ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שופטים 1:1

VV. 2 u. 3. ויתן את הכנעני ,אם נתן תתן וגו׳ usw. רמב׳׳ן im Kommentar bemerkt, daß das transjordanische Land nie ארץ כנען genannt werde, von diesem מלך ערד, dessen Volk hier כנעני genannt wird, heißt es noch ausdrücklich Kap. 33, 40: והוא ישב בנגב בארץ כנען. Es sei daher anzunehmen, daß er im westjordanischen Lande im Süden gewohnt und von dort her sich Jisrael entgegengeworfen habe, das Gelübde habe sich dann nicht auf die damalige Gegenwart, sondern auf die einstige Besitznahme bezogen. Daher denn auch bei ויתן וגו׳ der Terminativ fehlt, da die völlige Bewältigung der Völkerschaft erst später vollzogen ward. Israel gelobte, wenn Gott ihm den Sieg über diese sie Angreifenden verleihen werde, so werde es bei einstiger Besitznahme, als Denkmal des ersten Sieges über ein kanaanitisches Volk, dessen Städte unbewohnt lassen, aber deren Beute dem Tempelheiligtum weihen, ähnlich wie bei Jericho. – Es nannte daher auch den Ort des verliehenen Sieges חרמה. In der Tat findet sich auch unter den von Josua im westjordanischen Lande überwundenen Königen ein מלך ערד (Josua 12. 14), und nach Richter 1, 1 lag ערד im jüdischen Gebiete an der Wüste Juda – und bezieht auch רמב׳׳ן das daselbst berichtete: ויכו את הכנעני יושב צפת ויחרימו אותה ויקרא את שם העיר חרמה auf die endliche Erfüllung dieses Gelübdes. Es ist jedoch zu bemerken, daß Josua 12, 14 ein מלך חרמה unmittelbar neben מלך ערד genannt wird, welches noch der Lösung bedürfte.

איש על דגלו באותות, “each man by his flag, according to its insignia.” Rashi explains that each flag had coloured insignia woven or embroidered on it reflecting the appearance of the respective gemstone of the tribe on the breastplate of the High Priest. Ibn Ezra writes that each flag had a pattern that easily identified the tribe it belonged to; (possibly reflecting the definitions used by Yaakov when he had blessed his sons before his death.) They could also have reflected the images seen by the prophet Ezekiel in his famous vision of the merkavah. Ancient sources have recorded that the Tabernacle was located in the center of the four army groups. In the space between the Tabernacle and the army groups (presumably in peace time accompanied by the various families of the soldiers), the Levites arranged their huts around the Tabernacle. The details have been described in the ספר יצירה. The respective sides of the camp which was square in shape, began with the east side, the army group headed by the tribe of Yehudah, as per G’d’s command in response to the question who should lead the army. [Compare Bamidbar Rabbah 2,10 on Judges 1,1-2 Ed.] The army group headed by the tribe of Reuven was situated on the south side in order to accord some honour to the biologically oldest son of Yaakov. The third army group under one flag comprised the tribes of Rachel’s descendants who were situated in the west, with the group comprised of sons of Zilpah and Bilhah in the north. I have seen further in the Midrash that just as Hashem created 4 directions on earth, (north, south, west and east) so He surrounded His throne in the heavens with four such directions, the throne of His glory being the loftiest of them all. When telling Moses how to arrange the army groups around the Tabernacle, He told him that what He was directing Moses to do corresponded to the pattern in which the hierarchies in the heavenly regions were arranged. East, the source of the original light, would be represented on earth by Yehudah, who represented the concept of Royalty. He would be flanked by Issachar, who represented the concept of Torah Issachar would be flanked on his other side by Zevulun, who represented the concept of wealth. This concept had been envisioned by Yaakov, who in his blessing of Zevulun (Genesis 49,13) had said זבולון על חוף ימים ישכון, that “Zevulun would make his residence on the shores of the sea.” It has also been said of him (and of Issachar) (Deuteronomy 33,19) כי שפע ימים יינקו, that “they will be nourished by the riches of the sea.” [An allusion to Zevulun sharing his wealth with Issachar, enabling the latter to devote himself exclusively to the study of the Torah. Ed.] This group would be the first one to march ahead of the rest of the camp, as we know from ויעבור מלכם לפניהם, “their king would always march ahead of them” (Michah 2,13). The direction south is representative of the beneficial dews and the rains that dispense G’d’s blessings on earth. This direction would be represented first and foremost by Reuven, who had distinguished himself as a penitent, and thus had revealed himself as possessing a virtue which is very dear to Hashem, a virtue which evokes G’d’s mercy for His creatures. He was flanked by Gad, possessed of the virtue of גבורה, strength and endurance in the face of overwhelming odds. They had the camp of Shimon between them, to help him atone for the sin at Shittim that had decimated that tribe whose members had permitted themselves to be seduced by the Moabites and Midianites. (Numbers 25) They marched in second position, seeing that the virtue of repentance is second only to Torah itself. Seeing that Reuven had excelled in repentance and this is an important virtue, one which brings to the fore G’d’s virtue of רחמים whenever G’d encounters penitent sinners, it was appropriate for the tribe of Reuven to be positioned in second place. West is the direction in which G’d’s storage chamber of snow, hail, and frost as well as heat is stored; the tribes of Ephrayim, Binyamin and Menashe were placed there, seeing that Binyamin’s territory would house the Temple, it was appropriate that he would be positioned in the direction where the Shechinah is presumed to be. North is the direction from which darkness (of the spiritual kind) is presumed to emerge when it does. It was appropriate that the tribe of Dan would be positioned there, as it was this tribe who played a leading role in the re-introduction of idolatry in Israel, King Yerobam later on being the exponent par excellence of this. [Judges 18 describes that the tribe of Dan hired themselves a phony priest and instituted idolatry in their newly conquered territory, formerly known as Layish. These offshoots from the tribe of Dan, who called their new city “Dan,” continued in their idolatrous ways until the first Temple was destroyed. The tribe of Asher was especially blessed, as was the tribe of Naftali, also part of that army group, something that offset the spiritually negative vibes associated with the Danites.

This for Yehudah The same was said for Y e hudah — that he should live, and not die. Then he proceeded to add Hear, O God , the voice of Yehudah (when embarking in battle — since Y e hudah marched at the head of the army)