Shabbat Parashat Vayeilech - 5782

Shabbat Parashat Vayeilech - 5782

Rabbi Hal Miller

And he commanded Yehoshua bin Nun and said, "Be strong and courageous, for

you shall bring the children of Israel to the land that I have sworn to them, and I

shall be with you." [Devarim 31:23]

Who is speaking here, Moshe or God? In 31:6-8, Moshe told Yehoshua to be strong

and courageous, appointing him as the new leader publicly that they should follow

him after Moshe's own death. So what is happening here? All the verses before and

after this one are Moshe speaking, with no obvious transition for our verse. The Torah

does not specifically tell us who the speaker is.

Most commentators understand it to be God speaking to Yehoshua. Rashi relates it

to the prior verse where God promised the land to Moshe, and most other writers

follow along. Ramban says that Rashi "explained well", although he then brings Ibn

Ezra, who says that this verse is Moshe, speaking in God's name. Although Ramban

does not specifically agree with Ibn Ezra, he does bring supports for Ibn Ezra's

opinion, something he usually does not do unless he agrees.

Rav Hirsch sees our verse as a dividing line. Until here, God spoke to Moshe and

had Moshe relay things, whether to Yehoshua, to the elders, or to the people. Now,

God is going to speak directly to Yehoshua. This would support the opinions of

Onkelos and Sforno, who call this verse the appointment of Yehoshua to leadership.

But this is not so clear, since God had previously told Moshe to make the appointment

and Moshe brought Yehoshua before the people to do so, thus God doing it again

now seems redundant.

This leads us to ask about the purpose of this verse. Kol Dodi explains that earlier,

in verse 7, Moshe said nearly the same words to Yehoshua, but here there is a

slight but notable difference. In 7, Moshe called to Yehoshau. Here, God called to

Yehoshua bin Nun. Why the difference? What was God trying to 'correct'?

Rashi explains that Moshe was saying that Yehoshua should rule in partnership

with the elders, paying deference to their views. God here, though, is telling

Yehoshua to be himself, to be a strong leader and to insist on obedience to his

own views and directives.

It would seem that whether it was God or Moshe actually speaking the words of this

verse, the point is the same, that Yehoshua was going to take over the command

position, with God's approval.