Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 17:18

And that is that He commanded us that any king from our nation that sits on the royal throne should write a Torah scroll for himself, and that it not be separated from him. And that is His saying, "When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall have a copy of this Torah written for him" (Deuteronomy 17:18). And all of the regulations of this commandment have already been explained in Chapter 2 of Sanhedrin. (See Parashat Shoftim; Mishneh Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzah and the Torah Scroll 7.)

והיה כשבתו AND IT SHALL BE WHEN HE SITTETH [UPON THE THRONE OF HIS KINGDOM] — if he acts thus (as prescribed in the previous verses) he is worthy that his kingdom should endure (Sifrei Devarim 160:1).

משנה התורה, my grandfather Rashi, explained this as meaning two separate Torah scrolls, [in line with the traditional interpretation of our sages in Sanhedrin 21, as distinct from Onkelos who derives the word משנה as related to שנן, (Deut. 6,7) to delve into the deeper meaning. Therefore,] Onkelos renders the word as פתשגן, a clearly worded interpretation, translation. [The king would have to have a version of the Torah at hand which a layman can understand without difficulty.]

If he fulfills this, then he is worthy of [his kingdom] enduring. Otherwise, why is [the phrase] “that when he occupies” necessary? It should have [merely] written, “He must write for himself a duplicate of this Torah, etc.,” because before this he is certainly not any more obligated [to write a Torah scroll] than other Jews. Therefore it must be connected to what is written above [and means] that the Torah is informing him that if he fulfills this [i.e. these commands], his kingdom will endure.

V. 18. והיה כשבתו וגו׳. Sofort, wenn er den Thron bestiegen hat, soll seine erste Handlung sein ׳וכתב לו וגו, dass er sich eigenhändig eine Abschrift der תורה anfertigt. Er betätigt damit das Bekenntnis, dass das Gesetz in aller erster Linie ihm gegeben ist, dass er nicht über dem Gesetze stehe, dass es vielmehr die unabänderliche Richtschnur seines ganzen Lebens sein solle, dessen Verwirklichung im Volke die Summe seiner Königsaufgabe bilde und er in gewissenhafter Gesetzestreue und in opferfreudiger Hingebung an die vom Gesetze gestellten Aufgaben dem Volke als "erster Sohn des Gesetzes" mustergültig vorauszugehen habe.

מלפני הכהנים, “a copy of the original retained by the priests.”

את משנה התורה [HE SHALL WRITE HIM] A משנה תורה — i.e. two scrolls of the Law, one that is placed in his treasury and the other that goes out and comes in with him (i.e. a small scroll which he carries everywhere with him) (Sanhedrin 21b). Onkelos, however, renders משנה by פתשגן, a copy; he thus interpreted the word משנה in the sense of שנן, repeating and uttering.

את משנה התורה הזאת eine Doppelschrift der Tora, wie ומשנה כסף (Bereschit 43, 15); משנה שכר שכיר (Dewarim 15, 18). Nach Sanhedrin 21 b: zwei Abschriften, die eine zur Niederlegung in seine Repositorien, wohl gleichsam zum bleibenden Zeugnis für und wider ihn, die andere zur steten Begleiterin.

מלפני הכהנים הלוים (siehe zu Vers 9). Nach dem unter Obhut der Kohanim und Sanhedrin in der עזרה liegenden, dem ספר עזרה. So Sanhedrin Jeruschalmi 2, 6: ומגיהין אותו מספר עזרה על פי ב׳׳ד של ע׳׳א (siehe Kap. 31, 9).