פירוש על במדבר 14:21

ואולם BUT, means , (I will not slay them), but this will I do unto them (what is mentioned in v. 22 ff.).

AS I LIVE. “This is an expression of an oath. AND ALL THE EARTH SHALL BE FILLED WITH THE GLORY OF THE ETERNAL. 23. IF THEY SHALL SEE THE LAND. This is an inverted verse [and the sense of it is as follows:] As I live, says the Eternal, [I swear] that all those [that have seen My Glory … and did not listen to My voice — Verse 22], if they shall see the Land [Verse 23], and My Glory shall fill [all] the earth [Verse 21], so that My Name will not become profaned through this plague, [by the nations] saying: Because the Eternal was not able to bring them [into the Land],¹¹⁰Verse 16. since I shall not kill them suddenly as one man,¹²⁸Verse 15. but over a delayed period of forty years, little by little.” This is Rashi’s language. But it is not correct at all.¹³⁹Rashi’s interpretation requires the rearrangement of the second half of Verse 21 [and all the earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Eternal] after Verse 23, since this second part of Verse 21 is not part of the oath of the Eternal. Ramban, however, does interpret it as part of the oath, which [as he continues to explain], starts at the beginning of Verse 21, and hence there is no need to rearrange the second half of that verse and to place it after Verse 23. See also Note 147. Rather, these verses omit the oath [itself] out of respect to Him Who is on high, [and the meaning thereof is as follows]: “As I live and all the earth shall be filled with My Glory — if all these men who have tested Me shall see the Land, this matter shall not be so!” Similarly, As I live, saith the Eternal … If ye come into the Land¹⁴⁰Further, Verses 28-30. omits the [Divine] oath [meaning: “If they shall come into the Land, it shall not be so!”] Similarly we find verses speaking of a human being which shorten the oath: G-d do so unto me and more also,¹⁴¹II Samuel 3:35. See also Vol. I, pp. 273-274, where Ramban discusses this theme briefly. where Scripture did not want to set forth the imprecation. G-d do so unto the enemies of David, and more also¹⁴²I Samuel 25:22. — here the verse omits the blessing.¹⁴³That is to say, David pronounced a curse against himself, but did not wish to use an actual curse; therefore he blessed his enemies, so that he would be cursed. Nonetheless he only alluded to it, but did not actually express the blessing. Similarly we find that Caleb said to Joshua, Thou knowest the thing that the Eternal spoke unto Moses the man of G-d concerning me and thee,¹⁴⁴Joshua 14:6. and it is written there, And Moses swore on that day, saying: Surely the land whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to thee and to thy children forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Eternal my G-d.¹⁴⁵Ibid., Verse 9. This refers to that which is written here, But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the Land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it.¹⁴⁶Verse 24 here. And Caleb [in the Book of Joshua, quoted above] mentioned an oath [and Moses ‘swore’] in connection with this promise, because it is all joined to the verse, But in very deed as I live,¹⁴⁷Verse 21. According to Rashi, however, [see Note 139 above] the oath is completed at the end of Verse 23. Verse 24 promising a reward to Caleb is therefore not part of the oath. But according to Ramban, the Divine oath continues up to the end of Verse 24, and Caleb could therefore properly refer to this promised reward of his as one given by oath. Ramban continues to explain why Caleb mentioned that Moses swore. which is an oath, as I have explained [above]. Caleb said, and Moses swore¹⁴⁵Ibid., Verse 9. because Moses mentioned the oath.¹⁴⁸Further, Verse 39: And Moses told these words unto all the children of Israel. And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], But in very deed as I live — and all the earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Eternal constitutes a promise to Moses about forgiveness, the verse stating that all the earth shall be filled with His Glory through the seed of these people, but not through them [the generation of the exodus].

ואולם חי אני וימלא כבוד ה' את כל הארץ, “I swear that just as I am the G’d Wo Am alive and Whose glory fills the whole earth, etc.” כי כל האנשים, the ones who are twenty years and over אם יראו את הארץ, that they will not get to see the land. This is one of the examples where the word אם is not followed by a תנאי כפול, i.e. spelling out both what will happen if the conditions of an agreement are met and what will happen if the conditions are not met. Other examples are found in Genesis 14,23 when Avraham refuses to allow the King of Sodom to “give” him the victor any of the spoils of war. Samuel I 19,6 also has such an unaccompanied word אם, letting the reader arrive at his own conclusions.

ואולם, however.

