Commento su Deuteronomio 17:15

THOU SHALT BY ALL MEANS SET HIM KING OVER THEE, WHOM THE ETERNAL THY G-D SHALL CHOOSE. In the opinion of the commentators¹⁰²Ibn Ezra in the verse before us. this means that he is to be chosen according to the word of a prophet or the judgment of the Urim.¹⁰³Numbers 27:21. See also Vol. II pp. 480-483. Scripture is thus commanding: “You shall set up a king over you, whom the Eternal thy G-d shall choose, for it is He Who will choose and not you.” And in the Sifre it is stated:¹⁰⁴Sifre, Shoftim 157. “Thou shalt by all means set him king over thee. If he dies, appoint another one in his place. A king — but not a queen. Whom the Eternal thy G-d shall choose — according to the word of the prophet.” But, if so, what sense is there to warn [in the verse before us], thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother, when G-d would not choose a foreigner? However, in the opinion of our Rabbis there is in this verse a hidden condition, stating: “you shall by all means set a king over you, whom G-d shall choose provided you can do so — if G-d will answer you through prophets; but a foreigner you may never appoint as king over you.”
And in line with the plain meaning of Scripture they¹⁰⁵The commentators. I have not identified them. have said, “thou shalt by all means set him king over thee, whom the Eternal thy G-d will choose and not him whom the Eternal thy G-d hateth,¹⁰⁶Above, 16:22. for He will choose an Israelite to be king over His chosen ones and not from among the other peoples.” In my opinion the simple meaning of the expression whom He will choose is that every ruler over people receives his position from G-d, as it is written until thou wilt know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.¹⁰⁷Daniel 4:29. This was said by Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Similarly the Rabbis have said:¹⁰⁸Berachoth 58a. “Even a superintendent of the well is appointed in heaven.” Thus the verse is stating: “thou shalt by all means set him king over thee — whoever it be decreed by Heaven that he is to reign, even if he be of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and of the least of all the families of the tribe¹⁰⁹I Samuel 9:21. — but you are never to invest a foreigner with regal power.” Similarly, by way of the plain meaning of Scripture, the expression the place which the Eternal thy G-d shall choose¹¹⁰Above, 14:25. means “wherever G-d’s Sanctuary shall be built, was all the Will of G-d.”

איש נכרי, who is to lead you in battle;

אשר יבחר ה' אלוקיך בו, “whom the Lord your G’d will choose.” According to numerous commentators the meaning is that G’d will indicate His choice of whom He favours as king, through one of His prophets, or, in the absence of such, through the response received by the High Priest when enquiring from Hashem through the urim vetumim in his breastplate. Nachmanides questions this approach, asking that if it were correct, why did Moses specifically warn against the appointment of a gentile as king, when clearly, such an appointment would be thwarted by Divine interference? He answers that our sages discovered in this verse also a hidden clause. The words שום תשים עליך מלך, “you shall surely set a king over yourself,” imply that it is within your power, politically speaking, to make that choice without external interference. When such conditions exist G’d needs to approve the appointment of such a king before he begins his reign. Such a king must have been born as a Jew. The word יבחר is an allusion to the people whom G’d has “chosen,” as opposed to the people whom G’d “hates.” [The word “hates,” used by Nachmanides must be understood in the same sense as Leah used it when she described herself as “hated” by her husband Yaakov. (Genesis 29,33) Ed.] Under no circumstances, however, must you appoint a gentile as king over you. According to the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, seeing that any king ruling over any nation does so only as long as I, Hashem, approve, you may appoint a king over yourselves as this is part of the fate of the Jewish people as it has been decreed by heaven. [If I understand correctly, the inference is from the indirect אשר יבחר, “that He will choose,” instead of the direct speech אשר תבחר, “that you will choose.” Ed.] Even when we think we do the choosing, in the final analysis, G’d has done the choosing in His capacity as “King of Kings.” However, there is also included here a warning not to crown gentile king, ever.

