Comentario sobre Números 33:55

והיה אשר תותירו מהם THEN IT SHALL COME TO PASS THAT THOSE WHOM YE LEAVE OF THEM shall be a misfortune for you.

L’SIKIM’ IN YOUR EYES — “‘like pins’ which prick out your eyes. The [Aramaic] Targum [Onkelos] of the Hebrew word yetheidoth³⁰Exodus 27:19. (pins) is sikim. ‘V’LITZNINIM.’ Translators have interpreted this [word] in the sense of [the phrase] mesuchath (hedged by) thorns³¹Proverbs 15:19. encircling you so that they enclose and imprison you and you cannot go out or come in.” This is Rashi’s language.
Now it is [indeed] clear that sikim means “sharp thorns,” and is related to [the expression]: I will take away ‘mesukatho’ (the hedge thereof);³²Isaiah 5:5. I will ‘sach’ (hedge up) thy way with thorns;³³Hosea 2:8. Hast Thou not ‘sachta’ (made a hedge) about him?;³⁴Job 1:10. and put ‘sakin’ to thy throat³⁵Proverbs 23:2. — [all these phrases referring to] something sharp, made from a thorn or from iron. V’litzninim is likewise [a term for] a piercing thorn³⁶Ezekiel 28:24. related to the expression: and taketh it even ‘mitzinim’ out of the thorns);³⁷Job 5:5. ‘tzinim’ (thorns) and snares are in the way of the crooked,³⁸Proverbs 22:5. and [the word tzinim in these two verses] lacks the double letter [‘nun,’ since the full word is tzninim, as in the verse before us]. But the intention of [the expression here] ‘l’sikim’ in your eyes is: “to mislead you so that you will not see nor understand,” just as in [the expression], for the bribe ‘blindeth’ the open-eyed,³⁹Exodus 23:8. A bribe does not “blind” physically but misleads the recipient to render an unjust decision. and as, nor put a stumbling-block before ‘the blind,’⁴⁰Leviticus 19:14. In the opinion of the Rabbis this establishes the prohibition against giving misleading advice to a person who is “blind” (unsuspecting) in a certain matter. See “The Commandments,” Vol. II, pp. 277-278. according to the opinion of our Rabbis. Thus the verse is saying that they [the inhabitants of the Land] will “prick out” your eyes by misleading you, because you will not perceive nor understand [the danger], and they will teach you [to do] all their abominations⁴¹Deuteronomy 20:18. and to worship their gods, just as He said, They shall not dwell in thy Land, lest they make thee sin against Me, for thou wilt serve their gods.⁴²Exodus 23:33. After being thorns in your eyes and misleading you to turn away from Me, they will be pricks in your sides, causing you suffering and pain, by plundering and despoiling you. And after that they shall harass you,⁴³Verse 55 here. meaning that they will fight against you and bring you under siege, and I will then send you into exile, a whole captivity,⁴⁴Amos 1:6. in their place. For as I thought to do unto them⁴⁵Verse 56. because of you, that is, to send all of them into exile from the Land, so that you should leave none of them any more there,⁴⁶Ezekiel 39:28. but you have not hearkened to My voice, therefore so will I do unto you⁴⁵Verse 56. and I will leave not a single one of you in the Land.
In a similar way Joshua said: And they shall be a snare and a trap unto you, and scourge in your sides, and pricks in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good Land.⁴⁷Joshua 23:13. Joshua said a snare and a trap referring to the errors into which they will lead you, as in [the expression], for thou wilt serve their gods — for they will be ‘a snare’ unto thee;⁴²Exodus 23:33. and a scourge in your sides which means that they will chastise you with shotim (whips)⁴⁸The Hebrew word ul’shoteit [in Joshua 23:13, which is usually translated: as a scourge], is understood here by Ramban as coming from the noun shot (a whip). so that they may plunder, despoil and cause you great suffering; and pricks in your eyes, this refers to blinding of the perception of the heart, so as to further mislead you after their gods; until ye perish from off this good Land, similar to that which it is said, lest they, seeing with their eyes, and hearing with their ears, and understanding with their heart, return and be healed.⁴⁹Isaiah 6:10.

ואם לא תורישו את יושבי הארץ, "And if you will fail to drive out the inhabitants of the land, etc." According to Megillah 10 which says that wherever the word והיה occurs it alludes to something joyful, the meaning of the word here would be that although the reason the Israelites would decide to allow some of these inhabitants to remain would be in order that they perform menial duties for them, etc., i.e. in order to enjoy their services, G'd would see to it that instead these remaining inhabitants would prove to be thorns in their eyes and pricks in their sides and that these foreigners would harass the new owners.

