Comentário sobre Números 14:48

כל העדה ALL THE CONGREGATION — This refers to the Sanhedrin (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 12; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 4:13 and Note thereon).

AND THE PEOPLE WEPT THAT NIGHT. The meaning thereof is that the spies went into the [people’s] tents towards evening, after they left Moses, and in the morning they [the people] rose early and they all murmured against Moses and against Aaron [as related in Verse 2]. And likewise Moses said,⁷⁸Deuteronomy 1:27. and ye murmured in your tents, for it was in their tents that they spoke words of a murmurer.⁷⁹Proverbs 18:8.
Now our Rabbis have said:⁸⁰Taanith 29a. [“That day was the ninth of Ab. Said the Holy One, blessed be He:] ‘They wept for no good reason; therefore I will establish [that day as one for] weeping throughout their generations’.”⁸¹The First and Second Temples were destroyed on the ninth of Ab, the anniversary of the night when the people wept without cause. Many subsequent misfortunes also befell the Jewish people on that day. But I do not know from what allusion in this section [of the Torah] the Rabbis deduced this interpretation. It is, however, a clearly-expressed verse [in the Book of Psalms]: Moreover, they scorned the desirable Land, they believed not His word. And they murmured in their tents, they hearkened not unto the voice of the Eternal. Therefore He swore concerning them, that He would overthrow them in the wilderness, and that He would cast out their seed among the nations, and scatter them in the lands.⁸²Psalms 106:24-27. Perhaps this [interpretation of the Rabbis concerning the destruction of the two Temples on that night of weeping] is derived from the verse which states, But your little ones, that ye said would be a prey,⁸³Further, Verse 31. which means: “But as for your little ones — it will be as you said, they will be a prey when the time of their visitation⁸⁴Jeremiah 8:12. comes, for I shall visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.⁸⁵Verse 18 here. — them will I bring in now so that they will just know the Land,⁸³Further, Verse 31. but they will not possess it [uninterruptedly] for all time.” Scripture only refers to such matters by means of allusion, for it does not want to decree evil categorically, unless it is a rebuke predicated on a condition.

ותשא כל העדה…ויבכו העם, And the whole community raised their voice and the people wept. The Torah adds the word "and the people," and did not content itself with reporting those who raised their voices. This is to tell us that it was not the whole community which wept on that night. The entire nation raised their voice (against Caleb, etc.) after the spies had succeeded in inspiring fear in them, but only part of the people actually wept.

Kap. 14. V. 1. ותשא וגו׳, d. h. ותשא כל העדה את קולם ויתנו את קולם sie brachen zuerst in ein großes Geschrei aus und ließen dann ihrer jammernden Stimme freien Lauf. — בלילה ההוא, nach Taanit 29 a war dies die Nacht des neunten Ab, jenes Tages, an welchem sich auch in der Folgezeit die trübsten Katastrophen des nationalen Untergangs vollzogen. Es dürfte dies das ההוא erklären, womit die Nacht dem Merken für die Zukunft empfohlen sein kann.

The entire community arose. According to the Sages, each one of the spies threw himself down in his tent and wept, and his entire family gathered around him, while he cried, “Woe unto you, etc.” Then the entire tribe gathered, etc. Immediately after this the spies were silent to hide the fact that they had caused the crying. What remained was, “and the people wept”.

Another method of interpreting this verse is based on Sotah 35 and Taanit 29. According to the Talmud, G'd told the people that seeing they had wept without good reason on that night (the 9th of Av), G'd would give them adequate reason in the future to weep on that date (the annivesary of the destruction of the Holy Temple). The words: "the entire community raised its voice," is an allusion to the unwarranted raising of their collective voice which eventually resulted in the people who lived during the destruction of the Temple weeping over its loss. Had the Torah simply written: "the people wept on that night," we would have understood this as referring to the people who had raised their voice at the beginning of the verse.

לו מתנו means WOULD THAT WE HAD DIED.

וילונו על משה ועל אהרן; who were G’d’s delegates charged with taking them out of Egypt and with saving them from fear of death in the desert; they claimed that all that Moses and Aaron had done was only in order to deliver the people into the hands of the Emorite.

וילונו על משה ואהרון, They murmured against Moses and Aaron, etc. The reason why the Torah repeats the fact that the entire people joined in that murmuring, once referring to them as "all the children of Israel," and once as "the entire community," is to make a distinction between the two requests the people voiced. The entire people of Israel were complaining; however the nature of the complaint was voiced against Moses by the people who represented the community. These people told Moses that their first choice of evil would have been to die in Egypt before the Exodus rather than be faced with death now after a futile march through the desert. Seeing that they did not have this choice having already left Egypt, the next worse fate they could wish for was to die a natural death in the desert. This was at least a viable option. They complained why G'd apparently had chosen to let them die an even worse death, i.e. at the hands of the Canaanites when they would attempt to dispossess them. In that event their wives would be taken prisoner, their children would become loot, etc. The words הלא טוב לנו mean: "would we not be better off to die in Egypt peacefully after G'd would bring us back there?" They would be prepared to return to Egypt in order not to die in battle and for their families to become prisoners? After all, it was possible that the Egyptians would not kill them when they returned there. At any rate, they did not mind that G'd would decree that they should die a normal death in the desert rather than that they would fall in battle for an objective they could not hope to achieve.

ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא, “The people spent that night weeping.” The spies had returned to their respective tents in the evening after having made their report to Moses, and on the following morning the people voiced their complaints against Moses and Aaron en masse. Moses referred to that fateful night in Deuteronomy 1,27 when he reminded the people with the words ותרגנו באהליכם, “you slandered in your tents.” Compare Proverbs 18,8 where דברי נרגן, are mentioned by Solomon in that context. [See Alshich’s commentary on that verse. Ed.]

Would that we had died. Meaning that it is not in the sense of “if” as in “would that I had a sword in my hand” (Bamidbar 22:29) and “would that they were wise” (Devarim 32:29). Rashi uses the word הלואי which has the sense of “would that…” It takes a vav afterwards similar to “מי יתן והיה לבבם” (would that it was in their hearts” (Devarim 5:26), therefore Rashi needed to add in the vav — הלואי ומתנו as if it had read “would that we had died.”

V. 2. וילנו וגו׳. Das Murren war allgemein, direkt mit Anklagen treten alle die stimmberechtigte "Gemeinde" bildenden Männer an Mosche und Aharon hinan.

Would we had died. We have already explained that the main complaint was to say that out of Hashem’s hatred for this generation He wanted to kill them in the Land of Canaan. They thought the reason for this hatred was either because they worshipped idols in Egypt or because of the Sin of the Golden Calf. This is why they cried: Would we have died in Egypt, or in this desert because of the Golden Calf.

AND WHY DOTH THE ETERNAL BRING US UNTO THIS LAND, TO FALL BY THE SWORD? OUR WIVES AND OUR LITTLE ONES WILL BE A PREY. They did not mention the false report [of the spies] about the Land, saying that the Land miscarrieth⁷³II Kings 2:19. and is bad, because the people hid this statement [of the spies] from Moses, since the delegates themselves had not said so when they brought back word to him and to all the congregation,⁸⁶Above, 13:26. for Moses and Aaron would have testified against them that they spoke falsely. The spies themselves hid this from Moses, fully realizing that he knew the nature of the Land from Egypt and Midian which are near to it, as I have explained.⁸⁷At the beginning of this Seder. Therefore the spies [only] told the people this evil report in their tents, in a secretive manner.
Now Moses said in the Book of Deuteronomy: And they brought us back word, and said: ‘Good is the Land which the Eternal our G-d giveth unto us.’ Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Eternal your G-d.⁸⁸Deuteronomy 1:25-26. The meaning thereof is that the spies did [indeed] tell Moses and Aaron and all the congregation that the Land is good,⁸⁸Deuteronomy 1:25-26. and surely it floweth with milk and honey,⁸⁹Above, 13:27. and the people rebelled against the commandment of the Eternal in not wanting to go up because of the statement [of the spies] that the people that dwell in the Land are fierce⁹⁰Ibid., Verse 28. — for G-d hath power to help, and to cast down,⁹¹II Chronicles 25:8. as is stated clearly there, The Eternal your G-d Who goeth before you, He shall fight for you.⁹²Deuteronomy 1:30. Therefore, since there was nothing to deter them [in the Land itself] except for the strength of the people, they should have trusted in the Name of G-d, for the battle is the Eternal’s.⁹³I Samuel 17:47. And we do not have to say [as does Rashi] that Moses said this [And ‘they’ brought us back word, and said, ‘Good is the Land etc.’] only about Joshua and Caleb, for why should the people listen to two [spies] and not believe [the report of] the ten!⁹⁴But according to Ramban, even the ten spies only spread an evil report about the Land in the people’s tents, secretly, but in the presence of Moses they all spoke well about it. Hence the word they in the verse, and ‘they’ brought us back word, and said: ‘Good is the Land etc.’ (Deuteronomy 1:25) refers to all the spies. Moreover it says there [in Deuteronomy 1: 23]: and I took twelve men of you, and it is with reference to [all twelve of] them that he [Moses] said, and they brought us back word.⁹⁵Ibid.

ולמה ה' מביא אותנו, what sin did we commit against Him that He made the effort to bring us to this crisis by using you two as His instruments? They thought that these present troubles were all retribution for the abominable things they had been doing while in Egypt, or on account of some other cause they were not aware of which had caused G’d to hate them. We know that they had concluded that G’d must hate them from their own words in Deuteronomy 1,27: “because G’d hates us He took us out of Egypt in order to deliver us into the hands of the Emorite.”

ולמה ה' מביא אותנו אל הארץ הזאת לנפול בחרב, “and why does Hashem bring us to this land to fall victim to the sword?” The people did not describe the land negatively, as had the spies to them, as they did not want to reveal to Moses that the spies had described the land as consuming its inhabitants. They did not do so, as the spies themselves had not voiced that sentiment in the presence of Moses and the whole community. They were well aware that Moses had first hand knowledge of the land of Canaan from the time he had been raised in Pharaoh’s palace, and the years he had spent in Midian, a land bordering on the land of Canaan. Had they stated as fact the accusation of the spies that the land consumed its inhabitants, Moses himself would have called them liars, testifying that he knew different. This is also why the spies had not dared to voice such an accusation in Moses’ presence. In fact, when Moses recalls the events which happened here almost 40 years later in Deuteronomy, he phrased it as follows: “וישיבו אותנו דבר ויאמרו 'טובה הארץ מאד אשר ה' אלוקינו נותן לנו', “they brought back word to us and they said “the land Hashem is giving us is very good.” Moses continues there saying that in spite of this “לא אביתם לעלות ותמרו את פי ה', “you did not want to ascend and you rebelled against G’d’s command.” (Compare Deut. 1,25-26) According to what had transpired in public the only reason that the people did not want to ascend was that the people in that land had been described as עז, powerful. Seeing that the only reason the people refused to ascend was that they were afraid of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan they displayed a lack of trust in Hashem who had up unto that moment overcome every obstacle that had lain in their path. There is no need to understand the people’s refusal as a lack of confidence in Joshua’s and Calev dissenting report, as if that were the issue, why should the people accept 2 men’s views over that of a clear majority of 10? The Torah had written that Moses had dispatched 12 men, so that when he referred to their report in Deut. 1,25 he clearly referred to the majority report.

