Commento su Ezechiele 16:64

let...know Heb. הוֹדַע, fais savoir in French, inform.

your dwelling place Heb. מְכֹרֹתַיִך, like מְגוּרוֹתַיִךְ, your dwelling place [interchanging כ and ג], and Menachem (p. 110) connected the word to the idea of birth. He similarly explained (Gen. 49: 5): “weapons of violence are their birth (מְכֵרוֹתֵיהֶם)” (Deut. 18:8); “besides what he has from his birth (מִמְכָּרָיו)” (II Kings 12:6); “each one from his kinsman (מַכָּרוֹ).” They all mean birth.

your father, etc., and your mother Abraham and Sarah took their greatness from there, and the children of Heth gave her a grave.

"That you shall accept from them": Not donation of grain, wine, and oil, but gold, silver, and bronze. The Blessed, Holy One said: I set up thirteen things for you in Egypt; you, too, should offer thirteen. The thirteen which [God] did in Egypt are written down by Ezekiel: "I clothed you with embroidered garments, and gave you sandals of dolphin leather to wear, and wound fine linen about your head, and dressed you in silks. I decked you out in finery and put bracelets on your arms and a chain around your neck. I put a ring in your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a splendid crown on your head....the choice flour, the oil, and the honey, which I had provided for you to eat" (Ezekiel 16:10-12, 19) -- which come to thirteen. You, too, should offer me thirteen things: gold, silver, bronze; blue, purple, and crimson yarns; fine linen, goats’ hair; tanned ram skins, dolphin skins, and acacia wood, oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the aromatic incense; lapis lazuli and other stones for setting" (Exodus 25:4-7).....

on the day you were born Heb. הוּלֶדֶת, fus nee in French. When I chose you in Egypt, you were without any preparation, and because he compares the matter to birth, he mentions here the preparations of the newborn.

your navel Heb. שָּׁרֵך, like שָּׁרְרֵך.

for cleansing Heb. לְמִשְּׁעִי, to make smooth, [as] (below 24:7),”the smoothness of the rock (צְחִיחַ סֶלַע)” is translated שְּׁעִיעוּתכֵּיפָא, apla[ni] ment in Old French, clearing, smoothing. Menachem (p. 177) associates it to the word for dandling (שַּׁעַשּׁוּעַ).

nor were you salted From here it is derived that we salt the newborn so that his flesh hardens.

nor swaddled Heb. וְהָחְתֵּל, a word denoting enwrapping with garments, and likewise (Job 38: 9): “and the dark cloud its wrapping (חֲתֻלָּתוֹ)” It is [the cloth with] which they swathe the infant.

to have mercy Heb. לְחֻמְלָה, to pity.

in the loathsomeness Heb. בְּגֹעַל an [a]borissemant, in abhorrence, loathing.

downtrodden Heb. מִתְבּוֹסֶסֶת, downtrodden, as (Ps. 60:14): “and He will trample (יָבוּס) our adversaries.”

With your blood, live Even with this loathsomeness of yours you shall not die. He repeats this a second time because they were redeemed with the blood of the Passover sacrifice and the blood of circumcision (Pirke d’Rabbi Eliezer, chapter 29). Another explanation of מִתְבּוֹסֶסת: souillee in French, soiled, sullied.

with perfect beauty Heb. בַּעֲדִי עֲדָיִם, [a form] expressing perfection. But Menachem (p. 131) explained בַּעֲדִי עֲדָיִם as related to the word עַד, eternity, as (Isa. 26:4): “Trust in the Lord forever (עֲדֵי עַד)”; enjusque a s(i)egle in Old French, to eternity [lit. for centuries]. Dunash (p. 83), however, interpreted it as a word for ornaments. The declension of עַדִי עֲדָיִם is one of the ten nouns: lion, lions (אֲרִי אֲרָיִם) ; deer [sing.], deer [pl.] (צְבִי צְבָיִם) ; kid, kids (גְדִי גְּדָיִם).

fashioned Heb. נָכֹנוּ, furent efeties in Old French, were fashioned, developed.

and your hair grown Signs of puberty.

love Heb. דֹדִים, amities in French; friendship, love.

and I anointed you Heb. וָאֲסֻכֵך, a word expressing anointing. Now the entire episode is only a parable, and Jonathan explained it all, leaving nothing to add to the Targum, and he explained it in this manner:

[3] Your dwelling place and your birthplace, etc. Your dwelling place and your birthplace are from the land of the Canaanites; there I revealed Myself to your father Abraham [in the covenant] between the parts, and I let him know that you are going down to Egypt. With an arm raised on high, I redeemed you, and through the merit of your fathers, I drove out the Amorites and destroyed the Hittites.

