Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Torah

THESE ARE THE JOURNEYS. After the vengeance [executed] upon Midian, concerning which the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses, afterwards shalt thou be gathered unto thy people, and after Moses had apportioned the land of Sihon and Og [to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Menasheh] and they had built the [previously] mentioned cities,, 32:34-38. he set his mind to write down [the various stages of] the journeyings [in the desert]. His intention in so doing was to inform [future generations] of the loving kindnesses of the Holy One, blessed be He, towards them, for even though He had decreed upon them that they had to move about and wander around in the wilderness, you should not think that they were continually wandering and moving around from place to place without any rest; for throughout all this long [period of] time they only went on forty-two journeys as the Rabbi — Rashi — wrote, [citing] the words of Rabbi Moshe the Preacher., Note 146. And the Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] added in the Moreh Nebuchim another [explanation as to the] benefit [that we derive] from knowledge [of these stages], saying: “There was a very great necessity in mentioning the [stages of the] journeyings. For [although] the miracles and wonders that were done were [recognized as] true ones by all who saw them, in later times these events would be matters of hearsay, and those who hear about them [then] might deny them altogether. Now among the greatest miracles and wonders [related] in the Torah is Israel’s survival in the wilderness for forty years, and finding the manna every day, although these places [where they stayed] are very far from cultivated settlements, and are not natural habitat for human beings, not being a place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, and the Torah states, Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink. All these [matters] are signs of events of a miraculous nature which were seen by [the human] eye. But the Creator blessed be He, knew that these wonders will be subject to the process which occurs to [all] historical events — that those who hear them will not believe them; and they will think [about these events] that the sojourn of the Israelites in the wilderness was [in a place] near the cultivated settlement, where people can live there, such as the deserts in which the Arabs live today, or [that they stayed in] places where there was plowing and harvesting, or where there were grasses and plants suitable for human consumption, and that there were wells of water in those places. Therefore in order to remove from people’s hearts all such thoughts, and to firmly establish [the truth of] all these miracles, [He recorded] as a [permanent] memorial the [stages of their] journeyings [in the wilderness], so that the future generations would see them and acknowledge the great wonders [entailed] in keeping people alive in such places for forty years.” All these are his words [i.e., the words of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon]. Thus the writing down [the stages of] the journeyings was a commandment of G-d, either for the reasons mentioned above or for some other reasons, [for] a purpose the secret of which has not been revealed to us. For [the expression] by the commandment of the Eternal is connected with [the beginning of that verse], And Moses wrote, unlike the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra who wrote that it is connected with according to their journeys,. Ibn Ezra explains that the phrase by the commandment of the Eternal is connected with according to their journeys, meaning that all their journeys were by the commandment of G-d. Ramban objects to this explanation because this fact has already been expressed elsewhere in Scripture, and therefore he explains that the phrase refers to the beginning of the verse, And Moses wrote, and the intention is to say that Moses wrote down the various stages of the journeys by G-d’s command, and not of his own accord. for Scripture has already informed us of this [fact, saying]: according to the commandment of the Eternal they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of the Eternal they journeyed.

PITCHED IN REPHIDIM, AND THERE WAS NO WATER FOR THE PEOPLE TO DRINK. Scripture [here] does not mention the miracle [that occurred] with the water in Marah, nor the [daily] wonder of manna [which took place] in the wilderness of Sin., Chapter 16. But [it mentioned the giving of water at Rephidim] because this episode at Rephidim was an important event, since they tried G-d [there], and that place was therefore called Massah (Trying) and Meribah (Strife),, 17:7. wherein He was sanctified in their presence by bringing forth water for them out of the rock,, Verse 6. and it was there that they were attacked by the Amalekites., Verse 8. Therefore He [only] described it here in brief, [saying], and there was no water for the people to drink, since it was the place which was recognized and known by this [fact].

AND THEY JOURNEYED FROM MOUNT HOR, AND PITCHED IN ZALMONAH. These places — Zalmonah and Punon — were by the way of the Red Sea circling the land of Edom, and the soul of the people became impatient because of the way, and they [therefore] spoke against G-d, and Moses, Verse 5. on the way, and G-d sent against them the fiery serpents whilst they were travelling and when they rested in camp. Then Moses made the serpent of brass, which they carried upon a pole, Verse 9. all the way, and [kept it] when they encamped in Zalmonah and Punon, and it was not removed from them until they pitched in Oboth. Therefore Scripture there, in narrating this episode [of the fiery serpents, above in Chapter 21], did not mention the name of the place [from which they set forth again, i.e., Zalmonah and Punon] and [merely] stated, And the children of Israel journeyed, and pitched in Oboth, without saying “and they journeyed from such-and-such a place and pitched in Oboth,” as it does with all the [other stages of their] journeyings. This is because the matter [of the brass serpent] continued throughout this way — from the time that they journeyed from Mount Hor until they pitched in Oboth, and they journeyed from Oboth and pitched in Ije-abarim., Verse 11. — Verse 44 here. From there they journeyed and they pitched in Divon-gad, and then in Almon-diblathaim, and [finally] in the mountains of Abarim, [all these] being places in the valley of Zered.

