Commentaire de citation sur Le Deutéronome 4:40

THESE ARE THE WORDS WHICH MOSES SPOKE UNTO ALL ISRAEL. [The reference is] to the commandments which he will mention in the entire book beginning with the Ten Commandments in the section of Va’ethchanan,¹⁵Further 5:6-18. In other words, the opening expression of the Torah here, These are the words …, is not a reference to the words of Moses from the beginning of the book on, narrating the historical events of the journey through the wilderness, but primarily a reference to the Ten Commandments and the laws that followed, which Moses introduced with a review of their journey from Sinai to the Jordan followed with an exhortation to obedience. as Scripture stated, Moses began explaining this Law, saying,¹⁶Verse 5. clearly indicating that he is speaking of the Law [which begins with the Ten Commandments in the next section of Va’ethchanan]. And in that case [we must say] that in the [following] verse The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us¹⁷Verse 6. an introductory expression of “saying.”¹⁸Since we have explained the word leimor (saying) in Verse 5 as referring not to the contents of Verse 6 but to the Scriptural text of the Ten Commandments, Verse 6 should begin with a phrase explaining that it was Moses who was now speaking on a different subject — not about the commandments, but about the history of the forty years. Thus the verse should begin, “And he [i.e., Moses] said: The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us …” is omitted. Similarly [there is an omission in the verse] And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Menasheh: ‘for G-d hath made me forget all my toil’ … And the name of the second he called Ephraim: ‘for G-d hath made me fruitful.’¹⁹Genesis 41:51-52. Both verses omit the expression “for he [Joseph] said” [that G-d hath made me forget … “for he said” that G-d hath made me fruitful]. And the purport of these verses here is as follows: “These are the commandments which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the fortieth year from their departure from Egypt on the first day of the eleventh month according to all that the Eternal had commanded him for them,²⁰Verse 3. this being after he had smitten Sihon and Og,²¹Verse 4. in the land of Moab, there Moses began to explain to them this Law, as follows. And he said: The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: ‘Ye have dwelt long enough etc.’”¹⁷Verse 6. And the meaning thereof is that when Moses began explaining the commandments to them, he said to them at the outset of his words: The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us in Horeb, after He gave us the Ten Commandments, [ordering] that we conquer the Land at once and that we cross the Jordan. But your sins caused you this and that consequence [as Moses goes on to relate]. The words of this introduction continue until he concludes with the verse, And thou shalt keep His statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the Land, which the Eternal thy G-d giveth thee, forever.²²Further, 4:40. Then Moses called all Israel that were before him and said, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day,²³Ibid., 5:1. and then began the explanation of the Torah with the Ten Commandments in order that they hear them with the explanation from the mouth of the one who received them from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He. Afterwards he informed them of the Unity of G-d, as it is said, Hear, O Israel: the Eternal our G-d, the Eternal is One,²⁴Ibid., 6:4. and all the commandments in this book. This is why Scripture explained here which Moses spoke unto ‘all’ Israel, and there it is stated, And Moses called unto ‘all’ Israel²³Ibid., 5:1. [emphasizing that all were present], because the explanation of the Torah and the completion of the commandments must be in the presence of “all” Israel just as was the Giving of the Torah [itself on Mount Sinai]. Now, because he [Moses] prolonged the words of this introduction, Scripture [in Va’ethchanan where Moses finally begins explaining “the words” with which he began this opening verse] returned to the place at which it stopped at the beginning of the explanation of the Torah and said, And this is the Law which Moses set before the children of Israel; these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt,²⁵Ibid., 4:44-45. and mentioned that it was beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon,²⁶Ibid., Verse 46. this being the land of Moab mentioned here¹⁶Verse 5. since Israel did not enter the land of Moab except what was made permissible for them by Sihon [who conquered part of Moab and became its ruler, thus removing that territory from the injunction that Israel may not wage war against Moab] as has been explained in the preceding book.²⁷Numbers 21:26; 35:14.
Thus Scripture mentioned two things here. [The first thing is:] it stated that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, according to all that the Eternal had commanded him for them,²⁰Verse 3. this being an allusion to the commandments which he would tell them in this book that have not been mentioned thus far in the Torah. And it says that these commandments were exactly as G-d commanded him; he did not add to, or substract from what he had been commanded. It was necessary that this be stated [i.e., that Moses spoke according to all that the Eternal had commanded him] because Scripture does not state of them “And the Eternal spoke unto Moses;” therefore it included them now, [emphasizing] that they were all according to what he was commanded from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He. [The second thing is:] it further stated that Moses began explaining this Law,¹⁶Verse 5. this being an allusion to the commandments which were already declared, that he would repeat them in order to clarify them further and to give additional instruction about them. And the meaning of the expression ho’il Mosheh²⁸Verse 5. This is generally translated: “Moses began.” Since according to Ramban, the explanation of the commandments does not begin until the Ten Commandments in 5:6, Ramban interprets the word ho’il as “wished;” thus meaning “Moses wished” to explain this Torah; however, the beginning thereof is not here, but later on as explained. According to those commentators, such as Rashi, who explain the reference ‘These are the words’ in our verse as referring to Moses’ words of chastisement, the word ho’il does mean “begin,” since the reproof begins in the next verse. is that “Moses wished” to explain the Torah to them. This is said to inform us that Moses saw fit to do so although G-d had not yet commanded him thereon [but afterwards, when He commanded him to write down the whole Torah, G-d Himself said all these words that were originally spoken by Moses; and Moses wrote them as he was commanded. Hence there is no difference between the first four books of the Torah and this fifth book, Deuteronomy, as all are equally the word of G-d]. The word ho’il is thus related to the expressions: ‘ho’el na’ (be willing, I pray thee), and tarry all night;²⁹Judges 19:6. would that ‘ho’alnu’ (we had been willing) and dwelt beyond the Jordan,³⁰Joshua 7:7. and so also many similar expressions.

