וַיִּקְבְּר֤וּ אֹתוֹ֙ בִּגְב֣וּל נַחֲלָת֔וֹ בְּתִמְנַת־סֶ֖רַח אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּהַר־אֶפְרָ֑יִם מִצְּפ֖וֹן לְהַר־גָּֽעַשׁ׃
E o sepultaram em seu território, em Timnat-Heres, que está na montanha de Efraim, ao norte do monte Gaash.
A New Israeli Commentary
...And Joshua to the elders. These elders are mentioned in the Book of Joshua (24:30): 'And Israel worshipped the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders, who extended the days after Joshua.' According to the Sages, these elders lived many days after Joshua (and the meaning of "days" in the Bible is: years), and they preserved what they received from him for generations to come. In the Tractate of the Pirke de Avos Nathan (Version 1,1) it is explicitly stated that 'judges received from elders ... Prophets received from judges,' and so did the judges – such as Deborah, Gideon, Yiftach, and Samson – as a link in the transmission of the oral law. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the priests are absent from this list, and it is possible that there are things in Go: the priesthood is dynastic, passing from father to son, while the elders, prophets and especially the wise gain their status thanks to their knowledge and personality. The Pirke of the Avos seeks to emphasize this point.
Kli Yakar
And with this explanation, it seems to me to resolve what our Sages of blessed memory said (Shabbat 105b): “Anyone who is lazy in eulogizing a Torah scholar deserves to be buried while still alive, as it is stated: And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnat-Serah, which is on the north side of Mount Gaash (Joshua 24:30), teaching that the mountain raged [gaash] against them to bury them.” But how do they know to say this? Perhaps some other sin caused the mountain to rage against them.
Now, regarding Timnat-Serah, Rashi explains it as “the image of the sun” [temunat cheres], and in Judges (2:9) it is written as Cheres instead of Serah. Following Rashi’s approach, it seems to me that Timnat refers to “image,” but Cheres seems to mean “earthenware vessel [kli cheres].” This suggests that they did not treat Joshua with the respect due to a Torah scholar by eulogizing him properly, but rather buried him in the manner of an unlearned person [am haaretz], who is compared to a broken earthenware vessel that can never be cleansed of its filth from his blemish. Therefore, in Judges it says Cheres instead of Serah, because the Serach, meaning the filth [sirachon] of his deeds, makes him comparable to an earthenware vessel that cannot be purified of its blemish and filth except through breaking.
But this is not the case with Torah scholars, for our Sages said (Berachot 19a): “If you see a Torah scholar committing a sin at night, do not think ill of them the next day, for they have certainly repented.” This is because they presumably engage in Torah study, which serves as their atonement to cleanse their sin, and it is “scoured and rinsed” inside and out with the waters of Torah.
Although a typical Torah scholar is compared to a gold vessel, which can easily have a bit of dust and slight blemish removed from it, nevertheless, when they sin and follow the counsel of the serpent, they are compared to a copper vessel, for the word [nachash — serpent] corresponds to the word [nechoshet — copper]. This is because their forehead became like copper in their brazenness toward their Creator, and then it must be scoured and rinsed as mentioned. And from this verse we also learn the laws of purging vessels — that its purification corresponds to how it was used.
Now, regarding Timnat-Serah, Rashi explains it as “the image of the sun” [temunat cheres], and in Judges (2:9) it is written as Cheres instead of Serah. Following Rashi’s approach, it seems to me that Timnat refers to “image,” but Cheres seems to mean “earthenware vessel [kli cheres].” This suggests that they did not treat Joshua with the respect due to a Torah scholar by eulogizing him properly, but rather buried him in the manner of an unlearned person [am haaretz], who is compared to a broken earthenware vessel that can never be cleansed of its filth from his blemish. Therefore, in Judges it says Cheres instead of Serah, because the Serach, meaning the filth [sirachon] of his deeds, makes him comparable to an earthenware vessel that cannot be purified of its blemish and filth except through breaking.
But this is not the case with Torah scholars, for our Sages said (Berachot 19a): “If you see a Torah scholar committing a sin at night, do not think ill of them the next day, for they have certainly repented.” This is because they presumably engage in Torah study, which serves as their atonement to cleanse their sin, and it is “scoured and rinsed” inside and out with the waters of Torah.
Although a typical Torah scholar is compared to a gold vessel, which can easily have a bit of dust and slight blemish removed from it, nevertheless, when they sin and follow the counsel of the serpent, they are compared to a copper vessel, for the word [nachash — serpent] corresponds to the word [nechoshet — copper]. This is because their forehead became like copper in their brazenness toward their Creator, and then it must be scoured and rinsed as mentioned. And from this verse we also learn the laws of purging vessels — that its purification corresponds to how it was used.