Comentário sobre Êxodo 22:27

אלהים לא תקלל THOU SHALT NOT EXECRATE GOD — Here you have the prohibition of blasphemy (the penalty being stated in Leviticus 24:16) and the prohibition of cursing a judge (who is also termed אלהים, cf. Exodus 22:7) (cf. (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 22:27:1 and Sanhedrin 66a).

THOU SHALL NOT CURSE ‘ELOHIM.’ Onkelos translated it as referring to a judge, that one is not to curse him if he should hold him guilty in a lawsuit. Lo takeil [Onkelos’ rendition of the Hebrew lo t’kaleil — thou shalt not curse], is the Aramaic expression for “cursing.” Thus: “Meikal l’hu (they curse him): May the Eternal cut off to the man that doeth this, him that calleth and him that answereth.”³²²Malachi 2:12. — Yerushalmi Shabbath III, 7. There are many similar expressions, in the language of the Talmud Yerushalmi.

אלוהים לא תקלל, even though you may feel that the judge has judged you unfairly, you must not curse him. The reason is that no individual can judge his own guilt or innocence objectively.

אלוהים לא תקלל ונשיא בעמך לא תאר. The Torah again selected the most likely scenario of someone cursing people in authority. People who lose in litigation are apt to curse the judge ruling against them. We find a similar verse in Kohelet 10,20 where Solomon writes: “don’t revile a king even among your intimates.” Another verse in which the Torah refers to a spectacle arousing curses is found in Deuteronomy 21,23 where the Torah refers to the body of a judicially executed person being buried by nightfall. The reason given is that seeing such a body evokes curses against the judges who had convicted the victim.

אלוקים לא תקלל, “You shall not revile G’d; nor shall you curse a legally appointed dignitary of your people.” This is a warning not to curse a judge who has found you guilty in litigation.

אלוהים לא תקלל, “you shall not curse a judge.” This is a warning for the party who has been convicted of a crime or sin not to curse the judge who convicted him. This subject follows the subject of the need to extend loans to fellow Jews as on occasion disputes arise over whether a loan has been repaid, the debtor either denying he had received it or the lender claiming that he had not been repaid. Such disputes are submitted to judgment. It is quite possible that the party whose claim is rejected (if he feels that he has been wronged) will curse the judge who has wronged him. This is why the Torah has to warn that one must not engage in such conduct.

The prohibition against cursing judges. [Rashi’s two explanations appear in] Sanhedrin 66a: R. Yosei holds that אלהים is a mundane word and the verse is a prohibition against cursing a judge, and R. Akiva holds that אלהים is a sacred word, and the verse is a prohibition against cursing Hashem. And according to both views, we learn both laws from our verse — since it is not written תקל , [rather it is written תקלל ,] which Rashi explains as implying two curses. And the word אלהים [which is plural] also contains two meanings. Therefore we apply תקלל to both of them [i.e., to Hashem and judges]. (Nachalas Yaakov)

V. 27. קלל .לא תאור ,לא תקלל, Gegensatz von כבד schwer und Ehre, dürfte sich zunächst auf das "Gewicht", d h. auf den Einfluss und die äußere Stellung eines Menschen beziehen, wörtlich: wünschen, dass jemand "leicht" werde, sein "Gewicht" einbüße. ארר hingegen, verwandt mit ערר, vereinsamen, unfruchtbar werden, verdorren, und חרר, verglühen, wünscht Unsegen und Untergang der Person. Im Richter steht nicht sowohl das Individuum, als das Amt im Wege, während beim der Vorzug an Reichtum und persönlicher Würde ein Dorn im Auge ist. Darum נשיא ist der dem Richter zugewandte Fluch durch קללה, der des נשיא durch מארה ausgedrückt. Jenem flucht der Trotz, diesem der Neid. — בעושה מעשה עמך ,נשיא בעמך (Sanhedrin 85 a), wenn der Fürst sich mit seiner Handlungsweise nicht aus dem Volke eximiert, mit seiner Handlungsweise im Volke steht, sich, dem Volke gleich, dem Gesetze unterordnet.

