신명기 9:5의 주석

לא בצדקתך אתה בא לרשת … כי ברשעת הגוים NOT FOR THY RIGHTEOUSNESS … DOST THOU GO TO POSSESS [THEIR LAND], but (כי) for the wickedness of these nations. — Here you have the word כי used in the sense of "but".

לא בצדקתך, "Not because of your righteousness, etc." Moses meant that the Israelites' righteousness was not a reason for allowing them to dispossess other nations. This did not mean, however, that they were not a spiritually upright generation. Moses said something similar to the people in Deut. 4,4 when he attributed their being alive to their having cleaved to G'd. Such conduct does not, however, mean that other nations were to be killed on account of the Israelites' goodness. Had there not been a covenant with the patriarchs, G'd could not have justified expelling and killing the Canaanites on account of the Israelites. At the same time, the oath sworn by G'd to the patriarchs by itself would also not have resulted in the Israelites' victory over the Canaanites if they had not been wicked. We have a Mishnah in Eydiot 2,9 which states that "although a father confers upon his son certain attributes (genes) such as handsome appearance, intelligence, etc. etc., there is a limit to the effectiveness of such transfer of parental genes after a number of generations. The Mishnah bases this statement on Isaiah 41,4 קורא הדורות מראש, "He (G'd) determines ahead of time for how long the father can transmit his genes to successive generations." Raavad comments as follows on this statement. "G'd foresees whether a generation is deserving, and if so He allows these genes to be transmitted from father to son until a deserving generation arises such as the generation of Joshua. Thus far Raavad. From this we learn that in addition to G'd's promise to the fathers it is also essential that their descendants be worthy of that promise. Accordingly, Moses told the people that their righteousness was not enough by itself to bring about their conquest of the Holy Land. In fact their righteousness did not even help the oath to Abraham to be fulfilled. The only thing it was good for was to ensure that their conduct was no impediment to the good that G'd had promised being fulfilled now.

לא בצדקתך וביושר לבבך, definitely not on account of your righteousness and your upright hearts. For I want you to remember 'זכור אל תשכח את אשר הקצפת וגו, and not forget how you have angered G’d, etc. However, one of the two factors you cited is correct, namely the wickedness of these nations. The reason that you replaced them (and not someone else) is למען הקים לך את השבועה, in order to fulfill by means of you the oath G’d swore to your forefathers.

לא בצדקתך, “not on account of your righteousness;” as mentioned before, be it in deed or even also in thought; the only reason these people will lose their land and lives is their confirmed wickedness. An additional reason why they lose their lands to you, and not to another nation, is the oath Hashem had sworn to your forefathers to give this land in due course to their descendants. In the event that someone might counter that we have a specific verse in the Torah stating that G’d had chosen us because we are beloved by Him, and how could this be unless we had been righteous? Surely, G’d does not love a wicked rebellious people, and if so our righteousness must have played a role in our being victorious in our assault on the Canaanites! The answer is that our sins cannot annul an oath sworn by G’d to our forefathers, seeing that He had given the gift of this land to them reinforced by an oath. Hashem does not only love the good people, so that one could claim that they had had a share in receiving this land as a reward for their goodness. Besides, Moses reminds the people that whereas previous generations of Israelites might have been good, this present generation had been rebellious from the word “go!” How could they even dream that their goodness had played a role in their receiving the gift of this land! Moses now proceeds to illustrate the point he has just made.

לא בצדקתך וביושר לבבך וגו'...כי ברשעת הגוים האלה, “not due to your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart, etc.,...but due to the wickedness of these nations, etc.” This verse causes us to think that if only the Canaanites had been righteous they would not have been dispossessed, would not have been driven out of the land of Canaan. In that event, what would have happened to G’d’s oath to our patriarchs? The situation is as follows: seeing that these nations are wicked they deserve to be exiled from that land. Even if they had been righteous they would not have been allowed to remain in that land seeing the land had been assigned to them only as a פקדון, an object to be held in trust for the real owners. Ever since the time of the patriarchs the “real” owners are their descendants the Jewish people. G’d, however, is able to give these people some other land seeing that the whole earth belongs to Him. This particular land they could not hold on to seeing G’d had already promised it to someone else. Therefore, regardless of the righteousness of the inhabitants of that land they would have to be transferred elsewhere.

AND THAT HE MAY ESTABLISH THE WORD WHICH THE ETERNAL SWORE UNTO THY FATHERS. The purport thereof¹²⁴Since the merits of that generation were not sufficient to bring them victory, the question arises, “Why could not the entry into the Land be delayed for a worthier generation?” Ramban suggests that the verse before us gives an answer to this question. is that He had said and they shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.¹²⁵Genesis 15:13. And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither.¹²⁶Ibid., Verse 16. Therefore it could not be postponed to a later generation.

V. 5. ישר לבב ist die nur auf das Pflichtgemäße gerichtete innere Gesinnung. צדקה ist die Legalität der Handlung, ישר לבב die Legalität der Gesinnung. Das eine ist wohl ohne das andere denkbar. Erst beides zusammen macht den wahrhaft sittlichen Menschen. Du kannst dich noch weder des einen noch des andern in genügendem Maße rühmen. —כי ברשעת וגו׳. Es sind nur zwei Momente bei deinem siegreichen Einzug ins Land wirksam. Das volle Schuldmass der Völker bestimmt ihren Untergang, und der deinen Vätern geleistete Verheißungsschwur lässt dich an ihre Stelle treten.

ולמען הקים, so that as a result of observing the commandments the nation would merit to inherit the land. We find another instance where, as a result of complying with a command by G’d to wipe out the family of Achav, G’d not only confirmed Jehu as king but extended his dynasty for four generations. (Kings II 10,30)

בי ברשעת הגוים…ולמען הקים…אשר נשבע, "for due to the wickedness of those nations…and in order to keep the oath which G'd swore, etc." None of these reasons would have sufficed by itself. Had the Canaanite nations not been wicked G'd would not have had a legal excuse to dispossess them. Their wickedness by itself was not reason enough to give their land to the Israelites unless the Israelites had also proved worthy to take that land. It is also possible that the meaning of the word מורישם is "He destroys them." If that is so, these people certainly had to be wicked as G'd would not decree upon them what He did in Deut. 20,16: "you must not allow a soul of theirs to remain alive."