Cytowanie Komentarza do Powtórzonego Prawa 31:19

Upon descending from the mount, he [Moses] wrote the Torah from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the account of the tabernacle. He wrote the conclusion of the Torah at the end of the fortieth year of wandering in the desert when he said [by command of G-d], Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Eternal your G-d.²Deuteronomy 31:26. This view accords with the opinion of the Talmudic sage who says³Gittin 60 a. The name of the authority is Rabbi Yochanan. that the Torah was written in sections.⁴When a section was declared to Moses, he immediately wrote it down. When all the sections were completed, he compiled them together into one Torah. Rashi, Ibid. However, according to the sage who says that the Torah was given in its entirety,⁵Resh Lakish is the authority who maintains that Moses wrote the whole Torah at one time after all sections had been given to him intermittently during the forty years and were properly systematized in his mind. everything was written in the fortieth year when he [Moses] was commanded, Now write ye this song for you and teach it unto the children of Israel; put it in their mouths,⁶Deuteronomy 31:19. and, as he was further instructed, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Eternal your G-d.²Deuteronomy 31:26.

And on this I have a difficulty, for in the first [verse] it says from all your tribes, which implies that he collected money from all the tribes, and Rashi proved this from the end of the book of Samuel (II 24:24) from what is written there fifty shekels, yet in Chronicles (I 21:25) it is written a weight of six hundred. Rather it is that he collected fifty shekels from each and every tribe, which added up to 600. If so, the first verse certainly speaks about the eternal Temple which David built. And further I have a difficulty: Has not the place of the eternal Temple been chosen since ancient times? And the proof is from Adam who sacrificed there, and the incident of the binding of Isaac proves this. So what is meant by that the Lord will choose which implies in the future? And as for what was said that the term “placement” [sima] implies a temporary placement, I am not satisfied with this interpretation, for it is said And teach it to the children of Israel, place it in their mouths (Deuteronomy 31:19). Did the Lord command to place the Torah in their mouths as a temporary placement? See what Rashi explained on the verse that you shall place before them (Exodus 21:1). It implies that the opposite is more reasonable, that the term “placement” [sima] indicates something fixed which will never be removed.

AND THE ETERNAL PUT A WORD IN BALAAM’S MOUTH. Some commentators¹²³I have not identified these commentators. See, however, my Hebrew commentary, p. 294, Note 22, for a similar opinion found in the Zohar. explain that Balaam did not understand the words [he said], but G-d filled him with words and said to him: “Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak,¹²²Verse 5. for the words will come forth [automatically] from your mouth.” Perhaps this is also the opinion of our Rabbis, who have said:¹²⁴Tanchuma, Balak 12; Bamidbar Rabbah 20:16. “He shaped his mouth and formed it [so that he would speak as He desired], like a person who fixes a nail onto a board. Rabbi Eleazar says: It was an angel that spoke: Rabbi Yehoshua says: etc.”¹²⁵“It was the Holy One, blessed be He, that spoke through the mouth of Balaam” (ibid.). But it does not appear to me to be correct [that Balaam did not know what he was saying], because he said [that he] heareth the words of G-d; seeth the vision of the Almighty.⁹⁷Further, 24:4. But the meaning of [the word] ‘vayasem’ (and He put) is “instruction,” signifying He taught him the words so that he should recite them with his mouth, and he should not forget or omit any part of it, similar to [the expression], teach thou it the children of Israel; ‘simah’ (put it) in their mouths.¹²⁶Deuteronomy 31:19. This means: let them know the words of this song by heart (Ibn Ezra). Similarly, for by the appointment of Absalom this hath been ‘sumah’ (‘put; determined’).¹²⁷II Samuel 13:32.