Devarim
Book 5: Deuteronomy
HA'AZINU - RASHI COMMENTARY
Chapter 32 - Rashi
Verse 1: Hearken, O heaven.
That I admonish1 the Israelites,
so that you may serve as witnesses to the matter.2
For so I informed them---
that you would be witnesses.3
Similarly, "let the earth hear."
Why did he designate to testify against them
heaven and earth?
Moshe said, "I am only mortal,
and tomorrow I may die.
In case the Israelites declare,
'We never assumed responsibility
for fulfilling the covenant,'
who will refute them?"
He therefore designated, to testify against them,
heaven and earth,
witnesses who endure forever.
Furthermore, so that, if they so merit,
the witnesses may come and reward them---
"The grapevine shall give forth its fruit,
the earth give forth its produce,
and the heavens give forth their dew."4
And if they are blameworthy,
the hand of the witnesses may afflict them first5---
"He shall curb heaven, so that there will be no rain,
and the earth shall not give forth its produce."
And after---"You shall quickly perish,"6
through the Gentile nations.7 8
Verse 2: Let my instruction flow like rainfall.
This is the witness you are to bear:
That I declare before you
that the Torah which I have given Yisroel
is life to the world
like the very rainfall,
which is life to the world
when the heavens flow
with dew and rainfall.9
Let [my instruction] flow.
The meaning is "shall flow" [flowing]
Similarly, "shall flow with dew,"10
"shall flow with opulence."11
Drip like dew.
With which all rejoice,
while rainfall brings dismay to some,
for example, wayfarers,
or someone with a cistern filled with wine.12
Like storm winds.
As in "storm wind,"13
as Targum [Onkelos] renders, "like rain winds."
Just as the winds fortify vegetation
and nurture it,
so do the words of Torah nurture those who study them.14
Like raindrops.
Drops of rain.
It seems to me that,
because it is propelled like an arrow,
it is entitled " {Hebrew Ref} ,"
as it is said, "one who shoots the bow."15
Verdure.
Erbediz,
the envelopment of the earth
when covered with vegetation.
Grass.
A single blade is entitled "grass,"
and each species individually
is entitled "grass."16
Verse 3: When I pronounce Ad-noy's name.
Now " {Hebrew Ref} " is used
to denote "when,"
as in "When you arrive in the land."17
When I make a pronouncement
and mention Ad-noy's name,
you must attribute magnificence
to our G-d and bless His name.18
From here we derive
that one responds
"May the Name of His glorious kingdom be blessed"19
after a blessing in the Beis Hamikdosh.20 21
Verse 4: The Almighty's [lit. Rock's] works are flawless.
Although He is almighty,22
when He visits retribution
upon those who have defied His will,
He does not swamp them,
but acts justly,
for His works are flawless.
A G-d of faithfulness.
By rewarding the righteous for their righteousness,
in the World to Come.
Although He delays rewarding them,23
in the end He is faithful to His word.
Without injustice.
Even with the wicked,24
He rewards their righteousness25
in the present world.26
He is righteous and upright.
Everyone justifies His judgement,
and this is fitting and righteous of them.27
He is described by men as just,
and it is befitting to justify Him.
Verse 5: Destructiveness does not affect Him.
As Targum [Onkelos] renders,
"They destroy themselves, not Him."28
It is His children's defect.
His erstwhile children.29
Their destructiveness is a defect in them.
It is His children's defect.
The defect was His children's, not His defect.
A warped generation.
Crooked, perverted,
as in "everything correct, they warp."30
In the Mishnaic usage,
"A rodent whose teeth are crooked and warped."31
Twisted.
Entortiliez,
like a cord which one braids
and winds around a pendant.
{Hebrew Ref} is one of the dualized words,
like {Hebrew Ref} , "deep green," {Hebrew Ref} , "deep
red,"
{Hebrew Ref} , "surrounded," {Hebrew Ref} ,
"circular."
Verse 6: Is it with Ad-noy that you deal this way?
This denotes astonishment.
Is it before Him that you cause displeasure,
when it is in His power
to punish you,
and when He has granted you
every benefit?32 33
Base people.
Who have forgotten what was done for them.
Lacking wisdom.
The foresight to understand
that He has the power
to grant benefits and to destroy.34
Is He not your Father, who made you His?
As He took possession of you,35
as He settled you in a nest36---
in a nest of rock mass,
in a fortified land.
He enhanced you
with every kind of benefit.
He made you.
A nation among nations.
And gave you a base.
Afterward, with every kind
of basis and foundation.
