신명기 32:31의 주석

כי לא כצורנו צורם FOR THEIR ROCK IS NOT AS OUR ROCK — all this the enemies should have understood, — that it is the Lord who delivered them (the Israelites) into their hands, and the victory is neither theirs nor their god’s, for until now their gods could achieve nothing against our Rock, “for not as our Rock is their Rock”. — The word צור wherever it occurs in Scripture is the equivalent of סלע, rock.

כי לא כצורנו צורם, no doubt what happened was due to the difference between their deities, and our G’d. Every nation enjoys a degree of success in its undertakings as long as its specific deity, i.e. agent appointed for them by G’d, is active, or its constellation is in the ascendancy in the sky. Although their specific deity will never become their adversary, they may fall within the power, the orbit of a competing deity, one that looks out for the interests of a different nation. This occurs in tandem with a master plan worked out by G’d for such historical developments. This is why when they “fall” this does not happen until one becomes so strong that it appears as if a single member of one nation can put a thousand of the competing nation to flight. [The author’s view of the collapse of empires appears based on the fact that when a major power was replaced by another this was not the result of a gigantic power struggle in which one nation proved stronger, but that the former world power had already declined in strength so much that they had become a pushover for the aggressor challenging them. Ed.]

כי לא כצורנו צורם, "For our Rock is not like their Rock, etc." Moses means that the reason that one Gentile was able to put to flight a thousand Jews was not due to G'd's lack of power but to His deliberate decision to "sell out" His people. Israel's troubles are not due to the sudden prowess of the Gentile nations. Israel's source of strength, as we pointed out in connection with the debacle of the spies, is not comparable to the short-lived source of strength of the idolators. This is the mystical dimension of Proverbs 12,19: ועד ארגיעה לשון שקר. "but a lying tongue endures only briefly." We can learn from the idolatry practiced by many nations when they worshiped the god Kemosh, a national god of the Moabites. Although, according to Rabbi Saadyah Gaon, many marvellous deeds were attributed to that deity, it did not take long before people ceased to worship it. Many other deities which enjoyed a great reputation in antiquity suffered a similar fate. Our Rock, by comparison, remains at the height of His power as even the Gentiles admit, compare Maleachi, 1,11: "for My name is great among the nations." If these nations observe the downfall of Israel they too will arrive at the conclusion that their religion is true, after all. ואיבינו פלילים, "yet our enemies judge us." The word is used in the sense it is used in Exodus 21,22 ונתן בפלילים, "he shall pay it, (the damages) by order of the judges." Whereas up until then even the nations had admitted that the power of the G'd of the Jews was in a class by itself, the demise of the Jewish people will convince them that they had been wrong.

כי לא כצורנו צורם, these words are spoken by Moses, are not what Moses attributes to the gentile nations as saying. ואויבנו פלילים, if, nonetheless it appears as if your enemies, i.e. the deities of our enemies, succeed in inflicting criminal judgments upon us, this must have been arranged by G’d on account of our sins.

כי לא כצורנו צורם, “for our “Rock” is not like their “rock.” The “rock” Moses speaks of is that of the “nations bereft of counsel” whom he previously characterized as “our enemies.” They should have realized all this, i.e. that they were not qualified to be our judges. Alternatively, the words ואויבינו פלילים may mean that “when our enemies are criminals, they think that our rock is not like their rock,” i.e. that He is inferior to their rock instead of superior to their rock. This would be a desecration of the Lord’s name.

צור in Scripture always denotes a rock. Rashi wants to explain also where the word סלע (rock) is mentioned in Scripture.

כי לא כצורנו צורם, “for their Rock is not like our Rock;” besides they know that our G–d is not like any of their deities, as when the Jewish people observed the covenant they had entered into with their G–d, they had been unable to harm them in any way. Not only that; during those eras their G–d had dealt harshly with them and their so-called deities. A prime example is found in Samuel I 5,7, after the Philistines had captured the Holy Ark, first their deity Dagon was found lying on its face in front of the Holy Ark. After picking it up in its former place the same thing happened on the second morning. By that time this idol had lost its hands and its legs, only the trunk remaining intact. The citizens of Ashdod became struck with hemorrhoids, and decided to rid themselves at all costs of the Holy Ark. They attributed their problems to the G–d of Israel, and instead of enjoying their victory over the army of the Israelites considered themselves as having become the victims. They should have realised that if the Jewish G–d had punished His own people, He would deal even more harshly with those who victimised His people. From here on in Moses expounds on what will be the fate of our perennial enemies.

כי לא כצורנו צורם, “for not like our Rock, is their “rock;” this is still part of the rhetorical question asked by Moses in verse 30: “how can one man pursue one thousand?” In spite of all this, our enemies still insist on sitting in judgment of us! Our erstwhile success and present failure can only be ascribed to Divine interference both then and now. It is due to their Rock having sold them because of their sins.”

ואיבינו פלילים AND OUR ENEMIES ARE JUDGES — i.e. are now judges over us; it is evident therefore that our Rock must have delivered us over to them.

ואויבינו, even though these nations which are enemies of the true G’d and therefore enemies of His chosen nation, as Moses mentioned already in verse 26 and again in verse 42 when he speaks of מראש פרעות אויב, “from the beginning of our people’s existence it had enemies.”

פלילים. philosophers of the various nations. Ovadiah 8 refers to them as והאבדתי חכמים מאדום, “I will wipe out the wise men from Edom.”