Commentary for Numbers 34:30

ואת הארץ אשר תפול לכם וגו׳ THIS IS THE LAND THAT SHALL FALL TO YOU [FOR AN INHERITANCE] — Since many divine commandments have to be practised in the Land of Canaan and are not to be practised outside the Land, it (Scripture) feels compelled to describe the limiting lines of the boundaries of its sides all round, in order to tell you: from these boundaries and inward the divine commands have to be practised (cf. Gittin 8a).

EL HA’ARETZ KENA’AN’ (INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN). “This is like [the expression]: and the prophecy of Oded the prophet,⁵⁰II Chronicles 15:8. See above in Seder Beha’alothcha, Note 284, for the grammatical reason why the verse requires the additional expression “a prophecy” after the initial words and a prophecy. Here too, the meaning of the verse is: into the land, the land of Canaan. [which is to be understood as: ‘and the prophecy, a prophecy of Oded the prophet’]. The sense [of the verse thus] is: ‘into the land, the land of Canaan.’” This is the language of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, and so also did Rashi write.⁵¹This is not found here in our texts of Rashi. However, Ramban may be referring to Rashi on Genesis 31:13, where this interpretation is clearly implied. See Vol. I, p. 382. Scholars have brought a similar example: [I am] ‘ha’E-il beith eil’⁵²Genesis 31:13. [which they interpreted to mean: “I am G-d, who is the G-d of Beth-el”]. And I have already explained [there] the secret thereof.
The correct interpretation of [the phrase] el ha’aretz kena’an appears to me to be that the name of this land is Canaan, like Mitzraim (Egypt), and the name of the land is identical with that of the people. Similarly, the inhabitants of Canaan,⁵³Exodus 15:15. and O Canaan, the land of the Philistines; I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.⁵⁴Zephaniah 2:5. These two verses indicate clearly that Canaan is not only the name of a people, but of the land also. Thus the expression here el ha’aretz kena’an is as one says, “‘the’ city Jerusalem;” and ‘the’ King David;⁵⁵I Kings 1:1. and ‘the’ man Gabriel.⁵⁶Daniel 9:21. — In other words, el ha’aretz kena’an does not mean “into the land [of the people] of Canaan” but “into the land [called] Canaan.” There is therefore no problem necessitating the above interpretation of Rashi and Ibn Ezra. See above in Seder Beha’alothcha, Note 284.

זאת הארץ אשר תפול לכם בנחלה; the word תפול is used to describe the manner in which lots are drawn, i.e. a die is cast, falls. You will each be assigned your ancestral heritage even before the end of the military campaign resulting in the land’s conquest. The expression נפל in connection with lots is found in Psalms 22,18 as well as in Esther 3,7.
The reason why the Torah the word זאת, which at first glance appears to be superfluous, is to tell us that anything conquered outside the boundaries which will now be described is not subject to division by lottery. We find this confirmed by the fact that Moses distributed the lands of Sichon and Og without resorting to any lottery. The reason for this is that those lands do not have the degree of sanctity which is integral to the “Holy Land.” Joshua confirmed this when (Joshua 22,19) he spoke of ואך אם טמאה ארץ אחוזתכם, “even if the land of your inheritance is unclean,” [Joshua denied the right of the two and a half tribes on the east bank to build an altar even if thereby they had meant to add sanctity to the soil they lived on, which was not holy or sacred by definition. Ed.] The major reason why this land could not be distributed by lottery was that the lottery reflected Divine decisions, and G’d would not mix in unless the land concerned was holy by itself.

ואת הארץ אשר תפול לכם בנחלה, my grandfather explained the boundaries and landmarks in detail; nonetheless, I wish to add a brief commentary. The verse first details the southern boundary followed by the western boundary, i.e. the Mediterranean Sea, followed by the northern boundary, followed by the eastern boundary.

אל הארץ כנען, “to the land of Canaan.” Ibn Ezra explains this phrase, which is unusual, as meaning that the Torah had written אל הארץ, ארץ כנען, “to the land, the land of Canaan.” Nachmanides understands this as the Torah saying that the name the land is known by is “Canaan”, just as the name of the Land of Egypt, is “Egypt.” Both the land of Egypt is called מצרים, and the people living there are called מצרים. The construction is similar to Kings I 1,1 אל העיר ירושלים והמלך דוד, where we also would not have expected the letter ה before the word מלך.

כי אתם באים אל ארץ כנען, “for when you come to the land of Canaan, etc.” The grammatical construction of the letter ה in front of the word ארץ is similar to Chronicles II 15,8.

The outer reaches of the borders. This following rule should be considered: Wherever Rashi mentions the term מיצר ["outer reaches"] he means “the border” [i.e.] the line that circumscribes the land of Israel.