אלה הדברים, the words that Moses is about to speak refer to the words that are recorded in this volume of the Torah. Moses will first review the whole Torah, commencing with the revelation at Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments. In verse 6 we would have expected the verse to begin with the words ויאמר משה, something that is missing here. We do find a similar construction where such an introductory remark is missing when Joseph names his first son Menashe, and the Torah reports that he said: כי נשני אלוקים את כל עמלי, “for the Lord has made me forget all my troubles,” (Genesis 41,51, as well as verse 52 concerning Ephrayim) where we would have expected at least the introductory words כי אמר. The reason that Moses used this introduction was to remind them that not quite a year after that G’d had told the people that they had encamped around Mount Sinai long enough, and that it was time to begin their journey toward their ultimate objective, the Holy Land. This was a pointed reminder that as far as G’d was concerned they had been sufficiently prepared to make war successfully against the Canaanites, whose measure of guilt by then was full, so that the Israelites should have every chance to defeat them. These introductory words continue until 4,40 ושמרת את חוקיו ואת מצותיו אשר אנכי מצוך היום, “you shall observe His decrees and His commandments that I command you this day, to carry them out, etc.” After this Moses called upon the whole nation of Israel that stood assembled before him saying: שמע ישראל וגו', 5,1 and began with a restatement of the Ten Commandments. Having concluded with that restatement, including minor additions, he emphasizes the uniqueness of G’d, i.e.שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our G’d, the Lord is One,” followed by all the commandments contained in this volume of the Torah. This is the reason why we have the formula here: דבר משה אל כל ישראל that Moses spoke to all of the Children of Israel, and the same formula is used in 5,1 when he is described as calling to all of the Children of Israel when exhorting them to learn and to keep the commandments. It was important that just as 40 years ago at the revelation to the previous generation all the people were assembled, now when the covenant is about to be renewed with a new generation the whole people must be in attendance at that event. When the Torah describes Moses as באר את התורה הזאת “explaining this Torah,” (verse 5) this is a reference to the Torah which the people had already heard from his mouth once before. He now reviews this part of the Torah and in a number of cases expands on it, filling in details not revealed up until now. He emphasized that all of this had been commanded to him by Hashem, i.e. he had not added anything of his own. The meaning of the word הואיל is that the initiative for this review is his own; he had not been told by Hashem to do so. The term is used several times in Scriptures for free-willed agreement, as for instance in Joshua 7,7 ולו הואלנו ונשב בעבר הירדן, “if we had only been willing to remain and settle on the east bank of the Jordan.” When Moses responded to Yitro’s invitation to dwell in his house, his willingness is also described by the word ויואל משה לשבת את האיש, “Moses agreed to dwell with that man.” (Exodus 2,21).

AND THOU SHALT OBSERVE TO DO IT ‘ASHER YITAV LECHA’ (WHICH WILL BE WELL WITH THEE). He is thus commanding you that you should take care to do what will benefit you. “A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY. Although removed from it, this phrase is connected with the expression to possess it [at the end of Verse 1]. Or it may be that the expression [a Land flowing …] lacks the letter beth, [making it equivalent to ba’aretz — ‘in the Land’ flowing with milk and honey, and thus it is not necessary to say that the phrase a Land flowing … refers to Verse 1; instead, the verse before us enjoins Israel to observe the commandments in the Land] just as in the verse, that was found ‘beith’ (House of) the Eternal²⁰⁵II Kings 12:11. [which lacks a beth, making it b’veith — ‘in the House of’ the Eternal].” This is the language of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra. And if so, there is also lacking in the phrase and that ye might increase mightily the word bo (“in it”) [so that its meaning would be “and that ye might increase mightily ‘in it,’” that is, in the Land flowing with milk and honey]; or [the missing part may be the word] ba’avuro (“because of it”). But there is no need [to interpret the verse as if letters and words were missing]. For [the word l’ma’an (so that) from the phrase in the preceding Verse 2] and ‘so that’ thy days be prolonged, should be drawn here [to Verse 3], and its meaning is as follows: “‘so that’ it may be well with thee.” Or it may be that the word asher (which) [‘asher’ yitav lecha] itself serves the same purpose [meaning “so that” or “because of”], as in the verse, And he removed her from being queen ‘asher’ she had made an abominable image²⁰⁶I Kings 15:13. which means “‘because of’ her having made an abominable image.” Similarly, ‘ba’asher’ thou art his wife²⁰⁷Genesis 39:9. means “‘because of’ your being his wife.” And so also Scripture states, which I command thee this day ‘asher’ (so that) it may go well with thee etc., and so that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the Land.²⁰⁸Above, 4:40. And the purport of the verse [here] is as follows: “Hear, therefore, O Israel, and take care to do it so that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Eternal the G-d of thy fathers hath promised to give unto thee a Land flowing with milk and honey etc.;” that is to say, in order that He may do good to you when He gives you a good and large Land,²⁰⁹Exodus 3:8. as he said further [in Verse 18], so that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good Land. Similarly, and he gave him a house, and said to him victuals²¹⁰I Kings 11:18 — Here likewise the phrase as the Eternal, the G-d of thy fathers promised unto thee, a Land flowing with milk and honey, means “promised to give thee.” [means: “and he said to ‘give’ him victuals”].