Shabbos Parashas Devarim - 5778
Shabbos Parashas Devarim - 5778
Rabbi Hal Miller
I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sichon, king of Cheshbon,
words of peace. [Devarim 2:26]
Two verses earlier [2:24], the Torah commands, "See, into your hand have I delivered
Sichon king of the Cheshbon, the Emorite, and his land, begin to drive him out and
provoke war with him." Later [Devarim 20:10], the Torah commands, "When you draw
near to a city to wage war against it, you shall call out to it for peace."
At first glance, it appears that Moshe received conflicting instructions. Should he
attack Sichon and drive the Emorites out, or should he attempt peace?
Abarbanel asks this question, and points to a conundrum. If Moshe offered and
Sichon agreed to peace terms, would Moshe then not drive him out? If Moshe
attacked in violation of an agreement, it would have been breaking his word. If Moshe
attacked without offering peace, he would have been violating the command to offer
peace terms prior to any attack.
Rashi says that Moshe learned from God's own actions. When God wished to bring
the Torah to the world, He offered it to each nation in turn, knowing that each nation,
until Israel, would decline it, but He offered it anyway. Moshe knew that offering
peace to Sichon would not result in peace, therefore although his offer was genuine,
he knew that the next step was going to be the attack.
Tanchuma cites Tehillim [34:15], "Depart from evil and do good, seek peace and
pursue it." He says that we are directed to actively pursue peace, regardless of
what we may expect to find. However, we are not directed to actively pursue other
commandments, rather to perform them when we come upon them or they come
upon us. Thus Moshe sent a delegation, knowing they would fail, but it was only
after that attempt that the commandment to drive Sichon out would become ripe.
Ramban notes the order of the verses. First is God's command to drive out Sichon.
Second is our verse, Moshe's mention of having sent a peace delegation. Third is
the commandment to offer peace before an attack. He says that if we accept this
order as the chronological chain of events, then Moshe violated God's word, thus
we need to read our verse differently. "I sent messengers" refers to what Moshe
did at some point in the past, prior to God's command to attack the Emorites.
Sichon refused the offer of peace, thus God commanded the battle.
We must perform commandments as we find opportunities, but we must pursue
peace, even when we do not see an opportunity to succeed.