וְהָיָ֞ה כִּ֥י יְבִיאֲךָ֣ ׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֜רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֧ע לַאֲבֹתֶ֛יךָ לְאַבְרָהָ֛ם לְיִצְחָ֥ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹ֖ב לָ֣תֶת לָ֑ךְ עָרִ֛ים גְּדֹלֹ֥ת וְטֹבֹ֖ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־בָנִֽיתָ׃
Apabila Yang Mahakekal, Allahmu, membawa engkau masuk ke negeri yang Ia janjikan dengan sumpah kepada nenek moyangmu, yaitu kepada Abraham, Ishak, dan Yakub, untuk diberikan kepadamu, dengan kota-kota yang besar dan baik yang tidak kaudirikan,
Da'at Zekenim
לא מרובכם, “not on account of your being so numerous, etc.;” Rash’bam understands this verse as linked to the first verse of the paragraph starting in chapter 6,10. He explains the sequence as follows: G–d does not like you because you are numerous, but He loves you, period. (Love is never motivated by logical considerations based on calculations). Furthermore, He is obligated to make good on the promise He made to your forefathers. If you were to argue then that if He loves us as a father loves his children, why should we burden ourselves with having to observe all His commandments? The answer is that His patience extends until one thousand generations in searching for one that merits His keeping the oath He has given to your forefathers. Whenever such a generation of descendants of these forefathers is prepared to observe the condition of His oath, namely to observe His commandments, all the promises He has made will become effective.
Rabbeinu Bahya
A Kabbalistic approach: The additional letter ה at the end of the word ידכה was “borrowed” from the tetragram, i.e. from the last letter ה in the name י-ה-ו-ה. It symbolizes the attribute of Justice as practiced in the terrestrial world. It is the type of wisdom given to Solomon [who asked to be a competent judge for the people of Israel] in the dream when G’d allowed him to make a wish (Kings I 3,9). He spoke of his wish to possess a לב שומע, “a heart which is able to listen.” This is the reason that the phylacteries of the arm are to be worn on the left arm, the arm closest to the heart. The attribute which Solomon wished for is also known as כלה. The text of the phylacteries of the hand is written on a single roll of parchment and has a single housing, as opposed to the four “housings” of the phylacteries on the head. There is a mystical dimension to this in Song of Songs 4,9 where the same Solomon describes this attribute as אחתי כלה, usually translated as “my own, my bride.” The closeness to the point of a shared identity between Israel (Solomon) and the attribute of wisdom is alluded to by the word כלה as כלולה ב'לב, “included in the 32 paths of בינה, the ways to acquire wisdom.” [the oldest kabbalistic text, the ספר היצירה, is based on this concept. Ed.] The attribute כלה granted to Solomon enables the student to make a useful combination of these 32 paths of understanding, insight.
In order to teach that this letter ה at the end of the word ידכה has symbolic significance, the paragraph והיה כי יביאך contains five letters ה each of which is equipped with a תג, [a crown on top of a letter, usually reserved for the letters ש ע ט נ ז ג ץ You will not find these תגים on the corresponding letters in the Torah scroll. They are written only in the parchment which is part of the phylacteries of the hand. Ed.] The respective letters with these “crowns” are: the ה in ונתנה לך; the two letters ה in הקשה, the ה in ויהרוג, and the ה in ידכה. All of the words in question which have this ”decorated” letter ה are references to G’d’s attribute of Justice.
Having put on the phylacteries on the arm, one proceeds to put on the phylacteries of the head. The phylactery of the head is divided into four housings closely stuck together and containing the four paragraphs of the Torah in which the subject of phylacteries is mentioned in separate housings, each on its own parchment. They are in the sequence: 1) קדש לי כל בכור, 2) והיה כי יביאך, 3) שמע, 4) והיה אם שמוע. The paragraph קדש לי כל בכור corresponds to the emanation (attribute) חכמה, which is also known as ראשית, i.e. ראשית חכמה יראת ה' (Psalms 111). The word קדש, “sanctify” is a clear allusion to this. We have other verses containing the word קדש which are always understood as a reference to his attribute of חכמה.