Kap. 34. V. 2. ארץ כנען לגבלתיה. Eine genaue Grenzbestimmung des Landes ist auch für die מצות התלויות בארץ wie תרומות מעשרות ושביעית folgereich, da deren ursprüngliche Verpflichtungskraft auf diese Grenzen beschränkt ist. Erst nachdem die Besitznahme von diesem hier präzisierten ארץ כנען vollständig vollzogen ist, können auch andere eroberte Länder der קדושת הארץ und der an diese sich knüpfenden Pflichten teilhaftig werden. Weshalb auch den von David eroberten Provinzen ארם צובה und דמשק (Sam. II. 8, 5 u. 6) unter dem Gesamtnamen סוריא die קדושת הארץ, nur מדרבנן zuerkannt war. Die Besitznahme des eigentlichen Gesetzesbodens war noch nicht ganz vollzogen, war doch selbst Jerusalem noch nicht ganz in jüdischen Händen. Die Eroberung von Syrien ward daher gar nicht als nationales Unternehmen betrachtet und durch die Bezeichnung כבוש יחיד von dem gesetzlichen קדושה-Charakter ausgeschlossen. Ist es doch selbst nicht entschieden, in wie weit das transjordanische Land der dritthalb Stämme in die eigentliche קדושת הארץ mitbegriffen war. (Aboda Sara 21a תוספו׳ daselbst und Gittin 8 b. — תוספו׳ Chagiga 3b ד׳׳ה עמון ומואב. — Siehe ferner zu Dewarim 30, 5.)

אל הארץ, “to the land;” this verse appears in a truncated mode, and according to the rules of grammar it should have been written as: אל הארץ, ארץ כנען, “to the land,” i.e. the land of Canaan. We encounter similar such abbreviations in Numbers 25,12: את בריתי שלום when according to the rules of grammar, it should have been: את בריתי, ברית השלום.

תפול לכם [THE LAND WHICH] FALLS FOR YOU — Because it (the land) had to be divided by lot (which is said to fall upon a person), the division is expressed by the term “falling”. — And a Midrashic explanation of why this term is employed here states: It is because the Holy One, blessed be He, cast down (more lit., made fall) from heaven the tutelary angels of the seven nations of Canaan and placed them in fetters before Moses, He said to him, (Deuteronomy 1:21) “Behold the Lord God hath put before thee the tutelary angels of the land” — there is no more strength in them (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Masei 4 and Rashi on Deuteronomy 2:31).

In terms of falling. As in הפיל פור הוא הגורל ["the pur was cast, which is the lot"] (Esther 3:7).

והיה לכם פאת נגב THE SOUTHERN פאה SHALL BE UNTO YOU — i.e. the south side which extends from east to west (פאה does not here mean “corner”).

על ידי אדום, close to Edom.

והיה לכם פאת נגב ממדבר צן על ידי אדום, “Your southernmost point shall be from the edge of the Wilderness of Tzin, at the side of Edom.” The word על יד means the same as אצל, “next to.” We also find this expression in Numbers 13,9. The purpose of this whole list is to tell the Israelites the part of the country they were obligated to conquer. Rashi comments that this is extremely important as there are many commandments in the Torah which are applicable only within the boundaries delineated by the Torah in this chapter. It was critical therefore to know these details precisely.

From east to west. Meaning that it is not literally the southern corner, rather the entire southern side is termed the flank, from the southeastern corner to the southwestern corner.

V. 3. פאת נגב die südlichste Spitze im Osten.

ממדבר צין FROM THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN which is next to Edom there begins the south-east comer of the land of the nine tribes. How is this so? Three lands are situated to the south of the Land of Israel, one next to the other; part of the land of Egypt, and the whole land of Edom, and the whole of the land of Moab. The land of Egypt is at the south-west comer, as it is said in this section, (v. 5) that the southern boundary shall pass “from Azmon unto the Brook of Egypt, and the goings out thereof shall be at the sea” (i.e., at the west). Now the Brook of Egypt ran along the whole land of Egypt — as it is said, (Joshua 13:3) “From the Shihor which is before Egypt”, and divided the land of Egypt from the land of Israel. The land of Edom is next to it on its east. The land of Moab is next to the land of Edom at the end of the south side of Palestine at the east (i.e., the south eastern corner). — When Israel came out of Egypt if the Omnipresent had wished to bring about their entry into the Land quickly, he would have led them over the Nile northwards and they would have so come into the Land of Israel; but He did not do so. This is what is stated, (Exodus 13:17) “And God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines” who dwelt by the sea in the west of the land of Canaan — just as it is said of the Philistines, (Zephaniah 2:5) “inhabitants of the sea-coast, the nation of the Cherethites”. — However, He did not lead them by that route, but He made them travel round, and brought them out by a southern route into the wilderness. It is that which Ezekiel (Ezekiel 20:35) calls “the wilderness of the peoples”, because several peoples dwelt beside it. Then they proceeded along the south always from the west to the east, until they came to the south of the land of Edom. They asked of the king of Edom that he should permit them to pass by way of his land and to enter the land of Palestine along its (Edom’s) breadth. He, however, refused, and they were compelled to travel along the whole south of Edom until they came to the south of the land of Moab, as it is said, (Judges 11:17) “And also to the king of Moab he sent, but he refused”. Therefore they proceeded along the whole south of Moab unto its very end, and from there they turned their faces to the north until they had gone along its entire eastern boundary along its breadth. Wien they arrived to the end of its eastern side, they came upon the land of Sihon and Og who dwelt at the east of the land of Canaan with the Jordan dividing them (dividing the land of Sihon and Og from Canaan). This is what is stated in the history of Jephthah, (Judges 11:18) “Then he (Israel) went through the wilderness and compassed the land of Edom and the land of Moab and came by the east of the land of Moab”. They subdued the land of Sihon and Og which was on the north of Moab and they approached right up to the Jordan, which was opposite the north-west corner of the land of Moab. It follows therefore that the part of the land of Canaan which was on the west side of the Jordan had its south-east corner next to Edom. (This explains the words והיה לכם פאת נגב … על ידי אדום in our text.)