Some of you are kohanim,
some prophets, some kings---
a city which supports everything.37
Verse 7: Remember world history.
How He treated those before you who angered Him.
Study the generational epochs.
Enosh's generation,
when He inundated them with the waters of Okianus,
and the generation of the Deluge,
when He flooded them.
Another interpretation:
You have not taken heed of the past.
Comprehend the era of every generation,
to recognize for the future
that He has the power to bestow benefits upon you,
and to grant to you
the era of Moshiach,
and the World to Come.
Ask your father.
This refers to the prophets, entitled "fathers,"
as it is said concerning Eliyahu,
"My father, my father, carriage of Yisroel."38
Your elders.
This refers to the sages.39
And they will tell you.
Ancient history.
Verse 8: When the Exalted One bequeathed nations.
When the Holy One, Blessed is He, bequeathed,
to those who aroused His fury,
their ancestral portions,
He inundated and swamped them.40
When He set apart the sons of man.
When he scattered the dispersed generation,41
He could have annihilated them.
He did not do so,
but, rather, "He established national boundaries"---
He sustained them, did not destroy them.
According to the number of Bnei Yisroel.
Because of the number of Bnei Yisroel42
who were destined to issue
from Shem's posterity.43
Also, according to the number of the seventy souls
of Bnei Yisroel who descended into Egypt,44
He established national boundaries---
seventy tongues.45
Verse 9: Because [of] Ad-noy's portion, His people.
Why all this?46
Because His portion was hidden among them,
and was destined to emerge.
Who are His portion? His people.
Who are his people...?
Yaakov the cable of His heritage.
He was the third patriarch,
and was invested with a triple merit---
the merit of his grandfather,
the merit of his father,
and his own merit.
So there were three,
like the cable,
which consists of three strands.47
He and his sons
were His [G-d's] heritage,
but not Yishmael, the son of Avrohom,
and not Eisav, Yitzchak's son.48
Verse 10: He found them in a wilderness country.
Them, He found faithful to Him
in wilderness country,
as they obligated themselves to His Torah,
His sovereignty, and His yoke of bondage,
which Yishmael and Eisav did not do,
as it is said,
"He radiated from Se'ir to them,
appeared from Mount Paran."49
In arid, shrieking desolation.
An arid, desolate land,
an area with the shrieking of
the Taninim and the Bnos Ya'anah.
There, too, they adhered to the faith,
and did not say to Moshe,
'How can we go into wildernesses,
arid, desolate areas?'
as it is said,
"...when you followed Me into the wilderness."50
He encircled them.
There He encircled and enveloped them51
with clouds,
and encircled them with banners
on four sides,
and encircled them with the bottom of the mountain,
which He arched over them
like a barrel.
He granted them understanding.
There, with Torah and wisdom.
He sheltered them.
From serpents, venomous reptiles, scorpions,
and from the Gentile nations.
Like the pupil of His eye.
This refers to the dark area of the eye,52
from which light emanates.
However, Onkelos renders,
"He sustained them,"
He provided for all their needs
in the wilderness,
as in, "and provide for them,"53
"the mountain does not sufficiently provide for us."54
He encircled them.
He encamped them around His Presence---
the Tent of Meeting
at the center,
and the four banners
in four directions.
Verse 11: Like an eagle who rouses his nest.
He directed them with compassion and sympathy,
like the eagle who is compassionate
with his children.
He does not enter his nest suddenly,
until he causes a commotion
and disturbance over his children with his wings,
between one tree and another,
between one branch and the next,
so that his children are roused,
and are capable of receiving him.
Who rouses his nest.
He arouses his children.
Fluttering over his young.
He does not press himself on them,
but hovers, touching yet not touching.
So, too, the Holy One, Blessed is He---
"Sh-ddai---we did not find Him
at full power."55
When He came to give the Torah,
He did not reveal Himself to them
from one direction, but, rather,
from four directions, as it is said,
"Ad-noy came from Sinai,
radiated from Se'ir to them,
appeared from Mount Paran,
arriving with some of His sacred myriads."56
"G-d came from Teiman"57---
this is the fourth direction.58
He extends his wings, grasps them.
When he comes to transport them
from place to place,
he does not grasp them with his talons
like other birds.
For the other birds fear the eagle,
who soars high and flies above them---
they therefore carry them in his talons
because of the eagle.
The eagle, however,
fears nothing but the arrow,
and, therefore, carries them on his wings,
saying, 'Better let the arrow enter me,
and not enter my children.'
