Commento su Deuteronomio 11:2

וידעתם היום AND KNOW YE THIS DAY — Set your heart to know and comprehend, and to accept my reproof.

HIS GREATNESS, HIS MIGHTY HAND, AND HIS OUTSTRETCHED ARM. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented: “[His greatness etc.] to bring you out from Egypt; and the signs²⁷⁹Mentioned in Verse 3. and wonders, which He did to Pharaoh; and what He did unto you in the wilderness,²⁸⁰Verse 5. in the matter of the manna.” But in my opinion it is incorrect, for now he [Moses] speaks only of the chastisement with which G-d admonished those who transgressed His will; [instead, the correct interpretation of the verse is as follows:] His greatness in that He exalted and elevated Himself when saying, Have thou this glory over me;²⁸¹Exodus 8:5. These are Moses’ words to Pharaoh to make the plague of frogs cease on the day fixed by Pharaoh. By tomorrow shall this sign be;²⁸²Ibid., Verse 19. And I will distinguish [between My people and thy people];²⁸²Ibid., Verse 19. that thou mayest know that the earth is the Eternal’s.²⁸³Ibid., 9:29. And His mighty hand [refers to], And I will put forth My hand, and smite Egypt;²⁸⁴Ibid., 3:20. the great work which the Eternal did [upon the Egyptians].²⁸⁵Ibid., 14:31. “Work” — literally: “hand.” And His outstretched arm [means] that He did not give the Egyptians relief and deliverance from the moment His hand was stretched out upon them, and He hath not withdrawn His hand from consuming²⁸⁶Lamentations 2:8. until He destroyed them. And what He did unto you in the wilderness,²⁸⁰Verse 5. [means] that He smote you [Israel] in the affair of the calf,²⁸⁷Exodus 32:35. in the fire that burned at Taberah,²⁸⁸Numbers 11:1-3. [in the affair of] the fiery serpents,²⁸⁹Ibid., 21:6. Kibroth-hattaavah,²⁹⁰Ibid., 11:35. the plague at Shittim,²⁹¹Ibid., 25:9. and the decree in the affair of the spies so that the hand of G-d was upon them until they came to this place. He [Moses] shortened, however, the account of the punishments that He inflicted upon them. And if so, Therefore shall ye keep all the commandment etc. that ye may be strong,²⁹²Verse 8. for His mighty hand strengthens those who keep His commandments, neither will He uphold the evildoers.²⁹³Job 8:20.

כי לא את בניכם, therefore, you who have become witnesses to G’d’s miracles for the generations by reason of the fact that you enter this land and conquer it.