Kommentar zu Dewarim 34:14

מערבת מואב אל הר נבו [AND MOSES WENT UP] FROM THE PLAINS OF MOAB TO MOUNT NEBO — There were several levels leading from the plain to the summit, but Moses covered them in one step (Sotah 13b).

AND THE ETERNAL SHOWED HIM [MOSES] ALL THE LAND — all the Land of Israel beyond the Jordan [westward] — and then the verse states that He showed him even Gilead, as far as Dan. Now Moses was in the territory of Reuben, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities thereof²⁸⁹Above, 3:12. belonged to the children of Reuben,²⁸⁹Above, 3:12. and the other half belonged to Menasheh.²⁹⁰Joshua 13:31. Therefore the verse before us must mean that [G-d showed Moses the whole Land] “from Gilead²⁹¹The verse cannot mean that G-d showed him the land of Gilead, because that is precisely where Moses was. Instead the word eth — eth Gilead — must mean “from” the Gilead onward. as far as Dan.” Or it may be that there was [a place called] Gilead in the Lebanon in the Land of Israel, as it is written, thou art Gilead unto Me, the head of Lebanon.²⁹²Jeremiah 22:6. The verse mentions as far as Dan which is at the extremity of the border of the Land of Israel, as it is written, Go now to and fro through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba.²⁹³II Samuel 24:2. It mentions the land of Ephraim and Menasheh²⁹⁴Verse 2. which were in the northern part of the Land of Israel, and the land of Judah was to the south, as it is written, Judah shall abide in his border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their border on the north,²⁹⁵Joshua 18:5. for Judah took all the south of the Land of Israel from the Jordan to the sea, and Dan took the north-west. It mentions Naphtali²⁹⁴Verse 2. who was on the east, near Judah,²⁹⁶Ibid., 19:34 [in speaking of the border of Naphtali]: and it reached… to Judah at the Jordan toward the sunrise. but it does not mention Asher and Issachar, for they were among Ephraim and Menasheh, as it is written [about the borders of Ephraim and Menasheh], and they reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the east.²⁹⁷Joshua 17:10. It did not mention Simeon, for their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah,²⁹⁸Ibid., 19:1. nor that of Benjamin whose border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph,²⁹⁹Ibid., 18:11. already mentioned near them. It states as far as the western sea²⁹⁴Verse 2. which alludes to Zebulun who dwelt at the shore of the sea,³⁰⁰Genesis 49:13. or it may be that [Zebulun] is included [in the statement that G-d showed him] the south, and the plain³⁰¹Verse 3. [since the territory of Zebulun was in the plain at the sea]. It mentions the valley of Jericho³⁰¹Verse 3. because it is a deep valley, not visible from the top of the mountain [where Moses stood], but G-d showed it to him miraculously. In general then He showed him the entire inheritance of Israel, as it is written, This is the Land which I swore etc.³⁰²Verse 4. Our Rabbis in the Sifre³⁰³Sifre, Brachah 357. have elucidated about these places mentioned in Scripture.
Now, the reason for this sight which He showed him was because the Land of Israel is full of all good things,³⁰⁴Above, 6:11. and is the beauty of all lands.³⁰⁵Ezekiel 20:6. And since the great love with which Moses our teacher loved Israel was manifest to Him, He made him rejoice by beholding the abundant goodness with his eyes.³⁰⁶Ecclesiastes 5:10.

ויראהו ה׳ את כל הארץ; G'd showed him the entire country. The Torah may mean that G'd enhanced Moses' natural eyesight so as to enable him to see the whole land in all its details. This could be achieved by one of two means. 1) To provide Moses with additional eyesight by enabling him to utilise the original light G'd created on the first day of creation which He withdrew from man as a result of Adam's sin. According to Chagigah 2, Adam had been able to see from one end of the earth to the other by means of that light. 2) Or, G'd brought the land closer to Moses so that he could see it in detail with his normal eyesight.

ויראהו ה' את כל הארץ, “Hashem showed him the whole country.” Nachmanides emphasizes that the words את כל הארץ, do not refer to the whole earth, but to the whole of the land of Israel on the west bank of the Jordan, whereas afterwards the Torah added that He showed him also in detail the territory of the two and a half tribes on the east bank of the Jordan.

ויעל משה, “Moses ascended;” according to the view of Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, these words and all those that follow have been written by Moses’ disciple Joshua, seeing that after Moses ascended he did not come back, and when should he have written these words and where? Joshua wrote these lines after having been prophetically inspired, seeing that he was not an eye-witness to what is described in these verses. Ibn Ezra views the words ויראהו ה', “the Lord showed him,” as proof that Moses could not have written this, else he would have written ויראני ה', “the Lord showed me.” He also feels it is impossible for Moses to have written, concerning himself, “he was buried there.” Ibn Ezra felt constrained to adopt this approach as he could not accept that Moses describes his own death and burial while still alive.
However, this is not true; his commentary is not correct. The correct way of viewing these lines is that we must accept the tradition that Moses wrote the entire Torah including the last eight verses at the dictation of G’d. In fact, one may view Moses as someone who copied verbatim a book which had been written long before he ever lived. This is the view of Rabbi Meir in Baba Batra 15 who said: “is it conceivable that the Torah would be complete if even a single letter of it were missing? Was it not Moses himself who commanded the Levites in Deut. 31,26: ‘to take this book of the Torah?’ Did he command them to take an incomplete Torah?” We must adopt the opinion of the sages in the Talmud who hold that Moses wrote these last verses בדמע. [I have never been sure if this means “tearfully,” or “with tears,” i.e. substituting tears for ink. Ed.]
I do not believe that it is something so extraordinary for us to believe that Moses could write a verse saying: “Moses, the servant of Hashem, died there, and He buried him in the valley, etc.,” seeing he was writing matters which had not happened yet but would surely happen in the future. He had previously written about things which had not happened yet but would happen in the future, when he wrote (Deut. 32,19) “the Lord saw and became exasperated and spurned His sons and daughters, etc.” At that time Moses had predicted events which would not occur until the fall of the Temple. He had also described many other events in the future in the past tense, as if they had already taken place. This was a style employed by many prophets and is something we should not have too much trouble to understand (Compare Nachmanides on Exodus 15,1 and the use of the future tense there for an event which had just occurred).

There were a number of elevations, etc. Otherwise, the verse should only have said Moshe went up to Mount Nevo. Why does it say from the plains of Moav”? Do we not know already that Moshe was in the plains of Moav since the whole of Devarim was taught in the plains of Moav?

Kap. 34. VV. 1 — 3. ויעל וגו׳. Über die Benennung der Gebietsteile nach den Stämmen schon vor der Verteilung siehe zu Bamidbar 34, 19.

את הגלעד עד דן, “the region of Gilad as far north as Dan.” Moses describes the boundaries of the Land of Israel, which in the Book of Samuel I, is described as “from Dan to Be-er Sheva.

ויעל משה, “Moses ascended;” G-d had told him to ascend Mount Nebo already in Numbers ,27,12; at that time the Mountain was called: הר העברים. Nonetheless, Moses had waited with doing this until he had blessed his people.

את כל הארץ [AND THE LORD SHOWED HIM] ALL THE LAND — He showed him all the land of Israel in its prosperity and the oppressors who in future time would oppress it (Sifrei Devarim 357:4).

את הגלעד עד דן, “Gilead as far as Dan.” Moses was standing on part of the land owned by the tribe of Reuven, whose territory also included some parts of Gilead. Menashe had conquered the other half of Gilead. There was also a “Gilead” in the mountains of Lebanon, which was located on the west side of the Jordan in Israel proper. This is based on Jeremiah 22,6 גלעד אתה לי ראש הלבנון, “Gilead, you are for Me the head of Lebanon etc.;” The reason the Torah mentions the words עד דן, is because that is the northernmost boundary of the land of Israel. The land of Yehudah, basically describes the southern part of the country. Proof of this is Samuel II 24 where Beer Sheva is listed as the southernmost city in Yehudah at the time David commanded Yoav to count the men capable of bearing arms. The tribes of Menashe and Ephrayim are mentioned by name as they populated the others regions. So are Naftali and Dan. Naftali bordered Yehudah in the east. Issachar’s boundaries are not mentioned, as its territory bordered Ephrayim on one side and Menashe on the other. Shimon was an enclave within the territory of Yehudah, and also did not need to be mentioned separately. Binyamin is also not mentioned because its territory was wedged between Yehudah to the south and the tribes of Joseph in the north. The reason the boundary of the Mediterranean is mentioned is on account of Zevulun whose territory was adjacent to the shores of that ocean. There is a view that the territory of Zevulun was situated all the way to the Dead Sea, near Jericho, based on the Torah describing that tribe as dwelling between “seas” (plural). (Genesis 49,13) The valley of the Jordan near Jericho is mentioned especially, seeing that the area is 1200 meters below sea level and not easily visible from where Moses had been standing. G’d invoked a miracle to enable Moses to see all this with his physical eyes. It is clear that Moses was shown the entire land clearly as the Torah testifies that G’d said: “I have shown you the whole land that I have sworn to give to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov.” (34,4) The principal reason G’d showed Moses the land was to impress him with its goodness. G’d was aware of the tremendous love Moses possessed both for his people and for the land of Israel. He knew that He gave Moses a great deal of joy by showing him what his people had to look forward to.

