וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְשָׁמַרְתָּ מִשְׁמַרְתּוֹ וְחֻקֹּתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וּמִצְוֹתָיו כָּל הַיָּמִים
KJ (King James translation): Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
BN (BibleNet translation): Therefore you shall love YHVH your god, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, all your days.
AHAVTA: If you want to introduce, and then embed, a new concept, no technique is better than drip-drip repetition, finding any and every opportunity you can to use the word. So Mosheh introduced the concept of "loving" the deity, rather than "fearing" him, at the start of the Shema in Deuteronomy 6, and let it simmer for a while, a mention here and there over the next few chapters. But then, in chapter 10, no less than 4 opportunities (verses 12, 15, 18 and 19), at least two of them artificially contrived, and in the other two "love" wasn't the obvious word - "treat your neighbour as yourself" would surely have been sufficient? So chapter 11 begins (there are no chapters in the original Yehudit version, but one continuous text broken only by paragraphs, or into sedrot, so this point is actually even stronger) with yet another, and the term is established.
11:2 VIYDATEM HAYOM KI LO ET BENEYCHEM ASHER LO YADU VA ASHER LO RA'U ET MUSAR YHVH ELOHEYCHEM ET GADOL ET YADO HA CHAZAKAH U ZERO HA TENUYAH
KJ: And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
BN: And know that today I am not speaking to your children, who have not known, and who have not seen, the chastisement of YHVH your god, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm...
11:3 VE ET OTOTAV VE ET MA'ASAV ASHER ASAH BETOCH MITSRAYIM LE PHAROH MELECH MITSRAYIM U LE CHOL ARTSO
KJ: And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
BN: And his signs, and his works which he performed in the midst of Mitsrayim, to Pharaoh the king of Mitsrayim, and to all his land...
11:4 VA ASHER ASAH LE CHEYL MITSRAYIM LE SUSAV U LE RICHVO ASHER HEYTSIPH ET MEY YAM SUPH AL PENEYHEM BE RADPHAM ACHAREYCHE VA YE'ABDEM YHVH AD HAYOM HAZEH
KJ: And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;
BN: And what he did to the Egyptian army, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued after you, and how YHVH destroyed them until this day...
11:5 VA ASHER ASAH LACHEM BA MIDBAR AD BO'ACHEM AD HA MAKOM HA ZEH
KJ: And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;
BN: And what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came unto this place...
All of this was stated, in great detail, in the opening chapters of this book. Why does he need to repeat it?
11:6 VA ASHER ASAH LE DATAN VE LA AVI-RAM BENEY ELI-AV BEN RE'U-VEN ASHER PATSTAH HA ARETS ET PIYHA VA TIVLA'EM VE ET BATEYHEM VE ET AHALEYHEM VE ET KOL HA YEKUM ASHER BE RAGLEYHEM BE KEREV KOL YISRA-EL
KJ: And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel:
BN: And what he did to Datan and Avi-Ram, the sons of Eli-Av ben Re'u-Ven; how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living substance that followed them, in the midst of all Yisra-Eel...
The original version of this (Numbers 16) made it seem like a post-volcanic earthquake; this version appears to confirm it.
11:7 KI EYNEYCHEM HARO'OT ET KOL MA'ASEH YHVH HA GADOL ASHER ASAH
KJ: But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.
BN: But your eyes have seen all the great work of YHVH which he performed.
This is now the end of the sentence that began at verse 2, and it is, once again, either not true (see my CAVEAT at verse 2), or perhaps the text belongs elsewhere - it would have to go right back to the original giving of the Law at Sinai, and that seems highly unlikely. But if it is the case, and these people have indeed lived through the experience themselves, rather than being the generation after the one that was killed off as a punishment... then we have to go back to the first ten chapters of this book, and re-think them through that lens.
11:8 U SHEMARTEM ET KOL HA MITSVAH ASHER ANOCHI METSAVCHA HAYOM LEMA'AN TECHEZKU U VATEM VIY'RISHTEM ET HA ARETS ASHER ATAH OVRIM SHAMAH LERISHTAH
KJ: Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;
BN: Therefore you shall keep all the instructions which I am giving you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you are crossing over to take possession of ...
KJ: For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs:
BN: For the land to which you are coming, to take possession of it, is not like the land of Mitsrayim which you have just left, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, like a garden of herbs.
The caveat continues - if these are the 40-year offspring, they were born in the desert and would have no idea at all what Egypt was like.
The point about "watering with your foot" (verse 10) is that the land in the Nile Delta is so fertile you really don't have to do anything, and crops will grow; but in Yisra-El the ground soaks up the water - whether into marsh or desert or inland lake and river - so that crop-growing isn't at all easy, and therefore you will need YHVH's support to make it fertile (or the man-made computer-technologies of modern Israel, which are revolutionising agriculture in the Third World). All of which forces us to re-think the meaning of "a land of milk and honey" - does it really mean the Paradisal perfection that we have come to think, or simply a place where cows and bees prosper, but not much else?