NOR CURSE A ‘NASI’ OF THY PEOPLE — nasi means the one who is “lifted up” above his people, namely, the king. He thus mentioned that one is not to curse him in case he declares him guilty in a trial before him.
In the opinion of our Rabbis in the Gemara,³²³Sanhedrin 66a. Thou shalt not curse ‘Elokim,’ constitutes an admonition against blaspheming the Name of G-d, even by one of the substituted names [such as: Gracious and Merciful etc.].³²⁴See Mishneh Torah, Mada, Hilchoth Yesodei Hatorah 6:5. Thus He warned against cursing the King on high, blessed be He, and also the monarch that reigns on earth. The Rabbis have also said in the Gemara³²³Sanhedrin 66a. that included in the term Elokim, is the Glorious Name,³²⁵Deuteronomy 28:58. — I.e., the Tetragrammaton. as well as the judge who sits in the seat of G-d³²⁶Ezekiel 28:2. on earth. But it has not been explained whether the term nasi includes the head of the Great Sanhedrin,³²⁷The Great Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-one judges, and sat in the court of the Sanctuary. A small Sanhedrin of twenty-three judges was to be found in every city. who is called nasi in the Gemara.³²⁸Sanhedrin 19b. Harav Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon said³²⁹In his Book of the Commandments, Negative Commandment 316 (See Vol. II of my translation, p. 290). that he is included under the term of this prohibition. And so it also appears to me, on the basis of a question that Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi³³⁰Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi, the redactor of the Mishnah, was Chief of the Sanhedrin of his generation. — The question he asked concerning himself was whether he had, in the eyes of the Law, the status of a nasi so that [in the time of the Sanctuary] the law of a special sin-offering for the prince (see Leviticus 4:22-26) applied to him as well, since he was the nasi of the Sanhedrin, or perhaps because he had his counterpart in the Diaspora — the Exilarch — his authority was no longer unique as that of a king, and therefore his sin-offering is to be like that of any individual Israelite. It is thus obvious that the office of the Chief of the Sanhedrin as such is included under the term nasi. asked about himself:³³¹Horayoth 11b. “A person in my status, am I to bring a sa’ir³³²A male goat. See Leviticus 4:23. The individual Israelite brings a female goat as a sin-offering (ibid., Verse 28). etc.?” If so, He is stating: “Do not curse any ruler of the people, who holds a position of supreme authority over all Israel, whether that position be in the secular sphere of government or in the rule of Torah,” for the head of the Sanhedrin is the highest position in the authority of the Torah.

ונשיא בעמך לא תאור, cursing the legitimate authority of a country, its official rulers, will frequently result in the whole population experiencing the negative fallout of such curses. Compare what Solomon has to say on this in Proverbs 24,21 “fear the Lord my son, and the king; do not associate with those who keep changing.” [the author appears to read into above verse that hereditary royalty is to be obeyed in preference to elected rulers who are elected only for a limited period of time, and can be replaced by the will of the people even during their term of office. Ed.]

ונשיא בעמך לא תאור; not to curse the king if he imposed some penalty on you. Not only the king, any legitimate official is meant. Even a member of a religious court, i.e. one dealing with ritual matters, is included in this prohibition.

אלוקים לא תקלל, “Do not curse G-d or a judge;” the reason why this verse has been inserted here is because maybe the lender transgressed the law to restore a pledge under the circumstances defined in the Torah, and in his frustration, the borrower curses the judge who had permitted him to take that pledge as security for the loan, even though the judge had acted according to the law.

ונשיא בעמך לא תאור, “neither shall you put a curse on legitimately installed authorities in your land.” Usually only wealthy people rise to the position of chieftain, and usually such people are prepared to extend loans to the needy. It stands to reason that the legislation about pledges is directed at them therefore. The borrower is warned not to forget that he has been a beneficiary of that rich man’s possessions when he obtained the loan. It would be the reverse of gratitude if he were now to curse that chieftain.