Commento su Deuteronomio 7:13

שגר אלפיך means the offspring of thy oxen which the female casts out (שגר) from its womb.

VA’AHEIVCHA’ (AND HE WILL LOVE THEE). The meaning thereof is that when you will observe the ordinances [i.e., the judgments] out of a love for G-d, He will love you as well. It is possible that va’aheivcha is transitive, meaning that He will cause you to be beloved by the families of those judged [to punishment] and you will not be hated because of [what you have done to] them. And He will bless thee,³¹In Verse 13 before us. that there shall no evil befall thee³²Psalms 91:10. because of the judgment [you have rendered]. And He will multiply thee,³¹In Verse 13 before us. that you will not be diminished because of the death of the transgressors, even if many are slain such as the people of an apostate city.³³Further, 13:13-19.

ואהבך, He loved you, in the sense that you are “children,” reflecting His image; our sages (Avot 3,10) paraphrased this when they said: “Israel is beloved of the Lord,” as we know from the fact that He refers to them as בנים,”children of the Lord.” By performing the commandments the eternal nature of the covenant will be reinforced so that it is perfect.

ואהבך, “He will love you;” Nachmanides writes that what Moses means is that if the Jewish people will perform the social commandments from feelings of love for Hashem, He, in turn, will love them. It is possible that the word ואהבך could be meant transitively, i.e. that G’d will make the Jewish people beloved in the eyes of the families whose members have become the “victims” of the application of these social laws. They will not hate the judges who convicted members of their families.

Which the female casts out from her womb. I.e., the offspring are called שגר, related to the term “cast out.” And והבקרים אלפים is related to, “Our cattle (אלופנו) are laden (Tehillim 144:14).”

V. 13. ואהבך וגו׳, die erste Folge treuer Gesetzeserfüllung ist ואהבך, dass Gott in dir einen treuen Diener erblickt, dessen Wille ganz in den seinen aufgeht, und dich daher liebt, wie nur ein Herr einen treuen Diener liebt; sodann וברכך: da durch dich das, und nur das gefördert wird, was seinem Willen gemäss ist, und in deinem Gedeihen Seine Sache auf Erden gedeiht, so spendet er dir Gedeihen; והרבך: und sieht in deiner Vermehrung, in deinem Weiterblühen in immer wachsenden Geschlechtern, in welchen sich dein Geist und deine Gesinnung und deine treue Lebenstat vervielfältigt wiederholt, nur eine Ausbreitung Seines Reiches auf Erden. In diesem Reichtum immer wachsender, reiner geistiger sittlicher Seelenzahl liegt die höchste Blüte des durch die Erfüllung des Gesetzes sich begründenden Gottesstaats, und ihm parallel geht die immer wachsende Blüte des Bodenreichtums, wie im folgenden geschildert wird. וברך ׳פרי בטנך וגו ist nur Ausführung des והרבך und der dadurch bedingten, jeder Bevölkerungszahl genügenden Blüte des Landes. — שגר (siehe Bereschit S. 497). עשתרות, ein Wort zweifelhafter Bedeutung. Chulin 84 b wird es als von der Wurzel עשר gebildet in der Bedeutung von Reichtum aufgefasst.

ועשתרות צאנך AND THE BREEDS OF THY FLOCK — Menachem ben Seruk explains this expression to be parallel to אבירי בשן, which means: "the strong rams of Bashan” (Psalms 22:13), i.e. the choicest of the sheep, similar to (Genesis 14:5), “Ashteroth (עשתרות) Karnaim", where also it is an expression for “strength" (so that עשתרות denotes “the strong ones"). Onkelos. however, translates it: “and the flocks of thy sheep". Our Rabbis said: Why is their name called עשתרות? Because they enrich (עשר) their owner (through the sale of their wool, etc.) (cf. Chullin 84b).

וברכך, with material wealth, measurable in terms of money. This blessing improves the quality of the transient life on earth. By means of this blessing He insures your ability to enjoy the loving kindness of living in the land of Israel successfully, happily.

והרבך, ”He will multiply you;” your numbers will not decrease through the loss of the sinners who have been put to death by the judicial process as demanded by the משפטים, the social laws of the Torah. A prime example would be the mass executions if there ever were to be a עיר הנדחת, a city the majority of whose inhabitants had turned to idolatry. (Deut. 13,3-19)

The strong bulls of Bashan means the choicest of the flock, etc. I.e., Bashan is the name of a place. And there they have the choicest of the flock, i.e., healthy and strong. Therefore the flocks are called עשתרת, which is an expression of strength.

Similar to עשתרת קרנים which expresses strength, etc. Even though קרנים is not written here, but since we find elsewhere in Scripture that עשתרת [ — written with קרנים — clearly] is an expression of strength. [Therefore] every instance where it is written עשתרות it is explained as “strength,” even though קרנים is not written.

Our Sages said: “Why are they called עשתרות, etc. Our Sages do not disagree with Menachem’s explanation, for they also hold that עשתרות expresses strength. Otherwise, our Sages will be contradicting themselves. For in Parshas Ki Savo (below 28:4), regarding עשתרות צאנך Rashi explains: “As Onkelos translates. And our Sages said, ‘Why are they called עשתרות? Because they enrich their owners and strengthen them, like these עשתרות which are mighty cliffs.’” This indicates that our Sages also hold that עשתרות is an expression of strength, just as Menachem. Rather, they disagree on this point: Menachem explains that עשתרות refers to the [condition of the] flocks, but our Sages explain that it refers to [the condition of] their owners. Re”m explains similarly below (ibid).