The second paragraph והיה כי יביאך, which deals with the Exodus is understood to refer to the attribute בינה, The attributes חכמה,בינה,גדולה,גבורה were prominently involved in the Exodus and are therefore represented in the phylacteries. This is reflected also in the four-armed letter ש [as opposed to the usual three-armed ש. Ed.] which is embossed on the housing of the phylactery of the head. The emanation (attribute) תפארת is represented by the phylacteries themselves rather than by the Torah sections written inside them. All this is part of the mystical dimension of what the Talmud says in Berachot 6 that “G’d Himself puts on phylacteries.” The emanations (attributes) נצח והוד are represented by the respective “heads” of the letter שין which is embossed on the phylactery of the head. The three “extremities” רישי'ן i.e. ראשין (upper ends of the letter ש), symbolise the three emanations נצח הוד יסוד. (in the usual three-armed ש). The additional arm and its head is considered the קשר, the “connection“ to the lowest emanation מלכות which links the emanations (attributes) to the terrestrial world the one known as אחרונה, “the last one, the hindmost one. This is also the mystical dimension of G’d saying to Moses (Exodus 33,23) וראית את אחורי “you will only see the hindmost aspect of Me.” What G’d did show Moses was the קשר של תפילין, the “knot, tie” of the phylacteries, i.e. the point at which G’d the transcendent becomes immanent, i.e. manifest, in the terrestrial part of His universe. (Berachot 7).
Seeing that the straps of the phylacteries surround the head of the wearer this is perceived as an allusion to the continuous link between the manifest part of G’d’s largesse all the way to that point of the קשר. In view of the fact that the straps at the same time extend down to the level of one’s navel, it is an allusion to the fact that at the other end these emanations extend till the קו האמצעי, emanation תפארת, the central emanation (dividing line between what is perceived on the left and what is perceived on the right of the diagram of these 10 emanations) Seeing that these straps have to be black, a decree dating back to Moses for which we have not been told a reason, this is proof of the profound mystical meaning concealed within the whole commandment of the phylacteries and its details. The reason the second phylactery has to be placed on the head is that this is the seat of the power of the soul. Whatever has been written inside the phylactery on the head has also been written inside the phylactery of the hand, except that it has been written on a single piece of parchment and in an undivided housing. This is to teach that the lowest emanation מלכות, also known as אחרונה, is contained within it, and that it on the other hand contains all the higher attributes (emanations). The קשר, i.e. the shape of the knot in the strap symbolizes the צדיק; the reason it is worn on the left arm is that in that way it is opposite the right side of G’d whom we are to face at all times.
You must appreciate that the commandment of phylacteries are really two separate commandments though they (both) are part of the same syndrome. The proof that they are two commandments lies in the fact that they are not interdependent as are for instance the ארבעה מינים, the four plants on Tabernacles. When the Etrog is missing for instance, one cannot recite a benediction over the remaining 3 plants and vice versa. In the case of the phylacteries, however, absence of either the phylactery of the head or the phylactery of the arm does not prevent one from putting on the other (Menachot 38) and reciting a benediction over performance of the commandment. Moreover, seeing that both phylacteries represent the same idea, one must not engage in conversation between putting on the one and the other. This is what is meant in Sotah 44 that if one engages in conversation between putting on one phylactery and the other, this rates as the kind of sin on account of which a soldier is sent home rather than participating in an expansionist war [to protect him from the angel of death who is always around in places of danger waiting to pounce on the guilty. Ed.]
In order to teach that this letter ה at the end of the word ידכה has symbolic significance, the paragraph והיה כי יביאך contains five letters ה each of which is equipped with a תג, [a crown on top of a letter, usually reserved for the letters ש ע ט נ ז ג ץ You will not find these תגים on the corresponding letters in the Torah scroll. They are written only in the parchment which is part of the phylacteries of the hand. Ed.] The respective letters with these “crowns” are: the ה in ונתנה לך; the two letters ה in הקשה, the ה in ויהרוג, and the ה in ידכה. All of the words in question which have this ”decorated” letter ה are references to G’d’s attribute of Justice.
Having put on the phylacteries on the arm, one proceeds to put on the phylacteries of the head. The phylactery of the head is divided into four housings closely stuck together and containing the four paragraphs of the Torah in which the subject of phylacteries is mentioned in separate housings, each on its own parchment. They are in the sequence: 1) קדש לי כל בכור, 2) והיה כי יביאך, 3) שמע, 4) והיה אם שמוע. The paragraph קדש לי כל בכור corresponds to the emanation (attribute) חכמה, which is also known as ראשית, i.e. ראשית חכמה יראת ה' (Psalms 111). The word קדש, “sanctify” is a clear allusion to this. We have other verses containing the word קדש which are always understood as a reference to his attribute of חכמה.
