Torah Reading for Masei

And you shall clear out the Land.

You shall vacate it of its inhabitants, and then you shall “settle in it.” Only then will you be able to survive there, but if you do not do this, you will be unable to survive there.

This is the land which shall fall to you.

Since many precepts apply to the Land [of Israel] and do not apply outside the Land, Scripture found it necessary to chart the outer limits of its boundaries from all sides, to inform you that the precepts apply everywhere within these borders.

shall fall to you.

Since it was apportioned by lot, the division is described in terms of נְפִילָה, falling [a word commonly used in connection with lots]. The Midrash Aggadah says that [this expression is used here] because the Holy One, blessed is He, cast down [lit., caused to fall] from heaven the celestial ministers of the seven [Canaanite] nations, and shackled them before Moses. He said to him [Moses], See, they no longer have any power. — [Mid. Tanchuma]

Your southernmost corner shall be.

The southern flank extending from east to west.

from the desert of Zin.

which adjoins Edom, beginning in the southeastern corner of the land of the nine tribes. How? Three lands lie south of the Land of Israel, each adjoining the other-part of Egypt, the entire land of Edom, and the entire land of Moab. The land of Egypt is in the southwestern corner, as it says [later] in this passage, “from Azmon to the stream of Egypt and its ends shall be to the sea” (verse 5). The stream of Egypt ran through the entire length of Egypt, as it says, “from the Shihor [river], which is along the face of Egypt” (Josh. 13:3), and it intervenes between the land of Egypt from the Land of Israel. The land of Edom adjoins it [Egypt] from the east, and the land of Moab adjoins the land of Edom at the southeastern corner [of the land of Israel]. When the Israelites departed from Egypt, had the Omnipresent wished to expedite their entry into the Land, He would have taken them northward across the Nile, and they would have thus entered the Land. But He did not do so, and this is the meaning of what is said, “God did not lead them [by] way of the land of the Philistines” (Exod. 13:17). For they [the Philistines] dwelt by the sea in the west of the land of Canaan, as it says regarding the Philistines, “those who inhabit the coastal area, the Cherethite nation” (Zeph. 2:5). He did not lead them by that route, but diverted them and took them along the southern route, to the desert. Ezekiel called it “the desert of the nations” (Ezek. 5:35) because several nations dwelt alongside it. He led them along the south, always from west to east, until they arrived at the southern end of the land of Edom. They asked the king of Edom for permission to enter his land and traverse its width in order to enter the Land [of Israel], but he refused, and they had to turn and travel along the entire south of Edom until they reached the southern end of the land of Moab, as it says, “He sent [messengers] also to the king of Moab, but he was unwilling” (Jud. 11:17). They then traversed the entire southern boundary of Moab, right to the end, and then turned northward until they had passed along its entire eastern boundary, along its width, and when they finished its eastern boundary, they came upon the land of Sihon and Og, who dwelt to the east of the land of Canaan, with the Jordan [river] intervening between them. This is the meaning of what is stated concerning Jephthah, “And they went through the desert and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab, and they came to the east of the land of Moab” (ibid. 18). They conquered the lands of Sihon and Og, which were to the north of Moab, and came near to the Jordan, opposite the northwestern corner of the land of Moab. Hence, the land of Canaan, which was across the Jordan to the west, has its southeastern corner bordering on Edom.

The border then turns south of Maaleh Akrabim.

Whenever the term וְנָסַב (“turns”) or וְיָצָא (“extends to”) is used, it [Scripture] informs us that the border was not straight, but veered outward; the boundary line bent to the north, angling westward, so that the border passed south of Maaleh Akrabim, so that Maaleh Akrabim was within the border.

passing toward Zin.

Heb. צִנָה, to Zin, as in מִצְרַיְמָה, to Egypt.

its ends shall be.

Heb. תוֹצְאֹתָיו, its ends, to the south of Kadesh-barnea.

it shall extend.

The boundary stretches northward and continues angling westward, until it reaches Hazar-addar, and from there to Azmon and from there to the stream of Egypt. The term “turns” is used here, because Scripture writes, “it shall extend to Hazar-addar.” For it began to widen after passing Kadesh-barnea, and the width of that strip which protruded northward was from Kadesh-barnea to Azmon. From there onward, the boundary narrowed and turned southward, reaching the river of Egypt, and from there westward to the Great Sea, which is the western boundary of the entire Land of Israel. Thus, the river of Egypt is in the southwestern corner.

and its ends shall be to the sea.

