At the beginning of Sefer Yehoshua, Hashem echoes Moshe’s last words to Yehoshua in Sefer Devarim (31:7-8): “And Moshe called to Yehoshua and he said to him before the eyes of all of Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous for you will bring this people to the land that Hashem swore to their forefathers to give to them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And Hashem, He will go before you, He will be with you, He will not release or abandon you. You shall not be fearful or tremble.’”
However, in Sefer Yehoshua, Hashem adds that Yehoshua’s success will hinge upon whether he fulfill the Torah of Moshe as he commanded it. And famously implores of him:
לֹא יָמוּשׁ סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה מִפִּיךָ וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה לְמַעַן תִּשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת כְּכׇל הַכָּתוּב בּוֹ כִּי אָז תַּצְלִיחַ אֶת דְּרָכֶךָ וְאָז תַּשְׂכִּיל. (יהושע א׳:ח׳)
This Torah Scroll shall not depart from your mouth and you shall meditate upon it day and night so that you shall keep to do in accordance with all that is written therein—for then your way will be triumphant and then you shall succeed.[1]
This exhortation is, of course, reasonable. If Yehoshua is to be expected to faithfully keep the Torah he must dedicate himself to studying it. However, I think there’s something more being alluded to here. The only other usage of the expression “it shall not depart…day or night” is at the beginning of the exodus from Egypt:
לֹא יָמִישׁ עַמּוּד הֶעָנָן יוֹמָם וְעַמּוּד הָאֵשׁ לָיְלָה לִפְנֵי הָעָם. (שמות י״ג:כ״ב)
Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night departed from before the people.
When Bnei Yisrael were taken out of Egypt their Divine protection was outwardly manifest in the pillar of cloud and fire. Through no merit of their own they were extracted from the iron furnace of Egypt. The pillars guided the way.
The entry into Canaan parallels, but does not replicate the exodus. No longer will Bnei Yisrael have need for miraculous pillars to guide them and give them faith in God’s protection. Yehoshua was to set a new example. The Sefer Torah itself—imprinted with God’s word—would not depart from Yehoshua’s mouth. It would be the source of Bnei Yisrael’s success. With its guidance they would find success and triumph over their enemies. And it would be Yehoshua, Moshe’s attendant, the one who “would not depart (לא ימיש) from the Tent,” (Shemot 33:11) who most faithfully dedicated himself to the Torah of Moshe, who would lead the way. In Sefer Yehoshua there is a new pillar—more steadfast and long-lasting than the pillars of fire and cloud: the Torah.
____________________________________________________________
[1] This too neatly follows the textual pattern in Devarim. Moshe’s charge to Yehoshua is followed by the writing or completion of the Sefer Torah.After Moshe’s last words to Yehoshua the Torah tells us that Moshe wrote down the Torah and gave it to the priests and elders for safekeeping (31:9). Moshe then commands that the Torah be read at the end of every seven years during the holiday of Sukkot to fortify Bnei Yisrael’s commitment to the Torah (31:10-13).
Moshe is then informed that his life is nearing its completion. He is told to “call to Yehoshua, stand in the Tent of Meeting and command him.” However, before the command is recorded Hashem relays a dire prognosis to Moshe, with Yehoshua standing at his side, of what will befall Bnei Yisrael in the future (31:14-18). Perhaps as a remedy to this bleak prophecy, Moshe is commanded to write “the song” that will testify to Bnei Yisrael’s future abandonment of the covenant (32:19-22). Then, we hear the command to Yehoshua, “And he commanded Yehoshua bin Nun and he said, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you will bring Bnei Yisrael to the land that was sworn to them—and I will be with you.’”
Comments