פירוש על במדבר 14:17

('יגדל נא כח ה — LET THE STRENGTH OF MY LORD BE GREAT — by fulfilling Your statement.)

AND NOW, I PRAY THEE, LET THE POWER OF THE ETERNAL BE GREAT, ACCORDING AS THOU HAST SPOKEN, SAYING. “And what is that utterance? The Eternal is long-suffering¹²²Verse 18. — both to the righteous and to the wicked. When Moses ascended to heaven [to receive the Torah], he found the Holy One, blessed be He, writing: The Eternal is long-suffering. Whereupon he [Moses] said to Him: ‘To the righteous.’ But G-d answered him, ‘Also to the wicked!’ Moses then said, ‘The wicked — let them perish!’ Whereupon G-d said to him: ‘By your life! You will [eventually] need to resort to this’ [attribute — that G-d is long-suffering even with sinners]. When the Israelites had sinned because of the golden calf and spies, and Moses prayed to G-d that He be long-suffering with them, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘Did you not tell Me that this is [only] for the righteous!’ Whereupon Moses answered Him, ‘But did You not tell me that it is also for the wicked. Let then the power of the Eternal be great to do as You have spoken.’” These are the words of Rashi, based on the interpretation of Agadah.¹²³Sanhedrin 111a.
The way of Truth you will recognize because G-d’s Name in this context is written with Aleph Daleth (A-donoy) — [a Name which alludes to the attribute of judgment], and Moses meant to say that the greatness be in the power which is mercy, since it was the attribute of judgment that was directed against them.
Now Moses mentioned among the [Divine] attributes long-suffering, and plenteous in loving kindness,¹²²Verse 18. but he did not mention “truth” [although it is also one of the Thirteen Attributes],¹²⁴Exodus 34:6. for according to the attribute of truth they would have been guilty. Nor did Moses mention keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation,¹²⁵Ibid., Verse 7. because Moses did not pray [for mercy] here on the basis of the merit of the patriarchs, and [therefore] he did not mention Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at all in this prayer. The reason [for not mentioning them] was because the Land was given to the patriarchs, and it is from them that they were to inherit it, but they rebelled against their ancestors, and did not want the gift which the patriarchs desired very much, so how could he say now, [Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants,] to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self, … and all this Land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed,¹²⁶Ibid., 32:13. since they were saying: “We do not want this gift!”
Moses [mentioned here the attribute of forgiving iniquity and transgression but he] did not say and sin,¹²⁷I.e., of forgiving sin, as well as iniquity and transgression. See the verse in Exodus 34:7, where all three are mentioned: forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. The question then arises: Why did not Moses mention here sin? because these people were wilful transgressors and sinners. But I do not know why he did not mention [the attributes] merciful and gracious.¹²⁴Exodus 34:6. Perhaps Moses knew that judgment was directed against them and He would never forgive them; therefore he prayed only that [G-d be] long-suffering, and should not destroy them as one man,¹²⁸Verse 15. and should not slay them like sheep in the wilderness¹¹⁰Verse 16. where they would die in a plague. And since Moses only prayed now for [G-d to be] long-suffering, G-d said to him, I have pardoned according to thy word,¹²⁹Verse 20. meaning that “I will be long-suffering towards them and great in loving kindness.” He [Moses] mentioned visiting the iniquity of the fathers,¹²²Verse 18. meaning to say that [even] if He should see fit not to erase their iniquity, He should [at least] visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children,¹²²Verse 18. [thereby mitigating the severity of the punishment from upon one generation], and he should be long-suffering with them in meting out punishment upon them. It was because of this [prayer of Moses] that there was a [Divine] decree to fix a weeping for them on that night throughout their generations,⁸¹The First and Second Temples were destroyed on the ninth of Ab, the anniversary of the night when the people wept without cause. Many subsequent misfortunes also befell the Jewish people on that day. since He visited their sins upon their seed.
And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that “since we find the verse, Surely they shall not see the Land¹³⁰Verse 23. after G-d said, I have pardoned according to thy word,¹²⁹Verse 20. we know that the expression ‘s’lach na’ (pardon, I pray Thee)¹³¹Verse 19. In other words, since after G-d said, I have pardoned ‘according to thy word’ (Verse 20), He yet continues to state, Surely they shall not see the Land (Verse 23), it follows that Moses’ request, Pardon, I pray Thee (Verse 19) must mean only that G-d be long-suffering to them, but not that they be totally forgiven. Such is the interpretation of Ibn Ezra. Ramban will suggest another explanation of Moses’ request. [is a prayer that G-d be] long-suffering to them [but not that they be totally forgiven]. The same meaning also applies to ‘v’nislach lo’ (and he shall be pardoned),¹³²Leviticus 4:26. Here too the actual offering in itself does not effect atonement until the sinner repents (see Ramban in Vol. III, pp. 21, 54). Hence, says Ibn Ezra, the phrase v’nislach lo means that G-d will be patient and will not punish him until he has had a chance to repent. which implies [that G-d will be long-suffering with him] until he repents sincerely.”
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the term s’lichah means remittance of punishment, as Onkelos rendered it: [s’lach na — “Let go please”]. And the offerings [which one brings for a sin committed in error] remove the punishment for the error from him [the person who brings the offering].¹³³Hence v’nislach lo (ibid.) stated in connection with bringing a sin-offering means that “his punishment will be remitted.” So also, For Thou, Eternal, art good ‘v’salach’¹³⁴Psalms 86:5. The fact that the word “good” appears before v’salach indicates that the term s’lichah does not merely mean being long-suffering and patient [as Ibn Ezra has it] but expresses a complete remittance of punishment. [means “and are ready to remit punishment”]. And G-d said, ‘salachti’ according to thy word¹²⁹Verse 20. meaning [that He has remitted punishment] from the people as a whole, and will not smite them with a pestilence and destroy them,¹³⁵Verse 12. and make of Moses a nation greater and mightier than they¹³⁵Verse 12. while they and their seed will perish from the earth; instead, He will pardon them — so that their children [at least] will inherit the Land, and they [themselves] will not die in a plague, for He decreed that their carcasses perish in the wilderness¹³⁶Further, Verse 33. and that each will die when his day comes.
Now in the Book of Deuteronomy in mentioning the sin of the golden calf Moses recalled the prayer which He had prayed on their behalf, saying, And I fell down before the Eternal, as at the first etc.¹³⁷Deuteronomy 9:18. and he explained there what the prayer was, And I prayed unto the Eternal, and said etc.,¹³⁸Ibid., Verse 26. and he also mentioned his prayer on behalf of Aaron. But in [recounting] the affair of the spies he did not mention at all that he had interceded on their behalf. All this is for the reason that I have mentioned, namely, that he did not pray that G-d should forgive them [completely], but rather that He should remit their punishment and be long-suffering with them, and should visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.¹²²Verse 18. Thus his prayer on their behalf was not a complete one [inasmuch as he was not able to intercede for total forgiveness], and therefore [when speaking to the second generation in the Book of Deuteronomy] he did not mention it to them, since they might have complained against him [for not praying for total forgiveness, without realizing that he could not do so because of the greatness of their parents’ sin].

'יגדל נא כח ה, to suppress the demands of the attribute of Justice.