פירוש על דברים 23:5

על דבר may be translated BECAUSE OF THE WORD — i.e. because of the advice which they gave you in order to entice you into sin (Sifrei Devarim 250:1).

BECAUSE THEY MET YOU NOT WITH BREAD AND WITH WATER. We find it stated [in Moses’ message to Sihon], Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink etc. as the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar did unto me.²²⁶Above 2:28-29. [This clearly states that the Moabites did not deprive them of bread and water, and in the verse before us it is mentioned that the Moabites did not meet them with bread and water!] Now, many scholars²²⁷Mentioned so in Ibn Ezra (above, 2:29). say that the Moabites did not meet them with bread and water, but that the Israelites bought it from them. But this is baseless, for it is adequate for a camp that they be sold [food] when they want to buy. Moreover, Israel came not within the border of Moab,²²⁸Judges 11:18. and the Moabites brought them forth bread and water for money, and Scripture tells that the Moabites acted as did the children of Esau — why, then, were the Moabites forever banned [from the congregation of Israel] on account of this [for not having met them with bread and water], and of the Edomites it declared that we are not to abhor them?²²⁹Verse 8. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra stated²²⁷Mentioned so in Ibn Ezra (above, 2:29). that “the expression as the children of Esau … and the Moabites did unto me²³⁰Above, 2:29. refers to the verse, Let me pass through thy land; I will go along by the highway,²³¹Ibid., Verse 27. but neither [the Edomites nor the Moabites] sold them bread and water. For the Israelites passed through Mount Seir [in Edom] and Ar [in Moab]; it was only to pass through his city where he dwelled that the king of Edom did not permit them — this being the sense of the expression, Thou shalt not pass ‘through me’²³²Numbers 20:18. [but he did allow them entry through other parts of Edom].” This interpretation [of Ibn Ezra] is also baseless, for the Israelites said to the king of Edom, “Let me pass through thy land,”²³³Ibid., Verse 17. The language there is: Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy land. and Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border.²³⁴Ibid., Verse 21. Thus they did not enter the border of Edom at all! And so it is written, And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom²³⁵Ibid., 21:4. because they had to retreat by way of the Red Sea from Mount Hor which is on the border of the land of Edom, but they did not come into the land of Edom itself at all. Jephthah said it clearly: But when they came up from Egypt, and Israel walked through the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh; then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying: Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land; but the king of Edom hearkened not. And in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab; but he would not; and Israel abode in Kadesh. Then he walked through the wilderness, and compassed the land of Edom, and the land of Moab, and came by the east side of the land of Moab, and they pitched on the other side of Arnon, but they came not within the border of Moab.²³⁶Judges 11:16-18. Thus it is clearly explained that they did not come into the land of Edom or the land of Moab at all. Had they come there, the Edomites and Moabites would have sold them bread and water, for it is not customary for one who allows an army to pass through a land not to sell them bread and water.
It appears to me that Scripture banned these two brothers [Ammon and Moab, sons of Lot — from the congregation of Israel] because they were the beneficiaries of the lovingkindness of Abraham who saved their father and mother from the sword and captivity²³⁷See Genesis 14:16. and, by virtue of Abraham’s merit, G-d sent them out of the midst of the overthrow [of Sodom]²³⁸Ibid., 19:29. — hence they were obligated to do good to Israel and instead they did them evil. One of them [the Moabites] hired Balaam the son of Beor against Israel, and one [the Ammonites] did not meet them with bread and water as they approached their territory, as it is written, Thou art this day to pass over the border of Moab, even Ar; and thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon.²³⁹Above, 21:17-18. Now Scripture warned the Israelites [concerning the children of Ammon] harass them not, nor contend with them.²⁴⁰Ibid., Verse 19. And yet the Ammonites did not meet them at all [with bread and water], for otherwise Scripture would have stated, “As the children of Esau, and the Moabites, ‘and the Ammonites’ did unto me,” but the verse²³⁰Above, 2:29. does not mention Ammon because they did not meet them. Thus Ammon acted more wickedly than all of them, for the children of Esau and the Moabites, when they knew that the Israelites were warned against contending with them in battle, brought bread and water out of their border, but Ammon did not wish to do so. This is the meaning of the phrase, because they met you not, that they did not come forth toward them with bread and water as the others did. Therefore Scripture mentioned an Ammonite first [An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Eternal],²⁴¹Verse 4. and it cited his sin first, because they met you not with bread and water, and then it mentioned a Moabite and his sin [and because they hired against thee Balaam].
Now our Rabbis interpreted:²⁴²Yebamoth 76b. “An Ammonite, but not an Ammonitess [if she is converted to Judaism she may be married to an Israelite]. A Moabite, but not a Moabitess, because it is customary for a man to meet [a passing camp with bread and water] but it is not customary for a woman to meet,” to bring forth food outside of the border of the land. And so the Rabbis also mentioned in the Yerushalmi²⁴³Yerushalmi Yebamoth VIII, 3. and in the Scroll of Ruth Rabbathi:²⁴⁴Ruth Rabbathi 4:8. “It is customary for a man to hire but it is not customary for a woman to hire.”²⁴⁵Hence the Ammorite and Moabite women were not considered as having partaken in the sins of the men and, therefore, the women were excluded from the prohibition. When Ruth the Moabitess adopted the faith of Israel, therefore, Boaz was permitted to marry her.

אשר לא קדמו, neither of these two nations met the Israelites, but the Moabites at least gave them bread and water in return for money, as we read in Deut. 2, 28-29 כאשר עשו לי בני עשו היושבים בשעיר והמואבים היושבים בער, “as the Children of Esau who dwell in Seir did for me, as well as the Moabites who dwell in Or.” The Ammonites did not even sell us bread and water. However, the Moabites added to their sin of hostility by hiring the prophet Bileam to curse us. Therefore, לא תדרוש שלומם, for while neither of them have shown basic human civilities, the Moabites have even displayed open hostility.

על דבר אשר לא קדמו אתכם, “on account of their not having greeted you, etc.;” the last few words refer to the nation Ammon.

Because of their advice, etc. Otherwise, why does it say דבר, [which also means “word”]? It should have simply said “that they did not greet you, etc.”! Therefore we say it means as follows: “Because of the words,” i.e., the advice, that they did not greet you, etc., i.e. and also because of this thing too, “That they did not greet you, etc.” meaning, “that” actually means “and that.”

על דבר אשר לא קדמו אתכם, “the reason why male members of the last named two nations may not marry Jewish women is that their forbears did not offer the Israelites who were coming out of Egypt either water to slake their thirst nor bread to still their hunger. If they had offered to sell their water or bread, there still would not have been any reason to be grateful to them for this, as they would have done so out of greed.

בדרך IN THE WAY — when you were in a state of exhaustion (Sifrei Devarim 250:2).

ואשר שכר עליך וגו., “and because it hired against you, etc.” a reference to the people of Moav who hired Bileam to curse the Israelites. On the other hand, the Moabites, as distinct from their cousins the Ammonites, did offer food and drink to the Israelites as we know from Moses’ own testimony in Deut. 2,28 אכל בכסף תשבירני כאשר עשו בני עשו ..והמואבים, “sell me food against payment in cash, as the Edomites and the Moabites have done for me.” I have explained this whole scenario on Deut.