חִזְק֣וּ וְאִמְצ֔וּ אַל־תִּֽירְא֥וּ וְאַל־תַּעַרְצ֖וּ מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם כִּ֣י ׀ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ ה֚וּא הַהֹלֵ֣ךְ עִמָּ֔ךְ לֹ֥א יַרְפְּךָ֖ וְלֹ֥א יַעַזְבֶֽךָּ׃ (פ)
Kuatkan dan teguhkanlah hatimu, janganlah takut dan janganlah gentar terhadap mereka, sebab Yang Mahakekal, Allahmu, Dialah yang berjalan menyertai engkau; Ia tidak akan melepaskan engkau dan tidak akan meninggalkan engkau.”
Rabbeinu Bahya
In this verse Solomon explains that a multitude of subjects and their presence constitute a king’s honor and pride. The reason that this is so is because among his subjects there may be individuals who can match or even surpass the king in wisdom, in prowess, in wealth or in other characteristics. The king’s superiority over all these people who can compete with him in individual attributes comes to the fore only in his commanding a multitude and in the size of the kingdom he controls. If, for some reason, the people abandon him, this spells the ruin of his glory.
The word רזון comes from רוזנים, rulers. Seeing Solomon had commenced his sentence with the words הדרת מלך, he should by rights have continued the contrast by writing מחתת מלך, instead of מחתת רוזנים. However, Solomon wanted to convey the idea that the absence of the usual multitude so affects the king that even the title מלך can no longer be applied to him. He will be merely like any other “ruler” whose sole distinction consists in the fact that he can impose his will on a number of inferiors. The title מלך is simply not appropriate for someone who does not have a (willing) people at his disposal. It follows that the self-confidence of a king, i.e. his faith is bound up with the people at his command. This is the reason that G’d did not really want that the Jewish people should have a king. If his faith would be placed in the people under him, how could he be faithful to the Lord above him and make Him the focus of his trust?! Not only that! The people too would place their trust and faith in the visible king instead of in the Lord (who remains invisible).
We, the people who are the recipients of the Torah, have been commanded את ה' אלו-היך תירא, “fear the Lord your G’d” (Deut. 6,13). We have also been commanded not to fear the Canaanites (both in Deut. 7,18 and elsewhere). Seeing the Torah has forbidden us to fear mortal man and has commanded each one of us to place our trust and faith exclusively in the Lord it follows that if we truly keep this commandment not only do we have no need for a mortal king, but we will be far better off than if we did have a king of flesh and blood.
However, seeing that G’d foresaw in His wisdom that the time would come when even the Jewish people would demand to be governed by a mortal king just as is the norm among the Gentiles, the Torah forestalled some of the negative fallout of such a phenomenon by stipulating rules both for who could become such a king and how such a king would have to conduct himself. This is the reason for Deut. 17,14-16 writing: “when you will say: ‘I wish to appoint a king for myself similar to the nations around me, you shall certainly appoint a king over yourself.’” Actually, the very demand for a mortal king should have been considered a sin by the people seeing that when G’d took the people out of Egypt He had demonstrated that He could do so much more for the people than any king of flesh and blood.
It would seem logical that He who controls the whole universe should be king. This is especially so when this king has seen fit to manifest His presence among the people in the Temple. No wonder that G’d considered the very demand of the people as an insult directed at Him rather than at the previous leader Samuel (Samuel I 8,7). What could possibly prompt the people to “trade” G’d’s benevolent leadership for a mortal king? The fact that King Shaul eventually fell in battle was a demonstration to the people that they had not done well in demanding a king of flesh and blood as their political leader. Based on such considerations Solomon said in the verse we quoted above that the glory of a king is in the multitude who willingly pay homage to him.
A righteous person who places all his faith in the Lord is on safer ground than if he were to rely on his king, as the king who places his faith in the loyalty of his people will sometimes fall into the hands of his enemies and all his soldiers will not then be able to save him.
Sichon and Og, mighty kings, placed their trust in their armies and it did not help them. They did not realize that in the last analysis success in life does not depend on numbers but on G’d’s decrees. David expressed this clearly in Psalms 33,16: “kings are not delivered by a large force, warriors are not saved by great strength; horses are a false hope for deliverance; for all their great power they provide no escape.” Seeing some of the mightiest kings of their time all fell victim to Moses it is not surprising that Balak was terrified at the approach of the Israelites who had defeated nations far stronger than his own. This is why our portion commences with the words:
The word רזון comes from רוזנים, rulers. Seeing Solomon had commenced his sentence with the words הדרת מלך, he should by rights have continued the contrast by writing מחתת מלך, instead of מחתת רוזנים. However, Solomon wanted to convey the idea that the absence of the usual multitude so affects the king that even the title מלך can no longer be applied to him. He will be merely like any other “ruler” whose sole distinction consists in the fact that he can impose his will on a number of inferiors. The title מלך is simply not appropriate for someone who does not have a (willing) people at his disposal. It follows that the self-confidence of a king, i.e. his faith is bound up with the people at his command. This is the reason that G’d did not really want that the Jewish people should have a king. If his faith would be placed in the people under him, how could he be faithful to the Lord above him and make Him the focus of his trust?! Not only that! The people too would place their trust and faith in the visible king instead of in the Lord (who remains invisible).
