The Command to Leave Horeb
1 These are the words which Moses spoke [because they are words of reproof and he enumerated here all of the places where they angered the Lord, he speaks only by way of allusion out of regard for the honor of Israel] to all Israel [had he spoken only to some of them, the others might have contended that were they there they could have countered the rebuke] across the Jordan, concerning [their angering the Lord in] the wilderness [Exo 16:3]—in the Arabah—opposite Suph [i.e., concerning their rebelling against the Lord at Suph (Exo 14:11)], concerning [what they had done in the wilderness of] Paran and Tophel and Laban [through the spies], and concerning [their] calumniating [the manna, saying that it was] white [see Num 21:5], and [concerning] Hazeroth and Dizahab [concerning the golden calf that they made because of their abundance of gold].
Berakhot 32a:7
The Sages of the school of Rabbi Yannai, however, say proof that Moses spoke impertinently toward God on High is derived from here, Moses’ rebuke at the beginning of Deuteronomy: “And Dizahab” (Deu 1:1). This is an entry in a list of places where Moses had spoken to Israel. As there was no
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place encountered by that name, it is interpreted as an allusion to another matter.
Rashi’s Commentary
These are the words—Because these are words of reproof and he is enumerating here all the places where they provoked God to anger, therefore he suppresses all mention of the matters in which they sinned and refers to them only by a mere allusion contained in the names of these places out of regard for Israel (cf. Sifrei Devarim 1:1; Onkelos and Targum Jonathan).
2 [There is no shorter route from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea than that by way of Mount Seir, it taking] eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the road of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea [and the Lord, in his desire to hasten your entry into the land of Canaan, caused you to traverse it in three days; but
because of your backsliding He led you around Mount
Seir for forty years].
3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, that Moses proclaimed to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had commanded him to give to them [Moses reproving them only shortly before his death (taking Jacob as his precedent, who reproved his sons only shortly before his death)],
4 [Moses reproving them only] after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites [reasoning that if he reproved them before entering (at least) part of the land they might regard the reproof as an excuse for his inability to take it], who reigned in Heshbon [“a hard king living in a hard place”—in spite of which Moses defeated him], and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth [lit., “hardness” (again, “a hard king in a hard place”)] in Edrei [the name of the kingdom].
Rashi’s Commentary
After he had defeated Sihon—Moses said: If I reprove them before they enter at least a part of the land, they will say, “What claim has this man upon us? What good has he ever conferred upon us? He only comes (his purpose is only) to vex us and to discover some pretext for leaving us in the wilderness, for he really has not the power to bring us into the land” On this account he waited until he had defeated Sihon and Og before them and had given them possession of their land—and only after that did he reprove them (Sifrei Devarim 3:2).
5 Across the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses commenced and explained this law [in seventy languages], saying:
Rashi’s Commentary
הוֹאִיל means commenced, just as (Gen 18:27) “Now behold, I have ventured (הוֹאַלְתִּי)” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 4:1).
And Abraham replied: “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am [already] but [reduced to] dust [by the kings] and ashes [by Nimrod]. GEN 18:27
Explained this law—In the seventy languages of the ancient world did he explain it to them (Bereishit Rabbah 49; Midrash Tanchuma, Devarim 2; cf. Rashi on Deu 27:8; Sotah 32a).
6 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.
Sifrei Devarim 5:1
The Lord our God said to us at Horeb to say—He said to them: It is not of myself that I am telling you, but from the mouth of the Holy One blessed be he.
7 Turn and journey [the way to Arad and Hormah] and advance to the mountain of the Amorites, to all the neighboring peoples in the plain [the forest plain], in the mountain [the “king’s mountain” (see Gittin 57a)], in the lowland [of the south], in the south and on the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as
far as the great river, the Euphrates [called the “great river” because of its being mentioned in conjunction with the land of Israel].”
Rashi’s Commentary
Turn and journey—This was the journey to Arad and Hormah mentioned in Num 21:1-3.
1 [When] the Canaanite heard [the Amalekites changed their language to that of Canaan, so that the Israelites pray for victory over the Canaanites (which they were not)], the king of Arad, who lived in the Negev [i.e., the Amalekites (see 13:29)—when he heard that Aaron had died and the clouds of glory had departed and] that Israel was coming by the road of Atharim [the southern route, by which the spies had come (see 13:22)], he fought against Israel and captured from them a captive [a single maidservant].
And they went up through the Negev, and he [Caleb] came to Hebron [he prostrated himself on the graves of the patriarchs to be saved from the counsel of the spies], where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were. (Now Hebron [the lowest-grade soil in Canaan] was superior, seven-fold to Zoan [the highest-grade soil] in Egypt.) NUM 13:22
The Amalekites live in the land of the Negev [because they had already been “burnt” by the Amalekites, the spies mentioned them (first) in order to intimidate the people]; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live [right] by the sea and along the Jordan [and you will not be able to cross]. NUM 13:29
2 And Israel made a vow to the Lord and said: “If you will indeed deliver this people into my hand [when Israel saw them dressed as Amalekites and speaking the Canaanite tongue, they said “this people”—whoever they are], then I will consecrate [the spoils of] their cities [to the Lord].
3 The Lord heard Israel’s plea and delivered the Canaanite. He completely destroyed them and [he consecrated] their towns [as per 2 above]. Thus the name of the place was called Hormah [“devastation”]. NUM 21:1-3
And advance to the mountain of the Amorites—Understand this according to what it literally implies.
In the plain—This is the plain of the forest.
In the mountain—This is the king’s mountain.
In the lowland—This is the lowland of the south country.
This work, "The Command to Leave Horeb," is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0.