיו, in which event it would have referred to what the Torah wrote in verse 18 שקר ענה באחיו. Had the Torah written these words I would have known that it intended to do to the witnesses as they had done. The fact that the Torah does not use the more comprehensive word ענה, but writes the word זמם shows that it wishes to limit the parameters which enable the court to apply the death penalty to these witnesses. We have a Baraitha in Makkot 5 which goes as follows: "The son of the scholar who interpreted that the word כאשר זמם means that we do not execute the false witnesses if their victim had already been executed as a result of their testimony, said to his father: 'father, why should they not be executed? We have logic on our side; if we execute such witnesses even if their testimony did not result in their victim's death then surely we must exceute them when it did result in their victim's death!' His father replied that the sages taught that אין עונשין מן הדין, that logic does not suffice as a reason to apply a death penalty in situations where the Torah did not specifically request that a death penalty be imposed. This is not the case here." You must not deduce from this that but for the ruling that in order to apply a death penalty the Torah must state so specifically, the logic of the son would have been unassailable and I would have executed these עדים זוממים, "spurious witneses." The reason is that the distinction between the Torah writing זמם instead of ענה would not suffice to cancel the strength of the logical argument cited in the Baraitha. This is why we also needed the pri...
Chizkuni
ועשיתם לו כאשר זמם, “you will do to him in accordance with the penalty that he had planned for his victim to be convicted of. The Torah has taught the penalty here; where is the prohibition to commit such a crime written? See Exodus 23,1 as well as at the ninth of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20,14.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ועשיתם לו כאשר זמם, “you shall do unto them as they had planned to do.” The testimony of the second set of witnesses is believed even if the original witnesses numbered 100 (compare Makkot 5). This is something very peculiar. What logical reason is there to trust the testimony of the latter witnesses more than that of the first? It appears to be an arbitrary decree by the Torah. Actually, the reason may well be that the two groups of witnesses do not contradict each other on the substance of the testimony. If they did, there is no question that their testimonies would cancel each other out. The second group of witnesses do not dispute the facts of the case; all they dispute is the ability of the first witnesses to testify to something they could not possibly have witnessed. Our sages in Makkot 5 also comment on the peculiar wording כאשר זמם, “as they had planned;” they derive from there if the plan of the first set of witnesses, namely to cause the execution of the person or persons whom they accuse, has already been carried out by the time the second set of witnesses arrive and testify, no action is taken against the second set of witnesses even if they turn out to have been false witnesses. If the second set of witnesses arrived before the execution, they are executed instead if they had tried to frame the first set of witnesses, if also their testimony is contradicted by another set of witnesses. The reason for this strange-sounding procedure is that we rely on the Holy Spirit which is present when the judges of the Sanhedrin conduct their deliberations. It is presumed that this Holy Spirit would not allow them to become guilty of spilling innocent blood, i.e. if they ordered the accused to be executed, he must have been guilty of a capital crime (even if not the one for which he was executed). When there has been such an evident involvement by G’d in this judgment, we leave the second set of witnesses alone, assuming that they may even have spoken the truth. However, assuming that the executed person had really been innocent, we know that G’d has many agents and that sooner or later He will take care of these lying witnesses on the basis of whose testimony we executed someone. At any rate, on the basis of כי המשפט לאלו-הים הוא, that in the final analysis judgment belongs to G’d, the lying witnesses had actually testified against a “dead man,” i.e. someone guilty of death. Seeing that they had been the ones on whose account the accused had been executed there is no point in executing them as a preventive measure. One may raise the following objection to this whole process of reasoning: granted that the party who was executed was in fact guilty though not proven guilty by judicial process of law, what does his guilt have to do with the testimony of the עדים זוממים who have in the meantime been found liars and who by rights ought to pay the penalty for framing someone? Our sages simply feel that we have no authority to execute them seeing the Torah phrased the legislation in such a way that only “what they planned to do” makes them subject to our retribution by a human tribunal. One of the Tosafists, the Ri (Rabbi Yitzchak ben Shmuel) claims that the reason for the principle of הרגו אין נהרגים if the testimony of the עדים זוממים resulted in their victim’s execution they are not executed themselves is that we are dealing here with three groups of witnesses. 1) The final group of witnesses have claimed that the second group were liars. The testimony of the first group of witnesses has never been refuted except that their testimony was not the kind that could convict. Moreover the original accused most certainly claimed to be innocent. Seeing that we wind up with four litigants, i.e. 2 sets against 2 sets, we must disregard the entire testimony now and cannot convict the second set on the basis of the last set of witnesses. The witnesses who were executed were in the minority of 2 against three. [This whole argument is most amazing after we have learned that there is no difference between 2 or 100 witnesses to the same facts. Ed.]