And yes, in the Christian world especially, "the land of milk and honey" is understood to mean "Earthly Paradise" - but it isn't; that is Mosheh's message: "life is going to be tough there, people-tough as well as earn-a-living tough. This is going to require struggle. Do not expect to receive what you do not push yourself to create by your own efforts. This is why you are going to need a very full and thorough set of laws, rules, regulations, and a clear definition of morals, values, ethics..."
11:12 ERETS ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA DORESH OTAH TAMID EYNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA BAH ME RESHIT HA SHANAH VE AD ACHARIT SHANAH
KJ: A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
BN: A land which YHVH your god cares for; the eyes of YHVH your god are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
Which could simply mean (Ya'er YHVH panav eleycha) that it's bloody hot there, all the year around, and that's why so much of the land is desert: the perpetual presence of the sun-god, 120+ degrees Fahrenheit in the Negev in the summer!
samech break
11:15 VE NATATI ESEV BE SADECHA LI VEHEMTECHA VA ACHALTA VE SAVATA
וְנָתַתִּי עֵשֶׂב בְּשָׂדְךָ לִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ וְאָכַלְתָּ וְשָׂבָעְתָּ
11:16 HISHAMRU LACHEM PEN YIPHTEH LEVAVECHEM VE SARTEM VA AVADETEM ELOHIM ACHERIM VE HISHTACHAVIYTEM LAHEM
11:17 VE HARA APH YHVH BACHEM VE ATSAR ET HA SHAMAYIM VE LO YIHEYEH MATAR VE HA ADAMAH LO TITEN ET YEVULAH VA AVADETEM MEHERAH ME AL HA ARETS HA TOVAH ASHER YHVH NOTEN LACHEM
KJ: And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
BN: And YHVH's anger will be kindled against you, and he will close up the skies , so that there shall be no rain, and the ground shall not yield her fruit; and you will perish very quickly from off the good land which YHVH is giving you.
YEVULAH: The root, YAVUL, seems to connect to both MABUL (cf Genesis 7:6), which was the No'achic flood, and YOVEL, which is the septennial "Jubilee". Can that be? See my notes to Yuval ben Lamech - and it turns out that, yes, they are absolutely connected. The jubilee celebrates seven years of successful harvest, which is entirely dependent on the rains coming, in the right quantity, when you need them. MABUL = YEVULAH = YOVEL.
But this will only come to fruition (pun intended) if you obey YHVH's laws completely and sincerely. Once again the fertility god (once again the blackmailing bully), before the abstract, metaphysical - rain and crops before mercy and justice. As the next verse affirms.
11:18 VE SAMTEM ET DEVARAI ELEH AL LEVAVECHEM VE AL NAPHSHECHEM U KESHARTEM OTAM LE OT AL YEDEYCHEM VE HAYU LE TOTAPHOT BEYN EYNEYCHEM
KJ: Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
BN: Therefore you shall embed these my words in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them symbolically on your hand, and they shall provide frontlets between your eyes.
The tefillin (but we've already had them instructed, back in Deuteronomy 6:8).
11:19 VE LIMADETEM OTAM ET BENEYCHEM LEDABER BAM BE SHIVTECHA BE VEITECHA U VE LECHTECHA VA DERECH U VE SHACHBECHA U VE KUMECHA
KJ: And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
BN: And you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, and while you are walking along the road, and when you lie down, and when you get up.
LIMADETEM: Deuteronomy 6:7 gives the same instruction, but in slightly different words; and the meaning changes quite radically. There it was SHINANTAM, whose root has to do with "whetting" and "sharpening" - enquiry-based learning, discussion-groups, colloquia and open seminars. But here it is LIMADETEM, which is front-of-class teaching, catechism-by-rote, here is what you need to know, learn it by heart and I will test you next week to make sure you have done so. The former is Aristotelian, and will become the world of the Beit Midrash; the latter is Platonic, and will become the world of the Catholic seminary.
11:20 U CHETAVTAM AL MEZUZOT BEITECHA U VI SHE'ARECHA
KJ: And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
BN: And you shalt write them on the door-posts of your house, and on your gates;
The mezuzah, given in Deuteronomy 6:9, and, as shown in the illustration there, the modern mezuzah contains, wrapped inside it, a written-down copy of the Shema, fulfilling thereby the instruction here. (Nevertheless, note that originally mezuzah was the word for the entire doorpost, and, likewise originally, this little piece of superstitious magic attached to that doorpost was an Eye of Ra or an Eye of Horus, given a Yisra-Eli form.
11:21 LEMA'AN YIRBU YEMEYCHEM VI YEMEY VENEYCHEM AL HA ADAMAH ASHER NISHBA YHVH LA AVOTEYCHEM LATET LAHEM KI YEMEY HA SHAMAYIM AL HA ARETS
KJ: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.
BN: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which YHVH swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the Earth.
samech break
11:22 IM SHAMOR TISHMERUN ET KOL HA MITSVAH HA ZOT ASHER ANOCHI METSAVEH ET'CHEM LA'ASOTAH LE AHAVAH ET YHVH ELOHEYCHEM LALECHET BE CHOL DERACHAV U LEDAVKAH VO
KJ: For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
BN: For if you shall diligently keep all this instruction which I am giving you, to do it, to love YHVH your god, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave to him...
