신명기 17:2의 주석

לעבר בריתו TRANSGRESSING HIS COVENANT — i.e. the covenant which He made with you not to practise idolatry.

IF THERE BE FOUND IN THE MIDST OF THEE WITHIN ANY OF THY GATES WHICH THE ETERNAL THY G-D GIVETH THEE. I have already explained⁵⁶Above, 7:15; 11:32. that when he speaks of the ordinances he mentions first the judgment to be executed upon the idols or their worshippers. He states [here] within any of thy gates which the Eternal thy G-d giveth thee, not to imply that this law applies only in the Land of Israel, since one who worships idols outside the Land is also liable to stoning. The purport thereof is rather to state, “if the matter be found in one of the distant cities which G-d will give you when He will enlarge thy border⁵⁷Further, 19:8. — and it be told thee, and thou hear it,⁵⁸Verse 4 here. in whatever city you may be, you are to investigate the matter diligently and if you discover that the charge is true, you shall bring them forth to that city wherein they worshipped, and stone them.”⁵⁹Verse 5. He states that such abomination was done in Israel⁵⁸Verse 4 here. [implying that it is done within the nation rather than within the Land] in order to hold the worshipper [of the idols] culpable even outside the Land, for in the case of the apostate city he said, that such abomination is done ‘in thy midst,’⁶⁰Above, 13:15. [within the Land], but here he mentioned within any of thy gates [a term generally limited to the Land] for it refers to common events as we have explained, and then he states in Israel⁵⁸Verse 4 here. in order to teach that it is binding upon the entire [nation of] Israel [even outside the Land]. It was also necessary to state within any of thy gates in order to teach that the worshipper be stoned at the gates [of the city] in which he worshipped the idols.⁶¹Kethuboth 45b. This is [the law] in the Land, for outside the Land he is stoned at the entrance of the court where he was judged.
Now, this commandment is explanatory, since He already stated He that sacrificeth unto the gods shall be utterly destroyed,⁶²Exodus 22:19. this applying in every place and at every time. Therefore he repeated it in order to explain what must be added to the commandment, but he abbreviated regarding matters previously mentioned.
And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], it is possible that he mentioned within any of thy gates because he stated in transgressing His covenant,⁶³In Verse 2 before us. The question is why is “the woman” mentioned in the case of idol-worship. this [transgression] being the abomination done in [the Land of] Israel.⁵⁸Verse 4 here. Scripture made it known that the covenant is in the Land of the covenant,⁶⁴Ezekiel 30:5. whereas he who lives outside the Land is as if he worshipped idols.⁶⁵Kethuboth 110b. I have already mentioned this subject.⁶⁶Leviticus 18:25.
He mentioned man or woman,⁶³In Verse 2 before us. The question is why is “the woman” mentioned in the case of idol-worship. because, due to a woman’s frivolity, she can be enticed into idol-worship through a sign or wonder done before her, the proof being the case of the women before Jeremiah.⁶⁷Jeremiah Chapter 44. Similarly, with reference to [the witchcraft of] the ov (ghost) or yide’oni (familiar spirit), Scripture mentioned or a woman⁶⁸Leviticus 20:27. because these forms of sorcery were customarily practiced by women, as He said, Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live⁶⁹Exodus 22:17. [even though both male and female sorcerers are equally liable].⁷⁰Sanhedrin 67a. And in the Sifre⁷¹Sifre, Shoftim 148. the Rabbis interpret that [the reason for the expression or a woman is] because, having said in the case of an inciter Certain base ‘men’ are gone out from the midst of thee,⁷²Above, 13:14. implying that this law [of the apostate city] is not the same for [the inciters if they were] women,⁷³Sifre, R’eih 93. it was necessary to explain that regarding an idol-worshipper the law is the same for man and woman.
The meaning of the expression which I have commanded not⁷⁴Verse 3. is already explained.⁷⁵Above, 4:21.

כי ימצא בקרבך, after Moses instructed the people to appoint judges in each city so that each court would judge primarily people who lived in its vicinity, Moses continues with the trial of an idolater, something that is not judged locally, in the town where he lives, but in the town in which he committed the crime. Subsequently, Moses deals with the problem of disagreements among members of the court, or several courts with one another. Such disagreements are also not to be judged locally but “in the place that the Lord has chosen,” (verse 8) i.e. the same court in which an elder who refuses to submit to the majority view of his colleagues is to be judged.

