שופטים א׳:ט״ז-כ״א

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.