He showed him all of Eretz Yisroel in its tranquility, etc. Rashi is answering the question: The verse should only have said the entire land until the rearward sea. Why do I need all these details, the Gilod, etc.? And because of this reason he [also] has to explain [what is hinted in] the Negev and the plain, etc.

חים האחרון siehe zu Kap. 11, 24. — הככר ist die Talebene des Jordans (siehe Bereschit 13, 10).

הר נבו, “Mount Nebo.” This mountain is identical with the one called: הר העברים in Numbers chapter 27.

עד דן UNTO DAN — He showed him the children of Dan practicing idolatry, as it is said, (Judges 18:30) “And the sons of Dan erected the graven image for themselves”; and He showed him also Samson who would in the future issue from him (Dan) as a savior (Sifrei Devarim 357:7).

The name in this verse appears to relate to the summit of that range of mountains which was situated on the territory of Reuven, as pointed out in Numbers 32,37 where the members of the tribe of Reuven are described as having built Nebo, etc.; when it is written concerning the territory of the tribe of Gad: “for that is where the grave of the lawgiver is situated,” (Deut. 33,21) it appears that this must have been at the boundary between the territories of Reuven and Gad.

את כל הארץ, “the whole land;” Moses saw the entire land of Canaan with his physical eyes, more than what Joshua would step on with his feet during his wars of conquest. (Joshua 18, 210)

את הגלעד, “the region known as Gilead;” Moses at the time when looking at the West Bank of the river Jordan was standing in that region, -

עד דן, “looking as far north as Dan,” the northern boundary of the land of Israel. (Compare what is written in Samuel I 3,20, etc.)

ואת כל נפתלי AND ALL NAPHTALI — He showed him his land both in its prosperity and in its ruin; and He showed him also Deborah and Barak of kadesh-Naphtali warring with Sisera and his armies (Sifrei Devarim 357:8-9).

עד הים האחרון, “as far as the western boundary of the land of Israel.”

ואת ארץ אפרים ומנשה AND THE LAND OF EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH — He showed him their land in its prosperity and in its ruin; and He showed him also Joshua who descended from Ephraim warring with the kings of Canaan, and Gideon who descended from Manasseh warring with Midian and Amalek (Sifrei Devarim 357:10-13).

ואת כל ארץ יהודה AND ALL THE LAND OF JUDAH, in its prosperity and in its ruin; and He showed him also the kings of the house of David and their victories (Sifrei Devarim 357:15-16).

ועד הים האחרון UNTO THE UTTERMOST SEA — i.e., the west country, in its prosperity and its ruin. — Another explanation: Read this as though it did not state הים האחרון but היום האחרון [UNTO] THE LAST DAY — The Holy One, blessed be He, showed him all that would in future happen to Israel unto the last day when the dead will again live (Sifrei Devarim 357:18).

ואת הנגב means THE SOUTH COUNTRY. — Another explanation is, that it refers to the cave of Machpelah (which was in the Negeb), as it is said, (Numbers 13:22) “And they went up to the south country, and came to Hebron” (where this cave was situated) (Sifrei Devarim 357:20).

עיר התמרים, “the city of date palms;” so called as it was exceptionally excellent as mentioned specifically.

ואת הככר AND THE PLAIN — He showed him Solomon casting the vessels of the Temple, as it is said, (1 Kings 7:46) “In the plain (ככר) of the Jordan did the king cast them in the thick clay” (Sifrei Devarim 357:21).

לאמר לזרעך אתננה הראיתיך TO SAY, TO THY SEED WILL I GIVE IT, I HAVE LET THEE SEE IT, i.e. in order that you may go and say to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob: The oath which the Holy One, blessed be He, swore to you — that oath He has fulfilled. This is the force of לאמר (Berakhot 18b), “to say it”, viz., that you may say it — for that reason have I let you see it. But it is a decree from Me that שמה לא תעבר THERE YOU SHALL NOT CROSS OVER; for were this not so, I would keep you alive even until you saw them planted and settled in it, and you would then go and tell them (the patriarchs).

הראיתיך בעיניך, in order for you to give it your blessing.

לאמור לזרעך אתננה, to say: "to your descendants I will give it." The reason the Torah had to write the word לאמור "to say" at this juncture, was that as of now G'd had not given this information to the patriarchs. [In connection with a statement that the dead communicate with one another, Ed.], our sages in Berachot 18 claim that G'd ordered Moses to tell the three patriarchs (after his death) that He had already discharged the oath He had sworn to them to give the land to their descendants. Perhaps the reason G'd wanted Moses to tell the patriarchs [instead of telling them Himself, Ed.] may have been so that Moses would make sure that the patriarchs would appreciate that G'd was able to keep His promise to them only after having overcome many difficulties and setbacks en route.

זאת הארץ אשר נשבעתי לאברהם ליצחק וליעקב לאמר: לזרעך אתננה, “this is the land concerning which I have sworn to Avraham, to Yitzchok, and to Yaakov, saying: “to your descendants I shall give it.” In this verse Moses hints that at an appropriate time the Shechinah will return to the land of Israel, the time in question being the one discussed at the end of the Book of Daniel. In Berachot 18 the sages focus on the word לאמור in the verse above; Rabbi Yonathan says there: “how do we know that the dead are in verbal communication with one another?” He answers that we derive this from the word לאמור in the above quoted verse. G’d is reported to have said to Moses: “tell Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov that the oath I swore to them I have fulfilled to their children.” The Talmud therefore concluded that the dead could communicate with one another, otherwise how could Moses tell all this to the patriarchs seeing that all of them were dead? The Talmud further concludes that the dead experience pain on their bodies, proving it from a verse in Job 14,22: “He feels only the pain of his flesh, and his spirit mourns in him.” The Talmud assumed first that the dead experiences only pain inflicted upon himself but not that inflicted upon others; later on, the Talmud concludes that the dead experience even pains inflicted upon others, and that they are not only aware of what goes on in their world but also of what goes on in our world. They deduce all this from our verse, seeing that if they did not know what was going on in our world what good would it do for G’d to tell Moses to tell them what He had done on earth? The Talmud retorts that this latter argument is faulty, for if the patriarchs had known what goes on in our world why did G’d have to instruct Moses to tell them something they knew already? The Talmud answers that G’d wanted that the patriarchs give credit to Moses for having told them, although he had not told them something they had not been aware of.

So that you may go forth and say to Avraham, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Why the verse says saying? It is so that you may go forth and say, etc. According to this, it seems to me that the phrases in the verse should be rearranged and the phrase I have shown it to you should appear earlier. It is as if Hashem said, “This is the land that I swore, etc., I have shown it to you with your eyes to say, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’

שמה לא תעבור, so that by your crossing the river your blessing would not invalidate the decree issued by Me, that if the sins of the Jewish people were to reach a certain measure that they would be expelled from the land. [According to what the author explained on Deut.1,35-39 it was the fact that Moses was forbidden to cross the Jordan although personally not guilty of accepting the assessment of the 10 spies who counseled against trying to conquer the land, that preserved their chance to participate in the resurrection of the dead when the time would come for this. Our sages subscribe to the concept that whatever Moses did had enduring, eternal validity, provided it had been based on a valid premise. A blessing after setting foot in the Holy Land would have been of more enduring value than one pronounced when not on holy soil. Denying Moses the chance to pronounce his blessing while on holy soil, indirectly benefited the whole generation of the people who were adults at the time of the Exodus. It preserved their chance to participate in the resurrection, as did the fact that Moses was buried outside the Holy Land, and his appearance at the resurrection without the people whom he had shepherded for 40 years would be embarrassing for him. Ed.]

However, it has been decreed before Me. Rashi is answering the question: If so, why did He not take him over so he would be able to see more and tell them? Therefore Rashi says However, etc.

ושמה לא תעבור, "but you yourself will not cross there." Perhaps the reason this is repeated at this point is that G'd wanted to tell Moses that he did not need to enter the gate to heaven by first having set foot in the land of Israel. The Zohar volume one page 81 says that all the souls ascend to heaven by way of ארץ ישראל. Seeing that Moses' soul was being gathered up by G'd personally, and that G'd immediately deposited it in the Celestial Regions, there was no need for his soul to travel via ארץ ישראל in order to achieve its objective. The words וימת שם משה mean that where Moses died his soul ascended to heaven immediately.

Were it not for this, I would have sustained you, etc. Meaning, were it not for the oath [that Moshe would not enter]. Even though it is written (above 31:2), I am 120 years old today, [and Rashi explains], Today my days and years are completed, so that even were it not for the oath he would die since his days were completed, nevertheless, I would have sustained you [even longer]. (In the name of the Maharitz). It seems to me that when Rashi explains, Today my days and years are completed, etc. he means, when saying his days were completed, that on this day I was born and on this day I will die. But regarding his years [i.e., age], because of his merit, if not for the sin he would have lived long [even more than 120 years] as his father lived long, and he would have merited to enter the land. But because of the sin he did not live [so] long and his years were completed now. You cannot say that this is [considered] shortened years [and cannot be called completed years], since the span of our years is [normally] seventy years, and when one lives longer, it is because of his merit. According to what I wrote in the name of Maharitz this question is also answered [since he explains that Moshe did reach his allotted time span].

