Commento su Deuteronomio 32:13

ירכבהו על במתי ארץ HE MADE HIM RIDE ON THE HIGH PLACES OF THE EARTH — The entire text (vv. 13 and 14) is to be understood metaphorically as the Targum has it (i.e., as referring to Eretz Israel).

ירכיבהו על במתי ארץ, this is something He has to do seeing that He did not achieve the desired result at the time He gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. He will make a second attempt at achieving this as we know from Psalms 105,45 בעבור ישמרו חקיו, “in order that they may observe His statutes.” G’d gave them the land of nations in order that they keep His statutes.” Ezekiel 20,6 extols the land of Israel as ארץ צבי, the choicest of all the countries

ירכיבהו על במותי ארץ, He makes him ride on the heights of the earth." This verse is not the continuation of what has been written immediately before, but it is the beginning of a new subject and the verse belongs to what follows. The basic subject being introduced here is וישמן ישורון, "Yeshurun became fat and kicked."

על במתי ארץ, as if the Torah had written במתי ארץ (without the letter ו after the letter מ). The land of Israel is perceived as the highest on the globe. [I have explained once that if one considers Jerusalem as the center, the globe sloping off in all directions from this pinnacle, this is easy to understand and does not conflict with scientific measurements which relate only to height above sea level. Ed.[

ירכיבהו על במתי ארץ, “He makes it ride on the heights of the earth.” This is a simile describing Israel as having received control of a choice piece of real estate on earth, a central part of the civilized world, a land “higher” than all other countries. [If the earth is considered as a globe and Jerusalem its center, instead of the equator or longitude 180 degrees, then this is literally true. Ed.] (The author bases himself on Sifri 316). The thrust of these verses is that in spite of the advantages conferred on the Jewish people in every sphere, they trampled it and thereby kicked out (at G’d). The meaning of the words כליות חטה in verse 14 is “the fat part, choicest part,” of the wheat kernels. The reason Moses uses the comparison with kidneys, כליות, is because the wheat kernels resemble the shape of the kidney. According to Taanit 23, in the days of Shimon ben Shetach there was such prosperity in Israel that the wheat kernels were as large as oxen.

The entire passage should be understood as Targum [Onkelos] translates. Meaning, that Hashem will give them Eretz Yisroel. And if so you might ask, that it should have written “He will cause them to inherit, etc.” Why [write] “He shall transport them”? And Rashi goes on and explains.

V. 13. ירכיבהו על במותי ארץ. Wir haben bereits zu Bereschit bemerkt, dass במה nicht den Begriff Anhöhe überhaupt, sondern den einer solchen Anhöhe bedeutet, die als Unterlage und Standpunkt der Erhöhung des darauf sich Befindenden dient. במות ארץ ist daher nicht gleichbedeutend mit גבעות ארץ ,הרי ארץ, sondern drückt den Begriff solcher emporragender Höhen der Erde aus, deren Ersteigen das Ziel von Bestrebungen bildet. במות daher ja Ausdruck für alle angestrebte und erreichte hohe Stellungen. ועל במותי יעמידני ,ידריכני (Ps.18, 34 u. Habakuk 3, 18), על במותימו תדרוך (Dewarim 33 29). Die stat. constr. plur. Form במתי weist auf eine Dualform des Plurals hin, wie יַרכְתֵי von יַרְכְתַיִם. Der einfache Plural von במה ist במות, auch im stat. constr. בָמות, so במות ארנון (Bamidbar 21, 29), במות בעל (daselbst 41). In ירכתים bezeichnet der Dualis den die beiden Längsseiten zusammenfassenden Hinterraum. במותי wären somit: Doppelhöhen, und ist in der Schreibweise unseres במתי zugleich das Merkmal des einfachen Plurals mit enthalten. Diese Dualform במתי kommt nur wie hier im Zusammenhange des Ersteigens oder Betretens von Höhen und zwar in bildlichem Sinne vor, והרבבתיך על במתי ארץ (Jes.58, 14), ודורך על במתי ארץ (Amos 4, 13 u. Micha 1, 3), ודורך על במתי ים (Job. 9, 8), אעלה על במתי עב (Jes.14, 15). Alle diese Stellen entalten den Gedanken einer Erhabenheit, Macht, Herrschaft verleihenden Stellung. Die Dualform dürfte somit die Doppelbeziehung einer solchen Stellung ausdrücken. במתי ארץ ,ים ,עב von Gott: die mit der Hoheit über Erde, Meer und Himmel gegebene Doppelherrschaft über Natur- und Menschenwelt. במתי ארץ von Menschen: die auf der Höhe der irdischen Verhältnisse zu gewinnende Doppelfülle des materiell sinnlichen und geistig sittlichen Heils. Dass in unserer Stelle nicht an die Besitznahme eines räumlich hochliegenden Gebietes zu denken ist, das dürfte sich aus dem Vergleich mit dem ganz ähnlichen Satze (Jes. 58, 14) ergeben, wo die Schilderungen des durch ein pflichtgetreues jüdisches Leben zu gewinnenden segensreichen Heils in der Verheißung gipfeln: אז תתענג על ד׳ והרכבתיך על במותי ארץ. Bemerkenswert ist, dass dort wie hier neben der Dualform auch der einheitliche Plural durch die Schreibweise ausgedrückt ist. Es dürfte damit gesagt sein, dass das materiell sinnliche einerseits und andererseits das geistig sittliche Moment in den Zielen des Menschenstrebens doch im tiefen Grunde ein wesentlich Einheitliches bilden, das Eine nicht ohne das Andere erreichbar, beide in ganz gleicher Würdigung nur von dem einen Pflichtgefühle zu erringen sind, das die Basis aller Menschenbestrebungen zu bilden hat. Also:

