신명기 11:2의 주석

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did not give the Egyptians relief and deliverance from the moment His hand was stretched out upon them, and He hath not withdrawn His hand from consuming²⁸⁶Lamentations 2:8.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.

וידעתם היום, "and you shall know as of this day, etc." Moses means as of this day after you have reviewed all the proofs it is your duty to know that G'd has performed all these miracles as He did not perform them for your children. If your children who have only heard about all this would deny knowledge of these events this is one thing. You, however, who have witnessed all these events are in no position to deny knowledge of them. There was no need for Moses to define what precisely he meant by the word ידיעה, knowledge. They had seen with their own eyes miracles which proved that G'd is unique, has created the universe and is the supreme Ruler who despises those who disobey His laws and has chosen as His people those who adopt the laws of the Torah.

את מוסר, disciplinary measures as described in Deut.8,5 “as a father disciplines his son, so the Lord your G’d disciplines you.”

Pay close attention so that you know and understand, etc. [“You will know today,”] does not mean that they will know something new today. For he told them nothing new here.

V. 2. היום steht wohl dem כל הימים des vorhergehenden Verses gegenüber. Die Aufgabe der Gesetzeshut umfasst alle Geschlechter aller Zeiten. Aber das gegenwärtige, das zuerst der Lösung dieser Aufgabe näher tritt, hat ganz besonders Grund, mit vollster Kraft an die Lösung dieser Aufgabe zu gehen; was den kommenden Geschlechtern nur durch Überlieferung kund sein wird, das hat das gegenwärtige unmittelbar selbst erfahren. כי לא את בניכם ist offenbar elliptisch, so viel als: rede ich. — את מוסר ד׳ אלקיכם ist die ganze Führung von Mizrajim durch die Wüste; alles, womit) Gott belehrend und erziehend auf Israel eingewirkt (siehe zu Kap. 8, 5).

כי לא את בניכם, “that it was not your children;” Moses warns his own generation that it was they who would be punished for ignoring the laws of the Torah, as it was they who had witnessed G–d’s miracles for them, not their children who had been born in the desert.

ואשר לא ראו את מוסר, “and who have not witnessed Your chastisement;” Moses will furnish the details immediately.

כי לא את בניכם FOR NOT WITH YOUR CHILDREN am I now speaking who might say, “We do not know nor have we seen all this” (all that God did for you, and what He did to Egypt, and for you in the wilderness, and to Dathan and Abiram, as related in vv. 2—6).

וזרועו הנטויה, which is ever ready to smite those who will revert to their sinful ways.

That I now speak, etc. For the word את [here] means the same as עם (with). Rashi adds, “That I now speak,” for without adding “That I now speak” the [meaning of the] verse cannot be understood. Therefore he needed to explain the word את means “with,” for the word עם applies only to one who is being spoken to. Also Rashi adds the word “now,” for without it the verse means that He would never speak with any of their offspring, only with these alone.

את גדלו: seine Größe, die überall da ausreichte, wo alle normale Aussicht geschwunden war; את ידו החזקה וגו׳, die er Mizrajim gegenüber in Israels Befreiung bekundet hat.