אבן עזרא — להוריש גוים גדולים ועצמים ממך מפניך להביאך לתת לך את ארצם נחלה כיום הזה

Q — Moshe describes God's love for the avot as having culminated in giving Israel the land of mighty nations "*כיום הזה*" — "as on this day." But the speech is delivered in Ever HaYarden before crossing into Eretz Yisrael proper. How can "as on this day" reference a future inheritance?

A — Two readings. The first ("כיום הזה" = "near this day," meaning the very near future) is grammatically possible but Ibn Ezra rejects it — "והאמת" is something different. The phrase refers to the inheritance that has *already* taken place: the lands of Sichon and Og east of the Jordan, given to Re'uven, Gad, and half of Menashe. The objection: but those are only 2.5 shevatim, and Moshe is addressing all Israel! Ibn Ezra's answer is a structural principle of biblical idiom: 2.5 shevatim can be designated by the collective name "Yisrael." Proof: Hallel HaGadol (Tehillim 136:17-22) celebrates Hashem's striking of "מלכים גדולים... סיחון מלך האמרי... ועוג מלך הבשן" and concludes "ויתן ארצם לנחלה — נחלה לישראל עבדו." That land went only to 2.5 shevatim — yet they are called "Yisrael avdo." Same in Devarim 2:12 ("כאשר עשה ישראל לארץ ירושתו" — referring to the eastern conquest), and in Moshe's own command in Devarim 3:18 ("ואצו אתכם" — addressing 2.5 shevatim within a wider speech). The peshat insight is structural: when speaking to the nation, parts of the nation can be referred to in the singular collective; "Yisrael" is elastic.