Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 32:43

הרנינו גוים עמו SING ALOUD, O YE NATIONS, OF HIS PEOPLE — At that time (when I shall take vengeance on them) the nations will praise Israel (Sifrei Devarim 333:2): “See, how praiseworthy is this people, — that they have cleaved to the Holy One, blessed be He, amidst all the troubles which have passed over them, and have not forsaken Him, for they had constantly experienced His goodness and His excellence”.

הרנינו גויים, “you who are the arrows of the Lord and His sword make the nations acclaim, sing aloud! So that they will realise that G’d is fair and does not commit any injustice. Compare Psalms 67,5 ישמחו וירננו לאומים כי תשפוט עמים מישור,”nations will exult and shout for joy, for You rule the peoples with equity”

הרנינו גוים עמו, "O nations, sing the praises of His people, etc." Moses means that when the time comes that G'd exacts retribution from the nations, from the enemies of the Jewish people, the other nations will praise the Israelites and jubilate and elevate them, as we know from Psalms 144,19: "Hail to the people who experience this."

הרנינו גוים (על) עמו, similar in meaning to the word הללו in Psalms 117,1 הללו את ה' כל גוים, “praise the Lord all you nations, etc.” Just as the psalmist calls upon the nations to acknowledge G’d, to praise Him and exalt Him for the loving kindness He has shown His creatures, so Moses concludes here with a similar call addressed to these same nations at the time of the redemption of mankind, or those who deserve it, to praise the Lord because they have finally seen what He has done for His people. By addressing them already now, Moses implies that G’d would relate to them similarly if they would take all these lessons to heart as of now (and convert to Judaism).

וכפר אדמתו עמו, “He will grant atonement to His land and for His people.” According to some commentators mentioned by Ibn Ezra, the word עמו should really have the letter ו in front of it, so that the meaning of the phrase would be: “He will provide atonement for its land and for its people.” An allegorical approach taken by the Midrash is that the land is seen as atoning of behalf of its people. [The idea is that the land, for many years neglected, serves as the scapegoat for the Jewish people who had neglected to observe the laws of sh’mittah. Ed.] Ibn Ezra personally, understands the phrase as a promise that in due course, the gentiles who had shed so much innocent Jewish blood on that land, will at that time atone for all this when the Jews will take their vengeance on them. The retribution for innocent blood spilled must be undertaken by the victimized party or their offspring, (their blood avengers), whose blood had been shed, so that in the war preceding the redemption, Jews will kill their adversaries, the ones who had contaminated the soil of the Holy Land in former years. Ibn Ezra quotes Job 14,19 and Ezekiel 43,20 as verses in which such concepts also appear. Yet another interpretation of our phrase understands the word as meaning the same as וטהר, “it will purify, cleanse.” Israel, when the time comes, will cleanse its soil from all kinds of contaminations it had been exposed to in the interval since its people went into exile.

הרנינו גוים עמו, “O nations, sing the praises of His people!” When the Jewish people are loyal to their traditions, to the Torah, then the nations of the world sing their praises. They admire the fact that even when exiled, the Jewish people hold fast to their beliefs and do not try to assimilate themselves (compare Rashi). Alternatively, the word הרנינו is derived from רנה in the sense of “proclamation,” i.e. the nations everywhere will proclaim about this people that the Lord has avenged their blood. The word would be used here in the same manner as in Kings I 22,36 ויעבור הרנה, “a shout went through (the camp).”

For theft, etc. Not for bloodshed, for it already stated, “He will avenge the blood of His servants.”

