What exactly, was written on the stones?
Ramban (citing the Ibn Ezra cinint Rav Hai Ga'on): The six hundred and thirteen Mitzvos. 1
Ramban (citing Sotah, 32a), Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan: The whole Torah. (from "Bereishis" till "le'Einei Kol Yisrael" - Ramban, citing Sefer Tagi) was written on them including the Tagin and the Ziyunin 2 (the crowns and the crownlets that adorn many of the letters), and translated into all seventy languages. 3
Ramban: Similar to the way they are listed in the B'hag. It is not clear however, as to why they needed to write them in seventy languages. Refer to 27:8:2:1*.
Ramban, Ibid.: To have accomplished this, either the stones must have been huge, or it was a miracle. Sotah 33b: Each stone measured forty Sa'ah (three cubic Amos. (If they were normal shape, the surface area was at most ten or twenty square Amos. If each translation had about 300,000 letters (about the same as a Seifer Torah), there were close to 2,000,000 letters on each rock. This allows only about two millimeters by two millimeters for the average letter. Even if a person with good eye-sight can read this, it was miraculous to be able to write it in one day - seeing as there were less than twelve hours to write, since on the same day they crossed the Yarden, traveled to Har Eival and Gilgal, and gave B'rachos and K'lalos, Even if twenty Sofrim would write simultaneously on each rock, they would need to write an average of more than two letters per second. To write so quickly (such tiny letters, with quills that need to be dipped into ink regularly) was miraculous, and especially if the Shamir worm was used to engrave the letters after the scribes wrote them. Refer to 27:5:151:1 and note (PF). See also Oznayim la'Torah DH 'Vekasavra aleihen ... ', who elaborates.
What does the Torah mean when it writes "Lema'an asher Tavo el ha'Aretz"?
Ramban #1 (citing the Ibn Ezra): This was the first Mitzvah given to them upon entering the Land, and when one begins to perform Mitzvos, Hashem helps one succeed.
Ramban #2: The phrases need to be inverted - Their entering Eretz Yisrael is for the sake of Torah, 1 and not the reverse.
Ramban #3: 'Write for yourself the words of this Torah to be for you a remembrance, in order that you come to the land, conquer it and inherit all the people in it, because you will remember the Torah and observe all its Mitzvos'.
Ramban: The same format as the Pesukim 5:14, 15 "Lema'an Yanu'ach Avd'cha va'Amascha Kamocha, Vezacharta ki Eved Hayisa", which really means 'Yanu'ach Avd'cha va'Amascha Kamocha, Lema'an Tizkor ki Eved Hayisa.'
The entire episode raises three questions: 1. Bearing in mind that the nations of the world had already refused to accept the Torah, what was the point of writing it out in seventy languages? 2. Why did Hashm trouble them to travel to Har Gerizim and Har Eival - a journey of sixty Mil - in enemy territory, despite the dangers that this involved; 3. In what way would this help them to capture Eretz Yisrael from the nations, as the Pasuk implies?
Oznayim la'Torah (in Bereishis): Hashem had informed the nations of the world of the Mitzvos of the Torah, which resulted in their rejecting it. But he had not informed them about how he had created the world and distributed it to the nations as he saw fit - thereby causing them to accuse Yisrael of contravening the Aseres ha'Dibros by stealing the land from the Cana'anim. Therefore, he now revealed to them the Parshah of the creation, so they should know that Yisrael are now taking ownership of the land that is rightfully theirs. 1
Refer to Bereishis, 1:1:1:1 and to 27:8:2:1 and note.