So, too, with the Holy One, Blessed is He,
"I carried you on wings of eagles."59
When the Egyptians pursued them
and overtook them at the sea,
they propelled arrows and projectiles at them.
Immediately,60 "The angel of G-d moved, etc.,
and came between the Egyptian camp, etc."61 62
Verse 12: Ad-noy conducted them alone.
He conducted them alone, in security,63
in the wilderness.
Without [opposition by] alien gods.
There was no capability,
among any of the gods of the Gentiles,64
of displaying their power
by waging war with them.65
The Rabbis expound this as referring to the future,66
and Onkelos translates it similarly.67
Now I say
that these are words of reproach,68
calling on the testimony of heaven and earth,
so that this song might serve as a warning to them,
for they would ultimately betray the faith,
and remember neither the early favors
which He performed for them,
nor the future ones
which He would eventually perform for them.
Therefore, the matter must be reconciled69
both here and there.
The entire subject revolves around
"Remember world history,
study the generational epochs"---
this is what He did for them,
and this is what He will eventually do.
All this they should have remembered.
Verse 13: He shall transport them
[lit. cause them to ride]
over the summit of the earth.
The entire passage
should be understood as Targum [Onkelos] translates.70
He shall transport them, etc.
So called71 because Eretz Yisroel
is the highest of all lands.72
Where they will consume
the produce of the fields.
This refers to the fruits of Eretz Yisroel,
which are quicker
to develop and ripen
than any fruit of the lands.73
He shall nurture them
with honey of bedrock.
There was was an incident
when someone said to his son in Sichoni,
'Bring me dried fig preserves from the barrel.'
He went, and found honey floating at the top.
He said to him,
'This is [a barrel] of honey!'
He told him, 'Dip your hand into it,
and you'll come up with dried figs
from within.'74
The summit of the earth.
This denotes height.75
The fields.
The word denotes "field."
Of staunchest rock mass.
The power and strength of bedrock.
When non-adjunctive to the following word,
the vocalization is {Hebrew Ref} ,76
when adjunctive, the vocalization is {Hebrew Ref} .
And oil of staunchest rock mass.
This refers to the olives of Gush Chalav.77
Verse 14: Butter-fat of cattle and milk of sheep.
This took place in Shlomo's days,
as it said,78 "Ten fleshy cattle,
twenty cattle at pasture,
and one hundred sheep."79
With the fat of lambs.
This took place in the days of the Ten Tribes,
as it is said,
80"And they eat the lambs of sheep."81
The fat of wheat kidneys.
This took place in Shlomo's days,
as it is said,
"Shlomo's food was, etc."82 83
And the wine-flavored blood
of grapes will you drink.
During the days of the Ten Tribes,
"Who drink from wine bowls."84 85
Butter-fat of cattle.
This refers to the fat which is skimmed
from the top of milk.
And milk of sheep.
Milk of sheep. When used adjunctively,
the vocalization is {Hebrew Ref} ,86
as in, "In the milk of its mother."87
Lambs.
Sheep.
Rams.
According to its plain meaning.88
Native to Bashan.
They were fat.
Wheat kidneys.
Fat wheat, like the fat of the kidney,
and with kidney-like bulk.89 90
Blood of the grape.
You shall drink excellent [wine],
with the taste of distinguished wine.
Grapes.
"Wine" in Aramaic.
Grapes.
This is not a noun,91
but rather a term meaning
"of superb taste,"
winos in Old French.
One may also interpret
these two passages92
in accordance with Onkelos' rendition,
"He shall place them
over the powerful of the earth, etc."93
Verse 15: Have become thick.
The word denotes thickness.
[You] are covered with fat.
Like "Are covered,"94
denoting the same as,
"For he covered his face with his fat,"95
like a man with inner fat,
whose innards form outward folds.
Similarly, it says,
"He formed a lip of his innards."96 97
[You] are covered.
There is a "light"98 grammatical usage
of the term " {Hebrew Ref} ," as in,
"He who covers an insult is clever."99
If {Hebrew Ref} had been written with a punctuation dot,100
it would have meant
"You covered others,"
as in "For he covered his face."101
He insulted
the Rock of his salvation.
He affronted and insulted Him, as it is said,
"Their backsides towards the Sanctuary of Ad-noy, etc."102
Nothing is more contemptuous than this.103
Verse 16: They incited His vengeance.
They inflamed His fury and vengeance.
With loathsomeness.
With loathsome behavior.
For example, homosexuality and sorcery,
which are depicted as "loathsome."104
Verse 17: Ineffectual.
