Commentaire de citation sur Ézéchiel 21:14

We find another ambiguous usage of beni in Scripture due to the theme and context. When Ezekiel depicts the cruel and powerful sword of Nebuchadnezzar, he says: A sword! A sword has been sharpened and polished. It has been sharpened to inflict slaughter; [therefore] it has been ground to a brilliant polish. How can we rejoice? Beni – My son – it scorns the rod and every stick…. There is a trial; and what if he disdains even the rod? It shall not be, says the Lord God.”⁹Ezekiel 21:14, 15, 18. On the whole, this statement [of Ezekiel] is difficult to understand, and in particular, the usage of the word beni, which represents longing, does not belong here [in the context of slaughter].

Returning to the subject [of understanding Ezekiel 21:14, 15: A sword! A sword has been sharpened and polished. It has been sharpened to inflict slaughter; [therefore] it has been ground to a brilliant polish. How can we rejoice? Beni scorns the rod and every stick…. There is a trial; and what if he disdains even the rod? “It shall not be,” says the Lord God.³¹Ezekiel 21:14, 15, 18.] Beni [in those verses] refers to one who deeply penetrates the wisdom and understanding of the Torah. In addition, with God’s assistance, we have explained in my compilation Ha’amek Davar³²Ex. 13:16. that the Torah is referred to as a sword. Tractate Shabbos 60a³³I found it on 63a. explains [“sword,”] as in, “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one, your glory and your majesty,”³⁴Psalms 45:4. “to refer to the words of the Torah.” [This metaphor] teaches us that the Torah protects those who study it as if it were a sword in the hand of the valiant. [Pertaining to this verse], I explained many Talmudic statements, the expressions of the Ancient Ones, at great length, as clearly explained in Harhev Davar towards the end of the Torah portion, Bo.³⁵See Harhev Davar on Ex. 13:15. This is also stated explicitly in the beginning of chapter 20 of Avos de-Rabbi Nassan, “He who places the meditations of the Torah upon his heart, the fear of the sword is removed from him,” etc.

ויספדו שם מספד גדול וכבד מאד. There are 9 different kinds of eulogy. They are:מספד, נהי, צעקה,היליל, נידה, מרזח, קינים, הגה, והי. All these expressions are documented in Scripture. The expression מספד (as here) occurs in Kings I 13,30 ויספדו עליו הוא אחי, “they lamented over it, saying: “alas” my brother.” The word נהי meaning eulogy, appears in Jeremiah 9,18, whereas the expressions צעקה and היליל meaning different types of eulogy occur in Ezekiel 21,14. The expression נידה occurs in Jeremiah 48,17 also meaning eulogy. The word מרזח is used in this sense in Jeremiah 16,5, whereas קינים occurs in that sense Ezekiel 2,6. When the Torah here uses the expression מספד גדול, a great mourning, the meaning is that the various types of eulogies to which we have referred were all used on that occasion. Basically, the Torah teaches that nine different groups of people all participated in the funeral cortege for Yaakov and each made its particular contribution to eulogising and demonstrating their appreciation of the contribution this man had made to mankind, not only to his family. A eulogy is a register of the positive contributions made by the deceased during his lifetime. An example of such a eulogy are the words spoken about King Sha-ul and his son Yonathan by King David: in Samuel II 1,23: הנאהבים והנעימים בחייהם ובמותם לא נפרדו, “who were beloved and pleasant and even in death refused to be parted from Him.” A properly composed eulogy contains elements describing the personal relationship between the survivor and the deceased such as David saying of Yonathan in that same chapter: צר לי עליך אחי יהונתן, “my brother Yonathan you were most dear to me, your love was more wonderful to me, more than the love of women.” King David also taught us something about a eulogy even for people who not always saw eye to eye with the one eulogising him, i.e Avner, at one time almost David’s arch enemy. Nonetheless, in Samuel II 3,33 David proclaims: “Should Avner have died the death of a churl? Your hands were not bound, your feet were not put in fetters; but you fell as one falls before treacherous men!” These examples teach that when eulogising one has to list the good people did, their contributions to life generally, emphasising that with the death of the deceased the survivors have been deprived of those values the deceased stood for. The prophet Ezekiel was even instructed by G’d to eulogise the city of Tzor (Tyre), (Ezekiel 27,2-3) although the major part of that eulogy bemoaned the abuse made by those people of the gifts and luxuries they had enjoyed thanks to G’d’s largesse. The exploits of these people are extolled in spite of their not finding favour in the eyes of the Lord. In verse 27 of that eulogy the fact that all these people, G’d’s creatures, were swept away in the prime of their lives is bemoaned. [The prophet Ezekiel did not say “good riddance.” Ed.] In Moed Katan the Talmud elaborates on the eulogy over the passing of Rabbi Pedot, the speaker commencing with describing the very day on which the sage died as a day which is difficult for the entire Jewish people, as difficult as the day when the sun set on the land of Egypt. This was a reference to Amos 8,9 “Shall not the earth shake for this, and all that dwell in it mourn? Shall it not all rise like the Nile, etc., etc.? I will make the sun set at noon, I will darken the earth on a sunny day, I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all your songs into dirges.” The demise of the power of Egypt was, of course, no reason for the Jewish people to mourn, but it was a reason for all the nations who considered Egypt as their patron to do so. There is sort of a formula of how the president of the Sanhedrin has to be eulogised, [to ensure one is not guilty of being remiss in eulogising him sufficiently, a grave sin. Ed.] Part of the formula contains the words: “the finest spices have been buried in the earth (where they cannot give off their fragrance) a man who knew all about the most intricate parts of Torah law such as the various skin eczemas, etc. and ritual impurities connected with oholot, a man able to remove any doubts which bothered Torah scholars of lesser stature. Someone able to explain all manner of hidden depths contained in the Torah.” The mourner continued to liken the deceased to the most outstanding judges in Israel such as Othniel. [The above is an example of a eulogy worthy of the name. Ed.]