!הלא טוב לנו לשוב מצרימה, “would it not be better for us to return to Egypt!” When an Israelite died in Egypt, at least he had someone to leave his estate to either to children, relatives, or at least to friends. Who could he leave it to in the desert? It would all go to the enemy.

נתנה ראש LET US MAKE A CAPTAIN — Understand this as the Targum does: Let us appoint a chief — i.e. let us set a king over us. But our Rabbis explain the word ראש to denote idol-worship (i.e. that they intended to turn to idolatry) (cf. Sanhedrin 107a).

THEN MOSES AND AARON FELL ON THEIR FACES. The reason for this was that they saw that the people were about to decide to appoint a leader and return [to Egypt] immediately; so the righteous ones [Moses and Aaron] arose and prostrated themselves with their faces on the ground saying to them, ‘I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly,’⁹⁶Genesis 19:7. and let this be no stumbling-block unto you.⁹⁷See I Samuel 25:31. Therefore it says [that they fell on their faces] before all the congregation of the children of Israel, for it was for their sake that they prostrated themselves on their faces [imploring them to abandon their plan to return to Egypt].⁹⁸Ramban here is excluding the possibility of interpreting their falling on their faces as a preparation for prayer (see further, 16:22). Therefore he points out that here it says that they [fell on their faces] before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel, thus indicating that they did so in order to implore them to abandon their plan of returning to Egypt. See also Note 155 further. Similarly, and he [David] fell on his face to the ground and bowed down three times⁹⁹I Samuel 20:41. [before Jonathan, is an expression of conciliation and supplication]. And the meaning of the word liphnei [“before” — ‘before’ all the assembly is like lahem [“for them” — to implore them, for their good, to renounce their plan of returning to Egypt]. Similarly, And his brethren also went and fell down ‘l’phanav (‘before’ him)¹⁰⁰Genesis 50:18. Here too, it could not mean that the brothers did so in order “to pray” to Joseph, but only to plead with him on their behalf. [also means “to” him — Joseph — to beg him for forgiveness]. There are many examples of this usage.

ויפול משה ואהרן על פניהם, when they saw the truth of (Kohelet 1,15) Solomon’s famous proverb that מעוות לא יוכל לתקן, that “when something has been twisted out of shape it can not be straightened out again.” The Talmud Sanhedrin 19 illustrates this when relating that the entire Sanhedrin out of fear of the King Yannai, perverted Torah law and only Shimon ben Shetach had the courage to tell the king the truth about Torah law on the issue under discussion, which would have embarrassed the king. Shimon ben Shetach appealed to heaven to uphold the one who had interpreted correctly. Thereupon the angel Gavriel killed the entire Sanhedrin, except Shimon ben Shetach. However, in order for such a tragedy not to occur again, the ruling that the king must testify and must be judged by his peers was revoked for the future.

When Yehoshua and Kalev saw that Moshe and Aharon humbled themselves before the people (by bowing down), a divine fire burned in them ... and they did not let them speak, but they spoke on their behalf...

ויפול משה ואהרן על פניהם לפני כל קהל עדת ישראל, “Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the entire congregation of the community of Israel.” They bowed their faces to the ground in full view of the whole community. The matter is comparable to Samuel I 20,41 ויפול לאפיו ארצה וישתחו שלש פעמים, David bowed with his face to the ground three times, (in taking his leave from Yonathan) [according to our author the expression in our verse above is also one describing deference. Ed.] When Moses and Aaron saw that the people had made up their minds to select a new leader and to head back toward Egypt, they bowed down imploring them not to commit such a grave wrong, one that would become a terrible stumbling block for them. Seeing that all the people were involved, Moses and Aaron made certain that their appeal would be heard by all those assembled.

V. 5. ויפל וגו׳. Durch das נתנה ראש des vorangehenden Verses war ihnen der Gehorsam gekündet, damit war ihrerseits ihre Sendung zu Ende. Sie warfen sich לפני כל קהל וגו׳ nieder. קהל עדת וגו׳ ist das mit der Leitung der Gemeinde betraute Kollegium, die Ältesten (siehe Schmot 12, 6). Indem sie vor ihnen sich niederwarfen, gaben sie das Volk ihrer Leitung zurück und sprachen damit aus, dass mit dieser Kündigung des Gehorsams ihre menschliche Macht zu Ende sei, sie nichts weiter vermögen.

"And Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces": Here it is not mentioned what they said to them, but it is mentioned in [Deuteronomy]....

ויהושע בן נון וכלב בן יפנה מן התרים, and Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Yefuneh who had been part of the team that toured the land, etc. Who did not know that these two had been part of the team? Why did the Torah have to mention this? The reason is that the Torah wanted to justify that these two men rent their garments in grief over what their colleagues had done. Some of the Israelites might have seen such an action as something presumptuous seeing that none of the elders had seen fit to rend their clothing. The Torah therefore had to tell us that the reason that Joshua and Caleb rent their garments was not that they felt superior to the elders, etc., but that they had experienced the beauty of the land of Canaan, something even Moses had not seen with his own eyes. They had greater reason to mourn what they stood to lose than anybody else. They also hoped to lend emphasis to their feeling of disgust that their colleagues had despised the land of Canaan by publicly rending their garments in the sight of all the Israelites. This was the most potent protest against what the ten spies had said that they could think of.

V. 6. ויהושע וגו׳. Hier, in קריעה, in dem Schmerzgefühl um Mosche, um das gänzliche Scheitern seiner Sendung und um die verhängnisvolle Verirrung des Volkes, steht Josua voran. קרעו בגדיהם, sie hatten sofort, als sie sahen, welchen Gang die Ereignisse nahmen, im Gegensatz zu ihren Gefährten ihre Kleider zerrissen.

IT IS ‘M’OD M’OD’ (AN EXCEEDING) GOOD LAND. The reason [for this emphasis] is in order to contradict the false report [of the spies] and to state that it is not [a Land] that eateth up the inhabitants thereof, for the air is good, and it is a Land flowing with milk and honey.³Exodus 3:17. The text of Rashi reads: “… unto a good Land,” which is taken from Verse 8, ibid.

הארץ אשר עברנו בה לתור אותה, to investigate both the country and its inhabitants, in accordance with Moses’ instructions “you will take a look at the land what are its characteristics and the people who dwell on it” (13,18).

ויאמרו…לאמור. They said…to say: What is the meaning of the word לאמור after the Torah has already told us to whom Joshua and Caleb addressed themselves? Perhaps Caleb and Joshua used this expression referring to the ten spies who had admitted that the land was indeed excellent, flowing with milk and honey. Whereas the ten spies described this excellent land as unattainable in order to justify their report, Joshua and Caleb used the excellence of the land as a reason to extol it. The word לאמור then means "to extol" much as in Deut. 26,27.

טובה הארץ מאד מאד, “the land is very very good!” They repeated the adjective twice in order to counter as much as possible the impression the spies had created that the land was devouring its inhabitants. Not only was the fruit very good, but also the climate is very good and that it why it was flowing with milk and honey.

V. 7. טובה הארץ מאד מאד, es ist nicht nur nicht ארץ אוכלת את יושביה, es ist טובה מאד מאד.

טובה הארץ, concerning what you have charged us to investigate the land, we testify that it is a good land, exceptionally good, without drawbacks. We do not agree with our colleagues who, although testifying that the land was good, added the reservation that the “land consumes its inhabitants.” Concerning what my colleagues have said: about the land “consuming its inhabitants, we can testify כי לחמנו הם, “they are our bread,” they will not even have the courage to frontally face us, the very opposite of our colleagues’ saying that they are a “tough people.”

טובה הארץ מאד מאד, "the land is indeed very good." They wanted to contradict the claim that the land consumes its inhabitants. This is why they said twice מאד, to say its fruit was good and it was pleasant to live in that land. Concerning the number of impediments which the other spies had enumerated they said that with G'd's help none of these factors mattered. They interpreted what they had seen to mean that G'd had already given the land to them on a platter.

'אם חפץ בנו ה, if the Lord has taken a liking to us. True, the goodness of the land depends in great measure on G’d taking a liking to us, as we know that this is a land which is constantly under G’d’s supervision so that disobedience to His laws will be promptly punished. All of this had been spelled out in Deuteronomy 11,12-13.

אם חפץ בנו השם, "If G'd delights in us, etc." They were clever to present G'd's attitude to the Israelites as something still doubtful. They did this in order to have a chance to finish what they had to say without hostile interruptions. They succeeded in this and the people waited with their attempt to stone them until after they had completed their speech. This is where we ought to ask why the Israelites did not try and stone them already at the beginning of their words seeing they said nothing different in the course of their speech than what they had said at the beginning. We must therefore assume that the conditional word אם at the beginning of Joshua's words gave the people hope that he too would come up with something negative before concluding what he had to say.

V. 8. אם חפץ וגו׳ und sein Besitz hängt nur davon ab, dass wir des göttlichen Wohlgefallens würdig bleiben. ארץ אשר היא וגו׳ drückt den ganzen Grad aus, in welchem sie über die Verlästerung des Landes empört sind. Sie haben das Land gesehen, es ist in Wahrheit, wie es ihnen immer verheißen worden: זבת חלב ודבש.

'אם חפץ בנו ה, “if Hashem had really been fond of us, He would not allow us to die in the desert.”

והביא אותנו אל הארץ הזאת, the very reverse of what our colleagues testified when they claimed “we cannot ascend against this people.” (13,31) The fact is that these people will not even offer us any resistance, as mentioned already in Exodus 15,16 “they will keep as silent as a stone until Your people o Lord have passed.” In fact, even forty years later when the people finally were poised on the borders of the land they did not encounter a single security fence of other defensive structures which these people had erected during the forty years that they had expected the Israelites to invade their land.

ונתנה לנו, we are certain of this because we have seen that not a single one of them has enough spirit left to confront us, they are only thinking of fleeing.

הוא זבת חלב ודבש, "it flows with milk and honey." They underlined their statement with the word הוא, to show that no other country could claim to match the excellence of the land of Canaan.

ארץ אשר היא זבת חלב ודבש, the land itself is productive without input by farmers”. The expression: “flowing with milk and honey” is applied to produce growing in the forest in Samuel I 14,25 וכל הארץ באו ביער ויהי דבש על פני השדה, “everybody came to the forest and the field was full of honey.” This would not have been possible if there had been anything inferior in that soil. [the author, of course, understands the word “honey” as hyperbole for excellent produce, in contrast to most commentators who understand it literally. Ed.]

