Komentarz do Kapłańska 25:1

בהר סיני [AND THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES] ON THE MOUNT SINAI — What has the matter of the Sabbatical year to do with Mount Sinai that Scripture felt compelled to expressly state where it was commanded? Were not all commandments given on Sinai? But this statement is intended to suggest the following comparison: How is it in the case of the law of Shemittah? Its general rules, [its specific prescriptions] and minute details were ordained on Mount Sinai! So, also, were all commandments with their general rules and their minute details ordained on Mount Sinai. Thus is taught in Torath Cohanim (Sifra, Behar, Section 1 1). It seems to me that the following is the explanation of this: Since we do not find in Deuteronomy that the law concerning “the rest of the soil in the Sabbatical year” was repeated in “the fields of Moab” (cf. Deuteronomy 34:1; the place where Moses repeated many of the commandments contained in the other books of the Pentateuch), we may infer that all its general rules and specific prescriptions must have been promulgated on Sinai. The express mention of בהר סיני here appears therefore to be unnecessary but Scripture by mentioning it intends to teach regarding every Divine command (lit., Divine utterance) that was spoken to Moses that in every case they, their general rules and minute details originated at Sinai and that they were only repeated again in “the fields of Moab”.

AND THE ETERNAL SPOKE UNTO MOSES IN MOUNT SINAI. “What has the subject of the Sabbatical year [stated here in this section] to do with that of Mount Sinai? Were not all the commandments declared on Sinai? [It is to teach us that] just as [this law of] the Sabbatical year was ordained on Sinai with its general rules, its specific prescripts and its minute details, so also were all [the commandments] ordained on Sinai with their general rules, and their specific prescripts and their minute details. Thus it is taught [here] in the Torath Kohanin. It appears to me¹I.e. Rashi. Having quoted the text of the Torath Kohanim, Rashi now proceeds to explain the basis of the analogy of this text of the Beraitha between our section and all other commandments. To follow Rashi’s answer it is important to recall that in the final year of Israel’s stay in the wilderness, when they were encamped in the plains of Moab (Numbers 22:1), Moses, in the last days of his life, restated the commandments of G-d, his words being contained in the Book of Deuteronomy. However, since not all the commandments were restated there by Moses, our verse serves as a basis for the interpretation of the Torath Kohanim, as will be explained by Rashi. Ramban will differ with this whole approach, since the text of the Torath Kohanim makes no reference at all to Moses’ restatement of the laws in the plains of Moab. See at end of Note 10. that the following is the interpretation thereof: Since we do not find the law of the resting of the soil [in the Sabbatical year] repeated in the plains of Moab [when Moses restated the law, as contained in the Book of Deuteronomy], we must deduce that all the general rules and specific prescripts [of the Sabbatical year, including those of the resting of the soil] were declared on Sinai. [Why then was it necessary for Scripture to state here in Mount Sinai, since it is self-understood that this entire law was promulgated on Sinai, since the law of the resting of the soil is not mentioned in the Book of Deuteronomy? We must say that the reason] Scripture mentioned [the phrase in Mount Sinai] here is in order to teach that every communication [i.e., commandment] that was spoken to Moses on Sinai, was given at Sinai together with its general rules and minute details, and they were [merely] repeated and taught again in the plains of Moab.” Thus far is the language of Rashi.
But this does not appear to me to be correct at all. For there are many commandments like the Sabbatical year which were not repeated in the plains of Moab, and [all] we know about their general rules and specific prescripts is that they were promulgated either on Sinai or in the Tent of Meeting [but not specifically on Sinai, as Rashi said]!²In other words, we can be certain that those commandments which were not mentioned in the plains of Moab [and are recorded in other parts of the Torah], were declared at some preceding time, but we cannot be sure whether they were said with the commandments given at Sinai, or only later on, after the building of the Tabernacle from which G-d communicated to Moses. On what basis, then, does Rashi say that they were all given on Sinai? Moreover, how do we know that the other commandments which were repeated in the plains of Moab are to be likened to the Sabbatical year [which was not repeated? Perhaps this analogy applies only to those commandments which were not repeated in the plains of Moab, like the Sabbatical year; but how do we know that the analogy applies also to those that were repeated by Moses in the plains of Moab, as contained in the Book of Deuteronomy? And how do we know that in the case of those commandments that were repeated by Moses], that only the general rules were declared on Sinai but the specific prescripts were given in the plains of Moab! And indeed it would be more logical to say so, that those commandments which were repeated by Moses, were restated for the sake of explaining their specific prescripts, since on Sinai only their general rules had been declared!
