[14a - 53 lines; 14b - 50 lines]
1a)[line 2]תלTEL- a mound of earth
b)[line 3]חריץCHARITZ- a trench
2)[line 25]קרייתא זו הלילאKRIYASA ZU HALEILA- reading the Megilah is the equivalent of saying Halel
3)[line 29]"ויהי איש אחד מן הרמתים צופים...""VA'YEHI ISH ECHAD MIN HA'RAMASAYIM TZOFIM..."- "And there was a man from Ramasayim Tzofim, [from Mount Efrayim, whose name was Elkanah, son of Yerocham, son of Elihu, son of Tochu, son of Tzuf from the land of Efrayim]" (Shmuel I 1:1).
4)[line 32]"ובני קרח לא מתו""U'VNEI KORACH LO MESU" - "And the sons of Korach did not die" (Bamidbar 26:11) (THE SONS OF KORACH)
(a)RASHI comments that the sons of Korach had thoughts of Teshuvah in their hearts. Consequently, they did not follow their father down to the depths of Gehinom to suffer like he did. Rather, a special place was reserved for them high up in Gehinom, and that is where they stayed. The Gemara in Sanhedrin (110a) adds that they actually sing Shirah to HaSh-m from there. The TORAH TEMIMAH explains that the Gemara extrapolates this from Tehilim 87 and 88, which begin respectively with the words, "li'Vnei Korach Mizmor Shir" and "Shir Mizmor li'Vnei Korach," and which discuss the prayers of Korach's sons to be spared from Korach's fate.
(b)According to TARGUM YONASAN, the sons of Korach followed Moshe Rabeinu, and as a result they neither died by pestilence, nor were they burned, nor did the earth swallow them up. The IBN EZRA also comments that the proof that they did not die is the fact Shmuel, his sons and his grandsons, who were singers in the Mishkan and in the Beis ha'Mikdash, descended from Korach's sons. Moreover, the songs that begin with their name (to which we referred above) were composed by them. Finally, the VILNA GA'ON later on this Amud lists them among the forty-eight Nevi'im, something that is difficult to conceive if they dwelled in Gehinom.
5)[line 35]שסכתה ברוח הקדשSHE'SACHSAH B'RU'ACH HA'KODESH- she looked into the future with Divine Inspiration
6)[line 35]"... כל אשר תאמר אליך שרה שמע בקלה...""... KOL ASHER TOMAR ELECHA SARAH, SHEMA B'KOLAH..."- "[And HaSh-m said to Avraham: Do not feel bad about the lad and about your maidservant;] whatever Sarah tells you to do, listen to her voice" (Bereishis 21:12) - The voice, RASHI explains, refers to that of Ru'ach ha'Kodesh that Sarah possessed. This verse, and the verse quoted previously which refers to Sarah as "Yiskah" because she "looked" with Ru'ach ha'Kodesh, show that Sarah was a prophetess.
7)[line 36]סוכיןSOCHIN- stare
8)[line 36]"ותקח מרים הנביאה אחות אהרן...""VA'TIKACH MIRIAM HA'NEVI'AH ACHOS AHARON..."- "And Miriam the prophetess, Aharon's sister, took [the drum in her hand, and all the women followed her with drums and flutes]" (Shemos 15:20) - The Gemara derives that Miriam was a prophetess from this verse, because the verse refers to Miriam as Aharon's sister and not Moshe's. From this we learn that when she first prophesied (as a child), Moshe was not yet born, and she was only Aharon's sister.
9)[line 39]וטפחה על ראשהV'TAFCHAH AL ROSHAH- he slapped her on her head
10)[line 40]"ודבורה אשה נביאה אשת לפידות; [היא שפטה את ישראל בעת ההיא. והיא יושבת תחת תמר דבורה בין הרמה ובין בית אל בהר אפרים; ויעלו אליה בני ישראל למשפט]""U'DEVORAH ISHAH NEVI'AH, ESHES LAPIDOS; [HI SHOFETAH ES YISRAEL BA'ES HA'HI. V'HI YOSHEVES TACHAS TOMER DEVORAH BEIN HA'RAMAH U'VEIN BEIS EL, B'HAR EFRAYIM; VA'YA'ALU ELEHAH BNEI YISRAEL LA'MISHPAT]" - "And Devorah the prophetess, a woman who manufactured wicks for the Mikdash, [judged Yisrael at that time. And she sat underneath 'Devorah's date-palm' between Ramah and Beis El on Mount Efrayim; and the Jewish people went up to her to be judged] (Shoftim 4:3-4) (DEVORAH THE PROPHETESS)
(a)Devorah was unique in two ways. She was the only female judge who served as a leader of the nation, and she was the only female judge who served as a Dayan. She was considered an expert who was able to arbitrate alone in monetary matters. This created a problem of Yichud (being secluded with a man), since she would have to be alone with a claimant, and this is why she sat under a date-palm (as the Gemara explains) in an open area and not subject to the Isur of Yichud. (See YA'AVETZ.)
