And now, O Israel, heed the statutes and the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Hashem, the God of your fathers, gives you.
verse value 8462 — יְהֹוָ֛ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 97 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֛ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "hear" (שְׁמַ֤ע, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·rules" (וְאֶל־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים, 10 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "the·statutes" (אֶל־הַֽחֻקִּים֙), "the·rules" (וְאֶל־הַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֔ים), "teaching" (מְלַמֵּ֥ד). The root אשר 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); "God·of" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root חק ("the·statutes") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root אנכי ("I") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·do', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 11 words.
Onkelos
And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes and the ordinances that I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and come and possess the land that Hashem, the God of your fathers, is giving to you.
Ibn Ezra
"Teaching you to do" — for the essential purpose of learning is to perform the commandments. "So that you may live" — for those who worshipped Peor were destroyed. "And you shall possess" — because the yod is at rest and hidden, the vav is voweled with a segol, causing the ayin of the verb to be voweled with a segol as well; and [the form] "efes" follows its pattern.
Sforno
ועתה ישראל, after you have seen the decree of G’d to exile you if you sin, be on guard to meticulously observe His commandments without adding to them or detracting from them. An addition or a detraction will both have destructive consequences for you.
Or HaChaim
ועתה ישראל שמע אל החוקים, "And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes, etc." Perhaps Moses referred to 2 separate incidents which had happened to him personally (when he had been remiss.) The first instance was the matter of speaking to the rock when Moses had struck the rock instead in his eagerness to fulfil G'd's instructions. The second instance was the matter of Zimri publicly cohabiting with the Midianite princess Cosbi when Moses had forgotten the ruling that anyone sincerely jealous of such a desecration of the name of the Lord is to execute the sinner forthwith without trial. On that occasion too, Moses had missed an opportunity to sanctify the name of the Lord as we have explained in that context. Even though Pinchas had articulated this halachah in front of Moses at the time (compare Sanhedrin 82) Moses had answered him: "he who reads the letter must execute what is written therein." As a result, Pinchas acquired the merit of the covenant of peace which in truth had been reserved for Moses himself. It is possible that Moses' reason for failing to act correctly had been that "his hands were weakened" when he had acted rashly in hitting the rock instead of speaking to it, all because he had not taken the time to reflect on what G'd's proper instructions had been. It is also possible that he felt that the rule קנאים פוגעים בו, that people jealous on behalf of G'd must execute such a sinner, applied only to someone who had seen the actual sin being performed not to someone who had heard about it second-hand. This is why he did not think he had the right to instruct Pinchas to carry out the deed. As a result "he sat on it," and did nothing contrary to his immediate response to hitting the rock when G'd had instructed him to take along his staff at the time. In view of these two failures on his part, Moses now said to the people: "hearken to the statutes, i.e. the laws which lack rationale such as the commandment to speak to the rock at the time. As far as Moses was concerned that instruction was like a חוקה for him, something he did not understand. Moses continued to speak of משפטים, social laws, i.e. the kind of laws which appear to contain an element of social justice such as the law to execute Jews who have sexual intercourse with Gentiles. Both Moses' failures related to one or the other of these types of commandments; this prompted him to warn the Israelites specifically not to become guilty of the mistakes he had made himself, though inadvertently, and which were the reason he suffered from the decree of not being allowed to enter the Holy Land. Moses concluded this exhortation with the plea "so that you will live and come and take possession of the land which the Lord your G'd is about to give to you." He implied that what happened to him should not happen to them. He added: לא תוסיפו על הדבר, "do not add to the word, etc." This too was a warning to the Israelites that something that happened to him should not happen to them. Tora...
Chizkuni
ועתה ישראל וגו, “and now, Israel, etc;” according to the beginning of the Sifri at the beginning of this paragraph, the words: ועתה ישראל, “and now, Israel, etc.;” are Moses’ introduction to relating laws in the Torah, after he had reminded the people why it had taken so long since the Exodus until now and the reason why they were still on the east bank of the river Jordan. He had reviewed how in spite of all the disappointments that their conduct had caused G-d, He had not stopped displaying His fondness for them in a tangible manner each day. He, Moses, would have long ago been able to enter the Holy Land had it not been for the delays caused by them, and his having exhausted the lifespan accorded to him during those years. [His having struck the rock by mistake would have been a scenario that could never have occurred but for their having been condemned to be in the desert for so many years. Ed.] It certainly was time for them now to listen to all the laws that it would be their duty to observe once they crossed the river Jordan למען תחיו, in order that you will continue to live;” the people who had worshipped the Peor had all been killed for having failed to keep such a basic commandment. ובאתם אתם וירשתם, “therefore it is up to you to inherit” by keeping G-d’s commandments. Do not think or even say, since Moses had been told by G-d that the lsraelites standing in front of Him in Numbers 26,53, who had been told that the land would be distributed to them, this was the kind of promise that could not be revoked even if they would prove unworthy.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ועתה ישראל שמע אל החוקים ואל המשפטים אשר אנכי מלמד אתכם לעשות למען תחיו; “and now Israel hearken to the statutes and social laws I will teach you to perform in order that you shall live.” This verse teaches that learning, studying the Torah is not the main purpose of the Torah but performing the commandments one has studied. Our sages in Avot 1,17 stated this succinctly when they taught לא המדרש הוא העיקר אלא המעשה, “not the study is of the essence but the performance, the deed.” Only performance of deeds is a guarantee of life (both here and in the hereafter).
Tur HaArokh
ועתה שמע ישראל, “Now, O Israel, listen!” after Moses had concluded the words of admonition and reminded them of their various past sins, all of which had caused negative fallout for them, so much so that only the second generation had been allowed to enter the Holy Land, he hints that their entry into this land was contingent on their not copying the mistakes of their fathers. Moses especially warns the people not to tamper with G’d’s commandments by either adding or subtracting from them. [A major insult of the Creator, Who does not need us, the creatures, to edit His work. Ed.]
You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of Hashem your God which I command you.
verse value 5747 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 74 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "not" (לֹ֣א, 2 letters) and the longest is "upon·the·word" (עַל־הַדָּבָר֙, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·shall·add" (תֹסִ֗פוּ), "upon·the·word" (עַל־הַדָּבָר֙), "you·shall·diminish" (תִגְרְע֖וּ). The root לא appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root מצוה ("commandments·of") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 8 words.
Onkelos
You shall not add to the word that I am commanding you, nor shall you subtract from it, in order to keep the commandments of Hashem your God that I am commanding you.
Rashi
לא תספו YE SHALL NOT ADD — For instance, to place five chapters in the Tephillin, to employ five species of fruit and plants in the fulfilment of the command of Lulab And to place five fringes on one’s garment. Thus, too, must we explain the following words ולא תגרעו, Ye shall not diminish [from it]" (Sifrei Devarim 82:4).
Ramban
YE SHALL NOT ADD [UNTO THE WORD WHICH I COMMAND YOU] — “such as placing five sections [of the Torah] in the phylacteries, five species in a lulav, five fringes [in a garment]. The same principle applies to the prohibition, neither shall ye diminish from it” [by placing three sections of the Torah in the phylacteries etc.]. This is Rashi’s language. And thus the Rabbis said in the Sifre: “Whence do we know that you are not to add to [the four species in the commandment of] the lulav, nor to the [four] fringes? Scripture therefore says, Ye shall not add. And whence do we know that you are not to diminish from them? Because Scripture states, neither shall ye diminish. Whence do we know that if [a priest] began to recite the Priestly Blessing he is not to say: ‘Since I began to bless [the people], I will [further] say, The Eternal, the G-d of your fathers, make you a thousand times so many more as ye are?’ Because Scripture states, [Ye shall not add] unto the ‘word’ — even ‘a word’ you are not to add to it.” However, not only concerning these [commandments] have the Rabbis said [that the prohibitions neither to add nor to diminish, apply], but also in the case of someone who sleeps in a Booth on the eighth Day [of the Festival of Tabernacles] with the intent [of performing a religious duty] that he is liable to whipping [for having added to the commandment], as is mentioned in Tractate Rosh Hashanah. So also if he were to observe the Festival of Tabernacles for only six days, he would be transgressing this negative commandment [neither shall ye diminish from it].In my opinion, even if someone devised an independent commandment [rather than altering an existing one] such as establishing a festival in a month which he had devised of his own accord, as Jeroboam did, he transgresses the negative commandment [Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you]. And so did the Rabbis say with reference to the reading of the Scroll of Esther [on Purim]: “One hundred and eighty prophets arose in Israel and they did not diminish from nor add even one letter to what was written in the Torah, except for reading the Scroll of Esther [which was instituted by the prophets]. What basis did they have for that? etc.” And in the Yerushalmi it is stated: “Eighty-five elders, among them many prophets, were troubled about the matter [of the new duty to read the Scroll of Esther]. They said, ‘It is written, These are the commandments which the Eternal commanded Moses. These are the commandments that [we] were ordered by the mouth of Moses, and Moses told us that no other prophet is destined to establish anything new for you — and Mordecai and Esther want to establish something new for us!’ They did not move from there while discussing the matter, until the Holy One, blessed be He, enlightened their eyes [and they found the new commandment intimated in the Torah, Prophets, and Writings].” Thus you see that [the institution of] this commandment [of reading the Scroll of ...
Ibn Ezra
"You shall not add" — from your own reasoning, thinking that it too is service to Hashem. Likewise, "you shall not subtract." And as for what I said, "so that you may live" — no witnesses are needed, for your own eyes are the witness.
Sforno
ולא תגרעו ממנו לשמור, a person should not make the mistake made by King Solomon that he can ignore a prohibition since he knows the reason for the prohibition and can create conditions when such a prohibition would not be justified. [the Torah had forbidden a king to marry too many women, warning that these could lead him astray. Solomon relied on his wisdom not to lead him astray and ignored the Torah’s law with disastrous consequences for his kingdom. Ed.]
Chizkuni
לא תוסיפו על הדברת ״, “do not add to the word, etc.” Moses reminds the people that when they had been told in Deut. 1,21 עלה רש “ascend and take ancestral possession,” they had added a condition of their own by requesting to dispatch spies. If they had not done so, they would have settled in the Holy Land 40 years earlier and would not have had to watch a whole generation die in the desert. Their fathers had become corpses in the desert. ולא תגרעו ממנו, “nor must you diminish any of G-d’s words as spelled out in the Torah. After the debacle with the spies, when some of you had decided to after all fulfill G-d’s command of ascending to conquer, I had warned you that you would do so at your peril and that you would fail and suffer casualties (compare Numbers 14,42.) You decided to ignore my warning and as a result you paid dearly for that omission. (Compare Numbers 14,45) From now on I warn you to accept My commandments as given without emendations of any kind. A different interpretation of the verse commencing with: “do not add, etc.” The verse is a response to the heretics who deny the validity of the Talmud, by quoting this verse and by pointing out that the sages of the Talmud had ignored it, adding laws of their own by the hundreds. The answer of the sages is that the warning not to add or subtract from the laws of the Torah appears only twice, each time in connection with idolatry, i.e. not to violate the belief and service of the One and only Creator. Immediately following this warning, the Torah illustrates its meaning by reminding the people of what happened to those who had worshipped Peor in addition, (verse 3) Also in Deut. 13,1, the Torah illustrates what is meant by this law by reminding people not to sacrifice any of their children to the cult of the moloch. (Deut. 12,31) When it comes to any of the other commandments, however, the sages are not only entitled but encouraged to surround the Biblical laws with “fences,” in order to protect us not to violate the Biblical laws.
Rabbeinu Bahya
לא תוסיפו על הדבר אשר אנכי מצוה אתכם, ולא תגרעו ממנו “do not add to the words which I command you, nor subtract from it.” This is a warning for man not to try and be smarter than G’d by saying that he will do more than G’d commanded, by thinking that the addition will be considered part of his serving the Lord. This is why Moses had to point out that the Torah is perfect. Not only does it not need additions or subtractions but any addition is in fact a subtraction (Sanhedrin 29). Our sages in Sifri Re'ay 82 quote examples of what the Torah means by additions or subtractions. If someone were to take five paragraphs from the Torah and place them inside the phylacteries of the head, doing so deliberately as an addition to what the sages said, or if he were to present G’d with five species of plants on the festival of Sukkot, instead of the four species mentioned in the Torah, or if a priest were to add a fourth verse to the three verses which form the priestly blessing, such a person would be guilty of violating this commandment. On the other hand, if someone adds to the various Rabbinic “laws” instituted to protect Biblical laws against infringement and violation by the ignorant, such additions do not qualify as a violation of the commandment Moses speaks about here. Any Rabbinic ordinance introduced for the sole purpose of ensuring the observance of the Torah law as it is and protecting it against violation is not called “an addition.” It is in the nature of a fence around a vineyard, something that does not contribute to or enlarge the vineyard but merely protects it against thieves, marauders, etc. The classic Talmudic example for this is found in Shabbat 13 where the sages are quoted as encouraging a Nazirite to detour around a vineyard. It is not forbidden for a Nazirite to walk through a vineyard. However, if he does not walk through it it will be easier for him to resist the temptation of taking and eating from its grapes, something absolutely forbidden to him by Torah law. In fact, not only does observing the Rabbinic ordinances not constitute a violation of the commandment not to add to the Torah’s laws, but violating Rabbinic ordinances violates a specific Torah commandment of “do not depart from the word that they tell you right or left.” The “they” are the duly authorized Rabbis (Deut, 17,11).
Kli Yakar
“You shall not add to the word, etc.” Granted, you shall not add is well stated because one might have thought that “the greater includes the lesser,” but why do I need you shall not diminish? Because one who removes any of God’s commandments is already commanded not to diminish even one of all the commandments. And in our work Olelot Ephraim, discourse 385, we have explained that you shall not diminish is not a command but rather its meaning is similar to what our Sages said (Berakhot 29b): “Do not get drunk and you will not sin.” For “you will not sin” is not a command, as that is obvious, but rather its meaning is “do not get drunk so that you will not sin.” Similarly, the meaning here is do not add and then automatically you will not diminish, for whoever adds, diminishes, because one who does this falls into that. And it is like giving a reason for do not add, and there we elaborated. And perhaps this matter was placed here because it reflects Moses’s sin, for he added in striking the rock and through this addition, he came to a diminishment in faith. Therefore it says, And now, Israel, listen to the statutes — what does and now mean? Was it not necessary for them to listen to the statutes before this? Rather, and now refers to the finalization of his decree that he mentioned before this, and he continued the narrative to the statement of do not add. Some say that the statement “You shall not add” is connected to the matter of Peor, where every pious fool thinks he is performing a commandment by degrading it [the idol], and [thereby] transgresses You shall not add, and ultimately they came to diminish [the law] for they bowed down to their gods. And this refers to what was written: And we dwelled in the valley opposite Beth Peor. And regarding this, he [Moses] said, as if bringing proof of this, Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did at Baal Peor, to one who worships Peor, for he is a master [ba’al] to that service [worship].
Tur HaArokh
לא תוסיפו, “do not seek to improve by adding, etc.;” an example would be adding a fifth paragraph to the four paragraphs of the Torah embedded inside the phylacteries. Nachmanides writes that the addition of a non-existent commandment to form say #614 instead of the traditional 613 commandments, is also included in the wording לא תוסיפו. However, Rabbinic decrees, based on legitimate inter-pretations of the Torah, and introduced as Rabbinic decrees are not included under the heading of the prohibition לא תוסיפו על הדבר אשר אני מצוה אתכם ולא תגרעו ממנו, “do not add to the word that I command you, nor shall you subtract from it.” These Rabbinic decrees, as a rule, serve to protect the average Jew from running afoul of Biblical decrees, and thereby become guilty of various kinds of penalties.
Daat Zkenim
לא תוסיפו וגו, “do not add, etc.;” G–d implies that anyone adding to the words of the Torah,-however well meaning he may be,-will in fact detract from the value of the Torah. [If G–d is perfect, something that every believing Jew accepts as axiomatic, any addition to or deletion from His Torah would make it, ergo Him, imperfect. Ed.] For instance, when the Torah decreed 4 strings of tzitzit for the corners of a four-cornered garment, adding a fifth string would not only not make it holier, but would make it useless, and anyone reciting a benediction over such a tallit would desecrate the holy name of G–d by pronouncing such a benediction. The same reasoning applies to sitting in a sukkah for an extra day or adding another a fifth species to a lulav.
Your eyes have seen what Hashem did in Baal-peor; for all the men that followed the Baal of Peor, Hashem your God has destroyed them from the midst of you.
verse value 5023 — יְהֹוָ֖ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 76 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "what·he·did" (אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 26: Hashem, Hashem. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "that·saw" (הָֽרֹא֔וֹת), "Baal" (בְּבַ֣עַל), "every·man" (כׇל־הָאִ֗ישׁ). The root אשר appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "what·he·did" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root בעל ("Baal") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Peor', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 10 words.
Onkelos
Your eyes have seen what Hashem did at Baal-Peor, for every man who went after Baal-Peor — Hashem your God destroyed him from your midst.
Ramban
YOUR EYES HAVE SEEN. Now Moses comes to forewarn on the details of the commandments, and he begins with [the prohibition against] idolatry which is the root of all [the commandments].
Ibn Ezra
"At Baal Peor" — on account of Baal Peor; many [died] in this way. And whoever did not worship Baal Peor is alive.
Sforno
עיניכם הרואות, Moses reminds the people that they had observed the truth of this with their own eyes when their brethren, in their lust, not meaning to commit idolatry, had nevertheless done so, as they had been overcome by their libidos at the time so that they succumbed to seduction. The Torah testifies that their original sin had “only” been to whore with the daughters of Moav. (Numbers 25,1) The Torah, in outlawing sexual relations with non Jews had added that if this law was ignored the result would be intermarriage, idol worship by the children of such a marriage, etc. (Exodus 34,16) Every Israelite who indulged his lust for a Moabite girl had considered himself immune to such a warning. They proved to have been wrong, with the loss of 24.000 Israelites as a result. G’d had wiped out everyone of them who had worshipped Baal Peor. They had been tricked into it without realising it.
Or HaChaim
עיניכם הראות, "you have seen with your own eyes, etc." Moses meant that the Israelites had first- hand experience of the severity with which G'd punishes idol worship. G'd relates to that sin more harshly than to any other sin. He punishes even the people who have not actually served the idol with any of their limbs or their organs but have merely entertained idolatrous thoughts. G'd destroyed people who intended to worship Baal Pe-or. Kidushin 39 cites Ezekiel 14,5 as proof that G'd punishes the mere intention to indulge in idol worship.
Chizkuni
עיניכם הרואות, “Your eyes which have seen, etc.;” in verse 1 of this chapter Moses had told us to observe the laws of the Torah to ensure that the people whom he addressed would indeed inherit the Holy Land. It was also a warning not to once more miss that opportunity as it had been missed a few months earlier by 24000 of them who had worshipped the Peor. This had happened to them although up until that moment their conduct had entitled them to inherit their shares of that land. The previous generation had all died because of the sin related to the spies, and immediately after that G-d had told me that the time had come to make up for this now, and even now some of the people had wasted that opportunity by worshipping Peor, The time had therefore come to repeat the warning not to deviate by one iota in the laws concerning idolatry. “In Ba’al Pe’or” – for Ba’al Pe’or. And the same grammatical form is frequent in the Bible. “G-d killed everyone who worshipped Pe’or” – but all of you cleaved to G-d, you G-d – therefore you are alive today. Since they were still camped at Ba’al Pe’or Moshe started his speech by warning against idol worship.
Tur HaArokh
עיניכם הרואות את אשר עשה ה' בבעל פעור, “Your own eyes that have seen what Hashem did with Baal-Peor, etc.” Ibn Ezra says that seeing Moses had mentioned the fact that the people had temporarily settled in the valley facing the temple to this deity, and some worshipped there, Moses begins with the laws of idolatry, pointing out that the people who had worshipped Baal-Peor had paid a heavy price for that. Nachmanides writes that seeing that Moses is about to launch into discussing details of mitzvah performance, he begins with aspects of idolatry, the root of the entire Torah legislation, and warns the people most graphically of the dangers involved in ignoring that legislation.
But you who hold fast to Hashem your God are alive, every one of you, this day.
verse value 981
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 33 letters. The shortest word is "and·you" (וְאַתֶּם֙, 4 letters) and the longest is "clinging" (הַדְּבֵקִ֔ים, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "clinging" (הַדְּבֵקִ֔ים). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "today" (root יום, 168x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root דבק ("clinging") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root חי ("alive") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·God', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְאַתֶּם֙ [and·you] (447) + הַדְּבֵקִ֔ים [clinging] (161) + בַּיהֹוָ֖ה [in·Hashem] (28) + אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם [your·God] (106) + חַיִּ֥ים [alive] (68) + כֻּלְּכֶ֖ם [all] (110) + הַיּֽוֹם [today] (61) = 981.
Onkelos
But you who clung to the fear of Hashem your God are all alive today.
Sforno
ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוקיכם חיים כלכם היום, you have all been smart enough to avoid a lure which would end up in your committing an idolatrous act.
Or HaChaim
ואתם הדבקים בה׳ אלוקיכם חיים כולכם היום, "But you who have cleaved to the Lord your G'd are all alive this day." Why did Moses add the letter ו at the beginning of the word אתם, "you?" This creates the impression as if it were meant to add an additional dimension to what was written before, whereas in fact it does the opposite, it contrasts the people whom Moses faced with those who served the Baal Pe-or. Another problem is why Moses speaks of הדבקים, "the ones who have cleaved," using the letter ה at the beginning of the word to indicate that the people he spoke about had been mentioned on a previous occasion. Perhaps we can understand the verse by keeping in mind the Talmud's explanation (Sanhedrin 108) on Genesis 6,8 that "Noach found favour in the eyes of G'd." The Talmud says that even Noach was not really worthy of being saved but he managed to find favour in the eyes of G'd. When Moses prefaced his remarks with the word ואתם, "and you," he may have meant that even you the survivors deserved death; however, due to the fact that you demonstrated your cleaving to G'd at a certain time you are alive as of this day. The meaning of דבקות then is that the Israelites did תשובה before they too perished, and this is what saved them. Moses made a point of saying כלכם, "all of you," to make it plain that he referred to the whole nation. We find that a similar thing occurred in Numbers 25,11 when G'd spoke of not destroying the children of Israel in His jealousy. From G'd's wording it is clear that all of the Israelites had been candidates for destruction at the time. Even though Pinchas had been the instrument of saving most of the people, he could not have accomplished this if the people had not done תשובה at the time already. The letter ו here may also be understood as a reference to the people who had intended to worship the Baal Pe-or although not having done so in practice. I had explained that these people too had become culpable for entertaining thoughts of idolatry. Moses contrasts what happened to those people with what happened to those who remained alive. Just as the ones who died were punished for evil thoughts, so the ones who remained alive were rewarded for positive thoughts, for mentally cleaving to their G'd. The common denominator between both categories of people then is what went on in their minds. Hence the linkage by Moses using the conjunctive letter ו in the word ואתם. This conforms to the statement in Kidushin 40 that normally G'd counts a good intention as equal to a good deed even when it could not be carried out, whereas He does not consider an evil intention as culpable though the reason the person who had the evil intention and had not carried it out had been circumstances beyond his control rather than his having had a change of heart. Moses phrased it ואתם הדבקים, to reflect a statement in Berachot 7 that in Exodus 33,16 Moses had prayed that G'd's presence should never rest on the Gentiles. We explained there that M...
Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Hashem my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land where you go in to possess it.
verse value 6294 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 72 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "thus" (כֵּ֔ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·rules" (וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֔ים, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "I·have·taught" (לִמַּ֣דְתִּי), "entering" (בָּאִ֥ים). The root אשר appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "as·that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "my·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root כן ("thus") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'my·God', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 9 words.
Onkelos
See, I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as Hashem my God commanded me, to do so in the midst of the land to which you are entering to possess it.
Ramban
BEHOLD, I HAVE TAUGHT YOU. The meaning thereof is: “Behold, I teach you today,” just as he said, which I command you this day, and which I set before you this day. Or the meaning of the expression I have taught you may be that since he mentioned that ye should do so in the midst of the Land whither ye go in to possess it he is then saying: “Behold, at the time when you come into the Land, that I had already taught you statutes and ordinances, even as the Eternal my G-d commanded me.”Now Moses spoke first of a matter which is basic to all positive and negative commandments [namely, idolatry, which as mentioned above, is “the root of all” the commandments], and now he admonished them concerning “the statutes,” which are His decrees, and “the ordinances,” which are the laws, for these need greater reinforcement because the reason for the statutes is hidden from us and also because it is by mishpat (justice) — [ordinances] — that they will establish the Land. And then he states that ye should do so in the midst of the Land in order to admonish concerning all [commandments], for there are many statutes and ordinances which do not apply outside of the Land; or perhaps it suggests that the primary duty [of the fulfillment] of the commandments is in the Land, as I have hinted concerning the secret of [the sanctity of] the Land. He states further that in the statutes and ordinances there are great benefits that bring honor from men to those who observe them. Even their enemies will praise them for [observing the commandments]. Moreover, a great, incomparable benefit is that G-d would be near to them whensoever they call upon Him. The nations also will contemplate this and know that the statutes were ordained in wisdom and understanding so as to bring the people near to G-d, and they will fear them [i.e., the Israelites], this being the purport of what he said, For what great nation is there that hath G-d so nigh unto them? Additionally, the statutes and ordinances are righteous in themselves, fair and good for the welfare of society and countries.
