Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Musar for Numbers 10:29

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֗ה לְ֠חֹבָב בֶּן־רְעוּאֵ֣ל הַמִּדְיָנִי֮ חֹתֵ֣ן מֹשֶׁה֒ נֹסְעִ֣ים ׀ אֲנַ֗חְנוּ אֶל־הַמָּקוֹם֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה אֹת֖וֹ אֶתֵּ֣ן לָכֶ֑ם לְכָ֤ה אִתָּ֙נוּ֙ וְהֵטַ֣בְנוּ לָ֔ךְ כִּֽי־יְהוָ֥ה דִּבֶּר־ט֖וֹב עַל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’father-in-law: ‘We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said: I will give it you; come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Israel.’

Shenei Luchot HaBerit

The Torah now resumes its narrative of the Israelites' journeys from Mount Sinai, the first such journey having as its objective entrance into the Holy Land, which substitutes for the original גן עדן into which original Adam had been placed. This was in line with the promise recorded in Ezekiel 36,35, concerning the future: "This very land which was desolate has become a Garden of Eden." The advantages of ארץ ישראל are described in the next paragraph (10,29), when חובב בן רעואל in, Moses's father-in-law, is invited to remain with the Jewish people with the unusual words "we are travelling towards the place of which G–d has said: "I will give it to you." The difficulty in this episode is that originally Moses had told his father-in-law that if he would remain with the people, they would let him share the good that G–d had said that He would bestow on the people. Yitro had declined this offer, saying he preferred to return to his own land and birthplace. When Moses repeats his invitation, he describes this טוב, goodness, that G–d would bestow upon the people as something that they in turn would bestow on him (10,32). In what way was Moses' second invitation designed to sway his father-in-law? What did he offer that he had not offered previously? Another difficulty is the repetition of the word טוב אשר ייטיב, "the good which G–d will do good?" A third difficulty is the clumsy wording in verse 29. It would have sufficed to speak of כי ה' דבר טוב על ישראל, "for G–d has spoken well concerning the future of Israel." Why did Moses have to say first "which G–d had said "I will give it to you?"
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