| א. דברי משה לעם ודבריו ליהושע |
| A. Moses' Words to the People and his Words to Joshua |
Compare the following sets of verses:
| דברי משה לעם | דברי משה ליהושע | ||
| פסוק ג | "ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ הוּא עֹבֵר לְפָנֶיךָ הוּא יַשְׁמִיד אֶת הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה מִלְּפָנֶיךָ וִירִשְׁתָּם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ הוּא עֹבֵר לְפָנֶיךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר ה'" |
||
| פסוק ו' | "חִזְקוּ וְאִמְצוּ אַל תִּירְאוּ וְאַל תַּעַרְצוּ מִפְּנֵיהֶם כִּי ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּךְ לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַעַזְבֶךָּ" |
פסוקים ז'-ח' | "חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ כִּי אַתָּה תָּבוֹא אֶת הָעָם הַזֶּה אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע ה' לַאֲבֹתָם לָתֵת לָהֶם וְאַתָּה תַּנְחִילֶנָּה אוֹתָם וַה' הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ לְפָנֶיךָ הוּא יִהְיֶה עִמָּךְ לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַעַזְבֶךָּ לֹא תִירָא וְלֹא תֵחָת" |
| Moses' Words to the People | Moses's Words to Joshua | ||
| Deuteronomy 31:3 | "The Lord your God Himself will cross over before you; and He Himself will wipe out those nations from your path and you shall dispossess them.—Joshua is the one who shall cross before you, as the Lord has spoken." | ||
| Deuteronomy 31:6 | "Be strong and resolute, be not in fear or in dread of them; for the Lord your God Himself marches with you: He will not fail you nor forsake you." | Deuteronomy 31:7-8 | 'Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: 'Be strong and resolute, for it is you who shall go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their fathers to give them, and it is you who shall apportion it to them. And the Lord Himself will go before you; He will be with you; He will not fail you nor forsake you; fear not and be not dismayed!” |
S.v. He will cross over before you: Behold we saw four expressions of providence in this section: "He will precede (over) ahead of you"; "He goes with you"; "He is the one who will go ahead of you"; "He will be with you." And it is all precise. But we should first see the language of the Gemara, Pesachim 7b:
Shmuel said, "With regard to all the commandments, one recites a blessing over them prior to (over) their performance." From where may it be inferred that the word, over, is an expression of precedence?... Abbaye said... "And their king preceded [vaya’avor] ahead of them" (Micah 2:13).
But it is difficult, why did Shmuel say it with an expression that needs to be explained (why did he choose this unusual unclear expression, "over their performance")? He should say, "kodem (before)" their performance," or "lifnei (ahead of)" their performance!" Rather there is a profound intention in this [choice of words]. Kodem and lifnei imply that he has not started with the commandment at all. As a result, he used the expression, "over," which implies immediately adjacent; such that he is holding the item of the commandment in his hand, and he will then begin to recite the blessing. And this is the intention of, "and their king passed ahead of them" - as it is clear that the king will not begin to go until all of his army is ready to go out and they are standing at the border... From here we understand the difference between that which is written about the time of the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 13:21), "And the Lord went lifneihem (ahead of them) by day"... which implies, before Israel went - as behold Israel did not do anything, neither regarding the splitting of the Red Sea, nor regarding the killing of snakes and scorpions. However now Moses says that it shall not be so, but rather the Lord "will over (precede) ahead of you" - adjacently to your action...
S.v. Do not be in dread: Onkelos translated, "and you shall not break." Likewise did Onklos translate (31:8), "do not be dismayed," "do not break." Nevertheless there is certainly a difference in the meanings: "Dread" is the breaking of a platoon, such that they give themselves up to their enemies, whereas "dismay" is the breaking of the heart (will)...
S.v. He is the who will go ahead of you: As the Holy One, blessed be He, will be seen with you and He will command you prior to your beginning with rulership. And in this manner, it is called "going ahead of you" - prior to your placing yourself as the leader. And for this reason, when the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to reassure Joshua later on (verse 23), He only says the second reassurance of Moshe, "and I will be with you."
1. Are you able to explain, with the help of the Ha'amek Devar commentary, the reason for some of the changes in Moses' words to Joshua that are not like his words to all of Israel?
2. Are you able to resolve the bewilderment of the author of Haamek Davar that in Joshua 1, God again says to Joshua, "Fear not and do not be dismayed?"
3. According to the words of the author of Haamek Devar, what is the difference between God's providence over Israel before Moses' death and His providence over Israel afterwards?
שאלות 4-5 חסרות (ראו בגרסת המקור)
Question 4-5 are missing (see the original version).
| ב. בביאור "כי אתה תבוא" |
| B. In Explanation of "As you shall enter." |
"And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel: ‘Be strong and of good courage; for thou shalt enter with this people into the land...'"
a. What is his difficulty? Is it the same difficulty that Rashi resolves in his words? (Aee A 4.)
b. Where in the Torah do we find this type of difficulty that Sfrono resolves here?
There are two meanings in this, according to the manner of Mishneh Torah (Deuteronomy).
Explain the two meanings of our verse.
| ג. בביאור "לא ירפך ולא יעזבך" |
| C. In Explanation of "He will not fail you, nor forsake you" |
"And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; fear not, neither be dismayed."
לא ירפך means He will give you no looseness that you should be abandoned by Him.
ד"ה לא ירפך: מלהחזיק בך בידיו. ולשון "לא ירפך" לשון לא יפעיל הוא, לא יתן לך רפיון, לא יפריש אותך מאצלו, לכן (שיר השירים ג') "אחזתיו לא ארפנו", שלא ננקד ארפנו (האל"ף בסגול). כל לשון רפיון מוסב על לשון מפעיל ומתפעל, כמו (מלכים ב' ד') "הרפה לה'" – תן לה' רפיון; (דברים ט') "הרף ממני" – התרפה ממני.
לא ירפך means, He will not let loose of thee so as not to hold thee fast by His hands. The expression לא ירפך is an expression signifying: He will not cause something (our Hiphil) — He will not give the any looseness, i.e. He will not separate you from Him. Similar is (Song 3:4) “I hold him fast, and I will not let him loose (אַרְפֶּנוּ )”, which is not voweled אֶרְפֶּנוּ (which is Kal and an impossible form of the root רפה “to be loose”). Always the expression “letting slack (רפה)” in the Hiphil refers to one who causes looseness to others or to one who causes it to himself. For example (2 Kings 4:2) הרפה לה means, “give her looseness”; (Deuteronomy 9:14) הרף ממני means, “Give looseness to thyself from off me”.
לא ירפך. כשתהיה ראוי וזכאי:
ולא יעזבך. כשתהיה ראוי לעונש ודאי ירפך. אבל לא יעזבך לגמרי ח״ו. אלא עומד מרחוק מעט. עד שמקבלים העונש ושוב חוזר הקב״ה אליהם. וע׳ בס׳ בראשית ל״ה ה׳:
S.v. He shall not fail you: When you are fit and merit [it].
s.v. nor forsake you: Whey you are fit for punishment, He will certainly fail you, but He will not completely forsake you, God forbid. Rather He stands a bit away until they receive their punishment. And then the Holy One, blessed be He, returns to them.
1. Explain the difficulty, both in our verse and in 4:31, according to both of the commentators.
2. What is the difference between the two of them in resolving the difficulty?