But the interpretation of the above Beraitha is clear: The general rules of the Sabbatical year were declared on Sinai, as it is written in the section of ‘V’eileh Hamishpatim’ (And these are the ordinances):³Exodus 21:1. Since these ordinances were declared before the Tabernacle was erected, they must perforce have been given on Sinai. And on the seventh year thou shalt let it [i.e., the Land] rest and lie fallow, that the poor of thy people may eat etc.⁴Ibid., 23:11. These are the laws of the Sabbatical year in a general way. Here He went back [to this subject] and said that in Mount Sinai all its specific prescripts were also given, since all of them are mentioned in this section. And at the end of this subject it is written, These are the commandments, which the Eternal commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai,⁵Further, 27:34. in order to liken all the commandments to the Sabbatical year [previously] mentioned, [teaching] that all of them, likewise, were stated in general terms and with their particular details — that is, all were declared on Sinai. And thus it is taught there in the Torath Kohanim:⁶Torath Kohanim, end of Seder Bechukothai. “These are the commandments.⁵Further, 27:34. Henceforth no prophet may promulgate any new thing.⁷This is a major teaching in Judaism, that the prophets who came after Moses only served to exhort Israel to obey the laws given by Moses, but no new Divine commandments were added. Which the Eternal commanded Moses.⁵Further, 27:34. The messenger was [found] deserving before Him Who sent him [since he was the most perfect of all human beings].⁸Malbim to Torath Kohanim ibid. Moses for the children of Israel. It was the merit of Israel that caused [the Divine Glory to rest upon Moses].⁹“And that the Torah be given through Moses. For if Israel had not accepted the Torah, the Divine Glory would not have communicated with Moses, because where there is no flock there is no shepherd, and if there is a flock there must be a shepherd” (Rabad in his commentary to Torath Kohanim, ibid.). In Mount Sinai,⁵Further, 27:34. [this teaches] that all commandments originated at Sinai.” Thus far is the text in the Torath Kohanim. But the reason [that the laws were repeated] in the plains of Moab was only for the purpose of explaining the Torah to the children [of those who had left Egypt, who were born in the wilderness after the Giving of the Torah at Sinai]. This appears to me to be the interpretation [of the Beraitha of the Torath Kohanim mentioned] and “it is well and nicely said.”¹⁰The Hebrew expression kaftor vaferach literally means “a knop and a flower.” The term is borrowed from the design of the candelabrum (see Exodus 25:33), and here means “a thing of truth, and beautifully stated.” The usage of this expression is found in Bereshith Rabbah 91:12. It has been suggested that since the candelabrum in the Tabernacle represented the light of wisdom, the knops and flowers in the candelabrum symbolized truth beautifully expressed. Hence the expression kaftor vaferach as applied to a dictum of truth well formulated. — In essence, Ramban’s understanding of the Beraitha mentioned by Rashi is as follows: “Why is the expression in Mount Sinai mentioned here? It cannot be to teach us that the general principles of the Sabbatical year were given on Sinai, for all commandments were declared on Sinai in general terms, the Sabbatical year being merely one of them, as expressly stated in Exodus 23:11. Hence the expression here in Mount Sinai must be to teach that all its specific prescripts were also given on Mount Sinai, and from this you may deduce that the verse at the end of the Book of Leviticus, which states, These are the commandments which the Eternal commanded Moses … in Mount Sinai intends to teach us that the specific prescripts of all the laws were also declared on Sinai. — Ramban’s interpretation is thus not based at all on Moses’ restatement of the laws in the plains of Moab, as is that of Rashi, but instead is founded upon the verses in Exodus 23:11, and at the end of Leviticus, as explained.
Now the reason why this section [of the laws of the Sabbatical year] was written here, Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained to be as follows: This is the covenant which was written in the section of ‘V’eileh Hamishpatim’ (And these are the ordinances),¹¹Exodus 24:4-7: And Moses wrote all the words of the Eternal … And he took the Book of the Covenant. and when the people accepted it upon themselves [by saying] we will do, and obey,¹²Ibid., Verse 7. then the covenant was made,¹³Ibid., Verse 8. and [Moses] told them this whole section [containing the laws of the Sabbatical year]. Scripture mentioned it in this place in order to put in proximity all the conditions [He laid down for Israel’s inheriting] the Land; for just as He said with reference to forbidden sexual relations that on account of them the Land will vomit them out,¹⁴Above, 18:28. so He said in the section of ‘Im Bechukothai’ (If ye walk in My statutes)¹⁵Further, 26:3. with regard to [not keeping the laws of] the Sabbaths of the Land,¹⁶Ibid., Verse 34. and therefore it was necessary that He mention [here] first [what are the laws of] the Sabbatical years.
