Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Yesaya 59:18

“And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying.” Rashi explains that although the righteous have reason to rely on their good deeds, nevertheless they only request a free gift [from God] (Sifrei Vaetchanan 23). This explanation is difficult: Why would we think they would rely on their good deeds that they have already performed? Surely a person never has any claim against the Holy One, blessed be He, for all the commandments that a person performs are insufficient to repay even a fraction of what God has done for them, as it is written, as He repays according to their deeds, so He will repay (Isaiah 59:18). All His acts of kindness towards a person began from the day they were born, as elaborated in Duties of the Heart (Gate of Trust, chapter 4). And our Sages (Berakhot 10b) criticized Hezekiah for relying on his deeds when he said, Remember now how I have walked before You in truth (Second Kings 20:3). They attributed his salvation to the merit of others, as it says, And I will defend this city for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David (Second Kings 20:6). For from heaven they showed him that he had no merit of his own because he had already consumed it, and in him was fulfilled the statement, I am unworthy of all the kindnesses (Genesis 32:11). For Jacob acknowledged and said that he was small and poor in commandments compared to all the kindnesses he had already received. So how could they say that “although the righteous have reason to rely on their good deeds”? And the proof brought from the verse I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious is not relevant here, because this verse only teaches us that even someone who has no merit, the Holy One, blessed be He, treats with grace. But Moses, who was punished for his sin by not being allowed to enter the land, how does this verse apply to him? For he is certainly in a worse position than someone who has neither merit nor guilt.

And may God give to you: The letter vav [prefix “and”] in vayiten [and he will give] is superfluous, and our Sages interpreted (Bereishit Rabbah 66:3) that it means “He will give and give again.” The explanation of this matter is as follows: It is known that in all the commandments that a person performs, there isn’t sufficient repayment for the benefits that the Holy One, blessed be He, has already done for him from the day of his birth, according to their deeds, accordingly He will repay (Isaiah 59:18). Everything that a person does in terms of commandments, he does as a form of repayment, and in all the goodness that we receive from Him, blessed be He, His kindness overwhelms us. The Holy One, blessed be He, precedes with His goodness in every giving, as it is written My God in His kindness will precede me (Psalms 59:11) and it is written For You precede him with blessings of goodness (Psalms 21:4) and it is written Who has preceded Me that I should repay him? (Job 41:3). According to this principle, if a person has an evil thought saying, “The past is gone, and what profit is there in serving God if I will always be indebted to Him?” You should respond and say to him: Go and see how people conduct business. It is the practice of merchants who give credit that when the buyer pays his old debt, the merchant then gives him credit again, and so it continues forever. However, if one doesn’t pay the old debt, the merchant won’t give him more merchandise. Similarly, the Great Creditor, blessed be He and blessed be His name, when a person pays back through his commandments the first credit, the Holy One, blessed be He, gives him credit again, and this is the meaning of “He will give and give again.”