We, the people who are the recipients of the Torah, have been commanded את ה' אלו-היך תירא, “fear the Lord your G’d” (Deut. 6,13). We have also been commanded not to fear the Canaanites (both in Deut. 7,18 and elsewhere). Seeing the Torah has forbidden us to fear mortal man and has commanded each one of us to place our trust and faith exclusively in the Lord it follows that if we truly keep this commandment not only do we have no need for a mortal king, but we will be far better off than if we did have a king of flesh and blood.
However, seeing that G’d foresaw in His wisdom that the time would come when even the Jewish people would demand to be governed by a mortal king just as is the norm among the Gentiles, the Torah forestalled some of the negative fallout of such a phenomenon by stipulating rules both for who could become such a king and how such a king would have to conduct himself. This is the reason for Deut. 17,14-16 writing: “when you will say: ‘I wish to appoint a king for myself similar to the nations around me, you shall certainly appoint a king over yourself.’” Actually, the very demand for a mortal king should have been considered a sin by the people seeing that when G’d took the people out of Egypt He had demonstrated that He could do so much more for the people than any king of flesh and blood.
It would seem logical that He who controls the whole universe should be king. This is especially so when this king has seen fit to manifest His presence among the people in the Temple. No wonder that G’d considered the very demand of the people as an insult directed at Him rather than at the previous leader Samuel (Samuel I 8,7). What could possibly prompt the people to “trade” G’d’s benevolent leadership for a mortal king? The fact that King Shaul eventually fell in battle was a demonstration to the people that they had not done well in demanding a king of flesh and blood as their political leader. Based on such considerations Solomon said in the verse we quoted above that the glory of a king is in the multitude who willingly pay homage to him.
A righteous person who places all his faith in the Lord is on safer ground than if he were to rely on his king, as the king who places his faith in the loyalty of his people will sometimes fall into the hands of his enemies and all his soldiers will not then be able to save him.
Sichon and Og, mighty kings, placed their trust in their armies and it did not help them. They did not realize that in the last analysis success in life does not depend on numbers but on G’d’s decrees. David expressed this clearly in Psalms 33,16: “kings are not delivered by a large force, warriors are not saved by great strength; horses are a false hope for deliverance; for all their great power they provide no escape.” Seeing some of the mightiest kings of their time all fell victim to Moses it is not surprising that Balak was terrified at the approach of the Israelites who had defeated nations far stronger than his own. This is why our portion commences with the words:
Rabbeinu Bahya
ה' אלוקיך הוא העובר לפניך, “the Lord your G’d, He will cross (the Jordan) in front of you.” Moses speaks to the whole nation. He repeats this line almost verbatim at the end of his address in verse 6.
Rabbeinu Bahya
אל תירא אותו, “do not fear him!” Since it was not appropriate for Moses to be in awe and trepidation of any human being seeing he always had the power of the Shechinah at his side, why did G’d have to tell him not to be afraid of Og? Do we not have the prophet telling even lesser individuals than Moses “who are you (Israel) that you should be afraid of mortal man?” (Isaiah 51,12). The prophet means that if the righteous display (or feel) fear of mortal man this undermines the well-being of his soul, his personality. Even Moses personally warns the people in Deut. 1,29 and 31,6 not to be afraid of the Canaanites.
The reason Moses did fear Og was because he had earned some merits when he told Avraham of Lot’s being captured. [The fact that this man had survived all these years plus at least 300 years prior to Avraham when he rode out the deluge on the roof of the ark, made Moses worry (compare Niddah 61)].
Seeing we have a tradition that Og and Sichon were brothers, why was Moses afraid of Og whereas he is not reported as being afraid of Sichon? [G’d’s telling Moses not to be afraid of Og makes it clear that he must have been afraid]. Og’s longevity and size made Moses wonder if his merits had been used up. This is why he was afraid and needed reassurance.
The reason Moses did fear Og was because he had earned some merits when he told Avraham of Lot’s being captured. [The fact that this man had survived all these years plus at least 300 years prior to Avraham when he rode out the deluge on the roof of the ark, made Moses worry (compare Niddah 61)].
Seeing we have a tradition that Og and Sichon were brothers, why was Moses afraid of Og whereas he is not reported as being afraid of Sichon? [G’d’s telling Moses not to be afraid of Og makes it clear that he must have been afraid]. Og’s longevity and size made Moses wonder if his merits had been used up. This is why he was afraid and needed reassurance.