Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Mazmur 85:13

Our verse may also be understood thus: וידבר אלוקים, G'd spoke to Moses on matters of justice. Since G'd wanted Moses to know that his argument had been heard and considered, He added: אני השם. The use of this attribute at this juncture is equivalent to G'd asking Moses: "how could you attribute to Me a negative virtue such as being the originator of harm befalling My people? My outstanding characteristic is the sttribute of חסד, love, mercy, etc." Even the prophet Jeremiah has already made it plain that evil never originates with G'd (compare Lamentations 3,38: "Evil does not originate from G'd (but only Good)." The letter ו in front of the word והטוב in the verse in Lamentations refers to the fact that G'd does not interfere if a person wants to be good or evil. These decisions are up to each individual. It is up to man to choose good rather than evil. When you study the Bible you will find that whenever G'd mentions that the wicked are being remembered when they receive their deserts, the Bible underlines that the evil they are being punished for is of their own making. Compare in this respect Samuel I 24,13: "Wicked deeds come from wicked men." Jeremiah 2,19: "Your evil deeds will cause you to be disciplined." Isaiah 64,6: "You have made us melt because of our iniquities." There are many more similar quotations in the Bible. In view of this what gave Moses the right to assume that the Israelites' additional hardships were not due to something they had done themselves? It is also possible that the Israelites had not yet been adequately punished for whatever they had been guilty of prior to Moses' appointment. Perhaps some of the people had even become guilty of lack of faith after Moses had accredited himself as their prophet and leader. Your best proof that this was possible is the fact that the elders who set out to face Pharaoh together with Moses and Aaron dropped out on the way. Perhaps G'd would not have allowed Pharaoh to make the decree of withholding straw if the elders had not abandoned Moses on the way? At any rate Moses had been too quick to describe what happened to the people as being G'd's fault.

He added an explanation in the commandment, Honor thy father and thy mother ‘as the Eternal thy G-d command thee’¹⁶⁹Verse 16. from the mouth of the Almighty, as I have explained,¹⁷⁰Above, Verse 5, at end. and therefore he added, and that it may go well with thee, just as it is said, Yea, the Eternal will give that which is good, and our land shall yield her produce.¹⁷¹Psalms 85:13.

AND THE ETERNAL HAPPENED TO MEET BALAAM. Now, in honor of Israel, this man ascended to [the level of] prophesying through the Divine attribute of mercy, by the Great Name [i.e., the Tetragrammaton — here translated as “the Eternal”] that had been revealed to Moses,¹⁴³See Vol. II, pp. 34-39. for until now it says about Balaam: and G-d ‘happened to meet’ Balaam,¹⁴⁴Above, Verse 4. and G-d ‘came’ unto Balaam.¹⁴⁵Ibid., 22:9. But now he knew that he would not be able to curse them under any circumstances, seeing that He [wanted] to deal graciously with them through the attribute of mercy. For until now, since he [Balaam] heard [the words of G-d] through the attribute of justice, [the Divine Name of Elokim, symbolizing the attribute of justice, is used in all the previous verses], he thought that he might find some pretext [to curse] them because of some sin that they had committed — so that G-d would consent to the curse falling upon them], as we find in [the verse saying]: Therefore He was to be their enemy, Himself fought against them;¹⁴⁶Isaiah 63:10. or [he hoped] that some evil would befall them from G-d, from which they would not be able to save themselves because of the attribute of justice [but now when G-d spoke to him through the attribute of mercy, he knew that he would not succeed in cursing the people under any circumstances]. This is the meaning of [the verse], And Balaam saw that it pleased the Eternal to bless Israel,¹⁴⁷Further, 24:1. for Yea, the Eternal will give that which is good¹⁴⁸Psalms 85:13. in the blessing. The student learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand.