Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Amsal 3:17

אלה מסעי בני ישראל, These are the journeys of the children of Israel, etc. We have been told in Bereshit Rabbah 12,3 that the expression אלה is used to separate what follows from something negative which had preceded it, [such as the Tohu Vavohu prior to the story of creation, and Genesis 2,4. Ed.] whereas the expression ואלה establishes a link with what preceded it. It is difficult to see in which way the journeys the Torah tells us about here are supposed to separate from a negative experience which has been described previously. Perhaps the Torah meant to draw a line of distinction between all journeys which occurred in human history, even those which have not been recorded on the one hand, and those of the Jewish people in their Exodus from Egypt on their way to the Holy Land on the other hand. This would be an acceptable reason for writing אלה if these journeys had all been a record of positive achievements. Alas, they were not, far from it! After all, most of these journeys were caused by the sins of the spies! Even a number of the journeys which occurred before the sin of the spies were due to negative rather than positive considerations such as G'd leading the Israelites on detours skirting the land of the Philistines in order to prevent a premature confrontation with the Philistines and possible tragic results (compare Exodus 13,17). G'd had been afraid that the Israelites might appoint an alternate leader and head back to Egypt rather than face the hostile Philistines. Clearly then "journeys" had been related to potentially negative experiences long before the incident with the spies. We also have the following comment in Yalkut Shimoni Yitro item 273: "Proverbs 3,17 describing Torah as כל נתיבותיה שלום, 'all her paths are peace,' is a reference to the time of the Exodus when G'd wanted to give the Torah to the Jewish people immediately." This proved impossible as the people were constantly divided, a section wanting to return to Egypt. The Midrash lists the various places where the Israelites rested on their way to the desert of Sinai as constant sources of strife and discontent. All of this is proof that the journeys of the Jewish people were nothing to be proud of and why would the Torah review them here by introducing them with the word אלה?

King Solomon said: the verse “her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths, peaceful” [Proverbs, 3:17]. This means, the ways of the Torah only make joy, and also, the world was only created with peace, since the Holy One had to have peace when he created heaven. He created it out of fire and water. It is known that fire and water cannot exist together. However, the Holy One made peace between them, as the verse says, “He imposes peace in His heights” [Job, 25:2]. The name of the Holy One is peace, as the verse says, “he called it, Adonai-shalom” [Judges, 6:24]. Israel are called peace because they worship the Holy One and received the Torah, which is peace for the body, from the person to the person’s soul. When the person is pious, the Holy One gives him health on his head, as the verse says, “healing for the whole body” [Proverbs, 4:22]. The soul comes to a proper rest through the commandments and Torah, as the verse says, “the teaching of the Lord is perfect, renewing life” [Psalms, 19:8]. This means, the Torah restores the soul to its proper place, and our prayers, which end with peace, just as the sacrifices also end with peace. Also, when they went to war against the nations, they had to first begin with peace, if they wanted to make peace. They did not do anything to the city and even in heaven among the angels one must have peace. The Holy One must make peace between Michael and Gabriel, as the verse says, “dominion and dread are His, he imposes peace in His heights” [Job, 25:2]. Michael is the highest angel and is called dominion, because he rules over all the angels and prays for Israel. Even the dead need peace, as the verse says, “you shall go to your fathers in peace” [Genesis, 15:15]. Therefore, the portion begins with:¹Bahya, Shoftim, Introduction.

It is incumbent upon man to learn from this legislation concerning who is chosen as fit to be a sacrifice. It is interesting that whereas Yitzchak sent Esau to hunt game, Rivkah sent Yaakov to the sheep to select a domesticated animal as food for her husband. These animals share the characteristic of תמימות, being flawless in character, with Yaakov whom the Torah described as תמים, flawless. This characteristic is described by Onkelos as שלים, “peaceful, harmonious,” in Genesis 25,28 where the Torah describes the difference between Esau and Yaakov. This תמימות, flawlessness, is the hallmark of Torah which is described as תורת ה' תמימה, “the Torah of the Lord is flawless,” and its paths are described as harmonious, שלום, (Proverbs 3,17).” The word שלום as a proper name for the Jewish people occurs in Song of Songs 7,1 where Solomon calls on Israel saying שובה שובה השולמית, “turn back, turn back O Shulamit!” The reason Israel has been accorded this title is that the eventual everlasting peace will be ushered in in the land of Israel. For the above-mentioned reasons G’d selected the domesticated pure mammals as suitable for His altar whereas He rejected the free-roaming beasts, even the ones which are permissible for us to eat such as deer, etc.
Esau was considered as far removed from the sun (the horoscope of the sun) being a hairy man, a man who made his home in the desert, as already characterized by his father Yitzchak who described him as יודע ציד איש שדה, “familiar with hunting, a man of the field” (Genesis 25,27). He showed a preference for the free-roaming animals that live in uncivilized areas, signifying destruction and desolation. Such an environment is the opposite of the environment which bespeaks peace and harmony. This is also the reason the Torah forbade that stones which had been treated with iron (metal) tools should form part of the altar as such tools are reminiscent of the sword, of causing death instead of ushering in peace, the purpose of the altar. (compare author’s comments on Exodus 20,22). The sword became the inheritance of Esau and his descendants. This is the mystical dimension of Exodus 20,22: “for you have swung your sword over it and desecrated it.” [The author has a different count for the number of verses in the Ten Commandments due to the tone-signs which are used when reading the text, so that in his commentary Exodus 20,22 is referred to as 20,25. Ed.] Seeing that it is the function of the altar to help man live longer whereas the function of the sword is to shorten the life span of those who come in contact with it, it is only logical that such an instrument or one which symbolises it should not be used in constructing the altar.
Our sages also derive from the words מן הבהמה, מן הבקר, ומן הצאן, “from the domesticated animals such as cattle or flocks,” that the word בהמה excludes any animal which has been mated with a human being; the word מן הבקר is meant to exclude any cow or ox which has been used in idolatrous rites; the words מן הצאן exclude even animals which have been designated for idolatrous service though none such has as yet been performed with them. The extra letter ו in the words ומן הצאן, excludes animals which have gored a human being to death but against which there is not enough evidence to carry out the penalty of stoning prescribed by the Torah (compare Sifra 2).

They whipped him with "kofri". - They struck him with lashes, with sticks made from palm branches, which have sharp points on them, like thorns, as we say in tractate Sukkah (daf 33a), and if you would say: ‘kofra [as something unpleasant]—but it is written: Her ways are ways of pleasantness (Proverbs 3:17),