Commento su Numeri 27:12

עלה אל הר העברים GO UP INTO [THIS] MOUNT ABARIM — Why does this follow immediately here? Because when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, (v. 7) “Thou shalt surely give them an inheritance in the land” he (Moses) said, “It is me that the Omnipresent has commanded to apportion the inheritance. Perhaps then the decree that I must die in the wilderness is annulled and I shall enter the Promised Land!” Whereupon God said to him, “My decree remains exactly as it was” (Midrash Tanchuma, Pinchas 9). — Another explanation: As soon as Moses entered into the territory of the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben (the eastern side of the Jordan, which, having been assigned to these tribes, might be regarded as part of the Promised Land), he rejoiced, saying, “It seems to me that the vow regarding me has been annulled in my favour”. God, therefore, said to him, My decree remains exactly as it was. A parable! It may be compared to the case of a king who decreed against his son that he should not enter the door of his palace. He (the king) entered within the gate, and he (the son) went after him (without the father raising any objection); to the audience chamber, and he after him. But as soon as he was about to enter his sleeping-chamber (his private room) he said to him, “My son, from here and further on you may not go” (Sifrei Bamidbar 134:4).

GET THEE UP INTO THIS MOUNTAIN OF ABARIM. The name of this mountain was Mount Nebo, as is stated explicitly in the sections of Ha’azinu,¹⁶⁶Deuteronomy 32:49. and ‘V’zoth Habrachah;¹⁶⁷Ibid., 34:1. but it is [here] called the mountain of Abarim [meaning “fords”] because it is situated by the fords of the Jordan, from which one passes over into the land of Canaan, as it says here, that is over against Jericho,¹⁶⁸Ibid., (32:49; 34:1). The word “here” in Ramban cannot be explained literally, since in this section here, the phrase over against Jericho is not found. It must therefore refer to the verse in Ha’azinu and V’zoth Habracha which Ramban has just referred to. and it was from there that they [actually] crossed over the Jordan, as it is said, And the people came up out of the Jordan … and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho.¹⁶⁹Joshua 4:19. Now this [statement get thee up] is not a commandment which the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Moses to fulfill now, for if so he would have had to go up there at once [and we do not find that he did so], but it means: “you shall go up into the mountain of Abarim and shall behold the Land [but you shall not enter it].” For since He had commanded Moses, Unto these the Land shall be divided,¹⁷⁰Above, 26:53. He informed him that “it will not be divided by you, but you shall go up into the top of the mountain of Abarim before Israel journeys away from the land of Moab, and you will die therein, and all you will have of the Land will be the sight thereof.” Similarly [Verse 18 which says] Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, means that “when your time [to die] comes, you shall take Joshua,” [but is not a command to do so now]. And Scripture completed [this episode] by saying that Moses did so whole-heartedly,¹⁷¹Ibid., Verses 22-23. This refers to the fact that although Moses was only commanded (in Verse 18) to lay “his [single] hand upon him,” he laid his ‘hands’ upon him, which shows that he appointed his successor whole-heartedly, although he knew that he was now to die. and this is the [same] act which is mentioned at [the time of] Moses’ departure [from the world],¹⁷²Deuteronomy 31:7-8. when he and Hoshea the son of Nun spoke [the words of] the Song.¹⁷³Ibid., 32:44. Thus Scripture points out there that Moses and Joshua said the Song together, with equal enthusiasm and equally whole-heartedly.

עלה אל הר העברים, “ascend Mount Avarim, etc.” Nachmanides writes that the true name of the mountain was Nebo, as has been spelled out in Deut. 32,49 and elsewhere. The reason it has been referred to here by a different name, one that reflects its precise location, is that it is near the place where the river Jordan would be crossed by the Israelites. It is approximately directly opposite the ancient city of Jericho. The word עלה!, an imperative, was not meant to be complied with immediately, otherwise how could Moses have waited until after the 12000 men engaged in the punitive expedition against Midian had returned from there before ascending that mountain?. The reason why this command is reported here is that the Torah wanted to tell us that when Moses would ascend that mountain he would be shown the various locations where the different tribes would settle, and he would, at least, have the satisfaction of having seen all this with his own eyes.

