Shoftim 1 שופטים א׳

מי יעלה לנו אל הכנעני. על מקומות שהפלנו בגורל ועדיין לא נכבשו:

Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites? To the territories for which lots were cast¹By Yehoshua, Elazar, and the tribal chieftains (Yehoshua, 14:1,2). Chapters 14–19 (there) list in detail the territories alloted to the various tribes when the lots were cast. but are as yet unconquered.

יהודה יעלה. שבט יהודה יעלה תחלה לכבוש את גורלו:

Let Yehudah go up. Let the tribe of Yehudah go up first²The tribesmen of Yehudah were first in many instances; they entered the water first at the splitting of the sea, their banner was the first to proceed when the Yisroelites journeyed in the wilderness, they went up first in the Book of Shoftim. Indeed, at the coming redemption, their tribesman Dovid will reign as the first of his countrymen. (Yalkut, 37:a. See Yalkut to Beshalach, 234) to conquer their alloted territory.

לשמעון אחיו. לשבט שמעון:

To his brother Shimon. To the tribe of Shimon.

עלה אתי. ועזרני לכבוש את מה שנפל בגורלי ויש פותרין: יהודה יעלה, הוא עתניאל, הוא יעבץ, שאנו אומרים במסכת תמורה (טז א): מה שמו, יהודה אחי שמעון שמו, ולשמעון אחיו אמר שילך אתו:

Go up with me and assist me in conquering my alloted portion. Some interpret "Let Yehudah go up" as a reference to Asniel,³Asniel ben Kenaz, the first of the Shoftim to lead Yisroel after the death of Yehoshua. (Below, 3:9–11) also known as Ya'avetz;⁴Ya’avetz is listed among the tribesmen of Yehudah, and described as “revered over his brethren.” (Divrei Hayamim 1, 4:9) for it is remarked, in tractate Temurah,⁵ "What was his name? His name was Yehudah, brother of Shimon."⁶This was his true name. His surnames were Asniel and Ya’avetz. Asniel is a contraction of ‘anah El’, ‘Adonoy answered’ [Divrei Hayamim 1, 4:10, relates that Adonoy answered his prayer]. Ya’avetz is a contraction of ‘ya’atz v’herebetz’, ‘he counseled and disseminated [Torah]’. (Temurah, 16:a) He⁷Not the tribe of Yehudah, but the individual Yehudah, otherwise known as Asniel or Ya’avetz. told his brother Shimon⁸The individual Shimon, brother of Yehudah / Asniel. Accordingly, the inquiry “Who shall go up first?” [v.1] did not concern the tribe which would engage in battle first, but the individual who would lead the people into battle. Adonoy answered [v.2] that Yehudah, also known as Asniel or Ya’avetz, would lead. to accompany him.

בבזק. שם מקום:

At Bezek. The name of a place.⁹‘Bezek’ may also be translated as ‘shard’, meaning a broken piece of pottery. Here, however, the reference is to a place named ‘Bezek’. (Yoma, 22:b)

שבעים מלכים וגו'. מכאן אתה למד מה גדולתן ועושרן של מלכי כנען, שהרי אדני בזק לא היה כדאי למנות (יהושע יב) עם מלכי כנען בשם 'מלך', וכתוב בו כן:

Seventy kings. From here we learn of the eminence and affluence of the Canaanite potentates, for Adoni-bezek was not worthy of being listed among the Canaanite monarchs¹⁰Yehoshua 12: 7–24 lists the thirty one Canaanite kings. Adoni bezek is not among them. by the title "king", yet this is written of him.¹¹Yalkut, 37:a.

ויביאהו ירושלם. שהלכו משם להלחם על ירושלים:

They brought him to Yerushalayim. They proceeded from there to do battle at Yerushalayim.

שלחו באש. שלחו אש בכלה:

They set [literally 'sent'] fire. They sent the fire¹²By igniting it. This follows the literal meaning of שׇלְחוּ, ‘thy sent’. (Metzudas Tzion) Afterward, the B’nei Yehudah went down to wage war with the Canaanites dwelling in the hills, the Negev, and the lowlands. throughout it.

