אַרְבָּ֘עִ֤ים שָׁנָ֨ה ׀ אָ֘ק֤וּט בְּד֗וֹר וָאֹמַ֗ר עַ֤ם תֹּעֵ֣י לֵבָ֣ב הֵ֑ם וְ֝הֵ֗ם לֹא־יָדְע֥וּ דְרָכָֽי׃
Empat puluh tahun lamanya Aku berselisih dengan angkatan itu, dan Aku berkata: “Mereka adalah umat yang sesat hatinya, dan mereka tidak mengenal jalan-jalan-Ku.”
Derashot HaRan
And Moses further intimated this to Israel in this parshah, saying (Deuteronomy 3:29): "And we sat in the valley, opposite Beth Peor," which our sages of blessed memory expounded (Sifrei, Deuteronomy 29): "He said to them: 'See the difference between me and yourselves. How many prayers, petitions, and supplications did I intone, and yet the decree stood fast that I not enter the land, whereas you angered Him in the desert forty years, as it is written (Psalms 95:10): "Forty years was I angry with this generation," and, what is more, the greatest among you bowed down to Peor, and now, Israel, you are new! The past has been forgiven!'" It is therein made clear that Moses' saying "And we sat in the valley…" is not by way of rebuke, to reprove them for the episode of Peor (for this is not the nature of this parshah, as I have written, the element of rebuke appearing before, in the parshah "And these are the words," viz. [Deuteronomy 1:1]: "…in the desert, in the wasteland"); but, to the contrary, it is stated here to reveal to them their greatness, that though their leaders committed a grave sin, they are still more beloved by the L-rd than he is. And the reason for this is that the congregation, by virtue of its plurality, attains an eminence which is greater than the sum of its parts, as nature itself demonstrates.