Southeastern. Thus “along Edom” means “which adjoins it [Edom]” teaching that the place where the Tzin wilderness abuts the land of Canaan, which is the land of the nine tribes, and it is on its southeastern corner.

Three countries. All of Rashi’s words are clearly understood by anyone who looks at the configuration of the border of the land of Israel.

From the [river] Shichor. The Shichor is the Nile.

With the land of Moav. Subsequently it is written (Shoftim 11:19), “Then Yisroel sent messengers to Sichon…” implying that initially their journey around was from west to the east, at the southern side of Edom and Moav. Then, when they reached the southeastern edge, they turned northward to go around the eastern border of Moav. Once they had gone around the eastern border, it is written afterwards, “Then Yisroel sent…” for they had reached the land of Sichon and Og.

Adjoining the land of Edom. This refers to [what is written] before, meaning that [since the southeastern border was adjacent to Edom], therefore it is written “from the Tzin wilderness, along Edom.”

ונסב לכם הגבול מנגב למעלה עקרבים — AND YOUR BORDER SHALL TURN ABOUT SOUTHWARD OF THE ASCENT OF AKRABBIM - In every passage in this chapter where it says ונסב or ויצא, it tells us that the boundary line was not straight (i.e., did not continue in the same straight line) but in proceeding it projected outside this straight line. Here, the word means that the boundary line left the straight line and bent towards the north of the world (in a northerly direction) diagonally towards the west, and the boundary line passed by the south of the Ascent of Akrabbim. Consequently the Ascent of Akrabbim was within the boundary (cf. Rashi on Joshua 15:3).

ונסב לכם, at this point the boundary projects somewhat.

Bending towards the north. Meaning: It bends in the direction of the land of Israel, and the border broadens, resulting in the land of Israel narrowing, for as much as the border broadens into the land of Israel, the land of Israel becomes narrower.

V. 4. ונסב וגו׳ ועבר וגו׳ ויצא וגו׳ eine Übersetzung dieser geographischen Grenzbestimmungen des heiligen Landes muss auf Genauigkeit verzichten, da die bezeichnenden Ausdrücke nicht an der topographischen Wirklichkeit präzisiert werden können, weil eine gegenwärtige Bestimmung der Örtlichkeiten, welche die Stützpunkte dieser Grenzlinien bilden, nur auf wenig sicheren Vermutungen beruht.

מנגב לקדש נרנע, “from the south, (southern border) as far as Kadesh Barnea. Rav B’chor Shor raises the question that in this verse Kadesh Barnea is described as being part of the land of Canaan, i.e. the west bank of the Jordan, whereas when Moses dispatched the spies in Joshua 14,7 Calev described Moses as having dispatched them from that place, and Moses had never set foot across the Jordan. I believe that there must have been two locations each bearing the name Kadesh Barnea, and this is supported by the Talmud in the third chapter of tractate Makkot where Rabbi Yossi is quoted as having said so. This place is also listed as a place on the east Bank of the Jordan in Joshua 15,3. Rashi also explains that there where two locations both named Hor Hahar, seeing that Aaron died there and he too had never crossed the river Jordan. (Numbers 20,28) On the other hand, in verse 7 of our chapter, Hor Hahar is described as part of the Land of Canaan on the west bank of that river.

'ועבר צנה והיה תוצאותיו וגו, “and once having passed Tzinah, it will extend southward, etc.”

ועבר צנה IT SHALL PASS ALONG TO ZIN — צנה is the same as אל צין “to Zin”, like מצרימה "to Egypt".

Expressions such as ויצא and ועבר, when used in connection with the boundaries, mean that the boundary proceeded in a straight line.