וימת שם משה AND MOSES DIED THERE — Is it possible that Moses, died, and then wrote: “And Moses died there”? But, thus far did Moses write, from here and onward Joshua wrote. Rabbi Meir said: But is it possible that the Book of the Torah would be lacking anything at all, and yet it would state before the account of Moses' death was written in it, (Deuteronomy 31:26) “Take this book of the Torah” -? Rather the Holy One, blessed be He, dictated this, and Moses wrote it in tears (Sifrei Devarim 357:28; Bava Batra 15a, Menachot 30a).

וימת שם משה, "Moses died there, etc." The Torah emphasises that Moses only died there, whereas he lives on in more sacred regions.

While Moshe wrote with teardrops. Some explain, with teardrops and not with ink, in order to differentiate between these eight verses and the entire Torah, so that one person should read them [during the Torah reading] and not two; and without any interruption. And some explain that he shed tears as he was writing.

V. 5. וימת וגו׳ ,על פי ד׳. Es war Gottes ausgesprochene Bestimmung, dass Mosche im jenseitigen Lande sterben solle. Das Bedeutungsvolle dieses Umstandes für die ganze Sendung Mosche haben wir bereits wiederholt erörtert (siehe Bamidbar 20, 12 u. 27, 14, sowie Dewarim 3, 26). Daher diese ausdrückliche Erwähnung im Momente des Ereignisses. — Baba Batra 15 a differieren die Ansichten. Nach der einen habe Josua die acht Verse von hier bis zum Schlusse geschrieben, nach der anderen seien auch diese Verse wie die ganze תורה von Mosche Hand nach Gottes Diktat, nur habe bis dahin Mosche das von Gott Vernommene vor dem Niederschreiben sich wiederholt, diese acht Verse aber schweigend mit Tränen geschrieben. עד כאן הב׳׳ה אומר ומשה אומר וכותב מכאן ואילך הב׳׳ה אומר ומשה בותב בדמע. Vielleicht liegt diesem Satze auch der Gedanke zu Grunde: was Mosche bis hierher zu schreiben hatte, war ihm auch für ihn gesprochen, zu seiner Beherzigung, er wiederholte es sich und schrieb es für das Volk nieder. Der Inhalt dieser acht Verse geht aber über sein hieniediges Dasein hinüber, er hatte und zumal auch der Nachruhm, mit dem er schließt, nichts für ihn zu Beherzigendes. Diese acht Verse schrieb er nur ganz objektiv nach Gottes Diktat für sein Volk mit Tränen nieder. — Auch beim Vorlesen desselben, bei קה׳׳ת, macht sich der besondere, schmerzliche Inhalt dieser den Tod Mosche berichtenden Verse darin bemerkbar, dass יחיד קורא אותן (daselbst), dass, nach allgemeinster Auffassung, sie nicht auf mehrere verteilt, sondern nur von einem gelesen werden, ähnlich, wie wir glauben, dem אין מפסיקין בקללות אלא אחד קורא את כולן (Megilla 31 a) und zwar, je nach der Auffassung aus ähnlichen Gründen.

וימת שם משה, “Moses died there.” According to Psalms 118,17, Moses said to G–d at the time of his death: “I do not wish to die but to live and to proclaim the works of the Lord.” G–d replied that it was impossible to fulfill his wish, as it has been decreed that every human being must die. Thereupon Moses said to G–d: “I have one request to make from You so that they can all see that there is absolutely no one like You;” before he could articulate his request all the gates of the earth and the great deep opened up, and this is what Moses meant when he had said to the people in Deuteronomy 4,39: וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך כי ה' הוא האלוקים “you will know this day and it will register in your hearts, that the Lord is the G–d;” as soon as he had gotten to this word, Moses added: אין עוד, “no one else.” As soon as G–d had heard Moses saying these words, He said to him: “since you have said the words: אין עוד,“I will testify with the same words that there never has been nor ever will be again a prophet comparable to your stature.” (verse 10 in our chapter). Immediately following this conversation, G–d, personally, accompanied by the three angels Michael, Gavriel and Zagzagel (the angel who teaches fetuses in their mother’s wombs the Torah) descended to earth, Gavriel prepared the bier on which Moses was to die, Michael spread a red woolen sheet over it, whereas Zagzagel arranged his headrest on the bier. G–d instructed Moses how to arrange the various parts of his body when he laid down on the bier, and as soon as he had done so, He spoke to the soul of Moses, reminding it that it had been granted the privilege of being a guest in Moses’ body for one hundred and twenty years, but saying that the time had now come for it to return to its place in the celestial regions. The soul replied in a very respectful manner to G–d that although it was aware that G–d had created it in order to reside within Moses’ body, the fact that during all these one hundred and twenty years she had enjoyed being hosted by the purest body a body that had never been host to any worm or otherwise destructive creature. Even flies had never settled on Moses’ skin. The body she inhabited had never been jealous or envious of a fellow human being. Seeing that she had been privileged to inhabit such a body, the soul said, she was very reluctant to leave such a body. After having listened to the soul, G–d again asked her not to delay His timetable. He promised that soul to promote it to the loftiest rank of all the creatures in the celestial spheres. Its permanent seat would be immediately below His throne, next to the highest ranking groups of angels. Still, the soul responded that it would prefer to remain in Moses’ body to sharing such honours with the highest ranking angels. It pointed out that from those groups of angels several when becoming residents on earth, i.e. Uzza and Azael, had become more corrupt and had lusted after human females until G–d had been forced to put an end to them. Moses, on the other hand, when G–d had appeared to him at the burning bush, never once continued to have sexual relations with his wife. As a result, she, this soul, begged to remain part of Moses. In view of all this, G–d decided to remove Moses’ soul from his body by kissing it. This is the meaning of the word: על פי ה', “by the mouth of the Lord”, at the end of our verse. At that hour, G–d Himself broke out weeping, seeing that He had been forced to remove Moses from earth through a decree issued by oath a long time ago; this is alluded to in Psalms 94,16: מי יקום לי עם-מרעים מי יתיצב לי עם פועלי און, G–d mourned the fact that from now on “who will take My part against evil men, who will stand up for Me against wrongdoers?” The angels in heaven were also weeping and saying: והחכמה מאין תמצא ונעלמה מעיני כל חי, “but where can wisdom now be found, and where is now the source of understanding?” The heavens were weeping and saying: אבד חסיד מן הארץ, “the pious have vanished from earth.” (Michah 7,2). The author continues in this vein, quoting all parts of creation bemoaning the death of Moses as an irreplaceable loss for mankind. (The sources of the above statements are found in Devarim Rabbah at the end, and in Yalkut Shimoni on the portion of Vayelech) Concerning the last eight verses in the Torah, their author, and how to relate to this as it is difficult to attribute them as having been written by Moses either posthumously or before his death, the Talmud tractate Baba batra folio 15, suggests as a possible way to deal with this problem, that they be read by individuals but not as part of the public Torah reading. This line in the Talmud is interpreted differently by a number of commentators. Seeing that we read these lines in the normal fashion, there is no point in challenging what has been accepted for many hundreds of years by all sections of orthodox Judaism.

על פי ה׳ BY THE COMMAND (lit., MOUTH) OF THE LORD — by the Divine kiss (Moed Katan 28a; cf. Rashi on Numbers 20:1).

ויקבר אותו AND HE BURIED HIM — i.e. The Holy One, blessed be He, in His glory, buried him (Sotah 14a). R. Ishmael, however, said, It means: “He buried himself”. This (the word אותו) is one of the three cases of את with a pronominal suffix which R. Ishmael explained thus (as being reflexive and not accusative pronouns). Similar to it is: (Numbers 6:13; see Rashi thereon) “On the day when his naziritehood is fulfilled, he shall bring אותו”, i.e. he shall bring (present) himself. Similar to it is, (Leviticus 22:16) “And they will burden אותם with iniquity of trespass”. But did others burden them (the priests) with that iniquity? But the meaning is that they burdened themselves (Sifrei Bamidbar 32).

ויקבור אותו, if Moses buried himself, as is the opinion of some of our commentators, (compare Rashi) it would have been his disembodied soul that accomplished this, for it is stated clearly that his body died on the summit of the mountain from which he viewed the Holy Land, as the Torah wrote in verse 5: “Moses died there.” On the other hand, the burial is described in our verse as having taken place in the valley.

עד היום הזה, until this day. These are G'd's words recorded by Moses. The same applies to the previous statement: "Moses died there."

The Holy One, Blessed is He, in His glory. They expound this since the two are juxtaposed to each other. By the mouth of Hashem [followed by] He buried him.