V. 43. הרנינו גוים עמו. Vergl. ברכת אובד עלי תבא ולב אלמנה ארנין (Job 29, 13), darum ruft Gott, indem er Israel unter die Völker hinstreut: Machet heiter meines Volkes Los, behandelt sie nicht unmenschlich und grausam! Drei Motive werden dem Aufruf הרנינו גוים עמו beigegeben. כי דם עבדיו יקם: Israels Zerstreute treten als עבדיו, als den Namen Gottes tragend, nach ihm gekennzeichnet in die Mitte der Völker, in diesem Gott lebt ein Rächer eines jeden unschuldig vergossenen Blutes derselben; נקם ישיב לצריו: jede Verletzung der Anforderungen des Rechts und der Menschlichkeit lässt Gott auf die Schuldigen zurückfallen, die in Verleugnung der Rechts- und Menschlichkeitspflichten Seine Herrschaft verleugnen, seine צריו sind; und — וכפר אדמתו עמו und sein Volk soll seine Menschenerde sühnen, in der Besserbehandlung seines Volkes soll die in dem Gehorsam gegen sein Sittengesetz sich betätigende endliche Huldigung der Gottesherrschaft auf Erden ihren Ausdruck, und damit das unter Verleugnung derselben so vielfach auf der Menschenerde gegen Recht und Menschtum Gesündigte seinen sühnenden Abschluss finden — die Behandlung Israels wird zum Gradmesser der Gotteshuldigung auf Erden, so dass der Autritt des Gottesreichs auf Erden Hand in Hand geht mit dem Aufhören der völkergeschichtlichen Misshandlung Israels. — So schließt Jesaias Kap. 66, 20: והביאו את כל אחיכם מכל הגוים מנחה לד׳ וגו׳ על הר קדשי ׳ירושלים אמר ד׳ כאשר יביאו בני ישראל את המנחה בכלי טהור בית ד, und sie bringen eure Brüder alle von allen Völkern Gott zur Huldigungsgabe zum Berge meines Heiligtums hinan, wie Jisraels Söhne das Huldigungsopfer in reinem Geräte zum Gotteshause bringen. —

הרנינו גוים עמו, sing aloud, o you nations;” then the nations of the universe will break out in a song of jubilation, praising the Jewish people for whom G–d has taken vengeance, as will be spelled out forthwith.

הרנינו גוים עמו “sing aloud o you nations!” this is not a song of joy but a lament, similar to what we read in Lamentations 2,19: קומי רני בלילה, “arise cry out in the night!” These words are addressed to the nations which have enslaved the Jewish people. Why are these nations now to sing songs of mourning? Because G-d is avenging the innocent blood of Jews that has been spilled by them. An alternate interpretation of the words הרניו, etc.; “sing a song of praise nations, before the Lord!” Who are the “nations” that are supposed to sing this song of praise? The Israelites His people, seeing that He has avenged their blood. A third interpretation of this line: all the nations are urged to sing of praise of G-d’s people, the Jewish people. He has avenged their oppressors, i.e. the blood of His servants.

כי דם עבדיו יקם FOR HE WILL AVENGE THE BLOOD OF HIS SERVANTS — i.e., the shedding of their blood, as the phrase usually implies.

עמו, His people shall give thanks with shouts of joy and music, כי דם עבדיו יקום ונקם ישיב לצריו, for He does avenge the blood of His servants. G’d punishes the nations by avenging what they have done to the Jewish people.

וכפר אדמתו עמו, He will cleanse the blood of His people which has been spilled and been absorbed by the earth, by spilling the blood of their enemies, as the Torah’s recipe for cleansing the holy soil of the Land of Israel from innocently spilled blood (Numbers 35,33).

כי דם עבדיו יקום, “for He will avenge the blood of His people.” Moses prophesied in these verses about the troubles which would befall the Jewish people during our exile and all the bloodshed that the people would become victims of at the hands of their host nations. They would lose their money through violence, both physical and through discriminatory legislation. These events have been specifically forecast by Ovadiah 10 as being perpetrated by Yaakov’s brother Esau (the Edomites) when he wrote: “for the outrage (violence perpetrated) to your brother Yaakov, disgrace shall engulf you and you shall perish forever.” In anticipation of this retribution, Moses says “He will avenge the blood of His people.”

He will pacify His land and His people, etc. The meaning of “His land” is “His people.”