11:23 VE HORISH YHVH ET KOL HA GOYIM HA ELEH MI LIPHNEYCHEM VIYRISHTEM GOYIM GEDOLIM VA ATSUMIM MIKEM
KJ: Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
BN: Then YHVH will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
Once again the testimony of the ten spies is being endorsed. Once again conquest and the expulsion of non-Yisrae-Elis, rather than the "ger asher ba she'arecha" (Exodus 20:10, Leviticus 19:33 et al, but especially Deuteronomy 10:18/19, because he has only just stated these) who is welcomed and treated equally. How are we supposed to follow the Torah if it operates in opposites, in conflicting compulsory commandments, like this one?
11:24 KOL HA MAKOM ASHER TIDROPH KAPH RAGLECHEM BO LACHEM YIHEYEH MIN HA MIDBAR VE HA LEVANON MIN HA NAHAR NEHAR PRAT VE AD HA YAM HA ACHARON YIHEYEH GEVULCHEM
KJ: Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
BN: Every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Levanon, from the river, the river Perat, even to the hinder sea shall be your border.
PERAT: All the way to the Euphrates! So can we assume, once the settlement project on the West Bank has been completed, and the territory annexed to mainland Israel, once the Golan Heights is secured, that the journey east will continue on the same basis - or is a military invasion a more likely strategem? No wonder the Iranians are developing enriched uranium!
HA YAM HA ACHARON: Hopefully this only means the Persian Gulf and not all the way to the Bay of Bengal!
But of course this is a claim that belongs purely to Deuteronomy, which was almost certainly written (not just "written down") at the time of Ezra and Nechem-Yah, when the Beney Yisra-El were just returned from exile in Bavel, and the crossing of the River, meaning the Euphrates, was a key element of the return. So rejoining those still in the exile with the returnees made sense as an idealistic political platform to persuade the reluctant that returning wouldn't break all ties with those in their families who chose not to. And at that time there was indeed a kingdom that stretched all the way from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, and Yehudah was one of its vassal-states - Medean Persia.
11:25 LO YITYATSAV ISH BIPHNEYCHEM PACHDECHEM U MORA'ACHEM YITEN YHVH ELOHEYCHEM AL PENEY CHOL HA ARETS ASHER TIDRECHU VAH KA ASHER DIBER LACHEM
KJ: There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
BN: No man shall be able to stand against you: YHVH your god shall lay the fear of you, and the dread of you, upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as he has told you.
And still no actual laws have been given - unless, and this is not implausible, the Shema and the Ten Commandments were the entire law at the historical time of Mosheh, and everything else is a later addition.
samech break, noting that the sedra ends here, in the Yehudit version, but not the chapter, in the Christian version - my reason for breaking this into two parts. Sedra 4, Re'eh, begins with the next verse, to read which click here.
BN (BibleNet translation): Therefore you shall love YHVH your god, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, all your days.
AHAVTA: If you want to introduce, and then embed, a new concept, no technique is better than drip-drip repetition, finding any and every opportunity you can to use the word. So Mosheh introduced the concept of "loving" the deity, rather than "fearing" him, at the start of the Shema in Deuteronomy 6, and let it simmer for a while, a mention here and there over the next few chapters. But then, in chapter 10, no less than 4 opportunities (verses 12, 15, 18 and 19), at least two of them artificially contrived, and in the other two "love" wasn't the obvious word - "treat your neighbour as yourself" would surely have been sufficient? So chapter 11 begins (there are no chapters in the original Yehudit version, but one continuous text broken only by paragraphs, or into sedrot, so this point is actually even stronger) with yet another, and the term is established.
MISHMARTO: Still one more term to describe the MITZVOT(commandments). Six hundred and thirteen in total, according to the Talmud, based on Rabbi Yishmael's 13 Rules: three hundred and sixty-five prohibitions or restrictions, two hundred and forty-eight positive commandments, responsibilities, obligations. Divided into three categories: MISHPATIM, EDUT (EDUT is missing here) and CHOKIM – "judgements", "testimonies" and "statutes" are the traditional translations - click here for an explanation of the differences. Only seventy-seven of the positive and one hundred and ninety-four of the negative commandments can be observed today, because all the rest depend on the existence of the Temple in Yeru-Shala'im. Twenty-six of those only apply inside the land of Yisra-El. And some are time-bound commandments, from which women are exempt; some only apply to the Kohanim, some only to men and others only to women. They cover every facet of human life, from agricultural practice to business ethics, from sexuality and family life to the spiritual and the ceremonial. They define right and wrong, allot punishments when laws are breached, and give processes to expiate guilt or make amends for error. They determine how many witnesses there must be, and what should happen to false witnesses. The ideal of justice, wrapped around with precise detail. It really is the most extraordinary achievement.