אחי כלב. מאמו:

Coleiv's …brother. Maternally.¹³Coleiv is referred to as “the Kenizite” (Yehoshua, 14:6), rather than ‘son of Kenaz’. This indicates that he was not Kenaz’ biological son, but his stepson. (Sotah, 11:b, 12:a).

ותסיתהו. (תרגום:) ואמלכתיה, לשון נמלך, שמיעצין האדם ומשיאין לבו לדבר אחר, נראה לי:

She cajoled him. She advised him, as in "he took counsel";¹⁴Rather than ‘she tempted him’, as in Devarim, 13:7. one counsels a person, and directs his thinking to an alternative. This is my opinion.

ותצנח. (תרגום:) ואתרכינת, ליפול לרגלי אביה:

She lowered herself. "She lowered herself"¹⁵This is a quotation from Targum Yonasan. as if falling at her father's feet.

ארץ הנגב. אדם שביתו מנוגב מכל טוב, שאין בו אלא תורה:

Arid land. A man barren of anything gainful, as he contains nothing but Torah.¹⁶Temurah, 16:a.

גלת מים. שדה בית הבעל, (תרגום:) אתר בית שקיא דמיא:

Streams of water. Wetland, "territory supplied abundantly with water."

מעיר התמרים. היא יריחו, שניתן להם דושנה של יריחו לאוכלה עד שיבנה בית המקדש, ומי שיבנה בית הבחירה בחלקו יטלנה, כדי שיהא לכל ישראל חלק בבית הבחירה, ונתנוה לבני יתרו ארבע מאות ארבעים שנה, והתלמידים שבהם הניחוה והלכו אצל עתניאל בן קנז הוא יעבץ במדבר יהודה אשר בנגב ערד ללמוד תורה:

From the city of dates. This refers to Yericho, as the fertile tract of Yericho¹⁷An area outside the city, measuring five hundred amohs by five hundred amohs. (Yalkut, 38.) was given to them for their consumption until the Beis HaMikdosh would be built. The one in whose portion the Beis HaMikdosh would be built¹⁸The tribe of Binyomin. (Ibid). would then receive it,¹⁹In return for the Beis Hamikdosh territory, which would become the property of all the tribes. so that all of Yisroel could share in the Beis HaMikdosh. It was given to the descendants of Yisro for four hundred and forty years.²⁰From the conquest of Eretz Yisroel by Yehoshua, until the construction of the Beis Hamikdosh by King Solomon. (See Melachim 1,6:1.) The scholars among them departed, and went to Asniel, the son of Kenaz, also known as Ya'avetz, to the wilderness of Yehudah south of Arad to study Torah.²¹Yalkut, ibid.

וישב את העם. עם התלמידים היושבים לפניו הוא בקש מאת הקדוש ברוך הוא שיזמין לו תלמידים הגונים, שנאמר (דברי הימים א ד י) ויקרא יעבץ לאלהים וגו', וזימן לו החסידים הללו:

He settled with the people. With the disciples who sat before him. He requested of the Holy One, blessed is He, that He furnish him with suitable disciples, as it said, "Ya'avetz cried out to Elohim…etc."²²“…of Yisroel, saying: If You bless me by broadening my boundary, and Your hand shall be with me…”. (Divrei Hayamim 1, 4:10. See fn.6) He furnished him with these pious men.²³Yalkut, ibid.

כי לא להוריש. תרגם יונתן: בתר כן דחבו, לא יכילו לתרכא ית יתבי מישרא:

However, he could not oust. [Targum] Yonasan interprets: Afterward, as they had sinned, they could not oust the valley dwellers.

