(Numb. 34:2:) “When you come [into the land of Canaan].” This text is related (to Jer. 2:31), “You, O generation, understand the word of the Lord! Have I been a desert (hmdbr, voweled as (hamidbar) to Israel…?” Do not read “a desert,” but “have I spoken (hmdbr, voweled as hamedabber)” anything (dbr) to Israel that I have not fulfilled?25Numb. R. 23:10. With regard to the land which I agreed to give to them, did I say that it was beautiful and mislead them? (Ibid., cont.:) “Or a land of utter darkness (ma'pelyah)?” What is the meaning of “ma'pelyah (rt.: 'pl)?” Did I, perhaps, promise you to bring you into the land and [then] delay you? After all, ma'pelyah can only mean "delay," as stated (in Exod. 9:32), “But the wheat and the spelt were not hurt because they ripen late (i.e., are delayed, rt.: 'pl).”26Tanh. (Buber), Numb. 1:2. See, you will be entering into its midst, “When (according to Numb. 34:2) you come into the land of Canaan (kena'an),” [i.e., into] a land of business,27Gk.: pragmateia. a land of trade. [The usage is] just as you say (in Is. 23:8 with reference to Tyre), “whose traders (kena'anim)28Here the word usually translated CANAAN (Kena‘an) occurs in the sense of trader, as in Hos. 12:8. the world honored.”
כִּי אַתֶּם בָּאִים אֶל הָאָרֶץ. זֶה שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב: הַדּוֹר אַתֶּם רְאוּ דְּבַר ה', הֲמִדְבָּר הָיִיתִי לְיִשְׂרָאֵל וְגוֹ' (ירמיה ב, לא). אַל תְּהִי קוֹרֵא מִדְבָּר, אֶלָּא מְדַבֵּר הָיִיתִי לְיִשְׂרָאֵל דָּבָר וְלֹא עוֹשֶׂה. הָאָרֶץ שֶׁהִתְנֵיתִי לִיתְּנָהּ לָהֶם, שֶׁמָּא אָמַרְתִּי לָהֶם שֶׁהִיא נָאָה וְהִטְעֵיתִי אֶתְכֶם. אִם אֶרֶץ מַאְפֵּלְיָה (שם). כְּמוֹ מַאֲפִילָה. שֶׁמָּא אָמַרְתִּי לָכֶם לְהַכְנִיס אֶתְכֶם לָאָרֶץ וְהִלְקַשְׁתִּי אֶתְכֶם. שֶׁאֵין מַאֲפִילָה אֶלָּא לָשׁוֹן הַלְקָשָׁה, כְּעִנְיָן שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְהַחִטָּה וְהַכֻּסֶּמֶת לֹא נֻכּוּ כִּי אֲפִילוֹת הֵנָּה (שמות ט, לב). שֶׁמָּא אָמַרְתִּי לָכֶם שֶׁהִיא נָאָה וְהִטְעֵיתִי אֶתְכֶם. הֲרֵי אַתֶּם נִכְנָסִין לְתוֹכָהּ. כִּי אַתֶּם בָּאִים אֶל הָאָרֶץ כְּנָעַן. מַהוּ כְּנַעַן. אֶרֶץ שֶׁל פְּרַקְמַטְיָא, אֶרֶץ שֶׁבָּהּ סְחוֹרָה, כְּמָה דְּאַתְּ אֲמַר: אֲשֶׁר סוֹחֲרֶיהָ שָׂרִים, כְּנַעֲנֶיהָ נִכְבְּדֵי אָרֶץ (ישעיה כג, ח).
(Numb. 34:2:) “When you come [into the land of Canaan].” This text is related (to Jer. 2:31), “You, O generation, understand the word of the Lord! Have I been a desert (hmdbr, voweled as (hamidbar) to Israel…?” Do not read “a desert,” but “have I spoken (hmdbr, voweled as hamedabber)” anything (dbr) to Israel that I have not fulfilled?25Numb. R. 23:10. With regard to the land which I agreed to give to them, did I say that it was beautiful and mislead them? (Ibid., cont.:) “Or a land of utter darkness (ma'pelyah)?” What is the meaning of “ma'pelyah (rt.: 'pl)?” Did I, perhaps, promise you to bring you into the land and [then] delay you? After all, ma'pelyah can only mean "delay," as stated (in Exod. 9:32), “But the wheat and the spelt were not hurt because they ripen late (i.e., are delayed, rt.: 'pl).”26Tanh. (Buber), Numb. 1:2. See, you will be entering into its midst, “When (according to Numb. 34:2) you come into the land of Canaan (kena'an),” [i.e., into] a land of business,27Gk.: pragmateia. a land of trade. [The usage is] just as you say (in Is. 23:8 with reference to Tyre), “whose traders (kena'anim)28Here the word usually translated CANAAN (Kena‘an) occurs in the sense of trader, as in Hos. 12:8. the world honored.”