אל תמרדו [ONLY] REBEL NOT YE [AGAINST THE LORD], and consequently ואתם אל תיראו YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO FEAR [THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND].

ONLY REBEL NOT AGAINST THE ETERNAL. This means that [Moses and Aaron told the people]: “Your being afraid [to go up] because of the strength of the people that dwell in the Land is [in itself] a rebellion against the Glorious Name,¹⁰¹Deuteronomy 28:58. for it was not because of your [own] strength that you came out of Egypt, but it was the hand of the Eternal that hath dealt wondrously with you.¹⁰²Joel 2:26. And He has assured you that He will drive them out from before you; if so, believe [in Him] and you will succeed.” They [Moses and Aaron] continued: neither fear ye the people, for they are bread for us, meaning that “even in the natural course of events and through normal methods of [warfare as practiced in] the world, they will fall before us, for the fear of us has overcome them and they will let us consume them like bread.”

אך בה' אל תמרודו, if you indeed want the soil of this land to correspond to your fond hopes of it, it is incumbent upon you not to rebel against G’d, something you have been told about repeatedly. (compare Deuteronomy 11,13-14 lines we recite at least twice daily.)

ואתם אל תיראו, "As to you, do not be afraid, etc." They admitted that any other nation would have reason to fear the inhabitants of the land of Canaan but not the Israelites. They added the letter ו before the word אתם, to say that though the people had accepted the majority report, this did not make it too late for them to change their minds and display faith in G'd.

סר צילם מעליהם, they have no more shelter behind which to take refuge, for all the inhabitants of the land are quaking in their boots, have lost their self confidence after they had heard that G’d had split the sea for you and drowned the Egyptians. Rachav, 40 years later,still relates to the spies that even then the impact of that miracle had not faded from the consciousness of the Canaanites (compare Joshua 2, 9-11).

אך בה' אל תמרודו!, “Only do not become guilty of rebelling against Hashem!” By being afraid of the strength of the inhabitants of that land you have rebelled against G’d, for you know very well that you did not leave Egypt by having defeated the Egyptians. It had all been Hashem’s doing. He has promised you that you will conquer the land of Canaan, and you have no reason to doubt that.

אך בה' אל תמרודו, “Only do not rebel against the Lord!” This verse teaches that a nation afraid [of other nations, Ed.] is an act of rebellion against the Lord. We have a verse in Proverbs 29,25 in which Solomon expresses a similar sentiment, i.e. “man’s fear becomes his own trap, he who trusts in the Lord will be safeguarded.” This fear may lead the frightened person to forget about G’d altogether. This is what the prophet Isaiah 51,12-13 had in mind when he said: ”what ails you that you fear man who must die like grass? You have forgotten the Lord your Maker!”

Consequently “and you…” With this Rashi makes sure that you do not say that these are two independent ideas. Rather one is the resultant of the other, meaning that if you do not rebel against Hashem, consequently you will not have to be afraid.

V. 9. ואתם, und ihr — alles, was sich an geistiger Größe, an sittlichem Adel, an göttlicher Bestimmung und Bundesnähe in dem Gedanken an Israels Vergangenheit und Bestimmungszukunft denken lässt, liegt zusammengefaßt in diesem "ihr". Seien sie die wuchtigsten Riesenleiber mit granitstärksten Felsenburgen, ihr solltet sie nicht fürchten. Vor dem Bewusstsein eurer in Gott und mit Gott starken, geistigen und sittlichen Kraft sollten sie in ihr nichts verschwinden. Ihr müsstet euch schämen, sie zu fürchtenl — כי לחמנו הם drückt eben die vollendete Widerstands- und Bedeutungslosigkeit dieser geistig und sittlich verkommenen und nur mit materieller Leiblichkeit imponierenden Bevölkerung dem göttlichen, geistigen und sittlichen Prinzipe gegenüber aus, das in Israel mit ihnen in den Kampf treten soll. סר צלם וגו׳: sie haben nur so lange Existenz, als sie im Schatten der Nichtbeachtung geborgen bleiben. Mit uns tritt aber Gott, seine Wahrheit und sein die Menschheit erlösendes Recht bei ihnen ein. Vor der Helle dieser Wahrheit schwindet der Schatten, tritt ihre Verworfenheit in das schärfste Licht, und in dieser Verworfenheit sind sie gerichtet und vernichtet — fürchtet sie nicht!

(Joshua and Caleb speaking) כי לחמנו הם , “they are just as if our bread, ready to be consumed. This expression describing enemies as if already utterly defeated, is based on Deuteronomy 7,16: ואכלת את כל העמים “you will consume all the nations.”

כי לחמנו הם FOR THEY ARE BREAD FOR US — i.e. we shall consume them as bread.

TZILAM’ (literally: “their shadow”) IS REMOVED FROM THEM. “That is, their shield and their strength [are departed from them]. The worthy ones among them have died. Another interpretation: the shade (protection) of G-d is departed from them.” This is Rashi’s language. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that “tzilam means the buckler and shield which form a shade [and protection] to people in battle, and they [Moses and Aaron] are thus saying that our fear has fallen upon them, so that they will not take buckler, shield nor helmet to arm themselves and fight against us.” He has explained it well.
But it is possible that Scripture is alluding to the well-known fact that there will be no shadow over the head of a person who is [destined] to die that year, on “the night of the seal.”¹⁰³This is a term signifying the night of Hoshana Rabbah, i.e., the night of the seventh day of the Festival of Tabernacles — the twenty-first of Tishri — when the “Heavenly seal” is put upon the judgment which was decided on the New Year [and Day of Atonement] for each individual and his fate in the coming year. The subject is mentioned by R’mah [Rabbi Moshe Isserles] in Orach Chayim 664:1. However, he discourages anyone from prying into the veiled future, for it is far better to be whole-hearted with the Eternal than to pay heed to such auguries of the future. See also the learned essay on this topic in “Studies in Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism” by Israel Weinstock, pp. 249-269. Therefore it says: “their ‘shade’ is already removed from them, meaning that death has been decreed upon them, and the Eternal is with us, for it is He Who dwells in our midst and does miracles and wonders for us in the eyes of all who behold us; therefore, fear them not.” Or it is possible that the verse alludes to the princes above [in heaven], for no nation falls unless its prince falls first, as it is written, The Eternal will punish the host of the high heaven on high etc., and afterwards, on the kings of the earth upon the earth,¹⁰⁴Isaiah 24:21. and as is explained in the Book of Daniel.¹⁰⁵Daniel 10:20. See Ramban above in Seder Beha’alothcha, 11:16. Thus the verse is saying: “the power under whose protection the nations [in the land of Canaan] live is already removed, and the Eternal Who lowered them is with us, therefore fear them not.” And thus the Rabbis said in Midrash Shir Hashirim:¹⁰⁶This is not found in our editions of Shir Hashirim Rabbah. Its source is an unknown “Midrash Shir Hashirim” quoted in the commentary to Song of Songs ascribed to Ramban (see my Hebrew commentary, second edition et seq. Vol. II, p. 528). “And the shadows flee away.¹⁰⁷Song of Songs 2:17. These are the princes of the nations and their angels,” for they are the protection over the nations. I have already mentioned this in other places.¹⁰⁸Exodus 20:3, and above 11:16.

ואתם אל תיראו, if you do not rebel against the Lord He will bring you there and you will have no reason to be afraid of anything, for they are our bread, we have seen with our own eyes that they did not even dare to attack the 12 of us. 40 years later Rachav the innkeeper of Jericho testified that the people were still terribly afraid of the Israelites, none of them summoning enough spirit to go to war against this people. (Joshua 2,11) סר צלם מעליהם, we have seen that they have decided to abandon all armed resistance, reminiscent of what we read in Kings II 7,15 when the armies of Aram had abandoned all their equipment in headlong flight, when they had merely imagined that they were being attacked.

ואתם אל תיראו את עם הארץ כי לחמנו הם, “and you must not be afraid of the people of the land for they are our bread!” Even if we were to confront them without miraculous help from Hashem, they will fall victim to us as they are already scared of us and have lost their former courage, making them as easy to devour as bread.

Like bread. As if it had stated “they are as our bread.”

כי לחמנו הם, "for they are our bread." The reason Joshua and Caleb compared the Canaanites to bread is explained by the Kabbalists. The latter have researched the kind of foods animals exist on and have tried to gain an insight into the significance of the respective animals' food supply. After all, had He but wanted to, G'd could have created the animals in such a way that they did not have to depend on food at all. We know that there are species which feed merely on the spirit (air) which serves such creatures as food. Seeing this is possible, why did G'd not make the Israelites independent of food and all that its preparation entails so that they could devote their entire lives to Torah study and the performance of the commandments? Not only that, but had we been created as independent of a food supply, we would not have been exposed to many of the potential pitfalls different kinds of food represent for us.

סר צלם מעליהם, “their protective shadow has already been removed from them. The Torah describes any “shield,” intended to protect as צל, “shadow.”

סר צלם THEIR DEFENSE (lit., shade) IS DEPARTED [FROM THEM] — i.e. their shield and their strength is departed from them: the virtuous among them are dead; one of them was Job, who had protected them by his righteousness (Sotah 35a; cf. Bava Batra 15a). [Another explanation is: the shade (protection) of the Omnipresent is departed from them]. (Cf. Psalms 121:5).

סר צלם מעליהם, “their protection has already departed from them.” Rashi explains the word צלם, their shade, as a simile for their celestial, horoscope, i.e. the angel provided for them in the heavens. The most able warriors that these people possessed have already died. Another explanation would understand the word צלם as a reference to the time when these people basked in G’d’s shade, i.e. G’d’s protection. Nachmanides, in referring to Ibn Ezra’s commentary that the word צלם is an alternative for מגנם, “their shield,” understands the absence of such a shield now as the absence of fear. The Canaanites had become infected with a fear of the Israelites who had for the last two years defeated every attempt to harm them. As of now the people are not even prepared to battle us with their protective shields held in their hands. It is possible that Moses’ words hinted at a tradition we have that on the night of Hoshanah Rabbah people who are slated to die during that year cannot find a shadow of their heads when they go out looking for it in the moonlight. Moses paraphrased this by saying publicly that these people if they looked for such a shadow of their heads would not find it, and that this would make them even more afraid of their fate. Yet another possible meaning of Moses’ choice of simile, is an allusion to the protective angel that G’d has assigned to each nation, an angel that is always withdrawn prior to the demise of that particular nation. G’d had withdrawn that angel from the Egyptians prior to their drowning in the sea.

Their shield. Because a person’s shield provides him with protection (shade), a shield is termed “a shade.”

I would have answered that if we had not been created in such a way that we are dependent on food for our existence, we would not have been able to fulfil all the commandments in the Torah which deal with certain foods. Our dependence on certain foods enables us to perfom the various commandments in the Torah which are related to food.