To the western border, for the southern border no longer stretches westward past there.

The western border.

And what was the western border?

[It shall be for you] the Great Sea.

As a boundary.

and the border.

The islands in the sea are also included in the border. These islands are called isles in old French. — [Gittin 8a]

northern border.

Heb. גְּבוּל צָפוֹן, the northern boundary.

From the Great Sea turn yourselves toward Mount Hor.

which is the northwestern corner. Its summit slopes down into the sea. Some of the expanse of the sea is inward of it and some outside it.

turn yourselves.

Change your direction, to move from west to north, toward Mount Hor.

turn yourselves.

An expression denoting a slant, as in “the [slanting] chamber (תָּא) of the guards” (I Kings 14:28); “the chamber (תָּא) of the gate” (Ezek. 40:10), which are called apendiz in old French [penthouse, lean-to, a small building with a sloping roof, attached to a main building] for it is curved and sloping.

From Mount Hor.

you shall turn and continue along the northern border eastward, and then you will arrive at the entrance to Hamath, which is Antioch. - [Targum Yerushalmi]

and the ends of the border.

Heb. תּוֹצְאֹת הַגּבוּל, the ends of the border. Whenever [Scripture] mentions “the ends of the border” either the boundary line ends there completely and does not continue further in that direction, or from there it spreads out, broadens, and extends backwards, continuing in a more slanting direction than [encompassed in] the original expanse. In relation to the breadth of the original dimension, it is called the ends, for that dimension ends there.

and its ends shall be Hazar-enan.

This is the end of the northern border, and Hazar-enan is situated in the northeastern corner. From there “you shall then turn yourselves” toward the eastern border.

You shall then turn yourselves.

Heb. וְהִתְאַוִּיתֶם, a term denoting turning or veering, cognate with [the term] תְּתָאוּ.

to Shepham.

on the eastern boundary, and from there to Riblah.

east of Ain.

[Ain is] the name of a place, and the border passes east of it, so that Ain is situated within the border and is part of the Land of Israel.

Then the border descends.

As the border proceeds from north to south, it descends.

and hits the... shore.

[Heb. כֶּתֶף, lit. shoulder: i.e.,] the side.

and hits the eastern shore of Lake Kinnereth.

For Lake Kinnereth was within the border to the west, and the border which is east of Lake Kinnereth, descends to the Jordan. The Jordan flows from north to south diagonally, slanting eastward, moving toward the land of Canaan opposite Lake Kinnereth, and extending along the eastern flank of the Land of Israel, opposite Lake Kinnereth, until it falls into the Sea of Salt [the Dead Sea], and from there the border ends with its ends at the Sea of Salt, from which the southeastern border begins. This is how it is encompassed from all its four sides.

in the east toward the sunrise.

Heb. קֵדְמָה, meaning toward the front of the world, which is in the east, for the east side is called the forefront [lit., the face] and the west is called the back. Thus, the south is to the right, and the north is to the left.

to apportion the inheritance.

They are the ones who shall divide the inheritance among you according to its portions.

the three cities.

Although there were nine tribes in the land of Canaan, and here [across the Jordan] there were only two-and-a-half, He equalized the number of their refuge cities, because Gilead had many murderers, as it says, “Gilead, a city of workers of violence, who lurk to shed blood” (Hos. 6: 8). - [Mak. 10a, Sifrei Massei 6]

If he struck him with an iron instrument.

This does not refer to accidental manslaughter discussed nearby, but to premeditated murder, and it teaches us that the implement of murder has to be big enough to cause death, for regarding all the [other] cases it says, אֲשֶׁר יָמוּת בָּה, “which is deadly,” and the Targum [Onkelos] renders, “of a size capable of causing death,” except in the case of iron, since it is evident and known to the Holy One, blessed is He, that a small piece of iron can kill, even a needle (Sifrei Massei 6, Sanh. 76b). That is why [in the case of iron] the Torah did not specify a size and write “which is deadly.” If you say that Scripture refers to one who murders unintentionally, [this cannot be because], below it says, “or, with any stone which is deadly, and without seeing [his victim]…” (verse 23). This shows that in the cases mentioned before it, Scripture speaks of one who murders with intent.

with a fist-sized stone.

