Why does the Torah insert the (otherwise superfluous) words "Ve'anu Va'amru", "Yadeinu Lo Shafchu" and "ve'Eineinu Lo Ra'u" ?
Sotah, 44b; To teach us, via a Gezeirah Shavah "Ve'anu Va'amru" "ve'Anu ha'Levi'im Ve'amru", in Ki Savo, 27:14, in connection wwith the B'rachos and K'lalos on Har Gerizim and Har Eival, that the Zekeinim must speak in Lashon ha'Kodesh.
Yerushalmi Sanhedrin, 8:5: It precludes elders who are dumb, who have no hands and who are blind, respectively. To teach us that, just as the Sanhedrin must be perfect in their righteoness, so too, must they be perfect (without blemish) in their bodies. 1
See Torah Temimah, note 16.
What do the elders mean when they declare "Yadeinu Lo Shafchu es ha'Dam ha'Zeh"? Why would we think that they are murderers?
Rashi: They mean that they did not see the victim and send him away without food 1 and without escorting him. 2
Seforno: They mean that they did not allow any known murderer to go free.
Targum Yonasan: They mean that they did not have the murderer under their jurisdiction and let him go free.
What do the elders mean when they declare "ve'Eineinu Lo Ra'u!"
Seforno: They mean that the murder did not take place in a location where people saw. 1
Sotah, 47b: They mean that they did not witness the murder, implying that, if they did, even if they did not recognize the murderer, they woud not break the neck of the Eglah Arufah. 2
Why is "Shafchuh" spelled with a 'Hey' at the end?
Rosh: To hint at the five things that a host must provide for his guest
Chizkuni: The gift can be big or small.
Da'as Zekenim: Food, not money - in case he will be seized with Bulmus (a dangerous illness due to near starvation), and will not be able to buy food.
Presumably, he counts eating and drinking as one, so there are five in all. The commemtaries cite Chazal, but we do not have such a Midrash. (PF) Orchos Chayim (Din Levayah) - some say that the fifth thing is food for the road, until he reaches a settlement, and some say that it is a gift. (We do not find that Avraham offered his guests either of these! According to the opinion that it is food, perhaps they ate enough, and would not need food until they reached their destination;. Rashi (Bereishis 19:1)
