Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Kejadian 17:4

And Moses called, etc. It is evident that this section is one of comfort and is meant to reassure Israel after the ninety-eight curses, which do not fall on any [other] nation or culture when they are exiled and punished by the ruling nation. Which is to say that the dispersal is not so far—among all the nations from one end of the earth, etc. (Deuteronomy 28:64), and also the suffering at the time of their destruction is not so extreme, as Daniel said: He fulfilled his word on us that he spoke against us... bringing on us this great tragedy, that there has never been done under the heavens what was done in Jerusalem (Daniel 9:12). And Moses intends to placate the people.

But these comforts are not transparent. And what new disclosure did he make to them that would calm their hearts? And the final verse also isn’t clear: And you shall keep the words of this covenant, etc.—what is there to keep and to do with this covenant, which is nothing but receiving blessings and curses?

Before we come to the explanation of the verses, we must remark that Israel are called by God’s name for His glory and kingship—so that through them, God’s glory and kingship may be revealed over the whole world. And if the glory of God’s kingship cannot be revealed any other way, we cannot clamor against this, because it is for this purpose that we were created. And like a flesh and blood king, who conscripts his soldiers to great labor in frequent war—in the day they do not rest, and in the night they have no quiet, and also they are endangered and injured in the war—they cannot complain about this at all. For this is not, God forbid, from the ill intentions of the king. Rather, it is because he needs to expand his kingdom, and that is how he comes to be king in the province. And thus, they enter into his service with strength and guard the kingdom with their bodies and with their lives. So too, the King of kings of kings, the Holy Blessed One, created His world in order that His glory fill all of creation, as is written in the book of Genesis 2:4. And to that end, He took us to be His nation and His slaves, so that this purpose will be fulfilled through our agency. Therefore, any way necessity provides to arrive at that end, we have nothing to complain about at all. We have already explained in Genesis 17:4 that this is the meaning of I have made you the father of many nations (Genesis 17:4)—that Abraham and his descendents were sanctified as the chosen nation to be a covenent of peoples and a light of nations (Isaiah 42:6) through their faith, even without them being converts and entering within Israel, rather by displacing idolatry from the land. And this is clarified also in the binding of Isaac, that the descendents of Abraham were sanctified for this purpose, to reach that end, even through all the suffering in the world. And we explained there King David’s statement in the name of the children of Israel, though you crushed us in a place of beasts, ... For your sake we were killed all day, we were considered as sheep for the slaughter (Psalms 44:20-23); see there (Harchev Davar on Genesis 22:17). That is the overall essense of the matter.

And now we will come to the clarification of the verses with which Moses our teacher placated all of Israel, and said you saw all that God did, etc. (Deuteronomy 29:1)—he began that in everything you saw, God showed the essense of His desire, that His name and glory grow in the whole land. And he explained how He thus demonstrated this purpose:

“AND I APPEARED UNTO ABRAHAM, etc., BY THE NAME ‘E-IL SHA-DAI’ (G-D ALMIGHTY). I made many promises to him,⁴“Him”: Abraham. In our texts of Rashi: “Them,” which refers to all three patriarchs, and so it is mentioned further on. and in all cases I said to him, I am G-d Almighty.⁵Genesis 17:4 (to Abraham), 35:11 (to Jacob). BUT BY MY NAME, THE ETERNAL, WAS I NOT KNOWN UNTO THEM.” It was not written here, [“But My Name, the Eternal], I did not make known to them.” Rather, it is written, [But by My Name, the Eternal], was I not known unto them, meaning: “I was not recognized by them in My attribute of keeping faith, by reason of which My Name is called Eternal, which denotes that I am certain to fulfill the words [of My promise]. Indeed I made promises to the patriarchs⁴“Him”: Abraham. In our texts of Rashi: “Them,” which refers to all three patriarchs, and so it is mentioned further on. but did not fulfill them [during their lifetime].”
All these are the words of Rashi. His intent is to explain that the fulfillment of His promise [to the patriarchs] had not taken place. Even though the time for the fulfillment had not arrived [in their lifetime, and consequently the absence of such fulfillment was no indication of a lack of His “keeping faith” since the time had not arrived], yet He was not known to the patriarchs in the fulfillment of His promise.
But with all this interpretation, Rashi has not properly explained the language of the text.⁶The Hebrew text reads: ush’mi Hashem lo nodati lahem (literally: and My Name the Eternal I was not made known to them). Ramban’s point is that according to Rashi’s interpretation, the verse should have read either (a) lo hodati (I did not make known), or (b) ush’mi Hashem lo noda lahem (and My Name the Eternal was not known to them). [According to his interpretation], it should be said, lo hodati [“and My Name, the Eternal, ‘I did not make known’ to them,” instead of lo nodati (I was not made known), as the text reads]. Or it should have said, “and My Name, the Eternal, lo noda (was not known) to them.” Perhaps according to Rashi’s opinion, the sense of the verse is: “and My Name is the Eternal, v’lo⁷Ramban adds here the letter vav to the word lo — v’lo — thus making it independent of the expression ush’mi Hashem. Accordingly, there are two separate thoughts expressed: “and My Name is the Eternal,” which denotes that “I am certain to substantiate My promise,” and “I was not made known to them by that Name since I made promises to them but did not fulfill them.” nodati lahem,” meaning that “I was not made known to them by that Name.”

