ורבי יהודה האי וענתה ואמרה מאי עביד ליה מיבעי ליה לאגמורי ללוים דבלשון הקודש

The Gemara asks: And what does Rabbi Yehuda do with this verse:“ And she shall speak and say, ” from which the Rabbis derive that the recitation at the ḥalitza ritual must be in Hebrew? The Gemara answers: He requires it in order to teach with regard to the Levites that they spoke in the sacred tongue. Whereas the Rabbis derive that the ḥalitza ritual is performed in Hebrew from a verbal analogy between the verses concerning ḥalitza and the verses about the Levites, Rabbi Yehuda derives that the Levites spoke in Hebrew due to this same verbal analogy, with ḥalitza serving as the source.

ולילף קול ממשה ענייה ענייה גמיר קול קול לא גמיר

The Gemara asks: But let Rabbi Yehuda derive that the Levites spoke in Hebrew from a verbal analogy between the word“ voice” that is written with regard to the Levites (Deuteronomy 27:14) and the word“ voice” in the verse about Moses (Exodus 19:19). The Gemara answers: He learned the verbal analogy between“ speak” and“ speak” from his teacher, and he did not learn the verbal analogy between“ voice” and“ voice” from his teacher.

תניא נמי הכי רבי יהודה אומר כל מקום שנאמר כה ככה ענייה ואמירה אינו אלא לשון הקודש כה כה תברכו ככה דחליצה ענייה ואמירה דלוים

That is also taught in a baraita:

Rabbi Yehuda says: Every place where it is stated in the Torah:“ So [ko], ” or:“ So [kakha], ” or where the language of speaking and say ing is used, it is referring only to the sacred tongue. The word ko appears in the context of the Priestly Benediction:“ So [ko] you shall bless the children of Israel” (Numbers 6:23). Kakha appears in the context of the ḥalitza ceremony (Deuteronomy 25:9). The language of speaking and say ing appears in relation to the Levites.

ברכות וקללות כיצד כיון שעברו ישראל את הירדן כו׳ תנו רבנן הלא המה בעבר הירדן מעבר לירדן ואילך דברי רבי יהודה אחרי דרך מבוא השמש מקום שחמה זורחת

§ It is stated in the mishna: How did the ceremony of the blessings and curses take place? When the Jewish people crossed the Jordan River, etc. The Sages taught: When the Jewish people were in Transjordan, the location of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal was described to them as follows: “ Are they not beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the coming of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? ” (Deuteronomy 11:30).“ Are they not beyond the Jordan” means farther west, beyond the Jordan River; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. “ Behind the way of the coming of the sun”; this is referring to the place where the sun rises, i. e., the east. In other words, they are at a distance from the Jordan River, which is in the east.

בארץ הכנעני היושב בערבה אלו הר גריזים והר עיבל שיושבין בהם כותיים מול הגלגל סמוך לגלגל אצל אלוני מרה שכם ולהלן הוא אומר ויעבר אברם בארץ עד מקום שכם עד אלון מורה מה אלון מורה האמור להלן שכם אף כאן שכם

“ In the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the Arabah”; this is referring to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, where the Samaritans now live. “ Over against Gilgal”; this means near Gilgal. “ Beside the oaks of Moreh”; this is referring to Shechem. And from where is it derived that this is Shechem? There, with regard to Abraham, the verse states: “ And Abram passed through the land until the place of Shechem, until the oaks of Moreh” (Genesis 12:6). Just as the oaks of Moreh stated there are identified as Shechem, so too here, they are Shechem.

תניא אמר רבי אלעזר ברבי יוסי בדבר זה זייפתי ספרי כותיים אמרתי להם זייפתם תורתכם ולא העליתם בידכם כלום שאתם אומרים אלוני מורה שכם אף אנו מודים שאלוני מורה שכם אנו למדנוה בגזרה שוה אתם במה למדתום

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Yosei, said: In this matter, I proved the falsehood of the books of the Samaritans. I said to them: You forged your Torah by making additions to it, and you have not gained anything from it, as, you say that the oaks of Moreh is referring to Shechem, and we too concede that the oaks of Moreh is referring to Shechem. However, we derived this by means of a verbal analogy between verses. You, who do not use verbal analogies, how did you derive it?

