Kommentar zu Dewarim 7:10

ומשלם לשנאיו אל פניו AND HE REPAYETH THEM THAT HATE HIM TO THEIR FACE [IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM PERISH] — i.e. during their lifetime (cf. Rashi on Genesis 11:28 s. v. על פני) he repayeth them their good recompense, in order to banish them from the future world (cf. Onkelos).

ומשלם לשונאיו, "and He repays them that hate Him." Why is the first half of this verse written in the plural, i.e "those who hate Him," whereas the individual who is the victim of this repayment is described in the singular? Perhaps the meaning is that unless G'd foresees that not only the individual who hates Him has sinned but also his children and children's children will continue to sin, He would forego repayment, (retribution), awaiting the penitence of the sinner's children. If, however, G'd foresees that the sinner begets only other sinners, He has no incentive to delay repaying such a sinner. This conforms to the principle ברא מזכה אבא, that "a son may confer a merit on his father."

ומשלם לשונאיו. retribution for its sins.

אל פניו “to his face.” to each one of them, individually. להאבידו, “to destroy him.” Just as He destroyed the Egyptians and not a single Israelite. This attribute is a demonstration of the absolute truth with which G’d operates in this world. Although it may take a long time before the wicked person gets his deserts seeing G’d has a lot of patience during which time the wicked continues his evil, the reason he appears to get away with it is that G’d may still owe him a reward for good deeds he has done without having been rewarded as yet.

During his lifetime He rewards him for his good deeds, etc. Otherwise, this verse is self-contradictory: First it says that He rewards even His enemies for their good deeds, but afterwards it is written, “to destroy him.”

V. 10. ומשלם וגו׳ scheint eine neue Belehrung über die Weisen der göttlichen Waltung zu sein, die nicht aus den bereits gemachten Erfahrungen zu schöpfen war, wenn man nicht vielleicht annehmen könnte, dass auch dieses den ׳שונאי ה zuteil werdende Verfahren aus Pharaos Glück und Untergang erkannt werden konnte. ׳ומשלם וגו, er lohnt auch das Gute, das sie üben, denen die ihn hassen, und zwar אל פניו: jedem in sein Angesicht, entweder: vor seinem Angesicht, er erhält selbst den Lohn des von ihm geübten Guten zum Genusse, nicht so wie der ׳אוהב ה, dem Gott נוצר חסד לאלפים ist, der den hieniedigen Lohn des von ihm geübten Guten in dem seinen Kindern und Enkeln damit gegründeten Heile empfängt (siehe Schmot 34, 7); oder: in die Richtung seines Angesichtes, d. h. seinen Anschauungen und Bestrebungen gemäß. Sein selbstsüchtiger Sinn weiß nur das als Belohnung zu schätzen, was ihm selbst zum Genusse wird (Erubin 22 a). להאבידו, parallel zu dem לאלף דור der ׳אוהבי ה dürfte das להאבידו auch von dem Verschwinden seiner Nachkommenschaft aus der Reihe der hieniedigen Existenzen zu verstehen sein, wie כרת und speziell ערירי. Der Gute hat schon eine hieniedige Unsterblichkeit durch sein Fortleben in seinen Nachkommen, die, wie die sittlichen Anlagen zum Guten, so auch den Lohn seiner Tugenden von ihm erben. Des Bösen Nachkommenschaft erlischt nach dem dritten und vierten Geschlecht, wenn diese in seinen Wegen fortwandeln (Schmot 20, 5). Den Lohn des Guten, das der Böse übt, empfängt er in dem irdischen Glücke, das ihm selber blüht, um ihn sodann aus der Reihe der Geschlechter der Zukunft schwinden zu lassen. — So ילמדנו zu יד :עקב ליד לא ינקה רע אמר הקב׳׳ה לישראל לא תעשו את התורה על מנת לקבל שכרה מיד כל מי שעושה כך נקרא רע ואינו מתנקה שלא הניח לבניו כלום שאלו בקש אברהם שכרן של מצות מיד היאך היה משה אומר זכור לאברהם וגו׳ אבל אם עושה רשע מצוה מיד ליד אני נותן לו שכרו שנאמר ומשלם לשונאיו בעה׳׳ו ואין בידו לע׳׳ה מהו לא יאחר ׳לשונאו אינו נותן שכר לשונאו ממה יש לאחריו אלא ממה שלפניו וכו׳.