Within the border. For it is written, “South of Maaleh Akrabim.” This implies that the border, the outer reach [of the land], was to the south of Maaleh Akrabim. However, where it is written “passing” it implies that the border passes through the city.

מנגב לקדש ברנע, from the south to Kadesh Barnea. There were two places called “Kadesh.” One was located in the land of Canaan, and was mentioned in the Book of Joshua 15,3 as one of the towns in that land. The second one is the one first mentioned in the portion of Mattot, 32,8: בשלחי אתכם מקדש ברנע, “when I sent them, (your fathers) on a mission from Kadesh Barnea,” Moses speaking about the ill fated trip of the spies throughout the land of Canaan some 38 years earlier. It is quite impossible to suppose that Moses dispatched the spies from a town inside the land of Canaan. If he had done so, he would have first have to cross into that land, something that not only G-d had forbidden him, but something that he greatly regretted not having been able to do as we know from his own mouth. The “Kadesh” without an adjective, was situated near the border of the land of Edom

והיו תוצאתיו AND THE GOINGS OUT THEREOF SHALL BE — i.e., its ends shall be at the south of Kadesh-Barnea.

To Tzin. Because a [letter] hei at the end of the word is in place of a [letter] lamed at the beginning.

ויצא חצר אדר, “and it shall go forth to Chatzar adar”; here the impression is given that it was a single district; on the other hand, in Joshua 15,3, “chatzar and passed adera,” it seems that these were two separate districts.

ויצא חצר אדר AND IT SHALL GO FORTH TO HAZZAR-ADDAR — the boundary spreads and widens towards the north of the world and extends further obliquely to the west, till it comes to Hazzar-Addar, thence to Azmon and thence to the Brook of Egypt. — The expression ונסב, "and it turned about” which is used here (v. 5) (“and the boundary shall turn about”) is employed because it wrote, “and it shall go forth to Hazzar-Addar”, i.e., that it began to widen out when it had passed Kadesh-Bamea. The widening of that strip which projected northwards was only from Kadesh-Barnea to Azmon (i.e. that strip widened only between those two places), but from Azmon and further on, the boundary became narrower and turned towards the south and came to the Brook of Egypt, and thence westwards to the Great Sea which is the western boundary of the entire land of Israel. It follows, therefore, that the Brook of Egypt is at the south-west corner.

Angling. Meaning: The border of the land of Israel broadens at the south, and consequently the border broadens northward.

The term “turns” is used here. Meaning: When it is written (v. 5), “The border turns from Atzmon toward the Egyptian Estuary” this does not have the same meaning as ונסב ["turns"] above, for above it means that the border bent towards the land of Israel, resulting in the land of Israel narrowing while the border broadened. However, ונסב written here (v. 5) means that it turned towards the Egyptian Estuary which is southward, resulting in the border narrowing and the land of Israel broadening.

From there onward. Meaning that it did not broaden any more once it reached Chatzar Adar, rather it remained in its original breadth. However from Atzmon it began to become narrower until it reached the Estuary of Egypt.

והיו תוצאותיו הימה AND ITS GOINGS OUT SHALL BE AT THE SEA i.e. at the western boundary, because the southern border does not extend any more west of there and further on.

והיו תוצאותיו הימה, the whole boundary there forms a southern-westerly wedge, apex.

נחלה מצרים, “to the stream of Egypt.” This means: “to the river dividing Egypt from Palestine,” and not to the river Nile.

ים וגבול These words (apparently unconnected with what follows) mean: AND THE WESTERN BOUNDARY, what forms that?

וגבול ים, as if the Torah had written an introductory line: “how was the westerly boundary?” [clearly, it is difficult to justify these two words. Ed.]

הים הגדול, “the Mediterranean,” known in the author’s time as “the Spanish Sea.” וגבול¸”and the western boundary.” The sea itself is the boundary. (Ibn Ezra).

The islands. From the apparently superfluous word “border,” we include the islands also.

V. 6. הים הגדול וגבול, nach Gittin 8a das mittelländische Meer und ein innerhalb der Grenzen Palästinas fallendes Inselgebiet, הנסין שבים. Von den Amnonsbergen, dem הר ההר des V. 7, der nordwestlichen Spitze der Landesgrenze, ist nämlich eine das ים הגדול von Nord nach Süd durchschneidende Linie bis zum נחל מצרים im äußersten Südwesten (V. 5) zu ziehen. Was innerhalb dieser Linie ostwärts liegt, gehört zu ארץ ישראל, alles außerhalb im Westen dieser Linie liegende zu חוצה לארץ.

והיה לכם הים הגדול THE GREAT SEA SHALL BE UNTO YOU for the boundary.

וגבול, the word “western” is missing. Our sages explain the repetition of this word as small islands in the sea.

וגבול AND THE BOUNDARY — the נסין which are in the sea also belong to the boundary; they are what are called isles in O. F. (Gittin 8a).