V. 6. ויקבר אתו בגי. Nach Sota 9 b ist das Subjekt von ויקבר der vorhergehende ׳על פי ד׳ ,ד, und wird daselbst 14 a darauf hingewiesen, wie Anfang und Ende der תורה Gott selbst in vom Menschen nachzuahmender Übung der גמילות חסדים an Lebenden und Toten zeigt, Bereschit 3, 21 gibt Gottes Beispiel als מלביש ערומים, unsere Stelle alle דרש רבי שמלאי תורה תחלתה גמילות חסדים וסופה .קובר מתים גמילות חסדים תחלתה גמילות חסדים דכתיב ויעש ד׳ אלקים לאדם ולאשתו כתנות עור וילבישם וסופה גמילות חסדים דכתיב ויקבר אותו בגי. Nach ר׳ ישמעאל (Sifri zu Bamidbar 6, 13) wäre aber אתו reflexiv, er begrub sich, er legte sich selbst ins Grab, um dort zu sterben, ähnlich wie אתו אל פתח אהל מוער (Dewarim 6, 13) und והשיאו אותם עון אשמה (Wajikra 22, 16); siehe daselbst. — קבורה ,ולא ידע איש את קברתו: Grab, wie מצה אל קבורתה (Bereschit 35, 20), וקברתני בקבורתם (daselbst 47, 30). Wenn man erwägt, welchen oft an Abgötterei streifenden Kultus die Grabstätten großer, um die Menschheit verdienter Männer gefunden haben, so begreift man die Größe dieses letzten Zuges im Lebensbild unseres Mosche.

ויקבר אותו בגיא, “He was buried in the valley;” we have been given three points as to where Moses grave was situated. A) in the valley; B) in which valley? “in the land of Moav;” C) at what location? opposite Beyt Peor. Even after having been given these three details still no one ever located the precise point where Moses is buried. (Talmud tractate Sotah folio 13) This proves that he was not buried by a human being.

מול בית פעור OPPOSITE BETH PEOR — His grave was prepared there ever since the six days of Creation, to atone for the incident regarding Peor (see Numbers 25) (Sotah 14a). This (Moses' grave) was one of the things that were created “between the twilights” on the eve of the Sabbath [in the week of the Creation] (Pirkei Avot 5:6; Pesachim 54a).

I have seen a comment by Rabbi Avraham ben Ezra according to which these lines were written by Joshua. It is not proper to write such things and present them as the plain meaning of the verses; this would give rise to the impression that Moses had not completed the written Torah himself when he handed it over to the Levites. I have heard a number of our people who are very confused about this section and who as a result may commit heresy in their attitude to the written Torah. Comments such as the one I have quoted in the name of Rabbi Avraham ben Ezra are typical of the Gentiles who claim that Israelites have tampered with the text of the holy Torah so that it contains things which were not there originally while it omits things which had been included originally. We must accept the statement in Baba Batra 15 that Moses wrote the entire Torah whereas he completed the writing of these last eight verses by using tears instead of ink [or by weeping while writing it. Ed.]. [This criticism of Ibn Ezra seems hard to accept as there is an opinion in the Talmud (Rabbi Yehudah) on the folio we have quoted that Joshua wrote these last eight verses. Surely our author does not include the Talmud in his accusation! Perhaps the author had a version of the Ibn Ezra in which the last eight verses are described as having been written by Joshua at a later stage of his life. Ed.]

עד היום הזה siehe zu Bereschit 32, 33.

עד היום הזה, “until this day.” The principal reason for this is to make it impossible for anyone to be buried next to him. This was in order to prevent necromancers from using this site for their purposes.

מול בית פעור, “opposite Bet-Peor.” According to our sages Tanchuma Ki Tissa 20, Moses had been afraid of certain negative phenomena in the form of מלאכי חבלה, destructive angels, already at the time of the golden calf when he was on Mount Sinai. Banishing these forces could never be more than temporary, and the events at Bal Pe-or, (probably identical with Bet-Pe-or) reflected a failure on his part to counter these forces a second time. Compare what the author wrote on Numbers 17,11 יצא הקצף. Moses, who had not banished the fifth of these negative forces described as חמה, permanently, was buried facing the earthly residence of this force so as to oppose it even in death and thereby to protect his people against this force opening its mouth and accusing Israel of idolatrous conduct. We find that the Men of the Great Assembly are reported to have done something similar when they tried to banish the evil urge, throwing it into a pot of scalding water (euphemisms, of course, compare Talmud Yuma 69). At any rate, according to this Midrashic interpretation, the fact that Moses’ grave was near such an abomination is not to be construed negatively but positively, reflecting Moses’ ongoing concern to protect his people even in death.

ולא ידע איש את קבורתו, “and no man knew (the exact site of) his grave.” The word מקום which should have preceded the word “his grave,” has been deliberately omitted to indicate that it remains unknown.

לא כהתה עינו HIS EYE WAS NOT DIM — even after he had died (Sifrei Devarim 357:34).

בן מאה ועשרים שנה במותו. he was 120 years old at his death. This means that at the precise moment his soul left him Moses had completed 120 years. Another nuance the Torah may have in mind by writing the word "at his death" is that seeing the Torah reported only afterwards that neither Moses' eyesight nor his vigor had diminished that this statement was true up until the moment Moses died.

לא כהתה עינו, “his eyesight had not become weaker.” This is actually a reference to the rays of light which the skin of Moses’ forehead emitted, a gift which he had brought with him from Mount Sinai (Exodus 34,29). The word עין here does not mean “eye,” but means the same as in the description of the properties of the manna which the Torah described as “like the sparkling, i.e. עין of ‘bedolach’” in apperance (a gemstone called “crystal” by Rashi in Numbers 11,7). Another instance where the word עין does not mean “eye,” though it appears so at first glance, is found in Ezekiel 1,22 כעין הקרח הנורא. It can hardly mean “as the terrible eye of the ice,” but must mean: “as the sparkle of the awesome ice.”

His moistness. He was not subject to decay, etc. This is the meaning of his freshness did not fade. His countenance was not disfigured is the meaning of his appearance was not dulled, meaning that his appearance did not alter even after he died. Because otherwise Scripture should have written, And Moshe was 120, etc. at his death in the plains of Moav, his appearance was not dulled, etc., as it is written above regarding Aharon (Bamidbar 33:39), Aharon was 123 years old at his death on Hor Hohor. Thus [we infer] that the reason it does not say in the plains of Moav here is in order to juxtapose at his death to his appearance was not dulled, to teach that even in his death his appearance was not dulled, etc. Analyze this. (So it seems to me). Re”m explains: And that which he writes, ‘even after his death,’ is according to the Midrash, because otherwise how does he know? Perhaps it is speaking of when he was alive as [the sages] comment [Sotah 13b) on the verse, I cannot any longer go forth and return, as Rashi explains above in parshas Vayelech (31:2) [that this refers to while he was still alive].

V. 7. ענבים לחים ,לחה .ומשה וגו׳ (Bamidbar 6, 3) frische Trauben, daher לֵחָ oder לחֵהֶ wie רֵעַ und רֵעֶה: Frische. Die Wurzel scheint האל לחה, welche beide ein Verschwinden der Kräfte bedeuten (siehe Bereschit 47, 13), wozu לחה mit gegensätzlichem ח, wie נוע usw, den Gegensatz ausdrückt: das unverkürzte Dasein, die Frische der Kräfte. לחה mit dem Feminalzeichen ה statt ו, eine Frische, die dem Schwächealter der Person nicht gewöhnlich war (siehe zu Kap. 31, 2).

לא כהתה עינו, “his eye had not become dim;” he had exuded light until the end of his days, as he had when he had returned to earth from Mount Sinai on the last occasion.

ולא נס לחו means, nor did the life-sap that was in him depart (Sifrei Devarim 357:35): decomposition had no power over him (had no effect on his body), and the appearance of his face had not changed.

ולא נס לחה, “and his vital juices had not departed from him.” A reference to the moisture of the body which prevents it from drying out, from dehydrating. Seeing that it is normal for people over a certain age to appear to dry out and to shrivel, the Torah testifies that Moses’ body had not displayed any signs of aging till the day he died. We find the expression לחה, i.e. לח, “moist, wet," with the added letter ה instead of the pronoun ending ו describing “his” moisture. Now see, when Moses was born the Torah inserted the letter ה; upon his passing too, this insertion indicates that the divine presence had not departed from him even after his passing. (See Rabbeinu Bahya, Shemot 2:2)

בני ישראל THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL [WEPT] — i.e., the men; but regarding Aaron, — because he pursued peace, and made peace between a man and his fellow, and between a woman and her husband, it is stated, (Numbers 20:29) “The whole house of Israel [wept for him]” — the men and the women (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 17).

ויתמו ימי בכי אבל משה ויהושוע בן נון מלא רוח חכמה, for during the days of weeping for Moses there was neither wisdom nor counsel (חכמה ועצה).

ויבכו בני ישראל, The Jewish people wept, etc. When Aaron's death is reported in Numbers 20,29, the Torah wrote that "the whole house of Israel wept for thirty days." Our sages in Avot de Rabbi Natan 12 claim that Aaron's having been a lover of peace was the reason why he was mourned even more than Moses when he died.

V. 8. ויתמו ימי בכי אכל משה .ויבכו וגו׳ die Tage des Weinens, in welchem die Trauer um Mosche sich äußerte, waren damit zu Ende, die Trauer dauerte fort.

