신명기 32:12의 주석

ה׳ בדד ינחנו THE LORD ALONE GUIDED THEM — i.e. He guided them in the wilderness alone (unassisted) and yet in security,

THE ETERNAL ALONE DID LEAD HIM — G-d dwells in Israel securely alone;⁴⁵See further, 33:28. AND THERE WAS NOT WITH HIM — the pronoun referring either to G-d or Israel — ANY STRANGE GOD. The purport is that Israel has no prince or ruler of all the bnei ha’elohim⁴⁶Genesis 6:2 (Vol. I, pp. 100, 102-103). that guides the nation or assists in its guidance except for G-d alone, for it [Israel] is His portion and His inheritance, as he mentioned.³⁹Verse 9. I have already written on this subject.⁴⁷Leviticus 18:25 (Vol. III, pp. 268-269). And in the Sifre we find:⁴⁸Sifre, Ha’azinu 315. “The Eternal alone did lead him. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: Just as you dwelled alone in this world and derived no benefit from the nations, so will I place you alone in the World to Come and none of the nations will benefit from you at all. And there was not with him any strange god — none of the princes of the nations of the world will have the right to come and dominate you. This is similar to what is said, and when I go forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come;⁴⁹Daniel 10:20. but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me;⁵⁰Ibid., Verse 13. nevertheless I will declare unto thee that which is inscribed in the writing of truth etc.”⁵¹Ibid., Verse 21.

ה' בדד ינחנו, as per Jeremiah 46,28 כי אעשה כלה בכל הגויים...ואותך לא אעשה כלה, “though I will wipe out all the other nations …you I will not wipe out.”

ה׳ בדד ינחנו, "The Lord alone guided it, etc." This may be understood on the basis of Bereshit Rabbah 38,6 commenting on Hoseah 4,17: חבור עצבים אפרים הנח לו, "Ephrayim is addicted to images; let him be." According to the view of the Midrash as long as the Israelites will live peacefully with one another and they maintain unity, even the sin of idolatry may be allowed to fester, i.e. הנח לו. The meaning of the word is similar to the way it is used in Esther 2,18 "the king made a הנחה," an amnesty of outstanding taxes to certain of his provinces. The reason Moses chose the expression בדד, is to relate it to the word בד, alone, no longer part of a foreign culture, G'd will lead it.

ה' בדד, He alone took the Jewish people out of Egypt and led them to the Land of Israel.

He conducted them alone, in security, etc. This is the meaning of the verse: And Hashem conducted Yisroel alone and in security. But it does not mean that Hashem was alone, for that is obvious. Rather the word “alone” refers back to the people, that is to say, they did not need any other nation to go along with them due to their trust [in Hashem]. Even though the word meaning “conducted them” is [written] in the future tense, it is used as past tense.

V. 12. ד׳ בדד ינחנו ואין עמו אל נכר, so will auch Gott sein Volk בדד: von allen andern gesondert, zur Höhe seiner Bestimmung führen und verträgt nicht die Gemeinschaft mit den von den Völkern vergötterten Mächten. בדד ist nicht soviel als לבדו, bezieht sich nicht auf die Alleinheit Gottes, sondern auf die Vereinsamung des Volkes von allen anderen Völkern und deren Schutzmächten. Vergl. בדד ישב. (Wajikra 13, 46). וישכון ישראל בטה בדד (Dewarim 33, 28) und alle anderen Stellen. Das עמו kann sich sowohl auf Gott, als auf das Volk beziehen.

בדד ינחנו, “the Lord all by Himself did lead him;” in the Sifri, the word ינחנו is perceived as derived from מנוחה “rest;” G-d is understood by Moses as promising that in the future the Jewish people will experience rest and contentment in the world.

ואין עמו אל נכר AND THERE WAS NO STRANGE GOD WITH HIM — for not one of the gods of the other peoples possessed the power to display its might and to war with them. — Our Rabbis, however, explained it as a promise referring to the future (cf. Sifrei Devarim 315), and so, too, does Onkelos render it. But I say that they (the statements of this chapter) are words of reproof which he said with the view of calling heaven and earth as witnesses against them, and also in order that this song (cf. Deuteronomy 31:21) should be witness, because He knew (Deuteronomy 31:29) that they would in future prove faithless and would bear in mind neither the past (lit., the first) deeds that He performed for them nor those that would come to pass (lit., that would be born), which at a future time He would do for them. For this reason it is necessary to make the text fit in with this and with that (the past and the future). Indeed, the whole section is to be connected with (v. 7) “Remember the days of old (i.e., the past), consider the years of generation after generation” (the future) (cf. Rashi on that verse): Thus has He done for them and thus will He in the future do for them — all this they ought to bear in mind.

אין עמו אל נכר, as per Tzefaniah 3,9 and Isaiah 54,5, both of whom emphasise this exclusive nature of G’d.

There was no capability among any of the, etc. This is the explanation of the word “security.” In other words, they did not fear that one of the gods of the other nations would demonstrate his power to fight against them, because “there was no capability, etc.

ואין עמו אל נכר. "No other deity is with Him." This means that though they are idol worshipers, G'd does not account this sin for them. The words אין עמו must be understood similarly to the way our sages in Rosh Hashanah 30 interpreted Jeremiah 30,1 דרש אין לו, "whom no one seeks out." The Talmud translates instead: "it is not investigated" i.e. brought to one's attention (at that time). This proves that it merits investigation nonetheless. [The subject matter is the use of the Lulav even after the destruction of the Temple on all seven days, as a reminder of former times. Ed.] Here too, the sin of idolatry certainly deserves investigation and judgment but not at this time. [I confess that I find this interpretation of אין עמו אל נכר very hard to understand. Why is there a need to depart from the plain meaning? Ed.]

The Rabbis expound this as referring to the future, etc. I.e. the verse that “Hashem [conducted them] alone, etc.”

We may also understand the verse as follows: "When does G'd alone guide the fortunes of the Jewish people? When they have rid themselves of all alien deities."

Now I say that these are words of reproach, etc. By this Rashi means, how can you explain the verse as referring to the future? Moshe is now speaking words of reproach with them! If so, how can it be that here in the middle of the reproach he prophesies about the future? Therefore I say, etc., in other words, even though he is speaking of the future, nevertheless they are also words of reproach on these matters, etc.

Therefore, the matter must be reconciled both here and there, etc. Rashi means that this is why the verse of “Hashem, conducted them alone” is both in the future tense and in the past tense.