גבול צפון means THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY.

תתאו, drawing a boundary (presumably where there are no recognisable landmarks. Ed.]

And some outward. Meaning that on the western side [the sea] circles the mountain on the inner side, i.e., the side of the land of Israel, and on the outer side, meaning outside the land.

V. 7. תתאו לכם die Form תסאו gibt sich als Piel von einer Wurzel תאה. תאה hieße die Richtung von einem Punkte zu einem anderen bezeichnen. Verwandt damit ”תעה“: immerfort von einem Punkte zu einem anderen sich bewegen, herumirren. Vielleicht auch ”דאה“ das Hin- und Herschweben des Adlers, bevor er sich auf einen bestimmten Punkt niederlässt. הר ההר nicht zu verwechseln mit dem Berge gleichen Namens im Südosten, auf welchem Aharon starb, während dieser im äußersten Nordwesten des Landes liegt.

Hor Hahar. This is not the mountain where Aharon died, since that was in the south of Eretz Yisroel and this is in the north.

מן הים הגדול תתאו לכם הר ההר FROM THE GREAT SEA YE SHALL MARK OUT YOUR LINE UNTO MOUNT HOR, which is at the north-west corner, and its top slopes down and goes to the sea and there is some of the breadth of the sea inward of it and outside it.

תתאו means, YE MUST MOVE IN A SLANTING DIRECTION so as to move from west to north to Mount Horayot

תתאו is an expression denoting “a slanting turn”, just as in (1 Kings 14:28) “the slanting chamber (תא) of the runners" and (Ezekiel 40:10) “and the slanting chambers (תאי) of the gate”. The תא is a chamber with a sloping roof, which is called in O. F. apendiz; it is called תא because it leans and slopes (a lean-to or panthouse).

מהר ההר FROM MOUNT HOR you shall turn about and go along the northern boundary towards the eastern side and you will arrive at the “Entrance to Hamath”, which is Antioch.

For [that dimension] ends there. Meaning that from Tzedad until Chatzar Einan the border continues southward, from the west to east, resulting in the land of Israel narrowing while the border broadens.

תוצאות הגבול means, THE END OF THE BOUNDARY. In every passage where it is said "the end of the boundary”, either the boundary ends there entirely, not passing further on at all (cf. Rashi on v. 5), or from there it spreads and widens, projecting from the straight line backwards to extend itself further on in a more slanting direction than the first widening. And relative to the measurement of the first breadth it calls it תוצאות (the goings forth, the endings), because there that measurement ends.

והיו תוצאתיו חצר עינן AND THE GOINGS OUT OF IT SHALL BE AT HAZAR-ENAN — This place was the end of the northern boundary. It follows therefore that Hazar-Enan was in the north-east corner. And from there, “you shall then turn yourselves" toward the eastern border.

והתאויתם לכם YOU SHALL TURN YOURSELVES to the eastern boundary. והתאויתם denotes turning round, just the same as תתאו (v. 7).

והתאויתם, the word is the same as והתויתם, “draw a line for yourselves for” (תו). Compare Ezekiel 9,4 “draw a line for yourself.” The southern boundary of the land of Israel consists of three countries: a small section of Egypt, the whole land of Edom, the whole land of Moav.” Rashi says so explicitly. [I presume that the reason the author quotes Rashi on this as his authority is that the definition “south” rather than “east” for the land of Moav, sounds peculiar, at least. Ed.]

V. 10. והתאויתם לכם, von ”אוה“. Wie ”התאוה“, z. B. in ולא תתאוה בית רעך (Dewarim 5, 21), das Streben nach Erweiterung seines Besitzkreises, nach Hineinziehen eines Gegenstandes in den Kreis seines Habens bedeutet, so steht es hier ganz eigentlich dafür: durch Ziehen einer Linie anzugeben, wie weit sich unser Besitzkreis, hier das Landesgebiet, erstrecken und was innerhalb desselben fallen solle. Wenn hier vielleicht, der Örtlichkeit gemäß, die Grenzlinie eine Ausbiegung machen sollte, so wäre der Ausdruck in noch höherem Grade bezeichnend (vergl. ”קוה“ und קו).

שפמה TO SHEPAM on the eastern boundary, and from there to Riblah.

מקדם לעין ON THE EAST SIDE OF AIN — עין is the name of a place. The boundary went to the east of it, and consequently Ain is within the boundary and was part of the land of Israel.

ומחה על כתף ים כנרת, the word is similar to ימחאו כף, “clapping with one’s hands,” (Psalms 98,8) [i.e. an expression of closeness of two objects, touching].

וירד הגבול AND THE BOUNDARY SHALL GO DOWN — The more the boundary goes from north to south it goes down more and more.

ים כנרת, “the sea of Galilee;” this is a lake whose waters do not run off into another larger sea or ocean. It is completely surrounded on all banks by Jewish settlements. Its waters descend to the Dead Sea, where they become unfit to drink.

