יהושע ג׳:א׳-ד׳

והכהנים הלוים. לפי שיצאו כולם מלוי (אבי) אבי עמרם נקראו לוים, כמו שפירשו רבותינו בבראשית רבה: במ"ח מקומות (ביבמות פו ב, ותמיד כז א ועוד, הגירסא: בכ"ד מקומות) נקראו הכהנים לוים, וזה טעמו של דבר (מפי רבי):

And follow it. This journey was different than other journeys. During Moshe’s lifetime, the Pillar of Clouds would head the procession, and show them the way, and the Ark¹The ark is here referred to as the Ark of the Bris or Covenant but it is also referred to in Scripture as the אַרוֹן הָעֵדוּת, the Ark of Testimony (see Chapter 4:16) because of the Two Tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments that were placed in the Ark. would [first begin to] move after two divisions [lit. flags]²The twelve tribes of the Bnei Yisroel were divided into four divisions or units, three tribes to a unit. When they travelled in the wilderness, two divisions of six tribes would depart the camp, to be followed by the Ark: and the other two divisions would then follow the Ark. Thus the Ark was always amidst the Bnei Yisroel. had left, but now the Ark would travel first.

והלכתם אחריו. נשתנה המסע הזה משאר מסעות, שכל זמן שמשה היה קיים היה עמוד הענן נוסע תחלה, ומראה להם הדרך, והארון נוסע אחר ב' דגלים, עכשיו הארון נוסע תחלה (סוטה לב ב):

The Kohanim, the Levites. Since they all descended from Levi who was the father of Amram, they [the Kohanim] are called Levites,³While it is true that all Kohanim were Levites, the Levites were not Kohanim, because the Kehunah was confined to the descendants of Aharon. as our Sages explain in Breishis Rabbah, ‘That there are forty eight places where the Kohanim are referred to as Levites.’

אך רחוק יהיה. כבודו של מקום הוא:

But there must be a distance. This was mandated out of respect for Hashem.

וביניו. כמו ובינו, ודומה לו (תהלים קמט ב) ישמח ישראל בעושיו. דבר אחר: ב' ארונות היו, של שכינה ושל יוסף מהלכין יחד:

And it. [Even though the word וּבֵינָו is read as וּבֵינָיו ] [which usually indicates the plural] nevertheless here, it refers to the Ark. Similarly, ‘Yisroel will rejoice in its Maker.’⁴Tehillim 149:2. In this verse too, the word בִעשָׂיו would seem to indicate a plural, yet it is singular, i.e., its Maker. Another explanation: there were actually two Arks,⁵Accordingly the word וּבֵינָיו correctly indicated a plural, i.e., the two Arks. there Ark of the Divine Presence, and the Ark containing the bones of Yosef, which travelled together.

כאלפים אמה. כדי שתהיו יכולין לילך ולהתפלל לפניו בשבת, כך מפורש במדרש תנחומא, לפי שידע שעתידין להיות צרים לפני יריחו בשבת:

Two thousand Amos. To permit them to go and to pray before the Ark on Shabbos.⁶Two thousand Amos was the limit permitted for a Jew to walk outside his domain on Shabbos. This is the explanation of Midrash Tanchumah, for Yehoshua knew that eventually they would beseige Yericho on Shabbos.

למען אשר תדעו. מוסב על והלכתם אחריו:

So that you will know⁷Certainly this cannot be the reason why they were commanded them to keep a distance from the Ark. This refers to the last words of verse 3, “and follow it.”

כי לא עברתם בדרך. לא הלכתם בענין זה עד הנה:

For you have never travelled this route. You have never travelled in this fashion until now.