Tafsiran Ulangan 31:16: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi, Chizkuni & Ramban

“The alien gods in the land” [31:16]. The verse teaches us that no angel is appointed over the land of Israel, but the Holy One Himself is the Lord over the land of Israel. However, angels and constellations are placed over other lands. However, the Holy One Himself is the Lord in heaven over the land of Israel. Over Ishmael is the constellation called Cancer. Over the king of the Persians is the constellation called Sagittarius. Over the Philistines there is a constellation called Capricorn. Over Edom there is a constellation called Libra. Therefore, the Holy One punishes Israel more than all the other nations when they worship foreign gods, since Israel is the portion of the Holy One, but the nations are the portion of the constellations. Therefore, the nations who lived in the land of Israel were destroyed because they worshiped foreign gods in the holy land, in the land of Israel. However, in other lands when the nations worshiped foreign gods, He did not punish them, since the Holy One has His supervision over the land of Israel, and the land of Israel is blessed more than other lands, as the verse says, “who gives rain to the earth, and sends water over the fields” [Job, 5:10]. This means, the Holy One Himself gives rain over the land of Israel. However, over other lands He sends rain through messengers.⁶Bahya, Deuteronomy, 31:16.

נכר הארץ [THIS PEOPLE WILL … GO ASTRAY AFTER THE GODS OF] נכר הארץ — i.e., [after the gods of] the peoples of the land (Onkelos).

אשר הוא בא שמה בקרבו, “to which it (the nation of Israel) goes to be among them.” The words: בקרב הארץ, are treated as in the masculine mode, just as in Genesis 13,6: ולא נשא אותם הארץ, “and the land could not support (both) of them;” or as in Isaiah 9,18: נעתם ארץ, “the earth was shaken.” [The word ארץ, ארצות, “land, lands,” is treated as a feminine noun in the vast majority of instances when it occurs. Ed.]