ומחה על כתף ים כנרת קדמה AND SHALL SMITE UPON THE SLOPE OF THE SEA OF CHINNERETH EASTWARD, so that the sea of Chinnereth is within the border to the west, and the boundary is on the east (קדמה) of the sea of Chinnereth. From there it went down to the Jordan. The Jordan extends from the north to the south in a slanting direction, inclining towards the east, but comes nearer the land of Canaan opposite the sea of Chinnereth, and extends further along the eastern side of the land of Israel [opposite the sea of Chinnereth] until it falls into the Salt Sea. There the boundary ends through its goings forth into the Salt Sea from which, too, is the beginning of the boundary at the south-east comer. — Here, then, you have a description of what bounds it (the land) round about on its four sides.

כי לקחו מטה בני הראובני, for the tribe of Reuven had taken it according to the houses of their fathers, etc. This verse provides the reason why the previous verse spoke about the West Bank being shared out amongst only nine and a half tribes. Had it not been for the fact that the two and a half tribes had already staked out their claims G'd would have been able to enlarge the shares of each tribe beyond the boundaries mentioned in our chapter.

לקחו נחלתם, "they took their inheritance, etc." The Torah had to repeat this statement a second time seeing that the half tribe Menashe had not been amongst the tribes Reuven and Gad who had initially requested to make their homes on the East Bank. The Torah therefore described that half tribe's taking possession of their share as a separate "taking." Accordingly, the words: לקחו נחלתם, refer back to the half tribe of Menashe. This is also the reason the Torah interrupted the sequence by writing לבית אבותם between the two tribes of Reuven and Gad and between the half tribe Menashe. Another meaning for writing the words: "they took their inheritance" twice is to confirm that what the half tribe of Menashe "took" was in accordance with what they were entitled to take as their inheritance.

קדמה מזרחה — At the front of (קדם) the world which is the east; for the east side is called פנים, “the face" (equivalent to קדם, “front”), the west is called “behind”, and therefore the south is on the right and the north on the left (cf. Rashi on Exodus 27:13 and Note thereon).

שני המטות וחצי המטה לקחו נחלתם, The two and a half tribes took their inheritance, etc. The Torah wrote this verse to indicate that the inheritance of the half tribe of Menashe was part of the overall territory allocated by Moses to Reuven and Gad. Moses did not make separate boundaries for each of these tribes.

שני המטות וחצי המטה לקחו נחלתם מעבר לירדן קדמה מזרחה, “and the two and a half tribes took their inheritance on the far side of the river Jordan in a south-easterly direction.” This whole detail is repeated here to describe the exact area of their inheritance.

The eastern direction. Meaning that קדמה ["to the east"] is in the sense of the front, and the [letter] hei at the end is in place of a [letter] lamed at the beginning. When Rashi comments אל פני this means “to the forefront” and thus he continues to explain to what “forefront” refers, commenting “of the world.” This means towards the front of the world, i.e. the east, “As the [eastern] direction…”

These two tribes and also the other nine tribes cannot appeal against the tribes of Gad and Reuvein who have a much larger portion than any of the other nine tribes since they have taken their hereditary property on this side of the Yardein and there is no comparison to the value of a portion of Eretz Yisroel on the western side of the Yardein, both in spiritual and physical terms.

אשר ינחלו לכם [THESE ARE THE … MEN] WHO SHALL TAKE POSSESSION OF THE LAND לכם — i.e., for you. Each prince was the agent of his tribe and divided the inheritance of the tribe amongst the families and again amongst the men, selecting for each a portion fitting for him. What they did was done (was legal) just as if they (the tribes) had appointed them their representatives (Kiddushin 42b). — It would not be right to explain this לכם as all other לכם (“to you”) which occur in the Bible, for if so it should have written יַנְחִילוּ לכם (Hiphil), “they will give the possession to you”. But יִנְחֲלוּ (Kal), implies that they themselves take possession לכם, “for you” and in your place. It is the same as, (Exodus 14:14): “The Lord will fight לכם” — “for you”.

For your sake. The word ינחלו ["shall inherit"] implies that they would inherit it themselves ["i.e., on their own"], while לכם ["for you"] implies that they would cause you to inherit it. Therefore, Rashi explains, “Who shall inherit for your sake.”