[A stone] large enough to fill a hand. — [Onkelos]

which is deadly.

Which is large enough to cause death, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders. Since it [Scripture] says, “If one of them strikes the other with a stone” (Exod. 21:18), but it does not specify a size, I might think any size? Therefore it says, “which is deadly” - [Sifrei Massei 10]

or with a fist-sized wooden instrument.

Since it says, “If a man strikes his manservant or his maidservant with a rod” (Exod. 21:20), I might think any size? That is why with regard to wood it says, “which is deadly”-it must be a size capable of causing death. — [Sifrei Massei 11]

when he meets him.

Even in the cities of refuge.

with premeditation.

As the Targum [Onkelos] renders, בְּכַמְנָא, with ambush.

accidentally.

Heb. בְּפֶתַע, by accident, but the Targum renders בִּתְכֵף, “suddenly,” [meaning] that he was next to him and he had no time to take precautions against [killing] him.

or, with any stone which is deadly.

he struck him.

without seeing.

He did not see him [while striking him].

he threw it down at him.

From here they said that the one who kills by way of a falling action is exiled, but if [he kills] by means of an upward action is not exiled. — [Mak. 7b]

until the kohen gadol… dies.

For he causes the Divine Presence to rest upon Israel and thus prolong their lives, whereas the murderer causes the Divine Presence to withdraw from Israel and thus shorten their lives. He is not worthy of standing before the Kohen Gadol [Sifrei Massei 20]. Another interpretation: Because the Kohen Gadol should have prayed that such a misfortune should not befall Israel during his lifetime [Mak. 11a].

who anointed him with the sacred oil.

According to the literal meaning, this is one of the elliptical verses [in Scripture], as it does not reveal who anointed him; thus, it is like saying, “who was anointed by the one who anointed him with the sacred oil.” Our Rabbis expounded it in Tractate Makkoth (11b) as a verification of the law, to teach that if before sentence was passed, the Kohen Gadol died and they appointed another one in his stead, and afterwards sentence was passed, he [the murderer] can return home only after the second one has died, as it says, “who anointed him.” Did he anoint the kohen, or did the kohen anoint him? However, this includes the [case of a high kohen who was] anointed in his days [and thus, it is as if he had anointed the Kohen Gadol, so to speak], that he frees him through his death.

he has no blood.

He is like one who kills a dead person, who has no blood.

in all your dwelling places.

This teaches that the minor Sanhedrin functions outside the Land as long as there is one functioning in the Land of Israel [namely, while the Temple stood]. — [Mak. 7a, Sifrei Massei 25]

Whoever kills a person….

The one who comes to kill him because he murdered someone.

based on the testimony of witnesses.

who testify that he murdered him intentionally, after he had been forewarned. [I.e., the blood avenger may not slay the murderer unless there are witnesses that he committed the murder.]- [Sifrei Massei 26]

You shall not accept ransom.

He cannot be acquitted in exchange for payment. — [Keth. 37b]

You shall not accept ransom for the one who has fled to his city of refuge.

One who has fled to a city of refuge after he killed someone unintentionally cannot absolve himself from exile through payment by giving a ransom so that he can return to dwell in the Land before the kohen dies. — [Keth. 37b]

has fled.

Heb. לָנוּס, is equivalent to לְנָס, “for the one who has fled.” Similarly, “those who returned (שׁוּבֵי) from the war” (Mich. 2:8). Similarly, “Those who are removed (נוּגֵי) from the appointed season” (Zeph. 3:18); “for [all the people…] were circumcised (מֻלִים)” (Josh. 5:5). Just as you say שׁוּב in reference to one who has already returned, and מוּל regarding one who is already circumcised, so will you say לָנוּס for one who has already fled. He is called נוּס, that is to say, ‘an escapee.’ If you say that לָנוּס means ‘to flee,’ and explain it thus: You shall not accept ransom for who must flee, in order to absolve him from exile, then I do not know how it can say, “to return to live in the Land” for if he has not yet fled, from where should he return?

