וַיִּכְתֹּ֣ב מֹשֶׁה֮ אֶת־הַתּוֹרָ֣ה הַזֹּאת֒ וַֽיִּתְּנָ֗הּ אֶל־הַכֹּהֲנִים֙ בְּנֵ֣י לֵוִ֔י הַנֹּ֣שְׂאִ֔ים אֶת־אֲר֖וֹן בְּרִ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה וְאֶל־כָּל־זִקְנֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
Lalu Musa menuliskan Taurat ini dan menyerahkannya kepada para kohen, anak-anak Lewi, yang mengusung tabut perjanjian Yang Mahakekal, dan kepada semua tua-tua Israel.
Ibn Ezra
Speak to the kohanim After commanding the Children of Israel (including the children of Aaron) to be holy [19:2], Scripture now commands the children of Aaron to observe additional restrictions, because they are dedicated to God’s service.
Rashi
עד היום הזה UNTO THIS DAY — I have heard that on the day when Moses gave the Book of the Law to the sons of Levi, as it is written, (Deuteronomy 31:9) “And he gave it to the priests the sons of Levi”, all Israel came before Moses and said to him: Teacher Moses, we, too, stood at Sinai and accepted the Torah, and it was given to us; why, then, do you give the people of your tribe control over it, that they may tomorrow say to us, “Not to you was it given, but to us was it given”? Moses rejoiced at this matter and in reference to this he said to them, (Deuteronomy 27:9) “This day have you become the people [of the Lord thy God]”, meaning, Only this day have I come to understand that you are attached to and have a desire for the Omnipresent.
Ibn Ezra
king This denotes Moshe, from whose mouth the heads of the nation heard the Torah elucidated [the halakha [Rosh HaShana 32b] is that this verse may be used in the liturgy to refer to God’s majesty — Translator]. The intent of the verse is that Moshe was like a king, who gathered before him the chiefs of the tribes. This explanation is substantiated by the verses which state that the Torah was given to the kohanim [31: 9] (who — in my opinion — are meant by “all His holy ones are in Your hand” [: 3]), and then to all the elders of Israel [31: 9] (they being meant by when the chiefs of the people assembled). In fact, in the above-cited passage, Scripture states, “Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes” [31: 28]. However, Rabbi Y e hudah HaLevy, of blessed memory, said that the king was allegorical of the Torah. He also gave a similar explanation to “There was no king in Israel” [Judges 18: 1].