Powtórzonego Prawa 2:29 Komentarz: Rashi, Chizkuni, Ibn Ezra & Rashbam

כאשר עשו לי בגי עשו AS THE CHILDREN OF ESAU DID TO ME — This does not refer to passing through their land (רק אעברה ברגלי) for Edom refused this, (cf. Numbers 20:18) but to the matter of selling food and water (also mentioned in the preceding verse).

כאשר עשו לי בני עשו, “as the descendants of Esau did for me.” This was not a reference to traversing their territory, but a reference to their letting the Israelites buy their water and food from them. The Torah had never spelled this out before, but it is logical to assume that they had done so, seeing that the Torah had specifically permitted them to do so. (Deut. 2,6) Our verse merely explains what was meant in verse 6., כאשר עשו לי בני עשו היושבים בשעיר והמואבים היושבים בער“as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir have done for me, as well as the Moabites who dwell in Or.” It sounds clear that both the Moabites mentioned here as well as the Edomites mentioned here had volunteered to supply the Israelites with these victuals. This is in stark contrast to what the Torah had described in Deut. 23,4 as the reason why proselytes from the Moabites and the Ammonites must not be accepted. It says there that these two tribes had not come forward with offers of bread and water for a nation that had just come out of Egypt, and had hired Bileam to curse the Israelites. How do we reconcile these two verses? Moreover, the Talmud in tractate Yevamot, folio 77, even tells that several hundreds of years later, some of the Israelites wanted to declare King David as not fit to be their king, but as not being Jewish, since his maternal ancestor Ruth had been a Moabite, and her conversion therefore was null and void. In light of all this, some commentators feel forced to conclude that the verses from Deut. 2,6 until and including verse 29, are only Moses’ formulation of the words the delegation were to say to the rulers of that land, but are not to be understood as testimony by the Torah, and that some Moabites and some Edomites had come forward with such offers. What follows are words by Moses recalling what had happened in how making war on Sichon and Og had not been aggression by the Israelites, but self defense, as the other side had started the hostilities. Instead of understanding the Torah as telling us that the Moabites of Or and the Ammonites had been generous, Moses includes them all in a negative light. None of these kings had allowed the Israelites to cross their lands. The ones that got away with it were the ones whom G-d had commanded the Israelites not to harass as they were not Canaanites, on the contrary, were related to the Israelites through Avraham‘s family.

as the children of Es̀av did for me Some commentators relate this phrase to “you will sell me food for money” [: 28], but if this be so, how can they reconcile it with the inhabitants of Ar, who are Moabites, and of whom Scripture says “because they did not approach you …” [23: 5]? They feel constrained to give this interpretation, though, because the king of Edom said, “you shall not pass through me” [Numbers 20: 18]. In my opinion, the phrase refers back to the request that we go along the main highway, as the children of Es̀av did for me — i.e., they let them go around Mount S̀eir along the main highway. Scripture accordingly related, “You are to pass along the border of your kinsmen, the Children of Es̀av, who dwell in S̀eir” [: 4]. However, the king of Edom did not let them pass through by way of his territory (from which point they would have been close to the land of Canaan), so they went on to Ar — as it is written [: 18]. Many others have proposed that, although “they did not approach you” [23: 5], nevertheless Israel did purchase from the Moabites.

עד אשר אעבר את הירדן UNTIL I SHALL PASS OVER THE JORDAN — This is to be connected with "Let me pass through thy land” (v. 27).