AND YE SHALL DRIVE OUT THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND, AND DWELL THEREIN; FOR UNTO YOU HAVE I GIVEN THE LAND TO POSSESS IT. In my opinion this is a positive commandment, (Book of the Commandments), in the section on “additional” positive commandments, No. 4, Ramban discusses this opinion at length. Here in his commentary on the Torah, he mentions it briefly, relying presumably on his explanation in the work quoted above. in which He is commanding them to dwell in the Land and inherit it, because He has given it to them and they should not reject the inheritance of the Eternal. Thus if the thought occurs to them to go and conquer the land of Shinar or the land of Assyria or any other country and to settle therein, they are [thereby] transgressing the commandment of G-d. And that which our Rabbis have emphasized, the significance of the commandment of settling in the Land of Israel, and that it is forbidden to leave it [except for certain specified reasons], and [the fact] that they consider a woman who does not want to emigrate with her husband to live in the Land of Israel as a “rebellious [wife],” (marriage contract — see Vol. II, pp. 385-386). and likewise the man (ibid.). — the source of all these statements is here [in this verse] where we have been given this commandment, for this verse constitutes a positive commandment. This commandment He repeats in many places, such as Go in and possess the Land. (ibid., Verse 26 — Ramban on Sefer Hamitzvoth, ibid.). Rashi, however, explained: “And ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the Land — [if] you dispossess it of its inhabitants, then ye will be able to dwell therein, and to remain there, but if not, you will not be able to remain in it.” But our interpretation [of the verse] is the principal one.

L’SIKIM’ IN YOUR EYES — “‘like pins’ which prick out your eyes. The [Aramaic] Targum [Onkelos] of the Hebrew word yetheidoth (pins) is sikim. ‘V’LITZNINIM.’ Translators have interpreted this [word] in the sense of [the phrase] mesuchath (hedged by) thorns encircling you so that they enclose and imprison you and you cannot go out or come in.” This is Rashi’s language. Now it is [indeed] clear that sikim means “sharp thorns,” and is related to [the expression]: I will take away ‘mesukatho’ (the hedge thereof); I will ‘sach’ (hedge up) thy way with thorns; Hast Thou not ‘sachta’ (made a hedge) about him?; and put ‘sakin’ to thy throat — [all these phrases referring to] something sharp, made from a thorn or from iron. V’litzninim is likewise [a term for] a piercing thorn related to the expression: and taketh it even ‘mitzinim’ out of the thorns); ‘tzinim’ (thorns) and snares are in the way of the crooked, and [the word tzinim in these two verses] lacks the double letter [‘nun,’ since the full word is tzninim, as in the verse before us]. But the intention of [the expression here] ‘l’sikim’ in your eyes is: “to mislead you so that you will not see nor understand,” just as in [the expression], for the bribe ‘blindeth’ the open-eyed, and as, nor put a stumbling-block before ‘the blind,’ according to the opinion of our Rabbis. Thus the verse is saying that they [the inhabitants of the Land] will “prick out” your eyes by misleading you, because you will not perceive nor understand [the danger], and they will teach you [to do] all their abominations and to worship their gods, just as He said, They shall not dwell in thy Land, lest they make thee sin against Me, for thou wilt serve their gods. After being thorns in your eyes and misleading you to turn away from Me, they will be pricks in your sides, causing you suffering and pain, by plundering and despoiling you. And after that they shall harass you, meaning that they will fight against you and bring you under siege, and I will then send you into exile, a whole captivity, in their place. For as I thought to do unto them because of you, that is, to send all of them into exile from the Land, so that you should leave none of them any more there, but you have not hearkened to My voice, therefore so will I do unto you and I will leave not a single one of you in the Land. In a similar way Joshua said: And they shall be a snare and a trap unto you, and scourge in your sides, and pricks in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good Land. Joshua said a snare and a trap referring to the errors into which they will lead you, as in [the expression], for thou wilt serve their gods — for they will be ‘a snare’ unto thee; and a scourge in your sides which means that they will chastise you with shotim (whips) [in Joshua 23:13, which is usually translated: as a scourge], is understood here by Ramban as coming from the noun shot (a whip). so that they may plunder, despoil and cause you great suffering; and pricks in your eyes, this refers to blinding of the perception of the heart, so as to further mislead you after their gods; until ye perish from off this good Land, similar to that which it is said, lest they, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, and understanding with their heart, return and be healed.