ירכיבהו על במתי ארץ, “He made him ride on the high places of the earth.” Moses repeated this metaphor again in Deuteronomy 33,29, ואתה על במותימו תדרוך, “and you shall tread on their high places.”

ירכיבהו על במותי ארץ, “He would make him ride on the high places on the earth;” we have a parallel of this promise in Isaiah 58,14: והרכבתיך על במותיך תדרוך, “I’ll set you astride the heights of the earth.”

ירכבהו וגו׳ HE MADE HIM RIDE [UPON THE HIGH PLACES] — This expression is used because the land of Israel is higher than all other countries (Sifrei Devarim 316:1).

ויאכל תנובות שדי, Moses mentions only the eating, not referring to the labour in the fields leading up to this, eventually. He meant that it would not take any effort to reach the state of eating the produce the land has to offer. Compare Joshua 24,13 “vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant you are eating from.”

דבש, made from dates;

This refers to the fruits of Eretz Yisroel, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Does Hashem not give them food to eat in other places? Therefore he explains that “this refers to the fruits, etc.”

Nachdem Gott sein Volk in der Wüste geweckt und geübt hatte, sich ausschließlich den Adlersfittichen seiner Führung anzuvertrauen, ירכיבהו על במותי ארץ, ließ er es die Doppelhöhen der irdischen Ziele ersteigen: mit den geistig sittlichen Errungenschaften zugleich alle materiell sinnliche Wohlfahrt, ויאכל תנובת שדה: was nur das von Menschen angebaute Gefilde an Früchten zu reichen hat, das erhielt es zu Nahrung und Genuss. נוב ,תנובת (lautverwandt mit נוף die horizontale Bewegung des Darreichens, daher נוף rabbinisch: der Zweig) das Gewähren, Darreichen der Früchte. שדי siehe Bereschit 17, 15.

ויאכל תנובות שדי, “he ate of the fruitage of the field;” Here Moses speaks of the future, after the Israelites had conquered the land of Canaan and grown their own crops. By that time the manna had ceased to descend from heaven, as stated in Joshua 5,12: וישבות המן ממחרת הפסח ויאכלו מעבור הארץ, “the manna ceased immediately after the Passover, and they began to eat from the produce of the land.” This enabled them to strengthen their bodies in anticipation of fighting to conquer the land. Concerning this subject we read in the Talmud, tractate Kidushin, folio 38, that as soon as they offered the first omer offering, (a measure of the new barley harvest) they were permitted to eat from the produce of the land. This statement in the Talmud was challenged by Rabbi Nathan Ophniel, who asked why they had to wait until they had offered that offering, seeing that the positive commandment of eating matzot on the first night of the Passover festival (Exodus 12,18) should override the negative commandment (Leviticus 23,14) of not eating from the new barley harvest, just as the positive commandment of circumcising oneself on the eighth day (overrides the negative commandment of not tampering with the foreskin of the newly born if it had displayed signs of the skin affliction known as tzoraat. The answer to his objection is that the sages decreed the prohibition on account of the second piece of matzah, i.e. once the amount of an olive’s size of matzah had been eaten, the commandment in Exodus is no longer mandatory, and it would be too easy to transgress the commandment of not eating from the new barley harvest prior to offering the omer. We find a similar situation with the widow of brother a of the High Priest who had died without child, and who would be in line for the levirate marriage to her brother-in-law the High Priest. (Compare Talmud tractate Yevamot folio 20) You could argue that the positive commandment of performing such a rite (Deuteronomy 25,5) should override the negative commandment that a High Priest must not marry a widow. (Leviticus 21,14) There too the sages forbade the levirate marriage as after the first marital union the High Priest would have fulfilled the whole commandment, and if he were to sleep with his wife by levirate marriage a second time, he would have committed a very serious sin. The sages therefore forbade such a levirate marriage in order to make sure that the High Priest would not become guilty of such a sin.

