Comentário sobre Êxodo 21:13

ואשר לא צדה AND IF A MAN LIE NOT IN WAIT — i. e. if he did not lie in ambush for him (the person whom he killed), nor did he premeditate the blow (Makkot 7b).

והאלוקים אנה לידו, this was not a death caused intentionally by the killer, but we know that there operates a principle in this world known as מגלגלין חובה על ידי חייב, “G’d arranges matters so that the guilty party being punished will be punished by someone himself guilty of something else.” This is what Solomon referred to in Proverbs 16,4 וגם רשע ליום רעה, “even the wicked for the day of evil.” [to the question if everything has a purpose in this world, what is the function of the wicked? Solomon answers that the wicked is used by G’d to administer punishment to those who deserve it. Ed.]

ואשר לא צדה והאלוקים אנה לידו, If a man did not lie in wait but G'd caused it to happen to him, etc. Why did the Torah say the same thing in different words, i.e. "he did not plan it," and: "G'd caused it to happen?" Besides, why would G'd deliberately cause a person to become an involuntary murderer? Makkot 10 as well as the Mechilta dealing with the laws of the city of refuge and who has to go there, explain that the Torah speaks about wicked people who will become the instrument of performing evil deeds (compare Samuel I 24,14). They illustrate their meaning by the following example. Two people, one an intentional murderer, the other an unintentional killer, meet. There had not been any witnesses to either killing. The unintentional killer was in the process of descending from a ladder; he fell and hit the murderer who sat under the ladder with fatal consequences. The person descending the ladder has to go to a city of refuge. (If the same accident occurred while the unintentional killer was ascending the ladder, he would not have to go to the city of refuge). The intentional sinner was killed by the unintentional sinner. Thus far the Mechilta. This does not seem very satisfactory. True, the intentional murderer winds up getting his just deserts, the unintentional killer, however, has by now committed two killings and has to atone for only one killing while he is in the city of refuge. If we were to argue that he is altogether innocent concerning the instance when G'd made him fall off the ladder, then we must assume that the falling off the ladder was not an act of G'd and as a result the death of the person under the ladder was not the punishment due him as he was not guilty. Had he really been guilty then the fall off the ladder would have to be considered under the heading of "a deliberate act of G'd." This seems a very forced explanation as the Torah describes the example of an unintentional killing as unrelated to Divine interference (Numbers 35,15). The Torah did not distinguish between different categories of such unintentional killings as did the Mechilta.

ואשר לא צדה, the word צדה is used here in the same sense as in Numbers 35,20 בצדיה, or in Samuel I 24,12 ואתה צודה את נפשי, “yet you are bent on taking my life.” The word describes lying in ambush in order to kill one’s victim, not necessarily running after him.

Like its Targum, “And he did not ambush him.” Since the Targum translates וארב לו (Devarim 19:11) as: וכמן ליה , and the Targum translated the same on our verse, which says צדה , this proves that our verse, too, means: “He did not ambush him.”

