민수기 14:17의 주석

('יגדל נא כח ה — LET THE STRENGTH OF MY LORD BE GREAT — by fulfilling Your statement.)

AND NOW, I PRAY THEE, LET THE POWER OF THE ETERNAL BE GREAT, ACCORDING AS THOU HAST SPOKEN, SAYING. “And what is that utterance? The Eternal is long-suffering¹²²Verse 18. — both to the righteous and to the wicked. When Moses ascended to heaven [to receive the Torah], he found the Holy One, blessed be He, writing: The Eternal is long-suffering. Whereupon he [Moses] said to Him: ‘To the righteous.’ But G-d answered him, ‘Also to the wicked!’ Moses then said, ‘The wicked — let them perish!’ Whereupon G-d said to him: ‘By your life! You will [eventually] need to resort to this’ [attribute — that G-d is long-suffering even with sinners]. When the Israelites had sinned because of the golden calf and spies, and Moses prayed to G-d that He be long-suffering with them, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘Did you not tell Me that this is [only] for the righteous!’ Whereupon Moses answered Him, ‘But did You not tell me that it is also for the wicked. Let then the power of the Eternal be great to do as You have spoken.’” These are the words of Rashi, based on the interpretation of Agadah.¹²³Sanhedrin 111a.
The way of Truth you will recognize because G-d’s Name in this context is written with Aleph Daleth (A-donoy) — [a Name which alludes to the attribute of judgment], and Moses meant to say that the greatness be in the power which is mercy, since it was the attribute of judgment that was directed against them.
Now Moses mentioned among the [Divine] attributes long-suffering, and plenteous in loving kindness,¹²²Verse 18. but he did not mention “truth” [although it is also one of the Thirteen Attributes],¹²⁴Exodus 34:6. for according to the attribute of truth they would have been guilty. Nor did Moses mention keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation,¹²⁵Ibid., Verse 7. because Moses did not pray [for mercy] here on the basis of the merit of the patriarchs, and [therefore] he did not mention Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at all in this prayer. The reason [for not mentioning them] was because the Land was given to the patriarchs, and it is from them that they were to inherit it, but they rebelled against their ancestors, and did not want the gift which the patriarchs desired very much, so how could he say now, [Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants,] to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self, … and all this Land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed,¹²⁶Ibid., 32:13. since they were saying: “We do not want this gift!”
Moses [mentioned here the attribute of forgiving iniquity and transgression but he] did not say and sin,¹²⁷I.e., of forgiving sin, as well as iniquity and transgression. See the verse in Exodus 34:7, where all three are mentioned: forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. The question then arises: Why did not Moses mention here sin? because these people were wilful transgressors and sinners. But I do not know why he did not mention [the attributes] merciful and gracious.¹²⁴Exodus 34:6. Perhaps Moses knew that judgment was directed against them and He would never forgive them; therefore he prayed only that [G-d be] long-suffering, and should not destroy them as one man,¹²⁸Verse 15. and should not slay them like sheep in the wilderness¹¹⁰Verse 16. where they would die in a plague. And since Moses only prayed now for [G-d to be] long-suffering, G-d said to him, I have pardoned according to thy word,¹²⁹Verse 20. meaning that “I will be long-suffering towards them and great in loving kindness.” He [Moses] mentioned visiting the iniquity of the fathers,¹²²Verse 18. meaning to say that [even] if He should see fit not to erase their iniquity, He should [at least] visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children,¹²²Verse 18. [thereby mitigating the severity of the punishment from upon one generation], and he should be long-suffering with them in meting out punishment upon them. It was because of this [prayer of Moses] that there was a [Divine] decree to fix a weeping for them on that night throughout their generations,⁸¹The First and Second Temples were destroyed on the ninth of Ab, the anniversary of the night when the people wept without cause. Many subsequent misfortunes also befell the Jewish people on that day. since He visited their sins upon their seed.