The Kabbalists (Shaar Hagilgulin chapter 4 by Rabbi Yitzchak Luria) did not answer our question in this vein. They have added an additional dimension which makes us perceive the lives of all creatures as more meaningful. All living creatures are perceived as achieving a higher level of sanctity by means of the food they consume. The very act of consuming the food helps the inherent level of sanctity they possess to become more manifest through being crystallized. This concept applies even to the "unclean" animals. None of the wicked people, not even Satan himself, is totally devoid of a certain degree of sanctity. In fact, the only reason a wicked person or Samael can continue to exist is this element of sanctity which he contains. The moment this element of sanctity is lost, the entire creature is lost, disintegrates. The same Kabbalists say in chapter 18 of the volume quoted above that it is this element of sanctity which is responsible for these creatures being able to perpetuate themselves when they mate with one another. This is explained in chapter 18 of the volume we quoted above. The spark of sanctity inside a creature is to be viewed as similar to a magnet, i.e. אבן שואבת, a stone possessing the power to attract. This concept helps us understand a saying in Shabbat 34 that when Rabbi Simon ben Yochai looked at a certain person, who had leaked matters which had been discussed amongst the scholars, with fatal consequences. As a result, that person (Rabbi Yehudah ben Gerim) turned into a heap of bones. The sanctity within that person was drawn to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, so that as a result the person in question disintegrated as he could not survive without that spark of sanctity. Keeping these concepts in mind, Joshua and Caleb considered the Canaanites as food for the Jewish people seeing that they had already lost whatever spark of sanctity they used to possess. They elaborated on this theme when they said that the Canaanites' shadow had departed from them, i.e. the spark of sanctity which alone had kept them alive thus far was already in the process of leaving them. The fact that השם אתנו, "G'd is with us," makes us like the magnet which draws unto it these sparks of sanctity which were still within the bodies of the Canaanites. As a result, there was absolutely no reason to fear these people.

לרגום אתם [BUT ALL THE CONGREGATION BADE] TO OVERWHELM THEM WITH STONES — them viz., Joshua and Caleb.

ויאמרו כל העדה לרגם אותם באבנים, The whole congregation said to stone them. Why did the people not react in a similar fashion as soon as Caleb said in 13,30: "we can certainly go up and inherit this land?" Presumably the people did not pay any heed to the testimony of a single individual, as such testimony is halachically meaningless when the witness is confronted by two or more witnesses disputing what he said (compare Deut. 19,15). Now that Joshua had joined Caleb, the two represented a valid set of witnesses and the fact that they were outnumbered was halachically irrelevant (compare Makkot 5). In law, the two sets of testimony ranked equally. As a consequence, the two testimonies cancel each other out so that legally speaking the people did not have whom to rely on. Feeling frustrated, the people wanted to kill the witnesses who made up the minority report.

Yehoshua and Caleiv. Not Moshe and Aharon, because they did not say anything.

V. 10. נראה באהל מועד: in dem Momente, in welchem der ganzen Nation der Untergang drohte, weil sie ihrer Bestimmung unwürdig geworden, fand die Herrlichkeit Gottes nur innerhalb des Gesetzesheiligtums Stätte auf Erden. Das dort niedergelegte Gottesgesetz und die ihm dort verheißene Zukunft bleibt, wenn auch ein ganzes zeitgenössisches Geschlecht für es verloren geht.

וכבוד ה׳ AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD [APPEARED IN THE APPOINTED TENT] — i.e. the cloud descended there (Sotah 35a).

The Cloud descended there. To absorb the arrows and stones. Rashi wished to answer the question: Surely the glory of Hashem constantly rested upon them, over the Ark-cover between the Cheruvim.

We also need to know why Joshua and Caleb did not invoke the rule we have just mentioned which would have invalidated the testimony of the ten spies? Perhaps they were afraid that the people would consider Joshua's testimony as prejudiced inasmuch as he was Moses' personal valet ever since his youth.

עד אנה means HOW LONG (while אנה is used of place — “where”, עד אנה denotes time - "until when").

?עד אנה ינאצוני, “What is the limit of their spurning Me? How long am I supposed to tolerate the disdain with which they treat Me?

ויאמר ה׳….עד אנה ינאצוני העם הזה, G'd said to Moses: "how long will this nation continue to spurn Me?" G'd's question was intended to forestall Moses praying on behalf of the people; it is similar to G'd having said הניחה לי, "let Me be," when G'd had told Moses about the golden calf (Exodus 32,10). The absence of the word לאמור in our verse is a hint that Moses should not speak.

אשר עשיתי בקרבו, “which I have performed in its midst.” Moses employed the singular mode when speaking of the Jewish people, as at one time they had been a united people. At that time that had been a sign that they were a people loyal to their G’d and His Torah.

עד אנה ינאצוני העם הזה ועד אנה, “how long will this people provoke Me, and how long, etc.” The sages of the Midrash (Tanchuma Shelach 12) said that G’d said: “I had to exclaim My displeasure in two exclamations” (twice the words עד אנה), therefore they will have to exclaim their frustrations when being exiled to four different empires. The four occasions when these exclamations are found as being made by the Jewish people are found in Psalms 13,2-3: “how long, O Lord; will You ignore me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long will I have cares on my mind, grief in my heart all day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand?”
The second exclamation by G’d was in verse 27: “how long will this evil congregation provoke complaints against Me?” David paraphrased the exclamation by the Jewish people as retribution for causing G’d to make this latter exclamation in Psalms 6,4: “my whole being is stricken with terror, while You, Lord, O how long?”

To what degree. But not “to which place” which is normally the meaning of “until where.”

V. 11. נאץ .ינאצני lautverwandt mit נחץ, eilig fortdrängen, heißt: über etwas als der Beachtung völlig unwert forteilen. Es ist der höchste Grad der Höhnung, die den Gegenstand gar keiner Berücksichtigung wert hält. Es entspricht dies vollkommen der kundgegebenen Gesinnung des Volkes, in dessen Urteilsbildung über seine Zukunft augenblicklich "Gott" ganz aufgehört hatte, ein Moment der Berücksichtigung zu bilden.

ינאצני means [HOW LONG] WILL THEY PROVOKE ME TO ANGER.

?ועד אנה לא יאמינו לי, How many more miracles must I perform for them until they will rely on My word?

בכל האותות אשר עשיתי בקרבו, “through all the miracles I performed in its midst?” Significantly, G’d did not say: “in your midst,” plural, but “in its midst, singular?”
According to the plain meaning of the text the reference is to the time when all the people were united, of one mind, in their devotion to the Lord.

עד אנה ינאצוני…ועד אנה לא יאמינו בי, "how long will they spurn Me and not have faith in Me?" If the people spurned G'd, what is the point in complaining about their not having faith in Him? Perhaps the expression "spurn" refers to the spies, whereas the statement about the people lacking in faith refers to the people at large.

בכל האתות FOR ALL THE SIGNS — This means: On account of all the signs which I have done for them they ought to have believed that I possess the ability to fulfill My promise.

Another interpretation understands that the words ינאצוני were directed at the people who did not only throw stones at Joshua and Caleb but even at the cloud which enveloped them, i.e. at G'd Himself (Sotah 35). Other Israelites were merely afraid of the Canaanites but did not engage in activities which gave vent to their frustration. G'd described this latter group of people as the ones who did not have faith in Him. Both categories of people qualified for the pestilence G'd was about to unleash at the Israelites. He used the word אכנו, "I will smite them," when describing how He would punish the ones guilty of spurning Him, whereas He used the term אורישנו, "I will destroy them," when addressing the ones who displayed acts indicating that they spurned the Lord. The latter punishment included forfeiting the world to come. The ten spies themselves suffered both penalties as we can see from verse 37. Sanhedrin 108 makes it clear that the ten spies have forfeited life in the hereafter.

When the Torah speaks of G'd wanting to make a new nation out of Moses, a nation more powerful than the Israelites of that time, this meant that G'd would provide Moses with spiritual powers he had not possessed up until that moment. The word ממנו means that the new Jewish nation would emerge as a continuation, i.e. re-incarnation of the present Jewish people. Their souls would undergo a process of transmigration to be able to emerge as a spiritually stronger nation.

These verses may also be understood as an attempt by G'd to present stronger arguments than the ones Moses had rejected at the time of the golden calf episode when G'd had once before proposed to make a new Jewish nation with Moses as their founder (compare Exodus 32,10). G'd reinforced the argument He had used to Moses at the time of the golden calf episode by pointing out that the people's behaviour had not improved in the interval. עד אנה, "how long is this supposed to go on?" They have spurned Me time and again so that there is no more any excuse to overlook their conduct. When G'd mentioned this He forestalled Moses who would have referred to G'd's image being denigrated if He allowed these people to be wiped out after all their misdemeanours. The Egyptians would not be able to say that G'd had already intended to wipe out this people at the time He took them out of Egypt. G'd also demolished the argument that these people had the merit of their forefathers going for them. No great king, especially someone such as G'd, could be expected to suffer such repeated spurning to which the Israelites had subjected G'd.

Shabbat 89 has the patriarchs Abraham and Jacob saying to G'd who had told them: "your children have sinned," that the Israelites who had spurned Him should be wiped off the face of the earth in order that G'd's honour not be impugned. Even the patriarchs did not want someone to anger G'd. Regarding the argument used by Moses during the episode of the golden calf that "G'd had taken so much trouble to orchestrate the Exodus of the Jewish people," and that therefore a new Jewish people could not have evolved during so many hundreds of years in an iron crucible such as Egypt, G'd said that in the end all these trials had proved worthless. The people did not even have faith in G'd after all the miracles He had performed on their behalf. As far as keeping the oath to the patriarchs was concerned, G'd suggested that Moses would become the founding member of a new nation descended from the original patriarchs. There remained the problem of how could one be certain that a new Jewish nation based on Moses would be any better than the present one? G'd argued that if the souls of the new Jewish nation would be based on Moses, surely they would be greater than those of the present Jewish people. Such souls would be closer to the source of sanctity than the souls of the present Jewish people had been. Compare my commentary on Genesis 49,3 about Reuben's soul having been flawed. The very fact that the present Jewish people had spent so many years in the morally corrupt climate of Egypt was a strike against them which a nation based on Moses would not have to contend with.

ואורישנו is an expression for “driving out” (here, driving out from the world, destroying). — And if you ask what I will do regarding the oath I have sworn to the Patriarchs (viz., to give the Land to their children; cf. Exodus 6:3—4), then I reply:

אכנו בדבר, as we read in Deuteronomy 2,15 “and also the Lord’s hand came upon them until He had rooted them out from the camp to the last man.” (the generation of the people who had accepted the majority report of the spies)

As Targum Onkelos renders it meaning annihilation. Meaning “eradication from the world.” It is not an expression denoting inheritance (ירושה). Rashi also explains like this further on (v. 24).

