Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 32:44

הוא והושע בן נון HE AND HOSHEA THE SON OF NUN — It was the Sabbath of transmission of office (lit., “of two pairs” of judges): authority was taken from one and given to the other (Sotah 13b). Moses appointed a Meturgeman for Joshua that he (Joshua) should hold in public an Halachic discourse during his (Moses') lifetime in order that the Israelites should not say to him, “During your teacher’s lifetime you did not dare to raise your head!” — And why does it (Scripture) here call him Hosea (since his name had long since been changed to that of Joshua — cf. Numbers 13:16)? In order to indicate that he did not become haughty, for although this dignity had been conferred upon him, he assumed a humble bearing as at the commencement of his career (cf. Sifrei Devarim 334:3).

And Hoshe’a. He was only named Yehoshua due to Moshe’s prayer that Hashem should save him from the plot of the spies. As long as there were people from that generation alive, he was called by the name Yehoshua. However, once all of that generation had died out, there was no longer a need to call him by that name, and Moshe returned to calling him Hoshe’a.

הוא והושע בן נון, "he and Joshua son of Nun." Although Joshua stood beside Moses, G'd's word came only to Moses, as is plain from the words וידבר ה׳ אל משה in verse 48. Although Moses had added the letter י to Joshua's name in Numbers 13,16, this was in order to lend him prestige vis-a-vis Israel. When G'd mentions Joshua's name, it remained unchanged as it was not appropriate to make him look prestigious vis-a-vis his teacher (Compare Isaiah 10, 15: "Is the axe going to boast in the presence of the wood cutter?").

הוא והושע בן נון, for G’d commanded both of them, as we read in Deut. 31,14 והתייצבו באוהל מועד ואצונו, ”and stand at attention (plural mode) in the Tent of Testimony, and I will command, etc.”

הוא והושע בן נון, “he and Hoshea son of Nun.” Ibn Ezra explains the reason why Moses at this point calls Joshua by his original name Hoshea, to make sure that the Israelites would all know who he was speaking about, since some of the people may not have been aware that his name had been changed. Only the top echelon of the people had been aware of the name change. The allegorical explanation of our verse is familiar to all my readers. [For the readers of Ibn Ezra not familiar with the meaning of the name change from הושע to יהושע that we learned about in Numbers 13,16 the Midrash says that Moses added the letter י symbolizing G’d’s name so as to provide him with a spiritual assist when the time would come to take a stand against the other ten spies. Ed.]

הוא והושע בן נון, “he (Calev) and Joshua son of Nun.” At this point the Torah refers to Joshua by his original name Hoshea; we know that Moses had changed his name from Hoshea to Joshua before he went out on the mission with the spies (Numbers 13,16). The moral lesson we learn from this is that although Moses had changed Joshua’s name, i.e. added a letter to it to show his eminence, and although he had already been appointed as Moses’ successor, this promotion did not go to his head, did not make him arrogant, but he was content to function as השע בן נון.

It was a Shabbos of shared quality (דיוזגי), etc. This is [a combination of] two words and a double phrase, meaning דיו (two) and זוג (pair). The word זוג is Aramaic and דֹיו is Greek. Rashi wishes to explain with this a difficulty. Moshe spoke to the ears of the people because he was still their king and prince. But why is Yehoshua involved here? He did not become their prince until after the death of Moshe! This is why Rashi says “It was a Shabbos of shared quality, etc.”

V. 44. ויבא וגו׳. Nachdem es schon oben (V. 30) hieß וידבר משה וגו׳ את ׳דברי השירה וגו, so ist hier wohl noch gesagt, dass, nachdem Mosche zuerst die שירה an die ganze Volksgemeinde gerichtet hatte, er noch unter Assistenz Josuas zu einzelnen Gruppen ging, sie mit dem Inhalt des Gehörten vertraut zu machen. So באזני :ספרי העם מלמד שהיה משקעם באזניהם, er senkte sie, machte sie eindringlich, in ihre Ohren, הוא והושע בן נון, nicht יהושע: in dem Moment, in welchem er zur Seite des scheidenden Führers dem Volke gegenüber in die hohe Stellung seines Nachfolgers eintrat, fühlte er sich ganz in der Bescheidenheit seiner jugendlichen Vergangenheit, als er noch Hoschea und noch nicht Jehoschua war (ספרי).

ויבא משה וידבר, “Moses came and spoke, etc.” this is a reference to what we read in Deut: 31,30: “Moses spoke in the ears of the people, etc.;”

To teach that he was not conceited, etc. I.e., the Torah testifies that he was not proud, and therefore he calls him Hoshei’a rather than Yehoshua. The word “זחה” means “haughty” or “rude.”

הוא והושע בן נון, “he and Joshua son of Nun;” They had both been commanded by G-d in chapter 31,14: “present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting and I will issue a command.” There is also another occasion when G-d commands Moses and Joshua simultaneously, to write down Moses’ parting song/poem for the people (in verse 19 chapter 31.) It is the custom of kings to instruct their servants in this manner Compare Joseph in Genesis 41,45, or Daniel and Chananiah, Mishael, and Azaryah being commanded by the king to change their Hebrew names (Daniel 1,7). In this instance, now that Joshua has become the King of the Israelites, he is addressed again by his original name of Hosea. Nonetheless, seeing the people had been used to his name Joshua already, this name is used in Scripture in most instances.