And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that “since we find the verse, Surely they shall not see the Land¹³⁰Verse 23. after G-d said, I have pardoned according to thy word,¹²⁹Verse 20. we know that the expression ‘s’lach na’ (pardon, I pray Thee)¹³¹Verse 19. In other words, since after G-d said, I have pardoned ‘according to thy word’ (Verse 20), He yet continues to state, Surely they shall not see the Land (Verse 23), it follows that Moses’ request, Pardon, I pray Thee (Verse 19) must mean only that G-d be long-suffering to them, but not that they be totally forgiven. Such is the interpretation of Ibn Ezra. Ramban will suggest another explanation of Moses’ request. [is a prayer that G-d be] long-suffering to them [but not that they be totally forgiven]. The same meaning also applies to ‘v’nislach lo’ (and he shall be pardoned),¹³²Leviticus 4:26. Here too the actual offering in itself does not effect atonement until the sinner repents (see Ramban in Vol. III, pp. 21, 54). Hence, says Ibn Ezra, the phrase v’nislach lo means that G-d will be patient and will not punish him until he has had a chance to repent. which implies [that G-d will be long-suffering with him] until he repents sincerely.”
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the term s’lichah means remittance of punishment, as Onkelos rendered it: [s’lach na — “Let go please”]. And the offerings [which one brings for a sin committed in error] remove the punishment for the error from him [the person who brings the offering].¹³³Hence v’nislach lo (ibid.) stated in connection with bringing a sin-offering means that “his punishment will be remitted.” So also, For Thou, Eternal, art good ‘v’salach’¹³⁴Psalms 86:5. The fact that the word “good” appears before v’salach indicates that the term s’lichah does not merely mean being long-suffering and patient [as Ibn Ezra has it] but expresses a complete remittance of punishment. [means “and are ready to remit punishment”]. And G-d said, ‘salachti’ according to thy word¹²⁹Verse 20. meaning [that He has remitted punishment] from the people as a whole, and will not smite them with a pestilence and destroy them,¹³⁵Verse 12. and make of Moses a nation greater and mightier than they¹³⁵Verse 12. while they and their seed will perish from the earth; instead, He will pardon them — so that their children [at least] will inherit the Land, and they [themselves] will not die in a plague, for He decreed that their carcasses perish in the wilderness¹³⁶Further, Verse 33. and that each will die when his day comes.
Now in the Book of Deuteronomy in mentioning the sin of the golden calf Moses recalled the prayer which He had prayed on their behalf, saying, And I fell down before the Eternal, as at the first etc.¹³⁷Deuteronomy 9:18. and he explained there what the prayer was, And I prayed unto the Eternal, and said etc.,¹³⁸Ibid., Verse 26. and he also mentioned his prayer on behalf of Aaron. But in [recounting] the affair of the spies he did not mention at all that he had interceded on their behalf. All this is for the reason that I have mentioned, namely, that he did not pray that G-d should forgive them [completely], but rather that He should remit their punishment and be long-suffering with them, and should visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.¹²²Verse 18. Thus his prayer on their behalf was not a complete one [inasmuch as he was not able to intercede for total forgiveness], and therefore [when speaking to the second generation in the Book of Deuteronomy] he did not mention it to them, since they might have complained against him [for not praying for total forgiveness, without realizing that he could not do so because of the greatness of their parents’ sin].

