What is "Ve'haysah Imo" referring to?
Ramban #1: It is referring to the Torah 1 , which is mentioned in the previous Pasuk and is feminine. 2
Ramban #2 (according to Kabalah): It is referring to Torah itself. 3
Oznayim la'Torah (citing his nephew R. Shmuel David Valkin): It is referring to the Parshah of the Aseres ha'Dibros 4 which was strapped to his arm - whereas "ve'Kara Bo" is referring to the entire Seifer Torah that is kept in his treasury.
Refer to 17:19:1.1:1.
Whereas the word "Vekara bo" means 'in the Seifer Torah', which is masculine.
Ramban: As the Pasuk writes in Melachim 1, 5:26 "And Hashem gave Chochmah to Shlomoh", and it says in Divrei Hayamim 1, 29:27 "And Shlomoh sat on the Throne of Hashem as king".
What are the implications of "Ve'haysah imo Ve'kara bo Kol Y'mei Chayav"?
Sanhedrin, 21b: It implies that when the king goes out to war and when he returns he takes the Seifer Torah with him, when he sits in Din 1 he has it with him and when he eats, he places it next to him. 2
Sanhedrin, 21b: "Ve'kara Bo" implies a location which is fitting to read a Seifer Torah - to preclude a public bathhouse and a bathroom, where he may not take it. 3
Yerushalmi Sanhedrin, 2:6: If a king who is busy seeing tto the afaiars of state, is obligated to read the Torah all the days of his life, how much more so a Hedyot. 4
See Torah Temimah, note 94.
And if this is true of a king who spends all his time dealing with the needs of Yisrael, how much more so a Hedyot (Yerushalmi Sanhedrin, 2:6). See Torah Temimah, note 96, who cites Menachos, 99b, which learns this from a Pasuk in Yehoshua, and elaborates.
See Torah Temimah, note 95.
See Torah Temimah, note 96.
What is the word "Kol Y'mei Chayav" coming to include?
How will reading the Torah infuse the king with Yir'as Shamayim?
Seforno: By studying the parts of Torah that require deep study from which one can learn Hashem's Hashgachah.
Mesilas Yesharim (Perek 25): Yir'as Shamayim is acquired only through constantly learning the Torah. Hence the Torah writes 'in order that he will learn to fear', and not just 'in order that he will fear', because this fear is not acquired naturally. It is distant from us, because our senses are physical. 1
See Torah Temimah, note 95.
Seeing as Torah-study and Yir'as Shamayim are incumbent upon every individual, why does the Torah need to mention them specifically in connection with a king?
Refer to 17:20:0.1:1.
Oznayim la'Torah #1: Granted, with regard to his personal life, a king understands - like everybody else, that he is in the Hands of Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu, and serves Him with Yir'as Shamayim and by learning Torah accordingly. However, when it comes to matters concerning his throne, he is easily misled into believeing that his leadership lies in the hands of the people - and is constantly afraid that they will rebel against him and remove him from the throne. Consequetly, the Torah sees fit to remind to learn Torah more than everybody else and to increase his Yir's Shamayim, and to constsntly bear in mind that he is king bythe grae of Hashem and will remian king by the grace of Hashem. 1
Oznayim la'Torah #2: It is because power detracts from one's Yis'as Shamayim, that the Torah warns the king, the most powerful man in the land, to retrieve his lost Yir'as Shamayhim by learning more Torah.
Oznayim la'Torah #3: History of the world in general, and of Yisrael in particular, teaches us kings lead the people away from the path of truth - and vice-versa. Therefore the Torah finds it necessary to warn the king that this should not happen to him by studying Torah and increasing his Yir'as shamayim.
See Oznayim la'Torah, who explains the difference between David and Shaul in this light, and elaborates.
What is the significance of the sequence of the points mentioned in the Pasuk - "Lema'an Yilmad le'Yir'ah ... Lishmor es Kol Divrei ha'Torah ... ve'es ha'Chukim ... La'asosam"?
Sifri (according to the text of the G'ra); It teaches us that learning Torah leads to Yir'as Shamayim, Yiras Shamayim, to guarding (keeping in mind) and gaurding, to keeping the Mitzvos.
Oznayim la'Torah: If the king will learn Torah in order to keep it and to perform the Mitzvos, which is synonymous with Torah li'Shemah, then he can be rest assured that he will not become vain 1 - that he will merit to learn, to teach, to keep and to carry out 2 ("Levilti Sur min ha'Mitzvah"), and that he will earn for himself rulership and kingship ("u'Lema'an Ya'arich Yamim al Mamlachto"). 3