And you shall not corrupt.

Heb. ולֹא-תַחֲנִיפוּ, you shall not cause it to be wicked, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders, לֹא תְחַיְבוּן, you shall not make sinful."

in which I dwell.

You should not cause me to dwell amidst its uncleanness.

for I am the Lord who dwells among the children of Israel.

Even when they are unclean, the Divine Presence resides with them. — [Sifrei Massei 32]

Every daughter…who inherits property.

Because her father had no son.

Mahlah, Tirzah….

Here it enumerates them according to seniority over each other in age, and they were married in the order they were born. But throughout Scripture (26:33, 27:1, Josh. 17:3), it lists them in order of their intelligence and informs us that they were all equal. — [B.B. 120a]

to a forest land.

To the land of Israel which is planted like כרמל, meaning: planted like a forest.

and those who hold onto the Torah.

The Sanhedrin.

and the rulers.

the kings.

prophesied by Baal.

In the name of Baal.

Therefore, I will still contend.

Before I bring misfortune upon you, I will still contend with you through My prophets, although I have already contended with you many days.

the isles of the Kittites.

To the isles of the Kittites. איי is (isles in French).

the isles .

איי is (isles in French).

and send to Kedar.

And send to Kedar to see their custom.

and consider diligently.

And put your heart to it to consider the matter diligently.

whether.

Heb. הן, like אם, if. Whether either of those nations exchanged its god although they are no gods, yet My nation exchanged their glory, with which they were honored. The Kittites and the Kedarites were tent dwellers and cattle herders, who would travel, go, and wander from pasture to pasture and from desert to desert, and they carry their gods with them to the place where they encamp. But I carried you until I established you, yet you forsook Me. This is how Jonathan paraphrased it. Our Sages said however: The Kittites worshipped water and the Kedarites worshipped fire. And although they know that water quenches fire, they did not forsake their god.

for what does not avail.

For an idol that does not avail.

O heavens, be astonished.

Heb. שמו, an expression of astonishment, like השתוממוּ. It is the imperative form, with the same vowel points as (I Sam. 14:9): “If they say thus to us,” Wait (דּמּוּ)."

and storm.

Heb. ושערו, an expression of סער, a storm.

become very desolate.

As though you are becoming desolate because of the Temple that is destined to be destroyed.

two evils.

Had they exchanged their Deity [lit. their fear] for one His equal, it would be one evil, and now that they have forsaken Me, that I am a spring of living waters, to follow idols, which are like cisterns of stored up water, and they are broken and cracked, and their water is absorbed in their cracks, these are two evils.

to dig.

Heb. לחצב, lit. to hew.

that do not hold.

(Tendront in O.F.) their water, for the water will make their edge and their walls muddy, and they cave in.

Is he a home born slave?.

The son of a maidservant.

roar.

roar, a present tense.

young lions.

Symbolic of kings.

were burnt.

were burnt with fire.

Also the children of Noph and Tahpanhes.

They are the Egyptians upon whom you trust for aid.

will break your crown.

They will break your skull. ירעוּך is an expression of breaking (רציצה), as we translate ורצוץ, “and crushed” (Deut. 28:33), וּרעיע.

Is not this caused to you.

Is not this misfortune and this retribution caused to you by the guilt and the iniquity that you have forsaken the Lord your God?

at the time He leads you by the way.

For He would teach you the good and the straight way.

what have you to do in the way of Egypt.

Why do you leave Me and trust in Egypt?

to drink the water of the Shihor.

For they drowned your male children in the Nile. Shihor is the Nile, as it is said: “From the Shihor which is before Egypt,” in the Book of Joshua (13:3).

and what have you to do.

to rebel against Me so that you should be exiled to the way of Assyria, to the other side of the Euphrates River?

Your evil will chastise you.

Eventually, your evil will bring suffering upon you.

and your backslidings.

, Heb. ומשבותיך, an expression related to “backsliding children (שובבים)” (infra 3:22).

will reprove you.

Heb. תוכחך, an expression of reproof.

and the fear of Me was not.

My fear was not in your heart that you should fear Me.