ומשלם לשונאיו אל פניו, “but He will make a reckoning with those who hate Him to their face,” i.e. He will make a reckoning immediately and not wait one thousand generations for their descendants to become penitents. But as soon as such people become penitents, they will become the beneficiaries of My promises to their forefathers. Therefore, as Moses said in Deuteronomy 7,12: והיה עקב תשמעון וגו', “it will come to pass as an immediate result of your listening to My voice that all My promises will be showered upon you.”

ומשלם לשונאיו אל פניו, “and He repays them that hate Him to his face.” He punishes such people for their sins during their lifetime.

אל פניו, during their lifetime, not that of their children or children’s children. לא יאחר, either in his lifetime, or latest to the fourth generation. This is the plain meaning of the text. This is virtuous act, as Rashi says, that by letting the sinner die for sins (prematurely) it preserves his afterlife if the guilty party had repented his errors. G’d does not enact retribution for sins committed more that four generations ago. On the other hand, reward is paid even many generations later than merely four generations after the good deed had been performed. Even if the intervening generations had been sinful, this does not cancel out a reward G’d had not paid for the good deeds of the ancestor. If, eventually, a righteous person emerges from a sinful family, such a righteous person will become the beneficiary of merits accumulate by his ancestor who G’d had not yet repaid for this.

Others (Ibn Ezra) explain the wording here differently, saying that the word אל פניו means “personally, without intermediary,” similar to Samuel II 17,11.

The verse concludes with the singular, i.e. ישלם לו, "He will repay him," as the Torah speaks about individual sinners and the word לשונאיו was the exception. The Torah adds לא יאחר, "He will not delay." This means that if G'd deals with only a single שונא, person who hates Him, one whose children will not relate to G'd with hatred, then He will devise a means of punishing that person in this life immediately so as to prevent him from incriminating himself further if he were to commit still more sins while being allowed to live. By punishing such a person promptly either by death or afflictions, G'd demonstrates His love as He has hopes that the son of the sinner will confer merits on him through his exemplary conduct on earth.

Diese Andeutungen über die göttlichen Waltungsweisen geben eine Lösung des alten Waltungsrätsels צדיק ורע לו רשע וטוב לו an die Hand, und lassen zugleich den stets sich veredelnden sittlichen Fortschritt der Geschlechter erkennen, indem das unverbesserlich Schlechte ausstirbt und die Zukunft immer mehr und mehr nur in dem sittlich Guten fortlebt, bis endlich ׳ועמך כולם צדיקים וגו (Jes.60, 21). Übereinstimmend knüpft sich denn auch an den folgenden Satz: ושמרת וגו׳ אשר אנכי מצוך היום לעשותם Aboda Sara 4 b der Satz: היום לעשותם ולא היום ליטול שכרן, oder wie Kiduschin 39 b diese Lehre lautet: שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא, diese Welt ist eine Welt der Pflichttat, nicht eine Welt des Pflichtlohnes. —

אל פניו ישלם לו, “He pays him in his lifetime,” instead of waiting to punish his children if they continue in their father’s way. If they do not do so, (continue to sin) they will not be burdened with the sins of their fathers. This is spelled out clearly in Ezekiel 18,17: והוא לא ימות בעדן אביו, “but he will not die on account of the sin of his father.”

The meaning of the words אל פניו, "to his face," is to be understood in connection with Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah chapter 3 that shortly before their deaths G'd lets the righteous experience a foretaste of what is in store for them after death in order that they should die happily. The reverse is true of the wicked. G'd shows them a foretaste of what is in store for them so as to make their deaths a painful experience for them (compare Esther Rabbah on Esther 1,12 that Queen Vashti refused the king's command). The Torah adds: "He will not delay repaying him who hates Him to his face." This refers to punishment in this life; before the face of the sinner is brought to burial G'd will show him what is in store for him. He will not wait until the sinner gets to Gehinom.