'יגדל נא כח ה, to suppress the demands of the attribute of Justice.

ועתה יגדל נא כח השם, "and now, I pray, let the Power of the Lord be great!" We need to analyse why Moses said: "and now," as well as why he said that G'd's power should appear great although He had not done anything to demonstrate wherein His power was so great. The word יגדל implies that G'd would perform some act which would enhance people's awe for His power. Why did Moses use the word נא in the middle of the verse? If it were meant as a plea he should have started the sentence with that word. If it meant something like "now," he had already said ועתה. Furthermore, what did he mean by the words כאשר דברת, as You have said?" What had G'd said, and when did He say it? What is the meaning of the word לאמור? To whom was G'd supposed to say this?

יגדל נא כח, to restrain Your anger. We know from Solomon in Proverbs 16,32 that “it is better to practice restraining one’s anger, than to display brute force as a proof of one’s power. Ruling one’s spirit is better than conquering a city.”

By fulfilling your word. Moshe did not request anything new [of Him], only to fulfill His word. This is what is meant by “as You spoke.”

V. 17. ועתה, und "nun" — wenn somit vielleicht der Ausführung des ihrerseits verdienten Unterganges andere Rücksichten entgegenstehen dürften, so hast du mir doch einen Einblick in deine Waltungsweisen gegönnt, in die ganze unendliche Größe, Mannigfaltigkeit deiner "Güte", und siehe — es ist dies ja ganz ein Fall, geeignet, deine Kraft in ihrer wahren Größe zu betätigen. יגדל נא, das Futurumzeichen ist mit einem großen י hervorgehoben. Alle die Wunder- und Machtgröße, die du bis jetzt in Mizrajim und an Mizrajim und in der Wüste geübt, sie reicht nicht hinan an die Größe, in welcher כח, deine weltschaffende, welttragende, Welt zur Erreichung deiner Zwecke überwindende und gestaltende "Kraft" — alles dies ist כח — erscheint, wenn du einem solchen Abfall gegenüber, wie du von deiner Waltung ausgesprochen, ארך אפים רב חסד נשא עון ופשע und selbst, wenn פוקד עון אבות על בנים ,נקה לא ינקה bist על שלשים ועל רבעים! Zerstörung nennt der heidnische Gedanke die Machtgröße seines Gottes. Nicht Macht, "Kraft" ist der Größengedanke vom Gotte der Wahrheit; "Kraft", die das ihr Gegensätzlichste zum freudigsten Einklang mit ihren Zwecken schöpferisch zu umwandeln weiß, "Kraft", die in dem ihr Gegensätzlichsten den verschwindendsten harmonischen Funken festzuhalten vermag, von ihm aus die Umwandlung des ihr Gegensätzlichsten im Laufe der Zeiten anzubahnen, "Kraft", für deren Erziehungswalten im Schoße der Menschheit Jahrhunderte zu Sekunden fortschreitender Entwicklung zusammenschwinden, "Kraft", die "Geduld" hat, weil ihrer die Ewigkeit ist. —

'ועתה יגדל נא כח ה, “and now I pray let the Power of the Lord be great;” Moses considers a display of being able to suppress one’s anger as the greatest proof of greatness. Our sages in Ethics 4,1, have defined the term גבור, “hero,” as someone who can conquer his emotions when they threaten to overrule his intellect. This is what Solomon already taught us in Proverbs, 16,32: טוב ארך אפים מגבור, “he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.”

'יגדל נא כח ה, “let the power of Hashem be great!” Moses prays that G-d’s attribute of Mercy be more powerful than His attribute of Justice; the source of this argument is found in Proverbs 16,32: טוב ארך אפים מגבור, “he that is slow to anger is better than he who is mighty.”An alternate interpretation: Moses refers here to what he imagined the nations as saying when faced with the disappearance of the Jewish nation. He is challenging G-d to prove to all those who do not believe in G-d’s ability to let the Jewish people conquer the Canaanites and dispossess them, that they are indeed capable of doing just that.

כאשר דברת לאמר ACCORDING AS THOU HAST SPOKEN, SAYING — And what is the utterance which Thou hast spoken?

Seeing that Moses had been clever in his argument about the damage to G'd's world-wide image which killing the Israelites would entail, he added that there was another advantage for G'd if He would allow His anger to dissipate and let the Israelites enter the land of Canaan, an advantage that G'd had not enjoyed previously. The advantage to G'd would be that in view of the exaggerated report of the toughness of the inhabitants of that land G'd's power would indeed be perceived as great when He demonstrated it by helping the Israelites to conquer them.

ועתה יגדל נא כח אדני כאשר דברת לאמר die plötzliche Vernichtung der Gesamtnation wäre eine Verkündung deiner Macht; aber deine "Kraft" möge sich in ihrer ganzen Größe zeigen, wenn du sie leben lässest und trotz ihrer und mit ihnen und durch sie und in ihnen dein von ihnen verhöhntes Ziel erreichst. Und er nennt hier Gott: "אדני" mit jenem Namen, mit welchem die in den Dienst Gottes berufenen Werkzeuge ihre Beziehung zu Gott bezeichnen. Es ist dies ja eben die Waltung, die Menschen und Völker erziehende כח, die Gott ihm als Stempel Seines durch ihn zu vollbringenden Werkes bezeichnet, als er nach der ersten großen Gesamtverirrung des Volkes zu dessen Weiterführung sich die Offenbarung der Waltungsweisen erbeten hatte, welche ihn bei Lösung seiner Aufgabe begleiten werden (Schmot 33, 12 u. f.; — siehe daselbst).

