Va'etchanan

Va'etchanan (ואתחנן — Hebrew for “and I pleaded,” the first word in the parshah) is the 45th weekly Torah portion ("parshah") in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the second in the book of Deuteronomy. It constitutes ) God directed Moses to climb the summit of Pisgah and gaze about to look at the land. () Moses noted that in the sin of Baal-peor, God wiped out every person who followed Baal-peor, while preserving alive those who held fast to God. () At the same time, God commanded Moses to impart to the Israelites laws for them to observe in the land that they were about to occupy. () Moses said that God was angry with him on account of the Israelites, and God swore that Moses would not enter the land but would die in the land east of the Jordan. () There in exile they would serve man-made gods of wood and stone, that would not be able to see, hear, eat, or smell. ()

Moses invited the Israelites to consider whether in any time or space any people had ever heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire and survived, or any god had taken one nation from the midst of another by prodigious acts and awesome power as their God had done for them in Egypt before their very eyes. ()

Cities of refuge

Then Moses set aside three cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan to which a manslayer who unwittingly slew a person without having been hostile to him in the past could escape and live: Bezer among the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead among the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan among the Manassites. () God spoke to them
*“I the Lord am your God.” ( 5:11 in NJPS.)
*“Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” ( 5:17 in NJPS.)
*“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not crave your neighbor’s house, or his field, or his male or female slave, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” ( 5:20–24 in NJPS.)

(A note on verse numbering: The Mechon Mamre Hebrew-English Bible to which articles in this series link numbers its verses according to the Lower Trope Marks system, in which the verses are numbered naturally in their form for study. Many Jewish Bibles in both Hebrew and English (including the 1917 Jewish Publication Society "Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text", the "New Jewish Publication Society Tanakh", and the ArtScroll "Chumash") use the numbering of the Upper Trope Marks system as used for public readings. Parallel verse numbering thus appears for the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and here in Deuteronomy 5.)

The "Shema"

And Moses imparted God’s instruction, the "Shema" and "V'ahavta", saying: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when thou rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house, and upon your gates.” () Moses warned the Israelites not to try God, as they did at Massah, but to keep God’s commandments and do what is right in God’s sight, that it might go well with them, that they might be able to possess the land, and that all their enemies might be driven out before you them. () The Israelites were not to intermarry with them, for they would turn the Israelites’ children away from God to worship other gods, and God’s anger would blaze forth against the Israelites and wipe them out. () God chose them not because they were the most numerous of peoples, but because God favored them and kept the oath God made with their fathers. ( that one should seek a suppliant frame of mind before praying. Rav Huna and Rav Hisda were discussing how long to wait between recitations of the Amidah if one erred in the first reciting and needed to repeat the prayer. One said: long enough for the person praying to fall into a suppliant frame of mind, citing the words “And I supplicated the Lord” in that one should always first praise God at the beginning of prayer, for Moses praised God in that God let Moses see the Promised Land only because Moses prayed, and thus Rabbi Eleazar concluded that prayer is more effective than good deeds, for no one was greater in good deeds than Moses, and yet God let Moses see the land only after Moses prayed. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 32b.)Rabban Johanan ben Zakai interpreted the word “Lebanon” in to refer to the altar. Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai explained that the altar was called “Lebanon” because it made white ("malbin") the sins of Israel, as indicated by the words of where it says, “the gold of that land is good,” and The Gemara provided another explanation of the word “enough! ("rab")” in which says, “charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him.” And the Baraita deduced exhortation to obedience for all time from the use of the word “command” in and ), and the scapegoat (in to forbid inquiry into the work of creation in the presence of two people, reading the words “for ask now of the days past” to indicate that "one" may inquire, but not "two". The Rabbis reasoned that the words “since the day that God created man upon the earth” in taught that one must not inquire about what is beyond the universe, what is above and what is below, what is before and what is after. (Babylonian Talmud Chagigah 11b.)

Chapter 2 of tractate Makkot in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the cities of refuge in and [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0519.htm 19:1–13.] ( [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/10-02-02/thursday.htm Mishnah Makkot 2:1] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/archiveshabbat8.htm –8;] Tosefta Makkot 2:1–3:10; Jerusalem Talmud Makkot; Babylonian Talmud Makkot 7a–13a.)

Deuteronomy chapter 5

Rabbi Levi said that the section beginning at says, “I am the Lord your God”; (2) (20:7 in NJPS) says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” and says, “And you shall keep My Sabbaths”; (5) (20:13 in NJPS) says, “You shall not murder,” and says, “Both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death; (8) (20:13 in NJPS) says, “You shall not bear false witness,” and says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus Rabbah 24:5.)