As Targum [Onkelos] renders,105
"Who fulfill no need."106
If they had fulfilled some need,
the vengeance would not have been
as doubly harsh107 as now.108
Novelties, lately arrived.
Even the Gentiles were unaccustomed to them.
A Gentile who saw them would say,
'This is a Jewish idol.'109
Your forefathers were not awed by them.
They did not fear them,
their hair did not stiffen before them---
a man's hair customarily stiffens from dread.
This is the way it is expounded by Sifrei.110
In addition, one may explain the word {Hebrew Ref}
as having the same meaning as
"Demons cavort there,"111
{Hebrew Ref} referring to demons.
Your forefathers did not regard those demons.
Verse 18: You disregarded.
You forgot.
The Rabbis expound:
When He intends to treat you benevolently,
you behave heinously before him,
thus weakening112 His capacity for benevolence113
towards you.114
The Almighty Who delivered you.
Who delivered you from the womb,
having the same meaning as
"Who causes trembling in the mighty,"115
"Trembling like a woman at birthing."116
Verse 20: What their end will be.
What will occur to them
at their end.
For they are an upsetting generation.
They upset My good will
and turn it to wrath.
Devoid of breeding.
My training is not noticeable in them,
for I instructed them in the proper path,
but they strayed from it.
Breeding.
The meaning is the same as
"He nurtured,"117
norture, in Old French.
Another interpretation:
{Hebrew Ref} denotes faithfulness,
as Targum [Onkelos] translates.118
They declared at Sinai,
"We shall do, and we shall listen,"119
and in a fleeting instant
reneged on their pledge,
and made the [golden] calf.120
Verse 21: Incited Me to vengeancy.
They inflamed My wrath.
With a non-god.
With something which is not a G-d.
With a non-people.
With a nation with no reputation,
as it is said,
"Lo, the land of Kasdim---
this people is a non-entity."121
And concerning Eisav it says,
"you are extremely despicable."122
I shall anger them with a faithless nation.
This refers to atheists.
Similarly, it says,
"The faithless says in his heart,
'there is no G-d.' "123 124
Verse 22: Shall blaze.
Shall burn.
That will burn.
You down to the foundation.
It shall consume the land and its produce.
Your land and its produce.
And enflame.
Jerusalem, which is founded on mountains,
as it is said,
"Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains."125 126
Verse 23: I shall amass iniquity against them.
I shall link evil with evil.
This means the same as
"Join year to year,"127
"To add the sated,"128
"Add your burnt-offerings to your peace-offerings."129
Another interpretation of {Hebrew Ref} ,
"I shall consume"130, as in
"Lest you be consumed."131
I shall deplete my arrows against them.
I shall completely expend all my arrows
against them.
This curse, in serving as a punishment,
is actually a blessing---
my arrows shall be depleted,
but they shall not be depleted.132
Verse 24: Bloated with hunger.
Onkelos renders "Bloated with hunger,"
but I have no evidence
supportive of this.
In the name of R' Moshe Hadarshan of Tolouse
I have heard, "Hairy with hunger."
A lean man sprouts hair on his flesh.
Bloated
In Aramaic, "hair" is {Hebrew Ref} .
"He would tousle his hair."133
Embattled with demons.
Demons battled them, as it is said,
"But the sons of demons soar aloft,"134
referring to demons.
Slashed by Meriri.
Slashed by a demon named Meriri.135
Slashed.
Cut down,
as, "I shall cut you down into the grave."136
Teeth of animals.
There was an incident
where sheep bites were fatal.137
The venom of dust-crawlers.
The venom of snakes
which crawl on their bellies in the dust,138
like water rolling on the ground.
{Hebrew Ref} denotes the movement of water
on the ground,
and, as well, the movement of anything
which progresses by sliding along the ground.
Verse 25: From without,
the sword shall decimate.
Outside the city,
the sword of armed legions shall decimate them.
From within the chambers, terror.
If he should flee and escape the sword,
the chambers of his heart
pound with terror,
continuing until he expires.139
Another interpretation of
"From within the chambers, terror":
Indoors will be terror of the plague,
as it is said,
"For death has entered through our windows."140
This is how Onkelos translates it.
Another interpretation:
"Because of the outdoors,
the sword shall decimate.
'---
because of their behavior out of doors,
as it is said,
"According to the number of outdoor areas
in Jerusalem,
you have set up altars to debasement."141
"Because of the chambers, terror"---
because of their behavior
in the innermost chambers,
as it is said,
142"What the elders of the house of Yisroel do in the dark,
each one in his paneled chamber."143
Verse 26: I thought [lit. said], 'I shall abandon them.'
