Kommentar zu Dewarim 32:23

אספה עלימו רעות — This means, I will join evil to evil, אספה having the same meaning as in (Isaiah 29:1) “add ye (ספו) year to year”; (Deuteronomy 29:18) “in order to add (ספות) the drunkenness to the thirst”; (Jeremiah 7:21) “Add (ספו) your burnt offerings to your sacrifices”. — Another explanation of אספה: it means, “I will expend” (bring to an end so that there will be no more evils to bring upon them); similar to (Genesis 19:15) “lest thou be brought to an end (תספה).

אספה עלימו רעות חצי אכלה בם. It is customary for Scripture to repeat the same thing in different words. Here the purpose is to inform the reader that the victim will be struck by a whole variety of disasters. G’d will use most of the ammunition at His disposal to punish the guilty.

Another interpretation of אספה, “I shall consume, etc. In other words, I will deploy all the evils against them; no evil of the evils will be left, but all of them will be deployed against them. This is similar to “I shall deplete my arrows against them” which means that I will throw all My arrows against them. Rashi needed the alternative explanation because according to the first explanation it is difficult, for it should have written אספו from the term “ספו (you join) year on year” (Yeshayah 29:1), and not אספה with a hei, which is from the term “תספה (destroy)” (Bereishis 18:23). And according to the second explanation alone it is also difficult because it is written afterwards, “I shall deplete my arrows against them.” But the arrows have already been included in the [aforementioned] evils! Some ask that earlier in parshas Nitzavim (Devarim 29:18) Rashi explained the phrase ספות הרוה “so that I shall punish him additionally, etc.” but here Rashi explains ספות הרוה as meaning “to join the sated.” One could answer that every addition means adding to something else, and therefore it joins it. Accordingly, “addition” and “join” have the same meaning and are the same concept. Earlier Rashi explained that it is a term meaning “addition” because of its context, since it is not plausible to say “I will join,” for there is no punishment for unintentional sins. So how could it say “I will join punishment to punishment”? Therefore Rashi explained it as “additionally.” But here, there is no mention of unintentional sin, but rather intentional sin, so according to its context he explains it as “joining.” It also appears to me that one could answer that the plain meaning of אספה whenever it appears is “addition.” However, here one cannot explain it to mean “addition,” because that would mean that would imply that Hashem will add greater punishments than what they have sinned, but this is not so. Hashem only punishes according the wickedness the person commits before Him. Therefore Rashi was forced to explain here that it means “joined.” Therefore Rashi brought all of these verses and explained them as meaning “joined” so that at first glance you would not ask regarding his explanation, because he explains that the word “אספה” as “joined/linked” in all the verses that he cites. I explained similarly above on the verse “He armed his trained servants” (Bereishis 14:14). See there.

V. 23. ספה ,אספה וגו׳: eines zum andern legen, verwandt mit ספח (siehe Kap. 29, 18). Ich bins, von dem ihnen die gehäuften Leiden kommen, jedes Leid ist ein Pfeil von mir, und אכלה בם, meine verschiedenartigsten Leidenverhängnisse sende ich über sie und gebe ihnen zugleich die Kraft, sie alle zu überdauern, (Sifri) הצי כלו והם אינן כלים!

אספה עלימו רעות , “I will heap evils upon them;” in other words: “I will not spare them any of the evils that are in existence.”

אספה, “I will heap;” from the word אסיפה, collecting. The root is used also in Numbers 32,14: לספות עוד על חרון אף ה', “to augment still further G-d’s anger.

חצי אכלה בם means all my arrows I will use to the full against them (i.e., there will be no arrows left). This curse according to the wording in which the punishment is expressed, implies a blessing: My arrows will come to an end, but they themselves will not come to an end (i.e. they will never be exterminated) (Sifrei Devarim 321:2; Sotah 9a).

חצי אכלה בם, “I will use all My arrows against them.” By repeating himself, apparently, Moses stresses that G–d will use all the destructive power at His disposal.