Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 28:49

כאשר ידאה הנשר [THE LORD WILL BRING A NATION AGAINST YOU FROM AFAR], AS THE EAGLE SWOOPS DOWN — i.e. suddenly, and by a successful march, and its horses will be swift.

כאשר ידאה הנשר, “as the eagle will swoop.” This is a reference to the Roman Emperor Vespasianus and his general (and son) Titus (before the latter became Emperor). He had thought that it would take him 10 days to reach Jerusalem whereas he found that he reached the city after only five days of travel. He had overheard a young child quote our verse in which G’d describes a nation being carried against the Jewish people from the end of the earth much like an eagle which swoops down out of the sky. He applied this verse to himself when he experienced such an extraordinarily fast journey in his campaign against Jerusalem. Just as this particular verse applies to the destruction of the second Temple, so the entire chapter speaks of events happening at the end of the period of the second Temple.

Suddenly, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Is the eagle unable to come from nearby?! Therefore he explains, “suddenly, etc.” I.e., “as the eagle soars” is a separate phrase and does not refer to the adjacent “nation from afar, etc.” Rather, it refers to the beginning of the verse, “Adonoy will raise upon you a nation” suddenly “as the eagle soars, etc.”

V. 49. ישא וגו׳ Ist unsere Auffassung der Verse 36 — 48 gegebenen Schilderung nicht irrig, so dürfte damit eben auf den politischen Untergang hinausgeschaut sein, den Israels erstes Staatsleben durch die assyrisch-babylonische Macht erlitt. Mit diesem Verse beginnt jedoch die Ankündigung der zweiten Katastrophe, die über den nach dem babylonischen Exil wieder hergestellten Staat, nicht durch ein Nachbarvolk, sondern durch die aus der Ferne gekommene römische Macht hereinbrach und mit Israels gänzlicher Zerstreuung (V. 64) endete. Die Verwirklichung der hier in vorhinein niedergelegten Schilderung der Kriegesnot und des Zerstreuungsjammers lässt sich in den Annalen der nach fast mehr als anderthalb Jahrtausenden mit der Unterjochung Judäas durch die römischen Legionen beginnenden Leidensgeschichte des jüdischen Volkes fast Zug um Zug noch heute verfolgen.

כאשר יראה הנשר, “as the eagle sweeps down,” this is a reference to the Babylonian Empire concerning which it has been written in Daniel 7,4: “like a lion with eagles’ wings.”

לא תשמע לשנו means, a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand. Similar is, (Genesis 41:15) “You understand (תשמע) a dream to interpret it”, and so, too, (Genesis 42:23) “that Joseph understood (שמע)”; entendre in old French

גוי אשר לא תשמע לשונו, “a people whose language you do not understand.” This is why you cannot even plead with them and come to terms with them. Apart from that, you can tell from their facial expressions that they are cruel and tough.