11:2 VIYDATEM HAYOM KI LO ET BENEYCHEM ASHER LO YADU VA ASHER LO RA'U ET MUSAR YHVH ELOHEYCHEM ET GADOL ET YADO HA CHAZAKAH U ZERO HA TENUYAH
וִידַעְתֶּם הַיּוֹם כִּי לֹא אֶת בְּנֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדְעוּ וַאֲשֶׁר לֹא רָאוּ אֶת מוּסַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֶת גָּדְלוֹ אֶת יָדוֹ הַחֲזָקָה וּזְרֹעוֹ הַנְּטוּיָה
KJ: And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm,
BN: And know that today I am not speaking to your children, who have not known, and who have not seen, the chastisement of YHVH your god, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm...
CAVEAT! What is about to follow in the next several verses disputes the forty years in the wilderness, and the punishment of the people who supported the ten spies. Mosheh is addressing those who personally lived through this experience, and who are now standing on the threshold of entering Kena'an.
11:3 VE ET OTOTAV VE ET MA'ASAV ASHER ASAH BETOCH MITSRAYIM LE PHAROH MELECH MITSRAYIM U LE CHOL ARTSO
וְאֶת אֹתֹתָיו וְאֶת מַעֲשָׂיו אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה בְּתוֹךְ מִצְרָיִם לְפַרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם וּלְכָל אַרְצוֹ
KJ: And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
BN: And his signs, and his works which he performed in the midst of Mitsrayim, to Pharaoh the king of Mitsrayim, and to all his land...
11:4 VA ASHER ASAH LE CHEYL MITSRAYIM LE SUSAV U LE RICHVO ASHER HEYTSIPH ET MEY YAM SUPH AL PENEYHEM BE RADPHAM ACHAREYCHE VA YE'ABDEM YHVH AD HAYOM HAZEH
וַאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְחֵיל מִצְרַיִם לְסוּסָיו וּלְרִכְבּוֹ אֲשֶׁר הֵצִיף אֶת מֵי יַם סוּף עַל פְּנֵיהֶם בְּרָדְפָם אַחֲרֵיכֶם וַיְאַבְּדֵם יְהוָה עַד הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה
BN: And what he did to the Egyptian army, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued after you, and how YHVH destroyed them until this day...
11:5 VA ASHER ASAH LACHEM BA MIDBAR AD BO'ACHEM AD HA MAKOM HA ZEH
וַאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לָכֶם בַּמִּדְבָּר עַד בֹּאֲכֶם עַד הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה
KJ: And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;
BN: And what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came unto this place...
All of this was stated, in great detail, in the opening chapters of this book. Why does he need to repeat it?
11:6 VA ASHER ASAH LE DATAN VE LA AVI-RAM BENEY ELI-AV BEN RE'U-VEN ASHER PATSTAH HA ARETS ET PIYHA VA TIVLA'EM VE ET BATEYHEM VE ET AHALEYHEM VE ET KOL HA YEKUM ASHER BE RAGLEYHEM BE KEREV KOL YISRA-EL
וַאֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה לְדָתָן וְלַאֲבִירָם בְּנֵי אֱלִיאָב בֶּן רְאוּבֵן אֲשֶׁר פָּצְתָה הָאָרֶץ אֶת פִּיהָ וַתִּבְלָעֵם וְאֶת בָּתֵּיהֶם וְאֶת אָהֳלֵיהֶם וְאֵת כָּל הַיְקוּם אֲשֶׁר בְּרַגְלֵיהֶם בְּקֶרֶב כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל
BN: And what he did to Datan and Avi-Ram, the sons of Eli-Av ben Re'u-Ven; how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living substance that followed them, in the midst of all Yisra-Eel...
The original version of this (Numbers 16) made it seem like a post-volcanic earthquake; this version appears to confirm it.
11:7 KI EYNEYCHEM HARO'OT ET KOL MA'ASEH YHVH HA GADOL ASHER ASAH
כִּי עֵינֵיכֶם הָרֹאֹת אֶת כָּל מַעֲשֵׂה יְהוָה הַגָּדֹל אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה
KJ: But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which he did.
BN: But your eyes have seen all the great work of YHVH which he performed.
This is now the end of the sentence that began at verse 2, and it is, once again, either not true (see my CAVEAT at verse 2), or perhaps the text belongs elsewhere - it would have to go right back to the original giving of the Law at Sinai, and that seems highly unlikely. But if it is the case, and these people have indeed lived through the experience themselves, rather than being the generation after the one that was killed off as a punishment... then we have to go back to the first ten chapters of this book, and re-think them through that lens.
11:8 U SHEMARTEM ET KOL HA MITSVAH ASHER ANOCHI METSAVCHA HAYOM LEMA'AN TECHEZKU U VATEM VIY'RISHTEM ET HA ARETS ASHER ATAH OVRIM SHAMAH LERISHTAH
וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אֶת כָּל הַמִּצְוָה אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לְמַעַן תֶּחֶזְקוּ וּבָאתֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם אֶת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ
KJ: Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;
BN: Therefore you shall keep all the instructions which I am giving you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you are crossing over to take possession of ...