Ibn Ezra
The meaning of "I have taught you" — after he said "which I am teaching you," he adds: "as Hashem my God commanded me," for the commandments are His commandments, which you are to perform in the land that Hashem will give you as an inheritance. Moreover, you have glory through His commandments above all the nations — for the essential meaning of all the commandments the discerning person will understand and know why they were given.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ראה למדתי היום חקים ומשפטים כאשר צוני ה’ אלו-הי, “See, I have taught you this day statutes and social laws in accordance with what the Lord my G’d has commanded me.” Moses stresses that he never initiated any thing by himself claiming G’d had told him so. Our sages in Nedarim 37 see another dimension in Moses’ statement, namely that just as he did not charge a fee for teaching G’d’s laws so teachers of Torah must be prepared to teach it gratis, not demanding payment. G’d did not charge Moses for teaching him the Torah either. This is also what Solomon meant in Proverbs 23,23 when he said: “buy the truth, never sell it.” When dispensing Torah knowledge the purpose must never be to turn a profit.
Kli Yakar
“See, I have taught you etc.” In the Talmudic tractate Nedarim (37), our Sages of blessed memory interpreted: “Just as I [teach] for free, so too should you [teach] for free.” They derived this from what is written: as the Lord my God commanded me — what does this teach us? Would it enter your mind that Moses would command on his own? Rather, he said: Just as the Lord my God commanded me to teach for free, so too I have taught you for free, and from me you shall see and so shall you do — to teach for free. For the concept of mutual responsibility, that all of Israel are responsible for one another, necessitates this matter, as when one individual sins, many will bear his iniquity. And this matter is alluded to in what is written See — speaking to an individual, and afterward it says I have taught you [etchem] — to many. This is to say that if one person sins, judgment will be between us. And in this way, it will be explained, God willing, later in the verse See, I set before you (Deuteronomy 11:26). And he said: See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, etc. The statutes [chukim] are the commandments whose reasons are not revealed, and the judgments [mishpatim] are from the logical ones. And about them he said since twice, giving a reason for each one separately. About the statutes, which he mentioned first, he said: Since this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deuteronomy 4:6). The explanation of the matter is that if it should come into your hearts to say that since the nations mock Israel for observing the statutes, therefore there is no substance to them — for sometimes a person refrains from doing something because of those who mock — to this he says, on the contrary, the nations will praise you for observing the statutes. For there are statutes that are hidden from the eye of all living, such as the red heifer, about which it is said: They shall bring to you a red heifer (Numbers 19:2). For all of them it is a statute. Even King Solomon said about it: I said I would be wise, but it was far from me (Ecclesiastes 7:23). But to Moses the secret of the heifer was revealed, which implies that the other statutes are revealed to the unique individuals of the generation to whom God has given wisdom. And what Rashi explained in Parashat Chukat (19:2) that Satan and the nations mock it — indeed it is true that one who hears only this statute, the nations ask, “What is this statute to you?” and you have no answer to reply to them. Obviously, they will mock and ridicule. But the peoples who hear all these statutes — most of which have a reason — will certainly not mock, because most of them will testify about the minority, saying that just as these statutes have a hidden pleasantness, so too the [red] heifer and all like it have a reason. And even if it is not revealed to the majority of the common people, nevertheless, “the secret of the Lord that is with those who fear Him” is revealed. And they said, “But this is a wise and understanding people, etc.” Admittedly, all the nations who are occupied with matters of wealth, honor, authority, and wars — it is no surprise if they sometimes err in matters of divinity, because most of their affairs are not concerned with wisdom. But Israel, who are deprived of all these lesser perfections, and wisdom alone is their garment for their skin and lies in their bosom, and all their affairs are only with wisdom — how is it possible that elders who have acquired wisdom like them would occupy themselves with these meaningless things? Rather, it must be that they know these secrets, and we have no one who knows the extent of it. And this is the meaning of the word but [rak] — to exclude other aspects of perfection, saying that they have no perfection except that they are a wise and understanding people. Or the word but comes to exclude all the nations and refers back to the word this, saying “but this great nation is a wise and understanding people, and not we with them,” because we have no one who knows the extent of it, and they attribute the deficiency to the limitations of their own understanding. And regarding the laws that he mentioned, he said, Since what great nation has gods that are close to them, etc. For if the nations say, “What advantage do you have in the laws that were established in the Torah? Doesn’t every nation have its own customs and system of laws?” To this he replies: “Know that our laws have divine perfection because it is said God stands in the divine assembly (Psalms 82:1). From here they learned that the Holy One, blessed be He, stands in the assembly of judges. So whenever a judge calls upon the Lord against the principle that ‘whoever is stronger prevails’ — against the strong-armed person who intimidates the judge — the Lord will answer him from His holy heaven. For the Lord will fight their battle, and judgment belongs to God.” About this it says, Who has gods close to him like the Lord our God whenever we call upon Him. This is not found in the laws of the gentiles. “And what great nation has righteous statutes and laws.” It is saying that God’s laws are true, as the judgments together with the statutes are unified, because these two parts do not contradict each other; rather, both together are righteous. Furthermore, the statutes serve as an indication about the judgments — just as there are hidden secrets within the statutes, so too there are concealed mysteries within the judgments for those who fear God and contemplate His name.
Tur HaArokh
ראה, למדתי אתכם, “See, I have taught you, etc.” Moses means that he does not only command them laws and statutes, this day, but is also teaching them how to apply these laws. Alternately, seeing that he had instructed the people to perform these commandments in the land of Israel when they would get there, he is also about to teach them היום, this day (already), how to observe these laws, seeing he will not cross into the Holy Land with them. Or, the meaning is simply: “I taught you these laws so that when you come to the land you can fulfill them.” חוקים ומשפטים, “decrees and social laws;” Nachmanides writes that Moses warned against idolatry because this is the most serious sin, threatening the whole fabric of Judaism. He now lists a number of חוקים, statutes, decrees, laws that are G’d’s prerogative to decree without elaborating on them or without sharing their rationale with us, His creatures. On the other hand, the rationale of משפטים, laws governing inter-personal relationships, laws governing civilization without which life on this planet would be pure anarchy, are revealed in most instances, or are subject to scholarly research by examining the Torah text minutely. לעשות כן בקרב הארץ אשר אתם באים שמה, “to carry out there in the midst of the land that you are about to come to.” This point had to be underlined, as there are both decrees and laws of a social nature that do not apply in the Diaspora. Alternately, the whole verse is an allusion that the basic purpose of the laws of the Torah was designed for life in the Land of Israel.
Observe therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that, when they hear all these statutes, shall say: "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people."
verse value 5811
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 91 letters. Verse gematria: 5811 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·statute" (אֵ֚ת כׇּל־הַחֻקִּ֣ים, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 528: your·wisdom, and·your·understanding. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "your·wisdom" (חׇכְמַתְכֶם֙), "and·your·understanding" (וּבִ֣ינַתְכֶ֔ם), "people·wise" (עַם־חָכָ֣ם). 19 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "for" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy); "and·you·shall·do" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root גוי ("the·nation") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·peoples', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 11 words.
Onkelos
You shall observe and perform them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations who will hear all these statutes, and they will say: Indeed, a wise and understanding people is this great nation.
Rashi
ושמרתם AND YE SHALL BE ON THE WATCH [TO DO] — This refers to the study of the laws (Sifrei Devarim 58), ועשיתם — this must be explained according to what it implies: AND YE SHALL DO. כי היא חכמתכם ובינתכם וגו׳ FOR THIS IS YOUR WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING [IN THE EYES OF THE PEOPLES] — i.e. through this ye will be accounted wise and understanding men in the eyes of the peoples.
Sforno
כי היא חכמתכם, observance of the laws of the Torah is your true wisdom and will enable you to resist the lures and challenges by the heretics.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ושמרתם ועשיתם כי היא חכמתכם ובינתכם לעיני העמים, “You shall safeguard it and perform it, for it (the Torah’s laws) are what the nations perceive as your wisdom and discernment.” The verse teaches first and foremost that all the commandments only come into their own when being performed. Their integrity has to be safeguarded (against reformers) and their substance has to be carried out (when they are positive commandments) or performed by not violating them (in the case of negative commandments). All the worthwhile activities in the world are automatically part of one or more of the Torah’s commandments. The discipline of healing is part of a commandment seeing the Torah tells us that if we listen carefully to its commandments and perform all its statutes and refrain from violating them we will not experience disease, etc., (compare Exodus 15,26) “seeing the Lord is your Healer.” The message is clear: Torah observance=preventive medicine. The same applies to all other scientific disciplines. Our sages in Shabbat 75 understand the words לעיני העמים in our verse as a reference to the people (astronomers, mathema-titians) who can calculate the movements and timing of the stars in their respective orbits. They go so far as to say that if someone possesses this knowledge and neglects to use it (for the benefit of mankind) he becomes the target of the verse in Isaiah 5,12: “they refuse to acknowledge the work of the Lord and refuse to see His accomplishments.” את כל החקים האלה, “all these statutes.” We would have expected Moses to say את כל המצות האלה, “all these commandments.” Why did he mention only the statutes? The fact is that not only do the Gentile nations not praise the Jewish people for these statutes they observe but they make fun of us for performing laws the value of which we do not comprehend. However, when the nations observe that by performing the commandments which do make sense to us the Jewish people have achieved a position of great prominence and success in the world, they reason that there must also be hidden values to the statutes even though such meanings defy our logic. They realize that the Torah does not contain any meaningless laws, כי לא דבר רק הוא, “it is not something empty, devoid of meaning and value.” This is why the Torah quotes the nations as saying: “this must be a wise and learned discerning people.” The words רק, “only,” are their admission that the Jewish people are the only people qualifying for such a compliment.
Tur HaArokh
ושמרתם ועשיתם כי היא חכמתכם ובינתכם לעיני העמים, “observe them for in the eyes of the nations this group of laws represents your wisdom and your insight.” Moses points out that apart from the internal value of the laws of the Torah, they have an “external” value, if performed; the success of a Torah observant Jewish nation is credited to our wisdom, which in turn is credited by the nations to these laws, observance of which is perceived as the key to the success of the Jewish nation. An additional benefit accruing to the people for observing the Torah’s laws is that the Shechinah, Hashem’s benevolent presence, will be hovering over us, always close at hand when we need to call upon Him for any legitimate reason.
For what great nation is there, that has God so near to them, as Hashem our God is whenever we call upon Him?
verse value 1768 — אֱלֹהִ֖ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 53 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֖ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. Verse gematria: 1768 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֚י, 2 letters) and the longest is "in-all-our-calling" (בְּכׇל־קׇרְאֵ֖נוּ, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 47: to·him, to·him. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "who?·nation" (מִי־ג֣וֹי), "as·Hashem" (כַּיהֹוָ֣ה), "in-all-our-calling" (בְּכׇל־קׇרְאֵ֖נוּ). The root אלהים appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "as·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that·to" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 4 words. Full calculation: כִּ֚י [for] (30) + מִי־ג֣וֹי [who?·nation] (69) + גָּד֔וֹל [great] (43) + אֲשֶׁר־ל֥וֹ [that·to] (537) + אֱלֹהִ֖ים [God] (86) + קְרֹבִ֣ים [near] (352) + אֵלָ֑יו [to·him] (47) + כַּיהֹוָ֣ה [as·Hashem] (46) + אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ [our·God] (102) + בְּכׇל־קׇרְאֵ֖נוּ [in-all-our-calling] (409) + אֵלָֽיו [to·him] (47) = 1768.
Onkelos
For what great nation is there that has a God near to it, to receive its prayer in the time of its distress, as Hashem our God is at every time that we pray before Him?
Ibn Ezra
"For what great nation is there" that has a God who is near to it, to answer it always in all that it asks of Him in wisdom? Likewise, there is no great nation that has statutes and ordinances as righteous as these, by the standard of sound judgment, as Israel has. The meaning of "great nation" — on account of the wise-hearted who fear Hashem.
Sforno
כי מי גוי גדול אשר אלוקים קרובים אליו, for it will pay you to be considered intelligent and wise in the eyes of the gentiles seeing that G’d is close to us בכל קראנו אליו, whenever we call upon Him. This teaches the gentiles that we are the chosen people. If the gentiles would consider you as being fools this would be a desecration of G’d’s name for they would then ask derisively: “is this the nation that claims to be G’d’s special nation?” (compare Ezekiel 36,20)
Chizkuni
בכל קראינו אליו, “whenever we call upon Him.” Whenever we make an effort to call upon His assistance; (compare: Deut.4,29): ובקשתם משם את ה' אלוקיך ומצאת כי תדרשנו בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך, “but from there (exile) you will seek the Lord your G-d; you will find Him if you seek Him out with all your heart and all your soul.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי מי גוי גדול אשר לו אלו-הים קרובים אליו, “for who else is a great nation to whom G’d is so close!” Moses hints in this verse at the superior status of the Jewish people who, when praying, are answered seeing they focus in their prayers on the supreme Power in the universe, the only Power able to fulfill their requests. This is why they are answered each time. Moses describes the Jewish people here as גוי גדול, “a great nation,” instead of either as גוי קדוש, a “holy nation,” or גוי צדיק, “a righteous nation.” The reason is that גדולה, “greatness,” is the equivalent of the attribute (emanation) חסד, the highest attribute usually associated with Hashem such as in Chronicles I 29,10 לך ה’ הגדולה, והגבורה, והתפארת, “Yours O Lord is “greatness, mightiness and harmony.” The meaning of the verse then is: “who is a great nation so close to the attributes of G’d such as the Lord our G’d whenever we call upon Him!?” It was important for Moses to add “when we call upon Him, so that one should not think we address our prayers to the attributes instead to the essence, to Hashem. This explains why our sages (Avodah Zarah 3) describe G’d as switching from being seated on the “chair of Justice” to the “chair of Mercy,” in order to avoid rendering verdicts which could be destructive. On the other hand, on occasion G’d has to switch from the “chair of Mercy” and seat Himself on the “chair of Justice,” in order to deal with certain situations in His universe. Everything in accordance with the need of the party who addresses Him in prayer. Concerning these various attributes of G’d the prophet Chabakuk 3,8 said: “is Your rage against Yam (the Sea) or against Neharim, (rivers) that You are driving Your steeds, Your victorious chariot?” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah (68,10) comment on this that the rider is never secondary to the horse, but the horse is secondary to the rider. They are prompted to make this observation in connection with this verse as the prophet described G’d as venting His rage at the forces of nature which have no will of their own. Seeing that neither the sea nor the rivers are the prime causes of evil but man who abuses them, what is the point of G’d venting His anger at the secondary phenomena It is well to note that in our verse the usual order of ה’ אלו-הים is reversed in that Moses first refers to אלו-הים before referring to ה’. [Perhaps this describes G’d on the chair of Justice moving to the chair of Mercy as the result of the prayers of the Jewish people. Ed.] Our sages in Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 9,1 observe that the plural in the word קרובים in the sequence אשר אלו-הים קרובים אליו when we would have expected אשר אלו-הים קרוב אליו means that G’d is close to the Jewish people in more ways than one.
Rashbam
בכל קראנו אליו. Moses refers to matters which have been documented in Exodus 2,24 וישמע אלוקים את נאקתם, “G’d heard their moaning,” and Exodus 14,10 ופרעה הקריב ויצעקו בני ישראל אל ה', “when Pharaoh (in his pursuit) drew near, the Children of Israel cried out to the Lord.” Similar appeals were made before G’d gave them the manna, the quails, and the traveling well. (compare Exodus 16,12 and 17,6)
And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
verse value 4014
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 63 letters. Verse gematria: 4014 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "and·who?" (וּמִי֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·rules" (וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֖ים, 7 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·who?" (וּמִי֙). The root אשר appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that·to" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "setting" (root נתן, 176x in Deuteronomy); "today" (root יום, 168x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root מי ("and·who?") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root צדיק ("just") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'just', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 8 words.
Onkelos
And what great nation is there that has statutes and ordinances as righteous as all this Torah that I am setting before you today?
Rashi
חקים ומשפטים צדיקים STATUTES AND RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS — i.e. proper and acceptable ones.
Sforno
ומי גוי גדול אשר לו חקים ומשפטים צדיקים, the reason that you will be considered as so wise in the eyes of the gentile nations is because you observe the commandments and statutes of G’d. There is no other nation in existence that can boast such a set of laws which by themselves point the way to G’d’s existence and His wonderful ways. Who else has social laws which have neither been designed for the benefit of the judges nor for the benefit their bureaucracy and their clerks, but serve one interest only the dispensation of justice and fairness? Our sages phrased it thus: “what is justice for one is at the same time fairness, righteousness for the opposing party.” (Sanhedrin 6). Restitution of stolen property to the victim is justice, having returned stolen property makes the erstwhile thief once more a צדיק, a righteous person.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ומי גוי גדול אשר לו חקים ומשפטים צדיקים , “for what great nation possesses statutes and social laws which are fair, etc.?” After having told us in verse 7 of things which are praiseworthy about Israel, Moses now praises the Torah; when using the expression ככל התורה הזאת, he reiterates a point made previously that Torah contains the sum-total of all that is worth knowing.
Only take heed to yourself, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children's children;
verse value 5817
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 87 letters. The shortest word is "only" (רַ֡ק, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·words" (אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֜ים, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 50: to·you, all. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "lest·they·depart" (וּפֶן־יָס֙וּרוּ֙), "from·your·heart" (מִלְּבָ֣בְךָ֔), "and·you·shall·make·known" (וְהוֹדַעְתָּ֥ם). The root בן appears 3 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "the·words" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "days" (root יום, 168x in Deuteronomy); "all" (root כל, 121x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root נפש ("your·soul") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root שכח ("lest·you·forget") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'life', dividing the verse into phrases of 15 and 4 words.
Onkelos
Only take heed for yourself and guard your soul exceedingly, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; and you shall make them known to your children and to your children's children.
Rashi
רק השמר לך … פן תשכח את הדברים ONLY TAKE HEED TO THYSELF … LEST THOU FORGET THE THINGS — But only then when you do not forget them but will do them in their correct manner, will you be accounted wise and understanding men, but if you do them in an incorrect manner through forgetfulness, you will be accounted foolish.
Ramban
ONLY TAKE HEED TO THYSELF etc. LEST THOU FORGET THE THINGS. “[Only] then when you will not forget them and fulfill them in their true form, will you be accounted wise and understanding men; but if you pervert them due to forgetfulness you will be regarded as fools.” This is Rashi’s language. But it is completely incorrect. Rather, this verse, in my opinion, is a negative commandment in which he admonishes [us] severely [as follows]: For, as he stated that we should be careful concerning all the commandments and be heedful to perform the statutes and the ordinances, he again stated: “Only I warn you exceedingly to take heed and guard yourselves very, very much to remember whence the commandments came to you, that you should not forget the Revelation on Mount Sinai, nor all the things which your eyes saw there — the thunderings, and the lightnings, His glory and His greatness and His words that you have heard there out of the midst of the fire. And you should convey all the things which your eyes saw at that glorious Revelation unto thy children and thy children’s children forever.” He explained the reason [for this prohibition]: G-d made that Revelation so that you might learn to fear Him all the days and teach your children during all generations. Therefore, do so [remember the Revelation and convey it to your offspring] and do not forget it. Thus before mentioning the commandments which were proclaimed there [on Mount Sinai] he admonished with a negative commandment that we are not to forget a thing from the Revelation [of the Eternal at Mount Sinai], and we are never to remove it from our hearts. He further charged in the form of a positive commandment that we should inform all our children from generation to generation of everything that happened there — what we saw and what we heard. The benefit of this commandment is very great. For if the words of the Torah had come to us only through the mouth of Moses, even though his prophecy was verified with signs and wonders, yet if there [were to] arise in the midst of us a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he were to command us [to do] the opposite of what the Torah commanded us, and he [were to] give us a sign or wonder, then a doubt would enter the people’s hearts. But since the Torah reaches us from the mouth of the Almighty to our ears, and our eyes behold that there is no intermediary, we will reject anyone who differs and who casts doubt [upon the words of the Torah] and will declare him to be false. No sign will help him, nor will any wonder save him from death at our hands for we know his falsehood. It is this which He stated there [before the Revelation], and they may also believe in thee [Moses] forever, for when we shall also transmit the matter [of the Revelation] to our children they will know that the thing was true without doubt as if all the generations had seen it, for we would not testify falsely to our children to cause them to inherit vanity and things wherein there is no pro...
Ibn Ezra
"Only take heed for yourself" — the meaning is: if you forget any matter, do not forget the day when you stood at Sinai. "Which your eyes saw" — this refers to "and all the people saw the thunderings" (Exodus 20:18).
Sforno
רק השמר לך, even though I have said that you are wise people in the eyes of the gentile nations, be careful not to absorb the views of the wise men of those nations who deny the existence of G’d the Creator and His ability and His supervision of the universe He has created. They may try to convince you with all kinds of intelligent sounding theories. פן תשכח את הדברים אשר ראו עיניך, The reason why G’d has cautioned you to be so much on your guard is that you might forget the evidence of your own eyes, at Mount Sinai, as well as in Egypt and at the Sea of Reeds, and as a result be misled by your mental eyes when interpreting the Torah. This was the purpose of miracles which challenged your intellect, to show you that commonly held concepts are not necessarily true. [perhaps the author has in mind the first such miracle Moses experienced when he observed with his physical eyes that the burning bush did not burn up and turn into ashes. The Israelites, when observing the spectacle of fire within the ice of the hail, the seventh plague, collectively experienced another challenge to the concept that fire and water are totally incompatible with one another. Ed.] והודעתם לבניך, you must therefore relate these experiences you had with your own eyes to your children who have not seen such miracles.
Chizkuni
אשר ראו עיניך, which your eyes have seen.” Compare Exodus 20,18: “and all the people saw the thunder.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
רק השמר לך ושמור נפשך מאד פן תשכח את הדברים, “Only beware for yourself and be very much on guard lest you forget the thing;” Rashi understands the injunction in this verse as a corollary to the previous verses. Israel will be considered as wise, discerning, etc., on condition that it lives up to these laws so much admired by the Gentiles. If they were to forget them and not observe them they would soon be considered fools instead of wise people. It appears from the syntax that the words רק עם חכם ונבון, “only a wise and discerning nation,” refer to what Moses said previously, i.e. that “only if you observe all these G’d-given laws will you be considered as deserving the description “a wise and discerning people.” It is also possible to see in the word רק which always points to something or someone in the minority, a hint that if the nations indeed consider themselves as inferior to you this is only as long as you perform the commandments. If you were to forget them willfully, or otherwise, the nations would soon stop considering themselves as inferior to you. Your advantage stems from the revelation at Mount Sinai when the Torah testified: “and all the people saw the sounds and the lightning, etc.” (Exodus 20,18). The moment you forget this experience, you will tend to deny it, and subsequently the whole foundation of Judaism will crumble. Both your body and your soul will then be at risk. Our sages in Avot 3,8 who said that anyone who forgets part of his learning is considered as if he had made his soul subject to perdition, referred to this verse where Moses warns us not to forget, i.e. not to do things which result in our forgetting any part of the Torah. When reading our verse here one might come to the conclusion that even if one forgot due to illness one would be guilty. This is why Moses added ופן יסורו מלבבך כל ימי חייך, that guilt occurs only if one erases these commandments from one’s heart, i.e. deliberately. We have another severe warning by our sages in the Sefer Mitzvot Gedolot 38,13 that if someone forgets part of what he has learned he violates three negative commandments all of which are derived from this verse, i.e. the words פן, תשכח, and השמר לך, are three separate injunctions.
Kli Yakar
Only watch yourself and guard your soul very much, lest you forget, etc. Watch yourself refers to guarding the body, and it does not mention “very much” in relation to it as it does with guarding the soul, because in guarding one’s soul a person needs to be more cautious than in guarding the body. Therefore it says, and guard your soul very much. Another explanation: These two types of guarding refer to positive and negative commandments, through which one guards all the limbs and sinews upon which the human body is established. For our Sages have already said (Zohar Vayishlach 170b) that the 248 positive commandments correspond to the 248 limbs, and the 365 negative commandments correspond to the 365 sinews in a person. Regarding this it is said (Ecclesiastes 12:13), Fear God — this refers to negative commandments, and observe His commandments — this refers to positive commandments, for this is the whole of man — corresponding to the number of his limbs and sinews. They further stated that all the days of the wicked, he is “mitcholel” [tormented] — meaning he becomes a “met chalal” [a dead corpse], because with each transgression he damages one of his limbs or one of his sinews. It seems to me that there is a distinction between the term “chalal” [corpse] and “met” [dead], similar to the difference between positive and negative commandments. For “met” implies dying on its own, while “chalal” implies being killed by direct action. One who transgresses a positive commandment does so passively [by sitting and not acting], thus damaging a limb and causing it to die on its own. But one who transgresses a negative commandment through active violation is as if he directly kills one of his sinews, making it “chalal” [hollowed] and emptied of the blood within it — and the blood is the soul. The negation even of a single sinew is more dangerous than the death of a single limb. This is why the Torah is stricter in punishing one who transgresses a negative commandment than one who neglects a positive commandment, because damage to the sinews is more dangerous than damage to a limb. Regarding this, the verse says Only guard yourself — this refers to guarding one’s limbs, which are the essence of a person, and their preservation depends on observing the positive commandments. And guard your soul very much — this refers to guarding the sinews, because the blood is the soul and requires great protection, which is why it says very much. This protection is achieved through the negative commandments. And this is a correct explanation. Lest you forget the things, etc. The Sages of blessed memory (Avot 3:10) learned from here that one who forgets even a single item of his learning is liable with his life, because he causes himself that God will also forget him, as it is written (Hosea 4:6), And you forget the Torah of your God, I will also forget your children. Furthermore, the Sages of blessed memory (Chagigah 9b) expounded from the verse Then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serves God and him that serves Him not (Malachi 3:18), that one who reviews his learning one hundred times is not comparable to one who reviews his learning one hundred and one times. And I have heard a hint to this matter: “lo avado” [does not serve Him] — its acronym equals one hundred, meaning that one who studies one hundred times is still called one who does not serve Him; “oved Elohim la’asher” [one who serves God to whom] — its acronym equals one hundred and one, because one who reviews his lesson one hundred and one times is called “one who serves God.” This is from myself, to make a precious hint from this, which is: When you look at the word “remember” [zakhor] and the word “forget” [shikchah], you will find the number 101 [kuf alef] [is the difference] between them. One who wishes to eliminate forgetfulness should review his learning 101 times, and by doing so, he will reduce from the numerical value of “forget” [shikchah] the number 101, and what will remain from “forget” is the word “remember” [zakhor]. Thus, the matter will be preserved with him as a memory and he will not forget it again. It is reasonable to suggest that the angel appointed over memory is named “Remember” [zakhor] and has 227 [reish kaf zayin] powers, while the angel appointed over forgetfulness is named “Forget” [shikchah] and has 328 [shin kaf chet] powers. Therefore, the angel of forgetfulness has 101 [kuf alef] more powers than the angel of memory, which is why forgetfulness prevails over a person. Therefore, one needs to review his learning 101 times, because with each review, he weakens one of these powers, and when he has reviewed 101 times, he has weakened all of the extra powers and comes under the authority of the angel appointed over memory, and will not forget again. A hint to this matter: Take utmost care and watch yourself very much [hashmer ushmor nafshekha me’od] — the first letters of these words of Torah add up to the number 101 [kuf alef], and the first letter of the word “for yourself” [lekha] is lamed, as if saying “study your Torah 101 times lest you forget the matters.” This is a precious hint.