V. 17. אשר ינחלו לכם. Unter Elasars und Josuas Aufsicht und Leitung als Vertreter der Gesamtheit soll jeder Stammesfürst "für seinen Stamm" den demselben zugewiesenen Landesteil "in Besitz nehmen" und dessen entsprechende Verteilung unter die Familien und erbberechtigten Männer vollziehen. Indem diese Männer hier als Vertreter der Stämme, Familien und einzelnen bestellt sind, so stehen sie als Bevollmächtigte aller Erbberechtigten da, und was sie für dieselben vollziehen, ist rechtsgültig und endgültig vollzogen (Raschi). So wird Kiduschin 42a auch hierauf die Vollmacht der gerichtsseitig zur Erbteilung für Waisen bestellten Vormünder und die auch später von den mündig gewordenen Waisen unanfechtbare Rechtsgültigkeit ihrer Abmachungen gegründet: מנין ליתומים שבאו לחלק בנכסי אביהם שבית דין מעמידין להם אפוטרופוס לחוב ולזכות תלמוד לומר נשיא אחד נשיא אחד ממטה תקחו.

He apportioned the tribal inheritance. For if not so, there were minors who were not of the age [to appoint] emissaries; also there were those who preferred [their portions in] the hills or the valleys [in both cases the actions of an emissary would not normally be effective]. Rather, [here] what the guardian did was binding. However, this was for the apportioning of the tribal inheritance to the families, and from the families to the individuals. But the apportioning of the land itself to the tribes was by lot, and thus not dependent upon the actions of the guardian.

He chose [a suitable portion] for each individual. The reason why Rashi does not also mention that the leaders initially apportioned [the land] to the tribes, and only afterwards to the families and the individuals, is because the leaders did not apportion it to the tribes, rather it was apportioned to the tribes by lot.

Shall inherit for you. Rashi wishes to answer the question: If so, why it is written לכם [lit. "To you"]? Rather [it means] for your sake.

לִנְחֹל את הארץ [YE SHALL TAKE ONE PRINCE OF EVERY TRIBE], TO TAKE POSSESSION OF THE LAND i.e. that he should take possession and apportion it in your place (i.e. as your representatives; cf. Rashi on previous verse).

And one leader. The meaning of Scripture is that there is no obligation to make a real leader for every matter; the obligation to make a leader is only to be able to parcel out the land. Scripture mentioned them according to the greatness of the people in their own worth and not according to the importance of the tribes.

למטה יהודה, for the tribe of Yehudah. We need to explore why the leaders of the tribes of Yehudah, Shimon, and Benjamin are not given the title נשיא in our paragraph. Perhaps the reason is connected to the fact that the names of these three tribes appear quite close to the words ונשיא אחד נשיא אחד in verse 18 so that the Torah saw no need to repeat the word נשיא again. Starting with verse 22 the names of the tribes are so far removed from verse 18 that the Torah saw fit to add the title נשיא when mentioning the leader of the respective tribes.

ואלה שמות האנשים: למטה יהודה, וגו', ”and these were the names of the men: representing the tribe of Yehudah was Calev, son of Yefuneh.” Seeing that the tribes of Reuven and Gad already had received their ancestral heritage they were no longer in need of a נשיא , a “leader.” There are different opinions as to why the list of the leaders of the nation when the conquest began begins with Yehudah.on this occasion. One opinion holds that when the lottery took place Yehudah’s parchment came up first. All the tribes listed here had a leader described by the Torah with the title נשיא, except Yehudah, Shimon, and Binyamin. In the case of Yehudah, seeing that Calev was a venerable and well-known personality there was no need to give him a title for his authority to be accepted by the members of his tribe. Shimon did not have a new נשיא, seeing that the last one, Zimri, had disgraced himself so badly. The title held no allure for the members of that tribe as its significance had been debased. Binyamin actually did have a נשיא in the person of אלידד, whose name has been spelled אלדד in Numbers 11,26 before he had been elevated to the status of prophet. Seeing that a prophet is on a higher spiritual level than a mere “leader,” referring to him here a נשיא would have indicated a demotion. I do not know why the Torah found it necessary to introduce each one of these men as למטה בני פלוני,.... “of the tribe of so and so…” with the exception of the tribe of Yehudah. Both here and in the story of the spies Joseph is mentioned in addition to Menashe, because he had displayed especial fondness of the Holy Land.