The second paragraph והיה כי יביאך, which deals with the Exodus is understood to refer to the attribute בינה, The attributes חכמה,בינה,גדולה,גבורה were prominently involved in the Exodus and are therefore represented in the phylacteries. This is reflected also in the four-armed letter ש [as opposed to the usual three-armed ש. Ed.] which is embossed on the housing of the phylactery of the head. The emanation (attribute) תפארת is represented by the phylacteries themselves rather than by the Torah sections written inside them. All this is part of the mystical dimension of what the Talmud says in Berachot 6 that “G’d Himself puts on phylacteries.” The emanations (attributes) נצח והוד are represented by the respective “heads” of the letter שין which is embossed on the phylactery of the head. The three “extremities” רישי'ן i.e. ראשין (upper ends of the letter ש), symbolise the three emanations נצח הוד יסוד. (in the usual three-armed ש). The additional arm and its head is considered the קשר, the “connection“ to the lowest emanation מלכות which links the emanations (attributes) to the terrestrial world the one known as אחרונה, “the last one, the hindmost one. This is also the mystical dimension of G’d saying to Moses (Exodus 33,23) וראית את אחורי “you will only see the hindmost aspect of Me.” What G’d did show Moses was the קשר של תפילין, the “knot, tie” of the phylacteries, i.e. the point at which G’d the transcendent becomes immanent, i.e. manifest, in the terrestrial part of His universe. (Berachot 7).
Seeing that the straps of the phylacteries surround the head of the wearer this is perceived as an allusion to the continuous link between the manifest part of G’d’s largesse all the way to that point of the קשר. In view of the fact that the straps at the same time extend down to the level of one’s navel, it is an allusion to the fact that at the other end these emanations extend till the קו האמצעי, emanation תפארת, the central emanation (dividing line between what is perceived on the left and what is perceived on the right of the diagram of these 10 emanations) Seeing that these straps have to be black, a decree dating back to Moses for which we have not been told a reason, this is proof of the profound mystical meaning concealed within the whole commandment of the phylacteries and its details. The reason the second phylactery has to be placed on the head is that this is the seat of the power of the soul. Whatever has been written inside the phylactery on the head has also been written inside the phylactery of the hand, except that it has been written on a single piece of parchment and in an undivided housing. This is to teach that the lowest emanation מלכות, also known as אחרונה, is contained within it, and that it on the other hand contains all the higher attributes (emanations). The קשר, i.e. the shape of the knot in the strap symbolizes the צדיק; the reason it is worn on the left arm is that in that way it is opposite the right side of G’d whom we are to face at all times.
You must appreciate that the commandment of phylacteries are really two separate commandments though they (both) are part of the same syndrome. The proof that they are two commandments lies in the fact that they are not interdependent as are for instance the ארבעה מינים, the four plants on Tabernacles. When the Etrog is missing for instance, one cannot recite a benediction over the remaining 3 plants and vice versa. In the case of the phylacteries, however, absence of either the phylactery of the head or the phylactery of the arm does not prevent one from putting on the other (Menachot 38) and reciting a benediction over performance of the commandment. Moreover, seeing that both phylacteries represent the same idea, one must not engage in conversation between putting on the one and the other. This is what is meant in Sotah 44 that if one engages in conversation between putting on one phylactery and the other, this rates as the kind of sin on account of which a soldier is sent home rather than participating in an expansionist war [to protect him from the angel of death who is always around in places of danger waiting to pounce on the guilty. Ed.]
Or HaChaim
ומה הארץ אשר הוא יושב בה, "and what is the earth like that the people dwell on." In this verse Moses referred to the infrastructure and standard of living that the spies would find in the land of Canaan. Were the houses the people lived in of sound construction? Were their chattels of good quality, etc? We will find in Deut. 6,10 that Moses describes the towns and houses the Israelites would inherit in the land of Canaan as of good quality. Moses asked the spies also to find out whether the towns were planned defensively, i.e. as fortresses surrounded by walls or whether they were open cities, as these factors had great bearing on the beauty of the respective towns. Bamidbar Rabbah 17 claims that Moses gave the spies a sign suggesting that fortified cities were an indication that its inhabitants felt insecure, etc. whereas open cities testified to the people's confidence in their ability to repel any potential intruder. This is pure homiletics. The plain meaning of the words is that the questions all related to the quality of the land and that Moses took it for granted that the people were of exceptionally great physique and included giants. One did not have to send out spies to find out this well known fact. The only reason Moses referred to the physical prowess of the people was to emphasise the miracle G'd would perform in disinheriting these people of their land.