Commentaire sur Le Lévitique 26:36
וְהַנִּשְׁאָרִ֣ים בָּכֶ֔ם וְהֵבֵ֤אתִי מֹ֙רֶךְ֙ בִּלְבָבָ֔ם בְּאַרְצֹ֖ת אֹיְבֵיהֶ֑ם וְרָדַ֣ף אֹתָ֗ם ק֚וֹל עָלֶ֣ה נִדָּ֔ף וְנָס֧וּ מְנֻֽסַת־חֶ֛רֶב וְנָפְל֖וּ וְאֵ֥ין רֹדֵֽף׃
Pour ceux qui survivront d’entre vous, je leur mettrai la défaillance au cœur dans les pays de leurs ennemis: poursuivis par le bruit de la feuille qui tombe, ils fuiront comme on fuit devant l’épée, ils tomberont sans qu’on les poursuive,
Rashi on Leviticus
והבאתי מרך AND I WILL SEND A FAINTNESS [INTO THEIR HEART] — מרך means timidity and faint-heartedness. The מ is an essential letter of the noun, which, however, is omitted in the root; as is the case with the מ in the nouns מועד and ומוקש.
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Or HaChaim on Leviticus
והנשארים בכם, "As to those of you who are still left, etc." Here the Torah refers to Israelites who continue in their wicked ways in spite of having experienced all the curses listed come true. At this stage G'd announces that such people would be afflicted with faint-heartedness while they are in exile and they would experience fear without cause and fall even without being pursued. In spite of all the terrible experiences the Jewish people undergo while in exile they will not be wiped out as a nation.
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Rashbam on Leviticus
מרך בלבבם, this does not mean that the heart has become soft, as in Deuteronomy 20,8 or as in Job 23,16, but the letter מ in the word מרך is an integral part of the word, not a preposition. In fact, even the emphasis is on that letter, as in the word אהל, tent. The word and its intonation is similar to Isaiah 58,13 וקראת לשבת עונג, and the word אוכל, ochel, which is intoned on the first syllable. The word מרך does not appear again in Scriptures.
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