In my opinion this section is written here in its proper order, for the expression in Mount Sinai means when Moses went up there to receive the second Tablets [and does not refer, as Ibn Ezra interprets it, to the time immediately after the Giving of the Torah, even before Moses went up the mountain to receive the first Tablets of the Law], and the explanation of the matter is as follows: At the beginning of the first forty days of the first Tablets, Moses wrote in the Book of the Covenant all the words of the Eternal¹⁷Exodus 24:4. and all the ordinances stated there [in that section],¹⁸Ibid., Chapters 21-23. and he sprinkled the blood of the covenant upon the people.¹³Ibid., Verse 8. But when the people sinned with the [golden] calf and the Tablets were broken, that was equivalent to a breaking of the covenant with the Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore when the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled to Moses by giving him the second Tablets, He commanded him concerning a new covenant, as it is said, Behold, I make a covenant;¹⁹Ibid., 34:10. and He repeated there the stringent commandments that had been said in the section of ‘V’eileh Hamishpatim’ (And these are the ordinances)²⁰Ibid., 21:1. at the first covenant, and He [now] stated, Write thou these words, for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel.²¹Ibid., 34:27. Now the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to make this second covenant with them with greater stringency, and that it should be upon them by means of oaths and curses, and that it should cover, like the first one, all the original commandments and all the ordinances, as it is said of the first covenant, And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Eternal, and all the ordinances.²²Ibid., 24:3. Therefore Scripture states here at the end of the exhortations, These are the statutes and ordinances and laws, which the Eternal made between Him and the children of Israel, in Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses,²³Further, 26:46. this being an allusion to all the commandments and ordinances which had been said at the first covenant, in the section of ‘V’eileh Hamishpatim’ (And these are the ordinances),²⁰Ibid., 21:1. for they were all embodied in this [second] covenant.
Now in the Book of the first Covenant, the law of the Sabbatical year was stated in a general way as I have mentioned, as it is said, And on the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie fallow etc.,⁴Ibid., 23:11. and now in this second convenant it was said with its specific prescripts, its minute details, and its penalties. At the time of the first covenant, during the first forty days [after the Giving of the Torah, when Moses went up to the mountain], Moses was commanded concerning the building of the Tabernacle; and when the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled to him and commanded him to make a second covenant for them, Moses came down [from the mountain] and he gave them in commandment all that the Eternal had spoken with him in Mount Sinai,²⁴Exodus 34:32. including the making of the Tabernacle. Then Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, and said unto them as at first, These are the words which the Eternal hath commanded that ye should do them,²⁵Ibid., 35:1. when making the Tabernacle. Now they accepted the charge joyfully, and departed from his presence at once, and they all came back and brought the donations, and made the Tabernacle and completed its construction. And as soon as it was set up, He immediately called unto Moses, and the Eternal spoke unto him out of the Tent of Meeting,²⁶Above, 1:1. and He commanded him regarding the offerings and the whole Torath Kohanim [“law of the priests,” i.e., the Book of Leviticus], and Moses immediately commanded them all to Aaron and his sons and to all the children of Israel. When he had finished, he said to them: “G-d further commanded me in Mount Sinai to explain to you [the laws of] the Sabbatical year and of the Jubilee, and to make a new covenant with you concerning all the commandments and ordinances, by means of adjuration and oath.” It was not necessary now [for Moses] to slaughter offerings and sprinkle half of the blood upon the people and half upon the altar, as he had done at the first covenant,²⁷Exodus 24:5-6. because now they were [again] accepting upon themselves the original covenant, with these oaths and adjurations. This is the sense of the expression, which the Eternal made between Him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai,²³Further, 26:46. for it was He Who made with them this [second] covenant, having forgiven them on the basis of these conditions [i.e., the oaths and adjurations mentioned further on in Chapter 26], as I have explained at the end of [Seder] Ki Thisa.²⁸Ibid., 34:27; 31. See Vol. II, pp. 591-2, 594. Similarly, the covenant at the plains of Moab²⁹Deuteronomy 28:69. 29:9-13. was made likewise, by means of the people accepting upon themselves the Torah with those oaths and adjurations [mentioned in Deuteronomy Chapter 28], this being the covenant, as it is said, These are the words of the covenant which the Eternal commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which He made with them in Horeb.³⁰Ibid., 28:69. Ramban’s point is thus to stress that all subsequent covenants mentioned after the one made at Sinai are merely re-affirmations of the original covenant. The Rabbis of blessed memory have spoken the truth in saying³¹Torath Kohanim, Bechukothai 8:9. that among the conditions on which the Land [was given by G-d to Israel] are [those of observing the laws of] the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee, as He will mention in the exhortations,³²Further, 26:34; 43. and they are clearly expressed in this second covenant [as referring to the commandments in this section].

