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		Always Being Ready     Ekev   (Deut 7:12 - 11:25)

D'varim/Deuteronomy 9:1   Hear, O Israel, today you are crossing over the Jordan to come to drive out nations greater and stronger than you, cities great and fortified in the heavens.

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

Our text starts with the dramatic words שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, which are spoken only three times exactly that way by Moshe.¹ שְׁמַע is the Qal ms imperative from the root שׁמע, to hear or listen; יִשְׂרָאֵל is the proper name 'Israel'; the result is the familiar and unmistakable "Hear, O Israel" that starts the first paragraph of the liturgical Kriyat Sh'ma: Israel's great statement of faith. What is so significant about these words that they are only used this way three times? At the first usage, "Moshe summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Hear, O Israel, the laws and rules that I proclaim to you this day! Study them and observe them faithfully!" (D'varim 5:1, NJPS), Moshe summons the people and uses these words to introduce his recounting of the Ten Words, the Decalogue, at Sinai. The second time he uses them, Moshe teaches the absolute unity of The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem - "Hear, O Israel: HaShem our G-d, HaShem is one" (6:4) - and goes on to command the people to love Him, to obey His commandments and to faithfully teach them to the next generation. This third time, Moshe announces that the conquest and possession of Eretz Yisrael, the land long promised to the patriarchs, is about to start and he cautions the people not to forget HaShem when they find themselves in possession of all the good gifts that the land has and is. These are all very significant moments, demanding a particular address.

We should note too that שְׁמַע is the Qal ms imperative - singular, not plural - and that both the options for 'you' - אַתָּה, the 2ms subject pronoun and מִמֶּךָ, the 2ms object pronoun following the preposition מִן - are also singular as indeed are all the 'you' verbs and pronouns in this and the following paragraph, through to the middle of verse 7. Moshe is addressing the great multitudes of Israel as one, as a singular people. The people will all cross the Jordan, no-one will be left behind; they will all enter the land; they will all take part in taking possession of the land. They will all experience the fulfillment of HaShem's promises before their eyes: "I will not drive them out before you in a single year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply to your hurt. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you have increased and possess the land" (Shemot 23:29-30, NJPS). These promises were given to the exit generation at Sinai, but fulfilled for the entry generation forty years later. As we still say: Am Yisrael Chai! - the people of Israel live. HaShem's promises were made to His people and His people saw them fulfilled.

The people are entering the land לָרֶשֶׁת, to dispossess or drive out the Canaanites who are currently living in the land. Taken together, the Canaanites represent a far greater number of people than the Children of Israel, which is why Moshe refers to them as "nations greater and stronger than you". The Sages hear an important lesson in those words: "You also are great and mighty, but they are greater and mightier than you" ( What Is ...

Sifrei: An early composite midrash/commentary on B'Midbar and D'varim; probably composed around the time of the Mishna (200CE); known and referenced in the Talmud; the B'Midbar portion from the school of R. Simeon, the D'varim portion from that of R. Akiva
Sifrei 50). Moshe is not belittling the Israelites, for they have indeed become great and mighty, but - as Who Is ...

Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105 CE), French rabbi who wrote commentaries on the Torah, the Prophets and the Talmud, lived in Troyes where he founded a yeshiva in 1067; focuses on the plain meaning (p'shat) of the text, although sometimes quite cryptic in his brevity
Rashi echoes - "they are mightier than you." This means - and Israel needed to recognise this from the start - that they are dependent on HaShem fulfilling His promises to be able to take possession of the land. As Jeffrey Tigay puts it: "the Canaanites have advantages that would prevent Israel from defeating them on its own, but G-d will subdue the Canaanites for Israel." Peter Craigie writes: "The people were poised on the verge of the conquest. Beyond the river were more powerful nations, heavily fortified cities and the gigantic Anakim. But the people knew that their strength and hope of victory lay in G-d's strength and in His word of promise."²

What Is ...

Targum Onkelos: An early (1^st-2^nd Century CE) translation/paraphrase of the Torah into Aramaic; attributed to a Roman convert to Judaism, Onkelos; used in Babylonian synagogues during the Talmudic era
Targum Onkelos makes a small but significant change to the text describing the fortifications of the Canaanite cities, changing the Hebrew בַּשָּׁמָיִם, "in the heavens" to the Aramaic עַד צֵית שְׁמַיָּא, "towards the heavens." Many English translations follow suit but, in my view, at the expense of missing an important point. Technically, the cities were unlikely to be more than a few hundred feet or so high, if that; hardly "in the heavens", so the Onkelos rewording of "towards the heavens" would have been more architecturally correct. However, the change hides the fact that the cities were built and inhabited by people whose pagan religious practices and sins were an abomination to HaShem - one of the reasons they were being removed: "it is because of their wickedness that the L-RD your G-d is dispossessing those nations before you" (D'varim 9:5, NJPS). The cities were controlled by and dedicated to idols and demonic forces - a practical example of Rav Shaul's words: "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12, ESV).