ויבכו בני ישראל, “The Children of Israel wept, etc.” when Aaron had died the Torah describes “the whole house of Israel” as having mourned his passing.(Number 20,29) The reason for the difference was that at that time anyone seeing Moses cry at the death of his brother could not help crying also. When Moses died there was no one left of such a stature that it would cause him to cry also. Alternately, the women did not weep at Moses’ passing.

Rabbi Avraham ben Ezra wrote that the line in Numbers refers to the whole house of Israel weeping in honour of Moses who remained alive. One must not accept his explanation as it is not permissible to change a verse which describes a virtue of the people and to downgrade this virtue by attributing it to a less noble consideration. By doing so Ibn Ezra suggests that when Moses himself died the people did not get unduly upset when he was being eulogised.

Perhaps we may understand the difference in the people's reaction to the two deaths as stemming from the fact that Aaron's death was unexpected whereas they had been informed well in advance that Moses was about to die. The sudden realisation that Aaron had died had a more profound effect on the people. Moses had told the people for six weeks running, during all his exhortations, that he was approaching his death (compare Deut. 4,22). No wonder that they did not react as profoundly at the time Moses was eulogised as at the time Aaron was eulogised.

Another possible reason for the difference in the reported reaction of the people was due to the immediate visible effects of Aaron's death such as the disappearance of the protective clouds which had hovered over the encampment of the Israelites ever since the Exodus. Their disappearance had been followed immediately with an attack by the Canaanite as explained in Taanit 3. These factors combined to stir the entire nation into weeping at Aaron's death. When Moses died they did not experience such a negative fallout; on the contrary, they knew the way was clear to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land of Canaan.

Still another possibility to explain this relatively muted reaction by the Jewish people to Moses' death was the fact that immediately after Moses died the Shechinah settled on Joshua. The people took comfort from this fact. This may be compared to someone who has lost a bag of precious stones, but has found some pearls instead. Although he mourns the loss of the stones, he does not do so with the same intensity as he would have done had he not found the pearls. This is why not all of the people wept at Moses' death. This is also the reason that the report of the people weeping for the death of Moses is followed immediately by the report that Joshua was filled with a spirit of wisdom, etc. When Aaron had died this was equivalent to the loss of diamonds which had not been replaced by other precious stones. Even though Eleazar was appointed as High Priest in his father's stead, they did not weep for the absence of a High Priest but for the loss of something which was irreplaceable, i.e. the benefits Aaron's presence had bestowed upon them.

כאשר צוה ה' את משה, a reference to the fact that political decisions such as expansionary wars needed G’d’s confirmation, which was to be obtained by means of the urim vetumim in the breastplate of the High Priest, i.e. Eleazar, son of Aaron. We were told this in Numbers 27,21 when Joshua was appointed Moses’ successor. [This was an example of Joshua’s inferiority as a leader compared to Moses, who never had to resort to such indirect methods of receiving a message from G’d. Ed.]

V. 9. ויהושע וגו׳ (siehe zu Bamidbar 27, 18).

אשר ידעו ה׳ פנים אל פנים WHOM THE LORD KNEW FACE TO FACE — this means: that he was familiar with Him and used to speak with Him at any time he desired, just as it is stated that Moses said, (Exodus 32:30), “And now I will ascend to the Lord”; (Numbers 9:8) “Stay and I will hear what God will command regarding you”.

WHOM THE ETERNAL KNEW FACE TO FACE. “[This means] that Moses’ heart was familiar with Him and he spoke with Him whenever he wished, as it is stated, and now I will go up unto the Eternal;³⁰⁷Exodus 32:30. Stay ye, that I may hear what the Eternal will command concerning you.”³⁰⁸Numbers 9:8. This is Rashi’s language. But it is not correct, for in that case [if the verse extols Moses’ familiarity with G-d] it should have said, “who knew the Eternal face to face.” Rather, this is similar to the expressions: and I know thee by name;³⁰⁹Exodus 33:17. Yet Thou hast said: I know thee by name.³¹⁰Ibid., Verse 12. The verse thus states that there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel whom G-d so exalted as to communicate with him face to face. Similarly, Eternal, what is man that ‘vateida’eihu’³¹¹Psalms 144:3. means “that You should bestow honor upon him by giving heed to him,” like What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him?³¹²Job 7:17. It is possible that [this is the intent of the verse]: because when two persons see one another face to face, they become acquainted with each other through that meeting, Scripture therefore says whom the Eternal knew face to face [indicating that G-d and Moses were like two people who know one another well; however, Scripture said only that G-d knew Moses, not vice-versa], since out of respect to the Most Exalted it did not want to mention that Moses also knew Him that way. Now, do not be surprised that Scripture speaks in praise of Moses saying, Whom the Eternal knew face to face, and it also states, And the Eternal spoke unto Moses face to face,³¹³Exodus 33:11. and with reference to all Israel it is likewise stated [the very same praise], The Eternal spoke with you face to face!³¹⁴Above, 5:4. For there [in the case of all Israel] he explained out of the midst of the fire,³¹⁴Above, 5:4. meaning to say that they heard His voice out of the midst of the fire only, and they did not actually see His Presence. Similarly he explained, and upon earth He made thee to see His great fire, and thou didst hear His words out of the midst of the fire.³¹⁵Ibid., 4:36.
And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the verse here states that G-d knew Moses face to face [to a degree that it was possible] to cleave to Him whenever the spirit³¹⁶Numbers 11:25. came upon Moses our teacher. It was so at the time of the Giving of the Torah, but the people perceived only the Voice out of the midst of the fire.³¹⁷See Exodus 19:20 (Vol. II, pp. 282-284). Thus Scripture explained that all prophecies of Moses were as on the day that the Torah was given, while the rest of the prophets had the hand of the Eternal upon them.³¹⁸See Ramban to Numbers 12:6. Understand this.

ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה, no other subsequent prophet ever attained the lofty spiritual stature of Moses. This explained the statement by our sages that no prophet is allowed to innovate something in the Torah since Moses had died. (Shabbat 104) This statement also explains the rule that no Rabbinical assembly may invalidate a decree by another such Rabbinical assembly which had preceded it, unless it could be proven to be more competent and consisted of a greater number than the Rabbinical assembly which had originated said decree. (Megillah 20)

ולא קם נביא עוד, and no other prophet arose, etc. The past tense קם means that as of the time when these words were written no other comparable prophet had arisen. The addition of the word עוד means that no comparable prophet would arise in the future either.

אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים, “whom Hashem had known face to face.” Rashi explains this strange expression as Moses feeling so familiar with Hashem that he would speak to Him at any time, without special preparation. Nachmanides questions this, writing that if this were correct the Torah should have made Moses the subject in our verse, not Hashem¸ and should have written אשר ידע את ה' “who was familiar with Hashem, who knew Hashem so well, etc.” According to Nachmanides the meaning of the verse is based on the statement ואדעך בשם, (Exodus 33,17) where it means: “I have known you by name.” Knowing someone by name presumes knowing someone closely, relatively intimately. In the case of Hashem, who had told Moses that it is impossible for a living human being to see His essence or comprehend it, he was granted the next best thing described by the Torah repeatedly in the above terms. Knowing someone by name also implies a degree of mutuality. While it is true that the term פנים בפנים occurred also as a mode of speech employed by Hashem vis a vis the whole people, (Deut. 5,4) the difference is that on that occasion it was G’d speaking out of the fire and the people having had to prepare themselves for that spiritual experience for three days beforehand. Moses was always on a level when he was spiritually prepared. [Likely as not, the term פנים אל פנים is a way of describing the difference between believing something and knowing something, the latter being superior to the former. Ed.]

He [Moshe] had an easy familiarity with Him, etc. Rashi is answering the question: How one can possibly speak of Hashem having a face when He has no image or form? Therefore he explains that the meaning is not according to the plain connotation, but rather it means like a person who has easy familiarity with his fellow and speaks to him any time he desires.

VV. 10 — 12. ולא קם נביא וגו׳ לעיני כל ישראל. Diese drei Schlussverse sind die Besiegelung des durch Mosche gebrachten Gottesgesetzes und sichern ihm seine ewige Unantastbarkeit und Unveränderlichkeit. Sie heben daher aus Mosche Sendung nur drei Momente und zwar die hervor, welche jeder etwaigen ganzen oder teilweisen Abrogierung des göttlichen Gesetzes durch irgend einen späteren Propheten, sowie jeder kecken oder leichtsinnigen Hintansetzung desselben einen ehernen Schild ewig entgegenhalten. Das לא des V. 11 und 12. Sowohl לכל וגו׳ des V. 10 bezieht sich auch auf das קם וגו׳ hinsichtlich der ידיעה פנים אל פנים als der אותות ומופתים במצרים und der יד חזקה ומורא גדול die er לעיני כל ישראל zu vollbringen hatte, steht Mosche einzig da.

ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה, “there never again arose in Israel a prophet of the stature of Moses;” the reason the word בישראל, “in Israel,” has been added here is to tell the reader that we do not need to be told that no such prophet arose amongst the gentiles, but that even among the Israelites there never arose a prophet to equal Moses in his stature. We had been given proof of this in Exodus 33,16, when the Torah wrote: נפלינו אני ועמך מכל העם אשר על פני האדמה, “and so that we are distinguished, I and Your people from all the people that are on the earth.”