(b)The MAHARSHA explains that Devorah merited the light of prophecy because, as the verse teaches, she used to manufacture wicks for the Beis ha'Mikdash. RASHI, citing TARGUM YONASAN, explains that the places mentioned in the verse were not just names of places but locations where the Devorah's resources were located. She owned date-palms in Yericho, vineyards in Ramah, and white earth in Har Efrayim (on Tur Malka), which refers either to good-quality clay which she sold to potters, or to wheat-fields. Her own residence was in a town called Ataros.
11)[line 46]"ותתפלל חנה ותאמר, עלץ לבי בה' רמה קרני בה'...""VA'TISPALEL CHANAH VA'TOMAR: ALATZ LIBI BA'SH-M, RAMAH KARNI BA'SH-M..." - "And Chanah prayed and she said: My heart exults in HaSh-m, my horn has been raised for HaSh-m" (Shmuel I 2:1) (CHANAH'S SONG)
(a)This Tefilah, most of which consists of praises of HaSh-m, turns into supplication only towards the end, in the manner that Chazal prescribed (to begin one's prayer with words of praise).
(b)Chanah, who was barren, had just experienced a miracle in the form of the birth of her son, Shmuel. She conceived and bore him after praying extensively in the Mishkan, and after Eli, the Kohen Gadol, had initially accused her of drunkenness and had compensated her by bestowing upon her a blessing that her prayers be accepted.
(c)She left the Mishkan a changed person, all her bitterness gone. The following Rosh Hashanah she became pregnant (like Sarah and Rachel) and gave birth to a son whom she called Shmuel, because "me'HaSh-m She'iltiv" ("I asked HaSh-m for him"). Upon weaning him when he reached the age of two, she kept the promise she had made to dedicate the son that she would bear to the service of HaSh-m forever - a prophecy referring to the fifty years (which are called "forever" in connection with the Avodah of the Leviyim) left of his life (he died at the age of 52). When she visited the Mishkan in Shiloh, she took with her not only Korbanos in honor of the occasion but also her young son, whom she duly presented to Eli, the Kohen Gadol, under whose tutelage he would now remain. It was before taking leave of him that she expressed her song to HaSh-m.
(d)RASHI cites a Midrash which, based on the verse (2:5), "until the barren one bore seven and the one with many children mourned," explains that Chanah actually gave birth to six more children (four in reality, as we will now explain), besides Shmuel. She gave birth to another two boys and two girls, and each time she bore a child, two of Peninah's children died. When she bore her fifth child, Peninah fell at her feet and pleaded with her to have mercy on her. Peninah's remaining two children lived, but they were considered Chanah's children, and hence she had "six" more children. This is the opinion of Rebbi Nechemyah. According to Rebbi Yehudah, Shmuel remained Chanah's only child, and "seven" refers to her grandchildren. Others (Rebbi Nasan) point out that "seven" refers to Shmuel, whose name shares the same Gematriya of the word "Shiv'ah" (377).
(e)Incidentally, Eli ha'Kohen, who served as Shofet for forty years, was appointed on the day that Chanah prayed for a child. Subtracting the year of pregnancy, thirty-nine years of his leadership are left. Shmuel served as Shofet after the death of Eli for another thirteen years. He died four months before Shaul, although not before he had crowned David as King of Yisrael.