[4] And as for your birth, on the day you were born, etc. And also, when your forefathers went down to Egypt, sojourners in a land that was not theirs, they subjugated them and oppressed them. The assembly of Israel was like a newborn infant abandoned in the open field, whose navel was not cut, and who was not rinsed with water to be cleansed, and not salted with salt or swaddled with swaddling clothes.

[5] No eye pitied you, etc. The eye of the wicked Pharaoh did not pity you to do you any favor, to lighten your bondage, [or] to have pity on you, and he decreed upon you a decree of annihilation, to cast your males into the river to destroy you at the time you were in Egypt.

[6] And I passed by you, etc. And the remembrance of the covenant of your forefathers came before Me. I revealed Myself to redeem you because it was known to Me that you were being oppressed in your bondage, and I said to you, “With the blood of the circumcision I shall spare you,” and I said, “With the blood of the Passover, I shall redeem you.”

[7] Myriads, like the plants of the field I have made you Myriads, as the plants of the field, I have made you, and you have increased and become strong, and you have become families and tribes, and with the good deeds of your forefathers, the time of the redemption of your assembly arrived because you were subjugated and oppressed.

Myriads, like the plants of the field I made you as it is said (Exod. 1:7): “And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased.”

but you were naked and bare of the commandments.

[8] And I passed by you, etc And I revealed Myself to Moses in the thorn bush because it was revealed to Me that the time of your redemption had arrived. I shielded you with My word, and I removed your sins, and I swore by My word to redeem you as I swore to your forefathers, said the Lord God, that you should be a people serving before Me.

and I swore to you (Exod. 6: 6): “Therefore (לָכֵן), say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord! I shall take you out, etc.” “Therefore” means only an [introduction to an] oath, as it is said (I Sam. 3:14): “therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli...”

and I spread My skirt The skirt of My garment.

and came into a covenant with you (Exod. 24:8): “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you.”

[9] and I washed you with water And I redeemed you from the bondage of the Egyptians, and I removed the strength of their lordship from you, and I led you to freedom.

And I clothed you with embroidered garments “And I clothed you with embroidered garments of the spoils of your enemies.”

and I shod you with badger [Jonathan renders:] And I put shoes of glory on your feet.

and I girded you Heb. וָאֶחְבְּשֵּׁךּ. [Jonathan renders:] and I hallowed priests of you to be serving before Me with turbans of fine linen.

and I covered you with silk Heb. מֶשִּׁי, soie in French. And the High Priest with colored raiment, and [according to] Midrash Aggadah (Mid. Song 4:2), these are the seven clouds of glory, as it is written (Exod. 13:22): “He did not move (יָמִישּׁ) the pillar of cloud by day.”

And I adorned you with ornaments E pare toy, and I adorned you. [Jonathan renders:] And I adorned you with the adornment of the words of the Torah, written on the two stone tablets.

and I put Heb. וָאֶתְּנָה [lit. and I gave,] through Moses.

bracelets Heb. צְמִידִים [from צמד, to join]. I joined one commandment opposite the other, five opposite five.

And I put a nose ring on your nose [Jonathan renders:] And I placed the ark of My covenant among you.

and earrings on your ears Heb. וַעֲגִילִים, a word for an earring. [Jonathan interprets:] And the cloud of My glory covering over you. [The clouds of glory are called וַעֲגִילִים] because they surrounded them in a circle (עִגּוּל).

and a crown of glory on your head [Jonathan renders:] And an angel was sent from before Me leading at your head, as it is said (Micah 2:13): “and their king passed before them, and the Lord was at their head.”