'אשר ידעו ה, whom G’d had endowed with so much knowledge by turning His face to him. We have been told in Samuel I 10,6 that receiving even a small measure of prophetic insight makes the recipient an איש אחר, a different person. This is why the prophet Amos 2,11 when referring to the deeds of loving kindness performed by G’d for the people lists the fact that G’d gave many Israelites prophetic insights. The people, during Amos’ time, instead of availing themselves of the spiritual inspiration thus accessible, forbade these prophets to impart their visions, etc., reversing and frustrating G’d’s purpose. Seeing that all of G’d’s activity stems exclusively from His own personal knowledge (cannot be evaluated properly by His creatures, seeing that they are “only” His creature) the Torah records G’d as saying that אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים, that in His communications with Moses and granting him insights into His ways, He did so exclusively for Moses’ benefit. This expression ידע appears repeatedly in Scriptures in this sense of endowing someone with insights. One example is Psalms 144,3 מה אדם ותדעהו, “what did man do that You should take the trouble to grant him such insights?” Another such example is found in Exodus 33,17 ואדעך בשם, “I granted you some insights about My essence, by making you familiar with some of My attributes.” [my translation. Ed.] Compare also Exodus 2,25 Psalms1,6 and numerous other examples. [If I do not err, the author feels that seeing that G’d’s omniscience is axiomatic in Judaism, such phrases as the ones quoted cannot simply mean “G’d knew,” for there would be no point in the Torah stating the obvious. They must therefore imply that G’d communicated some of His knowledge. In Exodus 2,25 the Torah meant to tell us that the Jewish people would shortly become aware that G’d knew all about their condition and would do something about it, something that would also raise their spiritual level as a result. Ed.]

בישראל, "amongst the people of Israel." This is a hint that the greatness of Moses as a prophet was due in large measure to the people of Israel. This is supported by the statement in the Sifri that during all the years when the Jewish people were in G'd's disfavour, G'd did not even communicate with Moses. Our sages claim that the word בישראל means that whereas no comparable prophet arose in Israel, there was a prophet of comparable stature amongst the Gentiles, i.e. Bileam.

Die Unmittelbarkeit, in welcher Gott sich und seinen Willen Mosche für die von ihm zu vollbringende Sendung, zu welcher er ihn — ידעו (siehe Bereschit 18, 19 und Schmot 33, 12) — aus dem Menschenkreise hervorgehoben, kundtat, wird von keinem späteren Propheten erreicht, ihrer wird keiner in Jisrael wieder sich rühmen können. פנים אל פנים, Angesicht zu Angesicht empfing Mosche jedes Wort seiner Sendung, — Schmot 33, 11 und Bamidbar 12, 8 — kein nicht in solcher unverhüllter Unmittelbarkeit empfangenes Wort wird je an einem Laut der Mosche unvermittelt gewordenen Gottesworte rütteln können. Und die Gott und seine Allmacht bekundenden אותות ומופתים, mit welchen Mosche in seiner Gottessendung Israel aus Ägyptens Gewalt für Gott und sein Gesetz frei zu machen hatte, und die יד החזקה und מורא הגדול, die starke, sich ihr Eigentum nicht entreissen lassende Hand und die von jedem Ungehorsam zu fürchtende Größe, die sodann Mosche לעיני כל ישראל in Israel und gegen Israel für das von ihm gebrachte Gesetz und Israels Erhaltung für dasselbe zu vollbringen hatte: die stehen für alle Zeiten jeder äußeren Gewalt und jeder inneren Keckheit und Verirrung warnend entgegen, die es je unternehmen möchten, Israel in seinem Berufe zu entfremden und damit das Werk der Sendung Mosche zu gefährden. —

אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים, “who knew the Lord face to face.” This has been recorded in Numbers 12,8: פה אל פה אדבר בו ומראה לא בחידות ותמונת ה' יביט, “with him I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly and not in dark speeches and he beholds a visual image of the Lord.”An alternate interpretation: “G-d did know Moses face to face, but Moses did not know G-d face to face, for G-d Himself is on record as saying: כי לא יראני האדם וחי, “for no human being can see Me while he is still alive.” (Exodus 33,20)

פנים אל פנים, while in full possession of his faculties.

IN ALL THE SIGNS. This is connected with the [preceding] verse, And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel — in all the signs etc. Or the verse may be stating that the Eternal knew Moses face to face through the signs and wonders as they were all done with His Great Name [i.e., the Tetragrammaton], just as he said, and He brought thee out with His Presence, with His great power.³¹⁹Above, 4:37.
Now, I have already explained³²⁰Ibid., 4:32 and 13:2. that signs are the matters about which Moses warned [the Egyptians] before they took place, such as, by tomorrow shall this sign be,³²¹Exodus 8:19. and the term is used for any phenomenon which the prophet forecasts saying, “Thus will it come and happen in the future.” Wonders imply a change in the natural order, such as the rod which was turned to a serpent.³²²Ibid., 7:15. Now, signs and wonders were also performed for the rest of the prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha who brought about many wonders [why is then the special significance attached to the signs and wonders of Moses]! However, the distinction of those [signs and wonders] of Moses our teacher is explained by the Rabbis in the Midrash:³²³The source is unknown to me. “All the prophets wrought miracles through prayer, such as the [halting of the] sun for Joshua,³²⁴Scripture relates, Then ‘spoke’ Joshua to the Eternal etc. (Joshua 10:12), which R’dak interprets as “prayed.” and [the revival of] the Zarephathite woman’s son,³²⁵I Kings 17:21. and the withholding of the rain by Elijah,³²⁶Ibid., Verse 1. and the [revival of the] Shunammite woman’s son by Elisha.³²⁷II Kings 4:33. But Moses performed [signs and miracles] immediately [without prayer].” Yet this Midrash is not clear.
And the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] stated in Moreh Nebuchim³²⁸Guide of the Perplexed II, 35. that “the distinction of Moses our teacher was that he spoke [publicly] to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land,³²⁹In Verse 11 before us. and in the sight of all Israel,³³⁰Verse 12. for they [his signs and wonders] were in full view of his opponents and his followers. The rest of the prophets, however, performed them [the signs and wonders] in the presence of a few individuals, as it is said, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha had done.”³³¹II Kings 8:4. This was said by the king of Israel to Gehazi, Elisha’s servant. The fact that the king was unaware of the prophet’s great things indicates that they were not performed publicly in the presence of friend and enemy. But this does not appear to me to be correct [for the following reasons]: The withholding of the rain by Elijah — both the cessation and the coming³³²I Kings 18:41-45. — were very much publicized. It [the cessation of rain] was by his [Elijah’s] decree [rather than through prayer] as it is said, As the Eternal, the G-d of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.³²⁶Ibid., Verse 1. And during its three year duration, the matter became very well known,³³³In his defense of Rambam’s theory, Ritba in his Sefer Hazikaron (see Preface to Ramban Vol. I, p. XI, Note 18) points out that the miracles performed by Moses were done in presence of all people, or a multitude of them, whereas those done by other prophets were performed only in presence of a few people. Thus Elijah’s oath about the cessation of rain was given in the presence of King Ahab, and through him, it became known to others. and heard among the nations for it is written, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord [Ahab] hath not sent to seek thee etc.³³⁴Ibid., 18:10. And the climax of the affair occurred publicly in the presence of his opponents and his followers at one assembly, as it is written, Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty etc.³³⁵Ibid., Verse 19. So, too, the halting of the sun for Joshua was certainly in view of all Israel,³³⁶Although in the case of Joshua Scripture states only that the miracle was done ‘before’ the children of Israel (Joshua 10:12) and it does not specify “in the sight of ‘all’ Israel” as in the case of Moses — nevertheless Ramban points out that the very nature of the miracle dictates that it occurred “in view of all Israel,” etc. and all the kings of Canaan saw it — those who fought against him [on that day] as well as the remaining ones. Our Rabbis also mention that people saw it from one end of the earth to the other.³³⁷Abodah Zarah 25a. Scripture also lauds it exceedingly, saying, And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Eternal hearkened to the voice of a man.³³⁸Joshua 10:14. The splitting of the Jordan, like the splitting of the Red Sea, was not done for individuals, but for all Israel, and furthermore it is written, And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, that were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, that were by the sea, heard that the Eternal had dried up the waters of the Jordan.³³⁹Ibid., 5:1.
But in line with the simple meaning of Scripture it is all tied and connected [with the preceding verse, And there hath not arisen a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses etc.], Scripture stating that no prophet has ever appeared in Israel like Moses whom the Eternal knew face to face and to perform signs and wonders with a mighty hand and great terror like Moses. If they brought about some of them [the signs and the wonders], they did not approach the number or great distinction of those [performed by Moses], for there was never a day like Sinai, before it or after it. So, also, the signs of the prophets did not extend for as long a period as did those of Moses, peace be upon him — for the sign of the manna continued steadily for forty years,³⁴⁰Exodus 16:38. as did the pillar of fire and the cloud,³⁴¹Ibid., 13:21. and, in the opinion of our Rabbis, so did the well,³⁴²Taanith 9a. See Ramban to Numbers 21:18 (Vol. IV, p. 239). and the quail.³⁴³Yoma 75b. And their walking through the great and dreadful wilderness, wherein were serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water,³⁴⁴Above, 8:15. and yet they lacked nothing.³⁴⁵See ibid., 2:7.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the verse is stating that the signs and wonders of Moses were done face to face, as I have explained.³⁴⁶Numbers 24:1.