12)[line 48]מעשה ידיו מבלין אותוMA'ASEH YADAV MEVALIN OSO- the items he produces outlive him
13)[line 49]ציירTZAYAR- artist
14)[line 49]"והיה היא רכבת על החמור וירדת בסתר ההר...""V'HAYAH HI ROCHEVES AL HA'CHAMOR V'YOREDES B'SESER HA'HAR..." - "And she (Avigayil) was riding on a donkey and descending in the confines of the mountain, [and David and his men were descending the mountain towards her, and she met them]" (Shmuel I 25:20) (DAVID AND AVIGAYIL)
(a)Shmuel ha'Navi died, and David, a fugitive from Shaul, found himself and his band of six hundred men not far from Carmel, where an extremely rich man by the name of Naval ha'Carmeli lived. Naval, who was a descendant of Kalev ben Yefuneh, and who was related to David, was a man of bad deeds and difficult to get along with (as his name expresses and as the story illustrates, he was a base and depraved man). When David heard that Naval was about to shear his sheep, an occasion that generally was accompanied by extensive festivities, David sent some of his men to him with greetings and a request for badly needed provisions. Naval, who apparently knew that David had already been crowned king, refused, insulting David's emissaries in the process and referring to David as a slave who rebelled against his master, despite the fact that David had done a favor for him on an earlier occasion.
(b)David considered Naval's refusal to help as an act of treason, and prepared to attack him with four hundred men, leaving two hundred men to guard the camp. Meanwhile, a servant informed Avigayil, Naval's clever and beautiful wife (who was also one of the seven prophetesses) all that had transpired. He stressed how good David and his men had been to Naval and to his workers when they had worked together in the field for a short while, and yet Naval was repaying bad for good. Finally, the servant warned Avigayil of the impending danger.
(c)Without delay, Avigayil took two hundred loaves of bread, two large casks of wine, five prepared sheep, five Se'ah of parched grain, a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of dried figs, which she loaded onto donkeys. Without telling her husband, she issued orders to her servants to take the gift to David, and she would follow.
(d)Upon meeting David, she succeeded in convincing him to cancel the attack and even managed to put in a personal request: that David not forget her (a hint that, after the death of her husband, which she seems to have foreseen, he should marry her, which he later did).
(e)The following morning, after Naval had become sober from the previous night's festivities, Avigayil informed him of all the above events. The news shocked him, and his heart froze (either out of fear, because he thought that David was about to attack him (RASHI), or out of miserliness, on account of his losses, following the gift that his wife had given David).
(f)HaSh-m struck Naval down, and ten days later he died. RASHI ascribes the ten days to the seven days of mourning for Shmuel (similar to his explanation at the beginning of Parshas Noach, with regard to the seven days' delay before the Flood struck), and three days of suffering from the plague. Rashi also cites Chazal who say that the ten days refer to the days between Rosh Hashanah, when the illness struck, and Yom Kippur, the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah during which time Naval had the opportunity to do Teshuvah for what he had done, but he did not take advantage of the opportunity. A third opinion cited by Rashi attributes the ten days' grace period to the ten mouthfuls of wine that Naval offered David's emissaries.
14b----------------------------------------14b
15)[line 4]כליתניKILISANI- held me back, prevented me
16)[line 7]לפוקהL'FUKAH- as a stumbling block
17)[line 13]איתתא בהדי שותא פילכאITESA, B'HADI SHUSA PILCHA- a woman handles the spindle while she talks; i.e. pursues two aims at one time (she is dissuading David from killing her husband and at the same time is asking him to marry her if her husband dies)
18a)[line 14]שפיל ואזיל בר אווזאSHAFIL V'AZIL BAR AVZA- a goose bends its head down while walking
b)[line 14]ועינוהי מיטייפיV'EINOHI MITAIFEI- but its eyes are lifted [to look out to a distance]
19)[line 15]"וילך חלקיהו הכהן ואחיקם ועכבור [ושפן ועשיה אל חלדה הנביאה אשת שלם בן תקוה בן חרחס שמר הבגדים והיא ישבת בירושלם במשנה וידברו אליה]""VA'YELECH CHILKIYAHU HA'KOHEN, VA'ACHIKAM V'ACHBOR..." - "And Chilkiyahu the Kohen [Gadol], Achikam, Achbor, [Shafan, and Asayah went to Chuldah the prophetess, the wife of Shalum, son of Tikvah, son of Charchas, guardian of the wardrobe, who was sitting in Yerushalayim between the two walls, and they spoke to her]" (Melachim II 22:14) (THE CHOICE OF CHULDAH THE PROPHETESS)
(a)After finding Moshe Rabeinu's Sefer Torah open to the Tochachah in Parshas Ki Savo which describes how HaSh-m will lead Yisrael into Galus together with their king, the shocked king, Yoshiyah, rent his garments and sent a delegation, headed by Chilkiyahu ha'Kohen, to seek the word of HaSh-m in the matter. The delegation chose to ask Chuldah ha'Nanevi'ah (rather than Yirmeyahu), because, as Chazal explain, a woman tends to be more merciful than a man. (Others ascribe their choice to the fact that Yirmeyahu had gone to return the Ten Tribes from Galus.)