V. 12. ואורשנו: will es aus dem Hiersein vertreiben.

אכנו בדבר ואורישנו, “I will strike them with a pestilence and destroy them. G-d intended to do this so that no enemy will be able to boast that he has defeated G-d’s people.”

ואעשה אתך לגוי גדול I WILL MAKE OF THEE A GREAT NATION — [whereby My oath will be fulfilled] since you are one of their descendants (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 13).

ואורישנו, I will see to it that they have to leave what should have been their inheritance to others. This was similar to what Rashi (based on the Talmud Baba Batra) explained about the dead inheriting the living at the time when the land of Israel was parceled out to the various tribes. By means of the stratagem G’d fulfilled what He had promised in Exodus 6,8: “I will give to you the land as an ‘inheritance.’

Perhaps you will ask, “What will I do…” For if not so, what would its relevance be here. Was Hashem making an arrangement with him that He would make Moshe into a greater nation if he allowed Him to kill them? There are those who ask: Concerning the golden calf in Parshas Ki Sisa (Shemos 32:10) where it is also written “I shall make you into a greater nation,” Rashi explains “if a chair with three legs [cannot stand before you at a time of anger]…” (v. 13). The answer is that here Rashi is answering the question: Why did the Torah write “stronger than they”? It must have been in order to remove the argument that “a chair with three legs” meaning that your descendants will be like a chair with four legs. Since you are descended from the patriarchs it will have three legs, and your merit will provide the fourth leg. Alternatively ממנו (than he/they) refers back to Avraham who is the beginning of the lineage, and therefore your descendants will have four legs. However above the Torah does not write “than they,” which implies that the lineage would begin anew with Moshe — meaning that they would be called the children of Moshe rather than the children of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. In response to this Moshe said “can a chair with three legs…” If one investigates thoroughly he will see that this explanation answers many questions. (Divrei Dovid) I say that this question is not based on any logic. For in Parshas Ki Sisa only the merit of the patriarchs is mentioned, as Rashi there writes “if they are not saved in [the patriarchs’] merit, why do You say “I will make you [into a great nation] … can a chair…” However here it does not refer to merit, rather it refers to the oath given to the patriarchs, as Rashi explains. Thus if you ask: “What will I do about the oath given to the patriarchs,” one can easily answer that “I shall make you into a greater nation for you are descended from them” and thereby the oath would be fulfilled. Consequently it appears clear to me that there is no need to ask “can a chair…”

ושמעו מצרים WHEN THE EGYPTIANS SHALL HEAR IT — i.e. when they hear how you are killing them, [as stated in the previous verse].

AND THE EGYPTIANS SHALL HEAR ‘KI HE’ELITHA’ IN THY MIGHT. “And the Egyptians shall hear that you have killed them. Ki he’elitha. The word ki [here] means ‘that,’ [the meaning of the expression thus being:] ‘they have seen that Thou broughtest them up in Thy might from among them, and when they hear that You have killed them they will not say that [it is because] they sinned against You, but [they will say] that against them [the Egyptians themselves] You were able to fight, but not against the inhabitants of this land [of Canaan].’ And this is the meaning of [the phrase]: and they will say ‘el’ the inhabitants of this land¹⁰⁹Verse 14. ‘El’ usually means “to”, but in this context, as Rashi is pointing out, the Egyptians were not saying anything “to” the Canaanites, but “about” or “concerning” them. — what will they say concerning them? That which is stated at the end of the subject: Because the Eternal was not able to bring this people into the Land¹¹⁰Verse 16. — because the inhabitants of the land are strong and mighty, and Pharaoh [alone] is not like thirty-one kings [who ruled in the land of Canaan].” This is the language of Rashi. If so, the expression ‘el’ yosheiv [literally: ‘to’ the inhabitants]¹⁰⁹Verse 14. ‘El’ usually means “to”, but in this context, as Rashi is pointing out, the Egyptians were not saying anything “to” the Canaanites, but “about” or “concerning” them. will be like ‘al’yosheiv, (“concerning” the inhabitants), and there are also many such examples.
In my opinion, [however], Moses our teacher did not mean [to say] in [presenting] this argument that [the Egyptians will say that] the Canaanites are strong and mighty in battle and that Pharaoh [alone] cannot be compared to thirty-one kings — for G-d had smitten the Egyptians with a plague and killed their firstborns in one moment, and brought upon them great punishments out of heaven, [so they knew] that it is but a light thing in the sight of the Eternal¹¹¹II Kings 3:18. to destroy the strong and mighty by a plague, just as [He can destroy] the feeble and weak, [by means of special plagues]. But the meaning of this prayer [of Moses] was as if to say: “The Egyptians will think and say that the gods of Canaan have power to save the inhabitants from Your hand, since You executed judgments on the Egyptians and their gods before You brought this people out of their midst, but You could not do the same to the Canaanites and their gods. Thus this will constitute a profanation of G-d’s Name, and the hands of the idol-worshippers will be strengthened!” If so, it is possible that the expression, and they will say ‘el’ the inhabitants of this land¹⁰⁹Verse 14. ‘El’ usually means “to”, but in this context, as Rashi is pointing out, the Egyptians were not saying anything “to” the Canaanites, but “about” or “concerning” them. is to be understood literally, that is, the Egyptians will say “to” the people of the land of Canaan, “Because the Eternal was not able etc.,¹¹⁰Verse 16. for surely god is in you, there is no other god.”¹¹²See Isaiah 45:14, where foreign nations are saying this to Israel: Surely G-d is in thee, and there is none else, there is no other G d. Ramban, in following his customary style throughout his commentary, uses the verse with some change and thereby puts it in the mouths of the Egyptians who are saying it to the Canaanites about their idols.

ושמעו מצרים, Moses thought that when G’d had said: “I will smite them with pestilence” that He had in mind to strike all of them immediately, simultaneously. He therefore felt impelled to question what would this do to G’d’s great name? Surely, he argued, the Egyptians would ascribe this to G’d’s impotence in making good on His promise to this people, 'מבלתי יכולת ה' להביא את העם וגו, they would claim that G’d’s power did not include dealing with the Canaanites. Seeing that the Egyptians are aware of the effort You expended in liberating them from slavery in Egypt, and they are further aware that You have made the seat of Your residence on earth in their Tabernacle, the mere thought that You would now kill them on account of a sin would never occur to them

ושמעו מצרים, "and when Egypt will hear, etc." Why did Moses add the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of the word ושמעו, seeing this is the first comment Moses permitted himself after He heard G'd's reaction? Moses simply should have said: ישמעו מצרים, "Egypt will hear, etc." Furthermore, what did Moses have in mind when he said כי העלית? If he meant that the Egyptians would hear about G'd having taken the Israelites out of Egypt this does not make any sense at all. The Egyptians had been the first to witness G'd's miracles and the Exodus, after all! Besides, how does the killing of the Israelites contribute to the Egyptians' hearing about the miracles G'd employed to orchestrate the Exodus? If Moses intended to describe who these Egyptians were who would hear about these miracles of G'd, the question is whether there were any other Egyptians who could have heard about G'd's actions at that time? Even assuming there were such Egyptians, Moses' words clearly referred to the Egyptians with whom we are familiar.

ושמעו מצרים, “when the Egyptians will hear (about this).” According to Rashi, Moses was referring to the Egyptians hearing abut G’d having killed the Jewish people.

That You killed them. They will not hear that You brought them up, as would be understood from the simple reading of the verse; rather they will hear about their being killed. Thus the word “כי” here is in place of “אשר” (that). It is as if the Torah had said “Egypt will hear that You in your might have brought up this people from among them” and having seen the great unbounded love, they will not say [that their being killed is because] they sinned, rather that “It is because of [Hashem’s] inability…” (v. 16).

V. 13. ויאמר משה וגו׳ Mosche geht ganz ein in den Gottesgedanken, und spricht nur die Folgen aus, die sich seinem Geiste als unmittelbare Wirkung für das Gotteswerk darstellen, dem er ja, wie das Volk, als Werkzeug angehören. Gottes Werk für die Zukunft der Menschheit wird mit dem Untergange des zeitgenössischen Geschlechts nicht verloren gehen; noch einmal vierhundert Jahre und es ist ein neues abrahamitisches Volk aus Mosche entstanden, das sich zum Fortträger der abrahamitischen Verheißung darbieten kann. Allein in der Gegenwart wird die Vernichtung des Volkes gerade der Erleuchtung der Völker entgegenwirken, die eine der Hauptabsichten bildet, welche mit der Erwählung Israels bezweckt worden. Schon sind die Augen der beiden Kulturvölker der damaligen Zeit, Ägypter und Phönizier, auf dieses Volk als "Gottesvolk" gerichtet, und sie verfolgen mit ängstlicher Spannung seine nationale Geschichte, aus welcher ihnen die Ahnung eines Einzigen, Allmächtigen, frei über alles zur Rettung des Rechts und der Menschlichkeit auf Erden gebietenden Gottes aufgegangen, der eben mit Einführung dieses Volkes inmitten der Völker deren Göttern den Krieg gekündet. Die Ägypter — denn sie haben deine Kraft unmittelbar geschaut und gefühlt, mit welcher du dieses Volk aus ihrer Mitte heraus und zu dir und für den Hinaufzug in das von dir verheißene Land emporgehoben —; die Phönizier — denn sie haben auch bereits von der, in diesem sie bedrohenden Volke, seinem Schutze, seiner Führung offenbar werdenden Gottesmacht gehört — כי העלית וגו׳ ist Parenthese bis מקרבו, ebenso שמעו bis לילה. Dies והמתה nimmt den Gedanken wieder auf, und wegen der längeren Zwischenrede, wiederholt den in אכנו בדבר gegebenen Vordersatz, dem Mosche sein ושמעו sofort angeschlossen hatte, dem Sinne nach in והמתה וגו׳, und setzt den Nachsatz mit wiederholtem ואמרו fort. Der Sinn ist: Wenn du dieses tust, so werden die Ägypter zu den Phöniziern — beide sind doch schon auf dich aufmerksam geworden und verfolgen mit Spannung deine Weiterführung dieses Volkes — es werden also, wenn du dieses Volk nun plötzlich, auf einmal tötest, diese Völker, welche die Kunde von dir vernommen, sagen: מבלתי יכלת usw. Ein solcher Ausgang wird somit, deinem ganzen mit Israel beabsichtigten Zwecke entgegen, die Völker nur in Leugnung deiner einzigen allwaltenden Macht bestärken. Und zwar wird die Initiative zu einer solchen beklagenswerten Auffassung des Ereignisses von Ägypten ausgehen, das bereits mit so empfindlichem Schmerz zur Anerkennung deiner Macht gezwungen worden.

כי העלית, “although You have brought them up, etc.;” according to our author, the meaning of the word כי here is the same as the word אשר, “which or whom.”