I said privately, I shall abandon them.
We may interpret {Hebrew Ref} as
'I shall render them Pei'ah,144
discarding them
into abandonment.'
We find an example of this in Ezra,
145"You delivered, to them,
kingdoms and peoples,
whom You dispersed as Pei'ah"---
into abandonment.
This is Menachem's understanding.
Now some interpret this
according to Targum's [Onkelos] translation,
"I shall visit my fury upon them"146;
but this is untenable,
for if so, it should have written {Hebrew Ref} ,
one [aleph] as a prefix,147
and one from the root,
as in "I girded you,"148
"I fortified you by my word."149
Also, the middle aleph
is totally inappropriate.
Onkelos's translation follows the text of the Beraysa
quoted by Sifrei,150
which divides this word
into three words---
I thought 'in fury/ where are/ they.'
I thought, in my fury,
that I would render them non-entities,
so that those who look for them would say,
concerning them,
'Where are they?'
27--28: Were it not for the enemy's amassed rage.
Were it not that the enemy's rage
is amassed against them
for destruction,
and if he were to overcome them
and destroy them,
he would attribute greatness
to himself and his gods,
but would not attribute greatness to Me.
This is why it is said...
Lest their oppressors estrange.
They estrange the matter
by attributing their power to a stranger
who has no greatness.
Lest they say, 'Our armed might has prevailed,' etc.
For that
Nation squanders counsel, they lack intelligence.
For if they were wise,
They would grasp this.
How could [one] pursue, etc.
They would contemplate their ending.
They would apply themselves
to contemplating the ending punishment
of Yisroel.151
Verse 30: How can one pursue.
One of us [pursue]
a thousand of Yisroel.
Unless their Almighty [lit. rock]
has dealt them away,
and Ad-noy has delivered them?
Dealt them away and delivered them
into our hands.
Delivrer in Old French.
Verse 31: For their mighty one is not like our Almighty.
All this the enemies should have understood---
that G-d delivered them,
and the victory is neither theirs nor their gods',
for heretofore their gods were powerless
against our Almighty,
for their rock is not like our Rock.
{Hebrew Ref} in Scripture always denotes a rock.
Yet our enemies sit in judgement.
Yet now our enemies judge us,
since our Almighty152
has dealt us away to them.
Verse 32: For their grapevine is
of the grapevine of Sedom.
This relates to the the above text:153
I thought privately I shall abandon them
and abolish their memory,
because their behavior
is the behavior
of Sedom and Amorah.
Fields.
Arable fields, as in
"The fields have produced no food,"154
"In the fields of Kidron."155
Grapes of bitter herbs.
Clusters galling to them.
Clusters galling to them.
Galling beverages
are appropriate for them---
their punishment suits their behavior.156
Onkelos translates similarly,
"The retribution for their behavior
corresponds with their bitterness.
Verse 33: Like caustic serpents' venom is their wine.
As Targum [Onkelos] renders,
"Behold, like caustic serpents' venom
is the cup of their punishment."
Behold, like caustic snake venom
is the drinking cup of their punishment.
The gall of adders.
Their cup,
merciless to the bite victim.
A merciless enemy
shall come and punish them.
Verse 34: Is this not sequestered with Me?
As Targum [Onkelos] translates.
They think I have forgotten their actions---
they are all hidden away
and guarded before Me.
Is this not.
The fruit of their grapevine,
and the produce of their fields157
are sequestered with Me.
Verse 35: Vengeance is with Me,
and shall administer retribution.
With Me, ready and available,
is the punishment by vengeance,
and it158 shall administer retribution to them
in accordance with their behavior.
The vengeance shall administer
retribution to them.
Some interpret {Hebrew Ref} as a noun,
like {Hebrew Ref} , "and retribution."159
This is similar to
"The word is not theirs,"160
like {Hebrew Ref} , "and the word."
When will I administer retribution to them?
At the time that they shall stumble.
At the termination of the merit of their forefathers,
upon which they lean for support.161
For the day of their calamity is close by.
As soon as I desire162
to inflict upon them
the day of their calamity,
it is close by and available to Me,
to be inflicted through many emissaries.
Destiny speeds towards them.
Quickly, destiny will be upon them.
Speeds.
Like "Let Him hurry, quicken."163
Until this point,
Moshe established testimony, for them,
with words of reproach,
wherein this song would serve witness.
When they will be afflicted with punishment,
they will know
that I informed them beforehand.