Tur HaArokh
רק השמר לך ושמור נפשך מאד פן תשכח, “Only beware, and be very much on your guard lest you forget, etc.” According to Nachmanides these words are not merely part of Moses’ speech of admonition, but constitute one of the 365 negative commandments. We must not forget the origin of G’d’s commandments which we heard at the revelation at Mount Sinai when G’d spoke out of the fire, etc., and we witnessed His awesome glory, etc. Moses instructs further- worded as a positive commandment,- that we must inform successive generations of the details of that great event. This is important, even though hearing the laws from the mouth of the incomparable prophet Moses would be enough to obligate us to keep them meticulously. We have had so much proof of the legitimacy of Moses as a prophet that whatever comes out his mouth is bound to have G’d’s approval; nonetheless being reminded that originally these laws were communicated to the people without the use of an intermediary, even one as illustrious as Moses, acts as an anchor to our faith in the sacredness of the Torah. Reminding ourselves of that historic experience of the whole nation at Mount Sinai enables us to call anyone who tries to deny the Divine nature of any part of the Torah a liar. Anyone who challenges this, no matter how many miracles he performs, will not be able to shake our faith, and he reveals himself ultimately as a false prophet. This is why G’d said to Moses in Exodus 19,9 that the very fact that the people as a whole would experience an audible communication from G’d directly, would not only strengthen their faith in G’d, but would also strengthen their faith in Moses as a true mouthpiece of Hashem. By copying down the reports of these events in the holy Torah, this would enable also our children and their children in their time to know that all of this is true, that we are not copying down fairy tales. Our children will not accuse us of feeding them lies, when they can see that we, as well as our parents relate to them only what has been written down and copied faithfully, word by word and letter by letter, for many generations.
the day that you stood before Hashem your God in Horeb, when Hashem said to me: "Assemble Me the people, and I will make them hear My words that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children."
verse value 6501 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 25 words, 115 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "they" (הֵ֤ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·their·sons" (וְאֶת־בְּנֵיהֶ֖ם, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 514: you·stood, and·their·sons. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "you·stood" (עָמַ֜דְתָּ), "in·saying" (בֶּאֱמֹ֨ר), "assemble·to·me" (הַקְהֶל־לִי֙). The root אשר appears 3 times in this verse. 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root קהל ("assemble·to·me") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root אדמה ("upon·the·soil") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'my·words', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 11 words.
Onkelos
The day you stood before Hashem your God at Horeb, when Hashem said to me: Assemble the people before Me, that I may let them hear My words, so that they may learn to fear before Me all the days that they live upon the land, and that they may teach their children.
Rashi
יום אשר עמדת THE DAY THAT THOU STOODEST — This is to be connected with the preceding verse thus: [The things] which thine eyes saw … on the day that thou stoodest … at Horeb, — where thou didst perceive the thunder and lightning. יִלְמְדוּן — The Targum is יֵלְפוּן, “They shall learn" (more lit., the action reverts to themselves), while — יְלַמֵּדוּן the Targum is יְאַלְפוּן, “They shall teach" (more lit., the action reverts to others).
Ibn Ezra
The meaning of "all the days that they live upon the earth" — for Hashem knew that they would not be able to perform His commandments properly while they are in the lands of those who rule over them.
Or HaChaim
ואשמעם את דברי, "and I will make them hear My words, etc." This is best understood in light of what we learned in Shabbat 146 that when the Jewish people stood at Mount Sinai any residual pollutant dating back to the original sin and its pervasive spiritually negative influence departed from them. I explained in that context that this occurred as a result of the power of G'd's words, and that these words were in fact so overpowering that they resulted in the souls of the Israelites being released from their bodies. This is the deeper meaning of the sages' statement that the pollutants departed from them. This is also what Moses referred to when he quoted G'd as saying: "I will let them hear My words, i.e. the Ten Commandments." When the Torah wrote (Exodus 20,1) "G'd spoke all these words, etc." this is what is meant. The reason G'd did this, Moses explains at this juncture, was so that the people would revere G'd for all future times through having been temporarily released from all spiritually polluting influences. These are the only influences which prevent man from heeding G'd's commandments at all times. If the Jewish people, throughout their long and frequently painful history have managed to remain loyal to their G'd and their religion it is because at least for a time they had been free from such pollutants. This enabled them to revert to what is natural for man, i.e. to revere his Maker.
And you came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
verse value 4534
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 50 letters. The shortest word is "beneath" (תַּ֣חַת, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·you·came·near" (וַתִּקְרְב֥וּן, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·stood" (וַתַּֽעַמְד֖וּן), "unto·the·heart·of" (עַד־לֵ֣ב), "darkness" (חֹ֖שֶׁךְ). The root הר appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·you·came·near" (root קרב, 57x in Deuteronomy); "the·mountain" (root הר, 47x in Deuteronomy); "heavens" (root שמים, 44x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root בער ("burning") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root לב ("unto·the·heart·of") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·mountain', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 8 words. Full calculation: וַתִּקְרְב֥וּן [and·you·came·near] (764) + וַתַּֽעַמְד֖וּן [and·you·stood] (576) + תַּ֣חַת [beneath] (808) + הָהָ֑ר [the·mountain] (210) + וְהָהָ֞ר [and·the·mountain] (216) + בֹּעֵ֤ר [burning] (272) + בָּאֵשׁ֙ [with·fire] (303) + עַד־לֵ֣ב [unto·the·heart·of] (106) + הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם [heavens] (395) + חֹ֖שֶׁךְ [darkness] (328) + עָנָ֥ן [cloud] (170) + וַעֲרָפֶֽל [thick·darkness] (386) = 4534.
Onkelos
And you drew near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire up to the heart of the heavens — darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
Ibn Ezra
"The heart of the heavens" — the middle of it, opposite those viewing it; and so too "in the heart of the sea."
Chizkuni
ותעמדון תחת ההר, “you were standing at the bottom of the Mountain.” Compare Exodus 19,17: ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר “they stood (at attention) at he base of the Mountain.” וההר בוער באש עד לב השמים חשך ענן וערפל, “and the Mountain was ablaze with fire to the very heart of the heavens, darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.” If you were to say that the beginning of this verse appears to contradict its end seeing that if something burns and is aflame, there is obviously no darkness there? The miracle at the time was that darkness and light coexisted. Moses continues by explaining what took place: The Lord spoke to you out of the fire; what you heard, were the sounds of His voice. However, you had no vision of something by means of a picture, an illustration. The reason that you could not see the vision, the picture, was that it was enveloped by different degrees of darkness. This had to be so, as no human being is allowed a visual image of the essence of the Lord. עד לב השמים, a figure of speech, as the heaven does not have a heart; it is a simile for the center of heaven, its innermost part. (Ibn Ezra)
Rashbam
'ותקרבון ותעמדון תחת ההר וגו. Moses refers to Exodus 19,17 ויוצא משה את העם לקראת האלוקים מן המחנה ויתיצבו בתחתית ההר,”Moses led the people out of the encampment in order to meet G’d. They remained standing at attention near the bottom of the mountain.” Anything which is higher than that which is lower by comparison to it is referred to by the preposition על, whereas the place which is lower is referred to with the preposition תחת. [the author warns against understanding both of these prepositions literally as “above” and “below.” Ed.] Thus Genesis 18,1-2 where we find Avraham’s guests (the angels, before he knew they were angels) described as נצבים עליו does not mean that “they were standing above him,” but that when standing beside him they were taller. The wordsתחת ההר in our verse are therefore also not to be understood as “beneath” the mountain, but the preposition is used on account of the people being lower than any mountain, they are automatically תחת in relation to it. The reason why the entire verse had to be written is because in 5,21 Moses related how at the time the people had been afraid that the fire enveloping the mountain would cause their death. Had we not been informed of where these people had been standing at the time we would have had difficulty in accounting for their fear.
And Hashem spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; only a voice.
verse value 3882 — יְהֹוָ֛ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 60 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֛ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "fire" (הָאֵ֑שׁ, 3 letters) and the longest is "form" (וּתְמוּנָ֛ה, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 136: voice, voice. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "hearing" (שֹׁמְעִ֔ים), "form" (וּתְמוּנָ֛ה), "seeing" (רֹאִ֖ים). The root דבר appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "and·he·spoke" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "to·you" (root אל, 98x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root תמונה ("form") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'fire', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 9 words. Full calculation: וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר [and·he·spoke] (222) + יְהֹוָ֛ה [Hashem] (26) + אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם [to·you] (101) + מִתּ֣וֹךְ [from·the·midst] (466) + הָאֵ֑שׁ [fire] (306) + ק֤וֹל [voice] (136) + דְּבָרִים֙ [words] (256) + אַתֶּ֣ם [you] (441) + שֹׁמְעִ֔ים [hearing] (460) + וּתְמוּנָ֛ה [form] (507) + אֵינְכֶ֥ם [nothing] (121) + רֹאִ֖ים [seeing] (251) + זוּלָתִ֥י [except] (453) + קֽוֹל [voice] (136) = 3882.
Onkelos
And Hashem spoke with you from the midst of the fire; a sound of words you were hearing, but no image were you seeing — only a voice.
Ramban
AND THE ETERNAL SPOKE UNTO YOU OUT OF THE MIDST OF THE FIRE. I have already explained the matter in its place that the people heard the speaking of the Great Name, blessed be He, out of the midst of the fire, as they saw His great fire and they perceived it. With this [Revelation] His covenant was declared to them in the ten words [i.e., the Ten Commandments], for in all of them they heard the Voice out of the midst of the fire. And the rest of the commandments He commanded me at that time to teach you, because I was already established to be a prophet of the Eternal by what you saw, just as He said, and they may also believe in thee forever, as I have explained.
Ibn Ezra
"Except a voice" — which you heard. For the voice cannot be seen by the eye. I have already explained [this in connection with] "and all the people saw the thunderings."
Or HaChaim
קול דברים אתם שומעים, "you (only) heard the sounds of words, etc." The words "the sound of words" may best be understood in connection with Shir Hashirim Rabbah on Song of Songs 1,2: "may He kiss me with the kisses of His mouth." The Midrash explains that every utterance of G'd during the revelation at Mount Sinai resulted in the creation of an angel who would stand by each Israelite and ask him: "are you willing to accept me i.e. the respective one of the Ten Commandments and what other sub-commandments it contained?" The Israelite in question would answer in the affirmative whereupon the angel would embrace him and kiss him. The words קול דברים, "the sound of the words," is a reference to these questions the angels asked the Israelites. Please refer to what I have written in Parshat Yitro (page 671) where I explained that the only words the Israelites heard from the mouth of G'd directly were the first two commandments. They were physically unable to comprehend the other eight commandments though G'd uttered them simultaneously. The other eight utterances were turned into angels. When the souls returned to the Israelites' bodies at the time, they heard those commandments from the angels. This is what the Midrash described. ותמונה אינכם רואים, "but you did not see an image." How can we understand Moses referring to an image by contrasting it with a sound, i.e. זולתי קול? It seems quite obvious that if one did not see an image that what one heard was only a sound? You may understand this in conjunction with what I explained on the last verse, that the Israelite saw an angel who communicated G'd's words, i.e. the sound to him. This is also a way the Mechilta explains the words: "the whole people saw the voices (Exodus 20,15)." Moses was afraid that the Israelites would think that the angel whom they had seen was the G'd of Israel. He therefore had to underline that all the Israelites saw in addition to the voices described in that verse were the angels described by the Midrash. They most certainly did not see G'd.
And He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, even the ten words; and He wrote them upon two tables of stone.
verse value 5717
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 59 letters. The shortest word is "to" (לָכֶ֜ם, 3 letters) and the longest is "covenant" (אֶת־בְּרִית֗וֹ, 7 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·he·declared" (וַיַּגֵּ֨ד). 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "the·words" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "to·do" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root נגד ("and·he·declared") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root ברית ("covenant") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·words', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיַּגֵּ֨ד [and·he·declared] (23) + לָכֶ֜ם [to] (90) + אֶת־בְּרִית֗וֹ [covenant] (1019) + אֲשֶׁ֨ר [that] (501) + צִוָּ֤ה [he·commanded] (101) + אֶתְכֶם֙ [you] (461) + לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת [to·do] (806) + עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת [ten] (970) + הַדְּבָרִ֑ים [the·words] (261) + וַֽיִּכְתְּבֵ֔ם [and·he·wrote·them] (478) + עַל־שְׁנֵ֖י [upon·two] (460) + לֻח֥וֹת [tablets] (444) + אֲבָנִֽים [stones] (103) = 5717.
Onkelos
And He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform — the Ten Words — and He wrote them upon two tablets of stone.
Chizkuni
ויגד לכם את בריתו, “He declared unto you His covenant.” All the other commandments were revealed to you through me. He instructed me to do so at that time. (Compare verse 14)
And Hashem commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it.
verse value 6379 — יְהֹוָה֙ = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 69 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "he·commanded" (צִוָּ֤ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "ordinances" (וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֑ים, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 441: them, you. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and" (וְאֹתִ֞י), "in·your·doing" (לַעֲשֹׂתְכֶ֣ם). 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "the·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'ordinances', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 8 words.
Onkelos
And me did Hashem command at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you should perform them in the land to which you are crossing over to possess it.
Rashi
ואתי צוה, ה' ללמד אתכם AND THE LORD COMMANDED ME TO TEACH YOU, the Oral Law.
Ibn Ezra
The meaning of "and Hashem commanded me" — for at Sinai Hashem commanded Moses all the statutes and ordinances, but he declared them to Israel only in the second year; and another time in the fortieth year. And since you saw no form at all, guard yourselves lest you corrupt what you saw — meaning: the truth, or your ways.
Rabbeinu Bahya
.ואותי צוה ה’ בעת ההיא..ללמד אתכם חקים ומשפטים , “and the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes, social laws, etc.” These are the other commandments of the Torah, the ones in addition to the Ten Commandments which were commanded at Mount Sinai (Ibn Ezra). Rashi understands the words ואותי צוה as referring to the oral Torah. לעשותכם אותם בארץ, “for you to perform in the land, etc.” This does not mean that these commandments are not a personal obligation anywhere in the world. It means that the principal purpose of all the commandments is that they be performed in the Holy Land.
Take therefore good heed to yourselves—for you saw no manner of form on the day that Hashem spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire—
verse value 4649 — יְהֹוָ֧ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 61 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֧ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "your·souls" (לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם, 8 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "your·souls" (לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם). 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy); "he·spoke" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·souls', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 11 words. Full calculation: וְנִשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם [and·you·shall·watch·yourselves] (1036) + מְאֹ֖ד [might] (45) + לְנַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶ֑ם [your·souls] (930) + כִּ֣י [for] (30) + לֹ֤א [not] (31) + רְאִיתֶם֙ [you·saw] (651) + כׇּל־תְּמוּנָ֔ה [all·form] (551) + בְּי֗וֹם [day] (58) + דִּבֶּ֨ר [he·spoke] (206) + יְהֹוָ֧ה [Hashem] (26) + אֲלֵיכֶ֛ם [to·you] (101) + בְּחֹרֵ֖ב [Horeb] (212) + מִתּ֥וֹךְ [from·the·midst] (466) + הָאֵֽשׁ [fire] (306) = 4649.
Onkelos
Take very careful heed for your souls, for you saw no image whatsoever on the day that Hashem spoke with you at Horeb from the midst of the fire —
Ramban
TAKE YE THEREFORE GOOD HEED UNTO YOURSELVES. He warns them lest they mistakenly follow the voice they heard and they commit the corruption of “mutilating the shoots.” He states first the likeness of male or female, [lest they corrupt themselves by making a graven image in the likeness of male or female] of the Being from Whom the voice came. Afterwards he mentioned all that is on the earth of beast and of fowl, of those that creep on the ground, and of the fish that are in the water, and then he reverts to the host of heaven. Now I have already explained the expression, which the Eternal thy G-d hath allotted unto all peoples, for every nation has a star and constellation, and, above them the angels of the Supreme One, like those mentioned in the Book of Daniel, the prince of the kingdom of Persia, and the prince of the kingdom of Greece — this being the reason why they [the nations] make of them gods for themselves and worship them. Scripture continues, And you the Eternal hath taken, for you are the portion of the Eternal. You are thus not to appoint a prince or helper over yourselves except for Him, for it is He Who brought you forth out of the iron furnace when you were in Egypt in the midst of a furnace of fire and wood [i.e., a furnace of affliction] and He took you out from there in spite of their princes against whom He executed judgments. Had He not brought about their downfall you would not have gone out, for they were [so much] in their ascendancy that you would not be able to leave. Thus He has done all this in order that you be “an inheritance” to Him and be to His Great Name a treasure from among all peoples.
Sforno
כי לא ראיתם כל תמונה, this is in contradiction to a category of philosophers believing that beyond the celestial phenomena we observe in the sky there are none that are more substantial and influential, and these are the only ones which existed since prehistoric days.
Chizkuni
כל תמונה, “any visual image.” Compare Exodus 20,10: לא תעשה כל מלאכה, which cannot mean: “you must not do every work,” but must mean: “you shall not perform any kind of work, such as, etc.” The author refers the reader to additional examples of this formulation in Exodus 22,21, as well as in our verse, תמונת כל סמל, as well as verses 17 and 18 in our chapter. In all of these examples the word כל does not mean “all,” but “any.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
ונשמרתם מאד לנפשותיכם כי לא ראיתם כל תמונה, “But you shall greatly beware for your souls, for you did not see any likeness.” Seeing that you know clearly that you did not see any phenomenon, image, at the time when G’d revealed Himself, you must take care in the future never to make such a likeness, no molten image or sculpture; there are nations which serve and worship some domestic animal or free-roaming beast, whichever they encounter first on that day. The astrologers have written that the zodiac sign cancer places some of its power on such animals and causes them to bite or otherwise cause damage.[The point of worshipping these animals would be to neutralize their destructive power against the person worshipping them.]
lest you deal corruptly, and make you a graven image, even the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
verse value 4709
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 44 letters. The shortest word is "or" (א֥וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "lest·you·act·corruptly" (פֶּ֨ן־תַּשְׁחִת֔וּן, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "lest·you·act·corruptly" (פֶּ֨ן־תַּשְׁחִת֔וּן), "all·image" (כׇּל־סָ֑מֶל), "female" (נְקֵבָֽה). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·you·make" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy); "or" (root או, 29x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root שחת ("lest·you·act·corruptly") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root פסל ("idol") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'all·image', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 4 words. Full calculation: פֶּ֨ן־תַּשְׁחִת֔וּן [lest·you·act·corruptly] (1294) + וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥ם [and·you·make] (826) + לָכֶ֛ם [to] (90) + פֶּ֖סֶל [idol] (170) + תְּמוּנַ֣ת [form] (896) + כׇּל־סָ֑מֶל [all·image] (180) + תַּבְנִ֥ית [pattern] (862) + זָכָ֖ר [male] (227) + א֥וֹ [or] (7) + נְקֵבָֽה [female] (157) = 4709.
Onkelos
lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves an idol, the likeness of any form: the likeness of male or female,
Rashi
סמל means “form”.
Ibn Ezra
"Pesel" — a hewn thing, as in "and the builders of Solomon hewed" (1 Kings 5:31). "Male or female" — among the known nations. There are also nations that prostrate themselves and worship any animal they chance to encounter at the start of their day. And some say [the forms represent] drawing down the power of celestial beings — such as the form of the scorpion for biting — and the remaining forty-seven forms.
Sforno
תמונת כל סמל, something that would reflect the belief of those who hold that every perishable, ephemeral phenomenon in this world has a counterpart in the celestial regions which it is derived from, and that people made themselves replicas of what they thought the original looked like.
Chizkuni
פן תשחיתון, “lest you will become corrupt;” this refers to the previous verse in which the people had been reminded that even during the revelation at Mount Sinai they had never had a visual image of their G-d. How much less are they allowed to fashion imaginary images of Him, and become thoroughly corrupted in their belief in the One and only but invisible G-d, their Creator.
Rashbam
סמל; a symbol of something, as in Ezekiel 8,3 סמל הקנאה המקנא, “a likeness, a symbol, of the jealousy which provokes jealousy. (an ancient idol)
the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the heaven,
verse value 4645
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 44 letters. The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֣ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "all·beast" (כׇּל־בְּהֵמָ֖ה, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 862: pattern, pattern. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "all·beast" (כׇּל־בְּהֵמָ֖ה), "flies" (תָּע֖וּף). The root תבנית appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "the·earth" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "heavens" (root שמים, 44x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root צפור ("all·bird") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root כנף ("wing") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·earth', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 6 words. Full calculation: תַּבְנִ֕ית [pattern] (862) + כׇּל־בְּהֵמָ֖ה [all·beast] (102) + אֲשֶׁ֣ר [that] (501) + בָּאָ֑רֶץ [the·earth] (293) + תַּבְנִית֙ [pattern] (862) + כׇּל־צִפּ֣וֹר [all·bird] (426) + כָּנָ֔ף [wing] (150) + אֲשֶׁ֥ר [that] (501) + תָּע֖וּף [flies] (556) + בַּשָּׁמָֽיִם [heavens] (392) = 4645.
Onkelos
the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the expanse of the heavens,
Chizkuni
אשר תעוף בשמים, ”which flies in the heavens.” There are many places in the Bible where the sky is simply referred to as שמים, “heaven.” The author refers the reader to his commentary on Genesis 1,20, where he dealt with this topic.
the likeness of any thing that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth.
verse value 4190
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 40 letters. The shortest word is "beneath" (מִתַּ֥חַת, 4 letters) and the longest is "that·in·the·water" (אֲשֶׁר־בַּמַּ֖יִם, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 862: pattern, pattern. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "all·creeping·things" (כׇּל־רֹמֵ֖שׂ), "all·fish" (כׇּל־דָּגָ֥ה), "that·in·the·water" (אֲשֶׁר־בַּמַּ֖יִם). The root תבנית appears 2 times in this verse. 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "ground" (root אדמה, 38x in Deuteronomy); "beneath" (root תחת, 27x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'ground', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 5 words. Full calculation: תַּבְנִ֕ית [pattern] (862) + כׇּל־רֹמֵ֖שׂ [all·creeping·things] (590) + בָּאֲדָמָ֑ה [ground] (52) + תַּבְנִ֛ית [pattern] (862) + כׇּל־דָּגָ֥ה [all·fish] (62) + אֲשֶׁר־בַּמַּ֖יִם [that·in·the·water] (593) + מִתַּ֥חַת [beneath] (848) + לָאָֽרֶץ [land] (321) = 4190.
Onkelos
the likeness of any creeping thing on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth.
and lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Hashem your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.
verse value 9608 — יְהֹוָ֤ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 23 words, 113 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֤ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "all" (כֹּ֚ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·the·stars" (וְאֶת־הַכּֽוֹכָבִ֗ים, 10 letters). 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "lest·you·lift" (וּפֶן־תִּשָּׂ֨א), "the·sun" (אֶת־הַשֶּׁ֨מֶשׁ), "and·the·moon" (וְאֶת־הַיָּרֵ֜חַ). The root שמים appears 3 times in this verse. 20 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root שמש ("the·sun") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root ירח ("and·the·moon") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·you·serve·them', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 9 words.
Onkelos
And lest you lift your eyes to the heavens and see the sun and the moon and the stars — all the host of the heavens — and you be led astray and bow down to them and worship them, which Hashem your God has assigned to all the nations under all the heavens.
Rashi
ופן תשא עיניך AND LEST THOU LIFT UP THINE EYES to ponder on the matter, and to set your heart to go astray after them. אשר חלק ה׳ WHICH THE LORD ASSIGNED to give light to them (to all peoples) (Megillah 9b). — Another explanation: which God assigned to them as deities; He did not prevent them from going astray after them, but He allowed them to err (to slip) through vain speculations, in order to drive them out from the world. Similarly it states, (Psalms 36:3) "He (God) made him err (slip) through his eyes (i.e. through what his eyes behold) until his iniquity be found and he be hated” (Avodah Zarah 55a).
Ibn Ezra
"The sun and the moon" — which are the great luminaries. And after [the verse] says "and the stars," it then specifies under a general heading all the host of heaven: the planets, which are the luminous stars, and all the constellations and their images. "And you are drawn away" — like a person who is pushed and falls. "Which He has apportioned" — it is an established matter that every nation has a particular star and constellation, and likewise every city has a constellation. But Hashem granted Israel an exalted distinction: that Hashem Himself be their counselor and that they have no star governing them — for Israel is Hashem's inheritance.