HAYOM: Forgive the sarcasm, but at current rate of progress, these are the instructions that I shall be giving you tomorrow, or possibly the day after.
11:9 U LEMA'AN TA'ARICHU YAMIM AL HA ADAMAH ASHER NISHBA YHVH LA AVOTEYCHEM LATET LAHEM U LE ZARAM ERETS ZAVAT CHALAV U DVASH
KJ: And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.
BN: And that you may prolong your days upon the land, which YHVH swore to your ancestors to give them and their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.
11:9 U LEMA'AN TA'ARICHU YAMIM AL HA ADAMAH ASHER NISHBA YHVH LA AVOTEYCHEM LATET LAHEM U LE ZARAM ERETS ZAVAT CHALAV U DVASH
וּלְמַעַן תַּאֲרִיכוּ יָמִים עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְהוָה לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶם לָתֵת לָהֶם וּלְזַרְעָם אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ
BN: And that you may prolong your days upon the land, which YHVH swore to your ancestors to give them and their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.
Yes, yes, all said, six times at least... get on with it, Mosheh. Get on with it.
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11:10 KI HA ARETS ASHER ATAH VA SHAMAH LERISHTAH LO CHE ERETS MITSRAYIM HI ASHER YETSATEM MI SHAM ASHER TIZRA ET ZARACHA VE HISHKITA VA RAGLECHA KE GAN HA YARAK
כִּי הָאָרֶצ אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה בָא שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ לֹא כְאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם הִוא אֲשֶׁר יְצָאתֶם מִשָּׁם אֲשֶׁר תִּזְרַע אֶת זַרְעֲךָ וְהִשְׁקִיתָ בְרַגְלְךָ כְּגַן הַיָּרָק
BN: For the land to which you are coming, to take possession of it, is not like the land of Mitsrayim which you have just left, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, like a garden of herbs.
The caveat continues - if these are the 40-year offspring, they were born in the desert and would have no idea at all what Egypt was like.
But either way and anyway, it is still deceptive - to us even more than to them! Because "they" are coming from Goshen, the fertile and arable pastureland of Mitsrayim (Egypt), and not from its desert regions; the phrase is in fact a counterbalance to the "land of milk and honey", which infers sheep and cattle and bumble bees. But as to crop-farming, Mosheh says, that is not going to be easy; and the next verse explains why.
11:11 VE HA ARETS ASHER ATEM OVRIM SHAMAH LERISHTAH ERETS HARIM U VEKA'OT LIMTAR HA SHAMAYIM TISHTEH MAYIM
KJ: But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
BN: But the land to which you are crossing, to take possession of it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water as quickly as the skies can rain it down.
OVRIM...LERISHTAH: Repeated repetition of this phrase too, drip-drip like rain falling from the skies, until this message too is deeply embedded: "you will have to take possession of this land. YHVH s not giving you a people-free space. It will require war. The natives will resist. Be prepared."
11:11 VE HA ARETS ASHER ATEM OVRIM SHAMAH LERISHTAH ERETS HARIM U VEKA'OT LIMTAR HA SHAMAYIM TISHTEH MAYIM
וְהָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם עֹבְרִים שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ אֶרֶץ הָרִים וּבְקָעֹת לִמְטַר הַשָּׁמַיִם תִּשְׁתֶּה מָּיִם
KJ: But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven:
BN: But the land to which you are crossing, to take possession of it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water as quickly as the skies can rain it down.
OVRIM...LERISHTAH: Repeated repetition of this phrase too, drip-drip like rain falling from the skies, until this message too is deeply embedded: "you will have to take possession of this land. YHVH s not giving you a people-free space. It will require war. The natives will resist. Be prepared."
The point about "watering with your foot" (verse 10) is that the land in the Nile Delta is so fertile you really don't have to do anything, and crops will grow; but in Yisra-El the ground soaks up the water - whether into marsh or desert or inland lake and river - so that crop-growing isn't at all easy, and therefore you will need YHVH's support to make it fertile (or the man-made computer-technologies of modern Israel, which are revolutionising agriculture in the Third World). All of which forces us to re-think the meaning of "a land of milk and honey" - does it really mean the Paradisal perfection that we have come to think, or simply a place where cows and bees prosper, but not much else?
And yes, in the Christian world especially, "the land of milk and honey" is understood to mean "Earthly Paradise" - but it isn't; that is Mosheh's message: "life is going to be tough there, people-tough as well as earn-a-living tough. This is going to require struggle. Do not expect to receive what you do not push yourself to create by your own efforts. This is why you are going to need a very full and thorough set of laws, rules, regulations, and a clear definition of morals, values, ethics..."
All of which requires one further comment: that it does rather seem as if Mosheh is now endorsing the description of the land given by the ten spies!