כי ימצא בקרבך, "If there be found amongst you, etc." The reason the Torah adds the word בקרבך, "in your midst," is to place the burden of dealing with the sinner (idolator) on the local authorities. Jews in other cities are only charged with dealing with the idolator if the people of his own city have failed to do so. This is what is meant by the words באחד שעריך, "in one of your cities." Our sages in Ketuvot 45 make use of the expression שעריך both here and in verse 5 to rule that the execution of the idolator takes place where he performed the sin and not in the city where he was sentenced to death (assuming they are not the same). The reason that the verse concludes with "which the Lord your G'd is about to give to you," is a reminder that one of the reasons G'd gave us the Holy Land is that we observe the commandment to execute idolators.

כי ימצא בקרבך, “if there will be found in your midst,” Nachmanides comments that it is commonplace for the Torah, whenever addressing the laws known as משפטים, laws dealing with inter-personal relations, that the first item on the list that follows always deals with idolatry or with those practicing it.

כי ימצא בקרבך, “If there will be found in your midst,” etc. Mention of the word בקרבך both here and at the end of this paragraph (verse 7) reflects the fact that most sinners try and commit their sins in secret; this is why extensive investigations have to be made to bring the facts to light. Once found out, these sinners who are equated with the evil they did have to be destroyed like the leavened matters before Pesach which has to be cleaned out of all the cracks in the walls and in the floor. This is why the Torah writes ובערת, “you are to destroy,” coupled with the word מקרבך, “from deep inside you.”
It is also possible to understand the word מקרבך as an allusion to the relatives of the sinner, as if the Torah had written מקרוביך, “from among your kin.” When someone observes a family member sinning (purposely) he is to shame him and be the first one to administer the punishment when it is imposed; he must neither allow feelings of kinship nor embarrassment to cause him to cover up such sins. This is the meaning of Psalms 15,3: “he must not be afraid to bear reproach for his relative’s acts and therefore cover up for him” (compare Rashi).

V. 2. כי ימצא וגו׳. Im Anschluss an das Vorhergehende folgt hier die Norm für die kriminalrechtliche Prozedur, in welcher die Nationalrepräsentanz selbst oder durch ihre Delegierten ihre Aufgabe der Aufrechthaltung des Gesetzes bei vorkommenden Verbrechen gegen dasselbe zu lösen hat, und zwar wird dazu als Problem das höchste Verbrechen: עבודה זרה gewählt, dessen gerichtliche Verfolgung in keiner Weise etwa ein minder konzis umschriebenes Verfahren als bei irgend einem Verbrechen geringeren Grades zulässt. Die Verfolgung auch dieses höchsten Verbrechens beruht, wie das ganze jüdische kriminalrechtliche Verfahren, lediglich auf Zeugenaussage mit Ausschluss allen Indizienbeweises; auch hier beginnt die gerichtliche Tätigkeit des Gerichts erst infolge geschehener Anklage durch Zeugen, deren Aussage zugleich den Beweis zu erbringen hat, mit Ausschluss alles bloß auf Denunziation beruhenden Inquisitionsverfahrens; auch hier unterliegt die Zeugenaussage der genauesten realen und formalen Prüfung; und auch hier ist das Verbrechen nur dann menschengerichtlichem Einschreiten verfallen, wenn das Bewusstsein und die Kenntnis des Verbrechers von dem gesetzwidrigen Charakter seiner Handlung im Momente der Verübung konstatiert ist, wie alle diese Seiten in dem folgenden Probleme angedeutet sind.

כי ימצא, “if there will be found amongst you, etc.;” now the Torah addresses individual Israelites who may become guilty of idolatry.

לעבור בריתו, the covenant embracing all the commandments, for worshipping idols is an offence considered as equivalent to having violated all of the Torah’s commandments.