From this point onward,
he established testimony
with words of solace,
which will transpire
when the punishment ends,
in accordance with all that was said above,
"It will come to pass
that, when all of these things will happen to you, etc.,
the blessing and the curse, etc.,164
Ad-noy, your G-d, will return your exiles, etc."165
Verse 36: When Ad-noy administers justice
against His people.
When He punishes them166
with the afflictions
described above,
as in "For through them
He shall administer justice to the nations,"167
(Shall afflict the nations).
{Hebrew Ref} here is not understood as "because,"
providing the reason for the preceding statement.
Rather, it is introductory,
as in, "When you arrive in the land."168
'When these punishments will be visited upon them,
then the Holy One, Blessed is He, will reconsider,
concerning His servants,
and revert to have compassion for them.'
Will reconsider.
This denotes a change of heart,
whether benevolently or destructively.
When He sees the power [lit. hand] surging.
When He sees that the power of the enemy
is surging to the utmost against them,
and that there is no one, among them,
structured or fortified.
Structured.
Saved by an organizer and ruler
who structures them.
Fortified.
By someone who furnishes support.
The organizer is the ruler who structures the people,
so that they do not proceed haphazardly
when advancing to battle the enemy.
In Old French, meintenant.
Structured.
This refers to someone saved
by the ruler's structure.
Fortified.
Strengthened,
as in "They fortified Jerusalem until the wall,"169
"How is it that the adored city was not fortified."170
Enforcied.
Verse 37: He shall say.
The Holy One, Blessed is He,
concerning them,
'Where is their god whom they worshipped?'
The rock on which they relied for shelter.
The rock mass
with which they shielded themselves
from the sun and the cold;
as if to say,
they placed their faith in it,
to protect them from harm.
Verse 38: They [ate] the fat of their sacrifices.
Those gods would eat
[the offerings] which they brought before them,
and drink their libation wine.
Let them serve as your shield.
That rock---
let it serve as your shelter and shield.171
Verse 39: Now observe!
Learn from the punishment
which I visited upon you,
when no one could save you,
and from the deliverance which I shall grant you,
when no one will thwart Me.
For it is I! I am the One!
It is I who humbles,
and I who elevates.
And no god matches Me.
Stands against me to thwart.
Matches Me.
Is comparable or similar to Me.
And no one can rescue from My grasp.
Those who defy Me.
Verse 40: For I shall lift My hand heavenward.
For, in My fury,172
I shall lift My Hand to Myself173
in an oath.
And I shall say, 'I live.'
This denotes an oath---174
[An alternate Rashi text:
As in " 'As I live,' says Ad-noy,
'if I do not [do to you] as you have spoken in My ears.' "
175
Here, too]
I swear [as true as] I live [forever].176
Verse 41: If I whet My saber to a gleam.
If I whet the blade of My saber,177
like, "So that it may have a gleam."178
Plandur.
And hold judgement in My grasp.
Discarding the attribute of compassion
for my enemies who were destructive to you---
"Where I was a little angry,
and they abetted destructively."179 180
[Another interpretation]
I hold judgement in My grasp,
to embrace it and exact vengeance.
I shall wreak vengeance, etc.
In the Aggadic commentary,181 the Rabbis derive
from the language of the text, which states
"And I hold judgement in My grasp:"
Unlike the practice of mortals
is the practice of
the Holy One, Blessed is He.
In the practice of mortals,
one who lets fly an arrow
can no longer retrieve it;
But the Holy One, Blessed is He,
lets fly His arrows
with the power to retrieve them,
as if He retained them in His grasp,
for the gleam represents His arrow,
as it is said here,
"My saber to a gleam,
and I hold judgment in My grasp."182
"Judgement" here denotes retribution,183
in Old French, justice.
Verse 42: I shall make my arrows drunk with blood
of the enemy.
My saber shall consume flesh
their flesh.
For the blood of the slaughtered and the captives.
This will befall them
because of their guilt
over the blood of slaughtered Israelites,
and the captives which they took from them.
For the original savagery of the enemy.
For the iniquity of the original
devastation by the enemy.
For, when the Holy One, Blessed is He,
punishes the nations,
He invokes against them
their sins,
and the sins of their forefathers,
from the original devastation
which they perpetrated against Yisroel.184
Verse 43: Let the nations extol His people.
At that time,
the nations will praise Yisroel.185
'Look at how praiseworthy this nation is.
They remained wedded
to the Holy One, Blessed is He,
through all the privation which overtook them.
They did not forsake Him,
knowing His goodness and virtue.'
For He shall avenge the blood of His servants.
