Please let me pass over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.
The Ohr Hachaim asks, why did Moshe Rabbeinu say נָּא – please (or now)? What was the purpose? Additionally, why did he have to mention that he would see the good land? Was that not obvious that he would see the land if he entered it?
The Ohr Hachaim explains that there were two things preventing Moshe Rabbeinu from entering Eretz Yisroel. The Medrash Tanchuma says that Yehoshua’s time to reign had arrived, and no king can overlap on another’s rulership, even one hairsbreadth. Another reason given by Chazal is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu knew that Klal Yisroel were destined to sin, and Hashem would have no choice but to pour out His wrath on them. He would then take their Beis Hamikdash as collateral for their sins. This is why the Torah repeats the word משכן in Parshas Pekudei, because the משכן – holy tent was a משכון – collateral for their sins. Although this may seem harsh, this is Klal Yisroel’s only hope. The possuk (Tehillim 79:1) says מִזְמוֹר לְאָּסָּף א לוֹקים בָּאוּ גוֹיִם בְנַחֲלָּת ךָ טִמְאוּ א ת הֵיכַל קָּדְש ךָ – A song to Assaf, Hashem – the nations have entered your inheritance, they have defiled the hall of your holiness. The Gemara asks, why is this chapter considered a song? Should it not be considered an elegy? The answer given is that Hashem poured His wrath on sticks and stones, not on the heads of Klal Yisroel. That is sufficient reason to sing. However, if Moshe Rabbenu himself had built the Beis Hamikdash, the Gemara says that no other nation would have any power over it. Essentially, Moshe’s entering Eretz Yisroel would entail the eventual destruction of Klal Yisroel.
Moshe, in his prayer, attempted to circumvent these two preventions. He wished to cross the Yarden like anyone else, without any special privileges. He was willing to relinquish his rulership, entering Eretz Yisroel as a rank-and-file member of Klal Yisroel under the leadership of his erstwhile pupil Yehoshua. The word א עְבְרָּה – let me pass over – would denote that he wished to pass over like all others, not at the helm. The words אֶעְבְ רָה נָא – mean that he would be passed over now already. He would resign his position, effective immediately, that he be able to enter Eretz Yisroel.
To his second concern, the possuk says that he merely wished to see the land, he was not planning on building a Beis Hamikdash, and whoever built it would not have his merit. It could be destroyed when necessary.
The Ohr Hachaim offers another explanation. He knew that his days were numbered; nobody lives forever. He was asking that he be permitted to enter Eretz Yisroel while he still had years to his life. The previous possuk says וָאֶתְחַנַן אֶל ה' בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר – I begged Hashem at that time, saying. The Ohr Hachaim explained that that time refers to the time of the Meraglim. When the spies brought their false report to Klal Yisroel, the decree was issued that nobody could enter Eretz Yisroel. However, because they were not punished with kares – an early death before the age of sixty, they had to stay in the desert for the next forty years. Moshe davened that he be allowed into Eretz Yisroel at that time, that he still have some time there. If he would have received a positive answer, the decree on the generation of the spies would have been canceled. They could not have been put to death immediately because they were not deserving of kares.
Another explanation offered by the Ohr Hachaim is based on the Medrash that the future redeemer is also Moshe Rabbeinu. The Zohar explains the possuk in Koheles (1:9) ה יְהִי ש אוּה הָּיָּה ש הַמ – That which has been is that which shall be, that Moshe will return to redeem us. Moshe knew this already, and he was fully aware that the day would come in which he would cross the Yarden and enter Eretz Yisroel. He was davening that this time should come now - א עְבְרָּה נָּא – let me cross now.
