Rosh Hashanah 3A

״וישמע הכנעני מלך ערד״, מה שמועה שמע? שמע שמת אהרן, ונסתלקו ענני כבוד, וכסבור ניתנה רשות להלחם בישראל. והיינו דכתיב: ״ויראו כל העדה כי גוע אהרן״,

“And when the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who resided in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel” (Numbers 21:1). What report did he hear? He heard that Aaron had died, and that the clouds of glory had withdrawn from the Jewish people, and he thought that he had been granted permission to wage war against the Jewish people. And this is as it is written: “And all the congregation saw that [ki] Aaron was dead, and they wept for Aaron 30 days, all the house of Israel” (Numbers 20:29).

ואמר רבי אבהו: אל תקרי ״ויראו״, אלא ״וייראו״, כדריש לקיש. דאמר ריש לקיש, ״כי״ משמש בארבע לשונות: אי, דילמא, אלא, דהא.

About this, R' Abbahu said: Do not read the verse as: “And they saw [vayiru]”; rather, read it as: “And they were seen [vayeira’u]” by others, because the cover of the clouds of glory had been removed from them. And the next word, “that [ki],” should be understood as meaning because, in accordance with the statement of Reish Lakish, as Reish Lakish said: The word ki is used in the Bible in 4 senses: If, perhaps, but, and because. Therefore, the verse should be understood as follows: And all the congregation was seen, i.e., revealed, because Aaron had died. This shows that at the time of Aaron’s death Sihon was still alive; perforce, Moses’ oration, which was delivered after he had slain Sihon, must have occurred later.

מי דמי? התם כנען, הכא סיחון! תנא: הוא סיחון, הוא ערד, הוא כנען. סיחון ⁠— שדומה לסייח במדבר, כנען ⁠— על שם מלכותו, ומה שמו ⁠— ערד שמו. איכא דאמרי: ערד ⁠— שדומה לערוד במדבר, כנען ⁠— על שם מלכותו, ומה שמו ⁠— סיחון שמו.

The Talmud raises an objection against this proof: Is it comparable? There, the verse is speaking of Canaan, king of Arad, whereas here, the verse is speaking of Sihon. What proof, then, can be brought from the one with regard to the other? The Talmud explains: A Sage taught in a baraita: All 3 names are referring to the same person: He is Sihon, and he is Arad, and he is also Canaan. He was called Sihon because he was similar in his wildness to a foal [seyyaḥ] in the desert; and he was called Canaan after his kingdom, as he ruled over the Canaanite people; and what was his real name? Arad was his name. Some say an alternative explanation: He was called Arad because he was similar to a wild ass [arod] in the desert; and he was called Canaan after his kingdom; and what was his real name? Sihon was his name.