ד"א למה ניתנה במדבר. שאילו ניתנה להם בארץ, היה השבט שניתנה בתחומו מדיין ואומר אני קודם בה, לכך ניתנה במדבר שיהו הכל שוין בה, ועוד למה ניתנה במדבר, כשם שמדבר לא נזרע ולא נעבד, כך המקבל דברי תורה פירקין ממנו עול מלכות ועול דרך ארץ, כשם שמדבר לא מעלה ארנונא, כך בני תורה בני חורין.
Another interpretation: Why was <the well> given in the desert? Because if it had been given to them in the land, the tribe in whose border it was given would have argued and said: I have a prior claim to it. For that reason it was given in the desert where all would have an equal claim to it. And for what other reason was it given in the desert? Just as a desert is neither sown nor cultivated, so is the one who receives the words of Torah. They remove from him the yoke of the government and the yoke of earning a living. Just as a desert does not grow annona;195The Latin word generally denotes, as it probably does here, a tax on farm goods paid in kind; but the word also occurs in a broader sense denoting agricultural products generally. so are children of Torah (i.e., Torah scholars) children of freedom.196I.e., by accepting the yoke of Torah, such scholars are exempt from government taxes and the need to earn a living. See Numb. R. 19:26.
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ד"א במדבר. מי מקיים את התורה, מי שמשים עצמו כמדבר, ומפליג עצמו מן הכל.
Another interpretation <of why it was given> in the desert. Whoever fulfills the Torah is one who uses himself like the desert, <i.e.,> whoever uses himself like a desert and removes himself from everything <that might distract him>.
ד"א למה ניתנה במדבר. שאילו ניתנה להם בארץ, היה השבט שניתנה בתחומו מדיין ואומר אני קודם בה, לכך ניתנה במדבר שיהו הכל שוין בה, ועוד למה ניתנה במדבר, כשם שמדבר לא נזרע ולא נעבד, כך המקבל דברי תורה פירקין ממנו עול מלכות ועול דרך ארץ, כשם שמדבר לא מעלה ארנונא, כך בני תורה בני חורין.
Another interpretation: Why was <the well> given in the desert? Because if it had been given to them in the land, the tribe in whose border it was given would have argued and said: I have a prior claim to it. For that reason it was given in the desert where all would have an equal claim to it. And for what other reason was it given in the desert? Just as a desert is neither sown nor cultivated, so is the one who receives the words of Torah. They remove from him the yoke of the government and the yoke of earning a living. Just as a desert does not grow annona;195The Latin word generally denotes, as it probably does here, a tax on farm goods paid in kind; but the word also occurs in a broader sense denoting agricultural products generally. so are children of Torah (i.e., Torah scholars) children of freedom.196I.e., by accepting the yoke of Torah, such scholars are exempt from government taxes and the need to earn a living. See Numb. R. 19:26.
ד"א במדבר. מי מקיים את התורה, מי שמשים עצמו כמדבר, ומפליג עצמו מן הכל.
Another interpretation <of why it was given> in the desert. Whoever fulfills the Torah is one who uses himself like the desert, <i.e.,> whoever uses himself like a desert and removes himself from everything <that might distract him>.