A midrash noted that almost everywhere, Scripture mentions a father's honor before the mother's honor. (E.g., mentions the mother first to teach that one should honor both parents equally. (Genesis Rabbah 1:15.)

Rabbi Tanchum ben Chanilai found in God's calling to Moses alone in and [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0203.htm#17 17,] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0213.htm#5 13:5,] and [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0233.htm#3 33:3,] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0511.htm#9 11:9,] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0526.htm#9 26:9] and [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0526.htm#15 15,] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0527.htm#3 27:3,] and [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0531.htm#20 31:20.] Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod to Ono, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasangs by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)Discussions of the laws of "tefillin" appear at [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5763/29-09-02/sunday.htm Mishnah Menachot 3:7] and Babylonian Talmud Zevachim 37b, Sanhedrin 4b, and Menachot 34b–37b.

Discussions of the laws of the "mezuzah" appear at Babylonian Talmud Menachot 31b–34b.

The first three chapters of tractate Berakhot in the Mishnah, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud and the first two chapters of tractate Berakhot in the Tosefta interpreted the laws of the "Shema" in (Exodus Rabbah 36:1.)

Commandments

According to Maimonides

Maimonides cited verses in the parshah for 11 positive and 15 negative commandments:
*That warriors shall not fear their enemies nor be frightened of them in battle ()
*Not to entertain the thought that there is any god but the Lord ( )
*Not to worship an object of idolatry in its normal ways of worship ()
*Not to take an oath in vain ( )
*Not to kill an innocent person ( )
*Not to desire ( [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0511.htm 11:1.] )
*To read the "Shema" twice daily ()
*To bind "tefillin" on the arm ( [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0510.htm#20 10:20.] )
*To swear by God’s Name ()
*Not to have mercy on idolaters ()
*To know that God is one ()
*To say the "Shema" twice daily ()
*To put a "mezuzah" on each door post ()
*Not to show favor to them () A voice in the wilderness called to clear the way and make a highway for God, for every valley will be lifted up, every mountain will be made low, and God’s glory will be revealed to all. ()

Who has held the waters in hand, measured the heavens, comprehended the earth, and weighed mountains in the balance? () Can one compare God to anything, to an idol that a woodworker carved? ()

To whom then to liken God? Lift up your eyes and see: The One who created the stars, called them by name, by the greatness of God’s might and strong power each one appears. the haftarah answers, “Comfort, comfort My people, says your God.” complains that Zion’s princes “are gone without strength before the pursuer.” In the haftarah affirms, “Bid Jerusalem take heart, and proclaim to her, that her time of service is accomplished, that her guilt is paid off.”

As well, the haftarah echoes the parshah. In the parshah in is reflected in along with appears in the Torah service ("Seder K’riat HaTorah"). (Hammer, at 141.) And the "Shema" and for some the "V'ahavta", to provide the question of the wise son, also in the "magid" section. (Tabory, at 86. Menachem Davis. "The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments", 29. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9.)

The Weekly Maqam

In the Weekly Maqam, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For parshah Va'etchanan, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Hoseni, the maqam that expresses beauty. This is especially appropriate in this parshah because it is the parshah where Moses repeats to the Israelites their history of receiving the Ten Commandments.

Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

Ancient

*Code of Hammurabi Babylonia, Circa 1780 B.C.E. Reprinted in e.g. James B. Pritchard. "Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament", 178. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. ISBN 0691035032. (not to change the law).

Biblical

*Exodus [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0213.htm#12 13:1–2] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0213.htm#12 13:12–13] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0220.htm#4 20:4 in JPS;] 20:5 in NJPS (punishing children for fathers’ sin); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0220.htm 20:1–19] (Ten Commandments); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0221.htm#12 21:12–14] (cities of refuge); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0222.htm#28 22:28–29] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0234.htm#7 34:7] (punishing children for fathers’ sin).
*Numbers [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0403.htm#11 3:11–13] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0414.htm#18 14:18] (punishing children for fathers’ sin); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0418.htm#15 18:15–18] (firstborn); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0435.htm 35:1–33.]
* (worshipping sun, moon, stars); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0519.htm 19:1–13;] [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0524.htm#16 24:16] ("no" capital punishment of children for fathers’ sin).
*Joshua [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0620.htm 20:1–9] (cities of refuge).
*Jeremiah [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1108.htm 8:1–2] (worshipping sun, moon, stars); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1131.htm#29 31:28–29 in JPS, 31:29–30 in NJPS] ("not" punishing children for fathers’ sin).
*Ezekiel [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1208.htm#16 8:16–18] (sun worship); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1218.htm 18:1–4] ("not" punishing children for fathers’ sin); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1218.htm#5 18:5–7] (the just one does not rob).
*Psalms [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2619.htm#8 19:8–12] (value of God’s law); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2671.htm#19 71:19] (God’s righteousness reaches to heaven); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2686.htm#8 86:8] (none like God among the gods); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2689.htm#6 89:6] (heavens praise God in the assembly of the holy ones); [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26b1.htm#10 111:10] (fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom).
*Job [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt2731.htm#26 31:26–28] (worshipping sun, moon).