רבי אלעזר אמר הלא המה בעבר הירדן סמוך לירדן דאי מעבר הירדן ואילך הלא כתיב והיה בעברכם את הירדן

Rabbi Elazar disagrees with Rabbi Yehuda and says: “ Are they not beyond the Jordan” means near the Jordan River, as, if it meant farther west beyond the Jordan, isn’t it written: “ And it shall be when you have passed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones which I command you this day, on Mount Ebal” (Deuteronomy 27:4)? This implies that Mount Ebal was near the location where the Jewish people crossed the Jordan.

אחרי דרך מבוא השמש מקום שהחמה שוקעת בארץ הכנעני ארץ חוי היא

“ Behind the way of the coming of the sun, ” according to Rabbi Elazar, is referring to the place where the sun sets, in the west. This is distant from Shechem, which is in the center of Eretz Yisrael. Furthermore, the verse states:“ In the land of the Canaanites, ” and Shechem is located in the land of the Hivites (see Genesis 34: 2).

היושב בערבה והלא בין הרים וגבעות הן יושבין מול הגלגל והלא לא ראו את הגלגל

Similarly, the phrase “ that dwell in the Arabah” cannot be a description of the mountains known as Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal that are next to Shechem; aren’t they situated among mountains and hills? The description“ over against Gilgal” is also difficult; they could not see Gilgal from Shechem, as it is far away. Rather, according to Rabbi Elazar, Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal mentioned in the Torah are located closer to the Jordan River. They are not the mountains known by the same names that are located near Shechem.

רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר לא בא הכתוב אלא להראות להן דרך בשניה כדרך שהראה להן בראשונה דרך בדרך לכו ולא בשדות וכרמים היושב בישוב לכו ולא במדברות בערבה בערבה לכו ולא בהרים וגבעות

Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: The verse does not come to establish the location of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Rather, it comes to show the Jewish people the way the second time, when they were entering the land of Canaan, like the way He showed them the first time, when they left Egypt and a pillar of cloud went before them and made the terrain easier to transverse. The purpose of the verse is to instruct the Jewish people how to enter the land of Canaan with relative ease, despite the absence of the pillar of cloud. The word“ way” instructs them to go along a pre-established way, and not in fields and vineyards. The phrase“ that dwell” instructs them to go in settled areas and not in the wilderness. “ In the Arabah, ” which means plain, teaches them to go in the plains and not over mountains and hills.

תנו רבנן כיצד עברו ישראל את הירדן בכל יום ארון נוסע אחר שני דגלים והיום נסע תחילה שנאמר הנה ארון הברית אדון כל הארץ עבר לפניכם בכל יום ויום לוים נושאין את הארון והיום נשאוהו כהנים שנאמר והיה כנוח כפות רגלי הכהנים נושאי ארון ה׳ וגו׳

§ The Sages taught ( Tosefta 8: 1): How did the Jewish people cross the Jordan? Every day the Ark would travel behind the two flags of Judah and Reuben, but on that day the Ark traveled in front, as it is stated: “ Behold, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing before you” (Joshua 3:11). On every other day, the Levites would carry the Ark, but on this day the priests carried it, as is stated: “ And when the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest” (Joshua 3:13).

תניא רבי יוסי אומר בשלשה מקומות נשאו כהנים את הארון כשעברו את הירדן וכשהסיבו את יריחו וכשהחזירוהו למקומו

It is taught in a baraita ( Tosefta 8: 2) that Rabbi Yosei says: In three different places the priests carried the Ark. They carried it when the Jewish people crossed the Jordan, and when they surrounded Jericho (Joshua 6:6), and when they returned it to its proper place in the Holy of Holies during the reign of King Solomon (I Kings 8: 6).