Musar for Daniel 2:44
וּֽבְיוֹמֵיה֞וֹן דִּ֧י מַלְכַיָּ֣א אִנּ֗וּן יְקִים֩ אֱלָ֨הּ שְׁמַיָּ֤א מַלְכוּ֙ דִּ֤י לְעָלְמִין֙ לָ֣א תִתְחַבַּ֔ל וּמַ֨לְכוּתָ֔ה לְעַ֥ם אָחֳרָ֖ן לָ֣א תִשְׁתְּבִ֑ק תַּדִּ֤ק וְתָסֵיף֙ כָּל־אִלֵּ֣ין מַלְכְוָתָ֔א וְהִ֖יא תְּק֥וּם לְעָלְמַיָּֽא׃
And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; nor shall the kingdom be left to another people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, but it shall stand for ever.
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
Rabbeynu Bachyah comments on this verse as follows: "My teacher Rabbi Shlomoh said that the word עד in this verse must be understood to mean לעד, (forever); this is the reason the tone sign is before the vowel Patach to alert us to the fact that the word does not belong with the subsequent words כי יבא שילה. This consideration prompted Onkelos to translate the word as "עד-עלמא," forever. Anyone who translates the verse as "until the Messiah comes," is in error. The meaning of the verse is that once the Messiah comes, the sceptre will never again depart from Yehudah. We have an analogous verse in Daniel 2,44: "a kingdom that will never be harmed." Thus far Rabbeynu Bachyah.
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