כי דם עבדיו יקום, "for He will avenge the blood of His servants." The verse tells us that G'd will not only avenge the blood Israel's enemies have shed but also the other afflictions they have caused the Jewish people. G'd will even avenge evil intentions against the Jewish people which have not been carried out as indicated in Psalms 7,17: ישוב עמלו בראשו, "His mischief will recoil upon his own head." [The Psalmist had previously spoken about people who dug a pit intended for a third party to fall into (verse 16). Ed.]

Die hier für die Völker niedergelegte Mahnung הרנינו גוים עמו legt den Gedanken nahe, dass die ja auch in der Tat verwirklichte Voraussetzung vorgewaltet habe, es werde dieses Buch der Gotteslehre durch die Hand seiner zerstreuten Träger zum Gemeingut der Völker werden und damit auch diese Völkermahnung ihnen ebenso zum Bewusstsein kommen, wie deren Verständnis und Erfüllung durch die eben mit diesem Buche vorbereitete Lehre von Gott dem Einzig-Einen und den daraus folgenden Wahrheiten von der Gleichheit und Brüderlichkeit der Menschen und den Rechts- und Menschlichkeitspflichten vorbereitet und einer immer fortschreitenden Verwirklichung werden näher geführt werden. Eine Voraussetzung, die zugleich die Tatsache enthalten würde, dass das jüdische Volk durch den Einfluss, den das von ihm in die Mitte der Völker mit hinausgetragene Buch der Bücher auf seine und der Völker Erleuchtung und Gesittung üben werde, sich selbst den Weg zu den Pforten der Erlösung bahnt. —

כי דם עבדיו יקום ונקם ישיב לצוריו, “for He avenges the blood of His servants, and renders vengeance to His adversaries.” He will spill the blood of the gentile adversaries of Israel just as they had done to the Israelites. This is what David spoke of in Psalms 110,6 when he said: ידין בגוים מלא גויות, “He works judgment on the nations, heaping up bodies;” In the future when the Almighty will ask the gentiles why they spilled the blood of His people, and they will deny it, He will show them “His garments;” (if I understand correctly, the ones G–d saved up) as full of blood stains and use this as evidence. Authors of poetic poems in our liturgy have repeatedly alluded to this illustration of how G–d has preserved evidence of the murder committed against His people. They referred to the victims as קדושים, “holy martyrs.”

וכפר, “and make expiation;” the word is used as one indicating pacification, appeasement. Compare Genesis 32,21, when Yaakov sends costly gifts to his brother Esau in order to make him forget that he had once taken his blessing The word by which he described this was אכפרה פניו, “I wish to appease him.”

ונקם ישיב לצריו AND HE WILL RENDER VENGEANCE TO HIS ADVERSARIES for their robbery and their violence, just as it is stated, (Joel 4:19) “Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah …”, and it states in another passage (Obadiah 10) “For the violence against thy brother Jacob [shame shall cover thee]” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 333:3).

וכפר אדמתו, for the soil of the Land of Israel having been desolate and barren while its people were in exile and for what had occurred on that soil in the interval.

With a different viewpoint this is expounded, etc. R’ Yehuda expounds, etc. This implies that there is no difference between his explanation and that of Rashi except for the verse (28) “for those nations squander counsel.” Rashi explains that the verse is referring to the idolater, and R’ Yuda explains that it is referring to Yisroel. Even though they differ on the meaning of the verse, “for the grapevine of Sedom their grapevine is” (Devarim 32:32) where Rashi explains that their behavior is like the actions of Sedom and Amorah. And Rabbi Yuda explains [the verse] as “Are you from the grapevines of Sedom, or from the plantings of Amorah? Are you not from holy plantings?” They both agree, however, that it refers to Yisroel. However, in the verse (v. 37) “where is their god?” Rashi explains that Hashem says to Yisroel, “Where is [your God]?” and Rabbi Yuda explains that this is what Yisroel is saying to the idolaters. One can explain that when Rashi writes that the words of Rabbi Yuda are exactly like his words, completely, except for (v. 28) “those nations squander counsel” only refers to the meaning of (v. 37) “He shall say.” Rashi and R’ Yuda both hold that “He shall say” are not the words of the idolaters, which is Rabbi Nechemyah’s opinion, who says that [“He shall say”] refers to the enemy, e.g. Titus and those like him. But not with regard to the verse, “Where is their god?” For if so, what does it mean that Rabbi Yuda expounds it towards Yisroel? He expounds it as referring to idolaters! But nevertheless Rashi’s and Rabbi Yuda’s explanations are not completely identical, for Rashi explains “He shall say” as referring to Yisroel. (Re”m)