כי העלית — The word כי here is used in the sense of אשר, “that”, and the meaning is: they have seen that Thou broughtest them forth in Thy great strength from their midst, and when they hear that Thou art killing them they will not say that it is because they have sinned against Thee, but they will say that against them Thou wast able to fight, but against the in habitants of the Land of Canaan, however, Thou wast unable to fight; and this is the meaning of —

כי העלית, “whom You have brought up, etc.” According to Rashi the word כי in this instance means the same as אשר, which, whom. Nachmanides adds that if so, the word אל יושב in verse 14, normally understood as “to the inhabitants, etc.”’ must be understood as על יושב, “concerning the inhabitants.” He therefore prefers to interpret that Moses’ intention when giving this answer, was not that the Canaanites would conclude that they had been perceived as brave and powerful and could not be compared to the Egyptians who did not have 31 kings to lead them, and who on account of their having only one king could be defeated by the G’d of the Israelites. The Egyptians, according to Nachmanides’ interpretation of Moses’ argument, would assume that the demise of the Jewish people would prove that the deities of the Canaanites were more powerful than those of the Israelites. The Jewish G’d, they would reason, had prevailed only over relatively weak nations, nations whose deities had proved inferior. This would constitute a major desecration of G’d’s great name, and would strengthen all the pagan nations in their mistaken beliefs. When we consider matters in this light, the words אל יושב may be understood at face value, i.e. that the inhabitants of Egypt would say to the inhabitants of Canaan that what happened had revealed the weakness and inadequacy of the G’d of the Jews who had mistakenly been perceived as invincible.

The answer must be connected to why Moses did not use the same arguments he had used after the sin of the golden calf. It is true that I have explained on the words עד אנה ינאצוני that G'd had spoken these words to prevent Moses from again advancing an argument he had used successfully at that time. Nonetheless, Moses had been at liberty to use the argument of זכות אבות, the merit of the patriarchs in conjunction with the argument that G'd's effforts would be perceived as having been futile. The combined arguments would help ward off an evil decree at this time.

However, Moses was very clever; he used the conjunctive letter ו to indicate that this was only an additional argument to others he would present. He emphasised that the Egyptians would most certainly hear about the demise of the Jewish people. The reason was that G'd had expended so much effort at the time to remove the Jewish people who had been an integral part of Egyptian society מקרבו, from within its midst. Whereas the whole world knew about the miracles G'd had performed at that time, the impression it had made on the Egyptian neighbours of the Israelites was far more pronounced. They would certainly follow the fortunes of this people to find out exactly how they progressed ever since they left Egypt. The word כי in כי העלית must be understood to mean "because," rather than "that."

Another way of explaining the letter ו is to provide an answer to why Moses appeared concerned only about the impression the demise of the Jewish people were to make on the Egyptians and not on the other nations. He explained this by saying "for You have elevated this nation from amongst its midst." The Egyptians -as opposed to any other nation- were well aware that the Israelites could never have revolted successfully and have escaped from their enslavement if G'd had not literally "lifted the Jewish people out of their midst." Once they would hear about this people dying en masse they would never again credit G'd with defeating the Canaanites Supposing even that G'd's plan to create a new Jewish nation out of Moses would be carried out, any success of that new nation in overcoming the Canaanites would henceforth be attributed to the strength of Moses' genes, not to G'd's interference in their fate. It is nothing unusual for a strong nation to defeat a weaker nation. The present Israelites were known to be militarily weak. Their victory over the Canaanites would enhance G'd's image. Any future Jewish nation which had never exhibited weakness as had the present Israelite nation would not be a vehicle for G'd to demonstrate His power. בכחך את העם הזה, "with Your Power THIS NATION." The whole strength of Moses' argument lay in these four words. Only the Egyptians would be able to respond in this manner as they had known the Jewish people from all the many years the latter had lived amongst them. They had truly known them, i.e. ושמעו מצרים.

ואמרו אל יושב הארץ which is the same as על יושב הארץ THEY WILL SAY CONCERNING THE INHABITANTS OF THIS LAND — What will they say concerning them? That which is stated at the end of the paragraph, (v. 16):

THAT THOU, ETERNAL, ‘NIR’AH’ (HAST BEEN SEEN) EYE TO EYE. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that “[this verse is to be understood in the light of what it says], And the appearance of the Glory of the Eternal etc. in the eyes of the children of Israel.¹¹³Exodus 24:17. Nir’ah is a verb in the past tense,¹¹⁴The Hebrew form nir’ah is used for both the second person feminine in the present tense [“you, a woman, are seen”], and for the third person masculine or feminine in the past tense [“he or she, a man or woman has been seen”]. The difficulty in our verse is that nir’ah referring to G-d [the Eternal] clearly is used here in the third person past tense, [since it is not a feminine word, and the context clearly refers to G-d having been seen in the past]. Yet the verse continues: [nir’ah] ‘atah’ using the second person pronoun atah (you), with the verbal form nir’ah, meaning He has been seen! Ibn Ezra therefore explains that this is equivalent to the single word nir’etha, (you have been seen), and quotes other examples of such usages. and it means ‘Thou hast been seen.’ Similarly, ‘v’neisha’ar’ ani¹¹⁵Ezekiel 9:8. In this case we have the same third person verbal form as nir’ah, i.e., v’neisha’ar, used in the first person, with the pronoun ani (I), as if it had said v’neisha’arti (and I remained). [is like v’neisha’arti — ‘and I was left’]. So also, for ‘umlal’ ani¹¹⁶Psalms 6:3. Since the word umlal used in that verse is vowelled with a patach it is clearly a third person form in the past tense; for were it to be a first person form in the present tense, it would be vowelled umlol with a kamatz. Thus we have another example of a third person verbal form followed by the first person pronoun ani (I). Hence it must be understood as if it were umlalti (I have languished away). [is like umlalti — ‘I have languished away’] because the letter lamed is vowelled with a long pathach.”¹¹⁶Psalms 6:3. Since the word umlal used in that verse is vowelled with a patach it is clearly a third person form in the past tense; for were it to be a first person form in the present tense, it would be vowelled umlol with a kamatz. Thus we have another example of a third person verbal form followed by the first person pronoun ani (I). Hence it must be understood as if it were umlalti (I have languished away).

ואמרו אל יושבי הארץ הזאת, and they will say to the inhabitants of this land, etc. The Torah fails to mention what precisely the Egyptians would tell the Canaanites. If the Torah meant that they would tell the Canaanites about G'd's inability, etc., these words should have been appended in the following sequence: "they will say to the inhabitants of the land of Canaan that G'd was unable, etc." The word ושמעו should have appeared at the beginning of the verse, not after "the inhabitants of this land."

ואמרו אל יושב הארץ הזאת, the Egyptians will say concerning the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, as Rashi explained on verse 13 (that the Jewish G’d was unable to cope with the Canaanites)

אשר עין בעין נראה, the entire verse illustrates graphically the visual experiences Israel had enjoyed in its relationship with G’d something that would make their committing the kind of sin on account of which their G’d would wipe them out unthinkable. [I paraphrased here. Ed.]

אשר עין בעין, “who appeared eye to eye.” Nachmanides refers to the commentators who understand this phrase as describing that G’d, when performing the miracles for His people, appeared to them as visible as when one human being sees another human being performing acts which used to be considered as beyond human capacity. The expression would be parallel to the expression פנים בפנים דבר ה' עמכם, “face to face did Hashem speak to you.” He suggests as a possible alternative interpretation of this expression that it describes a great vision, great spectacle, the word being used in a manner similar to when the Torah described the appearance of the manna as being ועינו כעין הבדולח, in Number 11,7, where it meant “its appearance was like the gemstone known as bedolach.”

V. 14. ואמרו וגו׳ (siehe V. 13). — עין בעין: das Menschenauge sieht dein Auge, die Menschen sehen, dass du siehst, gewahren deine schauende Gegenwart auf Erden. — ובעמד ענן אתה הלך לפניהם du gehst vor ihnen her und führst sie den Weg zu dem von dir verheißenen Lande.

ואמרו, “and the Egyptians will say, etc,”אל יושבי הארץ, “to the inhabitants of this land, etc.”What are they going to tell them? Because of G-d’s inability, etc.” (B’chor shor)

'מבלתי יכולת ה “Because the Lord was unable etc. … [he hath slaughtered them in the wilderness]”. — The connection between that verse and what preceeds is as follows: Because they have heard that Thou, O Lord, dwellest in their midst and that Thou appearest to them face to face and all this is in an affectionate manner (i.e. all this is evidence of the affection in which Thou holdest them), and until now they had not realized that Your love for them had been withdrawn.

We therefore must understand the verse as follows: ואמרו, when the Egyptians will hear about the fate of the Jewish people they will attribute this to their G'd's inability to overcome the Canaanites though He had been able to overcome them at that time. The Egyptians could construe two possible reasons for the demise of the Jewish people. 1) They did not qualify for the miracles it would take for their G'd to overcome the Canaanites. There is no comparison between overcoming the single Egyptian nation and overcoming of seven powerful nations such as the Canaanites. The fact that the Jewish G'd had overcome Egypt does not prove that He is omnipotent seeing that the Egyptians were far weaker than the Canaanites. G'd was not fond enough of the Israelites to orchestrate the type of miracles needed to overcome the Canaanites. 2) G'd did love the people sufficiently; however He was not powerful enough to overcome the Canaanites. This is why Moses said: כי אתה ה׳ בקרב העם הזה, "for You O Lord are in the midst of this people." Moses meant that G'd should not allow the Egyptians to conclude that the Canaanites too were beloved of G'd and that is why He did not disinherit them. The Egyptians were well aware of how beloved the Jews were in the eyes of G'd. If G'd did not bring them to the Holy Land and rather killed them, this could only be interpreted by them as proof of His impotence in the matter.

A’YIN B’A'YIN’ (EYE TO EYE). The double use of the word eye [in this phrase] has been explained by commentators¹¹⁷Onkelos, who translated it as: “who saw with their eyes.” as indicating human [behavior], for the eyes [of a speaker] look into the eyes of the listener to whom he is speaking. A similar case is the verse, Face to face did the Eternal speak with you.¹¹⁸Deuteronomy 5:4. And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the word a’yin is an expression for “vision,” [“appearance,” as in these verses:] ‘v’eino k’ein’ (and the appearance thereof was as the appearance of) bdellium;¹¹⁹Above, 11:7. and I saw ‘k’ein’ (as the appearance of) electrum.¹²⁰Ezekiel 1:27. The verse here is thus stating: “inasmuch as Thy Great Name is seen through the appearance of an appearance;” and this is also the meaning of the verse with reference to Ezekiel, And the appearance of the vision which I saw was like the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city; and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar.¹²¹Ibid., 43:3.

והמתה את העם הזה כאיש אחד IF THOU PUTTEST TO DEATH ALL THIS PEOPLE AS ONE MAN — i.e. suddenly; then, because of this the nations who have heard the fame of Thee [will say as follows]:

והמתה…כאיש אחד, "and You kill them..all at the same time, etc." Moses revealed here that he did not plead for G'd to forgive the Israelites their sin; he only pleaded that the retribution should be such that it did not result in a desecration of G'd's name in the eyes of the nations. This is why he emphasised the words כאיש אחד, "as one man."