11:12 ERETS ASHER YHVH ELOHEYCHA DORESH OTAH TAMID EYNEY YHVH ELOHEYCHA BAH ME RESHIT HA SHANAH VE AD ACHARIT SHANAH
אֶרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ דֹּרֵשׁ אֹתָהּ תָּמִיד עֵינֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בָּהּ מֵרֵשִׁית הַשָּׁנָה וְעַד אַחֲרִית שָׁנָה
KJ: A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
BN: A land which YHVH your god cares for; the eyes of YHVH your god are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
Which could simply mean (Ya'er YHVH panav eleycha) that it's bloody hot there, all the year around, and that's why so much of the land is desert: the perpetual presence of the sun-god, 120+ degrees Fahrenheit in the Negev in the summer!
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The second paragraph of the Shema begins here, continuing until verse 21.
11:13: VE HAYAH IM SHAMO'A TISHME'U EL MITSVOTAI ASHER ANOCHI METSAVEH ET'CHEM HAYOM LE AHAVAH ET YHVH ELOHEYCHEM U LE AVDO BE CHOL LEVAVECHEM U VE CHOL NAPHSCHECHEM
KJ: And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
BN: And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently to my instructions which I am giving you today, to love YHVH your god, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul...
Again the third phrase, VE CHOL ME'ODECHA is left out... see Numbers 10:12; which is particularly odd in the light of the last two verses, because he has just told them that they are going to need all the ME'ODECHA ("might", as in physical and mental fortitude) that they can muster.
11:14 VE NATATI METAR ARTSECHEM BE ITO YOREH U MALKOSH VE ASAPHTA DEGANECHA V TIRSHECHA VE YITS'HARECHA
KJ: That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
BN: That I will send rain to your land in its season, the early rain and the late rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil.
Corn, wine, oil - all of them crops, nothing to do with either milk or honey. Cows and sheep can graze anywhere, and the milk will be produced; all you have to do is drink it. Bees buzz, and even poison ivy and nettles will suffice for them to produce honey, but corn, grapes, olives... these are dependent on the human hand, to cultivate them, especially to harvest them, and then to transform them into edible goods.
11:13: VE HAYAH IM SHAMO'A TISHME'U EL MITSVOTAI ASHER ANOCHI METSAVEH ET'CHEM HAYOM LE AHAVAH ET YHVH ELOHEYCHEM U LE AVDO BE CHOL LEVAVECHEM U VE CHOL NAPHSCHECHEM
וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶל מִצְוֹתַי אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם הַיּוֹם לְאַהֲבָה אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וּלְעָבְדוֹ בְּכָל לְבַבְכֶם וּבְכָל נַפְשְׁכֶם
BN: And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently to my instructions which I am giving you today, to love YHVH your god, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul...
Again the third phrase, VE CHOL ME'ODECHA is left out... see Numbers 10:12; which is particularly odd in the light of the last two verses, because he has just told them that they are going to need all the ME'ODECHA ("might", as in physical and mental fortitude) that they can muster.
11:14 VE NATATI METAR ARTSECHEM BE ITO YOREH U MALKOSH VE ASAPHTA DEGANECHA V TIRSHECHA VE YITS'HARECHA
וְנָתַתִּי מְטַר אַרְצְכֶם בְּעִתּוֹ יוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ וְאָסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ וְתִירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ
KJ: That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
BN: That I will send rain to your land in its season, the early rain and the late rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil.
Corn, wine, oil - all of them crops, nothing to do with either milk or honey. Cows and sheep can graze anywhere, and the milk will be produced; all you have to do is drink it. Bees buzz, and even poison ivy and nettles will suffice for them to produce honey, but corn, grapes, olives... these are dependent on the human hand, to cultivate them, especially to harvest them, and then to transform them into edible goods.
11:15 VE NATATI ESEV BE SADECHA LI VEHEMTECHA VA ACHALTA VE SAVATA
KJ: And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
BN: And I will make the grass grow in your fields, for your cattle, and you shall eat and be satisfied.
Double-whammy: you can eat the various types of grasses (rye, barley, wheat, corn etc), but you can also eat the meat from the animals fattened on those grasses.
BN: And I will make the grass grow in your fields, for your cattle, and you shall eat and be satisfied.
Double-whammy: you can eat the various types of grasses (rye, barley, wheat, corn etc), but you can also eat the meat from the animals fattened on those grasses.
11:16 HISHAMRU LACHEM PEN YIPHTEH LEVAVECHEM VE SARTEM VA AVADETEM ELOHIM ACHERIM VE HISHTACHAVIYTEM LAHEM
הִשָּׁמְרוּ לָכֶם פֶּן יִפְתֶּה לְבַבְכֶם וְסַרְתֶּם וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם לָהֶם
KJ: Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
BN: Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them.
BN: Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them.
ELOHIM ACHERIM: The Deuteronomic text keeps shifting back and forth in this manner. At some points there is only One deity, YHVH, who has absorbed all other deities into himself; at others there are lots of deities, of which YHVH is merely the number one, and you can follow any of the others that you please, so long as he comes first. Here, there are lots of other deities, but they are prohibited, and YHVH alone may be worshipped. So this is the middle stage.