וכפר אדמתו עמו, "Any residual sins of His people, its land will atone for." The desolation of ארץ ישראל for many many years was part of the atonement process for its people.

גדולה שירה heißt es im ספרי am Schlusse der Erläuterungen der גדולה ,שירה wie groß שירה שיש בה עכשיו ויש בה לשעבר ויש בה לעתיר לבא ויש בה לעולם הבא ist die שירה, du findest darin die Gegenwart, die Vergangenheit, die Zukunft und die dereinstige künftige Weltgestaltung. —

וכפר אדמתו עמו, “His people Israel will serve as atonement for G–d’s ‘Holy Land;’ as is written in Numbers 35,33: ולארץ לא יכופר אשר שופך-בה כי אם בדם שופכו, “for no expiation can be made for the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him who has shed it.” The Israelites, in due course, will spill the blood of the nations who had been guilty of spilling their blood. Compare also on this subject Ezekiel 25,14: ונתתי את נקמתי באדום ביד עמי ישראל, “I will wreak My vengeance on Edom through My people Israel, and they shall take action against Edom.”

אדמתו עמו, “for the land of His people.” In classical Hebrew we find words where the letter ו is missing at the beginning of the word, such as Leviticus 21,14 וחללה זונה where we would have expected a connective letter ו at the beginning of the word זונה. Another example of that letter being missing is found in Chabakuk 3,11: ,שמש ירח עמד זבולה, “sun (and) moon stand still on high,” where the connective letter ו is missing before the word ירח, “moon.” In our verse also the letter ו is missing at the beginning of the word עמו, His people. G-d wishes to appease the earth of the Holy Land for having burdened it with absorbing blood shed of innocent Jews, by taking His revenge from the antisemites.

וכפר אדמתו עמו means, and He will appease His land and His people for the miseries that have passed over them and for that which the enemy has caused them.

עמו, His people will also have to atone for all the wrongs they did during the long years they had been in exile. The purpose of this dual atonement by both the soil and the people is to bring back the Shechinah, G’d’s benevolent presence to the Land of Israel, as envisioned in Isaiah 52,8 כי עין בעין יראו בשוב ה' ציון,”for every eye will see when G’d returns to Zion.”

In this usage, כי is understood as, etc. I.e. it gives an explanation of what precedes it.

Als Gesang zu den Mußafopfern am Schabbat wurde die שירה von den Leviten in sechs Abschnitten gesprochen, die nach den Anfangsbuchstaben mit dem Merkwort: הזיולך bezeichnet werden, האזינו (V. 1), זכור (V. 7), ירכיבהו (V. 13), וירא (V. 19 ) — nach andern וישמן (V. 15) —, לולי (V. 27) — nach andern לו (V. 29) —, כי ידין (V. 36) — R. H. 31 a — und wird dort gelehrt, dass כדרך שחלוקים כאן כך חלוקין בבית הכנסת, dass diese Abteilungen auch bei den Schabbatvorlesungen in den Synagogen zu beachten sind. (Eine Weisung, welche gegen den Beginn des vierten Absatzes mit V. 15 sprechen würde, da dann für den dritten Absatz regelwidrig nur zwei Verse blieben). Es sind dies natürliche Gruppierungen des Gedankenganges der שירה: Verse 1-6: Gott, Charakteristik der allgemeinen und besonderen Beziehungen seiner Waltung zur Welt und Israel. Verse 7-12: Israels, seine Bestimmung und seine Entstehungsgeschichte; Verse 13-18: sein Glück und seine Verirrungen im Glücke; Verse 19-26: sein Untergang in Folge dieser Verirrungen. Verse 27-35: Zweck seiner Zerstreuung unter die Völker als warnende Mahnung derselben. Verse 36-43: Heilung des jüdischen Untergangs und Ausblick auf die jüdische und Völkerzukunft.