V. 13. צדה: seine Richtung auf etwas nehmen, irgendwohin zielen, ואתה צדֶה את נפשי לקחתה (Sam. I. 24, 12), du zielst auf mein Leben. Daher passiv: נצדו עריהם מבלי איש (Zeph. 3, 6): die Städte sind jedem auf sie Zielenden preisgegeben, sie sind offen, leer, es kann sie jeder nehmen. Sehr wahrscheinlich ist damit auch שָׂדֶה, verwandt, als das natürlich (ש) Offene, Freie, jedem Zugängliche. Wohl auch davon שׁדה wovon: שׁד, die Mutterbrust, als das sich zuvorkommend Darbietende. Es heißt nun hier אשר לא צדה: er hat nicht in die Richtung des Getroffenen werfen wollen; פרט לנתכוין לזרוק שתים וזרק ארבע wird es Baba Kama 26 b erläutert. Hier, so wie durch die Bamidbar 35 u. Dewarim 19 gegebenen näheren Bestimmungen, insbesondere durch das an letzterer Stelle V. 5 gegebene spezielle Beispiel, wird nämlich die Fluchtauswanderung für den unvorsätzlichen Totschlag genau nach beiden Seiten dahin präzisiert, dass die Tat ebenso weit von leichtsinniger Unvorsichtigkeit als von unvorherzusehender Zufälligkeit ferne sein müsse, sie darf nicht קרוב למזיד und nicht קרוב לאונס sein; in dem ersten Falle ist die Schuld zu groß, als dass sie mit der Verbannung in eine Zufluchtsstätte gesühnt werden könnte, in dem zweiten Falle zu klein, als dass sie einer solchen Sühne bedürfte. Würfe z. B. jemand einen Stein in die Richtung eines vier Ellen entfernt stehenden Menschen mit der Absicht, ihn nur zwei Ellen weit zu werfen, der Stein aber fliegt weiter und trifft den Menschen, so ist dies eine leichtsinnige Unvorsichtigkeit, die nicht durch גלות gesühnt werden kann, es ist קרוב למזיד; ein solcher Fall wird hier durch die Bestimmung אשר לא צדה ausgeschlossen. Wollte er aber in entgegengesetzter Richtung werfen und durch einen nicht vorherzusehenden Umstand fliegt der Stein in die Richtung des Menschen und trifft ihn, מתכוין לצד זה והלכה לה לצד אחר so ist er wiederum nicht חייב גלות, es ist קרוב לאונם, die Schuld ist zu klein, als dass sie dieser Sühne bedürfte, und ist dieser Fall durch die Bestimmung בלא צדיה (Bamidbar. 35, 22) ausgeschlossen (Makkoth 7 b). Es darf nur die Absicht gefehlt haben, allein es muss eine gewissenhafte Überlegung die Möglichkeit, wenn auch nicht die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Gefährdung haben voraussetzen können. Z. B. der spezialisierte Fall des Abfliegens des Beils beim Holzfällen. Demgemäß scheint denn auch hier der Ausdruck והאלקי׳ אנה לידו die Begrenzung des Begriffs nach der andern Seite zu enthalten. Es heißt nicht והאלקי׳ אנה אותו, Gott hat es gefügt, dies würde eine völlige Schuldlosigkeit אונם und קרוב לאונם involvieren. Vielmehr אנה לידו, seine יד, seine Tätigkeit bildet einen Hauptfaktor in der Urheberschaft des Ereignisses, allein sie war nicht der alleinige Faktor, es lag in ihr die Möglichkeit der Gefährdung und göttliche Fügung hat sie zur Wirklichkeit werden lassen. אשר לא צדה schlösse somit האלקי׳ אנה לידו ,קרוב למזיד auch קרוב לאונס aus.

והאלוקים אנה לידו, “and it was a result of divine will;” in other words, the person becomes guilty of death at the hands of heaven. Rashi on this verse understands it as referring to an inadvertent killing, which was the result of inadequate precautions being taken by the person who caused it. He interprets it as a demonstration of the verse: מרשעים יצא רשע, “wicked people will cause wicked acts.” What is meant is that if someone has committed a serious sin unobserved and intentionally, so that he could not be brought to trial, providence sees to it that he will have to atone for this by committing unintentional death of an apparently innocent person. The example quoted is that the “sinner” was ascending a ladder, a rung of which broke and caused him to hit someone standing nearby in his fall. On our verse, Rashi comments: “this refers to unintentional killing.” He interprets the verse from Samuel I 24,13, by providing an illustration. The person sitting under the ladder had once killed intentionally, whereas the person falling from the ladder had once killed unintentionally when there were no witnesses who would have forced him to take refuge in the city set aside for such situation. Now, through divine intervention, both had received their penalties, each appropriate to his sin. Alternately, the scenario should be as follows: the party who had previously committed deliberate murder, fell onto someone holding a knife in his hand at the time. If we would not explain the verse in this manner, the person who had been guilty of execution by the sword would not have died by the proper type of execution, i.e. the sword. The example quoted also teaches that a person cannot become guilty having to go to the city of refuge twice. The reason is that once you have killed someone if in the process you have killed someone also unintentionally, you are penalised only for the more serious crime.

צדה is a term denoting “lying in wait”; similarly it says, (I Samuel 24:12) “yet thou liest in wait (צדה) for my soul to take it”. It is, however, not correct to say that צדה is of the same derivation as, (Genesis 27:34) הצד ציד “he that hath hunted (הצד) venison”, for a ה has no place in the verbal forms of the term denoting “hunting beasts”. Then again, the noun form of the latter is צַיִד and that of the former צְדִיָה, whilst the participle of the verb “lying in wait” is צוֹדֶה and that of the other is צָד. I therefore say that its meaning is as the Targum gives it: “and if he did not lie in ambush for him”. Menachem ben Seruk placed it in the same section as הצד ציד (i. e. he held that the root is צד and that it has the meaning of “hunting”), but I do not agree with him. If it is to be placed in one of the sections of צד we had better place it in the same section as, (Isaiah 66:12) על צד תנשאו “ye shall be borne upon her side (צד)” and (I Samuel 20:20) “and I will shoot [three arrows] on the side thereof (צדה)”, and (Daniel 7:25) “and he shall speak towards the side of (against) the Most High”. Thus, here, the words אשד לא צדה could be taken to mean, “he did not turn aside (צִדֵּד)” to seek some side (occasion) for killing him. But there are objections even to this explanation. At any rate, even if it be connected with צד in this sense, it would still have the meaning “lying in wait”.

ושמתי לך מקום אשר ינוס, to atone for his guilt by being exiled from his home.

אנה לידו, the Torah describes someone who had already been guilty of death but who could not be legally executed, now being killed inadvertently by someone else whom he did not even know. This is what we call מיתה בידי שמים, “death at the instigation of heaven.”

And falls upon the one. . . This means he already went up, and is falling upon the one below as he is going down the ladder — and not as he is going up, since in such a case he would not be exiled (Makkos 7b). Rashi here mentioned going up the ladder only because he could not fall while going down unless he first went up. (Re’m)

The correct explanation is that the person who was originally killed by the unintentional killer had been a deliberate murderer also. G'd could have caused some weight to fall upon such a murderer without involving the unintentional killer at all. He used the unintentional killer as His tool in order to "kill two birds with one stone." The unintentional killer who has now become G'd's tool i.e. ואנה לידו, is guilty of exile in the city of refuge only for the first time he killed unintentionally. Even if he had killed ten people as a result of his fall from the ladder, he would only be liable for exile for the original killing. The penalty of exile is related to the cause, not to the number of killings committed by the person. G'd will not arrange for this unintentional killer to become involved in a second killing in order to be exiled again. As a result of this consideration you will observe that not all unintentional killers are measured by the same yardstick. [This is nothing new since all the killers in the city of refuge go free at the same time, at the time the High Priest dies, regardless of when the people exiled there committed the killing. Ed.] We now understand the Talmud who attributed the fall off the ladder to a previous undetected and unintentional killing by the person suffering the fall. The sages simply selected an example in which both parties were equally guilt-ridden. The true scholar will understand the mystical aspect behind all this.

Die Ähnlichkeit der Strafe des unvorsichtigen Totschlägers mit der über den ersten Totschläger verhängten Strafe des נע ונד haben wir schon zu Bereschit 4, 12 berührt.

ושמתי לך מקום, “I set aside for you a special place;” this commandment would not become effective until the people took up residence in their homeland. It is a hint of the cities of refuge to be legislated and introduced still during Moses’ lifetime.

והאלהים אנה לידו means, BUT GOD GOT IT READY FOR HIS HAND. It has the same meaning as this root has in, (Psalms 91:10) “No evil shall be got ready (תאנה) for thee”; (Proverbs 12:21) “There shall no evil be got ready (תאנה) for the just”; (2 Kings 5:7) “he gets himself ready (מתאנה) for me”, i. e. he gets himself ready to discover some occasion against me.

ושמתי לך מקום, once you will have cities wherein to dwell. The reason the Torah spoke about this already at this time is because it had already legislated the prohibition of murder in the Ten Commandments as well as the need to honour one’s parents. This is why also penalties for violation of these commandments have to be legislated in this portion. The penalty for kidnapping is also spelled out here, seeing the Torah had prohibited stealing as part of the Ten Commandments. Our sages said that the “do not steal” in the Ten Commandments refers to kidnapping and is punishable by legal execution (Sanhedrin 86). We note that at this juncture the Torah discusses a number of crimes or sins punishable by death.