I broke your yoke.

To the wooden yoke an expression of breaking applies, and to the yoke-bands which are of leather an expression of tearing open applies.

yoke-bands.

[מוסרותיך are the] ropes used to shackle the yoke [to the animal].

and you said, “I will not transgress.”.

your words.

but on every lofty hill.

Put you did not keep your promise, for on every lofty hill you recline (צעה). This is an expression of a bed and a sheet (מצע). [The word] כי serves as an expression of ‘but.’

I planted you a noble vine stock.

Heb. שורק is the branches of a good vine, that is to say the children of pious and righteous fathers. Its midrashic interpretation is: I planted you שורק. I added for you to the seven commandments of the children of Noah, six hundred and six, as is the numerical value of שורק.

degenerate.

Heb. סוּרי (Destoultours in O.F).

wild vine.

that grows in the forests.

with natron.

A type of earth with which garments are cleansed and rubbed.

soap.

Heb. בֹּרִית, cleanliness. Comp. “And pure (וּבַר) of heart” (Ps. 24:4). Some explain בֹּרִית as savon in French, soap.

your iniquity is stained.

Jon. renders: Like the mark of a stain that is unclean, so have your sins increased before Me.

is stained .

כתם is tka in O.F.

your iniquity.

This is said concerning the iniquity of the ‘Golden Calf,’ which remains in existence forever, as it is stated: “And on the day of My visitation, I will visit upon them their sin” (Exodus 32:34). All visitations that come upon Israel have part of the iniquity of the Golden Calf in them.

See your way in the valley.

See what you have done opposite Beth-Peor, and until now you adhere to that way like a swift she camel clinging to her ways.

young she-camel.

Heb. בכרה, a young female camel, that loves to wander.“The young camels (בכרי) of Midian” (Isa. 60:6) is translated “and they are young camels,” as we find in Sanhedrin 52a: There are many old camels laden with the skins of young camels (הוגני).

clinging.

Adhering to the ways of her youth, an expression similar to: “it would have clung (מסריך סריך)” (Chullin 51a). This may be associated with “a shoe thong נעל) (שרוך ” (Gen. 14:23). She binds the ways of her youth in her heart.

A wild donkey.

(salvatico in O.F.) wild, and some interpret it as poulain in O.F., a foal.

accustomed to the desert.

Accustomed to be in the deserts, so she loves to wander.

that snuffs up the wind.

She opens her mouth and snuffs up the wind, and he always returns to his place.

her tendency like the sea creatures, who can hinder her?.

That trait of the sea creatures that she has, for also the sea creature snuffs up the wind, as it is said: “They snuff up the wind like sea creatures” (infra 14:6). Who can hinder her from that trait? So it is with you who can return you from your evil way?

her tendency like a sea creature.

Son dagronemant in O.F., dragon nature. Jonathan rendered it in this manner, כערודה. Another explanation: It is an expression of wailing, comp.“moaning and wailing” (תּאניה ואניה) (Lam. 2:5). Another explanation: (sa contree in French,) her country, comp. Taanath Shiloh (Josh. 16:6).

all who seek her will not weary.

For they will weary needlessly, for they will be unable to overtake her. What will her end be? In her month, they will find her. There is one month in the year that she sleeps for the whole month, and then she is captured. You, too, - one month (viz. Ab) was already prepared for you from the days of the spies, when your forefathers established it as a time of vain weeping, therein, you will be captured.

Withhold your foot from going barefoot.

This your habit, like the wild donkey that loves to wander. My prophets say to you, “Withhold your foot from idolatry lest you go barefoot into exile and withhold your throat from dying of thirst.”

but you said.

concerning the words of the prophets.

I despair.

It is of no concern. I despair of your words. נואש is (nonkalajjr in O.F.) nonchalair in modern French.

when he is found out.

At the beginning, when he is found to be a thief, and he was presumed to be faithful. In this manner, Jonathan rendered it.

and at the time of their misfortune they say.

i.e., they say to Me, “Arise and save us.” Jonathan, too, translates in this manner: And at the time that misfortune befalls them, they deny their idols and confess before Me, and say. “Have mercy upon us and save us.”

as many as your cities were your gods.

In every city was another god.