וכפר is an expression denoting appeasing and calming, as e.g. (Genesis 32:21) אכפרה פניו which is rendered in the Targum by “I will appease his anger” (cf. Rashi on that verse).

Understood as “for.” An explanation of [Rashi’s] explanation is that Rabbi Nechemyah explains the verse “For ... will judge, etc.” as referring to when He represents them in their struggle, and the meaning of כי is “for.” And the meaning of (v. 35), “Vengeance is with Me, and shall administer retribution” (v. 34) refers to the idolaters, because Hashem fights the fight of Yisroel against those who persecuted them.

וכפר אדמתו AND HE WILL PROPITIATE HIS LAND — and what is His land? עמו HIS PEOPLE — when His people receives comfort His land, too, receives comfort, and so, too, it states, (Psalms 85:2) “Thou hast been favourable, O Lord, unto Thy land” — whereby hast Thou been favourable unto Thy land? The words that follow in the text give the answer: “Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob” (Thy people).

The Holy One, may He be blessed, will then unveil His salvation, etc. According to Rashi’s explanation of (v. 39) “Now observe!” means “that it is in My power to bring death or give life, unlike those idols that you worship. But according to the opinion of Rabbi Nechemyah who explains that (v. 37) “Where is their god?” refers to the enemy, who says to Yisroel, “Where is your God?, etc.” how can it say “Now observe!” such that they will understand that it is in His hand to bring death or give life? Therefore he adds that “the Holy One, Blessed Is He will then unveil His salvation” which means that then the designs of the enemy will be overturned from what they thought prior to the revelation of His salvation.

— In a different manner is it (the section from v. 26 onwards) expounded in Sifrei, and there is a difference of opinion regarding it between R. Judah and R. Nehemiah. R. Judah expounds the whole of it as having reference to Israel, whilst R. Nehemiah refers the whole of it as referring to the other nations (Sifrei Devarim 327). R. Judah explains it as referring to Israel as follows: (26) אמרתי אפאיהם in the same manner as I have explained it, up to (27) כי גוי אבד עצות המה (28) .ולא ה' פעל כל זאת FOR THEY ARE A NATION LOSING COUNSEL, i.e., they have lost My Torah, which was a fitting counsel for them, ואין בהם תבונה AND THERE IS NO UNDERSTANDING IN THEM to consider,# (30) איכה ירדף אחד HOW ONE MAN of the nations COULD PURSUE אלף A THOUSAND of them, אם לא כי צורם מכרם EXCEPT THAT THEIR ROCK HAD DELIVERED THEM into their power.# (31) כי לא כצורנו צורם — all as I have explained, right up to the end. — R. Nehemiah expounds it as referring to the other nations as follows: (28) כי גוי אבד עצות המה — This he explains as I have explained it at first up to (31): ואיבינו פלילים

It is from Me that your ruin emanated. Meaning, against the idolaters.

— (‎32) כי מגפן סדם גפנם FOR AS THE VINE OF SODOM IS THEIR VINE — i.e. the vine of the other nations.

And from Me that your benefaction will come. Meaning, to Yisroel

ומשדמת עמרה AND OF THE FIELDS OF GOMORRAH etc., — and they do not set their mind to attribute the greatness to Me.

Like “I have raised,” etc. I.e., My hand is already raised in heaven, meaning, constantly I rest my Divine Presence etc. But it is not possible to explain that it is a phrase meaning making an “oath” because the punishments have already been written, (v. 33) “Like caustic serpents’ venom is their wine, etc.” and (v. 39) “Now observe, etc.” If so, why would He swear now? But according to the plain meaning which Rashi explained above, that it refers to Yisroel, it works well. He swears to avenge them. And similarly according to R’ Yuda. But according to the opinion of R’ Nechemyah, who explains the entire section as referring to idolaters, it is impossible to explain this as an oath.

