신명기 32:32의 주석

כי מגפן סדם גפנם FOR THEIR VINE IS OF THE VINE OF SODOM — This is to be connected with what is stated above, (v. 26, verses 27—31 being a parenthesis): “I said in My heart, I would scatter them into corners and make the remembrance of them cease…” because (כי) their doings are as the doings of Sodom and Gomorrah.

FOR THEIR VINE IS OF THE VINE OF SODOM. He is stating that the idolaters are void of counsel¹²¹Verse 28. and they have not understood, neither apprehended, nor thought of anything but evil continually,¹²²Genesis 6:5. for they were of evil root and they grow only evil and bitter fruit; he that eateth of them dieth.¹²³Isaiah 59:5. And the explanation thereof is that Israel admits, confesses, and repents in time of trouble, saying, and why has all this befallen us?¹²⁴Judges 6:13. But the idolater is void of counsel, he hath no counsel and no understanding,¹²⁵Job 12:13. but only walks after his idol and forever denies the Glorious Name,¹²⁶Above, 28:58. for this is what he inherited from his fathers. Thus he is of a root that beareth gall and wormwood,¹²⁷Ibid., 29:17. and no usefulness will ever be found in them. But Israel whose root is good if it be cut down, then it will sprout again¹²⁸Job 14:7. and grow good fruit.

כי מגפן סדום גפנם, the reason that in this matter they do not display their customary insights is that they boast about their secure and unthreatened existence, concerning themselves exclusively with physical gratifications just as had the people of Sodom. In order to attain their maximum gratification they completely eschewed all manner of caring for the less fortunate, as testified to by Ezekiel 16,49 when the prophet said הנה זה היה עוון סדום אחותך, גאון שבעת לחם ושלות השקט היה לה ולבנותיה ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה. “only this was the sin of your sister Sodom; arrogance! She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility. Yet she did not support the poor and the needy. “

כי מגפן סדם גפנם, "for their vine is from the vine of Sodom, etc." The Torah here provides the reason why the Jewish people have been "sold" by G'd. The reason Moses says מגפן, from the vineyard instead of simply גפן, is to remind us that everything that exists in the domain of sanctity has its counterpart in the domain of the סטרא אחרא, the spiritually negative domain. This is what we have been taught by Solomon in Kohelet 7,14: "G'd has made the one as well as the other." Israel has been compared to a vine already in Psalms 80,9: "You plucked up a vine from Egypt." The counterpart is the vine originating in Sodom. This is why Moses speaks of Israel in disgrace as representing a vine from Sodom. ענבמו ענבי רוש, "its grapes are grapes of gall." Seeing that not all Israel's branches are vines from Sodom, Moses describes them as containing such parts, i.e. מגפן instead of the whole vine, i.e. גפן. The reason Moses uses the comparison with Sodom is that just as Sodom's measure of guilt was complete before G'd destroyed it, so Israel would not be destroyed until its measure of guilt is complete.

כי מגפן סדום גפנם, Moses now explains why it had originally been G’d’s plan to annihilate the Jewish people totally so that there would remain no mention of them in the history of mankind, had it not been for the boast of the gentile nations to have accomplished this; They should have drunk from the vine of Sodom; i.e. just as there is no vestige left of the former inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah so there should have been no trace left of them. Both Isaiah 3,9 and 1,10 have compared the sins of the Jewish people to that of the Sodomites.

כי מגפן סדום גפנם ומשדמות עמורה, “for their vine is from the vine of Sodom and Gomorrah;” There is some repetition here, seeing that the meaning of the word שדמות is the same as גפן, “vine.” The word occurs in this sense in Isaiah 16,8: כי שדמות חשבון אומלל גפן שבמה, “for the vines of Cheshbon are withered and the vines of Sibmah.” The word also occurs in this sense in Chabakuk 3,17 ושדמות לא עשה אוכל, “and there is nothing edible on the vine.” Moses speaks of the nations whose roots are evil and bitter, so that one cannot expect the fruit to be sweet. Also the wine can only be “like the anger of dragons” (verse 33).

Galling beverages are appropriate for them, etc. As if it had said, “For their grapevine is of the grapevine of Sedom,” therefore, their galling clusters are fitting for them.

V. 32. כי bezieht sich auf das ganze Vorhergehende (Verse 29 — 31). Denn, wenn sie das über Israel Ergangene als Gottes Gericht begriffen, wenn sie die Gerichte erwogen hätten, die von diesem Gotte Israels bereits an andern Völkern geübt worden, sie hätten wahrlich, statt Israel zu drücken und zu höhnen, an ihr eigenes Ende denken, daran denken sollen, wie es ihnen ergehen werde, wenn einst Gott mit ihnen ins Gericht geht. Denn der Baum, von dem sie ihre Lebensfreuden pflücken, der Acker, von dem sie ihre Nahrung ernten, das sind ja Setzlinge von Sedoms und Amoras Pflanzung (siehe Bereschit 13, 10), Sedoms und Amoras, die dem Gottesgerichte nicht entgangen. Es ist ja nicht der Gedanke der Pflicht, es ist ja derselbe Egoismus und derselbe Hang nach Sinnlichkeit, der ja auch ihnen als leitendes Prinzip gilt. Darum wächst nichts Heilsames an ihrem Baum und die Trauben ihrer Freuden gehen ihnen in Bitterkeiten über.

כי מגפן סדום גפנם, “for their vine is of the vine of Sodom;” the cup of destruction has been poured out over them.

כי מגפן סדום גפנם, “for is then their vine of the vine of Sodom, and are then their grapes those that originate in Amora? (sister city of Sodom of old) Are all their thoughts sinful as the ones from those two cities, and is there nothing remotely sacred left in their philosophies? Did I not plant them as noble vines, etc.? (Jeremiah 2,21)

שדמת denotes fields of grain, as in (Habakkuk 3:17) “and the fields (שדמות) shall yield no corn”; (II Chronicles 23:4) “in the fields (בשדמות) of Kedron”.

ענבימו ענבי רוש, from this vine there sprouted forth for them grapes which are poison. This is a simile for the evil deeds committed by the Jewish people which backfired. The sins singled out are those of a social rather than a theological nature, as pointed out by Ezekiel.

ומשדמות עמורה, "and from the fields of Gomorrah." On the branches of a holy tree, the higher the branch the more holy its character. The highest branch, due to its extreme holiness, is described in the masculine gender to reflect that this is the one which provides the input, whereas the lowest is described in the feminine gender to reflect the idea that it is the recipient of that input. Moses described Israel's attachment to an evil root. He called the first one גפן, vine, masculine, to describe the fact that it provides the input, whereas the secondary one is described as שדה, field, which is feminine in Hebrew, reflecting its passive role as the recipient of that input. The intelligent reader will understand how to transfer concepts which are familiar from sanctity to its counterpart when dealing with spiritually negative phenomena.

ענבי רוש [THEIR GRAPES ARE] GRAPES OF רוש — The word denotes a bitter herb.

אשכלות מרורות למו, a bitter growth in their clusters; developing of erroneous philosophies, primarily justifying one’s conduct, rationalising it, is a natural corollary of such attitudes as self-centredness. First and foremost, they convince themselves that G’d does not ”see,” i.e. does not care, [that there is no personal G’d. They totally misinterpret G’d’s patience with the sinner. Ed.]

אשכלת ממרת למו BITTER CLUSTERS SHALL BE THEIRS — i.e. a bitter drink is what they deserve: according to their actions should be their punishment. Onkelos also renders it thus: “the recompense of their actions shall be according to their bitterness”.