Commentaire de citation sur Les Psaumes 146:7

set free Heb. הותר, release the prisoners from their prison, as (below 105:20): “A king sent and released him (ויתירהו)”; (146:7), “sets loose (מתיר) the bound.”

FOR IT IS IN THE THING THAT ‘ZADU’ UPON THEM. The meaning of this is that in the matter wherein the Egyptians premeditated⁶⁷Ramban thus explains the word zadu on the basis of zadon (premeditated, conscious sin), as is explained further in the text. [their wickedness] against Israel, I [Jethro] now know that the Eternal is greater than all gods. And the purport thereof is as follows: Due to the fact that G-d had decreed upon Israel, and they shall enslave them, and they should afflict them,⁶⁸Genesis 15:13. there would have been no great punishment meted out to the Egyptians. But they acted presumptuously against them, and intended to eradicate them from the world, just as they said, Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply.⁶⁹Exodus 1:10. Pharaoh commanded the midwives to kill the male children,⁷⁰Ibid., Verse 16. and he decreed upon [all his people, saying], Every son that is born [unto the Israelites] ye shall cast into the river.⁷¹Ibid., Verse 22. It was due to this that there came upon the Egyptians the kind of punishment which utterly destroyed them. It is this principle which is expressed in His words, And also that nation that made slaves of them will I judge,⁷²Genesis 15:14. as I have explained.⁷³Ibid. (Vol. I, pp. 203-205.) Now G-d saw their intentions, and He took vengeance upon them for the wickedness of their hearts. And thus does Scripture say again, And Thou didst show signs and wonders upon Pharaoh… for Thou knowest that they dealt insolently against them,⁷⁴Nehemiah 9:10. for the punishment was because of the wicked plans they devised to carry out against the Israelites. Thus the Eternal looketh on the heart,⁷⁵I Samuel 16:7. and executeth justice for the oppressed,⁷⁶Psalms 146:7. avengeth and is full of wrath,⁷⁷Nahum 1:2. and no one can deter Him.
Now Onkelos translated [the above Scriptural expression] thus: “for by that very thing with which the Egyptians thought to judge Israel, they themselves were judged.” By this rendition, Onkelos meant to say that their punishment came because of the drowning of the [Hebrew] children in the river, which was not part of the Divine decree, and they shall enslave them, and they shall afflict them.⁶⁸Genesis 15:13. Therefore, He destroyed them by water.

Apart from this, Elihu rebukes Job for his assertion that no breach of the Creator's Statute would be involved were God to delegate general governance to the Cosmos, this being a requisite of the 'becoming and demising' world. He demonstrates the error and contradiction in this notion. He also points out his crass stupidity in calling God to order, seeking to teach Him how to punish the wicked; he berates him at length over this. He then goes on to explain that God created man with a built-in instinct for reward and punishment. Hence, if a righteous person suffers and a wicked one prospers, it is because man's own contrariness has led him astray (Proverbs 19:3); he has not kept that natural law with which he was endowed. For man was created for this: to bring evil-doers to justice and to destroy them; and to raise the prestige of the righteous (Psalms 75:11). But since this law is not enforced in human society, why does his heart fret against God (Proverbs 19:3)? They [the peoples of the earth] have so sinned in their souls that evil has triumphed over good, overturning the purpose of creation. For they were brought into being to uphold natural justice, to do judgment for the oppressed (Psalms 146:7) and to banish all evil-doers (Deuteronomy 13:6).