ענבמו ענבי רוש THEIR GRAPES ARE GRAPES OF GALL — This is what it stated above לולא כעס אויב אגור WERE IT NOT THAT THE ANGER OF THE ENEMY IS HEAPED UP against Israel to destroy them (cf. Rashi’s explanation of אגור above) — so, too, here: "their grapes are grapes of gall”, to make them (the Israelites) reel and to embitter their lives, and therefore אשכלות מררות למו BITTER CLUSTERS ARE FOR THEM to make them swallow them for what they have done to My children.

(33) חמת תנינם יינם WINE OF DRAGONS IS THEIR WINE — i.e., the wine prepared to give them to drink for what they have done to them (יינם “their wine” is not the wine which they prepare, but that which is prepared for them).

(34) כמס עמדי IS IT NOT LAID WITH ME — “it” means that cup (which is implied in the word יינם, “the wine prepared for them”), as it states. (Psalms 75:9) “For in the hand of the Lord is a cup … [and the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall drink them]”.

(36) כי ידין ה׳ עמו — In this explanation, in the phrase כי ידין the word כי is used in the meaning of “because” (not as in the former explanation where it means “when”), and ידין is not an expression for sufferings (the meaning it was given above) but it means as much as: For He (God) will plead their cause (take their parts) against the power of their oppressors, כי יראה כי אזלת יד וגו׳, when He sees that the hand of the enemy waxes mighty, etc.

(35) לעת תמוט רגלם AT THE TIME THEIR FOOT (i.e., of the enemies) SHALL TOTTER — this is similar to what is said, (Isaiah 26:6) “The foot shall tread it down”.

(37) ואמר אי אלהימו AND HE SAYS WHERE IS THEIR GOD — i.e., when the enemy (cf. this with Rashi’s previous explanation) will say, “Where is the God of Israel?” — even as Titus, the wicked, asked, when he pierced the curtain of the Holy of Holies (cf. Gittin 56b), just as it is said, (Micah 7:10) “Then my enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto Me, Where is the Lord, thy God?”

(39) ראו עתה כי אני וגו׳ means, then the Lord will display His saving power and will say, SEE NOW, THAT IT IS I, EVEN I — from Me came the evil upon them (the Israelites) and from Me will good come upon them.

ואין מידי מציל AND THERE IS NONE THAT CAN DELIVER OUT OF MY HAND — i.e. that can deliver you (the nations) from the evil which I shall now bring upon you.

(40) כי אשא אל שמים ידי — The first two words (continuing this exposition) are as much as כי נשאתי, “Because I have lifted up”, and the text means: everlasting I made the heaven the dwelling-place of My Glory, — as the Targum takes it (“For I have established in heaven the place of My Divine Glory”) — therefore there will surely be none that can deliver you, for even when the weak person is above and the strong below, the fear of him that is above lies upon him that is below; how much more is this so when “I”, the strong, am above and you, the weak, are below.

— ידי means the place of My Divine Glory, as (Numbers 2:17) “every man by his place (ידו)”, — therefore I had the power to punish you immediately, but I said that I shall live forever, therefore I need not hasten to exact punishment, because I have time for this matter: I live for ever and in later generations can punish them, for I have the power to exact punishment both from the living and the dead. A human king who is always going to die (may die at any moment), takes quick vengeance to punish during his lifetime, because either he or his enemy may die with the result that he would never exact his vengeance from him; but I live for ever, and if they (My enemies) should die and I shall not have exacted punishment from them during their lifetime, I can exact it when they are dead.

(41) אם שנותי ברק חרבי — There are many instances where the particle אם is not used conditionally (i.e., it does not signify “if”). Here, also: when I shall whet ברק חרבי MY GLITTERING SWORD AND MY HAND SHALL HOLD FAST ON JUSTICE, etc., etc., all as I have explained above.