כאשר דברת לאמר, “as You have declared, saying:” Moses refers to Exodus 33,13: where he had spoken to G–d asking Him to reveal to Him His way of reacting to the people’s sins if and when they would occur. He had requested that G–d reveal to him all of His attributes relevant to judging His creatures. At that time, when the glory of Hashem, passed by him while he was hiding in the cleft of a rock, one of the attributes G–d had revealed to him was the one known as ארך אפים, “slow to anger.” At this point Moses did not remind G–d of His attribute רחמים, “the Merciful One;” on that occasion both of theses attributes had to be called upon, whereas here there was no pointing referring to any attribute other than that of Mercy. He also did not refer to the attribute אל, G–d in His capacity of judge, seeing that he could not hope that G–d would completely ignore the people’s lack of faith and their having accused Him of hating them. He could only ask G–d to temper His anger by limiting the penalty. Moses concentrated on those attributes which, if displayed by G–d at this time, would preserve the people’s future, even if the people personally guilty of accepting the slander of the ten spies would obviously have to pay a price, i.e. they had rejected the Holy Land, therefore G–d would accept their rejection of it and not make them live in it.

'כח ה, the name of G-d here is the one we spell with the letter ד, i.e. adonay.

Moses added: כאשר דברת. This is a reference to the first verse in our portion where G'd's reason for despatching the spies is described as "to tour the land I am about to give them." We explained there that the land was not subject to conquest by the Israelites and could only be attained by them as a gift from G'd. G'd Himself had told Moses at the time to point this out to the Israelites. This was the meaning of the word לאמר in 13,1.

Our author details why Moses refrained from mentioning any Divine attribute which would prove counterproductive if Moses would refer to it.

כאשר דברת, “as You have said.” (During the episode of the golden calf.) There are minor differences between what was said then and what is recorded now. These differences are immaterial, as in almost all cases in the Torah when something is repeated the two versions are not absolutely identical

The meaning of the word נא is "now." Moses repeated this word. We have beeen told in Bereshit Rabbah 21,6 that the word ועתה invariably means that G'd provided an opening for man to do תשובה, to repent. Moses apologised so to speak for having said things to G'd about Him which should not be said by any human being although he had only paraphrased what he presumed that the Gentiles would say. We find an analogous situation in the Talmud when witnesses were required to repeat the exact words they heard a blasphemer say before such a blasphemer could be convicted (Sanhedrin 60). The witnesses in question have to rend their garments in grief and remorse at the words their mouths had to utter. Moses did something similar and that is why he added the word ועתה in addition to the word נא.

He may also have hinted that the word ועתה represented the remorse of the Israelites who prayed that G'd's power would be perceived to be great henceforth and that G'd should accept their repentance. We are told in Berachot 34 that repentant sinners are on a morally higher plateau than people who have never sinned. The reason is that G'd's name is sanctified more when the world perceives that sinners have changed their ways. Moses alluded to this when he said יגדל נא כח השם, i.e. "now Your power O G'd is even greater than heretofore seeing the Israelites had repented after their rebellion." The repetition of the thought by the word נא may also allude to the statement in Avot 4,22 that "one hour spent as a repentant sinner in this life is worth more than the the whole life in the world to come."

Another approach to our verse is this: Moses did not ask G'd to extend His pardon to all the people who had spurned Him, but only ועתה יגדל נא כח השם, to exact retribution from the perpetrators who spurned Him, from the spies themselves. When G'd is perceived as punishing the wicked His name is sanctified and exalted. Moses added: כאשר דברת, referring to G'd having said in verse 12 that He would smite them with pestilence. This statement could be read as referring only to the spies themselves. Moses added the word נא meaning "now," suggesting the spies be punished immediately as only then would their death be understood as the penalty for their crime. G'd complied with Moses' request as we read in 14,37 that "the men who had slandered the land died through pestilence in the presence of G'd." Please read on what I have written on that verse. The reason Moses added the word לאמור may be that He asked G'd to tell the spies before their deaths why they were being punished. It is also possible that Moses wanted G'd to tell the Israelites that the people who had spread lies about the land were being punished in order to frighten the people into not causing G'd to become angry again on their account. We find something analogous in Psalms 9,17 בפעל כפיו נוקש רשע הגיון סלה, "He works judgments; the wicked man is snared by his own devices. Higgayon, Selah." [The verse comes on the heels of the Psalmist demonstrating that G'd's powers of retribution were seen to have reached the enemies of the Jewish people. Ed.] The initials of the words ועתה יגדל נא כח equal the numerical value of the name of G'd, i.e. 86. The name used for G'd in the verse is also a reference to G'd in His capacity as Judge. Having said all this, Moses reverts to ask G'd's mercy for the people.

