Yehoshua 1 יהושע א׳

ויהי אחרי מות משה. מחובר על סדר התורה המסיימת בפטירת משה, וזה מחובר לה:

And after the death of Moshe. This is connected to the chapter of the Torah¹The spirit of prophecy did not rest upon Yehoshua until the thirty day mourning period for Moshe was over. It was then that God began to speak to him and command him to begin the conquest of Eretz Yisroel. Yehoshua was in a state of sadness and the spirit of propecy does not rest upon a person who is sad. There are other Seforim in Tanach such as Ruth, Esther, Yonah that begin with the word וַיְהִי, and it was, that are not connected to any previous event. But here the beginning is definitely connected with the conclusion of Sefer Devorim where the death of Moshe is related. which concluded with the passing of Moshe;²Devorim 34:5,6,7,8. and this (Seifer Yehoshua) is connected to it.³Devorim 34:9.

משה עבדי מת. ואילו היה קיים, בו הייתי חפץ, ורבותינו דרשוהו (תמורה טז א) על שלשת אלפים הלכות שנשתכחו בימי אבלו של משה, בא יהושע ושאל, אמר לו הקב"ה: משה עבדי מת, והתורה על שמו נקראת, לומר לך אי אפשר, צא וטורדן במלחמה:

Moshe, My servant is dead. But if he were alive,⁴According to Rashi, this is connected to what follows: Since he is dead, you must arouse yourself and cross this Jordan. I would have wanted him [as the leader].⁵According to Metsudas Dovid, Hashem said that if Moshe was still alive, you would be unable to cross the Jordon because of the decree preventing him from crossing the Jordon. See Bamidbar 20:12; Ibid 27:12,13. Our Sages explain [that this passage is a reference] [to the three thousand laws that were forgotten] during the period of mourning for Moshe. Yehoshua then came and asked.⁶When the Bnei Yisroel realized that they had forgotten so many laws of the Torah, they came to Yehoshua and asked him to teach them the laws, but he too had forgotten many of them. He wanted Hashem to reveal those forgotten laws to him. the Holy One blessed is He, said to him: “Moshe, My servant is dead, and the Torah is called on his name, which is like telling you that it is impossible.⁷Since the Torah is referred to as תּוֹרַת משֶׁה, the Torah of Moshe, and Moshe is dead, these laws cannot be reenacted. Go and burden them with battles.”⁸God told Yehoshua to get the people occupied with conquering the land. He told him to begin preparations to cross the Jordan and this would cause them to forget about the laws that were lost to them. This refers to the battles of conquest that were required to capture the land.

כל מקום אשר תדרך כף רגלכם. כיוצא בו נאמר למשה ושנינו בספרי (פ' עקב) אם ללמד על תחומי ארץ ישראל, הרי הוא אומר מהמדבר והלבנון הזה, אם כן למה נאמר אשר תדרך כף, אף חוצה לארץ, משתכבשו את הארץ, כל מה שתכבשו מחוצה לארץ יהיה קדוש ויהיה שלכם:

Every place upon which the sole of your feet will tread. This is similar to what was said to Moshe. Regarding this, we learned in the Sifre. ‘If [this verse] is to teach us about the boundaries of Eretz Yisroel, the Torah has already stated:⁹Devorim 11:24. From the wilderness and the Lebanon etc.¹⁰Therefore we know the boundaries of Eretz Yisroel from the Torah. If so, why is it said here: Every place upon which the sole will tread? This includes the lands outside Eretz Yisroel. After you have conquered the land, everything you conquer outside the land will be sacred and will belong to you.’

מהמדבר והלבנון הזה. הוא מדבר קדש, מדבר צין שעל ידי אדום, שהיה במקצוע דרומית מזרחית ודרך שם נכנסו לארץ, שנאמר (במדבר כ טז): והנה אנחנו בקדש וגו', ומנין שהיא בדרומית מזרחית, שנאמר (שם לד ג): והיה לכם פאת נגב ממדבר צין על ידי אדום:

From the wilderness and this Lebanon. The wilderness refers to the wilderness of Kodeish, the wilderness of Tzin, which was adjacient to Edom which was to the south east, the direction from which they entered the land, as it is said: And behold we are in Kodeish.¹¹Bamidbar 20:16. How do we know that it was southeast? It is said: ‘Your southern flank will be from the Tzin wilderness along Edom.’¹²Bamidbar 34:3.