Sforno
חלק ה' אלוקיך אותם לכל העמים, He arranged for them to appear in a manner appropriate for the needs of each respective nation, according to their individual differences. This very fact proves how wrong those are who believe in the universe’s existence being the result of “the big bang,” i.e. forces, sources of energy, which operated without design, happenings which are totally random, haphazard. How could zodiac signs be of significance unless a superior intelligence had arranged for them? (compare Maimonides, Moreh Nevuchim 20,2 quoting Aristo.)
Chizkuni
לכל העמים, “unto all the peoples;” the luminaries shine for all of mankind, regardless of their religious orientation. They shine equally for the dumb and the intelligent, the righteous or the evil doers. Anyone who worships such phenomena which do not distinguish between different categories of creatures, must surely consider himself as having been greatly humiliated by such “gods.”A different interpretation about the words: לכל.....אשר חלק העמים, “which He has assigned to all the nations.” According to this approach, the phenomena in the sky are indeed intended to exert a degree of awe for all the other nations, barring the Jewish people. You, the Jewish people whom G-d has chosen as His inheritance on earth, it behooves not to bow down to any power but to Him. They need not be in awe of any other phenomena in nature.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ופן תשא עיניך השמימה, “not to raise your eyes skyward.” There is a difference between the word השמים and the word השמימה, just as there is a difference between מצרים and מצרימה. The name of the political entity, the state, is מצרימה, whereas the word מצרים includes the entire country, region. We have proof of this distinction in Numbers 20,15 where Moses describes the descent of the family of Yaakov from the land of Canaan as וירדו אבותינו מצרימה, ונשב במצרים, “our forefathers descended to the state of Egypt and they settled in “greater Egypt.” Similarly here. When the Torah describes השמים, this includes any part of the sky visible to the eye anywhere. All parts of the sky are the same for that purpose. This is why the Torah also writes תחת כל השמים at the end of this verse. However, when the Torah speaks of השמימה, it refers to specific areas of the sky, areas known for certain constellations of stars, etc. They are areas where certain patterns of stars always appear at intervals that are subject to human calculations. Seeing that certain such constellations appear to presage certain happenings at certain times, some people err in ascribing powers to these constellations. This is why the Torah warns the Jewish people not to raise their eyes to such parts of the sky and the constellations visible there. The “seeing” the Torah speaks of is not with the physical eye but with the mental eye, i.e. the conclusions derived from this “seeing.” This is why G’d told Avraham in Genesis 15,5: הבט נא השמימה וספור הכוכבים, “take a look at the sky and count the stars, etc.” He took him to a place from which he could look down at the stars (Bereshit Rabbah 44,12). וראית את השמש ואת הירח, “and you will see the sun and the stars.” The words ואת הכוכבים do not refer to the multitude of the stars in the sky but to the 7 basic planets (pre-Copernicus astronomy) The word כוכבים (pl) means the minimum plural i.e. 2; the letter ה at the beginning adds another 5, making a total of 7 stars or planets. Add the words צבא השמים, and you have the 12 zodiac signs, the horoscopes. The word כל includes the ministering angels. The reason the Torah adds the words ונדחת before writing והשתחוית להם, “you will bow down to them,” is to remind us that anyone doing that will automatically be נדחה, cast out, much as one casts out a person from a certain location so that he falls and dies. אשר חלק ה’ אלו-היך אותם לכל העמים תחת כל השמים, “which the Lord your G’d allocated to all the peoples under the whole sky.” According to the plain meaning of the text the word חלק means: “He gave it to them as their share.” [They have the choice of serving the Lord directly or by means of these astrological manifestations]. The word is not to be understood to mean that these people have been “assigned” these phenomena in the sky. If the latter meaning were correct then these people would have an ironclad argument accusing G’d of preventing them from worshipping Him directly or indirectly, seeing He had made their fates dependent on the correlation of these stars to one another. Idolatry would then have been decreed upon them. Seeing that the word חלק lends itself to misunderstandings, the seventy sages who had been assigned by King Talmai to translate the Torah into Greek, were forced to translate this as “which the Lord allocated to them to provide light for them” (Megillah 9). A Midrashic approach: the word חלק is connected to the word חלקות, something smooth, slippery. G’d flattered the nations with words in order to eventually drive them out of the world (Pessikta Zutrata ). Our sages had interpreted the words משגיא לגוים ויאבדם in Job 12,23 as meaning precisely this (according to Shemot Rabbah 15,11). They suggested that the letter sin in the word משגיא in that verse be read as a shin to mean “mislead,” instead of “exalts”. [The end-effect of the verse, i.e. that G’d destroys the Gentiles is the same; the difference is only the immediate cause. Ed.]. We have a similar statement by the sages in Avodah Zarah 55: Rabba bar Yitzchak said to Rabbi Yuda: “there is an idol in our town, and whenever there is a drought with us it appears to a priest in a dream and says: ‘sacrifice a human being to me and you shall have rain.’ When the people of the town offer a human being as a sacrifice to this idol it really does begin to rain.” Rabbi Yuda commented: ‘if I had already died I would not have been able to explain the matter to you.’ Rav explained the words of the verse אשר חלק ה’ אלו-היך אותם לכל העמים, to mean that G’d misled these idol-worshippers (who had already forfeited their claim to the hereafter) by letting them think that their idols had some power. By making them fall victim to that illusion He expedited their disappearance from this world. This is also what Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish meant when he explained Proverbs 3,34, אם ללצים הוא יליץ, “at the scoffers He scoffs.” The principle by which G’d operates in this world is that if someone wants to do the right thing he enjoys heavenly assistance. If he insists on doing the wrong thing, (seeing he possesses free choice) one lets him be without interfering. As a result, i.e. of G’d “playing along,” these idolaters dig their own grave.” G’d does not actively “help” them to dig their grave, He just does not restrain them from doing what they set out to do.
Tur HaArokh
אשר חלק ה' אלוקיך אותם לכל העמים תחת כל השמים, “which Hashem your G’d, has apportioned to all the peoples under the entire heaven.” Each nation has been assigned a star that acts in a manner of speaking as their guardian angel, supervises their fate. [Hence the study of astrology. Ed.] This is why they made themselves visual images of these stars, etc., eventually, even worshipping those images as if they had power independent of the Creator.
Rashbam
אשר חלק, in order to provide light. According to the principal meaning of the text the meaning is that these celestial bodies were put at the disposal of all nations to serve them. By doing so G’d wanted to show that He is not concerned about their competition as influences that could override His authority in the universe.
But you has Hashem taken and brought forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to Him a people of inheritance, as you are this day.
verse value 2948 — יְהֹוָ֔ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 57 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֔ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·him" (ל֛וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "from·Egypt" (מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and" (וְאֶתְכֶם֙), "and·he·brought·out" (וַיּוֹצִ֥א), "furnace" (מִכּ֥וּר). 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "to·be" (root היה, 170x in Deuteronomy); "as·this·day" (root יום, 168x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·Egypt', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 6 words. Full calculation: וְאֶתְכֶם֙ [and] (467) + לָקַ֣ח [he·took] (138) + יְהֹוָ֔ה [Hashem] (26) + וַיּוֹצִ֥א [and·he·brought·out] (113) + אֶתְכֶ֛ם [you] (461) + מִכּ֥וּר [furnace] (266) + הַבַּרְזֶ֖ל [iron] (244) + מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם [from·Egypt] (420) + לִהְי֥וֹת [to·be] (451) + ל֛וֹ [to·him] (36) + לְעַ֥ם [people] (140) + נַחֲלָ֖ה [inheritance] (93) + כַּיּ֥וֹם [as·this·day] (76) + הַזֶּֽה [this] (17) = 2948.
Onkelos
But you — Hashem has drawn you near to His service, and He brought you out from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be for Him a people of inheritance, as on this day.
Rashi
מכור — a כור is a vessel in which one refines gold.
Sforno
ואתכם לקח, to walk in His paths and to cleave to Him. Seeing that this is so, you have no need for depending on messages the gentiles perceive as being contained by their horoscopes.
Chizkuni
ויוצא אתכם מכור הברזל, “He has taken you out of the iron crucible;” Rabbi Akiva says that by this G-d (Moses) refers to the gentiles who burn their first born sons as sacrifices to their “so called” deities. (Yakut Shimoni on this verse, quoting Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer).
Kli Yakar
“And the Lord took you, etc. to be His heritage nation, as it is this day.” Above it says And lest you lift your eyes to the heavens and see the sun, etc., referring to the daily sphere that is the greatest of all the hosts of heaven. About this, it says: How can you be so ignorant as to bow down to the sun when you are important and great in God’s eyes like the sun itself? How can you worship something that is similar to you? As it is said, And those who love Him are like the rising of the sun in its strength (Judges 5:31). And if you are comparable in stature to the sun, how much more so to the rest of the hosts of heaven which are lesser in value than the sun. Furthermore, you have dominion over the sun, as in Sun, stand still upon Gibeon (Joshua 10:12), and similarly Moses made the sun stand still. And what is written, which the Lord has allotted to all the nations, does not refer to the existence of the light itself, but rather to their influence over the lower realms, because all the nations are subject to the cosmic system, but you the Lord has taken under His direct guidance, for you are supervised by the First Cause, blessed be He. Therefore, you have dominion over the sun, so how could you worship it? Another explanation: “As on this day” refers to what was said, “and you He took out of the iron furnace.” One who purifies silver from all dross and waste until it is clean and pure, bright as the sun — so too your material [nature] was purified through the affliction of Egypt until it became as clear as the sun. About this He said, to be for Him a people of inheritance as on this day, like the daily sphere [meaning, the sun], and as it is written, And those who love Him are like the sun rising in its strength. And similarly, Sell me as on this day (Genesis 25:31) — its Aramaic translation [in Targum Onkelos] is “as on this day which is clear,” without dross or waste. Thus, “sell me a clear sale, bright as the sun.” And some say as on this day is like the sun that does not serve [God] in order to receive reward. And it seems to me that about this it is said, And those who love Him are like the sun rising — these are those who serve [God] out of love. Regarding what is written, “And the Lord was angry with me because of your words” — The commentators have struggled with this verse because it has no connection neither to what comes before nor to what comes after it, and they have offered forced interpretations. It seems reasonable to suggest that this comes to answer: if the sun causes people to sin, why doesn’t God destroy it, just as He punished Moses for causing the masses to sin? To this he responds that the comparison is not valid, because it is true that the Lord was angry with me because of your words, but my death does not cause destruction to the masses. Rather, I die [and] I am not crossing the Jordan, yet nevertheless you remain and cross the Jordan. However, if God were to destroy the sun, then He would destroy the entire world — and should He destroy His world because of fools who have acted improperly? As is concluded in the Tractate Avodah Zarah (54b): A philosopher asked the elders in Rome: If the Holy One, blessed be He, does not want idolatry, why doesn’t He destroy it, etc.
Tur HaArokh
ואתכם לקח ה', “but you- Hashem took out personally, etc.” Seeing that you are part of Hashem you have never had an intermediary appointed by Him to look after you, but He Himself takes care of you. He took you out of the iron crucible that is Egypt, and in doing so He overcame all the protective guardian angels that were appointed to look after the vital interests of the Egyptians. If Hashem had not first overcome those forces appointed by Him, you would never have been able to escape from there.
Now Hashem was angered with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which Hashem your God gives you for an inheritance;
verse value 4839 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 81 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֖, 2 letters) and the longest is "upon·your·words" (עַל־דִּבְרֵיכֶ֑ם, 8 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "was·angry·with·me" (הִתְאַנַּף־בִּ֖י), "upon·your·words" (עַל־דִּבְרֵיכֶ֑ם), "my·crossing" (עׇבְרִי֙). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root בלתי ("so·as·not") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'upon·your·words', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 13 words.
Onkelos
And before Hashem there was anger against me on account of your words, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and that I would not enter the good land that Hashem your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Rashi
התאנף means, HE WAS FILLED WITH WRATH. על דבריכם means, "on your account”, "because of your doings”.
Ramban
AND THE ETERNAL WAS ANGERED WITH ME FOR YOUR SAKES, AND SWORE THAT I SHOULD NOT GO OVER THE JORDAN. He repeated it in this place [despite having already mentioned it above, 1:37] as if to say: “The Eternal commanded me at that time to teach you the commandments that ye might do them in the Land whither ye go over to possess it; now accept instruction from my mouth, for I must die in this land, (I must not go over the Jordan), and I will not be able to teach you in the Land [of Israel] and so do not forget there what I have taught you [here], nor what you have seen at Sinai.”By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], Moses is stating: Take good heed of yourselves lest you corrupt yourselves, for the Eternal was angered with me in His concern over this matter lest ye forget the covenant of the Eternal your G-d in the devouring fire on the top of the Mount, and you will make the likeness of any thing, this being the sense of the expression, which the Eternal thy G-d commanded thee. This has already been alluded to in the section Chukath Hatorah. And Rashi wrote: “Which the Eternal thy G-d commanded thee — which He commanded thee not to do.” This is the simple meaning of Scripture. But one learned in the mystic teachings of the Cabala will understand these verses in the light of their true meaning. And the sense of the verse For the Eternal thy G-d is a devouring fire is “as you have seen on the top of the Mount, ” the intent being that it is the attribute of justice that is jealous of idols [and as the verse concludes, a jealous G-d]. From this verse you will understand the expression the Eternal thy G-d that is always mentioned in the Book of Deuteronomy.
Ibn Ezra
The meaning of "and Hashem was angry with me" — because [Moses] said: He is bringing you out to be a people of His inheritance in the land, to serve Him there — yet I shall not see this goodness. "On your account" — you caused me not to enter the land, as I have explained.
Or HaChaim
וה׳ התאנף בי על דבריכם, "G'd was angry at me on account of you." Moses repeated this once more, not content with what he had said already in 1,37. He also repeated twice: "not to let me cross the Jordan and not to let me come to the good land." He meant that he suffered not only from the decree of having to die in the desert but from another decree i.e. that even his bones would not be buried in ארץ ישראל although he had made sure that both Joseph's remains and the remains of the brothers would be buried in holy soil (compare Jerusalem Talmud Sotah 1,10). The first time he mentioned the word לבלתי he referred to his not entering the Holy Land while alive, whereas the second time he mentioned that word he referred to not even being brought to burial there. Moses repeats the same theme in another form when he says in verse 22: "I am going to die in this land and I will not cross the Jordan." He means that he will neither cross the Jordan alive nor dead. He contrasts this with the Jewish people, his charges, whom he congratulates by saying: "you will cross and inherit the land." The form of address is what is known as לא זו אף זו, i.e. "not only will you cross the Jordan but you will even take possession of that land." Devarim Rabbah approaches the meaning of the words על דבריכם by means of a parable. A person had lost some money in a dark place. He said to himself that if he were to ask people to light up the area for him so that he could retrieve his money no one would pay any attention to him. What did he do? He threw a gold coin amongst the people present and started yelling that he had a single gold coin and now he lost it. He begged people to provide some light so that he could retrieve his coin. The people brought a lantern; once he had retrieved his coin he asked them to wait a little longer until he could find the rest of his money. Eventually, he did retrieve all his money. Moses, or G'd if you will, found himself in a similar situation. Once G'd would make the effort to resurrect Moses, He would wait a little longer to resurrect his generation with him at the same time. After all, Moses had taken them out of Egypt (so that they could be considered his "money"), and it would only be fair that he would bring them to their destination, the land of Israel. Thus far the Midrash. This is an illustration of the word על דבריכם, i.e. if it were not for G'd wanting to bring the Israelites of the generation of the Exodus to the Hereafter eventually, there would have been no need for Moses to be buried on the East Bank of the Jordan.
Chizkuni
התאנף בי על דבריכם, “He (the Lord) was angry at me on your account; in spite of this I am warning you: “be on your guard!”(verse 23)
Tur HaArokh
וה' התאנף בי, “And Hashem became angry at me, etc.” Moses repeats what he had said to the people already in Deut. 1,37, to tell them that G’d had told him at that time to teach the Israelites the laws they would have to observe once they were in the Holy Land. He uses this opportunity to tell the people to hear the laws from his mouth now seeing that soon there would not be a chance for him to teach them, as he was not going to die in the land of Israel, but near where he stood, on the east bank of the Jordan. The paradox of the situation is that Moses had taken the people out of Egypt so that they could keep the Torah in the land of Israel, and he, who had been appointed to teach them the Torah, would not live to experience this.
but I must die in this land, I must not go over the Jordan; but you are to go over, and possess that good land.
verse value 5182
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 61 letters. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·Jordan" (אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 413: this, this. The root ארץ appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·the·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "for" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy); "and·you·shall·possess" (root ירש, 71x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·Jordan', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 6 words. Full calculation: כִּ֣י [for] (30) + אָנֹכִ֥י [I] (81) + מֵת֙ [dying] (440) + בָּאָ֣רֶץ [in·the·land] (293) + הַזֹּ֔את [this] (413) + אֵינֶ֥נִּי [I·am·not] (121) + עֹבֵ֖ר [crossing] (272) + אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן [the·Jordan] (670) + וְאַתֶּם֙ [and·you] (447) + עֹֽבְרִ֔ים [crossing] (322) + וִֽירִשְׁתֶּ֕ם [and·you·shall·possess] (956) + אֶת־הָאָ֥רֶץ [the·land] (697) + הַטּוֹבָ֖ה [the·good] (27) + הַזֹּֽאת [this] (413) = 5182.
Onkelos
For I am dying in this land; I am not crossing the Jordan, but you are crossing over and you shall possess this good land.
Rashi
כי אנכי מת וגו' אינני עבר BUT I MUST DIE [IN THIS LAND], I MUST NOT PASS OVER [THE JORDAN] — Since he was to die, how could he pass over? But he meant: I must die and even my bones will not pass over (Sifrei Bamidbar 135).
Sforno
כי אנכי מת, I have to warn you very insistently, seeing that I will not be crossing the Jordan with you. Compare Deuteronomy 31,29 where Moses predicts the corruption of the people at some point after his death.
Chizkuni
כי אנכי מת בארץ הזאת, “for I am going to die in this land;” this is why I must warn you now not to forget my teachings, as once you have crossed the Jordan I will no longer be with you. If I would have been able to cross with you, I would have been in a position to actively prevent you from forgetting the Torah. אינני עובר את הירדן, “I am not going to cross the river Jordan.” You will therefore realise that what I am telling you is not for my benefit, but for yours. [I will no longer have to fulfill the Torah’s commandments.]
Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Hashem your God, which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image, the likeness of anything that Hashem your God has commanded you.
verse value 6682 — יְהֹוָה֙ = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 18 words, 75 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 6682 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "all" (כֹּ֔ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "lest·you·forget" (פֶּֽן־תִּשְׁכְּחוּ֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "lest·you·forget" (פֶּֽן־תִּשְׁכְּחוּ֙). The root יהוה appears 2 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). First appearance of the root כרת ("he·cut") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'with·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 9 words.
Onkelos
Take heed for yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Hashem your God that He made with you, and make for yourselves an idol, the likeness of anything that Hashem your God has commanded you.
Rashi
תמונת כל means, THE LIKENESS OF ANYTHING. אשר צוך WHICH THE LORD [THY GOD] COMMANDED THEE — i.e. which He commanded you not to make.
Ibn Ezra
"Take heed lest you make a carved image" — he already said something like this, and the reason for repeating it is to add "a consuming fire" — therefore "I charge you." "A likeness of anything" — anything at all. "Which He commanded you" — meaning: as He commanded you; or the word "commanded you" means [commanding] not to do [it], as in "and I will command the clouds" (Isaiah 5:6). Some say it refers to the form of the stars — but this seems far-fetched to me.
Chizkuni
אשר צוך ה' אלוקיך, “which the Lord your G-d has commanded you.” These words refer to the beginning of the verse, i.e. for you not to forget the covenant with the Lord. An alternate interpretation: the words quoted mean: “as I have commanded you.”.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ועשיתם לכם פסל תמונת כל אשר צוך ה’ אלו-היך, “and you make yourselves a carved image, a likeness of anything, concerning which the Lord your G’d has commanded.” According to the plain meaning of the text the word “image of anything the Lord your G’d has commanded you,” is a warning not to make such images. Alternatively, it may be a warning not to duplicate the cherubic figures which were part of the kapporet on the lid of the Holy Ark. They were a cast likeness. This was something unique, permitted only in the Temple (where it was placed in a pitch dark section, the Holy of Holies, a cubicle without lighting or windows, so that no one, including the High Priest, ever could see it). A kabbalistic approach: the words ה’ אלו-היך are a description of the attribute כבוד, i.e. כבוד ה’ כאש האוכלת בראש ההר, “the attribute of glory which manifests itself like fire consuming the mountain” (Exodus 24,17). This was the attribute against which Moses had sinned, and this is why the Torah wrote in verse 21 “and against me the Lord was angry on account of your words forbidding me to come into the land.” The verse is a warning of the awesome attribute of Justice when it manifests itself in that manner. Moses warns the people that they themselves had seen this attribute at work on the occasion of the revelation at Mount Sinai. The reason that Moses adds once more that G’d is a jealous G’d, adding the word הוא, is because הוא is one of the names of G’d. Moses wants to point out that seeing that G’d’s essence remains forever invisible to man, the word הוא, even when used as a name for G’d, simply means that it is a pronoun, substituting for His essence which is never manifest to us. The prophet Elijah was taught this lesson when he was at Mount Chorev and experienced a number of divine manifestations. G’d explained to him that when he thought a particular manifestation, even אש, fire, represented G’d’s essence he had been wrong (compare Kings I 19,11). Certain manifestations of an attribute have only one objective, i.e. to demonstrate that G’d is a jealous G’d, has an attribute called “jealousy.”
Tur HaArokh
השמרו לכם, “Take care of your selves!” Even though I am not crossing the river with you, I am exhorting you to be most careful.
For Hashem your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God.
verse value 673 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 25 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֚י, 2 letters) and the longest is "your·God" (אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ, 5 letters). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "for" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root קנא ("jealous") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'he', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 2 words. Full calculation: כִּ֚י [for] (30) + יְהֹוָ֣ה [Hashem] (26) + אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ [your·God] (66) + אֵ֥שׁ [fire] (301) + אֹכְלָ֖ה [consuming] (56) + ה֑וּא [he] (12) + אֵ֖ל [God] (31) + קַנָּֽא [jealous] (151) = 673.
Onkelos
For Hashem your God — His Word is a consuming fire; He is a jealous God.
Rashi
אל קנא A JEALOUS GOD — jealous to take vengeance, in O. F. emportment; glowing in his anger to exact punishment from those who worship idols (cf. Rashi on Numbers 25:11).
Ibn Ezra
"He is a consuming fire" — without the comparative kaf, yet the meaning is: He is like a consuming fire. "A jealous God" — regarding the worship of stars; and His jealousy consumes like fire, leaving neither root nor branch.
Sforno
אש אוכלה הוא, a fire which consumes other fire, thereby destroying the soul together with the body. א-ל קנא, [I am paraphrasing the author here. Ed.] Jealousy is based on someone observing that something contractually exclusively his, as for instance the, fidelity of his wife- is being offered or provided for someone else. If a master’s servant provides the services he is supposed to provide only for his master to others, this arouses the master’s jealousy. If a Jew in any shape or form makes available to idolatrous cults the services he is supposed to perform for G’d, he arouses G’d’s jealousy.
Chizkuni
אש אוכלה הוא, “He, (the Lord) is a devouring fire.” He is comparable to a devouring fire.
When you shall beget children, and children's children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall deal corruptly, and make a graven image, even the form of any thing, and shall do that which is evil in the sight of Hashem your God, to provoke Him;
verse value 6134
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 82 letters. The shortest word is "all" (כֹּ֔ל, 2 letters) and the longest is "Hashem·your·God" (יְהֹוָה־אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 826: and·you·make, and·you·do. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "when·you·beget" (כִּֽי־תוֹלִ֤יד), "and·you·are·long·established" (וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּ֖ם), "and·you·act·corruptly" (וְהִשְׁחַתֶּ֗ם). The root בן appears 3 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem·your·God" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "in·the·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "and·you·make" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root ילד ("when·you·beget") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root כעס ("to·provoke·him") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·the·land', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 10 words.
Onkelos
When you shall beget children and grandchildren and grow old in the land, and you act corruptly and make an idol of the likeness of anything, and do what is evil before Hashem your God, to provoke anger before Him —
Rashi
ונושנתם AND YE SHALL HAVE BEEN LONG [IN THE LAND] — He gave them a vague intimation that they would be exiled from it at the end of 852 years, according to the numerical value of the word ונושנתם, but He sent them into exile earlier, at the end of 850 years. He did this two years earlier than the numerical value of ונושנתם, in order that the prophecy should not be fulfilled in them “that ye shall utterly perish” (v. 26). This is the meaning of what is said, (Daniel 9:14) “And the Lord hastened in regard to the evil, and He brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is צדיק” — i.e., He acted charitably (צדקה) with us, in that He brought it (the evil) two years before its assigned time (Sanhedrin 38a; Gittin 88a).