Suddenly. (Nachalas Yaakov) There is a difficulty: In Parshas Vayechi it is written “because in their anger they killed a man” (Bereishis 49:6), and Rashi explains “this was Chamor and the people of Shechem who were only considered like one man.” Furthermore: When Rashi writes that as a result “the nations will say” this implies that specifically if they were to die suddenly, the nations would say so. However if they were not to die suddenly then they would not. What is the difference? It appears that one question is answered by the other. In Parshas Vayechi there would be no difference if they were killed suddenly or not, therefore Rashi was forced to say that the people of Shechem were only considered like one man. However here where he wished to conclude that “as a result the nations will say…” this would be understandable if they were to die suddenly in an unnatural manner, then they would know that it was through the hand of Hashem. However, if they were to die one at a time then they could say that they died naturally and thus the nations would not say … You should know that after Moshe’s prayer, Hashem said “I have forgiven them as you said.” Subsequently they died one at a time, and the nations did not say anything.

V. 15. והמתה וגו׳ (siehe V. 13). והמתה, wenn du nun, der Du doch deine Absicht, dieses Volk in das Land zu führen, so offenkundig dargetan, statt dessen כאיש אחד, plötzlich auf einmal, in ungewöhnlicher Weise das Volk sterben lässest. Offenbar entält dieses כאיש אחד schon den Gedanken, dass, wenn die des Landes unwürdig gewordenen Väter in naturgemäßer Weise nach und nach wegstürben und statt ihrer die Söhne erst in das Land kämen, dadurch die Gotteserkennung unter den Völkern nicht leiden würde. Nur das angekündigte plötzliche Gesamtsterben, wobei die Realisierung der Gottesverheißung erst nach Jahrhunderten zu erwarten sein würde, gibt jener Missdeutung Raum.

ואמרו הגוים, "and the Gentile nations will say, etc." Moses did not only refer to the Egyptians but to all the nations who would hear about the fate of the Jewish people. לאמור, to say; this word again means "something elevated," as we explained on 14,7. All the people who had thus far looked upon the G'd of the Hebrews as a supreme deity would now revise their estimate of G'd's capabilities if they heard that this G'd had wiped out His people as one man. Moses added the letter ו at the beginning of the word אמרו in order to indicate that he referred to all the Gentile nations not only to the Egyptians. Another reason for the open-ended word לאמור is that Moses did not know precisely what the Gentiles would say and in what order. When Moses spoke about what the Gentiles would say, i.e. ואמרו, he did not imply that they would be justified in what they would say. He was only concerned that they would say it anyway.

מבלתי יכלת וגו׳ BECAUSE THE LORD IS UNABLE etc., — “He is unable to bring them into the land on Canaan because the inhabitants of the land are strong and mighty; and besides, one king, Pharaoh, is not like thirty-one kings, who inhabit Canaan”. — This is what they will say concerning the inhabitants of this land (these kings): מבלתי יכלת because He had no power to bring them into the Land He hath slaughtered them (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 13).

מבלתי יכלת, "due to an inability, etc." This may either mean that the people would believe that G'd never had such power or that He had lost such power due to old age, etc. (compare Psalms 14,1). Either way, Moses could not envisage a greater desecration of G'd's Holy Name than to allow people to arrive at such conclusions.

Now the Torah explains first what would prompt the Canaanites to say what Moses assumed they would be saying if G’d were to wipe out the Jewish nation. They would recall that they had heard about what G’d had done on behalf of the Jewish nation, how He had displayed so much fondness for them in the manner in which He had redeemed them from their slavery in Egypt. If, in spite of this, He had now killed them in one fell swoop, this was not because He suddenly hated them, but because He realised that He could not keep His promise to them, being unable to overcome the 31 kings who banded together to resist the invasion of their country. Moses appeals for G’d to reconsider so that His Holy name would not be desecrated by the nations.

This is an abstract noun. [It is] not a verb in the feminine form. However [the word Hashem] lacks a lamed, and it is as if Scripture had stated “[lack of] ability of Hashem.”

V. 16. יכלת Substantiv wie יבשת המים (Bereschit 8, 7) קטרת etc.

'מבלי יכולת ה, “because of the Lord’s inability, etc.” the surrounding nations would not interpret G–d’s wiping out the Israelites as an act of punishment, because they had angered Him, but as an admission of His inability to fulfill His promise to them to bring them to the Land of Canaan. After all the gentile nations had had ample opportunity to have seen how much G–d loved His people as was described in verse 14. Therefore the only explanation of the demise of the Jewish people they could accept would be His inability to make good on His promise.

יכלת is a noun form.

העם, the people, etc. This verse is intended to counter G'd's intention to create a new nation from Moses' descendants. Moses argued that even this would be a desecration of the Lord's name. As long as G'd had not brought the nation to the land of Canaan His image would remain tarnished. Refer to what I have written on the word ושמעו on verse 13. The thrust of Moses' argument was that even though the Israelites had spurned their G'd, if He would retaliate by killing them in one fell swoop this would be a desecration of His name, world wide. When the Torah wrote in verse 13 "Moses spoke to G'd," the words "to G'd" may be a hint that his concern was for the damage killing the Israelites would do to G'd, i.e. to His image in the world.

('יגדל נא כח ה — LET THE STRENGTH OF MY LORD BE GREAT — by fulfilling Your statement.)

AND NOW, I PRAY THEE, LET THE POWER OF THE ETERNAL BE GREAT, ACCORDING AS THOU HAST SPOKEN, SAYING. “And what is that utterance? The Eternal is long-suffering¹²²Verse 18. — both to the righteous and to the wicked. When Moses ascended to heaven [to receive the Torah], he found the Holy One, blessed be He, writing: The Eternal is long-suffering. Whereupon he [Moses] said to Him: ‘To the righteous.’ But G-d answered him, ‘Also to the wicked!’ Moses then said, ‘The wicked — let them perish!’ Whereupon G-d said to him: ‘By your life! You will [eventually] need to resort to this’ [attribute — that G-d is long-suffering even with sinners]. When the Israelites had sinned because of the golden calf and spies, and Moses prayed to G-d that He be long-suffering with them, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘Did you not tell Me that this is [only] for the righteous!’ Whereupon Moses answered Him, ‘But did You not tell me that it is also for the wicked. Let then the power of the Eternal be great to do as You have spoken.’” These are the words of Rashi, based on the interpretation of Agadah.¹²³Sanhedrin 111a.
The way of Truth you will recognize because G-d’s Name in this context is written with Aleph Daleth (A-donoy) — [a Name which alludes to the attribute of judgment], and Moses meant to say that the greatness be in the power which is mercy, since it was the attribute of judgment that was directed against them.
Now Moses mentioned among the [Divine] attributes long-suffering, and plenteous in loving kindness,¹²²Verse 18. but he did not mention “truth” [although it is also one of the Thirteen Attributes],¹²⁴Exodus 34:6. for according to the attribute of truth they would have been guilty. Nor did Moses mention keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation,¹²⁵Ibid., Verse 7. because Moses did not pray [for mercy] here on the basis of the merit of the patriarchs, and [therefore] he did not mention Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at all in this prayer. The reason [for not mentioning them] was because the Land was given to the patriarchs, and it is from them that they were to inherit it, but they rebelled against their ancestors, and did not want the gift which the patriarchs desired very much, so how could he say now, [Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants,] to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self, … and all this Land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed,¹²⁶Ibid., 32:13. since they were saying: “We do not want this gift!”
Moses [mentioned here the attribute of forgiving iniquity and transgression but he] did not say and sin,¹²⁷I.e., of forgiving sin, as well as iniquity and transgression. See the verse in Exodus 34:7, where all three are mentioned: forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. The question then arises: Why did not Moses mention here sin? because these people were wilful transgressors and sinners. But I do not know why he did not mention [the attributes] merciful and gracious.¹²⁴Exodus 34:6. Perhaps Moses knew that judgment was directed against them and He would never forgive them; therefore he prayed only that [G-d be] long-suffering, and should not destroy them as one man,¹²⁸Verse 15. and should not slay them like sheep in the wilderness¹¹⁰Verse 16. where they would die in a plague. And since Moses only prayed now for [G-d to be] long-suffering, G-d said to him, I have pardoned according to thy word,¹²⁹Verse 20. meaning that “I will be long-suffering towards them and great in loving kindness.” He [Moses] mentioned visiting the iniquity of the fathers,¹²²Verse 18. meaning to say that [even] if He should see fit not to erase their iniquity, He should [at least] visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children,¹²²Verse 18. [thereby mitigating the severity of the punishment from upon one generation], and he should be long-suffering with them in meting out punishment upon them. It was because of this [prayer of Moses] that there was a [Divine] decree to fix a weeping for them on that night throughout their generations,⁸¹The First and Second Temples were destroyed on the ninth of Ab, the anniversary of the night when the people wept without cause. Many subsequent misfortunes also befell the Jewish people on that day. since He visited their sins upon their seed.
And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that “since we find the verse, Surely they shall not see the Land¹³⁰Verse 23. after G-d said, I have pardoned according to thy word,¹²⁹Verse 20. we know that the expression ‘s’lach na’ (pardon, I pray Thee)¹³¹Verse 19. In other words, since after G-d said, I have pardoned ‘according to thy word’ (Verse 20), He yet continues to state, Surely they shall not see the Land (Verse 23), it follows that Moses’ request, Pardon, I pray Thee (Verse 19) must mean only that G-d be long-suffering to them, but not that they be totally forgiven. Such is the interpretation of Ibn Ezra. Ramban will suggest another explanation of Moses’ request. [is a prayer that G-d be] long-suffering to them [but not that they be totally forgiven]. The same meaning also applies to ‘v’nislach lo’ (and he shall be pardoned),¹³²Leviticus 4:26. Here too the actual offering in itself does not effect atonement until the sinner repents (see Ramban in Vol. III, pp. 21, 54). Hence, says Ibn Ezra, the phrase v’nislach lo means that G-d will be patient and will not punish him until he has had a chance to repent. which implies [that G-d will be long-suffering with him] until he repents sincerely.”
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the term s’lichah means remittance of punishment, as Onkelos rendered it: [s’lach na — “Let go please”]. And the offerings [which one brings for a sin committed in error] remove the punishment for the error from him [the person who brings the offering].¹³³Hence v’nislach lo (ibid.) stated in connection with bringing a sin-offering means that “his punishment will be remitted.” So also, For Thou, Eternal, art good ‘v’salach’¹³⁴Psalms 86:5. The fact that the word “good” appears before v’salach indicates that the term s’lichah does not merely mean being long-suffering and patient [as Ibn Ezra has it] but expresses a complete remittance of punishment. [means “and are ready to remit punishment”]. And G-d said, ‘salachti’ according to thy word¹²⁹Verse 20. meaning [that He has remitted punishment] from the people as a whole, and will not smite them with a pestilence and destroy them,¹³⁵Verse 12. and make of Moses a nation greater and mightier than they¹³⁵Verse 12. while they and their seed will perish from the earth; instead, He will pardon them — so that their children [at least] will inherit the Land, and they [themselves] will not die in a plague, for He decreed that their carcasses perish in the wilderness¹³⁶Further, Verse 33. and that each will die when his day comes.
Now in the Book of Deuteronomy in mentioning the sin of the golden calf Moses recalled the prayer which He had prayed on their behalf, saying, And I fell down before the Eternal, as at the first etc.¹³⁷Deuteronomy 9:18. and he explained there what the prayer was, And I prayed unto the Eternal, and said etc.,¹³⁸Ibid., Verse 26. and he also mentioned his prayer on behalf of Aaron. But in [recounting] the affair of the spies he did not mention at all that he had interceded on their behalf. All this is for the reason that I have mentioned, namely, that he did not pray that G-d should forgive them [completely], but rather that He should remit their punishment and be long-suffering with them, and should visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.¹²²Verse 18. Thus his prayer on their behalf was not a complete one [inasmuch as he was not able to intercede for total forgiveness], and therefore [when speaking to the second generation in the Book of Deuteronomy] he did not mention it to them, since they might have complained against him [for not praying for total forgiveness, without realizing that he could not do so because of the greatness of their parents’ sin].