Another significant word in our text is הַיּוֹם, literally "the day" but often translated as 'today'. Why does Moshe say 'today' when he knew perfectly well that the crossing of the Jordan would not take place until after his death under the leadership of Joshua? Who Is ...

Abraham Ibn Ezra: (1089-1167 CE), born in Tudela, Spain; died in the South of France after wandering all around the shores of the Mediterranean and England; a philosopher, astronomer, doctor, poet and linguist; wrote a Hebrew grammar and a commentary on the Bible
Ibn Ezra explains that this is an idiom that instead of "today you are crossing" should be rendered "you are about to cross". Alternatively, he adds, "it may have been intended to make them treat his words with the same importance as if they were indeed crossing 'today'." Since, on the other hand, it would be happening soon on a specific day, but only after Moshe's death, Who Is ...

Sa'adia Gaon: Sa'adia ben Yosef Gaon (882/892-942 CE); prominent rabbi, philosopher and exegete; born in Egypt, studied in Tiberais, Gaon of Sura, Babylonia, fought assimilation among the richer Jews; active opponent of Karaite Judaism
Saadia Gaon and Who Is ...

Chizkuni: Rabbi Hezekiah ben Manoah (13^th century), French rabbi and exegete; his commentary on the Torah was written about 1240 in memory of his father, based principally on Rashi, but using about 20 other sources
Chizkuni both suggest that it should be rendered, "at this time." It was imminent, in the near-to-immediate future. Like the huge steam-driven naval ships of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, being raised to "two hours notice to steam" - the boiler fires needed to be lit and banked so that the ship could actually leave port within two hours - the Israelites were being put on short notice: you will be crossing the Jordan soon!

Returning to where we started with the call שְׁמַע, "Hear!" or in modern vernacular, "Listen up!", Walter Brueggemann comments that "to 'hear' means to submit the entire life of Israel to HaShem in glad dependence and willing obedience. It is only glad dependence and willing obedience that constitute the necessary condition for land entry."³ In order to be fit to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land, the Children of Israel must be prepared to depend on HaShem and obey the instructions that He gives. Gordon McConville points out that "the command is elsewhere closely associated with exhortations to keep the commandments. Here it is followed immediately by a declaration that the land is about to be possessed. The themes of journey and command are very close here."⁴ If you are going to go on a journey, even as a family or a small group of people, you have to be organised and act together; there has to be a leader and a plan of campaign, an itinerary to follow, otherwise things fall apart very quickly and people can easily get lost following their own ideas or wandering off on their own projects and plans.

Crossing the Jordan (and taking possession of the land) is to be a significant moment of transition for the Israelites. They will pivot from being a nomadic people, travelling in the wilderness with total dependence on HaShem for their every need, to being a land-holding and near-stationary agricultural people farming to grow their food. While they will still be dependent on HaShem for rain, for the harvest and for peace with their neighbours, the nature and the immediacy of that dependence will change. But to inherit the promises and move on in their relationship with HaShem, they must make that transition. In order to change from fishermen into apostles, the disciples needed to hear Yeshua's call to "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19, ESV). They needed to be committed to the ongoing cost of discipleship - "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead" (8:22, ESV) - and always be ready to move on, to learn and grow and to leave other things behind.

In these days, we too have been placed on short notice, to be ready to get up and go, right now. Surely, we expect Yeshua's return soon and we must be ready for Him. But, on the immediate basis, in our every day lives, are we ready each day to cross a Jordan, to hear the Spirit directing us to take some action or make a change in our lives, moving on and leaving stuff behind? I was struck by the urgency in Moshe's voice and his choice of words caught my attention. Are we similarly struck by Yeshua's words to the rich young ruler: "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (19:21, ESV)? Are we always ready to answer the Spirit's call, to move on from milk to solid food, to walk in cities and contexts that are controlled by the enemy but know that they will be demolished by the words of Yeshua? This is the way of the kingdom and the walk of the Spirit. Know that you are called.

1. - At D'varim 4:1, the words are reversed, so Moshe says וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמַע; at 20:3, although the words are the same way, they are contained in instructions for the priests to address the Israelite army before they go into battle, so Moshe isn't addressing the people.

2. - P. C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, NICOT, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976), page 192.

3. - Walter Brueggemann, Deuteronomy Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2001), page 114.

4. - J. G. McConville, Deuteronomy, Apollos Old Testament Commentary, (Leicester, Apollos, 2002), page 181.

6. - McConville, page 161.

Further Study: Matthew 6:19-21; Hebrews 5:11-14

Application: Are you ready to cross a Jordan today, to follow Yeshua and cross from your old to His new and trust that He will provide everything that is needed? Are you ready to cross into enemy territory and trust Yeshua to watch your back every hour of the day as you follow Him? Are you ready to feel the wind of the Spirit filling your sails and moving you forward into His journey?

Comment - 05:54 26Jul26 Ann Pangbourne: Inspiring, thank you and speaking into a particular call to me at this moment.

Comment - 14:05 26Jul26 Kate Miller: Amen and amen. So beautifully worded and laid out by the Ruach - thank you.

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© Jonathan Allen, 2026

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