Ramban
KI’ (WHEN) THOU SHALT BEGET CHILDREN, AND CHILDREN’S CHILDREN, AND YE SHALL HAVE BEEN LONG ESTABLISHED IN THE LAND. The purport of this verse is that it mentions and affirms that “when ye shall beget children and children’s children, and because you will have been long established in the Land and dwelled in security, you may perhaps forget G-d — I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that ye shall speedily perish, for He will not be long-suffering with you seeing that you worshipped idols.”Now this section, although constituting a warning, opened [with the word ki — “when” and] not with the expression im — “if” [which would be here more appropriate, since it speaks of a hypothetical condition of future time]. The reason is that he [Moses] was virtually prophesying about their affairs, and therefore he spoke in an equivocal manner — using an expression which in addition to being a warning [to avoid the sin of idolatry] also contains a prediction of things to come [when the warning will not be heeded]. He was thus saying that if they do so the following will happen to them, but he does not decree that they will do it. Therefore our Rabbis have said that in the numerical-value of [the letters in the Hebrew word] v’noshantem (and ye shall have been long established) he alluded to the time of the exile following the destruction of the First Sanctuary. It was thus a tradition [among the prophets and Sages of the generations] that this section of the Torah contains an allusion to the time of the exile, and, when it actually came to pass, they understood the allusion by contemplating this section [and interpreting the hidden message of the prophecy in light of the historical event]. He states and ye make a graven image, ‘t’munath kol’ (even the form of any thing), but does not say “and you will worship it or bow down to it.” Instead he says, and ye shall corrupt yourselves, for “the graven image” spoken of here is the form of Kol (All) and on account of “corruption” He prohibited it, as I have explained above.
Ibn Ezra
"When you beget children" — he said "a jealous God," and then explains what will befall them if they make a carved image. "And you do what is evil" — referring to the other commandments, such as murder and adultery.
Sforno
להכעיסו, to cause the benevolent presence of G’d to remove it self from Israel, in order to clear the way for the people to be just like the gentile nations, free of the yoke of the Torah’s commandments.
Chizkuni
כי תוליד בנים ובני בנים, “When you shall beget children, and children’s children;” Moses implies that when he warned the people not to forget the Lord’s covenant, he did not refer to the generation he was addressing. He was not worried that they would forget. What he was concerned about was future generations, who had not been eye witnesses to what the Lord had done for the Jewish people. ונושנתם בארץ, “and you have become old established in the land;” you will therefore take it for granted and not worry about ever losing that land.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי תוליד בנים ובני בנים, “When you will beget children and grandchildren, etc.” The reason this paragraph adjoins the passage warning the Israelites against becoming guilty of idolatry is because Moses foresaw that in the future the Jewish people would become guilty doing precisely this on holy soil in the land of Israel. Proof that this paragraph is a prediction, not a mere theoretical discussion of what might happen, is that the paragraph does not commence with the conditional word אם תוליד,” if you will beget,” but Moses says כי תוליד, “when you will beget, etc.” Seeing that it is the prophet’s task to rebuke his people, and at this time Moses was the prophet, it was up to him to react to what he foresaw in his prophetic vision. ונושנתם בארץ, “and you are long established in the land;” our sages in Gittin 55 find in these words an allusion to the length of time the Israelites would enjoy independence in the land. The numerical value of the letters in the word ונושנתם is 852. Solomon’s Temple was completed 480 years after the Exodus as we know from Kings I 6,1. The Temple stood for 410 years before it was destroyed by Nevuchadnezzar King of Babylon. This gives you a total of 850 years after deducting the 40 years the Jewish people were in the desert before they gained their own land. The reason that G’d allowed the Temple to be destroyed 2 years prior to the time allotted to it was to ensure that the decree of absolute destruction [no rebuilding] would not have to be kept, seeing that the people had not been allowed to enjoy the full number of years allotted to their independence. We read in our verse the words כי אבד תאבדון מהר, which mean “you will perish utterly and quickly.” G’d in His mercy, accelerated the destruction of the Temple so that He would not be bound by this prediction. We find an allusion to this in Daniel 9,14: “Hashem hastened the calamity and brought it upon us, for Hashem is righteous in all His deeds which He has done.” Daniel means that the very premature destruction of the Temple was an act of righteousness enabling the Temple to be rebuilt 70 years later.
Kli Yakar
When you beget children and children’s children, etc. Since the punishment for evil is not executed quickly, the hearts of men are emboldened to do evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11). One does not realize that the Holy One, blessed be He, is patient but collects what is His at the end of days. Therefore, it says, When you beget children, etc., and you become corrupt and make a graven image, etc. This means that during this time, in those very days when you corrupt yourselves, you will beget children and children’s children as is the way of the world, and you will grow old in the land. Because of this, you will err and say, “If God wanted to kill us, would He have remained silent all this time? Behold, we are bearing children as is the way of the world and dwelling in the land for many days, so surely we are without guilt.” To this, it says, I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will quickly perish from the land. For it is the attribute of the Blessed God not to bring calamities one after another in quick succession, as they learned in the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 75:13) from the verse, And put a space between drove and drove (Genesis 32:16). This applies specifically when He exacts punishment immediately without extending the time. But if the Holy One, blessed be He, is patient for a long time, then at the end of days He brings bundled troubles one after another in quick succession, with one calamity approaching its sister. So it was in the time of the First Temple, when they worshipped idols for a long time from the days of Jeroboam, yet He was patient with them. And what is written and you will quickly perish (Deuteronomy 11:17), Rashi explains there: “I will not give you an extension.” Similarly, here it says, you will quickly perish. It must be that this matter of “quickness” refers to the calamities that will come at the end in rapid succession, one after another. And I have support for this interpretation. From what is concluded in Yalkut Parashat Eikev (869) on the verse and you will quickly perish. One exile after another — they were exiled in the seventh year of Jehoiakim and the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar, they were exiled in the 18th year, etc. And the concept of this “quickness” is beautifully alluded to in this verse, for you shall surely perish [avod tovedon] — the doubling of the language indicates one destruction after another that would occur upon the land. And after the destruction you shall not prolong your days upon it, because you shall surely be destroyed [hashmed tishamedun] — meaning, you will not have extended time between the destruction and annihilation, rather they will be in quick succession. And “annihilation” [hashmadah] contains more complete destruction than “perishing” [ibud], as it is said and the latter one made it more severe (Isaiah 8:23). This is a precious explanation to resolve the “quickness” mentioned here, for indeed the Holy One, blessed be He, extended them a long period of time. Rather, it refers to the succession — one destruction after another and one annihilation after another, and between destruction and annihilation also you shall not prolong your days. And that which He made heaven and earth witnesses for them, He wanted to provide a reason why the Holy One, blessed be He, extends His patience for a long time. And as concluded in Yalkut Parashat Ha’azinu (941), which states: “A parable of a king who handed his son over to a tutor… So Moses said to Israel, ‘Perhaps you think you can escape from under the wings of the Divine Presence and move away from the earth…’” And the essence of the matter is that the Holy One, blessed be He, extends His patience because He knows there is no escape from Him, for He has delivered them to a tutor, namely, to heaven and earth, from which they cannot move away at all. Therefore, He said I call heaven and earth to witness against you. Furthermore, because the hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him, as it is written: The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him (Job 20:27). And it could be that this is the [meaning of the] doubling of the words “destruction” and “annihilation” that is mentioned here, to attribute one to heaven and one to earth. For destroyed [refers to destruction] by heaven, and afterwards you will be destroyed from upon the earth by the earth, and afterwards you will be surely annihilated [which is also a double usage of that verb for the same reason].And it is reasonable to interpret that this annihilation refers to what is said immediately afterwards: And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, etc. This refers to actual religious persecution. And the reason for this is that the Holy One, blessed be He, arranges for them to come to [experience] persecution so that Israel will see that all the gods of the nations are worthless idols and there is no benefit in them, and then they will say, I will go and return to my first husband. And this is what is meant by And from there you will seek the Lord your God — it does not say “there” but from there, meaning that this idolatry will be the cause of your return to the Lord your God. And the Maharal explained regarding the word “from there,” that because of the oppressor’s wrath they will outwardly worship wood and stone, but their hearts will always be toward God. Therefore it says, And you will seek from there, etc. with all your heart — specifically their hearts will be faithful to God because their mouths are not permitted to speak. Another explanation for why it says “When you beget children and children’s children, etc.” This is because you might think that after being established in the land for many days, you will consider it completely yours and think, “Who will take it from me?” Therefore, it says at the end of the passage, And that you may prolong your days upon the land which the Lord your God gives you all the days — because each and every day He gives you a new grant, not permanently, but every day conditionally, if you keep His commandments. And regarding what the Sages interpreted (Gittin 88a) that according to the numerical value of You shall have been long (ונושנתם = 852 years), they were in the land, and the Lord watched over the evil to bring it two years before the [calculated] time — God had already shown this to Jacob in a vision when the sun set for him two hours before its time, as explained above in Parashat Vayetzei (28:11). And this is a correct allusion.
Tur HaArokh
כי תוליד בנים, “When you beget children, etc.” Nachmanides understands the word כי here to mean “after.” Moses warns that after having gotten used to being in the land, having raised children and grandchildren, there may came a time when you take your possession of that land for granted, and you might forget the Lord Who has made all this possible for you.
Daat Zkenim
כי תוליד בנים וגו, “when you beget children etc.” Moses warns the people not to take their settlement in the land of Israel for granted even after they have lived there for several generations. Their tenure in the land is contingent on their continuing to observe the Torah and all of its commandments. If they failed to do, not only would they endanger their tenure of the land, but they would endanger their continued existence as G–d’s people. [If, say after six generations in the Holy Land, the people who had not been witnesses to all the miracles G–d had performed before the first generation settled in that land, they would claim that there was no reason why their tenure is linked to Torah observance, just as their neighbour’s tenure to their respective lands is not contingent on a set of laws of their religion, Moses warns them against such a fatal error. Ed. According to the Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin, folio 38, the numerical value of the letters in the words: ונושנתם בארץ, “and you will be long established in the land,” (852) אבוד תאבדון, “you will be utterly wiped out in verse 26. G–d did us a great favour when the exile began after 850 years of tenure, so that the threat of utter destruction of the Jewish nation since the time Joshua crossed the Jordan did not have to be fulfilled. This has been hinted at in the Book of Daniel 9,14: וישקוד ה' על הרעה ויביאה עלינו כי צדיק ה' אלוקינו, “Hashem hastened the calamity and brought it upon us, for Hashem is righteous in all He does (but we did not heed His voice).”
I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you shall soon utterly perish from off the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it; you shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
verse value 8622
Insights
Verse structure: 22 words, 102 letters. Verse gematria: 8622 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "you·shall·not·prolong" (לֹֽא־תַאֲרִיכֻ֤ן, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "I·call·to·witness" (הַעִידֹ֩תִי֩), "for·perishing" (כִּֽי־אָבֹ֣ד), "you·shall·be·destroyed" (תִּשָּׁמֵדֽוּן). The root יום appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "and·the·earth" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "today" (root יום, 168x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root בכם ("in·you") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root אבד ("for·perishing") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·possess·it', dividing the verse into phrases of 16 and 6 words.
Onkelos
I call as witnesses against you today the heavens and the earth: you shall utterly perish quickly from upon the land to which you are crossing the Jordan to possess; you shall not prolong your days upon it, for you shall be utterly destroyed.
Rashi
העידתי בכם I CALL AS WITNESSES AGAINST YOU [THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH] — Behold I summon them to be witnesses that I have warned you.
Ibn Ezra
"I call to witness against you today" — some say the meaning of heaven and earth as witnesses is: the angels and human beings. Others say it refers to rain and soil, on the model of "your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze" (Leviticus 26:19). What seems correct to me is that they serve as witnesses because they see [Israel] constantly — them and their children — for they endure, as in "like the days of the heavens over the earth" (Deuteronomy 11:21); and likewise "hear, O mountains, Hashem's dispute" (Micah 6:2); and likewise "this stone shall be a witness against us" (Joshua 24:27). Perhaps someone will object that "the heavens will vanish like smoke" (Isaiah 51:6) and similar verses — but that objector is awake while his heart is asleep. "You will perish" [תאבדון] — like "you will learn" [תלמדון], because it is not in construct form.
Chizkuni
את השמים ואת הארץ, “both heaven and earth;” Moses refers to all the stars in heaven, as well as to the permanent and unalterable phenomena that are part of the earth. [The rock of Gibraltar, the Himalayan Mountains, etc. Ed.] (Compare Ibn Ezra)
Rabbeinu Bahya
העידותי בכם היום את השמים ואת הארץ, “I have called as witnesses against you this day heaven and earth, etc.” Ibn Ezra quotes an opinion according to which Moses meant the angels and people on earth when he said that he called heaven and earth as witness. It is also possible that the reference was to rain. Moses meant that if the people kept the covenant rain would be forthcoming, whereas if not the heavens would be like iron, i.e. the behavior of heaven would reflect whether the Israelites kept the commandments of the Torah. Similarly, seeing that the Torah had also stated that if the people did not keep the Torah that the earth would be like copper, whereas otherwise it would yield its produce, this too could account for Moses mentioning heaven and earth as witness (compare Leviticus 26,19). Ibn Ezra understands the fact that Moses appointed heaven and earth as witness to Israel’s performance of the Torah’s commandments as due to no one else being able to watch such developments around the clock. Any other kinds of witnesses would have to take time off their duties as witnesses. This is not the only time inert objects have been cited as witness; compare Joshua 24,27: “and this stone (monument) shall be as a witness for us.”
Kli Yakar
“For you will surely perish.” This repetition of language, as well as the repetition of “destruction” that he mentioned, and also the repetition of “making” that he mentioned when he said and you make a graven image, and you do evil, etc. — these can be interpreted according to the Midrashic approach where our Sages said (Midrash Rabbah Lamentations 1:57): “They sinned doubly, as it says (Lamentations 1:8), Jerusalem has grievously sinned. And they were punished doubly, as it says (Isaiah 40:2), For she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. And they are comforted doubly, as it says (Isaiah 40:1), Comfort, comfort My people.” But could it really enter your mind that they would be punished doubly more than they sinned? For this would not be consistent with the attribute of the Merciful One, blessed be He. And likewise, we need to understand what is the double nature of the sin. Rather, this is its interpretation: According to what is said For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to dig for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13). Here is one evil that is actually two, because if they had worshipped Him in partnership [with other gods], at the very least the evil would have been singular, namely the association of God’s name with something else. But they have forsaken Me comp/letely, not even worshipping Him in partnership, and this is a double evil — namely idol worship and abandonment of God. Therefore, their punishment was doubled in this manner, for God abandoned Israel and filled the cities of the nations, as it is written I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste (Ezekiel 26:2) — Tyre was only filled through Jerusalem’s destruction. And if both were destroyed, Jerusalem would have found half-comfort in the troubles of others, but now that one rises while the other falls, she has received double for all her sins. It does not say “for her sins” but rather for all her sins, meaning that along with her double sins, she also received a double blow as punishment in this manner. Similarly, the consolation will be double with the abandonment of the nations and the success of Israel. Therefore it says here, and you make a graven image — this is the making of idolatry; and you do evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, to provoke Him — this is a second act, that they will not even worship Him in partnership, for one who provokes is not a worshipper. For this reason, He doubled the destruction and annihilation, as it says, for she has received double. And concerning this He said, You will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will lead you — showing that the lands of the nations will be full, while your land will be desolate. And after saying and you will return to the Lord, etc., He said, to drive out nations greater and mightier than you from before you, etc. This is the double consolation that will occur in the future, just as it was on the day they went up from the land of Egypt.
Tur HaArokh
העידותי בכם היום “I call up against you as witness this day!” that you will perish in short order, (if you ignore my warnings) for He will not have a great deal of patience with you once you have become guilty of idolatry. Even though this paragraph is in the nature of a warning, Moses did not phrase it as if it were something conditional, i.e. he did not preface it with the word “אם, etc.” The reason is that over and above being a warning, this is a prophecy, and prophecies are not prefaced by “if.” Nonetheless, any prophecy predicting something disastrous need not come true, it is by its very nature a warning, exhorting people to make fulfillment of the prophecy unnecessary. The wording of this paragraph is also what prompted our sages to conclude that Moses in this paragraph alludes to both the destruction of the first Temple, as well as to the destruction of the second Temple. They read this into the wordsונושנתם בארץ, “you will have been in the land for a long time,” and they see in the use of the words בנים ובני בנים a double meaning, as if Moses was exhorting the people to have enough בינה, good sense, to conduct themselves in such a way that what he foresees will not have to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Rashbam
את השמים ואת הארץ, as spelled out in 11,17 where it is described that these “witnesses” would withhold the harvests the people depend on if they failed to observe the laws of the Torah.
And Hashem shall scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left few in number among the nations, where Hashem shall lead you away.
verse value 4129 — יְהֹוָ֛ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 55 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֛ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "men·of" (מְתֵ֣י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·you·shall·remain" (וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 461: you, you. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·he·shall·scatter" (וְהֵפִ֧יץ), "the·peoples" (בָּעַמִּ֑ים), "men·of" (מְתֵ֣י). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "the·peoples" (root עם, 123x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root פוץ ("and·he·shall·scatter") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root מספר ("number") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·peoples', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 9 words. Full calculation: וְהֵפִ֧יץ [and·he·shall·scatter] (191) + יְהֹוָ֛ה [Hashem] (26) + אֶתְכֶ֖ם [you] (461) + בָּעַמִּ֑ים [the·peoples] (162) + וְנִשְׁאַרְתֶּם֙ [and·you·shall·remain] (997) + מְתֵ֣י [men·of] (450) + מִסְפָּ֔ר [number] (380) + בַּגּוֹיִ֕ם [the·nations] (61) + אֲשֶׁ֨ר [that] (501) + יְנַהֵ֧ג [he·shall·drive] (68) + יְהֹוָ֛ה [Hashem] (26) + אֶתְכֶ֖ם [you] (461) + שָֽׁמָּה [there] (345) = 4129.
Onkelos
And Hashem will scatter you among the nations, and you will remain a people few in number among the nations to which Hashem will lead you.
Ramban
AND YE SHALL BE LEFT FEW IN NUMBER. He is stating that we will be left as a minority among any of the nations whereto G-d will lead us, for He will scatter us as the four winds of the heaven, but in our totality we are many [i.e., Israel will remain a large nation, but because of our dispersion we are in a minority in each of the many countries] — praise be to G-d [that in our totality we are many]!
Ibn Ezra
"Few in number" — I have explained it [elsewhere].
Tur HaArokh
ונשארתם מתי מספר, “and you will be left few in number.” This is not a reference to the total number of Jews, but a prediction that due to the dispersal of the people in the Diaspora, each host country will have only a small number of Jews. If a census were to be taken of all the Jews in all the various countries, they would still amount to a sizable number.
And there you shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
verse value 3432 — אֱלֹהִ֔ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 65 letters. Notable word values: "gods" (אֱלֹהִ֔ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. Verse gematria: 3432 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "tree" (עֵ֣ץ, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·you·shall·serve·there" (וַעֲבַדְתֶּם־שָׁ֣ם, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 37: not, not, not. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·shall·serve·there" (וַעֲבַדְתֶּם־שָׁ֣ם), "they·cannot·see" (לֹֽא־יִרְאוּן֙), "they·smell" (יְרִיחֻֽן). The root לא appears 3 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "gods" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "not" (root לא, 214x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root אדם ("man") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root עץ ("tree") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'man', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 10 words.
Onkelos
And there you will serve the peoples who worship idols — the work of human hands, wood and stone — which neither see nor hear, neither eat nor smell.
Rashi
ועבדתם שם אלהים AND THERE YE SHALL SERVE GODS — Understand this as the Targum does: And there ye shall serve peoples who serve idols, for since you serve those who serve them (idols) it will be as though you serve them.
Ramban
AND THERE YE SHALL SERVE GODS. “When you serve their worshippers it is as though you serve them [the idols].” This is the language of Rashi. Now I have already explained the secret thereof that he who dwells outside of the Land is as if he worshipped the idols, and the expression, [and there ye shall serve gods] the work of men’s hands indicates that the service begins with those on high and descends to the idols below, as I have mentioned in the section Acharei Moth. NOR DO THEY EAT, NOR SMELL. The purport thereof is to state that they [the idols] remain inanimate stones as they were to begin with, having no spirit of life at all, not even mortal life, as does man. For at first he said, which neither see, nor hear, meaning that they are not G-d and see not the suffering of their servants, nor hear their prayers, nor save them from their troubles. And then he went back and said that they do not even have the inferior [mortal] life of man. Thus the one who makes them is more honored than they. Or perhaps the sense of the verse is in relation to the honor of the Supreme One, the verse thus stating: “which neither see the suffering of their worshippers, nor hear their prayers, nor eat, since no fire ever comes out from before them and consumes their offerings, nor smell their [offerings’] sweet odors.” Now Scripture adopted the general usage of language, but in fact the idols have none of these senses.
Ibn Ezra
"They will see and hear" — he mentions four of the senses; there is no need to mention the fifth, for it is more gross than all of them, and furthermore it is the root of bodily life. Do not be troubled by the shift from plural to singular in "you will seek" and "you will find" — for Scripture speaks sometimes to the many, and sometimes to one nation or one individual.
Sforno
ועבדתם שם אלוהים מעשה ידי אדם, when Jews find themselves outside of the land of Israel against their will and in the course of time they are invited by member of their host country, they are not guilty of deliberately performed idolatrous practices. (Avodah Zarah 8). אשר לא יראון, because they do not do what they do out of their own free will, as do the members of the host nations who by fashioning the same kinds of sculptures or drawing similar pictures do so as an act of admiration for the idols they worship. When the members of the host countries make such sculptures they mean to draw attention to the force in the universe which is responsible for such phenomena in our day and age. [in the author’s time, art, generally, was legitimate only if it claimed to represent matters compatible with the dogmas of the Church, for instance. Ed.] The members of the host countries labour under the mistaken belief that the “originators” of the phenomena they worship produced what they produced out of their own volition; they do not realise that these “originators” had been programmed to do this by G’d the Creator. They pray to these phenomena thinking that these have the power to help them. Moses, representing G’d, says that the fact is that no phenomenon in this physical universe is able to do anything unless it has first been sanctioned by G’d.
Chizkuni
ועבדתם שם וגו, “and there you will worship, etc.” We find a similar construction in Chronicles II 15,3: וימים רבים לישראל ללא אלוהי אמת, וללא כהן מורה, וללא מורה וללא תורה.”^^!has gone many years without the true G-d, without a priest to give them instruction, and without teaching and without the Torah.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
ועבדתם שם אלוהים מעשה ידי אדם, “and there you will serve (worship) a god which is the work of man.” This is not a prophecy that the Israelites when in exile in host countries will themselves worship idols, G’d forbid. The meaning is that once you have been exiled you will become slaves to people worshipping idols, so that indirectly you will be serving such idols (Onkelos). אשר לא יראון ולא ישמעון ולא יאכלון ולא יריחון, “deities which are neither able to see, to hear, to eat or to smell.” In this verse Moses mentions only four of the basic five senses of man, omitting to mention the sense of touch. There was no need to mention that sense separately as it is included in the statement “who cannot eat.” There was no need to mention more than one of the two senses that serve as tools of perceptions by the body. The three senses, sight, hearing, and smelling are considered mental, spiritual senses and this is why we often find them associated with G’d. Examples are: “The Lord saw” (Genesis 6,5 and many others) “G’d heard” (Numbers 11,1 and others). “The Lord smelled” (Genesis 8,21). When David describes the impotence of the idols in Psalms 115,7, he had to mention that the idols’ hands are unable to use the sense of touch, ידיהם ולא ימישון, seeing he had not mentioned the inability of the idols to eat. From this paragraph we can learn something about the importance of the five senses which are the principal tools man employs in all his activities. They are needed to fulfill the commandments of the Torah, and, inversely, they enable man to commit trespasses against the Torah. Man’s reward or punishment is due to the manner in which he employs these five senses. The reason that G’d provided man with five such senses is that they correspond to the five Books of the Torah. They also correspond to the five occasions on which “light” is mentioned in the story of creation. They also correspond to the five names by which the soul is known. They represent the complement of the body, making it the residence of the soul. The soul displays its activities by means of these five senses This is why the Torah/Bible condemns idolatry by pointing out that these idols cannot use any of their senses. Any image, cast or otherwise, which is devoid of the means of experiencing the sensations we experience by means of our senses is a priori incapable of helping anyone. How can idolaters say to their deities in times of stress: “arise and save us!” These idols are unable to rise, much less save (compare Jeremiah 2,27). The infinite wisdom of the Creator made five different parts of the body the seat of these five senses and made them gateways to the spiritual, abstract soul. Even our “scientists” admit that the manner in which these senses have been “planted” in man is phenomenal and reflects the wisdom of the Creator. The sense of touch extends throughout the body of man, any part of man’s exterior feels, tingles, hurts, when coming into contact with other phenomena. The sense of smell extends beyond the boundary of our skin, outwards. We can perceive by means of it matters which are relatively distant. The sense of hearing covers a wider area than the sense of smell, enabling us to perceive things even further distant. The sense of sight enables us to perceive matters far further removed from us than most of the phenomena we can perceive by the sense of hearing. It is the sense which we need most of all.
Tur HaArokh
ועבדתם שם אלוהים, “and there you will serve gods.” Moses refrained from adding the word אחרים, “alien, i.e. alien deities, as the Torah does on other occasions. This is an allusion to the Israelites who claim that when in the Diaspora people who engage in idolatry are not ritually impure. ולא יאכלון ולא יריחון, “that are unable to either eat or use a sense of smell.” Nachmanides writes that in the fist half of the verse Moses describes the inability of such so-called deities to ”see,” or to “hear,” meaning that they most certainly do not qualify for the title “deity.” By referring now to their inability to eat or smell, he adds that such so-called deities do not even possess the minimal attributes of all living creatures, the ability to eat or to use their sense of smell. In other words, these man-made objects are just that,-mere objects.
Rashbam
ועבדתם שם, as per Onkelos, i.e. you will be servants of idolaters ולא יריחון, as spelled out in Psalms 135,17 אשר אין רוח בהם, “these idols are not even alive, cannot even breathe.”
