פירוש על דברים 10:12

That is that He commanded us to imitate Him, may He be exalted, according to our ability. And that is His saying, "and you shall go in His ways" (Deuteronomy 28:9). And this command has already been repeated, [when] He said, "and to go in all of His ways" (Deuteronomy 11:22). And in the explanation, it appears (Sifrei Devarim 49:1), "Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called merciful; you too, be merciful. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called pious; you too, be pious." And this matter was already repeated in different words: He said, "Go in the ways of the Lord." And in the explanation, it appears (Sotah 14a) that He meant to say to imitate His good deeds and glorious traits by which God, may He be exalted, is described, by way of analogy - He is exalted over everything with great exaltation. (See Parashat Ki Tavo; Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions.)

ועתה ישראל AND NOW, O ISRAEL, [WHAT DOTH THE LORD THY GOD ASK OF THEE] — Although you did all this, yet His mercy and His love are extended over you, and in spite of all that you sinned against Him, He asks nothing of you EXCEPT TO FEAR [THE LORD YOUR GOD, etc.].

WHAT DOTH THE ETERNAL THY G-D REQUIRE OF THEE. This is connected with the expression [in the following verse] for thy good. He is stating: “He does not require anything of you for His sake, only for your sake,” similar in meaning to the verse, If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him?²⁴³Job 35:7. Rather, it is all for your good. And he stated the reason for it, because unto the Eternal thy G-d belongeth the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that therein is,²⁴⁴Verse 14. all giving glory to His Name and He is not in need of you. Only the Eternal delighted in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you, above all peoples,²⁴⁵Verse 15. for you are the chosen of their seed, not Ishmael nor Esau.