Early nonrabbinic

*Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews" [http://www.interhack.net/projects/library/antiquities-jews/b4c8.html 4:8:2, 13] Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition". Translated by William Whiston. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.

Classical rabbinic

*Mishnah: –; 9:5; Orlah 1:7; [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5761/10-06-01/sunday.htm Sotah 7:1,] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5761/10-06-01/wednesday.htm 8;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5761/9-09-01/wednesday.htm Bava Kamma 5:7;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/6-01-02/wednesday.htm Sanhedrin 2:4;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/10-02-02/thursday.htm Makkot 2:1] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/archiveshabbat8.htm –8;] Avot 3:8; [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5762/25-08-02/wednesday.htm Zevachim 8:10;] [http://www.moreshet.net/oldsite/mishna/5763/29-09-02/sunday.htm Menachot 3:7;] Tamid 5:1. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Mishnah: A New Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 3–7, 14, 160, 457, 459, 515, 586, 612–16, 679, 717, 739, 869. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
*Tosefta: Berakhot 1:1–3:1, 6:1; Maaser Sheni 5:28; Shekalim 2:2; Rosh Hashanah 2:13; Chagigah 2:7; Sotah 7:7, 17, 8:10; Bava Kamma 6:18, 7:9; Sanhedrin 4:7; Makkot 2:1–3:10; Avodah Zarah 1:16, 3:15; Zevachim 8:23. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction". Translated by Jacob Neusner. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
*Sifre to Deuteronomy 26:1–36:4. Reprinted in, e.g., Jacob Neusner. "Sifre to Deuteronomy", 69–104. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. Land of Israel, circa 250–350 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "Sifre to Deuteronomy: An Analytical Translation". Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:67–104. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. ISBN 1-55540-145-7.
*Jerusalem Talmud: Berakhot 1a–42b, 53a, 54a, 72b, 86b–88a, 92b, 93b; Peah 6b–7a; Sheviit 46b. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Yerushalmi". Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1–3, 6b. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006–2008.
*Babylonian Talmud: –26a, 30b, 32a–b, 48b, 54a, 61b; Shabbat 9b, 10b, 32b, 33b, 51b, 56b, 75a, 78b, 79b, 87a–b, 103b, 132a; Eruvin 13a, 22a, 48a, 92b, 95b; Pesachim 22b, 25a, 55a, 56a; Yoma 10a, 11a, 19b, 33b, 72b, 82a, 86a; Sukkah 3a–b, 10b, 25a–b, 41b–42a, 53b; Beitzah 5a; Rosh Hashanah 18a–b, 27a, 28b, 32b; Taanit 9a; Megillah 9a–b, 11a, 17b, 20a, 21a, 24b, 31b; Moed Katan 7b, 15a–b, 18b, 21b; Chagigah 3a, 9b, 11b–12a; Yevamot 6b, 17a, 23a, 48b, 49b, 62a, 76a, 78b, 105a, 109b; Ketubot 111b; Nedarim 8a, 37a, 38a, 62b; Sotah 5a, 10b, 13b, 31a, 32b, 49a; Gittin 12a, 45b, 56b, 57b, 88a; Kiddushin 29a–30b, 34a, 39b–40a, 57a, 58a, 68b; Bava Kamma 41b, 54b–55a, 67b, 79b, 87a, 92b, 102b; Bava Metzia 16b, 35a, 89a, 108a; Bava Batra 110a; Sanhedrin 4b, 17a, 21b–22a, 29a, 38a–b, 56a–57a, 59b, 64a, 67b, 74a; Makkot 9b–10a, 11b, 12b–13a; Shevuot 20b, 36a; Avodah Zarah 2b–3a, 4b–5a, 7b, 11a, 20a, 23b, 25a, 36b, 45b, 54b, 58b; Zevachim 19a, 37b, 80a; Menachot 28a, 31b–37b, 42b, 43b–44a, 53b, 71a, 99b; Chullin 7b, 17a, 23a, 89a, 91b, 119b, 141a, 142a; Bekhorot 29a, 57a; Arakhin 3b; Temurah 3b–4a, 28b. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Talmud Bavli". Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
*Deuteronomy Rabbah 2:1–37. Land of Israel, 9th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Midrash Rabbah: Deuteronomy". Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.