But from there you will seek Hashem your God; and you shall find Him, if you search after Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
verse value 3862
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 48 letters. The shortest word is "if" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·with·all·your·soul" (וּבְכׇל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ, 8 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·you·seek" (וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּ֥ם), "and·you·find" (וּמָצָ֑אתָ), "you·seek·him" (תִדְרְשֶׁ֔נּוּ). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "if" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root מצא ("and·you·find") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root דרש ("you·seek·him") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·you·find', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 4 words. Full calculation: וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּ֥ם [and·you·seek] (848) + מִשָּׁ֛ם [from·there] (380) + אֶת־יְהֹוָ֥ה [Hashem] (427) + אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ [your·God] (66) + וּמָצָ֑אתָ [and·you·find] (537) + כִּ֣י [if] (30) + תִדְרְשֶׁ֔נּוּ [you·seek·him] (960) + בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֖ [with·all·your·heart] (106) + וּבְכׇל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ [and·with·all·your·soul] (508) = 3862.
Onkelos
And from there you shall seek the fear of Hashem your God, and you will find it, for you will seek before Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Ibn Ezra
"With all your heart" — I shall yet explain it.
Sforno
ומצאת, even though you will not have a Temple at your disposal once you are exiled, not any of its sacred vessels. כי תדרשנו בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך בצר לך, the reason why you will be able to find your way to G’d is that your conditions in exile will be so tough that you will turn to G’d sincerely with all your heart and all your soul.
Or HaChaim
ובקשתם משם….בכל לבבך, "and you will seek (G'd) from there with all your heart, etc. Verses 29 and 30 require analysis. [Basically, the author tries to explain why repentance is mentioned only after exile, and why exile by itself does not appear to be classified as an affliction. Ed.] Remember there are two types of penitence. There is the kind of repentance which is self-induced when people become aware they have sinned and want to rehabilitate themselves to be in good standing with their Creator. The second type of repentance is only the result of the sinner first having suffered severe afflictions at the hands of his enemies, etc. The words: "you will seek from there the Lord your G'd" refer to the people whose repentance was not due to their first having suffered persecution, but was motivated by their fondness of G'd. Moses promises "you will find Him because you seek Him with all your heart" even though you may have committed the most serious sins, such as idolatry, as detailed in verse 28. The fact that you found your way back to G'd will save you from having to experience afflictions. Concerning the people who become penitents only after having experienced severe afflictions, Moses says: "when you are in dire straits and all the retributions G'd has warned you of have found you at the end of days, you will return to the Lord your G'd and hearken to His voice." Moses makes clear that this repentance is not self-induced and that is why he does not characterise this repentance as being בכל לבבך, "with all your heart." The only reason you decided to become penitents is to escape the afflictions and persecutions. These penitents will have to compensate for their lack of whole-heartedness when they decide to rehabilitate themselves by absorbing more afflictions before their account with G'd is finally settled. This is the precise opposite of what happens to their counter-parts who adopted the path of penitence before they had become victims of afflictions. In their case their very penitence protects them against the afflictions which they had been in line for because of the sins they had committed. According to this interpretation the words בצר לך in verse 30 belong to what preceded them. The meter of the verses then is as follows: "When you seek out the Lord you will find him because you strive for Him with all your heart;" alternatively (the second scenario), "when you are in trouble and as a result become a penitent, even though not with your whole heart, these afflictions will still find you because you have not become a true penitent. In either event, G'd will not destroy you as He is a merciful G'd, etc." These three verses may also be explained in the following fashion. ובקשתם משם, "You will seek from there," i.e. once you find yourselves in exile amongst other nations and you pray for your daily needs. The Torah does not speak about the exiled Israelites praying for deliverance from their exile; they only pray to make their existence ...
Rabbeinu Bahya
ומצאת, “and you will find.” Seeing that the previous verses addressed the people en masse, as a plural, we would have expected Moses to write this verse also in the plural instead of switching to the singular, “you (individually) will find.” Had Moses continued in the plural the impression would have been created that the needs of the Jewish people of which he speaks are due only to the fact that they are in exile. It would have sounded as if G’d responds only to communal prayer, communal requests and not to that of the individual. There would have been a precedent for this seeing our sages in Berachot 8 have said that G’d does not despise communal prayer, i.e. that the prayer of a congregation is more effective than that of a mere individual. The Talmud there quotes Job 36,5: “Surely He is mighty, is not contemptuous,” as the source of its message. For these reasons Moses made a point of telling us that G’d does respond to individuals who seek Him out.
In your distress, when all these things are come upon you, in the end of days, you will return to Hashem your God, and heed His voice;
verse value 3411
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 58 letters. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֔, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·they·find·you" (וּמְצָא֕וּךָ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 50: to·you, all. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "in·distress" (בַּצַּ֣ר), "and·they·find·you" (וּמְצָא֕וּךָ). 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "unto·Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "the·words" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root צר ("in·distress") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root אחרית ("after·part") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'these', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 7 words. Full calculation: בַּצַּ֣ר [in·distress] (292) + לְךָ֔ [to·you] (50) + וּמְצָא֕וּךָ [and·they·find·you] (163) + כֹּ֖ל [all] (50) + הַדְּבָרִ֣ים [the·words] (261) + הָאֵ֑לֶּה [these] (41) + בְּאַחֲרִית֙ [after·part] (621) + הַיָּמִ֔ים [the·days] (105) + וְשַׁבְתָּ֙ [and·you·return] (708) + עַד־יְהֹוָ֣ה [unto·Hashem] (100) + אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ [your·God] (66) + וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֖ [and·you·shall·hear] (816) + בְּקֹלֽוֹ [in·his·voice] (138) = 3411.
Onkelos
When it is distressing for you and all these things overtake you, at the end of days, you will return to the fear of Hashem your God and receive His Word.
Ramban
AND THOU WILT RETURN TO THE ETERNAL THY G-D, AND HEARKEN UNTO HIS VOICE. This, too, is an allusion to the redemption from [the exile in] Babylon, that they will repent to G-d and confess [their sins] before Him and hearken to the voice of the prophets that He will appoint for them. Therefore, he promised them that He would not destroy them, nor forget the covenant of their fathers, as He said, And I will remember My covenant with Jacob etc. And at the end of this book he will allude to the future redemption as I have explained, and I will yet mention it with the help of G-d.
Sforno
באחרית הימים, at the end of your exile, as Moses had predicted in Deut. 30,1-2.
Tur HaArokh
ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך ושמעת בקולו, “then you will return unto Hashem your G’d, and you will heed His voice.” This too is an allusion to the redemption from the Babylonian exile when the people did return to Hashem and confessed their sins before Him [in the days of Ezra, Ed.] having listened to the exhortations of the prophets He had put at their disposal. In view of this, Moses was able to reassure the people that they would not disappear from the stage of history. This is reflected in Moses quoting G’d’s promise that He would remember His covenant with the patriarchs. (Leviticus 27,42) At the very end of our passage (verse 40) Moses hints at the final redemption, after which there will be no more exile.
for Hashem your God is a merciful God; He will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.
verse value 4352 — יְהֹוָ֣ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 60 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֣ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "destroy·you" (יַשְׁחִיתֶ֑ךָ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 37: not, not. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "compassionate" (רַחוּם֙), "destroy·you" (יַשְׁחִיתֶ֑ךָ), "he·will·forget" (יִשְׁכַּח֙). The root לא appears 3 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 רפה ("forsake·you") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'destroy·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 7 words.
Onkelos
For Hashem your God is a merciful God; He will not forsake you, nor will He destroy you, nor will He forget the covenant of your fathers that He swore to them.
Rashi
לא ירפך means, He will not let loose of thee so as not to hold thee fast by His hands. The expression לא ירפך is an expression signifying: He will not cause something (our Hiphil) — He will not give thee any looseness, i.e. He will not separate you from Him. Similar is (Song 3:4) “I hold him fast, and I will not let him loose (אַרְפֶּנוּ )”, which is not vowelled אֶרְפֶּנוּ (which is Kal and an impossible form of the root רפה “to be loose”). Always the expression “letting slack (רפה)” in the Hiphil refers to one who causes looseness to others or to one who causes it to himself. For example (2 Kings 4:2) הרפה לה means, “give her looseness”; (Deuteronomy 9:14) הרף ממני means, “Give looseness to thyself from off me”.
Ibn Ezra
"He will not forsake you" — the opposite of "He will strengthen you."
For ask now of the days past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the one end of heaven to the other, whether there has been any such thing as this great thing is, or has been heard like it?
verse value 5512 — אֱלֹהִ֤ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 23 words, 106 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֤ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. Verse gematria: 5512 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "for" (כִּ֣י, 2 letters) and the longest is "from·the·day" (לְמִן־הַיּוֹם֙, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 395: heaven, heaven. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "ask" (שְׁאַל־נָא֩), "days" (לְיָמִ֨ים), "that·were" (אֲשֶׁר־הָי֣וּ). The root יום appears 2 times in this verse. 19 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "upon·the·earth" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root שאל ("ask") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root ראשון ("first") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'heaven', dividing the verse into phrases of 16 and 7 words.
Onkelos
For inquire now concerning the former days that were before you, from the day that Hashem created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens: has there ever been anything as great as this thing, or has its like ever been heard?
Rashi
לימים ראשנים is the same as על ימים ראשנים [ASK NOW] REGARDING THE FORMER DAYS. ולמקצה השמים AND FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN — i.e. and also ask of all the creatures from one end to the other end of heaven. This is its plain sense, but a Midrashic explanation is: it teaches us regarding Adam's height, that it reached from earth to heaven, and that this is the very same measurement as from one end of heaven to the other (Sanhedrin 38b). הנהיה כדבר הגדול הזה [ASK] … WHETHER THERE HATH BEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS GREAT THING — And what is the great thing? What is stated in the two following verses: השמע עם וגו׳ DID EVER A PEOPLE HEAR, etc., and
Ramban
FOR ASK NOW OF THE DAYS PAST. He states “G-d will not forgive you, nor will He be long-suffering with you for idolatry and corruption with graven images and all forms of likenesses, for He has done with you what He has never done with any nation. He has made you hear the voice of G-d speaking out of the midst of the fire so that His fear may be before you and that you declare His Unity and not corrupt yourselves. He has taken you to Him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and by wonders so that you should not worship anything beside Him. Thus you have been shown all this with your eyes that thou mightest know that the Eternal, He is G-d, that He is One, and His Name One, and there is none else beside Him. For out of heaven He made thee to hear His voice to teach you the discipline of wisdom; and upon the earth He made thee to see His great fire burning unto the heart of heaven, and all His words thou didst hear out of the midst of the fire. And He brought thee out ‘b’phanav’ (with His presence), similar to ‘al panav’ (before His presence), with His great power which is in His presence. And since the Great Name is G-d in heaven above and upon the earth beneath, and there is none else you shall keep His commandments and His statutes so that it may be well with thee in heaven above, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth beneath.”
Ibn Ezra
"For ask now" — concerning past days; ask now. "From the day" — the lamed is superfluous, as is the case with many others; or it is a stylistic flourish. "And to the ends of the heavens" — an allusion to the air [atmosphere], which has extremities, as I have explained. "Has it ever happened" — in its days. "Or has the like ever been heard" — and what was it that a people heard?
Sforno
כי שאל נא, the proof of what I said that G’d will not forget the covenant made with your forefathers is that at Mount Sinai during the revelation all of you had been elevated to the level of prophecy. When I took you to be My people this did not mean that each and everyone of you by their own merits had deserved to be elevated to that spiritual status. I did this on account of the patriarchs. The difference between you and the gentile nations is that although the exceptional gentile may have experienced prophetic insights, there never has been a nation who have experienced something similar as a whole nation as you did at Mount Sinai.
Chizkuni
כי שאל נא, “for ask now of the days past;” make enquiries of earlier generations if any nation ever experienced what you have been granted to experience;” seeing that we have been granted more privileges than any generation of mankind experienced, our G-d is especially mindful that we do not prove ungrateful.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי שאל נא לימים ראשונים, “if you inquire into the first days of history,” Moses rationalizes why G’d is unforgiving concerning the sin of idolatry if committed by the Israelites, seeing His relationship with the Jewish people is of a unique nature. He invites the people to research the annals of history as they will find that never since the creation of man has there ever been a people who had such close relations with its G’d. You will not find that G’d revealed Himself to any nation as He did to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. A rational approach to these lines: every nation is obligated to serve its Creator but not in the same degree as the Israelites. G’d has extended Himself on behalf of the Jewish people as He has not done for any other nation. The Jewish people are the only ones who have an intimate knowledge of G’d as “Hashem.” Idolaters are not even allowed to praise G’d using that attribute as we know from David in Psalms 145,21 תהלת ה’ ידבר פי, ויברך כל בשר שם קדשו לעולם ועד ואנחנו נברך י-ה, “the praise of the Lord my mouth will proclaim, but all flesh will bless His holy name forever.” The psalmist distinguishes between how Israel and the rest of the nations relate to the Lord even while praising Him. The reason that at the end of that verse the Jewish people say ואנחנו נברך י-ה, “let us bless the attribute י-ה instead of the full tetragram, is that these two letters describe the terrestrial world which was created with the letter ה, and the celestial regions which were created with the letter י of the tetragram. Seeing that the psalmist says מעתה ועד עולם הללויה, “from now (on terrestrial earth) until forever (in the hereafter and the perfect world to come),” the letters י-ה were quite appropriate in this psalm. למן היום אשר ברא אלו-הים אדם על הארץ, “starting from the day G’d created man on earth;” at that point the doors of inquiry were slammed shut. We are not allowed to investigate what G’d did prior to creating man (Chagigah 11). Our sages phrased it thus: “investigation of what preceded the creation of man, what will occur after the earth as we know it ceases to function is prohibited.” Neither are we allowed to know what is “above” and “below” the visible universe. Even though the Torah preceded the creation of our visible universe the terms of reference for our investigation begin only with the creation of man. הנשמע כמוהו, “has anything like it ever been heard of?” These words belong to what follows, i.e. השמע עם, “has any nation heard?” In other words: “has it ever been heard that a nation as a whole hears the voice of G’d speaking out of the fire, etc., as you have done and remained alive?” Normally, man is not capable of hearing the voice of G’d until after his soul has departed from his body. Another meaning of the word ויחי, could be that such a people remains alive after death of their bodies as did the Jewish people? This would be a reference to the Talmud in Shabbat 88 that upon hearing the first of the Ten Commandments from G’d directly, the souls of the Jewish people flew off and the people had to be resurrected. The Talmud bases this on Song of Songs 5,6: “my soul departed when He spoke.” G’d resurrected the people by making dew descend upon them. As a result of this experience the Israelites turned to Moses and said to him: “if we have to continue to listen to the voice of the Lord our G’d any further we will die” (5,22). The word used by the people in that verse, i.e. ומתנו instead of נמות, suggests that they had already died once. They were afraid that they would have to experience this a second time. This proves that the first time there was a collective resurrection during the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. The second time something similar occurred was when Joshua requested for the sun to stand still in its orbit (Joshua 10,12). Compare Devarim Rabbah on this (Lieberman edition page 43). I have referred to this in my commentary on Exodus 19,17
Tur HaArokh
כי שאל נא לימים ראשונים, “Wish you would examine the history of mankind, etc.” Nachmanides writes that this verse introduces Moses explaining why Hashem, otherwise of almost unending patience, delaying retribution, will not do so if the Israelites become guilty of idolatry. Anyone examining history cannot fail to become aware of how much G’d has done for His people. He has not bothered to do anywhere nearly as much for any other nation on earth. He has revealed His existence, His presence, His power, to this people as to no other people. If, instead of loyalty and gratitude they were to turn their back on Him, what possible use could it be, to tolerate this and wait patiently for them to recognize the error of their ways? [I paraphrased a little. Ed.]
Daat Zkenim
כי שאל נא וגו, “You only have to inquire, etc.;” if you were to ask why G–d is so much more strict with us than with other nations, all you have to do is to ask yourselves if there is any nation whose fate has been as carefully supervised by G–d as yours from the time of Avraham; in light of all that He has done for you, do you not think that He is entitled to measure you by different yardsticks?
Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
verse value 3536 — אֱלֹהִ֜ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 40 letters. Notable word values: "god" (אֱלֹהִ֜ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. Verse gematria: 3536 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "people" (עָם֩, 2 letters) and the longest is "as·you·heard" (כַּאֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַ֥עְתָּ, 8 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "heard" (הֲשָׁ֣מַֽע), "as·you·heard" (כַּאֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַ֥עְתָּ). The root שמע appears 2 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "god" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "speaking" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "people" (root עם, 123x in Deuteronomy). Full calculation: הֲשָׁ֣מַֽע [heard] (415) + עָם֩ [people] (110) + ק֨וֹל [voice] (136) + אֱלֹהִ֜ים [god] (86) + מְדַבֵּ֧ר [speaking] (246) + מִתּוֹךְ־הָאֵ֛שׁ [from·the·midst·of·fire] (772) + כַּאֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַ֥עְתָּ [as·you·heard] (1331) + אַתָּ֖ה [you] (406) + וַיֶּֽחִי [and·he·lived] (34) = 3536.
Onkelos
Has a people ever heard the voice of the Word of Hashem speaking from the midst of fire, as you yourself heard, and survived?
Targum Yonatan
Hath it ever been that a people should hear the voice of the Word of the Lord, the Living God, speaking from the midst of fire, as you heard, and remained alive?
Or has God assayed to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Hashem your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
verse value 5871 — אֱלֹהִ֗ים = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 26 words, 120 letters. Notable word values: "God" (אֱלֹהִ֗ים) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "or" (א֣וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "wonders" (וּבְמוֹפְתִ֜ים, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 120: has·ventured, strong. 8 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "has·ventured" (הֲנִסָּ֣ה), "trials" (בְּמַסֹּת֩), "signs" (בְּאֹתֹ֨ת). The root אלהים appears 2 times in this verse. 23 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "that·he·did" (root עשה, 163x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root נסה ("has·ventured") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root מסה ("trials") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'great', dividing the verse into phrases of 19 and 7 words.
Onkelos
Or the miracles that Hashem did to reveal Himself and to redeem for Himself a people from the midst of a people — with miracles, with signs and with wonders, and with war, and with a mighty hand, and with an upraised arm, and with great visions — like all that Hashem your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?
Rashi
הנסה אלהים which means, HAS ANY GOD DONE MIRACLES (לבוא לקחת לו גוי וגו׳ ,(נס TO GO AND TAKE HIM A NATION [FROM THE MIDST OF A NATION] etc. — All these letters ה are interrogative prefixes, and therefore they are vowelled with Chataph Patach: הֲנהיה, הֲנשמע, הֲשמע, הֲנסה. במסות BY TRIALS — through trials imposed upon Him He showed them His mighty deeds, as e.g., (Exodus 8:5) “Boast yourself over Me”, whether I am able to do so: here you have a trial (putting God to the proof). באתת i.e. BY SIGNS to confirm that he is the messenger of the Omnipresent, as e.g., (Exodus 4:2) “What is that in your hand?" ובמפתים these are WONDERS: — that He brought upon them (the Egyptians) wondrous plagues. ובמלחמה AND BY WAR, at the Red Sea, as it is said, (Exodus 14:25) “For the Lord fought for them".
Ibn Ezra
"Or has God assayed" — some say this is profane language [i.e., testing implies uncertainty], God forbid! God forbid! Rather it is sacred language. "Has He assayed" — in the manner of human beings, so that listeners will understand. "With trials" — a collective noun; or its meaning is: with trials that came through signs, as in "and he performed the signs before the people" (Exodus 4:30). "And with wonders" — the ten plagues; as it is written "and Moses and Aaron did." "And with war" — this may refer to the slaying of the firstborn and the judgments upon the gods of Egypt. "And with a mighty hand" — in that Israel went out with a high hand and an outstretched arm, which signifies the pillar of fire and cloud. "And with great terrors" — the drowning of Pharaoh and his army, together with the splitting of the sea for Israel. "In Egypt" — against the people of Egypt.
Sforno
או הנסה אלוקים, even though G’d from time to time may have seen to it that certain people among the gentiles escaped what seemed like imminent disaster, such instances were limited to a few select individuals; במסות באותות, all of which proved that your good fortune was not due to some coincidence but had been planned by G’d. ובזרוע נטויה, ready to inflict further chastisements to demonstrate that that if the afflicted person did not respond with penitence You would continue to discipline him.
Chizkuni
?או הנסה, “or did He ever test or examine?” This is all part of the questions you must ask yourselves לקחת לו גוי מקרב גוי, “to take for Himself a nation from the midst of another nation, etc.;” after all, you were Egyptians just like all the other Egyptians. We have proof of this from Ezekiel 20,7: ואומר אליהם איש גלולי עיניו השליכו, “I also said to them: cast away everyone of you all the detestable things that you are drawn to.” ובמלחמה, “and by war;” for the Lord fought on their behalf against Egypt. (Exodus 14,25) ובמוראים, “all very visibly.” [The author, basing himself on the Targum traces the word to ראה, “to see.” Ed.]
Rabbeinu Bahya
או הנסה אלו-הים לבא לקחת לו גוי מקרב גוי במסות, Or, did G’d ever attempt to remove one nation from the midst of a nation with displays of power, etc.” the word מסות is the same as נסיונות, “display of power,” such as when Moses offered Pharaoh that he could determine when he wanted the plague of frogs to disappear (Exodus 8,5). באותות, “with miracles,” i.e. certain signs on Moses’ staff. ובמופתים, “and with wonders.” This is a reference to the Ten Plagues. ובמלחמה, and with war, i.e. G’d fighting the Egyptian army at the Sea of Reeds. We read there that Pharaoh said: “for the Lord is fighting against Egypt” (Exodus 14,25). וביד חזקה, “and with a strong hand.” This is a reference to the Israelites leaving Egypt ביד רמה, with their hands held high.” ובזרוע נטויה, “and with an outstretched arm.” This is a reference to the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire in which G’d manifested Himself during the Exodus. ובמוראים גדולים, “and with awesome deeds.” This is a reference to the splitting of the Sea and the drowning of the Egyptians in it. במצרים לעיניך, “in Egypt before your eyes.” The word לעיניך is a figure of speech which occurs frequently after the Torah had first spoken in the plural and then suddenly reverts to the singular, i.e. the eyes of an individual instead of the eyes of the people collectively. A well known example of such a construction is found in Leviticus 19,9 where the Torah writes ובקצרכם את קציר ארצכם לא תכלה, “when you (collectively) will harvest the grain harvest of your lands, you (individual) must not completely cut, etc.” It is possible that Torah here wanted that our verse commenced with the letter א and concludes with the letter כ, seeing that the combined numerical value of the these letters is the same as the name of G’d אהיה, i.e. 21. It was this name with which Moses’ mission to the Jewish people commenced (Exodus 3,14) a form of the attribute of Justice contained within the attribute of Mercy. Seeing that the whole purpose of the Exodus was the acceptance by the Jewish people of the Torah at Mount Sinai, it is fitting that Moses continues after mentioning the degree to which G’d extended Himself to orchestrate the Exodus, אתה הראת לדעת, “you have been given visual knowledge that the Lord is the G’d, etc.,” a reference to the unforgettable experiences at Mount Sinai. In verse 36, מן השמים וגו’, you find all the letters of the aleph bet, just as in the Ten Commandments you also find all the letters of the aleph bet. The Ten Commandments also commence with the letter א and conclude with the letter כ, just as does our verse here.
Daat Zkenim
ובמלחמה, and in war; Moses considers the crossing by the Jewish people of the sea of reeds the end of a “war” as he had referred to G–d as conducting war in the song of thanksgiving he composed after that event, as well as in the critical hours preceding it. Compare Exodus 14,14: ה' ילחם לחם, “the Lord will fight on your behalf.”
To you it was shown, that you might know that Hashem, He is God; there is none else beside Him.
verse value 1898 — יְהֹוָ֖ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 37 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 1898 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·God" (הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "besides·him" (מִלְּבַדּֽוֹ). 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "the·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·God', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: אַתָּה֙ [you] (406) + הׇרְאֵ֣תָ [were·shown] (606) + לָדַ֔עַת [to·know] (504) + כִּ֥י [that] (30) + יְהֹוָ֖ה [Hashem] (26) + ה֣וּא [he·is] (12) + הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים [the·God] (91) + אֵ֥ין [nothing] (61) + ע֖וֹד [else] (80) + מִלְּבַדּֽוֹ [besides·him] (82) = 1898.
Onkelos
You were shown this, in order to know that Hashem, He is God; there is none besides Him.
Rashi
הראת — Understand this as the Targum has it: Thou hast been shown. When the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah, He rent open to them the seven heavens, and just as he rent open the higher regions so did He rend open the lower, so that they saw that He was alone (sole God). On this account it is stated, "Thou hast been shown that thou mayest know [that the Lord is God, there is none besides Him]" (Pesikta Rabbati 20 towards the end).
Ibn Ezra
"You were shown" — in the passive voice; the meaning is that God showed you all these things so that you might know that He alone is God. The meaning of "there is none else" — as I hinted in my commentary on Ecclesiastes on the verse "and those higher than them" (Ecclesiastes 5:7). Regarding the word "God" [Elohim], I explained it in the portion of "and Jethro heard" (Exodus 18): it is written "and God spoke" and "God will answer him by voice" and "God came" and "where God was" — for the One speaking is God; there are those who do not understand the concise mode, but this is a deep mystery.
Sforno
אתה הראית, G’d has shown you all this. לדעת, for you to know and understand beyond any doubt כי ה' הוא האלוקים, that Lord is the G’d Who is responsible for every phenomenon in the universe, that He has created it.