ועד הנהר הגדול נהר פרת. זה רחבה מדרום לצפון:

To the great river, the Euphrates river. This refers to its width from south to north.

כל ארץ החתים. בכלל הזה:

This includes all the land of the Chitim.

ועד הים הגדול מבא השמש. לארכה, מן המזרח למערב:

To the Great Sea [westward]. This refers to its length from east to west.

חזק ואמץ. בדרך ארץ, כמה שהוא אומר: כי אתה תנחיל:

Be strong and courageous. In the physical sense, as He states: “For you will lead this people to inherit the land.”

רק חזק ואמץ מאד. בתורה, כמו שהוא אומר: לשמור ולעשות ככל התורה:

Just be very strong and courageous. This was said in reference to the Torah, as He states: ‘To preserve, to act in accordance with all the laws of the Torah.’

תשכיל. תצליח:

תַּשְּׁכִּיל—You will be successful.¹³People consider that a successful person is a smart person. That is why the word תַּשְׂכִּיל—is associated with the word תַּצְלִיחַ. (Metsudas Tzion).

ספר התורה הזה. ספר משנה תורה היה לפניו:

This Sefer Torah.¹⁴This Sefer Torah implies a specific Book of the Torah. Which one? Thus Rashi comments that it refers to Sefer Devorim that was before Him. The Sefer Devorim was before Him.

והגית בו. והתבוננת בו, כל הגיון שבתורה בלב, כמה דאת אמר (תהלים יט טו): והגיון לבי לפניך ; (ישעיהו לג יח): לבך יהגה אימה:

And you shall meditate in it. Every expression of הִגָיוֹן in the Torah refers to the [meditation] of the heart,¹⁵Metsudas Tzion says that הִגָיוֹן sometimes refers to speech as it is written: And my tongue will speak (תֶּהְגֶה) of Your righteousness (Tehillim 35:28). as it is said, ‘And the thoughts of my heart before you;’¹⁶Tehillim 19:15. ‘Your heart will give forth fearful thoughts.’¹⁷Yeshayahu 33:18.

הלוא צויתיך חזק ואמץ. במלחמה, כמו שנאמר: אל תערוץ ואל תחת, והיכן צוהו, בימי משה שנאמר (דברים לא כג): ויצו את יהושע בן נון וגו':

I have already commanded you to be stong and courageous. This was said in reference to actual war, as it is said: ‘Have no fear or trepidation.’ Where was he commanded this? He was so commanded in the time of Moshe, as it is said: ‘and command Yehoshua son of Nun etc.’¹⁸Devorim 31:23.

ויצו יהושע. ביום שתמו ימי בכי אבל משה:

And Yehoshua commanded. He did this on the day that completed the days of mourning for Moshe.¹⁹Moshe died on the seventh day of Adar and he was mourned for thirty days. See Devorim 34:8.

הכינו לכם צדה. כל דבר הצריך לדרך וכלי זיינם למלחמה אמר להם לתקן, שאם אתה אומר במאכל ובמשתה, הרי היו מסתפקים במן שבכליהם עד ט"ז בניסן, וכן הוא אומר (לקמן ה' י"ב): וישבות המן ממחרת (מפי רבי):

Prepare your travel needs. [Prepare] everything necessary for (traveling) and weapons for the [upcoming] battle, he said to them. You cannot say the צֵדָה refers to food and drink²⁰Metsudas Dovid maintains that while they still ate of the manna, they bought other varieties of food from the non-Jewish merchants, and it was these foods that they were commanded to prepare. for they had sufficient manna in their vessels to last them untill the sixteenth of Nissan, and so it is said:²¹Chapter 5:12. ‘The manna ceased on the morrow.’

בעוד שלשת ימים. בסוף שלשת ימים, בעוד שתהיו כאן שלשת ימים ואחר תעברו:

After three days. At the end of three days. When you will have been here three days; then you will cross [the Jordan].

כל גבורי החיל. שבכם יעברו חלוצים:

All who are mighty warriors among you shall cross over armed [for battle].

מזרח השמש. עבר מזרחי של ירדן:

The sun rises. Refering to the eastern side of the Jordan.

ימרה. יקניט את דבריך:

Rebels—who challenge your words.