במותי ארץ, “the princes of the earth;” as in Deuteronomy 33 29: ואתה על במותימו תדרוך, “and you shall tread on their high places.” The letter ו is extraneous, and the letter מ should have a short vowel kametz, chataf kametz.

ויאכל תנובת שדי THAT HE MIGHT EAT THE PRODUCE OF THE FIELDS — This refers to the fruits of the land of Israel which are quicker to shoot (נוב) and to ripen than all the fruits of other countries (Sifrei Devarim 316:2).

the word שמן refers to oil from olives, olive trees growing primarily in mountainous regions.

There was an incident. Rashi is answering the question: How could this come about, that they would suck honey from a rock?

וינקהו דבש מסלע ebenso wie ושמן מחלמיש צור kann sich, nachdem es schon heißt ויאכל תנובות שדי, nicht auf die wundervolle Speisung in der Wüste beziehen. Ohnehin finden wir dort nur eine Versorgung mit Wasser aus Felsen. Es scheint vielmehr auch der außerordentlichen Fruchtbarkeit des Landes das Außerordentliche, Wunderbare vindizieren zu wollen. Unter dem besonderen Segen, den Gott dem Lande seines Gesetzes für das Volk seines Gesetzes verlieh, ging die Fruchtbarkeit über die natürliche Beschaffenheit des Bodens hinaus. Felsen- und Kiesgrund verwandelte sich in Fruchtboden und trug Datteln- und Ölbäume. Siehe das zu Bereschit 26, 1 u. 2 Bemerkte.

וינקהו דבש מסלע, “and He made him suck honey from a crag in the rock.” The honey mentioned here is bee’s honey. If date trees had grown in rocky areas their honey would also have been included.

ויניקהו דבש מסלע, “He made him suck honey from a rock;” this is a reference to the honey from dates which grows on palm trees between rocks and in the mountains. An alternate interpretation: the honey found in the crags of rocks is bee honey, as the bees hide it there. (B’chor shor) This would be in accordance with Rabbi Joseph quoted in the Targum when interpreting the line; כאשר תעשינה הדבורים, “as the bees produce”, on Deuteronomy 1,44.

וינקהו דבש מסלע AND HE MADE HIM SUCK HONEY OUT OF THE ROCK — Indeed it once happened that a man said to his son In Sichnin (a town in Galilee): “Bring me dried figs from the cask”. He went and found the honey flowing over its brim. He said to him, “But this is a vat of honey (not of figs)”. Thereupon he said to him: “Put your hands deep into it and you will bring up figs from it” (Sifrei Devarim 316:3).

Someone said to his son in Sichoni. “In Sichoni” refers to the name of a place.

ושמן מחלמיש צור, “as well as oil out of a flinty rock.” Olives growing in such rocky areas are superior in taste to those growing from trees in the field. This is most likely due to the heat of the sun’s ray being reflected from the rocky surface instead of being absorbed by the soil.

ושמן מחלמיש צור, “and oil out of a flinty rock.” It is the habit of olive trees to grow in areas surrounded by rocky earth., on Deuteronomy 1,44.

במתי ארץ is an expression denoting height.

Bring me dried fig preserves from the barrel, etc.” Dried figs are hard like rock, and even so there was honey on them. Therefore they would suck honey from them [like] from a rock.

שדי has the same meaning as שדה, field.

When non-adjunctive to the following word the vocalization is chalumish (“the mighty part of”), etc. Rashi is answering the question: Why is the word chalmish vocalized with a sheva under the lamed? It would ordinarily be vocalized as chalumish with a kamatz [under the lamed], as in “the flint [chalumish] into a fountain of waters” (Tehillim 114:8). Therefore he explains that “when it is not connected to the following word, etc.” But here it is connected to the word following.

מחלמיש צור (lit., out of the flint of the rock) — The meaning is: the strength and the hardness of the rock. — When it is not connected with the following word (that is, when it is used in the absolute state) it is vowelled חַלָּמִישׁ (as in Deuteronomy 8:15). whilst when it is connected (is in the construct state) it is punctuated חַלְמִישׁ as here.

This refers to the olives of Gush Chalav. Gush Chalav is the name of a place.

ושמן מחלמיש צור AND OIL OUT OF THE FLINTY ROCK — this refers to the olives of Giscala (a place in Galilee) (Sifrei Devarim 316:4).