עלה אל הר העברים הזה, “ascend this mountain of Avarim.” The reason this paragraph is appended to the legislation about inheritance is that Moses wanted to know who would inherit his status (Ibn Ezra).

Why is this placed here. Meaning that Mount Avarim is Mount Nevo, and when Moshe went up to Mount Nevo he did not come down. [Rather] he died there immediately, as is written in Parshas Vezos Haberachah (Devarim 32:49). Thus, “Why was this placed here…”

V. 12. ויאמר וגו׳. Es ist dies noch nicht der Befehl, den Berg zu besteigen. Dieser erfolgt erst später (Dewarim 32, 48) וידבר וגו׳. Hier ist es nur erläuternder Anschluss an das Vorangehende und Veranlassung des Folgenden. Mit dem Vorangehenden ist die Anordnung zur Verteilung des Landes abgeschlossen, daran fügt sich die Erläuterung, dass Mosche selbst das Land nicht betreten werde. Mit dem Anblick des Landes soll sein tätiges Wirken auf Erden sein Ende gefunden haben. Führung des Volkes zum Lande des Gesetzes und vollständige Vorbereitung des Volkes für dessen Besitz und für die Erfüllung seiner Bestimmung in demselben, darin begrenzt sich Mosche Aufgabe. Die Verwirklichung selbst soll er nicht vermitteln. Er soll sterben im Anblick des Landes, zu welchem, nicht aber in welches er das Volk zu führen hatte. Es ward damit Mosche nichts neues angekündigt. Es war ihm dieses göttliche Verhängnis bereits seit dem Vorgange in Kadesch bekannt. Allein es sollte Mosche zum Bewusstsein bringen, dass er sich jetzt am Ziele, seiner irdischen Wallfahrt befinde, damit er nun von innen heraus alles das noch tue, was er vor seinem Abgange noch getan haben möchte, damit vor allem zunächst die Bestellung seines Nachfolgers als ein Wunsch und eine Bitte seines eigenen treuen Herzens gewährt und noch von ihm selbst vollzogen werde. — הר העברים Berg der Übergänge; es ist der Berg, bei welchem man, den Jordan von einem Ufer zu dem andern überschreitend, in das Land gelangte.

Go up this Avarim Mountain. This poses a difficulty: Why was this section juxtaposed to here?

Mount Eivarim. [So called] because there are two passes. On one side is the passage to Israel, while on the other side is the passage close to Moab. As it will be clarified in Deuteronomy 32:49.

עלה אל הר העברים, “ascend the Mount Avarim!;” what is missing before this verse is that Moses had prayed to cross the Jordan, even as a private in order to see the Holy and, and that G-d had told him that he would see it only from afar, i.e. from the top of Mount Avarim. [Compare Deuteronomy 3,23, Ed.]

Another interpretation: When Moshe entered. According to the first reason there is the difficulty as to why he rejoiced, perhaps when it is written “give them,” it means through your command, as it is written in Parshas Masei (Bamidbar 34:13), therefore Rashi brings the other interpretation. However, according to the other interpretation there is the difficulty as to why this [section] was placed here, therefore Rashi also brings the first reason.

The answer is that it says earlier (v. 8): “His hereditary property shall be transferred to his daughter.” Rashi explained there: “The word עברה (the root of והעברתם — shall be transferred) connotes anger. Hashem is angry when someone does not leave a son to inherit him.” It says specifically “a son to inherit him” to teach that even if he leaves a son, but he is not fit to inherit him, i.e., he is not fit to inherit the spiritual attainment of his father in Torah, wisdom, and leadership, then Hashem is angry at him that he did not educate his son to take his place. Rashi derived this from the juxtaposition of the section on the daughters of Tzelofchad to the section of this Avarim Mountain. This is the reason Mount Nevo was called Avarim (העברים) Mountain, for Hashem was angry (עברה) at Moshe for not educating his sons to be fit to inherit his level.

The chamber. לקיטון means “to the chamber.” Similarly ויבא החדרה ["and he came to the chamber"] (Bereishis 43:30) is rendered by Targum Yonasan as ועל לקיטונא.