לכל האותות, the occasion when Moses experienced this type of communication from G’d described as פנים אל פנים occurred when he was called upon to perform the many supernatural miracles in Egypt. Clearly, his experience at the burning bush had not been of that calibre. Otherwise, why would the Torah have told us that he was afraid to look at the spectacle? (Exodus 3,6) This had been the very opposite of what G’d told Miriam and Aaron about his quality of prophecy in Numbers 12,8 i.e. that Moses can look without hesitation at visual images G’d shows him.

לכל האותות, “as evident by all the miracles, etc.” According to Nachmanides verses 10 and 11 have to be understood as sequential, i.e. there had never arisen another prophet who performed so many miracle, etc.” Alternately, the words לכל האותות refer back to the words אשר ידעו ה' פנים אל פנים, meaning that there had never been another prophet who performed so many miracles in the name of Hashem and that the people all heard about. The fact is that we know about many other prophets performing אותות and מופתים, different categories of miracles; to mention only the many miracles performed by the prophet Elijah. The main difference between the miracles performed by Moses and those performed by other prophets, has been defined by the Midrash as being that all the other prophets were not able to perform their miracles without first having prayed to Hashem to enable them to perform whatever miracle they wanted to perform. A case in point is the occasion when Joshua arrested the orbit of the moon and the sun in order to successfully complete the pursuit of the defeated Canaanites. (Joshua 10,12) The same was true of Elijah’s encounter with the woman from Tzorfat, his decreeing the absence of rainfall, or Elisha’s reviving the son of the Shunamit. Moses, on the other hand –according to that Midrash- performed the miracles ביד ה'. This wording is obscure. Maimonides (Moreh Nevuchim 2,35) explains that a major difference between Moses’ kind of prophecy, including his performing miracles to establish his authenticity as prophet, or G’d’s authenticity as the Creator and controller of nature, was, that whatever he did was designed to silence all those who had doubted his veracity, and to do so in full view of all the Israelites. Other prophets performed miracles for individuals, or in the case of Elijah at Mount Carmel before a select audience. Nachmanides rejects this definition by Maimonides, as how can one describe the arrest of rainfall over a period of three years, something Elijah had decreed, as a miracle performed for the benefit of individuals? (Compare Kings I 17,1) Besides, Joshua’s plea to arrest the sun’s orbit was made in front of the whole Jewish nation. [In his notes on his commentary on Nachmanides, Rabbi Chavell quotes a Rit’va who points out that Maimonides’ wording referred to the immediacy of Moses’ miracles coming true, whereas absence of rainfall to be interpreted as proof of something decreed by a prophet takes months or years to impress the parties concerned as due to the prophet who decreed it his holding the key to rainfall. Besides, both the miracle of the sun’s orbit being temporarily halted, and the rainfall being halted were not performed for an audience who disputed the prophet’s power or ability, as did the Egyptians to whom Moses had to prove himself and his G’d over and over again. Ed.] According to tradition, the splitting of the sea was witnessed in the respective waterways throughout the world. According to the plain meaning of the text, all these words describing Moses’ activities as a prophet and miracle worker are directly connected to what is written in verse 10, i.e. ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל וגו', that there never arose another prophet in Israel comparable to Moses. We must look at Moses’ career as a whole, including the revelation at Mount Sinai, his repeated lengthy stay on that Mountain without food or drink as we understand the term, and the period of 40 years during which he led the people without a visible sign of aging, etc. Not only that, but some of his miracles continued as such for the entire forty years, such as the manna, the heavenly bread, for instance. All of this made him incomparable throughout history up until now.

לכל האותות as evident by all the signs, etc. This verse is part of the previous verse in which the relationship between Moses and G'd is described as one where they talked to each other face to face. The reason this was so was to enable Moses to perform all the miracles he had performed. In other words, G'd had informed Moses face to face when instructing him to perform the miracles.

We may also understand these words in light of what Maimonides wrote in chapter 10,1 of his Hilchot Yesodey HaTorah that when a prophet arises in Israel there is no need for him to legitimise himself through the performance of miracles such as the ones performed by Moses in which the laws of nature were changed. It suffices if he correctly predicts events which will take place in the future. You will find that the Torah wrote something reflecting the people's belief in Moses as a prophet on two separate occasions. One occasion is in Exodus 14,31 where the Torah reports that "the people believed in G'd and in Moses His servant." The second occasion is Exodus 19,9 where G'd promised Moses that the people would have faith in him on an ongoing basis.

Please refer to what I have written on Exodus 20,16 in connection with the words: "speak with us and we will listen." I explained there that the meaning is that the Israelites expressed their willingness to accept whatever Moses would tell them in G'd's name. This proves that they had previously accepted him as a prophet.

This is why the Torah writes here that no prophet like Moses arose again amongst the Israelites, i.e. no other prophet enjoyed the complete trust of the people as had Moses. ולכל היד החזקה. These words refer to the miracles of splitting the sea of reeds, which was one of the miracles that caused the people to believe in Moses; the words ולכל המוראה הגדול refer to the revelation at Mount Sinai and Moses' share in it. At that time the people realised there would never be another prophet who would be able to do this.

The Torah concludes with the words לעיני כל ישראל, before the eyes of the whole nation of Israel. This means these people all were eye witnesses to the miracles performed by Moses. They did not have to rely on reports by other later prophets who would tell them about this. They knew that Moses the prophet of G'd was true, that his Torah was true, and that the living G'd was a true fact.

ולכל היד החזקה AND IN ALL THAT STRONG HAND — this refers to the fact that he received the Torah that was on the Tablets, in his hands.

AND IN ALL THE MIGHTY HAND. This alludes to the division of the Red Sea concerning which it is said, And Israel saw the great hand.³⁴⁷Exodus 14:31. AND IN ALL THE GREAT TERROR. This is a reference to the Revelation³⁴⁸Literally: “‘the stand’ (ma’amad) at Mount Sinai.” See Vol. II, p. 251, Note 17. concerning which it is stated and that His fear may be before you.³⁴⁹Exodus 20:17. He mentioned concerning these [two events] that they were done in the sight of all Israel, because he had already referred to all that was done to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land.³⁵⁰Verse 11. And in the Sifre it is stated:³⁵¹Sifre, end of Brachah. “And in all the mighty hand — this refers to the smiting of the firstborn, about which it is said, for by a mighty hand shall he send them away.³⁵²Exodus 6:1. And in all the great terror — this alludes to the division of the Red Sea. Another interpretation: And in all the great terror — this is the Giving of the Torah.”
And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the mighty hand is the attribute of justice, similar to the expressions: the hand of the Eternal was upon me;³⁵³Ezekiel 37:1. for the hand of the Eternal hath wrought this.³⁵⁴Job 12:9. Therefore it is said with reference to [His] judgment, for the hand of the Eternal is gone forth against me.³⁵⁵Ruth 1:13. And the great terror is the attribute of mercy, similar to what is written, Him shall ye sanctify, and let Him be your fear.³⁵⁶Isaiah 8:13. The Rabbis in the Sifre³⁵¹Sifre, end of Brachah. meant this when referring to the smiting of the firstborn [which was done by the mighty hand, alluding to the attribute of justice] and the division of the Red Sea [which is alluded to in the phrase and in all the great terror referring to the attribute of mercy], for concerning them it is written, to make Thyself a Glorious Name.³⁵⁷Ibid., 63:14. The rescue of Israel at the Red Sea displayed G-d’s mercy to His people just as the retributive punishment upon the Egyptian firstborn manifested His justice. Both were to make Him a glorious Name.

ולכל היד, and when G’d demonstrated His power over immanent parts of the universe such as the Sea of Reeds, when He split it, or the earth when He made it open a crevice to swallow Korach and his cohorts, or when the manna descended from heaven on a regular basis.

ולכל היד החזקה, “and by all the strong hand, etc.;” according to Nachmanides this is a reference to the splitting of the Sea of Reeds at the time, as the Torah had testified then וירא ישראל את היד הגדולה, “the people saw with their own eyes the strong hand, etc.” (Exodus 14,31)

ולכל היד החזקה, “and by all the strong hand;” this is a reference to the splitting of the Sea of Reeds in connection with which the Torah had written (Exodus 14,31) “Israel saw the manifestation of the great hand.”

He received the Torah, etc. Meaning that, For the entire strong hand refers to Moshe, and it means that he had the strength and power to take the Tablets in his hands even though they were very heavy. But it does not mean as everywhere else that it refers to Hashem, because if so it should have said, And for the entire strong hand that Moshe performed by the mouth of Hashem.