The shedding of their blood,
as the words indicate.
And wreak vengeance on His enemies.
For theft and plunder,186
as it is said,
"Egypt shall be laid waste,
and Edom shall become a desert wasteland,
for plundering
the sons of Yehudah."187
And it says, "For plundering
your brother Yaakov, etc.'188
And reconcile His land, His people.
He will pacify His land
and His people189
for all the suffering which overtook them,
and which the enemy perpetrated against them.
And reconcile.
This denotes conciliation and pacification,
like, "I may pacify his anger,"190
"I may calm his rage."191
And reconcile His land.
What is His land?
His people.
When His people are consoled,
His land is consoled.
Similarly, it says,
"Ad-noy, You pacified Your land."192
How did You pacify Your land?
"You brought back
Yaakov's exiles."193
With a different viewpoint ...
With a different viewpoint
this is expounded in Sifrei,
R' Yehudah and R' Nechemiah disagreeing over it.
R' Yehudah expounds it
entirely in reference to Yisroel,194
while R' Nechemiah expounds it
entirely in reference to the nations.
R' Yehudah expounds it entirely in reference to Yisroel:
"I thought, 'I shall abandon them' " [v. 26]
as I interpreted,
until, "Ad-noy did not effect all this" [v. 27].
"For they are a nation
which squanders
counsel"[v. 28]---
195they squandered my Torah,
which provided them with astute counsel.
"They lack the intelligence" [v. 29] to grasp---
how one, from the nations, can pursue
a thousand of them.
"Unless their Almighty dealt them away" [v. 30].
"For their mighty one is not like our Almighty" [v. 31]---
everything as I have explained,196
until the end.
But R' Nechemiah expounds it197
in reference to the nations.
"For those nations
squander counsel" [v. 28]
as I explained previously,
until, "Yet our enemies sit in judgement" [V. 31].
Verse 32: For their grapevine is
of the grapevine of Sedom.198
The nations' grapevine.
And from the fields of Amorah, etc.
But they pay no heed,
and do not ascribe the greatness to Me.
Their grapes are grapes of bitter herbs.
This follows what is said,
"Were it not for the enemy's amassed rage" [v. 27]---
against Yisroel,
to poison and embitter them.
Therefore,
let them have bitter clusters,
to gorge them
for their action against my children.
Verse 33: Their
wine is like caustic serpents' venom.
Ready for them to drink
because of their actions against them.
Verse 34: Sequestered with me.
That cup of which it is said,
"For there is a cup in the hand of Ad-noy, etc."199
Verse 35: At the time that they shall stumble.
As it is said, "The foot shall trample it."200
Verse 36: For Ad-noy shall administer justice
for His people.
In this usage, {Hebrew Ref} is understood as "for."201
And "administer justice" does not denote
imposing suffering,
but is understood, rather, as
"For He shall represent them in their struggle
from the clutches of those who dispossess them,
when He sees the power surging, etc.'
Verse 37: He shall say, 'Where is their G-d?'
The enemy shall say,
'Where is the G-d of Yisroel?,'
as the villain Titus202 said
when he slashed the Paroches (curtain),
as it is said,
"When my enemy sees,203
mortification will blanket her
for saying to me,
'Where is Ad-noy your G-d?' "
Verse 39: Now observe! For it is I, etc.
The Holy One, may He be blessed, will then unveil
His salvation,
and say, 'Now
observe! For it is I! I am the One!
It is from Me that your ruin emanated,
and from Me that your benefaction will come.'
And no one can rescue from My grasp.
Can rescue you from the ruin
which I shall visit upon you.
Verse 40: For I shall lift My hand heavenward.
Like "I have raised."
I always rest my Presence in heaven,204
as rendered by Targum [Onkelos].
Even with a weakling on high
against the powerful below,
the awesomeness of the higher one
overcomes the lower;
certainly, when the powerful is on high,
and the weakling is below.
My hand.
The place of My Presence,
like "Everyone in his place."205
I had the power to punish them,
but I said, 'I shall live forever.'
I do not rush to punish,
as I have ample time for the matter,
for I shall live forever.
During the last generations
I can punish them,
and it is within My power
to punish the living and the dead.
A mortal king, who must die,
hurries to avenge
and punish while he lives---
for he or his enemy may die,
and he may thus never realize
his vengeance against him.
I, however, shall live forever.
If they die
without my punishing them during their lifetime,
I shall punish them after death.
Verse 41: When I whet My saber to a gleam.
