Comentario sobre Exodo 23:26

לא תהיה משכלה THERE SHALL NOTHING BE BEREAVED OF YOUNG, if you will act according to My will.

לא תהיה משכלה ועקרה, so that you will have an opportunity to teach the children that have been born to you.

לא תהיה משכלה, even when the baby has gown up it will not die in adolescence, but, את מספר ימיך אמלא, they will all reach ripe old age.

לא תהיה משכלה, ”there will not be a woman who prematurely loses her fetus.” Seeing that the water and other drinks will be healthy thanks to G’d’s blessing, the bodies of the people will be healthy, and the organs responsible for reproduction will be able to carry out their function without hindrance. The reason why the Torah singles out the female population for this promise is that premature abortions occur with women, while a dysfunction of impregnating a woman with healthy sperm occurs generally with men, hence if a woman is barren this may not be her dysfunction but her husband’s, although the visible effect is the fact that she does not bear children. It is also possible that premature death of a fetus is a disease, one that originated with the male sperm, so that the promise of לא תהיה משכלה may actually be addressed to the man who will not suffer disease, מחלה, whereas the promise that there will not be an עקרה is addressed to the mothers to be.

If you act according to My will. In other words, the whole verse refers back to “You must serve Adonoy, your God. . .” (v. 25). It is saying, so to speak: “Serve Adonoy, and then I will bless your bread and your water. . . and no woman will suffer miscarriage. . .” Otherwise, it would not make sense. For the Torah would not state that no woman will suffer miscarriage, without stating the condition of “if you do My will.” Thus, we must say that the whole verse refers back to “You must serve Adonoy. . .”

את מספר ימיך אמלא, “I will let you enjoy the full number of days of your lives.” You will die at a ripe old age, ready to do so as was described at the death of Avraham and Yitzchok [Genesis 25,8 and Genesis 35,29. Ed.] Concerning the lifetime of the wicked, Solomon quotes G-d as saying: ושנות רשעים תקצורנה, “but the years of the wicked will be shortened;” (Proverbs 10,27).

משכלה BEREAVED OF YOUNG — A woman who miscarries or who buries her children at a very early age is called משכלה.

את מספר ימיך אמלא, so that you will live as a result of the heavenly oil in the lamp of G’d. [the physical phenomenon perceived as sustaining life once it exists is a certain inherent source of moisture, described as celestial oil, as oil does not dry up on its own. Usually, life is cut short due to diseases caused by external causes which are not due to this vital oil having become depleted. When a person is granted a lifespan not cut short by disease caused by external causes, he will usually live long enough to pass on his aims in life to his children. This is the meaning of Deuteronomy 4,9 והודעתם לבניך ולבני בניך, “you will make them known to your children and to your grandchildren.” A prominent example of such a blessing was the fact that Levi lived long enough to pass on his heritage to Kehot, his son, and Amram his grandson. They each became leaders of their generation.

בארצך, “in your land.” This includes the livestock.

את מספר ימיך אמלא, “I will fill the number of your days.” You will not die in war, through disease, through adverse climactic effects, but you will live out your years as envisaged at the time of your birth. These promises require supernatural intervention by G’d in your lives, i.e. miracles. G’d will perform these miracles on behalf of people who have made a point of living according to G’d’s revealed wishes. G’d adds that just as He will make plain that we are the beneficiaries of His goodwill, so will He make it plain that the sinners, i.e. His and our enemies, will become the victims of His wrath. They will be afflicted with a number of natural disasters, such as invasions of crop destroying insects, etc. These poisonous insects will even drive out the population of part of the land of Canaan in advance of your arrival there. The tribes mentioned are only representative of all the Canaanite tribes. Quite possibly, under ideal circumstances, there might not even be many Canaanite tribes left to make war against, after these plagues had afflicted them. According to Ibn Ezra the צרעה mentioned here is a disease afflicting the body, not an insect infesting the grain. The word would be related to the dreaded skin disease צרעת.