(b)Chuldah erred, however, by instructing the delegation to return word to "the man who had sent them" (Yoshiyah ha'Melech), instead of "to the king." Indeed, the Gemara later links this error to the fact that her name is that of a Tamei animal.
(c)The Gemara later learns through a Gezeirah Shavah from the words "ben Charchas" and the words "b'Timnas Cheres" that Chuldah was a direct descendant of Yehoshua bin Nun. It learns through another Gezeirah Shavah from the words "ben Tikvah" and the words "Es Tikvas Chut ha'Shani" that she was also descended from Rachav ha'Zonah (accordingly, Yehoshua must have married Rachav).
(d)See Background to Sukah 38:28.
20)[line 23]"כי המוכר אל הממכר לא ישוב...""KI HA'MOCHER EL HA'MIMKAR LO YASHUV..." - "[The time has come, the day has arrived that the purchaser will not rejoice and the seller will not be dejected, for HaSh-m is furious with all its multitude.] Because the seller will not return to his property [for as long as he lives, due to the fact that the Nevi'im prophesied on all its multitude to do Teshuvah, but they refused to do so; each man clung to his sin. Therefore, they will not re-establish their ownership]" (Yechezkel 7:12-13) (WITHOUT TESHUVAH, THEY WILL NOT RETURN)
Under ordinary circumstances, the purchaser of a field is delighted with his acquisition, while the seller is dejected at his loss. The prophet says that this will not be the case with the Jewish people. As a result of their ongoing refusal to do Teshuvah, they will go into Galus and not return during the course of their lifetime. Consequently, the purchaser, who will get nothing out of the field, will have no reason to rejoice on account of his purchase, while the seller will not need to be sad at having sold it, considering that he would not have benefited from the field even if he had not sold it.
21)[line 27]"ויאמר מה הציוּן הלז אשר אני ראה; ויאמרו אליו אנשי העיר, הקבר איש האלקים אשר בא מיהודה ויקרא את הדברים האלה אשר עשית על המזבח בית אל""VA'YOMER, 'MAH HA'TZIYUN HA'LAZ ASHER ANI RO'EH?' VA'YOMRU ELAV ANSHEI HA'IR, 'HA'KEVER ISH EL-KIM ASHER BA MI'YEHUDAH, VA'YIKRA ES HA'DEVARIM ASHER ASISA AL HA'MIZBE'ACH BEIS EL" - "And he (Yoshiyahu ha'Melech) said, 'What is this tombstone that I see?' And men of the city said to him, 'That is the grave of the man of G-d who came from Yehudah, and he predicted all the things that you did to the altar in Beis El" (Melachim II 23:17) (YOSHIYAHU DISCOVERS THE GRAVE OF IDO HA'NAVI)
(a)Yoshiyahu ha'Melech was in the process of touring the country (including the northern section, Shomron, which had been the territory of the ten tribes, part of whom Yirmeyahu ha'Navi had just brought back from exile), over which he ruled. The purpose of the tour was to destroy all of the Bamos and other forms of idolatry that he would find along the route. He had just destroyed the Mizbe'ach that the wicked Yarav'am built in Beis El, together with the Bamah on which it stood. He had ground the burnt-out shell into dust and burned the Asheirah (the idol-tree) that grew there and emptied the neighboring graves that held the remains of the idolaters who had worshipped there, when he stumbled upon an odd-looking tombstone lying apart from all the other graves. On one side of the grave grew thorns and nettles, and on the other side grew myrtle-trees and spices. Upon inquiring about it from the locals, he was informed that he had discovered the grave of Ido ha'Navi.
(b)Many years earlier, Yarav'am ben Nevat, of the tribe of Efrayim, was the first king of the ten tribes of Yisrael after their secession from the kingdom of the Davidic dynasty (subsequently known as Yehudah), as recorded in Melachim I 11:26-12:20. Upon the death of Shlomo ha'Melech, Rechav'am, his son, took the counsel of his young advisors to increase the high tax and hard labor that Shlomo had instituted (Melachim I 12:14). As a result, the people rebelled under the leadership of Yarav'am ben Nevat. Only the tribes of Yehudah and Binyamin remained faithful to the House of David.
