Commentaire sur Les Nombres 27:12

עלה אל הר העברים GO UP INTO [THIS] MOUNT ABARIM — Why does this follow immediately here? Because when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, (v. 7) “Thou shalt surely give them an inheritance in the land” he (Moses) said, “It is me that the Omnipresent has commanded to apportion the inheritance. Perhaps then the decree that I must die in the wilderness is annulled and I shall enter the Promised Land!” Whereupon God said to him, “My decree remains exactly as it was” (Midrash Tanchuma, Pinchas 9). — Another explanation: As soon as Moses entered into the territory of the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben (the eastern side of the Jordan, which, having been assigned to these tribes, might be regarded as part of the Promised Land), he rejoiced, saying, “It seems to me that the vow regarding me has been annulled in my favour”. God, therefore, said to him, My decree remains exactly as it was. A parable! It may be compared to the case of a king who decreed against his son that he should not enter the door of his palace. He (the king) entered within the gate, and he (the son) went after him (without the father raising any objection); to the audience chamber, and he after him. But as soon as he was about to enter his sleeping-chamber (his private room) he said to him, “My son, from here and further on you may not go” (Sifrei Bamidbar 134:4).

GET THEE UP INTO THIS MOUNTAIN OF ABARIM. The name of this mountain was Mount Nebo, as is stated explicitly in the sections of Ha’azinu,¹⁶⁶Deuteronomy 32:49. and ‘V’zoth Habrachah;¹⁶⁷Ibid., 34:1. but it is [here] called the mountain of Abarim [meaning “fords”] because it is situated by the fords of the Jordan, from which one passes over into the land of Canaan, as it says here, that is over against Jericho,¹⁶⁸Ibid., (32:49; 34:1). The word “here” in Ramban cannot be explained literally, since in this section here, the phrase over against Jericho is not found. It must therefore refer to the verse in Ha’azinu and V’zoth Habracha which Ramban has just referred to. and it was from there that they [actually] crossed over the Jordan, as it is said, And the people came up out of the Jordan … and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.¹⁶⁹Joshua 4:19. Now this [statement get thee up] is not a commandment which the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses to fulfill now, for if so he would have had to go up there at once [and we do not find that he did so], but it means: “you shall go up into the mountain of Abarim and shall behold the Land [but you shall not enter it].” For since He had commanded Moses, Unto these the Land shall be divided,¹⁷⁰Above, 26:53. He informed him that “it will not be divided by you, but you shall go up into the top of the mountain of Abarim before Israel journeys away from the land of Moab, and you will die therein, and all you will have of the Land will be the sight thereof.” Similarly [Verse 18 which says] Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, means that “when your time [to die] comes, you shall take Joshua,” [but is not a command to do so now]. And Scripture completed [this episode] by saying that Moses did so whole-heartedly,¹⁷¹Ibid., Verses 22-23. This refers to the fact that although Moses was only commanded (in Verse 18) to lay “his [single] hand upon him,” he laid his ‘hands’ upon him, which shows that he appointed his successor whole-heartedly, although he knew that he was now to die. and this is the [same] act which is mentioned at [the time of] Moses’ departure [from the world],¹⁷²Deuteronomy 31:7-8. when he and Hoshea the son of Nun spoke [the words of] the Song.¹⁷³Ibid., 32:44. Thus Scripture points out there that Moses and Joshua said the Song together, with equal enthusiasm and equally whole-heartedly.

עלה אל הר העברים, “ascend Mount Avarim, etc.” Nachmanides writes that the true name of the mountain was Nebo, as has been spelled out in Deut. 32,49 and elsewhere. The reason it has been referred to here by a different name, one that reflects its precise location, is that it is near the place where the river Jordan would be crossed by the Israelites. It is approximately directly opposite the ancient city of Jericho. The word עלה!, an imperative, was not meant to be complied with immediately, otherwise how could Moses have waited until after the 12000 men engaged in the punitive expedition against Midian had returned from there before ascending that mountain?. The reason why this command is reported here is that the Torah wanted to tell us that when Moses would ascend that mountain he would be shown the various locations where the different tribes would settle, and he would, at least, have the satisfaction of having seen all this with his own eyes.