Comentario sobre Deuteronómio 19:8

ואם ירחיב … כאשר נשבע AND IF [THE LORD THY GOD] ENLARGE [THY TERRITORY], AS HE HATH SWORN [UNTO THY FATHERS] to give thee the land of the Kenite, the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite (Sifrei Devarim 184:3).

AND IF THE ETERNAL THY G-D ENLARGE THY BORDER. This section deals with a future event, and I have already mentioned it²⁴⁴Above, 12:20. in the section [i.e., the Seder] of Behold, I set before you. For first he stated, When the Eternal thy G-d shall cut off the nations, whose land the Eternal giveth thee,²⁴⁰Verse 1. the expression whose land the Eternal giveth thee referring to all the seven nations that He mentions everywhere. So also he speaks with reference to them, And the Eternal thy G-d will cast out those nations before thee;²⁴⁵Ibid., 7:22. whereas for the wickedness of these nations;²⁴⁶Ibid., 9:4. and the Eternal will drive out all these nations from before you;²⁴⁷Ibid., 11:23. but of the cities of these peoples,²⁴⁸Further, 20:16. and so also in many other places. And now he commanded that after taking possession of their land and dwelling in it, he²⁴⁹The third person singular here seems to refer to the leader of the people — Joshua — although the fulfillment of the commandment was incumbent upon all Israel. shall set aside three cities, completing [the performance of] the commandment with their designation, as He said there, there shall be for you six cities of refuge,²⁵⁰Numbers 35:13. and He further said, Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan.²⁵¹Ibid., Verse 14. And since the three cities beyond the Jordan eastward had already been set aside by Moses (above, 4:41), the designation of the three cities in the land of Canaan thus completed the fulfillment of this commandment. He did not command in the Torah that there be more than these six cities. Similarly all commandments of the Torah that become binding after taking possession and settling upon [the Land] become obligatory after the conquest of these seven nations. Only regarding this commandment, however, he added here, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border and he did not say “as He hath promised thee,” as he said in the section, When the Eternal thy G-d shall enlarge thy border, as He hath promised thee²⁵²Above, 12:20. with reference to meat of a secular meal. This was because G-d did not promise them anywhere to give them [land] except for [that of] these seven nations. However, here he mentioned the patriarchs, as he said, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which He promised to give unto thy fathers, this being an allusion to all ten nations²⁵³Genesis 15:19-21. that were promised to Abraham.
Now he made here a condition, if thou shalt [in time to come] keep all this commandment to do it etc.²⁵⁴Verse 9. [then another three cities of refuge would be designated in addition to the six already discussed in Scripture]. Now it is clear that they will not inherit even the seven nations if they transgress the Torah as he has said many times — hearken unto the statutes etc. that ye may live, and go in and possess the Land;²⁵⁵Above, 4:1. and thou shalt write upon them all the words of this Law etc. that thou mayest go in unto the Land;²⁵⁶Further, 27:3. For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment etc., then will the Eternal drive out all these nations from before you.²⁵⁷Above, 11:22-23. And when Achan, who was but an individual, transgressed the devoted thing,²⁵⁸Joshua 22:20. it was stated, Therefore the children of Israel cannot stand before their enemies, they turn their backs before their enemies.²⁵⁹Ibid., 7:12. If so, [the question arises], why was this condition made only concerning these three cities, stating, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border etc. if thou shalt keep all this commandment [when the conquest of the seven nations is also conditional upon observing the Torah]? The reason for this is, that it was the Divine Will before Him, blessed be He, that yet in the days of Moses and Joshua, He would give them possession of the lands of the seven nations which He had promised them while they were still in Egypt²⁶⁰See Exodus 3:8. and in the wilderness,²⁶¹See ibid., 34:11. because it was known to Him that they were deserving [of the lands] by virtue of their merits. Therefore He obligated them in the observance of all commandments upon the conquest of these [nations], and He further obligated them [in the commandment] of the six cities of refuge, and so Joshua designated [the cities]. But concerning the three remaining ones he made a condition, if thou shalt keep all this commandment etc. to love the Eternal thy G-d, and to walk forever in His ways etc.,²⁵⁴Verse 9. that is to say, that they would all observe the entire Torah, [they would then become obligated to set aside three additional cities]. There is no commandment dependent upon this condition except for [the designation] of these three cities.
But what reason was there to state, if thou shalt keep all this commandment etc. to walk ‘kol hayamim’ (forever) in His ways — then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, for who knows what will ever happen afterwards? Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented: “kol hayamim — [all the days] without interruption between them.” This is not correct. Rather, the purport of the verse is as follows: “If thou shalt keep all this commandment, when your merit attains a degree that you will keep all the commandments, loving G-d with a perfect everlasting love, so that it should be apparent to Him that you will never again sin, then He will broaden your boundary and give you all the [ten] nations [He promised to Abraham].” This is a reference to the days of which he said, And the Eternal thy G-d will open thy heart, and the heart of thy seed,²⁶²Further, 30:6. the expression the heart of thy seed indicating [the people of] all future days, similar to what is written in the Prophets,²⁶³See above, Note 25. And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever; for the good of them, and of their children after them; and I will make an everlasting covenant with them etc., and I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.²⁶⁴Jeremiah 32:39-40. Then when He shall make an everlasting covenant with them they will set aside these three cities [as cities of refuge].

ואם ירחיב ה׳ את גבולך, "And if the Lord your G'd will expand your boundary, etc." The Torah assures the Israelites that if they will observe all the Lord's commandments not only out of fear but out of love for Him the time will come when He will include the lands of the other 3 tribes in the boundaries of ארץ ישראל, the lands of the Kenite, the Kenizzite and the Kadmoni, all of whose lands were included in G'd's first promise to Abraham in Genesis 15,19. Our sages in Sanhedrin 99 confirm that the redemption in the future depends on our serving G'd out of love.