(c)Yarav'am was concerned that his subjects should not be drawn back to the Davidic Kingdom of Yehudah when they went to worship in the Beis ha'Mikdash in its capital, Yerushalayim. In order to prevent the people of the ten tribes from returning to the leadership of the Davidic kings, Yarav'am outlawed the Mitzvah of Aliyah l'Regel, forbidding his people to travel to the Beis ha'Mikdash for Pesach, Shavuos and Sukos. Instead, he built two other "Temples," the main one in Beis El and a secondary one in Dan, where golden calves were worshipped (ibid. I 12:28). He set up guards on the roads leading to Yerushalayim to prevent anyone from serving HaSh-m by going to the Beis ha'Mikdash. His new religion was introduced with a fictitious holiday in the eighth month (a take-off of the Jewish Sukos). On that occasion, we are told that Yarav'am "ascended the altar that he had made in Beis El on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month that he had fabricated with his imagination, inventing a holiday for the Children of Yisrael - he ascended the altar to burn sacrifices" (Melachim I 12:33).
(d)HaSh-m was swift in His wrathful reaction to Yarav'am's outrageous sacrilege. HaSh-m sent Ido from Yehudah to Beis-El, where he arrived just as King Yarav'am was about to sacrifice on the Mizbe'ach that he had built there. Addressing the Mizbe'ach, he prophesied that many years later, a king by the name of Yoshiyahu would slaughter the priests of the Bamos as they sacrificed to it, and that he would burn on it the bones of a man (i.e. Yarav'am, whose name he did not publicize out of respect for the king). As a sign that what he was saying was the word of HaSh-m, the Mizbe'ach would shortly split in two and all the ashes that were on it would spill.
(e)Meanwhile, the king pointed at Ido for his men to seize him, and his arm became paralyzed, and he was unable to withdraw it. At that stage, the Mizbe'ach split and all the ashes that were on it, spilled, just as the Navi had said it would.
(f)Yarav'am pleaded with the prophet to pray on his behalf for HaSh-m to restore the power of movement to his arm. Ido complied, but he declined the king's invitation to eat with him because, he explained, HaSh-m had forbidden him to eat or drink in that place, and He had commanded him to return to Yehudah via a different route than he had come.
(g)As he was leaving to return to Yehudah, an old, false prophet who lived in Beis El, and who had heard from his sons what Ido had done, sent them to discover the route he had taken. He then had them saddle his donkey and he chased after Ido to invite him to join him for a meal. After he caught up with the Navi, he sat to rest under an oak-tree, and he duly issued his invitation to Ido, which the latter declined for the same reason he had declined Yarav'am's offer. The old man insisted, however, that he also was a Navi, and that he had been instructed by an angel to bring Ido home with him and to give him food and drink (a lie). Ido accepted the word of the false prophet and returned with him to eat and drink (a blatant contravention of his own prophecy).
(h)As they were sitting at the table, HaSh-m appeared to the old man with orders to inform Ido that because he had transgressed the word of HaSh-m and disregarded His command, his corpse would not be buried in the family burial plot. Indeed, shortly after he departed from the old man, a lion attacked and killed him. The lion neither touched the donkey on which he rode, nor did it devour Ido. The corpse of Ido remained on the ground, flanked by his donkey, standing to one side, and by the lion on the other side, a spectacle which amazed passers-by, who discussed it in town. Eventually, their talk reached the ears of the old man, who explained what had happened and why. Once again, he asked his sons to saddle his donkey, and when he arrived at the remarkable scene, he lifted the deceased Navi onto the donkey and rode him back to the town, to eulogize him and to bury him.
(i)After he buried Ido, he instructed his sons that when he died, they were to bury him next to the Navi of HaSh-m (in the same grave), so that when the latter's prophecy would materialize, the Navi's bones would save his bones from being burned (a fate which the bones of all the other idolaters were destined to suffer). They followed his command, and, as he had predicted, his bones indeed were spared due to the merit of Ido, whose grave he shared.
(j)Unfortunately, this episode made no lasting impact on Yarav'am, who continued in his evil ways, causing his entire family eventually to be wiped out.
