Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Sforno · Torah

Sforno on Deuteronomy 33:1/ספורנו על דברים ל״ג:א׳

אוְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה אֲשֶׁר בֵּרַךְ מֹשֶׁה. כְּשֶׁהֶרְאָהוּ הָאֵל יִתְבָּרַךְ אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ לִפְנֵי מוֹתוֹ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּבָרֵךְ אֶת הָאָרֶץ וְאֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל בָּהּ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁהָיְתָה כַּוָּנָתוֹ בְּאָמְרוֹ ״אֶעְבְּרָה נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה״ (דברים ג:כה). וְכֵן כַּוָּנַת הָאֵל יִתְבָּרַךְ כַּאֲשֶׁר אָמַר לוֹ ״וּרְאֵה אֶת הָאָרֶץ״ (במדבר כז:יב). זֹאת הִיא הַבְּרָכָה שֶׁבֵּרַךְ.
1וזאת הברכה אשר ברך משה, after G’d had shown him the whole Land of Israel before he died, in order that he should be able to pronounce a blessing both over the land and over the people who were going to live in it. Both Moses‘ plea to see the land by crossing the river Jordan (Deut. 3,25) אעברה נא ואראה, and G’d’s purpose in granting him this part of his prayer (Numbers 27,12) were intended for this purpose, i.e. for him to bless the people after viewing the Land of Israel would inspire him to do so. Here we have the text of this blessing.