ואולם חי אני, “But, as I am alive, etc.” Rashi understands this phrase as an oath, claiming that it is an incomplete, truncated phrase and actually continues to the end of verse 23 Nachmanides writes concerning Rashi’s interpretation that it is not an oath, and that the Torah deliberately refrained from quoting G’d as having said anything that could be interpreted as an oath, as it would be unseemly to quote G’d as having sworn an oath unless He himself said so specifically. [Remember that the words quoted here, were spoken by Moses. When G’d utters an oath, He is quoted directly, as in Genesis 22,16 בי נשבעתי נאום ה', “I have sworn by My own self, etc. Ed.] According to Rabbi Chavell, Nachmanides means that if the words וימלא כבוד ה' את כל הארץ would not be part of an oath they should have appeared only at the conclusion of verse 23. Appearing as they do where they do, means that they are the rationale why G’d does not kill all the people now, as if He were to do so, the argument which Moses had portrayed the Egyptians as using to demonstrate G’d’s impotence to defeat the Canaanites would gain public support world-wide. When an ordinary person commences a sentence in a manner similar to the above, i.e. כה יעשה לי אלוקים, “may G’d do such and such to me,” and he leaves the other half of the sentence unspoken, this is also to be interpreted as a לשון שבועה, a formula of an oath, according to Nachmanides. (Compare Samuel II 3,35, Kings I 2,23)

As I live. There are texts that read “As I live is an expression that denotes an oath.” Just as I live and My glory fills all the earth, so I shall fulfill to them “for all the people…” However afterwards these texts do not read “if they will see the Land, and My Glory will fill all the earth, so that My Name will not be desecrated through this plague…” These texts explain “and the Glory of Hashem fills…” as meaning “just as My Glory fills the entire land,” similar to the understanding of Ibn Ezra. According to this explanation there is no need to rearrange the passage (see Rashi’s comment to v. 23). However according to the text that we have written before us, “if they will see…” the passage should be rearranged as follows: “As I live, for all the men…” These texts explain “and the Glory of Hashem fills…” in the future tense (will fill…), like the second explanation given by Ibn Ezra. Thus it is necessary to rearrange the passage and explain “My Glory will fill all the earth, so that My Name will not be desecrated through this plague,” all in the future tense. According to this explanation one has to omit the words above “and My Glory will fill all the earth” and to merely read “as I live, so shall I fulfill for them…” Re’m writes that the passage should be rearranged. The words “the Glory of Hashem will fill” should be at the end of the entire passage since they are related to the oath. And afterwards, “Hashem says ‘Why do I delay punishing them — so that My Glory will fill all the earth and My Name will not be desecrated among the nations — to consider Me as not having the ability.’” This explanation is according to the texts that we have before us.

V. 21. ואולם חי אני וגו׳. Es dürften dies eben die Momente sein, die wir V. 17 u. 18 anzudeuten versucht und die die Betätigung der Waltungsweise ארך אפים in diesem Falle motivieren. So gewiss חי אני, mein die Ewigkeit ist, und über jeden gegenwärtigen Augenblick hinaus ich in jede Zukunft hinein meine Ziele vertagend sie zu erreichen vermag, und so gewiss ימלא כבוד וגו׳, Israels Geschick im Dienste der Gesamterleuchtung der Menschheit steht, deren Herbeiführung das letzte Ziel meiner Waltungen bildet, so gewiss diese beiden Momente für die Nichtvernichtung des Volkes sprechen: so gewiss ist es aber auch,

ואולם חי אני, “Nevertheless, as truly as I live for ever,” this is a formula for an oath. Hashem does not spell out the details of this oath. He contents Himself with warning Moses that He has to be concerned with insuring that the whole earth will become filled with His glory. This is one of the reasons why the Jewish people have to be given the land He had promised that Avraham’s children would inherit. If this were not to happen His name would indeed become desecrated; therefore the children of the generation that had been redeemed from Egypt would be the ones that would prove that He had fulfilled this promise. The men who had been redeemed as adults from Egypt, however, could not be allowed to do so, seeing that they who had experienced all the miracles G–d had performed for them in Egypt had still not inspired them with sufficient faith that He could make them defeat the Canaanites. Their children who had not witnessed all these miracles would do so, however.

חי אני AS TRULY AS I LIVE — This is the formula of an oath: Just as it is true that I live and that all the earth is filled with My glory, so, indeed, will I fulfil regarding them My threat “that all the men who have seen etc.”. [אם יראו את הארץ — This verse is out of order: Its connection with what precedes it is as follows: As truly as I live, I swear that all the men who have seen My glory etc. shall not see the Land, “and yet My Glory shall fill the earth”, since My Name will not become profaned through this plague which I proposed to bring upon them by people stating: “Because the Lord is unable to bring them into the Land etc.” since I shall not then be killing them suddenly, as one man (v. 15), but during a prolonged period of forty years — little by little].