Rabbeinu Bahya
אתה הראת לדעת, “You have witnessed a clear demonstration, etc.” All the miracles you have witnessed are equivalent to your having first-hand knowledge of the greatness of the Lord and that there is none beside Him. Verse 39, והשבות אל לבבך makes the same point once more by asking the people to also open their mental eyes and draw the proper conclusions from what they had observed with their physical eyes. Incidentally, you will not find anywhere that when both attributes of G’d appear successively that they occur in any other sequence than Hashem Elohim. We never find the sequence Ha-elohim Hashem. The two names when used successively sometimes refer to the manifest miracle on the one hand, and the “hidden” miracles, i.e. G’d’s interference in history which is not visible to our physical eyes.
Out of heaven He made you hear His voice, that He might instruct you; and upon earth He made you see His great fire; and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire.
verse value 4986
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 62 letters. Verse gematria: 4986 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "fire" (הָאֵֽשׁ, 3 letters) and the longest is "from·the·heavens" (מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם, 7 letters). 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "caused·you·to·hear" (הִשְׁמִֽיעֲךָ֥), "his·voice" (אֶת־קֹל֖וֹ), "to·chasten" (לְיַסְּרֶ֑ךָּ). The root שמע appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·upon·the·earth" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "and·his·words" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "caused·you·to·hear" (root שמע, 92x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root יסר ("to·chasten") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·chasten', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 8 words. Full calculation: מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם [from·the·heavens] (485) + הִשְׁמִֽיעֲךָ֥ [caused·you·to·hear] (445) + אֶת־קֹל֖וֹ [his·voice] (537) + לְיַסְּרֶ֑ךָּ [to·chasten] (320) + וְעַל־הָאָ֗רֶץ [and·upon·the·earth] (402) + הֶרְאֲךָ֙ [he·showed·you] (226) + אֶת־אִשּׁ֣וֹ [fire] (708) + הַגְּדוֹלָ֔ה [the·great] (53) + וּדְבָרָ֥יו [and·his·words] (228) + שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ [you·heard] (810) + מִתּ֥וֹךְ [midst] (466) + הָאֵֽשׁ [fire] (306) = 4986.
Onkelos
From the heavens He let you hear the voice of His Word, to instruct you; and upon the earth He showed you His great fire, and His words you heard from the midst of the fire.
Ibn Ezra
"To discipline you" — therefore He made you hear His voice, so that you would fear Him, as they said: "and let not God speak with us lest we die" (Exodus 20:16). For you trembled on account of your eyes and ears. And there is another reason He made you hear His voice — because He loved your forefathers — these being the three [patriarchs].
Sforno
ליסרך, to bring you to the level of prophecy on the occasion of your receiving the Torah, Your experience at that time paralleled the experience of the prophet Eliyahu at the same mountain in Kings I 19,11 when he first experienced a tremendously powerful wind, etc. He also, like you experienced the fire (Kings I 19,12), before being addressed by G’d.
Or HaChaim
מן השמים השמיעך את קולו ליסרך, "He made you hear His voice out of the heaven in order to discipline you, etc." The meaning of this verse is similar to what I have explained on Exodus 20,1. I have already referred to it on verse 12 in our chapter where Moses underlined that the people did not see a visual, image during the revelation at Mount Sinai. We mentioned that the people heard the first two of the Ten Commandments directly from G'd. This is what Moses meant when he said: "out of the heaven, etc." The meaning of the word ליסרך is "in order to remove the residual pollutants from you;" we have explained this concept already repeatedly. When Moses said ועל הארץ הראך את אשו, "He showed you His fire on the earth," he referred to the manner in which the Israelites heard the other eight of the Ten Commandments. He alluded to the people "seeing" those sounds in the form of fiery flames which had been "hewn" from G'd's words. I have explained already that Exodus 20,15 referred to this phenomenon with the verse: "and the whole nation observed the sounds, etc." Moses elaborated on this once more in verse 12 of our chapter which mentioned the absence of a visual image for the people to see at that time. The words: "and you have heard His words out of the fire" are most appropriate as they refer to the last eight of the Ten Commandments, the "fire" referring to the angel which materialised and asked each individual Israelite if he accepted the commandment in question.
Rabbeinu Bahya
מן השמים השמיעך את קולו, “He let you hear His voice from the heavens.” The verse means that G’d’s voice emanated from heaven in order to be heard by you, but you did not hear any sound until G’d’s voice had reached the fire so that you appeared to hear His voice as coming out of the fire. If this were not the correct meaning of the verse, how could Moses first say: “you have heard the voice of G’d from the heavens,” and only afterwards: “you heard His words out of the fire?”
And because He loved your fathers, and chose their seed after them, and brought you out with His presence, with His great power, out of Egypt,
verse value 3201 — בְּכֹח֥וֹ = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 56 letters. Notable word values: "strength" (בְּכֹח֥וֹ) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "because" (כִּ֤י, 2 letters) and the longest is "your·fathers" (אֶת־אֲבֹתֶ֔יךָ, 7 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "he·loved" (אָהַב֙), "your·fathers" (אֶת־אֲבֹתֶ֔יךָ), "his·seed" (בְּזַרְע֖וֹ). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "because" (root כי, 164x in Deuteronomy); "his·face" (root פנים, 127x in Deuteronomy); "your·fathers" (root אב, 69x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root אהב ("he·loved") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root בחר ("and·he·chose") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'after·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְתַ֗חַת [and·because] (814) + כִּ֤י [because] (30) + אָהַב֙ [he·loved] (8) + אֶת־אֲבֹתֶ֔יךָ [your·fathers] (834) + וַיִּבְחַ֥ר [and·he·chose] (226) + בְּזַרְע֖וֹ [his·seed] (285) + אַחֲרָ֑יו [after·him] (225) + וַיּוֹצִֽאֲךָ֧ [and·he·brought·you·out] (133) + בְּפָנָ֛יו [his·face] (148) + בְּכֹח֥וֹ [strength] (36) + הַגָּדֹ֖ל [the·great] (42) + מִמִּצְרָֽיִם [from·Egypt] (420) = 3201.
Onkelos
And because He loved your fathers and chose their children after them, He brought you out by His Word, with His great power, from Egypt —
Rashi
ותחת כי אהב AND BECAUSE HE LOVED — i.e., and all this was because He loved thy fathers. ויוצאך בפניו AND HE BROUGHT THEE OUT BEFORE HIM — like a man who leads his son before him, as it is said, (Exodus 14:19) “And the angel of the Lord that went [before them] moved and went behind them" (see Rashi on that verse). — Another explanation of ויוצאך בפניו AND HE BROUGHT THEE FORTH IN HIS PRESENCE: — i.e. in the presence of his fathers, as it is said, (Psalms 78:12; see Rashi on that verse), “In the presence of their fathers He did wonders". Do not be surprised that it refers to them (the fathers) in the singular number (by בפניו), for you see it has already written about them in the singular number, viz., “And he chose his seed after him" (instead of “their seed after them").
Ibn Ezra
"And chose His descendants" — this alludes to Jacob; for had [the verse] said "their descendants," it would include eight other nations with us. "And He brought you out before Him" — in anger that He directed against Egypt. Some say it is as in "and the angel of His presence saved them" (Isaiah 63:9). In my view it is like "and Your presence going among [them]" (Exodus 33:15).
Sforno
ותחת כי אהב את אבותיך, having done all this because He loved your patriarchs, ויבחר בזרעו, He chose the descendants of only one of them (Yaakov) . ויוציאך בפניו, by performing a series of miraculous deeds ממצרים, from Egypt; להוריש, G’d intended to take you out of slavery, a state in which you would not have been able to appreciate His intentions.
Chizkuni
ויבחר בזרעו אחריו, “and chose their seed after them;” this is a hint to Yaakov; if the Torah had written: בזרעם אחריהם, it could have been interpreted as eight nations. (the six sons of Keturah, Esau and Ishmael) all of whom had emerged from Avraham and Yitzchok) in addition to the Jewish people. ויוציאך בפניו, and Who brought you out from its presence (the Egyptians’) as was spelled out presently, in Exodus 12,41: “יצאו כל צבאות ה' לעיני מצרים, “all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt.” This is not the only time in the Bible that Egypt is referred to in the singular mode, i.e. בפניו instead of בפניהם. One example that comes to mind, is Exodus 14,10: והנה מצרים נוסע אחריהם, and behold: Egypt is marching after them, instead of “are marching after them.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
ותחת כי אהב את אבותיך, “and on account of His having loved your patriarchs, etc.,” i.e. He allowed you to hear His voice because He loved your forefathers. ויבחר בזרעו אחריו, “and He chose “his seed” after him. Clearly the subject is Yaakov, the third of the patriarchs. This is why the Torah says: “his seed” instead of “their seed.” Had the Torah used the plural “their seed,” both Esau and Ishmael would heve been included in the “chosen people.” This is also the reason why the Torah wrote in Parshat Eykev, 10,15: “but the Lord your G’d was fond of your forefathers (pl) to love them, and He chose (of) their seed after them you from amongst all the nations, etc.” Seeing the Torah had written בזרעם “their seed,” which could have been interpreted as “all their seed, i.e. including Esau, etc.,” the Torah had to conclude that verse by saying “בכם” you, meaning “only you of all their seed.” Instead of using the preposition תחת, the Torah could have written more commonly used prepositions such as בעבור or למען. The reason the Torah chose the word תחת, a word which occurs on only two more occasions, once in connection with the מרכבה, the Divine “carriage,” may be an allusion to the מרכבה which is supposed to be supported on terrestrial earth by the patriarchs and the Jewish people as a whole. ויוצאיך בפניו, “He took you out before Himself, etc.;” according to the plain meaning of the text the meaning is “G’d took you out Himself, personally.” The word is used in the same sense in Samuel II 17,11 ופניך הולכים בקרב, “and you yourself march into battle.” A Midrashic approach based on Ibn Ezra: “the word represents “anger, כעס;” the word occurs in that sense in Exodus 33,14. “My face will go.” Also we find that expression in Samuel I 1,18 ופניה לא היו לה עוד, “she was no longer angry.” The reason for the use of this word here is that Moses tells the people that a major factor of the Exodus was G’d’s anger at the Egyptians. A kabbalistic approach: the word בפניו in the expression ויוציאך בפניו refers to the angel who was assigned to supervise all this. The angel is known as מלאך הפנים. He is featured in Isaiah 63,9 ומלאך פניו הושיעם, Our verse also refers to the contribution made by the patriarchs to the Exodus. The word בפניו reminds us of מבקשי פניך יעקב סלה (Psalms 24,6) “Yaakov who seeks Your presence.” The word בכוחו refers to Yitzchak whose primary attribute was גבורה, “Power.” The word הגדול is an allusion to Avraham. The reason Moses mentioned (alluded to) Yaakov first is that he formed the third link in the string of patriarchs, and once there was such a third link the principles the patriarchs stood for could be perceived as certain to endure. This is also why at the end of the Tochachah the Torah quotes G’d as remembering first His covenant with Yaakov and only afterwards His covenants with Avraham and Yitzchak (Leviticus 26,42).
Tur HaArokh
ותחת כי אהב את אבותיך, “and because He loved your forefathers, etc.” according to Ibn Ezra the reference is to the three patriarchs. ויבחר בזרעו אחריו, “and chose his offspring after him;” the singular mode of the word זרעו, “his offspring,” shows that Moses refers here specifically to Yaakov, the last of the patriarchs. Had Moses used the plural mode זרעם, he would have been referring to the eight nations descended from Avraham. ויוציאך בפניו, “He took you out before Him.” According to Ibn Ezra, Moses refers to the anger at the Egyptians that prompted G’d to release the Israelites. In Leviticus 26,17 we also find the word פנים as meaning “anger.” Other commentators understand the word בפניו as referring to an angel of G’d. Compare Isaiah 63,9 ומלאך פניו הושיעם, “and the angel signifying His Presence, delivered them.”
Rashbam
ויוציאך בפניו, as documented in Exodus 12,12 and 23,21.
to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day;
verse value 3119
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 57 letters. The shortest word is "from" (מִמְּךָ֖, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·dispossess" (לְהוֹרִ֗ישׁ, 6 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "to·dispossess" (לְהוֹרִ֗ישׁ), "to·bring·you·in" (לַהֲבִֽיאֲךָ֗), "to·give·you" (לָֽתֶת־לְךָ֧). 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "their·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "to·give·you" (root נתן, 176x in Deuteronomy); "as·this·day" (root יום, 168x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root עצום ("mighty") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root נחלה ("heritage") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'from·before·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 6 words. Full calculation: לְהוֹרִ֗ישׁ [to·dispossess] (551) + גּוֹיִ֛ם [nations] (59) + גְּדֹלִ֧ים [great] (87) + וַעֲצֻמִ֛ים [mighty] (256) + מִמְּךָ֖ [from] (100) + מִפָּנֶ֑יךָ [from·before·you] (200) + לַהֲבִֽיאֲךָ֗ [to·bring·you·in] (68) + לָֽתֶת־לְךָ֧ [to·give·you] (880) + אֶת־אַרְצָ֛ם [their·land] (732) + נַחֲלָ֖ה [heritage] (93) + כַּיּ֥וֹם [as·this·day] (76) + הַזֶּֽה [this] (17) = 3119.
Onkelos
to drive out nations greater and mightier than you from before you, to bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as on this day.
Rashi
ממך מפניך — Invert it (the order of the words) and then explain it accordingly: to dispossess from before thee (מפניך) nations greater and mightier than thee (ממך) כיום הזה AS AT THIS DAY — i.e., As you see today.
Ibn Ezra
"As on this day" — approximately as of this day. The truth is that it alludes to their having inherited the land of the two kings of the Amorites — for Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh are called Israel, as it is written "as Israel did to the land of his inheritance" — and this is not a future matter as many have interpreted it. The proof is that in the psalm "Give thanks to Hashem for He is good" (Psalm 136), only Sihon and Og are mentioned, and it says "a heritage for Israel His servant." And after [the verse] says "for Hashem is God, there is none other," it gives a weighty reason: the first part is proof from visual experience, but through sound reasoning and wisdom of heart you shall know that Hashem alone is God in the heavens above — which are above the human being — and upon the earth below. The proof that this is the interpretation: "and the heavens over your head shall be bronze" (Deuteronomy 28:23). And since you saw the awesome things and took them to heart, you are obligated to keep His commandments — and it is also for your good and the good of your children after you.
Sforno
לתת לך את ארצם, which is really G’d’s favourite land, one that is always ready to help its inhabitants to achieve their perfection on earth.
Chizkuni
כיום הזה, as on this day; the day on which the Israelites had conquered the lands of Sichon and Og.
Rashbam
כיום הזה, when you have already commenced the conquest by occupying the lands formerly owned by Sichon and Og.
know this day, and lay it to your heart, that Hashem, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.
verse value 3471 — יְהֹוָה֙ = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 61 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. Verse gematria: 3471 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֤י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·upon·the·land" (וְעַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 61: day, nothing. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "the·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy); "and·upon·the·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root מעל ("above") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'beneath', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 2 words. Full calculation: וְיָדַעְתָּ֣ [and·you·shall·know] (490) + הַיּ֗וֹם [day] (61) + וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ֮ [and·you·shall·take·to·heart] (713) + אֶל־לְבָבֶ֒ךָ֒ [to·your·heart] (85) + כִּ֤י [that] (30) + יְהֹוָה֙ [Hashem] (26) + ה֣וּא [he] (12) + הָֽאֱלֹהִ֔ים [the·God] (91) + בַּשָּׁמַ֣יִם [in·the·heavens] (392) + מִמַּ֔עַל [above] (180) + וְעַל־הָאָ֖רֶץ [and·upon·the·land] (402) + מִתָּ֑חַת [beneath] (848) + אֵ֖ין [nothing] (61) + עֽוֹד [else] (80) = 3471.
Onkelos
And you shall know this day and take it to your heart, that Hashem, He is God — whose Shechinah is in the heavens above and who rules over the earth below; there is none other.
Sforno
וידעת היום, it behooves you therefore to understand how these miracles confound any theological theories that are not in agreement with Jewish tradition. והשבות אל לבבך, having carefully examined all these factors you are to establish firmly in your heart which is the truth, namely כי ה' הוא האלוקים, that the Lord known to us as Hashem is the true G’d, the word itself indicating that He is victorious in any competition who make similar claims because He is eternal. His fame extends both בשמים, in the celestial spheres above, as well as על הארץ מתחת, for you will realise that the very order which exists among celestial phenomena, their predictability to the second, is proof that Someone is guiding them, has programmed them. אין עוד. You will also realise that it is quite inconceivable that there could be more than One such supreme authority over all these phenomena. Among disembodied spiritual forces it is quite impossible for two such forces to co-exist as equals. One such force, power, must be superior to the other.
Or HaChaim
וידעת היום, "and you should know this day, etc." What is it that the people should know about on this day rather than on any other day? What knowledge were they to store up in their hearts? Perhaps Moses referred to the need to subdue the evil urge which lurks within all of us. Moses may have referred to 10 such pieces of information which the Israelites were to store up in their hearts. 1) The Talmud Berachot 5 suggests that if the evil urge becomes active our first line of action should be to "drag him to the Torah Academy," i.e. to counter him by Torah study. If this fails, we must remind him of the day we will die, an effective means of putting him in his place. 2) Sukkah 52 describes that in the future G'd will "slaughter" Satan in front of the eyes of all of Israel. Moses commanded the people to store up an awareness of this day in the future in their hearts. Awareness of this will be a valuable tool in the fight against the evil urge. 3) Moses also referred to the Day of Judgment. What will a person do when G'd presents him with a list of all his sins on that day? How profound will be his feeling of shame at that time when he will be found wanting in front of an audience of illustrious souls and angels? Reminding oneself of this scenario will help one to subdue one's sinful instincts 4) Moses may have had in mind a statement in Baba Batra 84 that the reason the sun appears so reddish looking in the morning and in the evening is that it has just passed by the gates of hell whose fires have reddened it. One look at what happens in the course of a day will convince a person that the people who violate G'd's commandments will experience retribution. The reddish appearance of the sun is a reminder of where this retribution is handed out. Moses advises us to concentrate on what goes on in the world by day, i.e. היום. 5) He may also have alluded to what the kabbalists say i.e. that the sphere of sanctity is known as "day," whereas the sphere of alienation (from G'd) is known as "night." Parts of the world which belonged to the sphere of sanctity may become "alienated" through the deeds of man so that man will find himself as belonging to that sphere. This is why Moses prayed in Psalms 91,5 that G'd "should remove the fear of night." When Moses said וידעת היום, "know the (sphere called) day," he meant that we should endeavour to know this sphere; it would then follow automatically that we would pursue the proper path in life. 6) He may also have referred to something we have been taught by the Zohar volume three page 178 that in order to conduct oneself properly it is necessary to review every night what one has done during the day so as to repair any spiritual damage one had become guilty of by day. When a person keeps track of his deeds on a daily basis he will repent all the inadvertently committed mistakes he has become guilty of, and he will confess them. Unless he does this, his sins are liable to create within him a lack of sensitivity t...
Rabbeinu Bahya
והשבות אל לבבך, “you will impress it upon your heart,” i.e. it is a positive commandment to know the Lord and to research the fact that He is unique, one of a kind. It is not enough to accept this merely as “something handed down by our forefathers,” but it must become something that is the result of our examining the plentiful evidence in our world which makes this quite clear. Knowledge of G’d by means of the deeds He has performed is absolutely possible even though knowledge of G’d’s essence is beyond our ability to comprehend. Concerning this latter knowledge (or attempt at knowing) Solomon said in Proverbs 25,2: “it is the glory of G’d to conceal a matter.” Seeing that acquiring this kind of knowledge about G’d cannot commence, as do other disciplines, with one’s seeing the object of one’s research and thereby trying to assess its constituent parts, the Torah used the term והשבות, something describing an end result, when discussing our study of theology-related subjects. We find that the prophet Elijah, after having experienced several manifestations of G’d’s attributes, discovered (with the help of G’d) that he had been wrong when at the first such manifestation he had thought that he had “seen” or “experienced” the essence of G’d (Kings I 19,11-12). We have been warned in the Sefer Yetzirah (1,8) בלום פיך מלדבר ולבך מלהרר, “restrain your mouth from speaking and your heart from even contemplating.” Moses uses the word לבבך for “your heart” in our verse whereas the author of the Sefer Yetzirah uses the word לבך. Moses refers to two contradictory urges which each try to dominate our heart. One is called “the good urge,” (urge to do good) the other “the evil urge.” Moses urges us that if perchance the “evil urge” tries to make us deviate from the true path of Torah, suggesting hat there are at least two domains in the universe which compete with one another for supremacy, we are to use the “good urge” to resist such temptations and to tell the evil urge that there is only one domain. This is also why the verse ends with the words אין עוד, “there is no one else.” The expression השבת הלב, means that the subject matter is one that requires intensive study and considerable knowledge before one embarks on examining it. Isaiah 44,18 referred to people who fail to come properly equipped for such research when he said: “they have no wit or judgment, their eyes are besmeared, and they see not.” The lesson that Moses wants us to appreciate is that the Lord is also the G’d of nature, the captain of the universe; the word בשמים refers to the planets; the word ממעל refers to the celestial spheres, the habitat of the angels, the words על הארץ refer to our terrestrial earth; the word מתחת, refers to all that is hidden in the depths of the oceans or the bowels of the earth. All of this is summarized by Solomon when he says in Proverbs 25,3: “like the heavens in their height, like the earth in its depth.” The word אין עוד includes all the various layers of the universe, i.e. there are none which Moses had not already included in our verse.
And you shall keep His statutes, and His commandments, which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days upon the land, which Hashem your God gives you, for ever.
verse value 6548 — יְהֹוָ֧ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 22 words, 100 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֧ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "to·you" (לְךָ֔, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·his·commandments" (וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתָ֗יו, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: that, that, that. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "his·statutes" (אֶת־חֻקָּ֣יו), "you·shall·prolong" (תַּאֲרִ֤יךְ). The root אשר appears 3 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Hashem" (root יהוה, 541x in Deuteronomy); "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "your·God" (root אלהים, 368x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'after·you', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 10 words.
Onkelos
You shall keep His statutes and His commandments that I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you may prolong your days upon the land that Hashem your God is giving you, for all time.
Sforno
ושמרת את חקיו, Once you have understood all this you will naturally observe all of G’d’s statutes. Jeremiah 10,7 already expressed this as a given when he asked (rhetorically) מי לא ייראך מלך הגוים, “who would not be in awe of You, King of the nations?” ואת מצותיו אשר אנכי מצוך היום, כל הימים, the reason you will be observing these laws for all time is that the religion will not be renewed or altered, ever.
Or HaChaim
נתן לך כל הימים, "which He gives to you for all time." Seeing that Moses told the people to observe the Torah in order to enjoy long life, he was afraid that the people would interpret that by observing the commandments of the Torah G'd would lengthen their lifespan on earth. As a result of such reasoning the people might also argue that this was proof that just as man's life on earth is limited in time (compare Job 14,5 "his days are determined, You know the number of his months"), so possession of the Holy Land would also be subject to limitations in time. Moses therefore corrects any such impression by going on record that a) G'd would add years to the people's lives if they observed the Torah, and b) assuring them that G'd's gift of the land to the Jewish people is a gift in perpetuity. It follows that when he mentioned "in order that you will have a long life on the earth, etc," Moses meant that they would not die prematurely, just as we have been told in Deut. 11,21. As to the land itself, it will remain Israel's forever.
Then Moses separated three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising;
verse value 2802
Insights
Verse structure: 9 words, 34 letters. The shortest word is "then" (אָ֣ז, 2 letters) and the longest is "he·set·apart" (יַבְדִּ֤יל, 5 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "he·set·apart" (יַבְדִּ֤יל). 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "beyond" (root עבר, 60x in Deuteronomy); "cities" (root עיר, 57x in Deuteronomy); "Moses" (root משה, 39x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root בדל ("he·set·apart") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root שלוש ("three") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Jordan', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 2 words. Full calculation: אָ֣ז [then] (8) + יַבְדִּ֤יל [he·set·apart] (56) + מֹשֶׁה֙ [Moses] (345) + שָׁלֹ֣שׁ [three] (630) + עָרִ֔ים [cities] (320) + בְּעֵ֖בֶר [beyond] (274) + הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן [Jordan] (269) + מִזְרְחָ֖ה [eastward] (260) + שָֽׁמֶשׁ [sun] (640) = 2802.
Onkelos
Then Moses set apart three cities on the eastern side of the Jordan, toward the sunrise —
Rashi
אז יבדיל — The imperfect form יבדיל instead of הבדיל is to be thus explained (cf. Rashi on Exodus 15:1): He set his attention to be zealous for the matter, — to set them apart. And although they were not to serve as cities of refuge until those of Canaan proper (the western side of the Jordan) were set apart for that purpose, Moses said, Any duty that it is possible for me to perform I will perform (Makkot 10a). בעבר הירדן מזרחה שמש ON THE SIDE OF THE JORDAN TOWARDS THE SUN-RISING — i.e. on that side which is on the east of Jordan (not the side of the Jordan that is east of Canaan proper). מזרחה שמש — Because it (the word מזרחה) is in the construct state the ר is vowelled with Chataph (vocal Sheva), the meaning being, “the rising of the sun", i.e., the place of the sun's rising.