VV. 19 — 28. ואלה שמות האנשים. Die Reihenfolge, in welcher hier die Stämme und ihre Vertreter behufs der Landesverteilung genannt werden, entspricht in bemerkenswerter Weise ganz der Lage, in welcher, von Süd nach Nord gerechnet, die Stämme neben einander und nach einander ihre Niederlassung im Lande erhielten. Juda, Simeon, Benjamin, nahmen den Süden ein, — Dan, Menasse und zwischen beiden Efrajim die Mitte, — Jissachar, Sebulun, Ascher, Naftali den Norden. Wenn später die durchs Los zu treffende Gebietsanweisung der Stämme durch den Ausspruch der אורים ותומים göttliche Bestätigung erhielt (siehe Kap. 26, 55), so war bereits deren providentielle Voraussichtbestimmung in diesen Sätzen und ihrer Reihenfolge gegeben. — Alle Stämme werden hier bei Anordnung der Landesverteilung als מטה בני־ aufgeführt, למטה בני דן ,למטה בני שמעון usw. nur von Juda und Benjamin heißt es: למטה בנימן ,למטה יהודה. Vielleicht liegt diesem die Anschauung zu Grunde: מטה בני begreift den Stamm als höhere Einheit, welcher die einzelnen בני־ sich unterordnen. Juda und Benjamin aber, auf deren Gebiet das Nationalheiligtum errichtet werden sollte, sollen eben darum nicht als höhere Einheit der ihnen Zugehörigen, sondern selbst nur in ihrer Zuhörigkeit an die nationale Gesamtheit, als "Zweig" des nationalen Ganzen gedacht werden, daher nicht: מטה בני בנימן ,מטה בני יהודה sondern: מטה מטה בנימן ,יהודה. Vielleicht erklärt sich daraus auch noch eine Eigentümlichkeit. Bei allen Stämmen werden die Vertreter nach ihrer Würde ausdrücklich als נשיא aufgeführt, nur nicht bei Juda, Simeon und Benjamin. Erwägen wir, dass Judas und Benjamins Gebiet als nächste Peripherie des auf ihrem Boden zu errichtenden Gottesheiligtums gedacht werden konnte, und dass Simeons Gebiet eigentlich nur eine Enklave von Juda bildet: so mochte es an die Hand gegeben erscheinen, dem Gedanken an die im Heiligtume repräsentierte Herrschaft Gottes und seines Gesetzes gegenüber keines andern in der Beziehung seiner Herrscherwürde zu gedenken.

למטה יהודה, of the tribe of Yehudah. Moses began enumerating the family heads which would start the process of allocating ancestral tracts of land with the members of the tribe of Yehudah, as his name came up first when the lots were drawn. In this instance, Calev would be the head of the tribe.

I have a seen a comment in the name of Rabbenu Nissim that there was no need to write the word נשיא in connection with the tribe of Yehudah as everybody knew that it was Calev ben Yefuneh. In the case of the tribe of Shimon the reason was that this tribe was not worthy of having a leader with the title נשיא in view of the affair with Zimri. In the case of the tribe of Benjamin, there was no need to mention that Eldod held the title נשיא, as he held a better title having been a prophet already since the time the 70 elders had been chosen in Numbers 11,16-29. Calling Eldod a "prince" would have amounted to a demotion rather than a promotion for him.

Perhaps one may add that the term נשיא was not allocated to the temporary leader of the tribe of Yehudah seeing that this tribe would produce a king for the entire nation, not just a prince for itself. A similar consideration may have applied to the tribe of Benjamin seeing that the realisation of a Jewish Kingdom, i.e. the first king of Israel, Saul, would come from that tribe. As far as the absence of a mention of a prince for the tribe of Shimon is concerned, the reason advanced was quite adequate.

למטה בנימין, “of the tribe of Binyamin;” here Binyamin is listed as if the third of the tribes, seeing that these three tribes in the future would cede of their ancestral lands to the Levites all at once, as recorded in the Book of Joshua: 21,4: ויהי לבני אהרן הכהן מן הלוים, ממאה יהודה, וממטה שמעון וממטה בנימין בגורל ערים שלש עשר, “to the descendants of Aaron the priest, there fell by lot 13 towns from the tribe of Yehudah, the tribe of Shimon, and the tribe of Binyamin.” This is why they were lumped together by Moses already at this point.

ולמטה בני דן נשיא, “and of the tribe of Dan, a prince;” the reason that the word: “prince” has not been mentioned with the first three tribes listed here, is because we knew already that Calev of the tribe of Yehudah, as the only survivor of his tribe that had been an adult at the Exodus would be the leader after Nachshon had died. He had already been called by G-d Himself as “My servant.” (Numbers 14,24) As far as the tribe of Binyamin is concerned, we know that Eldod, a colleague of Meydod, both from this tribe had been elevated to the status of prophets. According to another interpretation, seeing that at a later stage involving the concubine a Givah, (Judges chapter 20) he would be dishonorably involved, he is not here referred to as a prince. The same consideration applies to the tribe of Shimon, whose prince in short order will be involved in the shameful episode with the Midianite woman Cosbi, Moses did not bestow the title prince upon him posthumously. Rashi had pointed out already in his commentary on Parshat Balak, that the people of the tribe of Shimon had treated Zimri as their leader. (Numbers 25,6) There had been no need for a leader of the tribes of Reuven and Gad to be appointed, as these tribes had already received their ancestral heritage on the east bank of the Jordan. Our author thus has explained why the names of the tribes here neither appeared in the order of their founders’ birth, or their respective mothers, i.e. Leah, Rachel, Zilpah and Bilhah.

לנחל את בני ישראל [THESE ARE THEY WHOM THE LORD COMMANDED] TO DIVIDE THE INHERITANCE UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — It means, that they should make you inherit it according to its divisions (according to how it should be divided amongst families and again amongst individuals).