וידבר ה' אל משה בהר סיני, it is noteworthy that nowhere else when the Torah announces new legislation does it also mention where this legislation was originally issued. The only time such locations are mentioned is when a new element of that commandment is added. We have heard about the principle of the sh’mittah legislation in Exodus 23,11 where the general outline was presented, the Torah writing that the produce of the land during the seventh year should be left untouched by the farmer and is intended for the poor of the nation.
Now the Torah reverts to present this legislation in greater detail. This is the reason why we are told where these details were first spelled out. What we read here is only a prototype. The principle does not apply only to the sh’mittah legislation, but wherever some legislation had been mentioned in a general manner only, when the details were filled in this took place at Mount Sinai, just as it did in the case of the sh’mittah legislation. (Torat Kohanim 1,1)
The reason that Moses mentioned this particular legislation at this point is because at this time he was still under the impression that the Israelites would proceed in short order to the land of Canaan, the sin of the spies which set them back by forty years not having occurred yet. Even as late as Numbers 10,29 Moses still spoke to the people of the impending journey to the Holy Land. Speaking about the soil of the holy Land “resting,” is the subject in Leviticus 26,34 as well as in Chronicles II 36,21. This shows that the main focus of the sh’mittah legislation concerns the “Sabbatical” experienced by the farmland of the nation.