22)[line 33]"גם יהודה שת קציר לך בשובי שבות עמי""GAM YEHUDAH SHAS KATZIR LACH B'SHUVI SHEVUS AMI"- "Also, Yehudah, has planted a branch of yours, when I sought to return the captivity of my nation" (Hoshea 6:11) - This is transposed to mean, "Also Yehudah is appointed as a captain for you, when I returned the captivity of my nation."
23)[line 37]"ורוח לבשה את עמשי וגו'""V'RU'ACH LAVSHAH ES AMASAI..." - "And a spirit enveloped Amasai, [head of the officers: 'For your sake [we came] and we are with you, son of Yishai. Peace, peace be upon you, and peace be upon those who help you, for HaSh-m helps you.' And David accepted them and he placed them at the head of the troops" (Divrei ha'Yamim I 12:19) (DAVID AND THE SUSPICIOUS GROUP)
(a)A group of men from Binyamin came to see David in the fortress in a place called Lamtzad (in the territory belonging to Gad), where he was hiding from Shaul. Realizing that David would suspect them of plotting to deliver him into the hands of Shaul, who was from the same tribe, they took with them some men from Yehudah, and even his sister's son, Amasai. Despite this, David - who seemed to trust the group - expressed the fear that perhaps they were coming to trick him and to inform Shaul (who, he reminded them, was pursuing him for no explicable reason) of his whereabouts.
(b)That was when Amasai suddenly felt the urge to act as the group's spokesman and to assure David that they had come on a mission of peace.
24)[line 38]לא יאה יהירותאLO YA'EH YEHIRUSA- the promotion to a position of authority is unbecoming
25)[line 39]וסניין שמייהוV'SANYAN SHEMAIHU- and their names [refer to things that] are loathsome
26)[line 40]זיבורתאZIBURTA- bee
27)[line 40]כרכושתאKARKUSHTA- marten, weasel or rat
28)[line 41]"ותשלח ותקרא לברק...""VA'TISHLACH VA'TIKRA L'BARAK..." - "And she (Devorah) sent and she called for Barak [ben Avino'am, from Kedesh Naftali, and she said to him, 'Go and draw to Har Tavor and take with you ten thousand men from the Bnei Naftali and the Bnei Zevulun. And I will draw to you to the valley of Kishon Sisera, the commander of Yavin's army, his chariots and his vast army, and I will deliver him into your hands. And Barak said to her, 'If you will go with me, I will go; if you do not go with me, I will not go]" (Shoftim 4:6-8) (DEVORAH AND BARAK)
(a)Following the death of the Shofet, Ehud, Yisrael returned to their wicked ways, so HaSh-m delivered them into the hands of Yavin, king of Kena'an, and his fierce commander-in-chief, Sisera, who had 900 iron chariots under his command. For twenty years, Yisrael groaned under Yavin's heavy yoke. As they had done in the past, they cried out to HaSh-m, and once again HaSh-m responded by sending them a savior (Devorah the Prophetess) in their time of need.
(b)Devorah sent for Barak (her husband) to mobilize the local troops and attack Sisera's army, as the verse describes. The Gemara relates that she was taken to task for summoning her husband instead of going to him (as the requirements of Derech Eretz demand), and it links this to the fact that her name is equivalent to a Tamei species of animal (i.e. a bee).
(c)Interestingly, Barak responded by refusing to go to war unless Devorah accompanied him. Devorah informed him that although he would win the battle, Sisera would fall by the hands of a woman.
(d)Devorah accompanied Barak to Kadesh, where he gathered an army of 10,000 men from Zevulun and Naftali. Devorah instructed Barak, who had taken his troops to Har Tavor, to attack the powerful army of Sisera, which included 900 iron chariots (possibly the first time armored vehicles were used in warfare). Devorah knew that HaSh-m was with Barak and would deliver the enemy into his hands. Indeed, Barak, with the halp of HaSh m, vanquished Sisera's army. As Devorah had prophesied, it was not Barak who killed Sisera, but Yael, the wife of Chever ha'Keini (a descendent of Yisro).
