Chukat | The Skirmish at Chormah

Chukat | The Skirmish at Chormah, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

When did this war take place?

The brief mention of a war with "Melekh Kna'ani" immediately after the report of the death of Aharon raises questions about geography, the route that Bnei Yisra'el took in the desert and the larger problem of post-Mosaic additions to the text of the Torah. Rashi, ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bkhor Shor and Ramban's approaches to understanding this war are assayed, with an important digression within the comments of Ramban.

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