민수기 22:3의 주석

ויגר is an expression signifying fear, as in (Job. 19:29): “Be ye afraid (גורו‎)" .

AND MOAB WAS SORE AFRAID OF THE PEOPLE. The meaning of this is [that Moab stood in great fear] because they [the Israelites] were many,¹The Hebrew text reads: ki rav hu. This can be interpreted as “although they were many,” in which case the reference would be to the Moabites, [the word ki meaning “although”]. The meaning of the verse would thus be: “And Moab was sore afraid of the Israelites although they [the Moabites] were many, Ramban, wishing to exclude this interpretation, for the reason cited in the text, explains that the word ki here means “because”; hence the pronoun hu — “they” [they were many] refers to the Israelites. for Moab was small among the nations;²See Obadiah 1:2. and it was not an ancient people, like the Canaanites, the Amorites and other [nations of the] sons of Noah. Therefore they [the Moabites] were greatly afraid of the people who outnumbered them exceedingly, for they were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and waxed³Exodus 1:7. greater than the Moabites. And they were furthermore overcome with dread because of the children of Israel,⁴Verse 3 here. — Hence the double expression of the verse: And Moab was sore afraid … and Moab was overcome with dread. for they had heard of the great wonders that had happened to them and their fathers. Now Moab knew that Israel would not take their land from them, since they had sent to them [offering peace]⁵Judges 11:17: And in like manner he sent unto the king of Moab … just as they had sent to Sihon, [asking permission only to pass through their land], saying, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the Land which the Eternal our G-d giveth us.⁶Deuteronomy 2:29. Or it is also possible that they had heard of G-d’s prohibition, when He said to the Israelites, Be not at enmity with Moab.⁷Ibid., Verse 9. Therefore they said to the elders of Midian: “Even though the Israelites will not capture our land, they will lick up because of their great numbers all that is round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field,⁸Verse 4 here. and they will capture all [the lands] that surround us, just as they did to the two Amorite kings, and they will make us servants to do taskwork.”⁹Joshua 16:10.

ויגר מואב, the leaders of Moav who had not allowed the Israelites to traverse their territory as reported in Judges 11,17 were now afraid,

ויקץ מואב, the expression describes someone becoming fed up with life, similar to when Rivkah had said that she would become fed up with her life if Yaakov were to marry a Canaanite girl as had Esau his brother (Genesis 27,46)

They detested their lives. Meaning that the Moavites detested their [own] lives. It is as if it had said “Moav detested their lives.” The reason for this was their fear of Bnei Yisroel. Rashi’s proof is because it is written מפני העם ["because of the people"].

V. 3. ויגר מואב. Es war im vorigen Verse Balak nur ganz individuell und nicht als König von Moab bezeichnet, es kann daher hier Moab nicht als eine Umschreibung für Balak den König sein, sondern ויגר מואב ist Fortsetzung dessen, was Balak wahrgenommen hatte. Er hatte Sichon und Ogs Niederlage gesehen und auch gesehen, welche Wirkung diese Ereignisse auf Moab gehabt. Diese Wirkung war ויגר מואב und ויגר ,ויקץ מואב: es fasste sie eine solche Angst, dass sie völlig haltlos wurden, den Boden unter ihren Füßen verloren (siehe Bereschit 37, 1-2), wie es treffend im מ ר ausgedrückt ist, sie sahen sich schon als גרים im eigenen Lande an, das Land gehörte ihnen schon nicht mehr, sie sahen es schon in Israels Händen, und diese Angst ergriff sie: מפני העם כי רב הוא vor Israel als einem Volke, das sich so übermächtig erwiesen. רב ist keineswegs nur zahlreich, es ist auch Ausdruck der Macht. קרית מלך רב (Ps. 48, 3) וישלח להם מושיע ורב והצילם (Jes.19, 20 und sonst). Und in der Tat, sie hatten Grund dazu. War doch Sichon, das Moab niedergeworfen hatte, selbst Israel erlegen! ויקץ מואב מפני בני ישראל (siehe zu Schmot 1, 12), und es ging ihnen eine Ahnung davon auf, dass in diesem Volke, diesen בני ישראל, diesen "Israeliten", ein Moment wirksam sein müsse, dem gegenüber alles andere, was Macht und Größe bedeutet, seine Bedeutung verlor. קוץ, der höchste Grad der Verachtung, sie bekamen Ekel, es ward ihnen alles, was sie bei sich sahen, verächtlich, ja widerwärtig מפני בני ישראל vor dem Dasein der Söhne Israels.

ויגר מואב, “Moav was afraid;” when the Moabites saw that the Israelites after having conquered the land of Sichon, part of which the latter had conquered from Moav, had not restored that part to them, the original owners, they suspected the Israelites of having designs on their land also. Moreover, they realised that seeing that the Israelites had overcome Sichon, who had previously overcome them, they would have no problem overcoming the remaining part of Moav. They did not realise that legally speaking, the lands formerly belonging to Moav had been acquired by the Israelites legally, as they had conquered it from a nation that had made war on them although not provoked. (Compare Talmud, tractate Chulin folio 60)

ויקץ מואב means they (Moab) were sick of their lives (the expression is similar to קצתי בחיי in Genesis 27:46, being an abbreviated form of it).

כי רב הוא, for the Israelites were numerically superior to them, not because they felt inferior in military tactics.

ויגר מואב,”Moav was afraid (of the Israelites) but not the Bney Ammon, as Rashi has explained on Deuteronomy 2,9, where the Israelites were told by G-d not to harass the Moabites.

ויקץ מואב, “the man in the street” considered their lives as not worth living because of the impending invasion by the Israelites.