ב אלא למ"ד לאחר ירושה וישיבה ניכול לאלתר לא הוו צריכי
2 they could have eaten immediately? - They did not need to, for it is written, and the children of Israel did eat the manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat the manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Ex. XVI, 35. 'Land inhabited' refers to cis-Jordania, not Gilead on the east of the Jordan, though two and a half tribes did settle there.');"><sup>3</sup></span> Now, it is impossible to say [literally], 'until they came unto the land inhabited,' since it is also said: '[until they came] unto the borders of the land of Canaan';<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' But not Canaan itself.');"><sup>4</sup></span> conversely, 'unto the borders of the land of Canaan' cannot be understood [literally], since it is also said: 'until they came unto a land inhabited!' How then [are these to be reconciled]?