לשכים בעיניכם, an expression describing thorns and thistles. These pierce one’s eyes as described in Hoseah 2,8 הנני סך את דרכך בסירים, “here I am going to hedge up her roads with thorns.” We have further support for this in the Book of Joshua 23,13 והיו לכם לפח ולמוקש ולשוטט בצדיכם ולצנינים בעיניכם, “they shall become a snare and a trap for you, a scourge to your sides and thorns in your eyes.” We have a similar threat uttered by Rechavam Solomon’s son who told the people: “my father disciplined you with whips, whereas I intend to flog you with scorpions” (Kings I 12,11).

לשכים בעיניכם ולצנינים בצדיכם, “as pins in your eyes and as thorns in your sides.” They will be as thorns in your eyes that prick you and make you blind, as a result of which you will constantly be misled so that you will not be able to learn from your past mistakes and will learn to copy the evil ways of these pagans, as a result of which they will harass you in your own country. Because of your being disloyal to Me, I will expel you from the Holy Land. Ultimately, the land will become “Judenrein,” devoid of any Jews.

Shall be evil for you. Rashi wishes to answer the question: The verse implies that they would be left over intentionally, for this reason, so that they would be as spikes. Furthermore, it is not appropriate to say about people that they would be שכים which means spikes, as Rashi explains (s.v. "as spikes"). He answers that they shall be evil to you, meaning that if you leave them over they will be evil to you. This means that they will not literally be spikes against you, rather they will be evil, to do evil to you.

V. 55. ”שוך“ .לשכים בעיניכם und ”שכך“, offenbar verwandt mit סכך und סוג, bedeutet eine Dornabwehr, eine Dorneinhegung. So: הנני שך את דרכך בסירים (Hosea 2. 8), הסר משוכתו והיה לבער (Jesaia 5, 8), משכת חדק (Prov. 15, 19). Der Sinn ist daher wohl: die polytheistischen Bewohner, die ihr im Lande lassen werdet, werden zu einem Gehege um ihr polytheistisches Unwesen werden, so dass sich dieses Unwesen eurer Einsicht und Aufsicht und eurem verwerfenden Urteil entzieht. Mit der Toleranz gegen die polytheistischen Bewohner werdet ihr auch tolerant gegen den Polytheismus (vergl. Schmot 34, 15 u. 16). Mit dieser dem Polytheismus im Gotteslande Berechtigung einräumenden Duldung büßt ihr aber selber die Integrität eurer Gotthörigkeit, die Berechtigung und den Schutz eures Daseins im Lande ein, und wie Gott seinen Schutz euch wegzieht, werden die Geduldeten eure Dränger und Feinde in eurem eigenen Lande. Das ganze Buch der Richter ist nichts als Geschichte der Verwirklichung dieser nicht beachteten Warnung.

.לשכים בעיניכם, “as thorns in your eyes.” This expression also appears in this sense in Proverbs 15,19: כמשוכת חדק, “like thorns in a hedge.”

לשכים AS שכים IN YOUR EYES — as pins which prick out your eyes: the Targum translation of יתדות pins or pegs, is שיכיא (cf. e. g., Exodus 27:19).

ולצנינים, anothet kind of thorns that are harmful to human beings. Menachem ben Srok understands Job 5,5 speaking of מצנים יקחהו ואל as referring to picking some harvest between the thorns and thistles, whereas I believe that the correct meaning of the word is connected to snow, i.e. צנת שלג as in Proverbs 25,13 coldness of snow. Accordingly, the meaning of the line in Job would be that “when one is forced to harvest among thorns and to slake one’s thirst by swallowing one’s own wealth, the robbers who are hungry and the naked who are thirsty will devour one’s money. [Job is expressing his frustration with the day he was born,] Our author understands the word צינים there as referring to the naked.

Denoting a barrier. [מסוכת, "barrier"] is similar to מסך פתח ["a screen at the entrance"] (Shemos 39:38) with the connotation of a barrier which encloses.

וצררו אתכם על הארץ, "and they shall harass you in the land, etc." The Torah means that not only will they harass you in the part of the land that you did not drive them out of, but they will harass you even in the parts of the country which you have conquered and driven them out of and which you have settled. They will challenge you to leave what they consider to be their country. The meaning of the word על in this context is similar to Numbers 20,24: על אשר מריתם את פי, "because you have rebelled against My word." We have a similar meaning of the word על in Deut. 32,51.

ולצנינים, “and as pricks;” Compare Proverbs 22,5, צניםפחים.

ולצנינים — The lexicographers explain it in the sense of a hedge of thorns (צנינים is another form of צנים) so that the meaning here is: they will become as something which hedges you in, enclosing and imprisoning you in order that none can go forth nor come in (cf. Rashi on Joshua 23:13) (The meaning is they will hedge you in on all sides בצדיכם.

וצררו אתכם — Understand this as the Targum does: (“and they will distress you”).