And you adorned yourself with gold and silver [Jonathan renders:] And I placed My Tabernacle among you, adorned with gold, silver, curtains of linen, colored tapestries and embroidery, and mannawhich was as good as fine flour, honey and oil—I fed you, and you became exceedingly rich and strong, and you prospered and ruled over all the kingdoms.

fine flour, honey, and oil you ate The manna, which would change to any flavorto fine flour, honey, and oilyou ate. The Midrash Aggadah (Mid. Song 4:2) [points out that] thirteen items are enumerated here, and corresponding to them, the Holy One, blessed be He, ordered them to bring the thirteen items enumerated in the donation for the Tabernacle (Exod. 25:1-7). Nevertheless, He is destined to repay them in the future with thirteen items (Isa. 4:5f.): “And the Lord shall create over every dwelling of Mount Zion, etc. And a tabernacle shall be for shade by day from the heat, etc., from stream and from rain, etc.”

became exceedingly beautiful An expression of beauty.

for it is all inclusive Heb. כָּלִיל, an expression of all-inclusive beauty (23:12). Another explanation: כִּי כָּלִיל הוּא, for it was perfect. Another explanation: כִּי כָּלִיל couronne in French, like (Lev. 21: 12): “crown (נֵזֶר),” which is translated כְּלִיל by Targum.

and you went astray because of your fame You relied on the fame of the beauty that spread concerning you.

and you poured out your harlotries You displayed your beauty to every passerby until the lust for your harlotry gushed upon them [arousing them] to seduce you into fornicating with them.

to him it would be And once they desired you, you surrendered yourself to them; and to anyone who requested your harlotry, it would be his. Jonathan renders: and it was not fitting for you to do so, as though it were written לֹא יְהִי. This entire allegory represents the Calf of the desert and the other idolatry that the tribe of Dan worshipped in the desert, as it is written (Deut. 25:18): “all those who trailed after you,” and we find in the Pesikta (d’Rav Kahana p. 27b): This is the tribe of Dan, for the cloud would reject them, because the were all idolators.

mounds of colored garments Covered with spotted garments of various colors, pla[t]rees in Old French, multi-colored.

this should not have come It was not proper for this to come, non a venir et non a etre in French, [which was] not to come nor to be.

male images Since he compares her to a female harlot, he compares the image to a male who fornicates with her.

And My bread that I gave you The day they made the Calf, the manna descended for them and they placed some of it before the Calf. Nonetheless, ‘so it was’ on the morrow, and it did not cease. Even this is delineated in the Book of Ezra (Neh. 9:18ff.): “Even when they made for themselves a molten calf, etc. And You, with Your manifold mercies, did not forsake them, etc., and You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth.” It was fitting to withhold it from them, yet You did not withhold it. [Scripture writes] here, too, “so it was, says the Lord God” the bread was, and it did not stop falling on the next day. So did Rabbi Tanchuma expound on it (Buber, Re’eh 13a).

that you bore for Me If one had five sons, four of them were devoted to worshipping idols, and one he would set aside to attend school; and when he comes to offer up one of his sons to Molech, he offers up to it this one whom he had set aside to study Torahin the Midrash of Rabbi Tanchuma. But I say that “that you bore for Me” refers to the firstborn. Likewise, it is stated in this Book (20:26): “And I defiled them with their gifts, when they caused every one who opened the womb to pass.”

the days of your youth My acts of kindness that I performed for you in Egypt.

Woe, woe is to you Woe is to you because you have sinned! Woe is to you because you have not repented!

You built yourself an eminent place Heb. גָב, a height such as pedestal or an altar. You built Heb. וַתִּבְנִי, an expression for building.

you spread your legs Since He compares her to a harlot, He speaks in terms of sexual activity, in which there is spreading of the legs, a cesmas in Old French, you spread wide apart.

great of flesh Having a large male organ.

your ration Your food, in the days that the judges judged.

and I delivered you to the will of those who hate you in the days of Samson.

who were embarrassed by your lewd way Jonathan [paraphrases]: For had I sent My prophets to them, they would have humbled themselves, and they would not have gone in the way of your lewdness.

because you were not sated Because you were not sated with the abominations of Egypt.

and you played the harlot with them Heb. וַתִּזְנִים, from the term for harlotry (זְנוּת), e ansera[s] a els.

with the land of Canaan, with the Chaldeans The Chaldeans were not from the land of Canaan, but this is its meaning: You added the images of the Chaldeans to those of the Canaanites, who were near you, and you played the harlot with them. However Jonathan rendered: You increased your harlotries with the Chaldeans and You became like the Canaanites, who were steeped in idolatry, and you increased your gods, joining the people of Canaan who follow the customs of the Chaldeans. But to me it appears that כְּנַעַן is like סוֹחֵר, a merchant, like (Hosea 12:8): “A trafficker (כְּנַעַן) who has deceitful scales in his hand.” He thus calls the land of the Chaldeans the land of the merchants, as it is said [concerning Babylon, too,] (17:4): “and he brought it to the land of merchants (כְּנַעַן), in a city of traffickers he placed it.”