Ramban
THEN MOSES SEPARATED THREE CITIES. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained it to mean: “on the day that Moses separated three cities [to function as cities of refuge], he then said the words of the covenant [as stated in the following section].” But it is not correct. Rather, it is to be understood in its simple sense. Moses had gathered all Israel to explain to them the Torah and he began with words of reproof; after he uttered in their presence his words of reproof concerning what they had done, the admonishments about idolatry and the Unity of G-d, and completed [his statement] to them with the charge that they observe His statutes and His commandments so that it may be well with them — then he said in their presence before them: “Now we shall fulfill the commandment that G-d has commanded us, and Bezer in the wilderness, Ramoth in Gilead, and Golan in Bashan will be cities of refuge that every manslayer that kills any person through error may flee thither.” And although they would not legally provide refuge until [the cities of refuge] in the land of Canaan [on the western side of the Jordan] were set apart, Moses said, “‘If a commandment has come to our hands we shall fulfill it,’ so that it may be well with us.” Afterwards he called with a great voice to all Israel that were there and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances etc., for now he commenced to speak of the commandments and the explanation of the Torah, as I have explained at the beginning of the section These are the words.
Ibn Ezra
"Then Moses set apart" — the meaning is: on the day that Moses set apart these cities, he then spoke the words of the covenant.
Sforno
אז יבדיל משה שלש ערים, after he had concluded with his introduction to the detailed discourse on the Torah. The reason why he set aside these cities at that time was to show the Israelites how the observance and carrying out of G’d’s commandments is of such supreme importance, and that he, though about to depart the earth, wanted to perform at least this commandment, the observance of which is linked to the land of Israel.
Chizkuni
אז יבדיל משה, “then Moses separated;” after having defeated Sichon and Og; the commandment to establish cities of refuge had been given already in Numbers 35,14. Here the Torah only mentions that it now had been carried out as the requisite land had been conquered. Moses mentions it only as one of many positive measures he had undertaken on the people’s behalf. Although he could have described this in the first person, i.e. “I set apart these cities,” it was not in his nature to do so, just as he did not do so in Leviticus 1,2, when he described “if anyone of you is willing to offer an offering to the Lord,” he actually had himself in mind. The same is true of Exodus 16,32, and numerous other occasions in the Torah.
Rabbeinu Bahya
אז יבדיל משה שלש ערים בעבר הירדן, “at that time Moses set aside three cities on the east bank of the Jordan.” This introduction is to inform us that when Moses set aside these three cities on the east bank of the Jordan he immediately proceeded to renew the covenant G’d had concluded with the previous generation at Mount Sinai (chapter 5 which follows). Even though Moses was well aware that these three cities would not become operational as cities of refuge until the other three cities of refuge on the west bank of the Jordan had been set aside, he wanted to fulfill at least half the commandment while he was still alive. This should serve as an important lesson to us how to relate to the commandments in general. There certainly could hardly have been anyone who had performed more commandments during the previous 40 years since the Torah was given than Moses, who had taught all these commandments to the people. If he was so concerned as not to leave even a half a commandment unfulfilled this should be our inspiration to emulate him. Perhaps this gives us a better insight into the true meaning of a comment by our sages according to which Moses became personally wealthy from the chips of the second set of Tablets which he had been told to fashion himself before coming up the mountain. The sages use the wordsפסל לך , “carve out for yourself” as meaning that the left-overs of this raw material became Moses’ personal property and that we are speaking about a very precious kind of stone (compare Exodus 34,1 and the comment in Nedarim 38). A more ethically inspiring approach would be that G’d chose the word פסל, an allusion to פסולת, rejects, left-overs, to teach that even seemingly inconsequential commandments are to be rated highly. The true measure of Torah and mitzvah performance is not the attention we give the impressive commandments, the ones which command a high degree of visibility but the loving attention which we lavish on the apparently minor commandments, the ones frequently neglected as the person who performs them does not reap any recognition for them from his peers. מזרחה שמש, “toward the rising sun.” Our sages have said that anyone who kills a person has to flee eastward in the direction of the rising sun. Mortality was decreed upon man who was placed by G’d in Gan Eden which the Torah had described as east, i.e. מקדם. Exile is a reminder of this tragic first (disobedience) error committed by man. We also know that Kayin, who had slain his brother Hevel, was exiled in an easterly direction as he is reported subsequently to have settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden (Genesis 4,16).
Kli Yakar
Then Moses set apart three cities. In connecting this verse with the previous topic, the commentators went out to collect but did not find a sufficient explanation, and what is the meaning of the word then? Now turn your ear and listen, for we find that a person begins a mitzvah even though it cannot be completed by him, nevertheless, a mitzvah that comes to his hand, he is obligated to fulfill it (Makkot 10a), as we find with David who said to his son Solomon, Now, in my poverty I have prepared for the house of the Lord gold, etc. (First Chronicles 22:14), even though he knew that he could not complete the mitzvah because he was not permitted to build the Temple, nevertheless, he began the mitzvah even though he truly knew that it would not be fulfilled completely and properly except through his son. For example, an old man who plants a tree for an etrog for a mitzvah, even though he truly knows that he will not be able to fulfill this mitzvah, nevertheless, his sons can come to fulfill it, and there are many similar examples in this manner. And about this it says in the previous verse, Keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you (Deuteronomy 4:40). That is to say, if some mitzvah comes to your hand, fulfill it today immediately, even though the benefit is not completed and visible immediately but rather at the time when your children after you will complete the mitzvah, nevertheless, do the mitzvah today immediately, whether it goes well with you, meaning that it is in your power to complete it, or whether it goes well with your children after you because it is not in your power to complete it. Therefore, it states with your children after you — the word after you is superfluous, but according to our explanation, it fits well. And regarding this it says, Then Moses set apart three cities even though they do not provide refuge until the other three in the land are set apart, nevertheless, Moses said, “A mitzvah that has come to my hand, I will fulfill it.” And this is the meaning of then — when he taught Israel this matter in the previous verse, he immediately put it into practice in a similar way, so that from him they would see and do likewise regarding the entire Torah and its commandments. And regarding this it says, And this is the Torah which Moses set before the children of Israel (Deuteronomy 4:44), that they should do likewise with all the commandments of the Torah. He further alluded to what our Sages said (Avot 4:18), “Exile yourself to a place of Torah,” for just as the cities of refuge provide protection, and he shall flee to these cities and live (see Numbers 35:11), so too regarding the Torah and its commandments it says and live by them (Leviticus 18:5). These ten commandments differ in several places from those in the portion of Yitro, and you will find the explanation for all of them above in the portion of Yitro.
Tur HaArokh
אז יבדיל משה שלש ערים, “Then Moses set aside three cities, etc.” According to Ibn Ezra the Torah means that on the day that Moses set side these three cities he addressed the words of the covenant to the people. Nachmanides writes that this is not correct, but that Moses assembled the whole nation (at the beginning of what is related in this Book) in order to explain the Torah to them, doing so in a spirit of admonition. When he concluded with his general admonitions, he warned them about specific sins, such as idolatry, the importance of remaining aware at all times of the uniqueness of the Creator. He concluded by exhorting them to observe the various statutes and general commandments of G’d in order to ensure their continuous well being, to ensure that Hashem would continue to shower His goodness upon them. Having done so, he invited the people to assist him in keeping the commandment of setting up cities of refuge. After that he proclaimed in a loud voice: שמע ישראל וגו', as we read at the beginning of chapter 5. He had commenced with explanatory comments of the Torah, and had similarly concluded with that theme [during the assembly reported in these 4 chapters. Ed.]
Rashbam
אז יבדיל משה, Why did the Torah interrupt Moses’ speech which were coherent, sequential and continuous, and it now introduced another subject in the form of a narrative? Actually, Moses had dwelled at length on the past and the time had come to do what the Torah had said at the outset, i.e. to elaborate on aspects of the Torah on which Moses had either not elaborated previously, or had not presented to the people at all, or felt that it was essential to repeat the legislation in question to prevent problems after he was no longer on the scene to deal with them. The subject of the cities of refuge is of concern to the judges and the whole system of the judiciary introduced by Moses as the first subject of legislation which he reviews. Already in chapter one, Moses addressed primarily the judges on whom rests the responsibility of ensuring a functioning government. In chapter 19,2 the Torah commands the setting aside of 3 such cities of refuge each on the west bank and on the east bank of Jordan (verse 9). Since it did not mention the three cities Moses had already established on the east bank of the Jordan this had to be added here, to show that the numbers given in the Torah are flexible, i.e. that as the territory of the Jewish people expands the need to add more such cities may arise. The command issued in Numbers 35,14 was not to be effective immediately as the Israelites had not yet crossed the Jordan. Moses had nonetheless set aside such cities although they did not yet function as such.
Daat Zkenim
אז יבדיל משה שלש ערים, “then Moses set aside three cities, etc;” the expression אז is usually reserved as introduction to a poem, a song; compare Exodus 15,1, so that its appearance here is somewhat puzzling. When the people had heard the legislation about the cities of refuge in Numbers 35,33, where the Torah decreed that blood spilled of a person who was innocent could never be atoned for by a payment of ransom, they were afraid that even if someone were to commit a killing unintentionally he would be subject to the death penalty; Moses reassured them that there was another method by which such a person could atone for his negligence in having caused the death of an innocent person, i.e. his being forced to reside in a city of refuge until the death of the High Priest at that time. When they heard this they broke out in a song of relief. This was remindful of the proverb that (only) if someone has tasted a dish does he really know what it tastes like. Moses, who had had cursed an Egyptian who had slain a Jew by using the holy name of the Lord, had been forced to flee and reside outside his homeland for close to 60 years. He therefore understood that this was a very harsh penalty. [Our author clearly belongs to the school of thought that does not consider Moses as a hero for taking the law into his own hands. Ed.] מזרחה שמש, “on the east side facing the sun” All the murderers listed in the Bible fled eastward. Adam, whose penalty for eating from the tree of knowledge was supposed to be death, fled in that direction, seeing that he had caused the mortality of every human being. (Compare Genesis 3,24, “he took up residence east of gan eden). Kayin who had murdered his brother) settled also in the east as we know from Genesis 4,16.
that the manslayer might flee there, that slays his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
verse value 5445 — וְה֛וּא = 18 (chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 17 words, 70 letters. Notable word values: "and·he" (וְה֛וּא) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "to·him" (ל֖וֹ, 2 letters) and the longest is "without·knowledge" (בִּבְלִי־דַ֔עַת, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 36: to·him, these. 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "to·flee" (לָנֻ֨ס), "manslayer" (רוֹצֵ֗חַ), "who·slays" (יִרְצַ֤ח). The root נוס appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "and·he" (root הוא, 113x in Deuteronomy); "there" (root שם, 101x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root נוס ("to·flee") in Deuteronomy. First appearance of the root רצח ("manslayer") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'day·before·yesterday', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 5 words.
Onkelos
for a manslayer to flee there, one who kills his fellow without intent, who had not been at enmity with him previously; he may flee to one of these cities and live.
Bezer in the wilderness, in the table-land, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
verse value 4572
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 58 letters. Verse gematria: 4572 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "earth" (בְּאֶ֥רֶץ, 4 letters) and the longest is "Reubenite" (לָרֽאוּבֵנִ֑י, 7 letters). 6 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "Bezer" (אֶת־בֶּ֧צֶר), "and·Ramoth" (וְאֶת־רָאמֹ֤ת), "Gilead" (בַּגִּלְעָד֙). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "earth" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Reubenite', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. Full calculation: אֶת־בֶּ֧צֶר [Bezer] (693) + בַּמִּדְבָּ֛ר [wilderness] (248) + בְּאֶ֥רֶץ [earth] (293) + הַמִּישֹׁ֖ר [the·plateau] (555) + לָרֽאוּבֵנִ֑י [Reubenite] (299) + וְאֶת־רָאמֹ֤ת [and·Ramoth] (1048) + בַּגִּלְעָד֙ [Gilead] (109) + לַגָּדִ֔י [the·Gadite] (47) + וְאֶת־גּוֹלָ֥ן [and·Golan] (496) + בַּבָּשָׁ֖ן [Bashan] (354) + לַֽמְנַשִּֽׁי [the·Manassite] (430) = 4572.
Onkelos
Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the tribe of Reuben; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, for the tribe of Manasseh.
Chizkuni
ואת ראמות בגלעד, “and Ramot in Gilad;” from here we could infer that the tribe of Menashe did not own any land in that region. On the other hand, the Torah wrote in Numbers 32,40 that Moses gave the Gilad to Machir, son of Menashe. How are we to account for this discrepancy? We must assume that the tribes that settled on the east bank of the Jordan all shared some territory formerly known as Gilad. The same appears the case when the Torah wrote in Deut.3,12: וחצי הר הגלעד ועריו נתתי לראובני ולגדי, ויתר הגלעד נתתי לחצי שבט המנשה, “and I gave half of the mountain of Gilad and its towns to Reuven and Gad; and the remainder of the Gilad I gave to half the tribe of Menashe.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
את בצר במדבר, “the city Bezer in the desert;” In the next verse the Torah continues with the words וזאת התורה. It seems difficult to account for this sequence of subject matter. Our sages in Makkot 10 used this sequence to teach us that the words of Torah are equivalent to the refuge offered by the cities of refuge. They may even afford refuge from the angel of Death himself. The Talmud reports that the angel of Death wanted to take Rav Chisdah but he was so immersed in his studies hat he had no opportunity to snatch his soul until a diversion was created by a heavy beam in the academy falling down. The sound momentarily distracted Rav Chisdah so that the angel of Death could snatch his soul. Similar stories are told about David. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said that the protective angel of the Roman Empire (Edom) will make three errors in the future. He bases this on Isaiah 63,1: ”Who is this coming from Edom, in crimson garments from Bozrah — who is this majestic in attire?” The angel believes that Bozrah was also a city of refuge whereas only Bezer is such a city. Another error the angel of Edom will make is that he thinks that these cities serve as refuge for both intentional and unintentional killers, whereas they only afford protection for unintentional killers. Thirdly, he thinks these cities protect angels and humans alike. The fact is that they only protect human killers, not angels. בארץ המישור לראובני, “in the land of the plain of the tribe of Reuven.” The reason this is mentioned first is that Reuven had tried to save the life of Joseph at the time when he prevailed on his brothers not to kill him (Genesis 36,21-22). This is why the first city of refuge was situated in Reuven’s part of the east bank. This is the meaning of Proverbs 28,17: “a man oppressed by blood guilt will flee to a pit, let none give him support.” The “pit” mentioned in that verse is a reference to the territory of Reuven of whom the Torah writes in Genesis 37,29: “Reuven returned to the pit.”
Daat Zkenim
ואת בצר במדבר, “and Betzer in the desert.” This is what Solomon referred to when he said in Proverbs 28,17: “a man burdened with blood guilt will flee to a pit;” he referred to someone who had incurred this guilt inadvertently, or even in self defense, i.e. accidentally. After Reuven (Genesis 37,29) found the pit in which he had left Joseph empty, i.e. he had to assume that he had been the cause of Joseph’s death; he supposedly fled to that town in the desert, later on in the territory of Reuven on the east bank of the Jordan.
And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel;
verse value 2989
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 29 letters. The shortest word is "Moses" (מֹשֶׁ֔ה, 3 letters) and the longest is "the·Teaching" (הַתּוֹרָ֑ה, 5 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "that·put" (אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֣ם). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "before" (root פנים, 127x in Deuteronomy); "sons·of" (root בן, 119x in Deuteronomy); "Israel" (root ישראל, 61x in Deuteronomy). First appearance of the root שים ("that·put") in Deuteronomy. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·Teaching', dividing the verse into phrases of 2 and 5 words. Full calculation: וְזֹ֖את [this] (414) + הַתּוֹרָ֑ה [the·Teaching] (616) + אֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֣ם [that·put] (841) + מֹשֶׁ֔ה [Moses] (345) + לִפְנֵ֖י [before] (170) + בְּנֵ֥י [sons·of] (62) + יִשְׂרָאֵֽל [Israel] (541) = 2989.
Onkelos
And this is the Torah that Moses set before the children of Israel.
Rashi
וזאת התורה AND THIS IS THE LAW — this which he was about to set forth after this chapter.
Sforno
וזאת התורה, the theoretical, philosophical part of the Torah. The word זאת refers to what has just been concluded.
Rabbeinu Bahya
וזאת התורה אשר שם משה , “And this is the Torah which Moses placed before the Children of Israel.” This is a reference to The Ten Commandments which follow in chapter 5 A Midrashic approach (Devarim Rabbah, Lieberman edition page 62) the letter ו in the word וזאת teaches that in addition to the cities of refuge providing safety for unintentional killers, the Torah does also. In fact Torah study and observance is even more effective than the city of refuge. The cities of refuge accept only unintentional killers, whereas Torah study and performance is freely available even to intentional killers. When the Children of Israel asked Moses where an unintentional killer can flee to when the cities of refuge would cease to exist for one reason or another, he told them: “to the Torah.” This is why it says here immediately after the passage of the cities of refuge: “and this is the Torah.” This thought is reinforced by Proverbs 3,18: “she (the Torah) is a tree of life for those who support it and support themselves by it.”
these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt;
verse value 3813 — אֵ֚לֶּה = 36 (double-Chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 51 letters. Notable word values: "these" (אֵ֚לֶּה) = 36, double chai. The shortest word is "these" (אֵ֚לֶּה, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·the·judgments" (וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֑ים, 8 letters). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "spoke" (root דבר, 170x in Deuteronomy); "to·the·sons·of" (root בן, 119x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·the·judgments', dividing the verse into phrases of 4 and 7 words. Full calculation: אֵ֚לֶּה [these] (36) + הָֽעֵדֹ֔ת [testimonies] (479) + וְהַֽחֻקִּ֖ים [and·the·statutes] (169) + וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִ֑ים [and·the·judgments] (490) + אֲשֶׁ֨ר [that] (501) + דִּבֶּ֤ר [spoke] (206) + מֹשֶׁה֙ [Moses] (345) + אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י [to·the·sons·of] (93) + יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל [Israel] (541) + בְּצֵאתָ֖ם [in·their·going·out] (533) + מִמִּצְרָֽיִם [from·Egypt] (420) = 3813.
Onkelos
These are the testimonies and the statutes and the ordinances that Moses spoke with the children of Israel upon their departure from Egypt —
Rashi
אלה העדות … אשר דבר THESE ARE THE TESTIMONIES … WHICH [MOSES] SPAKE — Those are the very same testimonies which he spoke when they came forth from Egypt; and he again repeated it (this law) to them in the plains of Moab.
Sforno
אלה העדות, what follows are the practical, tangible aspects of the Torah.
Chizkuni
אלה העדות והחוקים, “These are the testimonial laws and the statutes;” wherever a paragraph is introduced with the word אלה, this constitutes a break with what had preceded it. (Sh’mot Rabbah 1,2) What the Torah says it that the laws given to the people after the Exodus from Egypt have now been concluded. Laws that follow were not revealed to the people until the fortieth year. The details of laws pertaining to cities of refuge were not revealed until now. [Exodus 21 13, in which mention is made of a place where an inadvertent killer can flee to, apparently did not provide details. Ed.] העדות, the word means the same as התראות, “encounter,” it is used in this sense in Exodus 19,21: רד העד בעם, “descend and warn the people by meeting them.” [Normally the word עדות means “testimony,” eye witness report, i.e. the witness had been present at the occurrence about which he testifies. Ed.]
beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, when they came forth out of Egypt;
verse value 5795
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 81 letters. The shortest word is "facing" (מ֚וּל, 3 letters) and the longest is "Heshbon" (בְּחֶשְׁבּ֑וֹן, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 501: who, whom. The root אשר appears 2 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "who" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "in·the·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "sons·of" (root בן, 119x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Heshbon', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 7 words.
Onkelos
on the eastern side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorite, who dwelt in Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck upon their departure from Egypt.
Ibn Ezra
"Across the Jordan, in the valley" — this is [Har] HaAvarim, before they journeyed to the plains of Moab, even though Har HaAvarim is in the land of Moab.
Or HaChaim
אשר הכה משה, whom Moses and Israel had defeated, etc. How could the Torah describe this as having occurred "when the Israelites left Egypt," when we all know that this war occurred in the fortieth year of the Israelites' wanderings? Perhaps all the Torah wanted to say was that ever since the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt it had been one of the objectives to defeat these two kings. In fact, had it not been for the debacle with the spies, the Israelites would have defeated these two kings in the second year after the Exodus. Furthermore, the Torah may hint that the terror of the Israelites defeating them had been part of the lives of the kings of these two countries and their people. For every practical purpose then these kings and their countries could have been considered as defeated already at that time (compare Bereshit Rabbah 80 that these kings had a tradition they would fall victim to the Israelites). The fact that the Torah speaks about the Israelites inheriting these lands only in the next verse instead of at the end of verse 46 indicates that our interpretation is correct.
and they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising;
verse value 5109
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 59 letters. Verse gematria: 5109 is divisible by 13, the value of echad ('one') and ahavah ('love'). The shortest word is "Og" (ע֣וֹג, 3 letters) and the longest is "king·of·Bashan" (מֶֽלֶךְ־הַבָּשָׁ֗ן, 7 letters). Words sharing gematria 698: his·land, and·the·land·of. 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "place·of·sunrise" (מִזְרַ֖ח). The root ארץ appears 2 times in this verse. 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "his·land" (root ארץ, 193x in Deuteronomy); "and·they·took·possession" (root ירש, 71x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Jordan', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 2 words. Full calculation: וַיִּֽירְשׁ֨וּ [and·they·took·possession] (532) + אֶת־אַרְצ֜וֹ [his·land] (698) + וְאֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ [and·the·land·of] (698) + ע֣וֹג [Og] (79) + מֶֽלֶךְ־הַבָּשָׁ֗ן [king·of·Bashan] (447) + שְׁנֵי֙ [two] (360) + מַלְכֵ֣י [kings·of] (100) + הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔י [the·Amorite] (256) + אֲשֶׁ֖ר [that] (501) + בְּעֵ֣בֶר [in·opposite] (274) + הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן [Jordan] (269) + מִזְרַ֖ח [place·of·sunrise] (255) + שָֽׁמֶשׁ [sun] (640) = 5109.
Onkelos
And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan — two kings of the Amorite who were on the eastern side of the Jordan, toward the sunrise.
Rashi
אשר בעבר הירדן WHO WERE BEYOND THE JORDAN — On the east side of Jordan, because the other side was on the west. [This means on the side opposite the western side.]
Ramban
He mentioned here and they took his [Sihon’s] land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan etc. from Aroer etc. the sense of it being that he reverted to what he had stated at the beginning of this book, that the explanation of this Torah was [given] after he had smitten Sihon etc., and he further explained here that this expounding of the Torah was also after they took all their lands [of Sihon and Og] in possession, that is, after he divided them among the two and a half tribes [Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Menasheh].
Sforno
ויירשו את ארצו, they inherited his country after having conquered land that had been inhabited, suitable for settlement. This land would offer the opportunity to observe all of G’d’s commandments in it. They would not need to fear invaders, etc. This is where Moses began his review of the Torah and his speech of warning the people of the importance of remaining loyal to G’d.
Tur HaArokh
ויירשו את ארצו ואת ארץ עוג מלך הבשן, “they inherited his land as well as the land of Og, King of Bashan.” Seeing that Moses reverted back to what he had been speaking about at the beginning of his review of the Torah, a review occasioned by the successful campaign against Sichon and Og, this subject is touched upon again to show that Moses continued with his discourse explaining the Torah.
from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, even to mount Sion—the same is Hermon—
verse value 3312
Insights
Verse structure: 8 words, 37 letters. Verse gematria: 3312 is divisible by 18, the value of chai ('life'). The shortest word is "that" (אֲשֶׁ֨ר, 3 letters) and the longest is "upon·the·bank·of·the·wadi" (עַל־שְׂפַת־נַ֧חַל, 8 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "and·as·far·as·the·mountain" (וְעַד־הַ֥ר), "Sion" (שִׂיאֹ֖ן). 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root אשר, 466x in Deuteronomy); "that·is" (root הוא, 113x in Deuteronomy); "and·as·far·as·the·mountain" (root הר, 47x in Deuteronomy). Full calculation: מֵעֲרֹעֵ֞ר [from·Aroer] (580) + אֲשֶׁ֨ר [that] (501) + עַל־שְׂפַת־נַ֧חַל [upon·the·bank·of·the·wadi] (968) + אַרְנֹ֛ן [Arnon] (301) + וְעַד־הַ֥ר [and·as·far·as·the·mountain] (285) + שִׂיאֹ֖ן [Sion] (361) + ה֥וּא [that·is] (12) + חֶרְמֽוֹן [Hermon] (304) = 3312.
Onkelos
From Aroer, which is on the bank of the Arnon River, and up to Mount Sion — that is Hermon.
and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.
verse value 3217
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 43 letters. The shortest word is "sea" (יָ֣ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·the·Arabah" (וְכׇל־הָ֨עֲרָבָ֜ה, 8 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Deuteronomy. Unique to this verse in Deuteronomy (hapax): "all·the·Arabah" (וְכׇל־הָ֨עֲרָבָ֜ה). The root ערבה appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "side·of" (root עבר, 60x in Deuteronomy); "and·as·far·as" (root עד, 50x in Deuteronomy); "under" (root תחת, 27x in Deuteronomy). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·Arabah', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 3 words. Full calculation: וְכׇל־הָ֨עֲרָבָ֜ה [all·the·Arabah] (338) + עֵ֤בֶר [side·of] (272) + הַיַּרְדֵּן֙ [Jordan] (269) + מִזְרָ֔חָה [place·of·sunrise] (260) + וְעַ֖ד [and·as·far·as] (80) + יָ֣ם [sea] (50) + הָעֲרָבָ֑ה [the·Arabah] (282) + תַּ֖חַת [under] (808) + אַשְׁדֹּ֥ת [slopes] (705) + הַפִּסְגָּֽה [Pisgah] (153) = 3217.
Onkelos
And all the plain on the eastern side of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Plain, beneath the slopes of the heights.
Onkelos
Ibn Ezra
Sforno
Or HaChaim
Chizkuni
Rabbeinu Bahya
Tur HaArokh