신명기 28:50의 인용 해설

According to the plain meaning of the text we can explain this apparent duplication of information already supplied by the Torah as proof that G’d is very meticulous when dealing with even the slightest error committed by socially and spiritually eminent people such as the sons of Aaron (and of course Aaron himself as well as Moses). We have a verse to this effect in Psalms 50,3: ”those around Him are judged fiercely.” By adding the words: “the priests who had been anointed,” the Torah explains in advance why even highly esteemed people like Nadav and Avihu do not have their mistakes overlooked; not only is G’d not indulgent with people of such stature, but, on the contrary, He is more demanding of them in light of their representing not only themselves but G’d and His image. When the Torah describes the enemies of Israel who will invade the country as part of G’d’s retribution for Israel’s private and collective sins, it mentions a people who will show no respect for the elderly (Deut. 28,50). The reason this is mentioned is because normally one indulges the elderly, crediting them with wisdom, etc. G’d had to make plain that in His system of justice the more rarefied the spiritual atmosphere in which a person moves the more is he prone to retributive action by G’d if he fails to live up to G’d’s and the people’s expectations. We find the same point being made in Job 34,19 when Elihu tells his friend Job that “he is not partial to princes; the noble are not preferred to the wretched, for all are the work of His hands.”

(Amnam) The chastisements (tokhechot) mentioned in the Torah were meant to terrify the people of Israel.¹⁶⁷Leviticus ch. 26 and Deuteronomy ch. 28 are referred to as Tokhechot, chastisements since they contain a list of punishments that Israel will endure if they fail to remain faithful to God’s teachings. Some of the names of the chastisements the Egyptians experienced in Egypt were changed slightly according to the needs of the narratives, but they are basically the same. For instance, (in Deut.) it states, “HaShem will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth ....a nation whose language you do not understand.” (Deut. 28:49) In Egypt there were bears and lions, other types of wild animals, and birds that came during the plague of Arov which were a, “A ruthless nation, that will show the old no regard and the young no mercy. It shall devour the offspring of your cattle and the produce of your field.” (Deut. 28:50-51) If they closed the door of their houses, the wild animals would beat on them and break them down. “HaShem will drive you, and the king you have set over you, to a nation unknown to you or your fathers…” (Deut. 28:36) refers to Pharaoh who the Egyptians placed over themselves as is stated in the book of Chronicles,¹⁶⁸This is probably not the biblical book of Chronicles but more likely the Midrash Divrei HaYamim Moshe Rabbeinu, a medieval work. Reference to this can be found in the Baal HaTurim and in Pirkei D’Rebbe Eliezer, and Yalkut Shimoni. who was saved from the sea and then fled to Nineveh. There are many other g examples like these even though the literal meaning doesn’t seem to agree with them. If we cannot identify them - the absence (emptiness) is our own! Based on all this we shall search out and explore (Lam. 3) this method to answer some of the questions logically based on the strength of the verses and the statements of the sages so that we can arrive at the 250 plagues which were brought on the Egyptians at the sea.