How degenerate Heb. אֲמֻלָה, spoiled. Similarly (Neh. 3:34): “the feeble (הָאֲמֵלָלִים) Jews,” and similarly (Ps. 6:3), “because I languish (אֻמְלַל).”

your heart Heb. לִבַָּתֵךְ, like לִבֵּךּ.

dominated Heb. שַּׁלָּטֶת, whose evil inclination dominates her.

When you build your eminent place Heb. בִּבְנוֹתַיִךּ, like בִּבְנוֹתֵךּ, from the word for building.

to boast of a hire Heb. לְּקַלֵס, to speak and to boast of the fine hire that they give her. Similarly, every form of קֶלֶס is an expression of speech, parliz in Old French, boastful, empty talk.

hire Heb. אֶתְנַן, an expression for hire, loyez in old French.

the adulterous wife You are the adulterous wife.

who, under her husband, takes strangers While she is under her husband, [she] casts her eyes on others.

gifts Heb. נֵדֶה, a dowry.

because of your harlotries Because of the great [lust for] harlotry that was in you, you did so.

there was no such harlotry No harlotry was done with any harlot like your harlotry.

your bottom was poured out Heb. נְחֻשְּׁתֵךּ. This is a term for a bottom, which is called fonz in old French, bottom. And so [is this word] many [times] in the [Mishnaic] order of Tohoroth (Kelim 8: 3): “the base (נְחֻשְּׁתוֹ) of a stove.” your bottom was poured out Because of the great lust for harlotry. your ‘fountain’ would flow.

and because of all your abominable idols Heb. וְעַל.

and according to the blood of your sons And for the iniquity of the blood of your sons I will do to you this evil delineated in the chapter: “Behold I gather etc.”

you mingled Heb. עָרַבְתְּ, mellas in Old French.

and I shall deliver you [to those who shed] blood with fury and zeal And I shall deliver you to those who slay with fury and zeal and anger.

and they will demolish your eminent place Your tall ceremonial buildings.

and your lofty places An expression used for high altars.

and pierce you Heb. וּבִתְּקוּךְ. There is no similar word elsewhere in Scripture, and Jonathan rendered וְיִבְזְעוּנִיךּ, and they will pierce you, e tre[s]perzeront toy in Old French.

and I shall stop you from a harlot From being a harlot.

behold Heb. הֵא, like הִנֵה.

yet you did not make a plan Although I have given your way on your head, you have not made a plan to ponder your abominations, to repent of them. Every זִמָה in Scripture is an expression of counsel, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad.

whoever uses proverbs Heb. הַמֹשֵּׁל. This is an expression of a proverb and a riddle

“Like mother, like daughter” Heb. כְּאִמָה בִּתָּה. The ‘hey’ of כְּאִמָה is not a ‘mappiq [aspirate] hey,’ [to read her mother; i.e. it is not the third person possessive] because it does not serve for any noun but it means, as the mother, so is her daughter.

your mother’s daughter The nation of Canaan, whose land you inherited.

spewing forth her husband and her children Who so increased their abominations that the land spewed forth its inhabitants, the fathers and the children together.

and you are your sister’s sister Sodom, which is next to the land of Israel.

your mother was a Hittite, etc. Jonathan renders: Is it not so that your mother Sarah was among the Hittites, yet did not do as their deeds, and your father Abraham was among the Amorites, yet did not follow their counsel!

at your left Since the territory of Judah was at the southern border of Eretz Israel [and one is considered facing east], all the other tribes were situated at their left [since they are north of Judah].