11:17 VE HARA APH YHVH BACHEM VE ATSAR ET HA SHAMAYIM VE LO YIHEYEH MATAR VE HA ADAMAH LO TITEN ET YEVULAH VA AVADETEM MEHERAH ME AL HA ARETS HA TOVAH ASHER YHVH NOTEN LACHEM
וְחָרָה אַף יְהוָה בָּכֶם וְעָצַר אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְלֹא יִהְיֶה מָטָר וְהָאֲדָמָה לֹא תִתֵּן אֶת יְבוּלָהּ וַאֲבַדְתֶּם מְהֵרָה מֵעַל הָאָרֶץ הַטֹּבָה אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה נֹתֵן לָכֶם
BN: And YHVH's anger will be kindled against you, and he will close up the skies , so that there shall be no rain, and the ground shall not yield her fruit; and you will perish very quickly from off the good land which YHVH is giving you.
YEVULAH: The root, YAVUL, seems to connect to both MABUL (cf Genesis 7:6), which was the No'achic flood, and YOVEL, which is the septennial "Jubilee". Can that be? See my notes to Yuval ben Lamech - and it turns out that, yes, they are absolutely connected. The jubilee celebrates seven years of successful harvest, which is entirely dependent on the rains coming, in the right quantity, when you need them. MABUL = YEVULAH = YOVEL.
But this will only come to fruition (pun intended) if you obey YHVH's laws completely and sincerely. Once again the fertility god (once again the blackmailing bully), before the abstract, metaphysical - rain and crops before mercy and justice. As the next verse affirms.
11:18 VE SAMTEM ET DEVARAI ELEH AL LEVAVECHEM VE AL NAPHSHECHEM U KESHARTEM OTAM LE OT AL YEDEYCHEM VE HAYU LE TOTAPHOT BEYN EYNEYCHEM
וְשַׂמְתֶּם אֶת דְּבָרַי אֵלֶּה עַל לְבַבְכֶם וְעַל נַפְשְׁכֶם וּקְשַׁרְתֶּם אֹתָם לְאוֹת עַל יֶדְכֶם וְהָיוּ לְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם
KJ: Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
BN: Therefore you shall embed these my words in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them symbolically on your hand, and they shall provide frontlets between your eyes.
The tefillin (but we've already had them instructed, back in Deuteronomy 6:8).
11:19 VE LIMADETEM OTAM ET BENEYCHEM LEDABER BAM BE SHIVTECHA BE VEITECHA U VE LECHTECHA VA DERECH U VE SHACHBECHA U VE KUMECHA
וְלִמַּדְתֶּם אֹתָם אֶת בְּנֵיכֶם לְדַבֵּר בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ
BN: And you shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you sit in your house, and while you are walking along the road, and when you lie down, and when you get up.
LIMADETEM: Deuteronomy 6:7 gives the same instruction, but in slightly different words; and the meaning changes quite radically. There it was SHINANTAM, whose root has to do with "whetting" and "sharpening" - enquiry-based learning, discussion-groups, colloquia and open seminars. But here it is LIMADETEM, which is front-of-class teaching, catechism-by-rote, here is what you need to know, learn it by heart and I will test you next week to make sure you have done so. The former is Aristotelian, and will become the world of the Beit Midrash; the latter is Platonic, and will become the world of the Catholic seminary.
So, does Mosheh really mean 6:7, or does he really mean 11:19? It cannot be both, can it?
And yet both are in the Shema - but ask any modern Jew, of any denomination, to give you the Hebrew text of "and you will teach your children", I can absolutely guarantee that every one of them will quote 6:7, and need to be reminded about 11:19.
And when Jesus is found in the Temple with the Kohanim (Luke 2:41-49) - he is 12, going on 13, so clearly he is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah in the traditional manner - he is described as "listening and asking questions", which is to say that he is engaging with them in VE SHINANTAM.
11:20 U CHETAVTAM AL MEZUZOT BEITECHA U VI SHE'ARECHA
וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל מְזוּזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ, וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ
KJ: And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
BN: And you shalt write them on the door-posts of your house, and on your gates;
The mezuzah, given in Deuteronomy 6:9, and, as shown in the illustration there, the modern mezuzah contains, wrapped inside it, a written-down copy of the Shema, fulfilling thereby the instruction here. (Nevertheless, note that originally mezuzah was the word for the entire doorpost, and, likewise originally, this little piece of superstitious magic attached to that doorpost was an Eye of Ra or an Eye of Horus, given a Yisra-Eli form.