לעבר בריתו, "to violate His covenant." Moses means that it is important for the sinner to realise that he violated G'd's sacred covenant. This is the reason he cannot be executed unless he had been properly warned of the penalty in store if he proceeded with his intention to commit this sin. There is also a hint here that if the idolator told the people who warned him to desist that he had sworn an oath to serve this particular deity, that he must be reminded that such an oath is not valid as he had been obligated under a previous oath dating back to Mount Sinai not to engage in any form of idolatry. His execution would therefore be perfectly legal if he went ahead and ignored the warning.

״מצא״ .כי ימצא בקרבך ist der gebräuchliche Ausdruck für eine die Funktion von Zeugen begründende Wahrnehmung (vergl. Schmot 22, 3 und Bamidbar 15, 32. 33). Obgleich מצא auch ein beabsichtigtes, durch Suchen erlangtes Finden bezeichnet, so bedeutet es doch in der Regel ein unbeabsichtigtes Finden, und entspricht dies dem vollkommen objektiven Verhältnis, in welchem die Zeugen an das durch ihre Aussage zu konstatierende Faktum hinangetreten sind.

איש או אשה, “a man or a woman, etc.” Seeing that it is part of the psyche of women to tend to inadvertently commit idolatrous acts by consulting soothsayers, or generally turning to people who claim to know the future, they tend to be impressed by people performing acts that demonstrate their extra-sensory capabilities. We find Biblical proof of this in Jeremiah, chapter 44.15 and onwards In the Sifri the reason for the separate mention of man and woman in this verse is explained as due to the fact that when speaking about the עיר הנדחת, Deut. 13,14, the Torah had described the guilty persons as אנשים, men, to indicate that if the instigator had been a woman the whole legislation of a city that had allowed itself to be seduced does not apply, the Torah had to emphasise that in the case of individual idolaters no difference is made between the punishment for men and women.

בקרבך באחד שעריך, der Angeredete ist die nationale Gesamtheit. In welchem Orte ihres Gebietes auch das Verbrechen verübt wird, ist es "in der Nation" verbrochen worden und liegt der nationalen Gesamtheit, in ihren Gliedern als Zeugen, sowie in ihrer Repräsentanz oder deren Delegierten als Gericht, die Aufrechthaltung des Gesetzes dem Verbrechen gegenüber ob.

אשר יעשה את הרע בעיני ד׳ א׳ לעבר בריתו ist wohl nicht bloß eine Charakterisierung des im folgenden als Problem gewählten ע׳׳ז-Verbrechens, sondern die ganz allgemeine Charakterisierung eines jeden zur richterlichen Kognition erwachsenden Verbrechens. Die Übertretung eines jeden Verbotes, also die Verübung dessen, was Gott als רע בעיניו ausgesprochen hat, ist ein Überschreiten seines ברית. Ausnahmlos, ein jedes der göttlichen Gesetze ist von wiederholtem כריתות ברית (siehe Schmot 24, 8 und Dewarim 28, 69 u. 19, 8, sowie Sota 37 b) getragen und damit als ברית, als das Absolute, für immer Unverbrüchliche dahin gestellt (siehe Bereschit S. 119). Zur richterlichen Kognition erwächst ein Verbrechen nur dann, wenn das, was רע בעיני ה׳ א׳ ist, in dem Bewusstsein geübt wird, dass man damit עובר בריתו sei, also, wenn dem Verbrecher im Momente der Tat der verbietende Gesetzesausspruch mit seinen strafrechtlichen Folgen gegenwärtig war, wenn er das רע בעיני ה׳ geübt hat in dem Bewusstsein, dass er damit עובר בריתו sei. Ein Umstand, der nur durch התראה, durch geschehene Warnung durch die Zeugen im Augenblicke des Verbrechens und durch ausdrückliche קבלת התראה, durch ausdrückliche Erklärung des Verbrechers zu konstatieren ist, dass er es nichts destoweniger und mit vollem Entgegensehen der Folgen übe. Daher die an die Zeugen zu richtenden Fragen: התריתם בו קבל עליו התראה התיר עצמו למיתה המית תוך כדי דבור וגו׳ (Sanhedrin 40 b; — siehe zu Wajikra 20, 17 und Bamidbar 15, 33; siehe auch V. 6).