Tafsiran Ulangan 31:9: Rashi, Chizkuni, Ramban & Ibn Ezra

ויכתב משה ... ויתנה AND MOSES WROTE [THIS LAW] AND GAVE IT [UNTO THE PRIESTS, THE SONS OF LEVI] — When it was completely finished he gave it to the sons of his tribe.

אל הכהנים בני לוי הנושאים את הארון וגו, “to the priests the members of the tribe of Levi, who were charged with carrying the Holy Ark, etc.” Even though it was the Levites who carried the Holy Ark, and not the priests, (Numbers 7,8) as soon as Moses had died, the priests carried the Holy Ark when the Israelites were in the process of crossing the river Jordan. (Compare Talmud, tractate Sotah folio 33). They did so again when the people marched around Jericho and when they returned the Ark to its place in the days of King Solomon, when it was transferred from the Tabernacle. (Kings I 8,6) An alternate interpretation: seeing that it was the priests who assigned the transportation of the Ark to the Levites, as spelled out in Numbers 4,5, they could have been described as the prime movers. They were referred to there as נושאי הארון, “the carriers of the Ark.”

AND MOSES WROTE THIS LAW — from the beginning of Bereshith to in the sight of all Israel.⁹Ibid., 34:12. Even though it is written here, thou shalt read this law before all Israel,¹⁰Verse 11. and according to the opinion of our Rabbis,¹¹Sotah 41a. Therefore, how can the expression this Law in Verse 9, refer to the entire Torah, while in Verse 11 the same expression refers to the Book of Deuteronomy? Ramban proceeds to answer this question. it refers to this Book of Deuteronomy,¹¹Sotah 41a. Therefore, how can the expression this Law in Verse 9, refer to the entire Torah, while in Verse 11 the same expression refers to the Book of Deuteronomy? Ramban proceeds to answer this question. at this point, he reverted and explained, And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this Law in a book, until they were finished.¹²Further, Verse 24. This includes the entire Torah. [Hence the expression this Law in the verse before us means the entire Torah, while in the following Verse 11, concerning the reading in the Assembly, the same expression refers only to the Book of Deuteronomy.]