RaShY on "This before the eyes of all of Israel" says: That they carried his heart towards breaking the tablets before their eyes, etc. Is it not that this act of Mosheh was considered positively, as in "May God strengthen you for breaking" (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 87a)? Behold, on its own, it is a depressing act. Those tablets the reception of which they anticipated for 49 days (plus another 40 days when Mosheh our teacher was on Mount Sinai) from their time of leaving Egypt were broken before their eyes--without it being pleasing that they would receive others in their stead, and it is curious therefore that RaShY would conclude his commentary on the Torah with mentioning this event. But perhaps it is possible that here there is some sort of connection from the end of the Torah to its beginning. There is creation, and there is deconstruction in which there is some kind of creation, in the sense of "deconstructing the old is construction" (Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 31b). Is it not possible that the golden calf and the tablets could have come into being folded into a single moment--and that therefore in the breaking of the tablets there was a sort of construction of a proper reality. (The night after Shemini Atzeret 5749 A.M. [1988 C.E.].)

ולכל המורא הגדול AND IN ALL THAT GREAT TERRIBLENESS — the miracles and mighty deeds that were wrought in the great and terrible wilderness (cf. (Sifrei Devarim 357:45).

ולכל המורא הגדול, the revelation at Mount Sinai;

ולכל המורא הגדול, “and the awesome power, etc.” This is a reference to the revelation at Mount Sinai and all that this involved. Moses had been on record that the awesome spectacle had as a major purpose ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם, וגו', “in order that the awe of Him shall be on your faces, etc.” (Exodus 20,17) This is why Moses mentions the words לעיני כל ישראל, “within view of the entire people of Israel,” as distinct from the miracles performed in the presence of Pharaoh which had not been designed to make the Israelites fear G’d, but to make him and his people recognize the existence and power of the attribute of Hashem. According to Sifri the words ולכל היד החזקה, refer to the killing of all the Egyptians firstborn, as the Torah had predicted this יד החזקה as the catalyst that would set in motion the Exodus already when G’d appeared to Moses at the burning bush. (Exodus 3,19) The words ולכל המורא הגדול, are understood by the author of Sifri, to refer to the splitting of the Sea of Reeds. Yet another interpretation of the words ולכל המורא הגדול, is that they refer to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

When he took the liberty of shattering the tablets, etc. Rashi is answering the question: It should have said to all of Yisroel! Why does it say in view of all Yisroel?

WHICH MOSES ‘ASAH’ (WROUGHT) — for he prepared and displayed it in the sight of all the people. It is similar to the expressions: and the souls that they ‘asu’ (made) in Haran;³⁵⁸Genesis 12:5. — “Made, i.e., which Abraham and Sarah brought beneath the sheltering wings of the Divine Presence.” (Rashi). and he hastened ‘la’asoth’ (to make) it;³⁵⁹Ibid., 18:7. Make, i.e., the servant “dressed” the meat. ‘la’asoth’ (to make) the Sabbath-day.³⁶⁰Above, 5:15. Make, i.e., to “keep” the Sabbath. For Moses did not make the mighty hand and the great terror, he merely arranged [that they be displayed by G-d], and for His sake they were wrought in the sight of all Israel.

ולכל המורא, “and in all the awe inspiring manifestations;”

לעיני כל ישראל [WHICH MOSES SHOWED] BEFORE THE EYES OF ALL ISRAEL — This refers to the fact that his heart inspired him to shatter the Tablets before their eyes, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 9:17) “And I broke them before your eyes” (Sifrei Devarim 357:45), and the opinion of the Holy One, blessed be He, regarding this action agreed with his opinion, as it is stated that God said of the Tablets, (Exodus 34:1) אשר שברת "Which you have broken", [which implies] "May your strength be fitting (יישר; an expression of thanks and congratulation) because you have broken them" (Yevamot 62a; Shabbat 87a).

אשר עשה משה לעיני כל בני ישראל, when they were afraid and stood at a distance, whereas Moses approached the mountain which was wrapped in a dark cloud, while it was flaming. During such experiences Moses had acquired the status of a prophet with whom G’d communicates פנים אל פנים At that time G’d also endowed Moses with a kind of awesomeness when He made his forehead emit rays of light.

אשר עשה משה, “that Moses had orchestrated;” Nachmanides understands the word עשה here as in Genesis 12,5 ואת הנפש אשר עשו בחרן, “and the persons whom they had converted in Charan to the service of the one and only G’d.” Seeing that one can hardly credit Moses with orchestrating the splitting of the sea, he only acted as G’d’s agent, Nachmanides understands Moses’ cardinal contribution as being that he made the people understand the concept of the Sabbath in all its dimensions, primarily as a symbol of G’d having created the universe, and of His having orchestrated the Exodus from Egypt in order to make this nation His special people. The word לעשות in the above sense is used in connection with the observance of the Sabbath in Deuteronomy 5,15.

The Holy One, Blessed Is He consented to his opinion, etc. Rashi is answering the question: If the verse is now coming to relate Moshe’s praises, is this praise to Moshe that he broke the Tablets? Therefore he explains, The Holy One, Blessed Is He consented, etc. You might ask, how does the Midrash know to expound which (אשר) you shattered means More power to you (יישר כחך) for shattering them? Perhaps אשר has the same meaning as it has everywhere else? The Ramban already answered in the first chapter of Bava Basra (14b) that this is expounded by juxtaposition. It is written above (10:2) [And I will write on the Tablets the words that were on the original Tablets] that you smashed, and you will place them [i.e. the smashed Tablets in the case]. We see [from this juxtaposition], that the smashed Tablets were beloved to Hashem, since if their smashing was displeasing to Him, He would not have said to place them in an ark, because “an accuser cannot become an advocate.” Therefore, because of this juxtaposition [over there], they expound אשר [here] as meaning אשרי (increase), [i.e. more power]. So far are his words. See his commentary on tractate Shabbos (87a).

Completed are these five books [of the Torah],
In which the wisdom of Agur and Ithiel³⁶¹See Proverbs 30:1. These are surnames for Solomon (see Yalkut Mishlei) whose wisdom was all inclusive (see Vol. I, p. 12). Yet in the mysteries of the Torah even his knowledge was “little.” was little.
And thousands of blessings to G-d,
Who hath bestowed on me according to His compassions,
And according to the multitude of His mercies,³⁶²Isaiah 63:7.
And bring him whom my heart requests,
And He for His Name’s sake consent thereto,
And a redeemer will come to Zion!³⁶³Ibid., 59:20.
Speedily in our days-may Michael stand up,³⁶⁴Daniel 12:1.
To build the House [of G-d] and the Ariel,³⁶⁵Isaiah 29:1. The Ariel is a reference to the altar.
And fulfill the verse written by Ezekiel,
And the nations shall know,
That I am the Eternal that sanctify Israel,
When My Sanctuary shall be in the midst of them, forever.³⁶⁶Ezekiel 37:28.

לעיני כל ישראל, “in the sight of all of Israel.”

לעיני כל ישראל, compare Exodus 34,30 when even Aaron recoiled when he saw Moses.

And blessed be the Eternal, the G-d of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.³⁶⁷Psalms 106:48.
I have found³⁶⁸This section is from manuscripts and found only in early editions of the commentary. The thought behind it is clear. Since Ramban finishes his commentary with a prayer for the building of “the House and the Ariel” he proceeds now in a concluding note to refer to the approaching time of redemption when “G-d will go forth from attribute to attribute — from the attribute of justice to that of mercy to hasten the redemption.” in Midrash Mishlei the following text:³⁶⁹Midrash Mishlei, Chapter 22. “When the Sanhedrin wanted to count Solomon among the three kings and four commoners [that have no share in the World to Come],³⁷⁰The three kings are Jeroboam, Ahab, and Menasheh. The four commoners are Balaam, Doeg, Ahitophel, and Gehazi (Sanhedrin 90a). Solomon’s sin was that he married foreign women who introduced idol-worship to the Land (I Kings 11:1-6). the Divine Glory stood up before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said: ‘Sovereign of the universe! Seest thou a man diligent in his work? he shall stand before kings etc.’”³⁷¹Proverbs 22:29. “He who built My house before his, and moreover, My house he built in seven years, and his in thirteen — this man [Solomon] shall stand before kings [in the World to Come] and he shall not stand before mean men [together with those who have no share in the World to Come]. (Rashi Sanhedrin 104b). And in our Gemara, in Chapter Cheilek³⁷²“Portion” — “All Israel have a portion in the World to Come” (Sanhedrin 104b). [the same text is stated in the following way]: “A vision of [Solomon’s] father’s face appeared and prostrated itself before [the members of the Sanhedrin] etc.” And in the Yerushalmi it is stated:³⁷³Yerushalmi Sanhedrin X, 1. “David came and prostrated himself before them.” All these texts mean to express the same thought, namely, that the Holy One, blessed be He, “cometh forth and goeth forth from attribute to attribute; He cometh forth from the attribute of justice, and goeth to the attribute of mercy,”³⁷⁴See Vol. I, p. 245. this being “the attribute of David,” just as the Rabbis have said with reference to the sanctification of the moon, “David king of Israel ever lives.”³⁷⁵Rosh Hashanah 25a. The student learned [in the mysteries of the Torah] will understand.