(46) he said to them: Take to heart all the words with which I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children, that they may observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching. (47) For this is not a trifling thing for you: it is your very life; through it you shall long endure on the land that you are to possess upon crossing the Jordan.
(מו) שימו לבבכם. צריך אדם שיהיו עיניו ולבו ואזניו מכונים לדברי תורה, וכן הוא אומר (יחזקאל מ, ד) בן אדם ראה בעיניך ובאזניך שמע ושים לבך וגו' , הרי דברים קל וחמר, ומה תבנית הבית שהוא נראה לעינים ונמדד בקנה צריך אדם שיהיו עיניו ואזניו ולבו מכונים להבין, דברי תורה שהן כהררין התלויין בשערה על אחת כמה וכמה:
(א) כי לא דבר רק הוא מכם. לא לחנם אתם יגעים בה, כי הרבה שכר תלוי בה, כי הוא חייכם דבר אחר, אין לך דבר ריקן בתורה שאם תדרשנו שאין בו מתן שכר, תדע לך שכן אמרו (בראשית לו, כב) ואחות לוטן תמנע, (שם לו, יב) ותמנע היתה פלגש וגו' לפי שאמרה איני כדאי להיות לו לאשה הלואי ואהיה פילגשו, וכל כך למה, להודיע שבחו של אברהם שהיו שלטונים ומלכים מתאוים להדבק בזרעו:
(46) שימו לבבכם SET YOUR HEARTS [UNTO ALL THE WORDS WHICH I TESTIFY AGAINST YOU THIS DAY] — Indeed, it is necessary for a man that his eyes, his heart and his ears, should all be attentively directed to the words of the Torah, for so it states, (Ezekiel 40:4) “Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart [upon all that I shall show thee]” (viz., the plan of the Temple). If in the case of the model of the Temple, which was being made visible to the eyes and was being measured by a rod, it was necessary for a man, according to Scripture, that his eyes, his ears and his heart be attentive, then in order to understand the words of the Torah which are like mountains suspended on a hair (i.e., numerous laws are derived from a single word of the Torah), how much the more is this necessary!
(1) כי לא דבר רק הוא מכם FOR IT IS NOT A VAIN THING FOR YOU — it is not for nothing that you are to occupy yourselves laboriously with it. because much reward depends on it, כי הוא חייכם FOR IT IS YOUR LIFE (life is the reward). Another explanation: There is not one empty (ריק i.e., apparently superfluous) word in the Torah that, if you properly expound it, has not a grant of reward attached to it for doing so. You can know this, for so did our Rabbis say: It states (Genesis 36:22) “And Lotan’s sister was Timna”; (Genesis 36:32) “and Timna was concubine [to Eliphaz, Esau’s son]”. Why is this stated? Because she (Timna) said, “If I am unworthy to become his (Elphaz's) wife, would that I would become his concubine!”. And why all this (why does Scripture enter into all these details of her birth and marriage; of what interest is it to us)? To tell you in what distinction Abraham was held — that rulers and kings (Lotan was one of the chieftains of Seir, cf. Genesis 36:20—21) were eager to connect themselves by marriage to his descendants (Siphre; cf. Rashi on Genesis 36:12).
(מו) אשר אנכי מעיד בכם היום בשירת האזינו שאני מעיד ומתרה בישראל שכמו שנתן להם האל ית' פרנסה שלא בצער כדי שיעבדוהו כן ישחיתם בהחטיאם כוונתו:
(מז) אשר תצוום את בניכם בסוף ימיכם הזכירו בצוואתכם לבניכם כל אלה הדברי' ותצוום שישמרו מאוד לנפשם פן ישחיתון כמו שצוה דוד לשלמה בנו:
(מח) לשמור לעשות כדי שהבנים ישמרו ויעשו:
(46) אשר אנכי מעיד בכם היום, in the song of Haazinu which I use to make Israel be witness to my admonitions. The principal message is that just as while the Jewish people observe the commandments G’d arranges for their livelihood to be attained with ease and without much sweat, so, He will destroy them if they do not, because they thwart His plans for mankind as a whole.
(47) אשר תצוום את בניכם, near the end of your respective lives command your children to observe the matters which I have spoken to you about. It is a matter of life and death for them.
(48) לשמור לעשות, you have to observe all these matters in order that as their role model, your children will do so also.
(מו) שימו לבבכם לכל הדברים אשר אנכי מעיד בכם. אין זה לשון עדות אלא לשון התראה, כלשון (שמות יט) רד העד בעם, וכן (שם) כי אתה העדות בנו. ויזהיר משה בכאן שישים האדם כל מחשבתו בתורה, וזהו שאמר לבבכם ולא אמר שימו לבבם כדי שיעבדו להקב"ה בשני יצרים, ביצר טוב וביצר רע, וכן דרשו רז"ל בראתי יצר הרע בראתי לו תורה תבלין.
(6) Moses warns the people (Deut. 32,46) not to think that the Torah is only a garment for deeper truths. "Take to heart all the words with which I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children that they may observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching,..for it is not a vain thing."
(7) The Torah also employs such parables on occasion. When Moses says in Deut 32,46, "pay attention to all the matters which I testify against you this day...for it is not an empty matter... but it is your life," the reference is to the fact that words of admonition are not to be understood only at face value, but they address themselves also to our ability to comprehend spiritual concepts. (see our commentary about G'd talking to Adam in Eden, chapter seven)
(מז) כי לא דבר רק הוא מכם. לא לחנם אתם יגעים בה, כי הרבה שכר תלוי בה, כי הוא חייכם דבר אחר, אין לך דבר ריקן בתורה שאם תדרשנו שאין בו מתן שכר, תדע לך שכן אמרו (בראשית לו, כב) ואחות לוטן תמנע, (שם לו, יב) ותמנע היתה פלגש וגו' לפי שאמרה איני כדאי להיות לו לאשה הלואי ואהיה פילגשו, וכל כך למה, להודיע שבחו של אברהם שהיו שלטונים ומלכים מתאוים להדבק בזרעו:
(47) כי לא דבר רק הוא מכם FOR IT IS NOT A VAIN THING FOR YOU — it is not for nothing that you are to occupy yourselves laboriously with it. because much reward depends on it, כי הוא חייכם FOR IT IS YOUR LIFE (life is the reward). Another explanation: There is not one empty (ריק i.e., apparently superfluous) word in the Torah that, if you properly expound it, has not a grant of reward attached to it for doing so. You can know this, for so did our Rabbis say: It states (Genesis 36:22) “And Lotan’s sister was Timna”; (Genesis 36:32) “and Timna was concubine [to Eliphaz, Esau’s son]”. Why is this stated? Because she (Timna) said, “If I am unworthy to become his (Elphaz's) wife, would that I would become his concubine!”. And why all this (why does Scripture enter into all these details of her birth and marriage; of what interest is it to us)? To tell you in what distinction Abraham was held — that rulers and kings (Lotan was one of the chieftains of Seir, cf. Genesis 36:20—21) were eager to connect themselves by marriage to his descendants (Siphre; cf. Rashi on Genesis 36:12).