פרשת נצבים - וילך תשט"ז - דברי משה לפני מותו

And he said unto them: ‘I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in; and the LORD hath said unto me: Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא I CAN NO LONGER GO OUT AND COME IN — One might think that this was because his physical strength failed him! Scripture, however, states (Deuteronomy 34:7) “His eye was not dim nor his natural force abated!” What then is the meaning of לא אוכל? It means: “I am not permitted” (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 12:17 and Deuteronomy 24:4), because the power (leadership) is being taken from me and given to Joshua. — Another explanation of לצאת ולבוא is: I can no more take the lead in the matter of the Law; this teaches us that the traditions and the well-springs of wisdom were stopped up for him (cf. Sotah 13b).

וילך משה וגו' ... אנכי היום AND MOSES WENT ... I AM [HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS OLD] THIS DAY — Today my days and my years become full: for on this day (the seventh of Adar; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 1:3) I was born and on this day I must die (Sotah 13b). לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא I CAN NO LONGER GO OUT AND COME IN — One might think that this was because his physical strength failed him! Scripture, however, states (Deuteronomy 34:7) “His eye was not dim nor his natural force abated!” What then is the meaning of לא אוכל? It means: “I am not permitted” (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 12:17 and Deuteronomy 24:4), because the power (leadership) is being taken from me and given to Joshua. — Another explanation of לצאת ולבוא is: I can no more take the lead in the matter of the Law; this teaches us that the traditions and the well-springs of wisdom were stopped up for him (cf. Sotah 13b).

ולא בערתי ממנו בטמא NEITHER HAVE I CONSUMED ANY THEREOF UNCLEAN — i.e. whether I was unclean and it (the sacred gift) was clean, or I was clean and it unclean (Sifrei Devarim 303:16). But where has one been prohibited about this (that he declares that he has not infringed the command)? In the following passage: (Deuteronomy 12:17) “Thou mayest not eat within thy gates [the tithe of thy corn]” — this (the expression “within thy gates”) refers to eating sacred things in a state of uncleanness, just as is stated with reference to פסולי המקדשין (animals intended as sacrifices, but which have become unfit for that purpose) (Deuteronomy 15:22) “Thou mayest eat it within thy gates: the unclean and the clean person [may eat it alike]”. These you may eat, states Scripture, — but this (the tithes of thy corn in a state of uncleanness) you must not eat in the manner which is termed “eating within thy gates” (“the unclean and the clean together”) of which there is mention in another passage (Yevamot 73b).

thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother.

And he said unto them: ‘I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in; and the LORD hath said unto me: Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.