Medieval

*Solomon ibn Gabirol. "A Crown for the King", 2 (“You are one”). Spain, 11th Century. Translated by David R. Slavitt, 4–6. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-511962-2.
*Rashi. "Commentary". [http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=9967&showrashi=true Deuteronomy 3–7.] Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. "The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated". Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 5:45–81. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89906-030-7.
*Judah Halevi. "Kuzari". Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. "Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel." Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 21, 60–63, 108, 114, 165, 168, 172–73, 205, 293. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
*Numbers Rabbah 23:13. 12th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., "Midrash Rabbah: Numbers". Translated by Judah J. Slotki. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
*Zohar [http://www.kabbalah.com/k/index.php/p=zohar/zohar&vol=46 3:260a–270a.] Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g, "The Zohar". Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.

Modern

*Thomas Hobbes. "Leviathan", England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, 545–47, 672, 676. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.
*Moses Mendelssohn. "Jerusalem", § 2. Berlin, 1783. Reprinted in "Jerusalem: Or on Religious Power and Judaism". Translated by Allan Arkush; introduction and commentary by Alexander Altmann, 100, 119. Hanover, N.H.: Brandeis Univ. Press, 1983. ISBN 0-87451-264-6.
*Samson Raphael Hirsch. "Horeb: A Philosophy of Jewish Laws and Observances". Translated by Isidore Grunfeld, 5–8, 12–13, 18–35, 43–46, 61–78, 102–09, 117–21, 175–80, 187–89, 217–22, 274, 298–302, 359–66, 369–74, 378–81, 406–16, 441–43, 448–52, 478, 514, 544, 565–68. London: Soncino Press, 1962. Reprinted 2002 ISBN 0-900689-40-4. Originally published as "Horeb, Versuche über Jissroel’s Pflichten in der Zerstreuung". Germany, 1837.
*Emily Dickinson. Circa 1859. Circa 1860. Circa 1862. Circa 1862. In "The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson". Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, 53, 79–80, 274–75, 293–94. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1960. ISBN 0-316-18414-4.
*Thomas Mann. "Joseph and His Brothers". Translated by John E. Woods, 325, 447, 612, 788. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as "Joseph und seine Brüder". Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943.
*Abraham Joshua Heschel. "The Sabbath". New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1951. Reprinted 2005. ISBN 0-374-52975-2.
*Abraham Joshua Heschel. "Man's Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism", 36, 120. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1954.
*Martin Buber. "On the Bible: Eighteen studies", 80–121. New York: Schocken Books, 1968.
*Walter J. Harrelson. "The Ten Commandments and Human Rights". Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980. ISBN 0-8006-1527-1. Revised ed. Mercer Univ. Press, 1997. ISBN 0865545421.
*Patrick D. Miller Jr. “The Many Faces of Moses: A Deuteronomic portrait.” "Bible Review". 4 (5) (Oct. 1988).
*David Noel Freedman. “The Nine Commandments: The secret progress of Israel’s sins.” "Bible Review". 5 (6) (Dec. 1989).
*David Noel Freedman. "The Nine Commandments: Uncovering a Hidden Pattern of Crime and Punishment in the Hebrew Bible". New York: Doubleday, 2000. ISBN 0-385-49986-8.
*Moshe Weinfeld. "Deuteronomy 1-11", 5:189–384. New York: Anchor Bible, 1991. ISBN 0-385-17593-0.
*Moshe Weinfeld. “What Makes the Ten Commandments Different?” "Bible Review". 7 (2) (Apr. 1991).
*Ronald Youngblood. “Counting the Ten Commandments.” "Bible Review". 10 (6) (Dec. 1994).
*Moshe Weinfeld. “Deuteronomy’s Theological Revolution.” "Bible Review". 12 (1) (Feb. 1996).
*Jeffrey H. Tigay. "The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation", 38–88, 432–44. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996. ISBN 0-8276-0330-4.
*Baruch J. Schwartz. “What Really Happened at Mount Sinai? Four biblical answers to one question.” "Bible Review". 13 (5) (Oct. 1997).
*William H.C. Propp. “Why Moses Could Not Enter The Promised Land.” "Bible Review". 14 (3) (June 1998).

External links

* [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0503.htm#23 Masoretic text and 1917 JPS translation]
* [http://Bible.ort.org/books/torahd5.asp?action=displaypage&book=5&chapter=3&verse=23&portion=45 Hear the parshah chanted]