29)[line 45]"[ויקברו אתו בגבול נחלתו] בתמנת חרס""[VA'YIKBERU OSO BI'GEVUL NACHALASO] B'SIMNAS CHERES" - "[And they buried him (Yehoshua) within the border] of Timnas Cheres [which was situated in Har Efrayim, to the north of Mount Ga'ash" (Yehoshua 24:30) (THE BURIAL AND BURIAL PLACE OF YEHOSHUA)
(a)Rashi comments that elsewhere Yehoshua's burial place is cited as being in Timnas Cheres, and there are two explanations as to which is its real name:
1.Its real name was Timnas Serach, and it was called Timnas Cheres to hint to the picture of the sun that they placed on his grave as a reminder of the amazing feat he effected, as if to say what a pity it was that such a great man had to die.
2.Its real name was Timnas Cheres. Timnas Serach was a hint to the fact that the fruit that grew there was so luscious that when it turned bad it reeked.
(b)Har Ga'ash (which has connotations of trembling) hints that the mountain shook in anger because Yisrael did not eulogize Yehoshua with the due honor that such a great man deserved.
(c)The verse goes on to inform us that as long as the elders who succeeded him - who had seen all of the many miracles in the desert - were still present, the people continued to serve HaSh-m loyally, and it was only after they died that the people became lax. This period lasted 28 years from the time that Yehoshua took over leadership from Moshe Rabeinu. Unfortunately, the elders did not survive long after Yehoshua's death, for within one year they had all died, as a punishment for not eulogizing him sufficiently, as explained above.
(d)The Navi also teaches us that the Mitzvah of burying Yosef's bones, started by Moshe Rabeinu, was finished by Yisrael (by members of his own tribe). (Yosef was buried in the town of Shechem, which Yaakov purchased from the sons of Chamor for 100 Kesitah, and which he subsequently bequeathed to Yosef and his descendants. Rashi reminds us that Shechem was the location from which Yosef's brothers had kidnapped him, so it was befitting that they return him to there.)
(e)Finally, the Navi informs us that Elazar ben Aharon also died, and that they buried him in Giv'as Pinchas (the hill belonging to Pinchas, Elazar's son, which, according to some, he inherited from his wife, and according to others, he received as a gift from the Jewish people).
30)[line 48]"את תקות חוט השני...""ES TIKVAS CHUT HA'SHANI..." - "[Behold, we are coming to the land;] this red thread [you shall tie to the window via which you lowered us. Your father, your mother, your brothers, and all of your father's family you shall then gather to you in the house]" (Yehoshua 2:19) (THE SPIES REPAY RACHAV'S KINDNESS)
(a)The two men (Pinchas and Kalev) whom Yehoshua had sent to spy out the land and Yericho (the first town that Yisrael planned to attack) arrived at the inn of Rachav ha'Zonah, who hid them from the men sent by the king of Yericho to capture them. She claimed that she had no clue as to who they were, but that in any event they had left the town before the gates closed for the night.
(b)After the king's men left in pursuit of the spies whom they assumed were returning across the Jordan River to the camp of Yisrael, Rachav spoke to the spies. She informed them that she was aware that HaSh-m was about to deliver the entire land into their hands, and that the people of Kena'an, who had heard about the miracles of Yam Suf and Yisrael's defeat of Sichon and Og, were terrified of Yisrael. She told them that they had no courage left to fight, and that (at least as far as she was concerned) HaSh-m was G-d in the heaven above and on earth below.
(c)Before sending the two men on their way, however, she made them swear that when they would destroy Yericho they would spare her entire family. They readily agreed, on two conditions:
1.She was not to divulge their agreement to anyone;
2.The red thread by which she had just lowered them from the wall (in which her house was built) she was to leave hanging from the window, so that they would be able to identify it later. She subsequently adhered to the conditions, and they kept their promise.
(d)She warned the men not to return directly via the Jordan river, as they would inevitably meet the king's men returning from their futile chase. Rather, they should go first to the mountains and hide there for three days before returning to the camp. They followed her advice, and three days later they returned to the camp of Yisrael with the good news that HaSh-m would deliver the Kena'anim, whose hearts had melted from fear, into their hands.
(e)Yehoshua later married Rachav ha'Zonah.
31)[line 49]פתיא אוכמא!PASYA UCHMA!- black earthenware vessel! (this appellation is used for a Talmid Chacham who is so fully devoted to learning Torah that he does not even have time to wash his clothes - RASHI Avodah Zarah 16b)
32)[line 49]מיני ומינך תסתיים שמעתאMINI U'MINACH TISTAYEM SHEMA'ATA- between the two of us, the matter will be clarified [i.e. both statements are true]