[29] Surely place upon yourselves a king, when the Source repeated the verb it came to teach that the verb be done in any way and even each time (כל פעם). And thus, from what is written 'place upon yourselves' explain that if [he] dies place another instead, and since it returns secondly

V. 15. ׳שום תשים וגו, es ist dies ein gebietender, kein bloß gestattender Ausspruch (siehe V. 14) ספרי) על פי נביא :אשר יבחר ד׳ אלקיך בו), den Mann, den Gott durch einen Propheten als den Mann Seiner Wahl bezeichnen wird, den sollst du über dich zum Könige einsetzen, sollst ihn mit allen Königsrechten bekleiden, und dich ihm als deinem König unterordnen. Wenn es nun gleichwohl weiter heißt: לא תוכל לתת עליך וגו׳, מקרב אחיך וגו׳, und damit Qualifikationen als Bedingung ausgesprochen sind, welche die Nation bei einer Königswahl zu beachten haben soll, so statuiert dies doch offenbar die Möglichkeit, dass auch ein König nicht durch direkte durch einen Propheten vermittelte Gottesbestimmung, sondern aus freiem, durch einen Propheten nicht geleitetem Wahlakt der Nation, resp. der Vertreter derselben eingesetzt werde. Erwägen wir, dass nach jüdischen Grundsätzen (siehe zu Kap. 18, 18) der Mann, den Gott zum Propheten, zum Organ seines Wortes an die Nation erwählt, zuvor als "Mann" durch einen hohen Grad geistiger und sittlicher Vollendung sich der Prophetie würdig gezeigt haben muss; dass nach Sanhedrin 11 a nicht nur die Persönlichkeit, sondern auch deren Zeitgenossenschaft einer solchen prophetischen Sendung gewürdigt zu werden, die geeignete sein müsse, דורו זכאי לכך: so begreifen wir sehr wohl die Notwendigkeit, dass im Gesetze beiden Alternativen vorgesehen sei. Normal: שום תשים עליך מלך אשר יבחר ד׳ אלקיך בו, in Ermangelung der Intervention eines Propheten: מקרב אחיך תשים וגו׳.

שום תשים, “be sure to appoint for yourself!” Once the Torah mentions the authority of judges, it also describes the limitations imposed on the ruler, the first one being that he must be appointed with the approval of G-d.

אשר לא אחיך הוא, for he may seduce you to serve idols.

אמו מישראל :מקרב אחיך, er muss als Jude geboren sein (Jebamot 45 b; siehe תוספו׳ daselbst. Nach תוספו׳ Sota 41 b muss auch der Vater Jude gewesen sein. עד ממוצע מאביו ומאמו מישראל)

'אשר יבחר ה, “whom the Lord will choose;” how do we know that the King has been chosen by the Lord? He will be chosen by the foremost prophet at that time, or in the absence of prophets, through consultation by the High Priest with G-d by means of the urim vetumim, the parchment in a pocket beneath the High Priest’s breastplate.

לא תוכל, “you are legally forbidden, hence “unable;”(Sifri).

אשר יבחר ה' אל-היך בו, “whom the Lord your G’d will choose.” This verse teaches that in the final analysis both the monarchy and the other lofty positions are all a reflection of the will of heaven. The “election” of which the Torah speaks was decisively influenced by divine forces. This is why our sages in Baba Batra 91 say that even if the king is someone appointed as leader of totally ignorant uncivilised people, he was placed in such a position by an act of G’d. This is also the meaning of Daniel 5,21: “until he knew that the Supreme G’d rules in the kingdom of men and sets over it whom He wishes.”

לתת עליך איש נכרי, “you may not appoint over yourself a foreigner.” The reason for this is that a foreigner may wish to impose his religion upon you.

מקרב אחיך תשים עליך מלך, “from amongst your brethren shall you appoint a king for yourself.” Our sages in Sotah 41 conclude from the wording that both the king’s father and the king’s mother must be Jewish (compare Tosafot). Anyone who is not your brother is not an Israelite, and anyone who is not an Israelite is described as נכרי, alien.