11:21 LEMA'AN YIRBU YEMEYCHEM VI YEMEY VENEYCHEM AL HA ADAMAH ASHER NISHBA YHVH LA AVOTEYCHEM LATET LAHEM KI YEMEY HA SHAMAYIM AL HA ARETS
לְמַעַן יִרְבּוּ יְמֵיכֶם וִימֵי בְנֵיכֶם עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע יְהוָה לַאֲבֹתֵיכֶם לָתֵת לָהֶם כִּימֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ
BN: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which YHVH swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the Earth.
samech break
11:22 IM SHAMOR TISHMERUN ET KOL HA MITSVAH HA ZOT ASHER ANOCHI METSAVEH ET'CHEM LA'ASOTAH LE AHAVAH ET YHVH ELOHEYCHEM LALECHET BE CHOL DERACHAV U LEDAVKAH VO
כִּי אִם שָׁמֹר תִּשְׁמְרוּן אֶת כָּל הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשֹׂתָהּ לְאַהֲבָה אֶת יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם לָלֶכֶת בְּכָל דְּרָכָיו וּלְדָבְקָה בוֹ
BN: For if you shall diligently keep all this instruction which I am giving you, to do it, to love YHVH your god, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave to him...
11:23 VE HORISH YHVH ET KOL HA GOYIM HA ELEH MI LIPHNEYCHEM VIYRISHTEM GOYIM GEDOLIM VA ATSUMIM MIKEM
וְהוֹרִישׁ יְהוָה אֶת כָּל הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה מִלִּפְנֵיכֶם וִירִשְׁתֶּם גּוֹיִם גְּדֹלִים וַעֲצֻמִים מִכֶּם
KJ: Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.
BN: Then YHVH will drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
Once again the testimony of the ten spies is being endorsed. Once again conquest and the expulsion of non-Yisrae-Elis, rather than the "ger asher ba she'arecha" (Exodus 20:10, Leviticus 19:33 et al, but especially Deuteronomy 10:18/19, because he has only just stated these) who is welcomed and treated equally. How are we supposed to follow the Torah if it operates in opposites, in conflicting compulsory commandments, like this one?
11:24 KOL HA MAKOM ASHER TIDROPH KAPH RAGLECHEM BO LACHEM YIHEYEH MIN HA MIDBAR VE HA LEVANON MIN HA NAHAR NEHAR PRAT VE AD HA YAM HA ACHARON YIHEYEH GEVULCHEM
כָּל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר תִּדְרֹךְ כַּף רַגְלְכֶם בּוֹ לָכֶם יִהְיֶה מִן הַמִּדְבָּר וְהַלְּבָנוֹן מִן הַנָּהָר נְהַר פְּרָת וְעַד הַיָּם הָאַחֲרוֹן יִהְיֶה גְּבֻלְכֶם
KJ: Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.
BN: Every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Levanon, from the river, the river Perat, even to the hinder sea shall be your border.
PERAT: All the way to the Euphrates! So can we assume, once the settlement project on the West Bank has been completed, and the territory annexed to mainland Israel, once the Golan Heights is secured, that the journey east will continue on the same basis - or is a military invasion a more likely strategem? No wonder the Iranians are developing enriched uranium!HA YAM HA ACHARON: Hopefully this only means the Persian Gulf and not all the way to the Bay of Bengal!
But of course this is a claim that belongs purely to Deuteronomy, which was almost certainly written (not just "written down") at the time of Ezra and Nechem-Yah, when the Beney Yisra-El were just returned from exile in Bavel, and the crossing of the River, meaning the Euphrates, was a key element of the return. So rejoining those still in the exile with the returnees made sense as an idealistic political platform to persuade the reluctant that returning wouldn't break all ties with those in their families who chose not to. And at that time there was indeed a kingdom that stretched all the way from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, and Yehudah was one of its vassal-states - Medean Persia.
11:25 LO YITYATSAV ISH BIPHNEYCHEM PACHDECHEM U MORA'ACHEM YITEN YHVH ELOHEYCHEM AL PENEY CHOL HA ARETS ASHER TIDRECHU VAH KA ASHER DIBER LACHEM
לֹא יִתְיַצֵּב אִישׁ בִּפְנֵיכֶם פַּחְדְּכֶם וּמוֹרַאֲכֶם יִתֵּן יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם עַל פְּנֵי כָל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר תִּדְרְכוּ בָהּ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָכֶם
KJ: There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
BN: No man shall be able to stand against you: YHVH your god shall lay the fear of you, and the dread of you, upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as he has told you.
PACHDECHEM U MORA'ACHEM: Fear and dread: is one of these not sufficient? The words must have significantly different meanings, or there would be no need to offer both. Both are used for the fear of YHVH at different time - PACHAD YITSCHAK relates back to the Akeda (but look at Genesis 31:42 first), and we have seen YIR'A repeatedly in these last chapters: so it probably isn't a distinction between the human and the divine. Perhaps the distinction is between respect and reverence, which a people can earn, and military power, which can induce passive complicity, but has to be imposed.
And still no actual laws have been given - unless, and this is not implausible, the Shema and the Ten Commandments were the entire law at the historical time of Mosheh, and everything else is a later addition.
samech break, noting that the sedra ends here, in the Yehudit version, but not the chapter, in the Christian version - my reason for breaking this into two parts. Sedra 4, Re'eh, begins with the next verse, to read which click here.
Deuteronomy 1 2 3a 3b 4 5 6 7a 7b 8 9 10 11a 11b 12 13 14 15 16a 16b 17 18 19 20 21a 21b 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29a 29b 30 31 32 33 34
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