This was the greatness of our forefathers. In addition to being righteous, pious, and lovers of God to the utmost degree, they were also yesharim. That means they were civil with the [other] nations of the world, despite [the latter] being detestable idol worshipers. Our forefathers nevertheless extended them love and concern for their welfare, as this fortifies [God’s] creation.
[To illustrate,] we see how our forefather Avraham exerted himself greatly in prayer for the welfare of Sodom. He desired their survival, even though he totally detested them and their king due to their evil ways (as is clear from how he spoke to the King of Sodom).¹⁰When Avraham returned from his victory over Chedorlaomer and his allied kings, the King of Sodom greeted Avraham with the request for them to split the spoils. Avraham then replied (Gen. 14:23): Neither from a thread to a shoe strap, nor will I take from whatever is yours, that you should not say, “I have made Avram wealthy.” Avraham refused to profit from any of the spoils as he did not want to be associated with the king of Sodom in any manner (See Ha’amek Davar ad loc.). In the Midrash Rabbah on Parashas Vayerah, (Parasha 49) we find the following about this:
The Holy One Blessed Be He said to our forefather Avraham, “You love righteousness and loathe wickedness.¹¹Ps. 45:8, You love to vindicate My creations and you loathe to convict them.”
He literally was like the father of a multitude of nations.¹²Gen. 17:4, 5: You shall be a father of a multitude of nations. Your name shall no longer be Avram, but Avraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. For even when one’s son is not walking in righteousness, [the father still] seeks out his wellbeing and benefit. Similarly did graciousness and the most remarkable civility abound within Avraham’s words to Lot, as will become clear in the parashah of Lech L’cha.¹³13As Avraham and Lot accumulated much wealth and many herdsmen they could no longer avoid contact with one another. Since Lot and his employees were of a significantly lower moral nature they instigated strife with Avraham and his herdsmen. Even so it was Avraham who extended the “olive branch” and offered Lot the first choice of where to settle: “Is not all the land before you? Please part from me; if [you go] left, I will go right, and if [you go] right, I will go left” (Gen. 13:9). See Ha’amek Davar to Gen. 13:1-9.
We also see how conciliatory our forefather Yitzchak was with his enemies, and was reconciled to a much greater extent than befitted the minimal words of appeasement submitted by Avimelech and his friends – as explained over there.¹⁴Gen. 26: 13-31. When Yitzchak became exceedingly prosperous, Avimelech and the Philistines became hostile towards Yitzchak and evicted him from their land. At a later period when Yitzchak dwelled in Gerar, Avimelech together with his general, Pikhol, and his companions, returned to Yitzchak expressing their intent to make a treaty that Yitzchok refrain from harming them. Yitzchak expanded the scope of the treaty to encompass love and peace as stated, Isaac escorted them, and they went away from him in peace (ad loc. v. 31). For an explanation of what harm Avimelech feared could result from Yitzchak, see Ha’amek Davar ad loc.
Further, even though our forefather Yaakov was justifiably furious with Lavan – as he was aware that Lavan wanted to eradicate [him and his followers; and it would have happened] were it not for God [stopping him]¹⁵When Lavan stated (Gen. 31:29): I have the power to inflict harm upon you, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, “Beware of speaking with Yaakov either good or bad.“ Yaakov understood how Lavan was concealing his real intent, which was to murder him and his followers, and to bring back his family in order to erase their religious beliefs. – he, nevertheless, spoke with [Lavan] in a gentle manner,¹⁶Yaakov refrained from openly accusing Lavan of wanting to kill him and his followers. This is the case to such an extent that [the Sages] said of him in Bereishis Rabbah (Parasha 74), “ [Better] the anger of the forefathers than the modesty of the descendant”¹⁷To quote the Midrash in full: [Better] the anger of the forefathers than the modesty of the descendants. The anger of the Fathers: (Gen. 32:36) And Yaakov was annoyed, and he quarreled with Lavan, and he said to Lavan, "What is my transgression? What is my sin, that you have pursued me?” You might think that they would come to blows and violence, but instead there were words of reconciliation. Yaakov appeasing his father-in-law: (Ibid: v. 36) For you have felt about all my things. What have you found of all the utensils of your house? R. Simai said: “When a son-in-law lives with his father-in-law, [urged Yaakov], can he possibly avoid benefitting himself to the extent of a single vessel or a knife? Here, however you have felt about all my things and have you not even found even a needle or a hook?” Than the modesty of the sons: We know this from David: (I Sam. 20:1) And David fled from Naboth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan: “What have I done? What is my sin? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” Thus in his very words of appeasement he refers to bloodshed. Here, however, [Yaakov merely says], that you have pursued me. ─ [Yaakov] was readily appeased by him.
We have likewise gleaned much [more] from the forefathers’ societal behavior. This behavior is that which sustains the world, which is in turn a theme particular to this Book, the Book of Creation. For this reason this book is also entitled Sefer Ha-Yashar, highlighting this aspect of our forefathers’ actions.

A giant man. As [Yonoson] translated, "A man of [great] measure," the root [portion] of the word are the letters מ and ד.²⁶The ין being a suffix. We find [similarly] from the word שאון²⁷Tehilim 65:8. [roar] the root letters are ש and א and from the word הָמוֹן²⁸Bereishis 17:4. the root letters are ה and מ.²⁹These two words also having ין as a suffix. In Divrei Hayomim³⁰Divrei Hayomim I, 11:23. it is written, "A man of measure"³¹Concerning this same giant refered to in our verse but there the word מִדָּה is used without the suffix ין. i.e., a very tall man who had people measuring his height.