בהר סיני, at Mount Sinai. We need to know why the Torah found it necessary to mention that this legislation was revealed at Mount Sinai. While it is true that our sages in Torat Kohanim explain that this is merely a reminder of the fact that all the commandments were given to Moses at Mount Sinai, both in general terms as well as in all their details, this does not answer the question why the Torah selected this commandment to remind us of that fact. It would have made much better sense to state this fact either when relating the first or the last of the Torah's commandments. Perhaps the fact that here G'd describes His gift to the Jewish people, the land of Israel, prompted Him to remind the people that the gift of the land was conditional on the people observing the commandments they had accepted at the time they stood at Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments. The present tense, i.e. אשר אני נותן ties the gift to Mount Sinai where the Israelites undertook to keep the Torah.

בהר סיני, before the Tabernacle had been erected.

בהר סיני, “at Mount Sinai.” Rashi explains that the reason for the Torah adding the words “at Mount Sinai,” is to inform us that just as the details of the laws of the Sh’mittah year were revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai, so the details of all the other laws were also revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai. Nachmanides queries this although Rashi only copied the words of Torat Kohanim. He explains the meaning of Rashi as based on the fact that some laws were repeated in the Book of Deuteronomy, whereas others were not. In connection with Sh’mittah, for instance, the need for the land to remain fallow during that year was not repeated in Deuteronomy, although the need to relinquish overdue debts to the impecunious debtor was. We might have concluded that anything that was repeated in Deuteronomy was something that was revealed to Moses later than at Mount Sinai. Rashi therefore sets the record straight by informing us that all the details of all the 613 commandments had been revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai down to the last detail. Whereas already in Exodus chapter 23,10-12 the subject of the Sh’mittah year had been discussed in general terms, now it is being discussed in greater detail. The Torah reveals that the details had already been given to Moses at Mount Sinai, even though the Torah had seen fit to write these details only now. This, Rashi says, is typical of all the laws of the Torah. If Moses saw fit, shortly before his death, to repeat some of these laws, this does not mean that he had not known about them all long before, ever since his first stay on Mount Sinai. [Numerous commentators understand Nachmanides as explaining that contrary to some laws which were revealed to Moses whenever G’d called him to a meeting in the Tabernacle, the laws of sh’mittah were revealed to him in all their details already long before there was a Tabernacle, in Exodus 23, immediately following the revelation and the giving of the Ten Commandments. The same applies to all the 613 commandments, according to Rashi, [whereas any laws revealed in the Tabernacle may not have been the kind which conform to Maimonides’ 14 criteria for inclusion in the 613 commandments. Ed.] Whatever Moses mentioned shortly before his death in Deuteronomy, were not new laws, as no prophet is entitled to formulate new laws, but were explanations of laws that had been revealed at Mount Sinai, and since the time had not come for them to be practiced, Moses thought it appropriate to publicly discuss them again. According to our author, Nachmanides considers that the laws of sh’mittah appeared here in their appropriate place, i.e. up until the words שבת לה' in verse 2 which concludes the headline of the legislation. The conclusive proof that all the laws were revealed in detail at Mount Sinai is from Leviticus 26,56, where the matter is spelled out most clearly.

Their general rules and specifications. You might ask: How does Rashi know that all of them [including] their general rules and specifications were said at Sinai? Obviously, because the superfluous words “on Mount Sinai” indicate that the general rules and specifications were said at Mount Sinai. But perhaps this only comes to teach [the laws] of about the Sabbatical year itself, and not about other mitzvos? Also, regarding [the claim that these words are superfluous] itself you can object, from where [does Rashi know this]? Perhaps [the verse writes] “on Mount Sinai” so that you do not say that “(And Hashem spoke to him from) the Tent of Meeting” written at the beginning of parshas Vayikra refers to all the parshiyos after parshas Vayikra, and therefore it writes “on Mount Sinai” here? The answer is: This is why Rashi writes “And it seems to me, etc.” He means as follows: Since we do not find that [the laws of] shemittoh of the land whose general rules principles were taught at Sinai were repeated at the Plains of Moab in Sefer Devorim., Tthis could make lead one to mistakenly say that all the mitzvos were repeated taught at the Plains of Moav because of their details and specifications, and are [thus] not from Sinai. Even though it is written later at the end of Vayikra (27:34), “These are the commandments which Hashem commanded Moshe for Bnei Yisroel on Mount Sinai,” which implies that all the mitzvos are from Sinai, this may apply only to the general rules of mitzvos but not to their details. However, since the Sabbatical year is not repeated there except in the hint of “Suspend (every creditor’s hand from his loan to his neighbor)” (Devorim 15:2), if so, its general rules and details must all have been said at Sinai. If so, why does the verse here [superfluously] say “Mount Sinai”? It must be to teach us that every utterance which was prophetically said to Moshe, that all of them were from Sinaiùtheir general rules and their specifications. And [the Sabbatical year] is an example that applies to the entire Torah.

God said to Moses on Mt. Sinai: What is the connection between Shemittah and Mt. Sinai? etc. The meaning is that when Moses went up Mount Sinai after seven weeks, that Israel counted 49 days from Pesach to Shavuot, then that mountain was sanctified, and forbidden from ploughing and sowing on the 50th day, on which the Torah was given. And this is the length of time of the Jubilee, to call for liberty and freedom to all of Israel, freedom on the tablets, by means of the voice of the shofar of the giving of the Torah. At that moment God told Moses the matter of Shemittah and the Jubilee, saying that through the number 7 and the number 49 I am giving this holiness to all the land of Israel. For this has a similarity and connection with Mt. Sinai from the side of there being an air that makes people wise (B. Baba Batra 158b). And the Torah [in general] is not like the Torah of the land of Israel and Mt. Sinai. Therefore it was appropriate to give also to that land the holiness of Mount Sinai after the number 49 years, and thus with the number 7. Or in order to make a memorial of the standing at Sinai through the calling of liberty and the blowing of the shofar. This joins to all the other reasons that there is to this mitzvah. Therefore it was said on Mount Sinai, and this is the correct meaning.

