Commento su Numeri 14:25

והעמלקי וגו׳ AND THE AMALEKITES [AND THE CANAANITES DWELL IN THE VALLEY] — This is not a mere statement that they dwell there; it is a warning: If you go there they will kill you, since I shall not be with you.

והעמלקי והכנעני יושב בעמק, "And the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley." The reason the Torah provides this detail at this juncture, as well as the reason for the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of the word והעמלקי is that G'd had decided that the entire generation would not enter the Holy Land and would die in the desert. He said that He would not kill them all at the same time as will be spelled out in subsequent verses. One might have assumed therefore that the Israelites would remain in their present location during the entire forty years. The Torah had to provide a rationale why it was not practical for the Israelites to remain in the same location during all this time. They were liable to fall victim to attacks by the Amalekites or Canaanites. We do not provoke Satan at a time when we are in danger (Tanchuma Vayigash 1). This is why G'd told the Israelites to move from that area already on the morrow. Whereas it is true that we find that the Israelites lingered at Kadesh for many years (Deut. 1,46) and the sages say that this was a period of 19 years, this occurred on their way back at a time when the effect of their sin had already worn off and half the people guilty of that sin had already died. The reason for the letter ו in the word והעמלקי is to connect our verse to verse 23, אם יראו את הארץ. G'd advised that He added another stricture, namely the immediate departure from their present encampment although they were not headed for their ultimate objective, the land of Canaan.

והעמלקי והכנעני יושב בעמק, “The Amalekite and the Canaanite dwelled in the valley. This sounds somewhat strange seeing that a few verses later (14,45) we are told that the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelled in the mountain descended.” This teaches that the Amalekite and Canaanite joined forces and descended to the valley in order to mount an attack on the Israelites from a position of ambush.

They will kill you. This teaches you the reason for the juxtaposition of “tomorrow turn” to “the Amaleki…” which precedes it. Rashi adds the word “back” because without this it would appear that there were two routes by which to enter the Land, one by way of the valley and the other in the desert by way of the Reed Sea. However this is not so, for the desert by way of the Reed Sea was behind them and they had already traveled past it and have come to this encampment. Thus the meaning of “back” is that Hashem does not wish to bring you to the land, because He wants you to perish in the desert.

V. 25. והעמלקי וגו׳ בעמק: jenseits des Bergrückens, vor welchem sie standen. Sie konnten somit ohne Kampf nicht weiter ziehen, und für diesen Kampf fehlte ihnen der göttliche Beistand (Raschi). Daher sollten sie sofort, dem über sie ausgesprochenen Verhängnis gemäß, dass sie das Land nicht betreten sollen, sich von dem Lande abwenden, und wieder zurück in die Wüste dem roten Meere zu ziehen.

והעמלקי, “and the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the alley;” a number of commentators are puzzled by this statement as in verse 45 of this chapter the Amalekite and the Canaanite are described as “descending” from the mountain; according to the plain meaning of the text, we must assume that the Amalekites and Canaanites in anticipation of an invasion by Israel had taken up position on high ground in order to ambush the Israelites from there. A more mystical interpretation would be that although G–d meant to punish these people, He did not enjoy doing this, and made them take a route toward the desert which would afford some chance of escaping.

והעמלקי, “and the nation of Amalek, etc.” G-d now reciprocated what the spies had done. They had intimidated the Israelites by pointing to the Amalekites as powerful adversaries; G-d does the same to the people now.

מחר פנו TOMORROW TURN YOU — i.e. turn backwards, וסעו לכם AND JOURNEY [INTO THE DESERT etc.].

והכנעני, “and the Canaanite; “actually both the Canaanite and the Emorite, who was one of the Canaanite tribes.

יושב בעמק, “who dwells in the valley.” This sounds somewhat puzzling, seeing that a few verses later these people are described as descending (verse 45.) What the Torah had meant was that most of the Canaanites were dwelling in the valley, but the ones dwelling in the mountains would attack and overpower any Israelites daring at this time against the wishes of G-d to engage them in war. It is also possible that although these tribes dwelled in the valley they had moved out of their homes to higher ground in order to have the advantage over any Israelites who would have to climb in order to engage them in a fight. It was not unusual to plant ambushes as we know from Psalms10,8, ישב במארב חצרים, “dwelling in an ambush in isolated areas.”

מחר פנו וסעו לכם, “tomorrow turn, and start journeying;” in this instance the word מחר is not to be understood as literally: “tomorrow,” but as “soon.” Actually, according to our sages the people stayed at Kadesh for 19 years. This is how they interpreted the line in verse 48 which described them as staying there for a long time. Use of the word as meaning something in the distant future is familiar to us from Exodus 13,14: כי ישאלך בנך מחר, “when your son will ask you מחר” [the son could not do this until after the parents having settled in the land of Israel prepared to observe the Passover. Ed.]

המדברה דרך ים סוף, “toward the desert in the direction of the sea of reeds.”