Yet another meaning of the word ועתה is that Moses referred to G'd's suggestion to create a new Jewish nation making him the founder. We have a tradition that the curse of a wise man, even if it was only conditional, leaves a mark (Makkot 11). A blessing by a scholar certainly does so also. When the blessing has been pronounced by G'd Himself, there is no question that He will not withdraw it. Moses prayed that G'd should preserve the Jewish people and be aggrandised through their very survival even though He was aware that what G'd had promised him would come true. We find indeed that Berachot 7 tells us that the descendants of Rechaviah (Chronicles I 23,17) Moses' grandson from his son Eliezer amounted to well over 600,000. Moses used the words דברת לאמור, to indicate that at the very time G'd had spoken harshly of the Israelites He had exalted him by contrast. [the word לאמור is used again in the sense of Deut. 26,17. Ed.]

Still another meaning of כאשר דברת, is that it refers to Moses himself becoming a great nation, even greater (in numbers) than the Jewish people at present.

If we accept this, we must examine why Moses did not react in this fashion as soon as G'd proposed to make him into a replacement of the present Jewish people. The words כאשר דברת refer to the time when G'd had offered to make a new Jewish nation with Moses as the founder at the time of the golden calf episode (Exodus 32,10). The word עתה, "now," means "this time" as distinct from the previous occasion.

A careful comparison will reveal that on the previous occasion when G'd had offered to make a new Jewish nation based on Moses, He had not added that that new Jewish nation would be more powerful because it would be ממנו, based on the original Jewish people, as G'd had done here in verse 12. I have explained that one of the possible reasons for the statement that the new and powerful nation G'd had referred to would be more powerful is that they would not have absorbed the morally negative influences due to having been part of the Egyptian culture. Having prayed that the Jewish nation should continue to exist in its present form, i.e. the nation that had experienced the Exodus, Moses now turned to G'd's promise to make a nation out of him. He declined, seeing that all G'd had promised was to use him as the founder of a continuation of the Jewish people [seeing he himself was a member of that nation. Ed.]. This is why he said to G'd: "now let Your power be great, etc." At the time G'd had offered to make a nation out of Moses during the episode of the golden calf, G'd had not used the word ממנו, i.e. that the new nation would be a continuation of the original Jewish people. It could be assumed that although, at the time, G'd had changed His mind about wiping out the people immediately, the promise made to Moses to make him into a great nation had not been cancelled. G'd could be presumed to have planted new souls at the time that would be fruitful and multiply. Perhaps this may even have been the meaning of the sages (quoted by Rashi) who claimed that Moses argued that if a stool with three legs had proved unstable how could a stool with only a single leg (Moses) be expected to be more stable? Moses had referred to the three patriarchs as the three legs of the Jewish people. This appears to be a very weak argument. After all, Moses himself was also a descendant of the patriarchs and the new nation would therefore be based on himself plus the "three legs" represented by the patriarchs? If you accept my interpretation that G'd planted new souls at the time He made that original promise in Exodus 32,10, then Moses' argument was solid, seeing these "new" souls would not have been descendants i.e. reincarnations of souls who had existed at the time of the patriarchs. As a result, they would have only a solitary "leg" to rely on i.e. their founding father Moses.

Another reason why Moses prayed at this juncture may be related to the word עצום which G'd had used to describe such a new "Jewish" nation. Moses understood that term to refer to the element of sanctity to be found in that new nation who would therefore not spurn Him. He prayed to G'd that this part of the promise should be speedily fulfilled. He added the word נא in the knowledge that the choice of doing good or evil was not something under G'd's control (Berachot 33). He begged G'd to create souls which had a tendency to be good.