עִ֣יר קְטַנָּ֔ה וַאֲנָשִׁ֥ים בָּ֖הּ מְעָ֑ט וּבָֽא־אֵלֶ֜יהָ מֶ֤לֶךְ גָּדוֹל֙ וְסָבַ֣ב אֹתָ֔הּ וּבָנָ֥ה עָלֶ֖יהָ מְצוֹדִ֥ים גְּדֹלִֽים׃
Ada sebuah kota kecil, dan penduduknya hanya sedikit; lalu datanglah kepadanya seorang raja besar, mengepungnya, dan mendirikan kubu-kubu besar terhadapnya.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ואם לא תיטיב, “but if you fail to improve (your deeds) you will find the sin at the very entrance of your grave.” G’d told Kayin that though in this life punishment may not be immediate, as you as you die you will be punished for the sins you committed and have not been punished for while on earth. This punishment will take place in the world of the souls.
An alternative meaning of the words לפתח חטאת רובץ, may be that it is an allusion to the physical pain inflicted upon sinners even while they are in their grave. The words ואליך תשוקתו mean that you will have a natural disposition for listening to the evil urge; however, ואתה תמשל בו, “you are able to rule over it, control it.” If you want to listen to the voice of the יצר הטוב, “the urge to be good and to do good,” G’d promises that you will be able to counter the influence of the evil urge. This is what Solomon said in Kohelet 9,15: ומלט הוא את העיר בחכמתו, “and he saved the city through his wisdom.” He also said two verses previously that עיר קטנה ואנשים בה מעט ובא אליה מלך גדול וסבב אותה ובנה עליה מצודים גדולים ומצא בה איש מסכן חכם ומלט את העיר בחכמתו. “There was a small town with only a few inhabitants, and a mighty king came and surrounded it, and built great fortifications against it. Within that town there was a poor wise man who by his wisdom saved the town.” Solomon describes man‘s body as “a small town,” seeing man is perceived as a microcosm. The “few inhabitants” are a metaphor for the various cravings of man, both of his body and his animalistic life-force, נפש. The reason Solomon refers to these cravings as מעט,” is because though man has many cravings only a few of them will be satisfied. The “mighty king” is a reference to the evil urge who has at his command many assistants, i.e. the many and variegated cravings of man. These cravings are for the evil urge what an army with many troops is for a king. The words: “he surrounded it,” are a metaphor describing how the evil urge surrounds the entire body invading even our thought processes. The great fortifications are the wicked deeds already performed by man. The “poor wise man” is a simile for the יצר הטוב, the urge to be good, the שכל, intelligence; seeing that this urge has relatively few “assistants.” he is described as מסכן. He is generally very unpopular as we know from Proverbs 19,7 כל אחי רש שנאהו, “all the brothers of a poor man hate him.” This is why Solomon continues in Kohelet 9,16 ואדם לא זכר את האיש המסכן ההוא; “and no one remembers that poor man.” Solomon is also on record as saying there וחכמת המסכן בזויה ודבריו אינם נשמעים, ”the wisdom of the poor man is despised and no one listens to what he has to say.” When Solomon said that nonetheless this poor man saved the town by means of his wisdom, this is because a little truth sometimes goes a long way and is able to outweigh the efforts of the many wicked all of whose efforts are devoted to perverting the truth and to make the lies appear as if they were the truth. The matter is similar to a little light driving out darkness from a vast area which had previously been totally dark.
An alternative meaning of the words לפתח חטאת רובץ, may be that it is an allusion to the physical pain inflicted upon sinners even while they are in their grave. The words ואליך תשוקתו mean that you will have a natural disposition for listening to the evil urge; however, ואתה תמשל בו, “you are able to rule over it, control it.” If you want to listen to the voice of the יצר הטוב, “the urge to be good and to do good,” G’d promises that you will be able to counter the influence of the evil urge. This is what Solomon said in Kohelet 9,15: ומלט הוא את העיר בחכמתו, “and he saved the city through his wisdom.” He also said two verses previously that עיר קטנה ואנשים בה מעט ובא אליה מלך גדול וסבב אותה ובנה עליה מצודים גדולים ומצא בה איש מסכן חכם ומלט את העיר בחכמתו. “There was a small town with only a few inhabitants, and a mighty king came and surrounded it, and built great fortifications against it. Within that town there was a poor wise man who by his wisdom saved the town.” Solomon describes man‘s body as “a small town,” seeing man is perceived as a microcosm. The “few inhabitants” are a metaphor for the various cravings of man, both of his body and his animalistic life-force, נפש. The reason Solomon refers to these cravings as מעט,” is because though man has many cravings only a few of them will be satisfied. The “mighty king” is a reference to the evil urge who has at his command many assistants, i.e. the many and variegated cravings of man. These cravings are for the evil urge what an army with many troops is for a king. The words: “he surrounded it,” are a metaphor describing how the evil urge surrounds the entire body invading even our thought processes. The great fortifications are the wicked deeds already performed by man. The “poor wise man” is a simile for the יצר הטוב, the urge to be good, the שכל, intelligence; seeing that this urge has relatively few “assistants.” he is described as מסכן. He is generally very unpopular as we know from Proverbs 19,7 כל אחי רש שנאהו, “all the brothers of a poor man hate him.” This is why Solomon continues in Kohelet 9,16 ואדם לא זכר את האיש המסכן ההוא; “and no one remembers that poor man.” Solomon is also on record as saying there וחכמת המסכן בזויה ודבריו אינם נשמעים, ”the wisdom of the poor man is despised and no one listens to what he has to say.” When Solomon said that nonetheless this poor man saved the town by means of his wisdom, this is because a little truth sometimes goes a long way and is able to outweigh the efforts of the many wicked all of whose efforts are devoted to perverting the truth and to make the lies appear as if they were the truth. The matter is similar to a little light driving out darkness from a vast area which had previously been totally dark.
Or HaChaim
כי תקרב אל עיר, "When you approach a city, etc." Perhaps this paragraph alludes to something that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said in Zohar volume 2 page 62 that G'd sends man an additional soul to guide him on the right path and to save him from committing sins against Him. In our paragraph we may perceive G'd as addressing this additional soul telling it: "when you approach a city," i.e. the body of the human being whom you will inhabit which is kown as עיר. We know from Zohar Chadash Ruth page 97 on the verse in Kohelet 9,14: עיר קטנה ואנשים בה מעט, "there is a small city with few inhabitants," that the city Solomon speaks of is the human body. This additional soul may be the "miracle" needed to protect the Jewish soldier at the time he goes into battle as it helps stop him from committing sins which could result in his violent death in war.
Or HaChaim
The Torah was careful to write עליה, which here needs to be translated as "on her account." The idea is that this soul is intended to save the body from the evil urge; it is in line with the verse in Kohelet 9,14 which continues ובא אליה מלך גדול, (the small city) "against which a great king comes and lays siege to it, An insignificant looking wise man saves that small city from the onslaught of the great king using his wisdom" (compare Nedarim 32).