Tur HaArokh
כאשר זמם. “as he has conspired.” Our sages emphasise (Makkot 5) that the Torah decrees this retribution by a human court only if the false witnesses’ testimony had not achieved its purpose. Nachmanides writes that the reason is that the whole subject of עדים זוממים, scheming witnesses, is in the nature of גזרת הכתוב, heavenly decree, intervention in the judicial process by super-human forces. After all, the judges are faced with two diametrically opposed statements concerning location and time, and it is beyond our ability to be certain who is telling the truth. We look at this in the following manner. If two witnesses accuse Reuven of having committed murder, and Reuven had been an upstanding citizen up until then, nothing negative having been known about him, and out of the blue two other witnesses appear throwing serious doubt on the believability of the first two witnesses, we are inclined to think that if Reuven were not innocent of this accusation G’d would not have gone out of His way to send the second set of witnesses to save him from the death penalty. Based on such a consideration we can understand the tendency of the sages to believe the second set of witnesses, and to leave the accused to G’d’s judgment if they erred and he was indeed guilty. If the second set of witnesses appears too late to save the accused, we again assume that G’d would not have allowed the accused to be executed unless he had been guilty of death on account of another crime that he committed, where there had not been any witnesses either. [On the one hand, in spite of the urim vetumim, which the priest could invoke in order to ask Hashem if the accused is guilty, the Torah does not encourage our using supernatural channels except where we are expressly bidden to do so, such as in obtaining G’d’s sanction for expansionary wars. Ed.] Nachmanides also adds that if the accused had been judicially murdered by the testimony of a set of witnesses the family of the innocent victim will move heaven and earth to see that he is exonerated posthumously.
And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of you.
verse value 3182
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 48 letters. Verse gematria: 3182 is divisible by 86, the value of Elohim. The shortest word is "again" (ע֗וֹד, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·remaining" (וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֖ים, 8 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "the·remaining" (וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֖ים), "and·they·shall·not·again" (וְלֹֽא־יֹסִ֨פוּ). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "thing" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "to·do" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy); "hear" (root שמע, 92x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·they·shall·fear', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 7 words. Full calculation: וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֖ים [the·remaining] (612) + יִשְׁמְע֣וּ [hear] (426) + וְיִרָ֑אוּ [and·they·shall·fear] (223) + וְלֹֽא־יֹסִ֨פוּ [and·they·shall·not·again] (193) + לַעֲשׂ֜וֹת [to·do] (806) + ע֗וֹד [again] (80) + כַּדָּבָ֥ר [thing] (226) + הָרָ֛ע [the·evil] (275) + הַזֶּ֖ה [the·this] (17) + בְּקִרְבֶּֽךָ [midst] (324) = 3182.
Onkelos
And those who remain shall hear and fear, and they shall not again do anything like this evil matter in your midst.
Rashi
ישמעו ויראו [AND THOSE WHO REMAIN] SHALL HEAR AND FEAR — From here we derive the law that a public announcement is required: “The men named so-and-so are to be executed because they have been convicted by the court as “plotting witnesses” (Sanhedrin 89a).
And your eye shall not pity: life for life, an eye's worth for an eye, a tooth's worth for a tooth, a hand's worth for a hand, a foot's worth for a foot.
verse value 2985
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 42 letters. The shortest word is "tooth" (שֵׁ֣ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "shall·spare" (תָח֖וֹס, 4 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "life" (בְּנֶ֗פֶשׁ), "eye" (בְּעַ֙יִן֙), "tooth" (שֵׁ֣ן). The root עין appears 3 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "hand" (root יד, 83x in Deuteronomy); "eye" (root עין, 60x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'eye', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 10 words. Full calculation: וְלֹ֥א [not] (37) + תָח֖וֹס [shall·spare] (474) + עֵינֶ֑ךָ [eye] (150) + נֶ֣פֶשׁ [life] (430) + בְּנֶ֗פֶשׁ [life] (432) + עַ֤יִן [eye] (130) + בְּעַ֙יִן֙ [eye] (132) + שֵׁ֣ן [tooth] (350) + בְּשֵׁ֔ן [tooth] (352) + יָ֥ד [hand] (14) + בְּיָ֖ד [hand] (16) + רֶ֥גֶל [foot] (233) + בְּרָֽגֶל [foot] (235) = 2985.
Onkelos
Your eye shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Rashi
עין בעין EYE FOR EYE — i.e. monetary compensation; similarly also “tooth for tooth” etc. (Sifrei Devarim 190:16; Bava Kamma 84a; cf. also Rashi on Exodus 21:24).
Ibn Ezra
The meaning of "your eye shall not pity" is: [do not pity] the false witness.
Chizkuni
ולא תחוס עינך, “and your eye shall not display pity.” You shall not have pity with the guilty person; on the other hand, even during war time you shall display pity on people who are in the process of building their homes for the first time, be it that they are engaged to be married, that they are in the middle of building a house, or planting an orchard. The Torah teaches you a lesson here of when it is appropriate to display pity and concern, and when not. This is why these two paragraphs one dealing with expansionist wars, the other about people undermining faith in the Lord of their brethren, follow one another in the Torah. עין בעין, “an eye for an eye, etc.;” the Torah once more repeats that justice must be based on the punishment fitting the crime. In Exodus 21.24 these penalties are decreed for bodily injuries, while here they are intended for conspiring witnesses.
Targum Yonatan
Your eye shall not spare; life for life, the value of an eye for an eye, the value of a tooth for a tooth, the value of a hand for a hand, the value of a foot for a foot.
Onkelos
Ramban
Chizkuni
Tur HaArokh