Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 9:4

אל תאמר בלבבך SAY NOT IN THY HEART, “My righteousness and the wickedness of these nations brought it about that I possess the land;

SPEAK NOT THOU IN THY HEART. After cautioning that you should not think ‘my power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth.’¹¹⁹Above, 8:17. but instead you are to know that the power over the vanquished was given to you by G-d, and that [the victory over] their mighty ones and fortified cities that you will have conquered [was made possible by] G-d in His Glory Who did it for you in a generally known miracle from Him, he further warned them, “Do not think that G-d did all this for you because of your righteousness; rather, He has done so for you only because of the wickedness of these nations.”¹²⁰Verse 5. Now this is a cause for the destruction of these nations, but he gave no reason for Israel’s possession of the Land. Therefore he reverted and explained, Not for thy righteousness¹²⁰Verse 5. that you will be righteous in conduct, nor even because of the upright heart that you will have, but only because of the wickedness of these nations will they be destroyed, and because of [His] oath to your fathers will you possess the Land, for your sin cannot annul the gift He gave to your fathers since He gave it to them by an oath. And Rashi wrote: “Speak not thou in thy heart — my righteousness and the wickedness of these nations caused me [to possess the Land]. Not for thy righteousness.” But this is not correct.¹²¹Rashi explained that they were not to think that a combination of their righteousness and the wickedness of the nations was a cause of one thing — their coming into the possession of the Land. On this Ramban comments that the verses indicate instead that there are two separate warnings here: “Do not think that because of your righteousness you are coming to possess the Land, and do not think that because of the wickedness of these nations they are driven out from it” (Mizrachi).
Now one should ask, “Has he not said, But because the Eternal loved you,¹²²Above, 7:8. thus establishing that they are beloved on high, and, [as we know], G-d loves only those who are good, for the wicked and him that loveth violence His soul hateth,¹²³Psalms 11:5. and if so, [it is justifiable that] they come to possess the Land also for their [own] righteousness [so, how can he say here Not for thy righteousness, etc.]?” The answer is that there he speaks of Israel in general, and here he reproves that particular generation that has been rebellious against the Eternal from the day they were in the wilderness.

אל תאמר בלבבך בהדוף, when you see that you enjoy victory against all odds, so that you realise this victory has to be credited to your enjoying a heavenly assist, do not commit a terrible error.

אל תאמר בלבבו, "Do not say in your heart, etc." We can appreciate that the Israelites were not to credit their own righteousness as the reason they dispossessed the inhabitants of the land of Canaan and therefore Moses had to warn them not to do so. However, why were they not to credit their possession of the land to the sins of the Canaanites when the Torah itself gives this as the reason in verse 5? Perhaps Moses was afraid that the Israelites would think that they were only forbidden to take exclusive credit for conquering the land by ascribing it to their righteousness. However, as long as they would acknowledge that both their own righteousness coupled with the wickedness of the local inhabitants had led to those inhabitants being expelled or killed, this would be acceptable, Moses said that no thought of their own righteousness was acceptable under any circumstances.

אל תאמר בלבבך, when G’d chases out ה' אלוקיך אותם מלפניך, that there are two reasons which resulted in my inheriting this land. 1) the wickedness of the former inhabitants which led to G’d expelling them, so that 2) my righteousness

Moshe warned them excessively to remove two mistaken ideas from their minds. 1. Do not trust yourselves that you will not stumble and sin with idolatry. This is the warning of the Sages, “Do not trust in yourselves” (Avos 2:4). This belief itself and lead a person to be careless with things close to idolatry which can cause him to stumble and lead him to sin… 2. They should not rely on Hashem that He will not destroy the land and lay it waste under any circumstances, even if they worship idols. Do not think that Hashem desires that the Jewish people should live in the land of Israel… and He trusts me that I will not sin.

אל תאמר בלבבך, “do not say, even in your heart, etc.” Rashi says that the meaning of the verse is that you may be tempted when you observe how G’d puts all these people to flight before you to credit your success to a combination of your righteousness and their wickedness. Moses warns you not to credit anything to your righteousness, but that only their wickedness caused them to lose their land. Nachmanides does not agree with this interpretation, i.e. that the Israelites’ righteousness did not have any bearing on their success. Moses is telling the people that whether righteous in deed, or even righteous in their hearts, this could not have been a reason for G’d to dispossess another nation of their heritage. It was only their wickedness that is due to their suffering the fate that will unfold in another few weeks after Moses’ death. He underlines,

My righteousness and the wickedness of the nations was the cause. Rashi is answering the question: In the beginning of the verse it is written, “Do not think ... Because of my righteousness and because of the wickedness of these nations, etc.,” which implies that neither of these reasons caused the Jewish People to inherit. Yet afterwards it is written, “Not because of your righteousness ... rather because of the wickedness of these nations, etc.”! Therefore, Rashi explains the verse as follows: The beginning of the verse, “Do not think ... Because of my righteousness and because of the wickedness of these nations was the cause,” means not to think that both reasons were the cause. “Rather the wickedness of these nations,” alone, caused them to be expelled. Then the land was abandoned, and the first to come could take possession of it. Since you are the first to come, you could take possession of it. [You might ask:] the verse above says, “Rather, out of Adonoy’s love for you and out of His keeping the oath (7:8),” and Adonoy’s love only applies to those who keep his commandments [therefore they should deserve to inherit the land in their own right]! Ramban has already explained [the answer]: The verse above refers to the Jewish People in general [throughout history], but here he is rebuking the generation that rebelled against Hashem.

Do not think that it is a combination of your righteousness and the wickedness of the nations. It is due to the wickedness of the nations and the merit of the Forefathers that you are inheriting.

V. 4. הדף .בהדף: stoßen (Bamidbar 35, 20 u. 24) mit מ fortstoßen (Jesaias 22. 19). בצדקתי, hier und im folgenden steht צדקה dem רשעה gegenüber. צדקה ist die dem göttlichen Gesetze gezollte Pflichttreue. רשעה buchstäblich ja: die Willkür, der Gesetzesungehorsam, verwandt mit רשא ,דשה.

'בצדקתי הביאני ה gave me the edge over other nations desirous of taking over that land so that G’d brought me here instead of them. The fact is that ברשעת הגוים האלה ה' מורישם, G’d dispossessed these nations on account of their wickedness, but לא בצדקתך וביושר לבבך, definitely not on account of your righteousness and your upright hearts. For I want you to remember 'זכור אל תשכח את אשר הקצפת וגו, and not forget how you have angered G’d, etc. However, one of the two factors you cited is correct, namely the wickedness of these nations. The reason that you replaced them (and not someone else) is למען הקים לך את השבועה, in order to fulfill by means of you the oath G’d swore to your forefathers.

בצדקתי הביאני...לרשת, that G’d did all this on account of your being a model of righteousness, and that furthermore the speed with which all this occurred was on account of

Because of the wickedness of these nations. Do not think that Hashem so greatly desires that the Land be settled, that despite all of the wickedness of the nations until now, He did not expel them from the land and leave the land of Israel desolate… Do not think that even if you sin with idolatry, Hashem will not find another nation better than you. For this reason Moshe warned them that both of these ideas are mistaken.

ברשעת הגויים האלה ה' מורישם מפניך, that the Lord dispossessed them on account of their wickedness, because He wanted His retribution against these people to be orchestrated by your destroying them. This would be the very opposite of what David prayed for when he thought G’d was punishing him. He prayed that the judgment should not be executed by man but that he preferred to be punished by G;d directly, not by one of His surrogates, especially one of his peers. (Samuel II 24,14)