ואת היבוסי ישב ירושלם. מחוז היה בירושלים ששמו יבוסי (פרקי דרבי אליעזר לו), ומבני אבימלך היו, ולא הורישם מפני השבועה (בראשית כא כג-כד) עד שבא דוד (שמואל ב ה ו-ז), לפי שעדיין היה נכדו קיים, והוא נשבע לו ולנינו ולנכדו:

But the Yevusi dwellers of Yerushalayim. There was a section of Yerushalayim²⁴The reference here is not to members of the Yevusite nation, as Rashi explains that they were descendants of the Pelishte king Avimelech. Cf.Rashi to Yehoshua, 16:63, and Shmuel 2, 5:6. entitled Yevusi. They were descendants of Avimelech,²⁵The Pelishite king (Bereishis, 21:32, 26:8). The patriarch Avrohom swore that he would deal kindly with him and his children and grandchildren. (Ibd, 21:23). Avrohom’s descendants were obligated by the oath as well. Cf.Midrash Rabah, Bereishis, 54:2. and they could not oust them because of the oath—until the arrival of Dovid²⁶When Avimelech’s grandchildren no longer survived. (Rashi to Shmueil 2, 5:8)—as his²⁷Avimelech’s grandson. grandson still lived, and he²⁸Avrohom had sworn. had sworn to him, his son, and his grandson.

בית אל. שנפל בגורלם (יהושע טז א), ואף על פי שפסל מיכה עמהם, שהרי מיכה משבט אפרים (שופטים יז א), נאמר כאן 'וה' עמם', הוא שאמר דניאל (דניאל ט ז): לך ה' הצדקה ולנו בושת הפנים:

Beis El which was part of their ancestral allotment. Although Michah's idol²⁹Chapter 17, v.4 [below] relates that Michah of Mount Ephraim made a graven image and kept it at his home, where it was worshiped. Although the incident is not mentioned earlier in the text, Rashi asserts that the idol was already in existence during the conquest of Eretz Yisroel. See Rasi to 17:1. was in their possession—for Michah was from the tribe of Ephraim—it is said here, "and Adonoy was with them." Concerning this, Daniel said, "Yours, O Adonoy, is benevolence—ours is the face of humiliation."³⁰Daniel, 9:7.

ויתירו. על ידי אחרים, (תרגום:) ושלחו מאללין, ויתורו את ארץ (במדבר יג ב) נאמר במרגלים עצמן, ואלו ששלחו מרגלים נאמר בהם ויתירו:

Sent spies. Through others, they sent spies.³¹This is Targum Yonasan’s translation. "They spied the land"³² Bamidbar, 13:21. This refers to the spies sent by Moshe in the wilderness. is said concerning the spies themselves. However, concerning these who sent spies it is said, "they sent spies."

את מבוא העיר. שהיו נכנסים לה דרך המערה, ולוז אחד עומד על פי המערה ונכנסים דרך הלוז למערה:

The entrance to the city. It was entered through a cave. A hazelnut tree stood at the mouth of the cave, and they passed through the tree³³The tree was hollow. They passed through the hollow section into the cave, then through the cave into the city. (Bereishis Rabah, 69:8) into the cave.

ויראם. באצבעו:

He showed them with his finger.³⁴If this heathen, by the mere flick of a finger, saved himself and his progeny, then certainly one who actively escorts others. (Sotah, 46:b)

לוז. שגדלו בו אגוזים דקים, קולדר"א בלע"ז:

Luz. Small nuts grow on this. "Coudre" in old French.

הוא שמה עד היום. לא בלבלה סנחריב, ולא החריבה נבוכדנצר:

It is so entitled to this day. Sancheriv did not "jumble" it,³⁵Sancheriv “jumbled” all the nations of the world by transporting the inhabitants of one country to another. (Yadayim, 4:3, Yeshaya, 10:13). He did the same to the inhabitants of Eretz Yisroel (Melachim 2, 17:6, 23, 24) but not to the inhabitants of Luz. and Nevuchadnetzar did not devastate it.³⁶Sotah, 46:b.

ולא הוריש מנשה. סיפר הכתוב בגנותו, שהתחילו למעול בהקדוש ברוך הוא שצוה אותם (במדבר לג נב): והורשתם את כל יושבי הארץ וגו':

Menashe did not oust. Scripture censures them, as they began betraying the Holy One, blessed is He, Who commanded them: "Oust all those dwelling in the land, etc."³⁷Bemidbar, 33:52.