We find the Alshich saying that in the natural course of events, when one’s wife and children are far away from him in a place that is not safe, he worries about them. Because of this worry, he finds it difficult to concentrate on fighting hard. To take his mind off of his worry, it is common to use marching bands and the like. None of this was necessary for the children of Gad, however. They stood as the vanguard of the people in the battle to capture Eretz Canaan, and fought with great courage despite leaving their families behind in a strange land. To summarize, they were mighty warriors of great courage who killed fearlessly.
Killing Draws Forth the Cruelty of the Killer
Regarding the destruction of the “city that has gone astray”, it says that after the city and its inhabitants are destroyed, Hashem will give you mercy and be merciful. The Or Hachaim explains: Because he commanded that all inhabitants of the city be killed by the sword – even the animals of the city – the natural result is to breed a bloodlust in the killer and to make him cruel. To combat this, Hashem promises to give you mercy; despite the cruelty that can be expected as a result of all that killing, the Source of Kindnesss and Mercy will give you mercy to be able to fight that cruelty.
We can now say, that Mosheh, the faithful shepherd, had no doubt that the children of Gad would in fact keep their word, and fight as the vanguard in front of the rest of the tribes. He was concerned, however, that after seven years of fighting, tear[ing] off arm, as well as head, they would become extremely cruel.
For the Tribe of Gad, Fighting was the Primary Goal
Mosheh was more concerned about the tribe of Gad than about the other tribes, for two reasons. The first reason was their might, and knowing that they would be the vanguard in killing the seven nations. The second, and more serious reason, was as follows: Normally, when a person fights for his country, for his house and his possessions, fighting is secondary to the primary goal – conquering the land. Fighting is just the means to achieve the primary goal of conquering the land. Accordingly, when the war ends, he returns home and forgets the war.
This was not the case for the Tribe of Gad. They were to receive nothing from the conquest of the land, and they were not even fighting to protect their families – their families were safe and sound in fortified cities. In a sense, they were fighting as mercenaries for others, where fighting becomes a goal in and of its own. For such people, it becomes very easy to lose their humanity, and to become cruel fighting machines.
Unification of Hashem’s Name Protects Against Being Cruel
For this reason, Mosheh would add in everything that he said, “before Hashem”, as it says, Mosheh said to them, ‘If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before Hashem for the battle, and every armed man among you shall cross the Jordan before Hashem, until he drives out His enemies before Him, and the Land shall be conquered before Hashem, and then you shall return. Then you shall be vindicated from Hashem and from Israel, and this shall be a heritage for you before Hashem.” In this manner, Mosheh was telling them that in every act of war, every killing, every beheading, they have to realize that everything that they are doing is before Hashem, because they were commanded to do so, and not because of blood lust and the like. Mosheh specifically used the Name Hashem, rather that Elokim, because the former represents mercy, while the latter represents strict justice. This alluded to a prayer for Hashem’s mercy.
They got the message and responded, “Your servants shall do as my lord commands.” Thus, specifically here, they became as one man, and understood the mission they were given – to keep Hashem before them as they are killing, as they tear off arm, as well as head. Of course, they were also united when they first came to Mosheh, but that was a hurried getting together for the sake of money and their property, whereas only now did they become united to unify the Name of Hashem, thereby warranting the use of vayomer in singular form.
For a similar reason, Rashi omitted “with one heart” here. They were indeed unified at this point but to become as one heart would require much internal work at the time of the war itself. This also explains why Rashi omitted the children of Reuven from the heading. Mosheh’s concern was specifically for the children of Gad.
Leimor Indicates Soft Speech
We can say that the word leimor at the end of the phrase does not mean that it is to be said further, but rather, indicates that they understood the soft speech Mosheh hid along with his outright words of reprimand (a society of sinful people), when he advised them how to avoid cruelty.
We can also understand the change from “as my lord commands” to “as my lord speaks.” In our possuk, they are saying that they will do everything because of his command, not for their own purposes and drives. By contrast, they subsequently use the dibbur form (speaks), which, as opposed to leimor, refers to strict speech, such as reprimands. In effect, they were saying that they were accepting upon themselves Mosheh’s soft speech just as if it was said strictly, and they would not budge from it.
Without Mosheh’s Reprimand They Would Not Have Gone to War
According to the Sfas Emes, had Mosheh not reprimanded them openly as well as in a hidden fashion, they would indeed have become murderers with a strong blood lust, because they sinned when asking to stay at the other side of the Jordan, and one sin leads to another. In Mosheh’s foresight, they were commanded to fight, thereby putting an end to the process of one sin leading to another.