In many places {Hebrew Ref} is not conditional206---
'When I whet My saber to a gleam,
and hold judgement in My grasp,'
everything as I explained above.
Verse 44: He and Hoshe'a, the son of Nun.
It was a Shabbos207 of shared quality,208
when leadership was removed from one
and conferred upon the other.
Moshe arranged for a public crier for Yehoshua,209
to enable him to expound during his lifetime,
so that the Israelites would not say,
'During your master's lifetime
you were unable to lift your head!'
And why is he entitled here "Hoshe'a?"
To teach that he was not conceited,
for, although leadership was conferred upon him,
he was as unassuming as originally.210 211
Verse 46: Focus your thoughts.
A person is required
to concentrate his sight, thought, and hearing
on the word of Torah.
Similarly, it says,
"Son of man; view with your eyes,
listen with your ears,
and focus your mind."212
It may be inferred from the following:
Take architectural design,
which is subject to visual inspection,
and may be measured with the yardstick;
yet a man must concentrate his sight, hearing, and thought
to grasp it.
Then to comprehend the word of Torah,
which is comparable to a mountain balanced on a hair,
most certainly so.213
Verse 47: For it is not a futile thing for you.
It is not futile for you
to weary yourselves with it,
for enormous recompense is contingent on it---
for it is your very lives.
Another explanation:
There is nothing in the Torah so empty
that, if expounded,
would not yield recompense.
The proof is
from the following comment by the Rabbis:
"Lotan's sister was Timna."214
"Timna was the concubine, etc."215
Because she said,
'I am unworthy of being his wife---
would that I may become his concubine.'
Why to that extent?
This informs us of Avrohom's eminence,
as potentates and kings
longed to unite themselves with his descendants.216
Verse 48: Ad-noy spoke to Moshe
at the very height of that day.
In three places, it is said,
"At the very height of that day."
It is said concerning Noach,
"At the very height of that day,
Noach entered, etc."---217
when the light of day was in full view.
Since his contemporaries said,
'By so-and-so,
if we sense him leaving,
we won't permit him to enter the ark,
and furthermore,
we will get sledgehammers and axes,
and smash the ark!'
The Holy One, Blessed is He, said,
'I will bring him in at mid-day.
Let anyone powerful enough to obstruct
come and do so!'---
Concerning Egypt, it is said,
"At the very height of that day,
Ad-noy delivered."218
Since the Egyptians said,
'By so-and so,
if we sense them leaving,
we won't permit them
to go.
And furthermore,
we will get swords and other weapons
and kill them.
The Holy One, Blessed is He, said,
'I will deliver them at mid-day.
Let anyone powerful enough to obstruct
come and do so.'
Here too, concerning Moshe's death,
it is said,
"At the very height of this day."
Since the Israelites said,
'By so-and so,
if we sense him leaving,
we won't let go of him.
The man who took us out of Egypt,
split the sea for us,
brought down the manna for us,
swept the quail over to us,
brought up the well-spring for us,
and gave us the Torah!
We won't let go of him!'
The Holy One, Blessed is He, said,
'I will gather him up
at mid-day, etc.'219
Verse 50: Just as your brother Aharon died.
With the very death you witnessed
and longed for.
For Moshe removed Aharon's first garment,
and attired Elazar in it;
he did so with the second,
and with the third,
so that he [Aharon] witnessed his son
inheriting his glory.
Moshe said to him,
'My brother Aharon,
recline on the bed'---
he reclined.
'Extend your arms'---
he extended them.
'Extend your legs'---
he extended them.
'Close your eyes'---
and he closed them.
Close your mouth,
He closed it, and passed on.
Moshe said,
'Fortunate is one
who dies such a220 death.'221
Verse 51: Because you were unfaithful to me.
You were the cause of unfaithfulness to me.222
[A different text: Because you rebelled
against My word223---
you were the cause of rebellion against My word.]
That you did not sanctify Me.
Because of you,
I was not sanctified,224
for I commanded you, "Speak to the rock."225
But they struck it,
then needed to strike it twice.
If they had spoken to it,
and it had produced its water
without having been struck,
the Name of Heaven would have been sanctified.
For the Israelites would have said,
'If the rock,
which is not subject to reward or punishment---
if meritorious, it gains no reward,
and if sinful, it suffers no punishment---
and so carefully fulfills its Creator's command,
then most certainly we.'
Verse 52: For from afar.
At a distance.226
You will see, etc.
For if you will not see it now,
you will never see it again in your lifetime.227
But you will not come there.
I know that it is precious to you.
This is why I say to you,
"Go up and see!"228
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