If only you had gone in their ways Heb. וְלֹא, if only you had gone in their ways and not committed abominations more than they. Likewise (II Kings 5:17): “Now if only (וָלֹֹא) your servant to be given.” Likewise (I Sam. 20:14): “And please, if (וְלֹא) I am still alive,” concerning Jonathan, et plut a in French, would that..., if only!

so very little Would your abominations have been before Me, had you not committed abominations more than they, but you dealt more corruptly than they. This is also Jonathan’s rendering. Others interpret וְלא בָּדֳרְכֵהֶן הָלֳכְתְּ as its apparent meaning, “and you did not go in their ways,” [and thus follows the reason:] So very little were their abominations in your eyes that you dealt more corruptly than they, pochet in Old French, a little.

And they became haughty She and her daughters, as is delineated in Job (28:5): “A land from which bread emerged,” and the entire piece (ibid. 4-9). [The Sodomites grew in haughtiness] until they said, “Let us cause the habit of traveling [lit. the foot] to be forgotten from our land, for they come only to cause us loss.”

and I removed them when I saw their way, as the matter that is stated regarding Sodom (Gen. 18:21): “I shall go down and see.”

and you vindicated your sisters Before you had committed abominations more than they, they would have been a judged guilty, but since you became more wicked than they, you made them [appear] as righteous women, and you gave them an excuse to say, “There are some who have provoked you more than I.”

that you judged That you judged them; before you behaved more wickedly than they, you used to say about them that they are fit for punishment.

the captivity of Sodom Heb. שְּׁבוּת. I shall cure the land of brimstone and salt, and I shall settle it with inhabitants.

in their midst Heb. בְּתוֹכָהְנָה, like בְּתוֹכָן.

in that you consoled them when you became more wicked than they, and you gave them an excuse [to neglect righteousness]. Another explanation: in that you consoled them When the evil comes upon you, they will be consoled, saying, We have not suffered alone.

Now, was not Sodom your sister, etc. This is a [rhetorical] question.

a report in your mouth [by which] to reprove many and to say, Beware that you should not be overturned like Sodom, as though it were recent news to you.

on the day of your pride When you were in your greatness.

like [at] the time of the taunt by the daughters of Aram As it was revealed when I delivered you into the hands of the kings of Aram, who attacked Ahaz (II Kings 15:36); “In those days, the Lord began to incite Rezin the king of Aram. etc.”; (II Chron. 28:5), “And the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Aram, etc.”; (ibid. verse 18), “And the Philistines invaded the cities of the plain and the south, etc.

who disgraced you Heb. הֳשָּׁאטוֹת, an expression for disgrace. The ‘aleph’ is not sounded. וַיִבֶז, despised (Gen. 25:34), is translated as וְשָּׁט [in Targum Onkelos].

you bore them Heb. נְשָּׂאתִים, you bore them. This is a feminine form [used] in many places in this Book.

I have done with you, etc. I have done evil to you commensurate to your [ungrateful] repayment [to Me] which you made.

that you despised an oath, etc. That one that you accepted upon yourself in Horeb (Deut. 29:11): “That you pass into the covenant of the Lord your God, etc.” But I shall not violate the covenant by not remembering it, because I am not like you.

But I shall remember My covenant That was with you in the days of your youth.

And you will remember when I improve you evil ways for you, and you will be humiliated before Me for repaying Me with evil whereas I paid you with good.

when you take your sisters When you conquer to inherit the nations that are around you, the small and the great.

for daughters For your suburbs, subordinate to you, like (verse 55): “Sodom and her daughters,” [translated by Jonathan as] וְכָפְרָנָהָא, its suburbs.

but not from your covenant But not because of your observance of the covenant that I made with you, but because of My kindnesses and My mercies, [namely] that I observe My covenant. Midrash Aggadah of Rabbi Tanchuma (Buber, Devarim 3a) states: but not from your covenant (מִבְּרִיתֵךְ) not from your ‘patromonia’: I did not grant them to Abraham your father [in the covenant] ‘between the segments’ (Gen. 15:1). This term is close to the French, for now, kinship is called patremone, patrimony, and this is what they call anything a person has from the inheritance of his fathers.

In order that you remember your way when I do good for you.

and be ashamed to raise your face to Me.

when I forgive you Heb. בְּכַּפְרִי לָךְ [lit. in my atoning to you]. When I forgive you for what you have done, you will be ashamed, and you will know that I did not benefit you because of the good that you bestowed upon Me.