בהר סיני, “at Mount Sinai;” all the portions preceding this one from the beginning of the Book of Leviticus had been revealed to Moses from the Tabernacle, (G–d’s voice emanating from the top of the Hoy Ark) and they all concerned laws of importance for the service in the Tabernacle in one way or another. The two portions commencing here had been revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai, as they neither concerned the Tabernacle nor the priests. This is the reason why the Torah here added the words: “at Mount Sinai.” Nonetheless, they were included in the Book of Leviticus, seeing that they deal with the laws of sh’mittah and Yovel as well as the laws of Erchin and Charamim which are administered by the priests. In verse 9 of our chapter the Torah decrees the blowing of the shofar on the tenth of Tishrey when the Jubilee year officially begins. This blowing of the shofar was performed by one of the priests. The fact that this blowing of the shofar when required was performed by the priests is documented in Numbers chapter 10, verse 8. In order that we should not think that these laws were issued from the Tabernacle, the Torah added the words: באהל מועד, “at the Tent of Meeting.”

בהר סיני, “at Mount Sinai.” Whenever the expression: “at Mount Sinai,” is used in the Torah, it refers to a point in time before Moses descended after his third lengthy stay on it in the month of Tishrey. In other words, the legislation described here had been revealed to Moses before the Tabernacle had been built. If these laws were recorded in the Book of Leviticus, and not in the Book of Exodus, seeing that Moses had descended the third time before events described at the end of the Book of Exodus, this is because the laws applied only after the Israelites had settled in their homeland, especially the laws governing Sh’mittah and Yovel, that are prominent in this portion; they are all laws applying also to the priests (although they were not real landowners) about whom most of the legislation in the Book of Leviticus revolves. When we consider that numerous laws were recorded in the second third and fourth Book of the Torah and repeated in the fifth Book by Moses, it is clear that laws that were not repeated by Moses in the fifth Book, must have been given to him already at Mount Sinai. The laws concerning the Sabbaths of the land in the seventh year, and the Sabbath of the land, and the freedom to be granted to the slaves, and the restoration of lands that had been sold under financial duress by their owner during a particular 50 year cycle known as yovel, belong to such categories. The laws about inheritance of the land and those that could be applied only after the Israelites had taken possession of the lands on the east Bank of the Jordan as well as a number of laws pertaining to land ownership were repeated once more. It appears therefore that if the Torah had to make a point here to emphasize that the laws had been given to Moses at Mount Sinai, we must assume that the general outline was given at Sinai to the people and the details were not revealed to them until realization of keeping them would draw near.

Another reason may be related to a statement we find in Avodah Zarah 20 and considered as binding by Maimonides in chapter 3 of his treatise called Zechiyah. Here is what Maimonides writes: "It is forbidden to give a gift to a pagan (unless it is in return for services rendered)." We must remember that prior to acceptance of the Torah by the Jewish people they themselves were legally in the category of pagans, i.e. G'd could not legally make a gift of the land of Israel to the Jewish people until they offered some value in return. He could only give the land of Israel to them after the revelation at Mount Sinai. G'd alluded to this when the Torah mentioned Mount Sinai as the reason for "the land which I am about to give to you." This also answers the question why G'd had to say: "which I am giving to you." There was never any doubt that it was G'd from whom we would receive this gift so that we could have erred if the Torah did not repeat it. You will note that in Leviticus 19,23 where the Torah legislates about the ערלה restrictions the subject is introduced as follows: "when you come to the land and plant fruit-bearing trees, etc." In that instance the Torah did not mention who gives the land to the Israelites, etc. This supports our theory about why G'd selected the example of our verse to teach us that the gift of the land of Israel is tied to the experience at Mount Sinai.