Comentário sobre Deuteronômio 1:14

ותענו אתי וגו׳ AND YE ANSWERED ME, etc. — You at once decided the matter to your benefit. You should really have replied: Our teacher, Moses! From whom is it more fitting to learn, from you or from your disciple? Is it not from you who have taken such pains about it? But I knew your thoughts: you said, “Many judges will now be appointed over us; if one of them does not happen to be an acquaintance of ours, we shall bring him a gift and he will show us favour (Sifrei Devarim 14).

ותענו אותי ותאמרו טוב הדבר, "you responded to me by saying that the matter was good, etc." Our sages in the Sifri claim that Moses' answer implied that he was critical of the people having approved so readily of his proposal. He felt that they should have objected by saying that surely it was preferable to be instructed by the teacher himself to being instructed merely by the pupil or even by the pupil's pupil. I believe it is possible to explain this verse as a compliment for the Israelites. Actually, the Israelites were sorry not to be instructed forthwith by Moses personally. However, they were willing to put up with this realising that they were doing Moses a personal favour by relieving him of some of the constant pressure he was under. This is the meaning of the words טוב הדבר, "it is a good thing to relieve the pressure from our teacher Moses, even though it is difficult for us to start learning from your pupil instead of from you directly." The words אשר דברת, "which you have spoken," refer to the harsh words Moses had said to the Israelites concerning things which they would have to do. Even though this statement is encapsuled here within the general admonitions, it is possible that Moses was angry also concerning the response of the Israelites.

וידועים לשבטיכם, “and familiar to your respective tribes.” Rashi explains that the word ידועים means that the men in question are well known to fellow members of their tribes, whereas if the same man appeared before Moses, he, Moses would not know who he is. Nachmanides writes that if Rashi were correct this would mean that that the word לשבטיכם would be inextricably linked to the word וידועים. In his opinion the reason why the Torah added the word וידועים is to teach that the judges must be capable and fearless men, i.e they must be known to the people as men of outstanding caliber. They must be known for the piety, fear of the Lord, etc., etc. Every member of their tribe should agree immediately that the person in question is fit to be a judge.

You answered with determination, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Everything that Moshe is saying to the Jewish People has been words of rebuke. Why then does Moshe say to them: You replied to me and said, “[It is a] good thing that you said to do, etc.” On the contrary, he is praising them for doing as he had commanded them. Therefore, Rashi explains: You answered with determination, etc. In other words, you did this for your own benefit. The word חלטתם is an expression of [answering with] determination.”

לעשות TO DO — If I showed myself remiss, you said: act quickly (Sifrei Devarim 14).

Who suffered for it? The word “it” refers to the Torah.

On the other hand, Moses was astute enough to formulate his words in such a way that they could be understood as a double-entendre. 1) They could be construed as a criticism as pointed out by Sifri; 2) they could also be interpreted positively as we have tried to explain. The reason Moses did so was because the Israelites could be divided into two categories. There was a category of righteous people; there was also, however, a category of cantankerous people, people who did not miss an opportunity to find fault. The righteous people accepted Moses' words as complimentary; the cantankerous people saw in Moses' words a criticism of the attitude they had revealed.