ושמתי לך מקום, “I shall provide a place for you.” This means that even in the desert a special place will be set aside for such unintentional killers to find refuge from a potential avenger who is a blood relation of the victim. The “place” in question was the area in which the Levites had their tents (Makkot 12). I believe that the reason the Torah wrote the word לך, “for you,” something quite unusual, is to hint that Moses, a Levite, had himself been guilty of killing someone.

The one who killed accidentally is exiled. You might ask: But he still is not being punished for his first accidental killing? The answer is: he killed someone who was already considered “dead,” [as the person he fell upon was liable for death]. And it is known before Hashem that he need not be exiled for this [second accidental killing], only we do not know this. [Thus, the court rules that he must be exiled — ostensibly for the second killing, but Hashem knows that it is for the first.]

It is also possible that the Torah felt that the person who was guilty of involuntary manslaughter and should have volunteered for exile in the city of refuge but had neglected to do so is now being punished for this by becoming the cause of another death. As a result he ought to spend two periods of exile in such a city of refuge. In order to enable him to expiate his guilt the Torah legislated that his stay in the city of refuge is limited; once the High Priest dies, his first exile has been completed. G'd reserves the right to determine when the High Priest should die and thereby to determine how many years such a person guilty of two unintentional killings must spend in exile altogether. While this explanation covers the words: "if G'd made it happen, etc," it still does not explain the conjunctive letter ו before the word אלוקים.

והאלהים אנה לידו BUT GOD GOT IT READY FOR HIS HAND — But why should this go forth from Him (be brought about by God)? This is just what David tells us: (I Samuel 24:13) “As says the proverb of the ancient (הקדמני) “Wickedness proceededeth from the wicked”. — “The proverb of the קדמני” is the Torah, the maxim of God, Who it the “Ancient” (Whose existence preceded that) of the world. But where indeed does the Torah say, “Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked”? It says it implicitly in the verse: “But God got it ready for his hand”. For what is Scripture here speaking about? About two men, one of whom killed a person with premeditation and the other killed inadvertently, and in neither case were there witnesses to the deed who could testify about it. Consequently, the former was not put to death and the latter was not forced into banishment to a city of refuge (cf. Numbers 35:11). Now God brings them together at the same inn. He who killed with premeditation happens to sit beneath a ladder, and the other who killed inadvertently ascends the ladder and falls, when descending it, upon the man who killed with premeditation and kills him. Witnesses now being present they testify against him, so compelling him to be banished to one of the cities of refuge. The result is that he who killed inadvertently is actually banished and he who killed with premeditation actually suffers death (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 21:13:1 and Makkot 10b).

And the one who killed with premeditation is killed. We must say that he had a sword in his hand when he fell and killed him. Otherwise, the premeditated murderer would not be killed by the sword, which is the type of death for which he is liable as he is liable for. For if the person simply fell on him, it is like [death by] stoning.

I believe the Torah was being very specific in legislating the rules pertaining to exile in the city of refuge as related by Maimonides chapter 6 of Hilchot Rotzeach. He states that the only person who has to go to the city of refuge is one who has committed involuntary manslaughter which resulted from lack of precautions plus public knowledge that the killer did not harbour malevolent thoughts against the victim. If, however, a fatal accident could not have been foreseen and the killer had no reason to hate the victim, it is an accident and the killer does not have to go to the city of refuge. These two aspects are covered by 1) והאלוקים אנה לידו, "it was an act of G'd," or 2) אשר לא צדה, "he did not ambush the victim," (but also took no precautions to preclude an accident). If the killer had either entertained hateful thoughts against the victim or had taken precautions against any accidents there is no case for exile. In the latter case the killer is totally exonerated, in the former case there is an assumption of evil intent and taking refuge in a city of refuge is not the answer.

ושמתי לך מקום AND I WILL APPOINT THEE A PLACE — in the wilderness also — WHITHER HE SHALL FLEE — Which was the place that offered him an asylum? The camp of the Levites (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 21:13:2; Makkot 12b).

It was the camp of the Levites. Since [Hashem speaks to Moshe in this verse and says:] “I will designate for you a place,” it means that the place will be in your camp. And Moshe was a Levite. Thus, the place designated is in the wilderness, and in the Levite camp. For in the wilderness, Moshe’s camp gave refuge.