'יגדל נא כח ה, to suppress the demands of the attribute of Justice.

ועתה יגדל נא כח השם, "and now, I pray, let the Power of the Lord be great!" We need to analyse why Moses said: "and now," as well as why he said that G'd's power should appear great although He had not done anything to demonstrate wherein His power was so great. The word יגדל implies that G'd would perform some act which would enhance people's awe for His power. Why did Moses use the word נא in the middle of the verse? If it were meant as a plea he should have started the sentence with that word. If it meant something like "now," he had already said ועתה. Furthermore, what did he mean by the words כאשר דברת, as You have said?" What had G'd said, and when did He say it? What is the meaning of the word לאמור? To whom was G'd supposed to say this?

יגדל נא כח, to restrain Your anger. We know from Solomon in Proverbs 16,32 that “it is better to practice restraining one’s anger, than to display brute force as a proof of one’s power. Ruling one’s spirit is better than conquering a city.”

By fulfilling your word. Moshe did not request anything new [of Him], only to fulfill His word. This is what is meant by “as You spoke.”

V. 17. ועתה, und "nun" — wenn somit vielleicht der Ausführung des ihrerseits verdienten Unterganges andere Rücksichten entgegenstehen dürften, so hast du mir doch einen Einblick in deine Waltungsweisen gegönnt, in die ganze unendliche Größe, Mannigfaltigkeit deiner "Güte", und siehe — es ist dies ja ganz ein Fall, geeignet, deine Kraft in ihrer wahren Größe zu betätigen. יגדל נא, das Futurumzeichen ist mit einem großen י hervorgehoben. Alle die Wunder- und Machtgröße, die du bis jetzt in Mizrajim und an Mizrajim und in der Wüste geübt, sie reicht nicht hinan an die Größe, in welcher כח, deine weltschaffende, welttragende, Welt zur Erreichung deiner Zwecke überwindende und gestaltende "Kraft" — alles dies ist כח — erscheint, wenn du einem solchen Abfall gegenüber, wie du von deiner Waltung ausgesprochen, ארך אפים רב חסד נשא עון ופשע und selbst, wenn פוקד עון אבות על בנים ,נקה לא ינקה bist על שלשים ועל רבעים! Zerstörung nennt der heidnische Gedanke die Machtgröße seines Gottes. Nicht Macht, "Kraft" ist der Größengedanke vom Gotte der Wahrheit; "Kraft", die das ihr Gegensätzlichste zum freudigsten Einklang mit ihren Zwecken schöpferisch zu umwandeln weiß, "Kraft", die in dem ihr Gegensätzlichsten den verschwindendsten harmonischen Funken festzuhalten vermag, von ihm aus die Umwandlung des ihr Gegensätzlichsten im Laufe der Zeiten anzubahnen, "Kraft", für deren Erziehungswalten im Schoße der Menschheit Jahrhunderte zu Sekunden fortschreitender Entwicklung zusammenschwinden, "Kraft", die "Geduld" hat, weil ihrer die Ewigkeit ist. —

'ועתה יגדל נא כח ה, “and now I pray let the Power of the Lord be great;” Moses considers a display of being able to suppress one’s anger as the greatest proof of greatness. Our sages in Ethics 4,1, have defined the term גבור, “hero,” as someone who can conquer his emotions when they threaten to overrule his intellect. This is what Solomon already taught us in Proverbs, 16,32: טוב ארך אפים מגבור, “he who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.”

'יגדל נא כח ה, “let the power of Hashem be great!” Moses prays that G-d’s attribute of Mercy be more powerful than His attribute of Justice; the source of this argument is found in Proverbs 16,32: טוב ארך אפים מגבור, “he that is slow to anger is better than he who is mighty.”An alternate interpretation: Moses refers here to what he imagined the nations as saying when faced with the disappearance of the Jewish nation. He is challenging G-d to prove to all those who do not believe in G-d’s ability to let the Jewish people conquer the Canaanites and dispossess them, that they are indeed capable of doing just that.

כאשר דברת לאמר ACCORDING AS THOU HAST SPOKEN, SAYING — And what is the utterance which Thou hast spoken?

Seeing that Moses had been clever in his argument about the damage to G'd's world-wide image which killing the Israelites would entail, he added that there was another advantage for G'd if He would allow His anger to dissipate and let the Israelites enter the land of Canaan, an advantage that G'd had not enjoyed previously. The advantage to G'd would be that in view of the exaggerated report of the toughness of the inhabitants of that land G'd's power would indeed be perceived as great when He demonstrated it by helping the Israelites to conquer them.

ועתה יגדל נא כח אדני כאשר דברת לאמר die plötzliche Vernichtung der Gesamtnation wäre eine Verkündung deiner Macht; aber deine "Kraft" möge sich in ihrer ganzen Größe zeigen, wenn du sie leben lässest und trotz ihrer und mit ihnen und durch sie und in ihnen dein von ihnen verhöhntes Ziel erreichst. Und er nennt hier Gott: "אדני" mit jenem Namen, mit welchem die in den Dienst Gottes berufenen Werkzeuge ihre Beziehung zu Gott bezeichnen. Es ist dies ja eben die Waltung, die Menschen und Völker erziehende כח, die Gott ihm als Stempel Seines durch ihn zu vollbringenden Werkes bezeichnet, als er nach der ersten großen Gesamtverirrung des Volkes zu dessen Weiterführung sich die Offenbarung der Waltungsweisen erbeten hatte, welche ihn bei Lösung seiner Aufgabe begleiten werden (Schmot 33, 12 u. f.; — siehe daselbst).

כאשר דברת לאמר, “as You have declared, saying:” Moses refers to Exodus 33,13: where he had spoken to G–d asking Him to reveal to Him His way of reacting to the people’s sins if and when they would occur. He had requested that G–d reveal to him all of His attributes relevant to judging His creatures. At that time, when the glory of Hashem, passed by him while he was hiding in the cleft of a rock, one of the attributes G–d had revealed to him was the one known as ארך אפים, “slow to anger.” At this point Moses did not remind G–d of His attribute רחמים, “the Merciful One;” on that occasion both of theses attributes had to be called upon, whereas here there was no pointing referring to any attribute other than that of Mercy. He also did not refer to the attribute אל, G–d in His capacity of judge, seeing that he could not hope that G–d would completely ignore the people’s lack of faith and their having accused Him of hating them. He could only ask G–d to temper His anger by limiting the penalty. Moses concentrated on those attributes which, if displayed by G–d at this time, would preserve the people’s future, even if the people personally guilty of accepting the slander of the ten spies would obviously have to pay a price, i.e. they had rejected the Holy Land, therefore G–d would accept their rejection of it and not make them live in it.

'כח ה, the name of G-d here is the one we spell with the letter ד, i.e. adonay.

Moses added: כאשר דברת. This is a reference to the first verse in our portion where G'd's reason for despatching the spies is described as "to tour the land I am about to give them." We explained there that the land was not subject to conquest by the Israelites and could only be attained by them as a gift from G'd. G'd Himself had told Moses at the time to point this out to the Israelites. This was the meaning of the word לאמר in 13,1.

Our author details why Moses refrained from mentioning any Divine attribute which would prove counterproductive if Moses would refer to it.

כאשר דברת, “as You have said.” (During the episode of the golden calf.) There are minor differences between what was said then and what is recorded now. These differences are immaterial, as in almost all cases in the Torah when something is repeated the two versions are not absolutely identical

The meaning of the word נא is "now." Moses repeated this word. We have beeen told in Bereshit Rabbah 21,6 that the word ועתה invariably means that G'd provided an opening for man to do תשובה, to repent. Moses apologised so to speak for having said things to G'd about Him which should not be said by any human being although he had only paraphrased what he presumed that the Gentiles would say. We find an analogous situation in the Talmud when witnesses were required to repeat the exact words they heard a blasphemer say before such a blasphemer could be convicted (Sanhedrin 60). The witnesses in question have to rend their garments in grief and remorse at the words their mouths had to utter. Moses did something similar and that is why he added the word ועתה in addition to the word נא.

He may also have hinted that the word ועתה represented the remorse of the Israelites who prayed that G'd's power would be perceived to be great henceforth and that G'd should accept their repentance. We are told in Berachot 34 that repentant sinners are on a morally higher plateau than people who have never sinned. The reason is that G'd's name is sanctified more when the world perceives that sinners have changed their ways. Moses alluded to this when he said יגדל נא כח השם, i.e. "now Your power O G'd is even greater than heretofore seeing the Israelites had repented after their rebellion." The repetition of the thought by the word נא may also allude to the statement in Avot 4,22 that "one hour spent as a repentant sinner in this life is worth more than the the whole life in the world to come."

Another approach to our verse is this: Moses did not ask G'd to extend His pardon to all the people who had spurned Him, but only ועתה יגדל נא כח השם, to exact retribution from the perpetrators who spurned Him, from the spies themselves. When G'd is perceived as punishing the wicked His name is sanctified and exalted. Moses added: כאשר דברת, referring to G'd having said in verse 12 that He would smite them with pestilence. This statement could be read as referring only to the spies themselves. Moses added the word נא meaning "now," suggesting the spies be punished immediately as only then would their death be understood as the penalty for their crime. G'd complied with Moses' request as we read in 14,37 that "the men who had slandered the land died through pestilence in the presence of G'd." Please read on what I have written on that verse. The reason Moses added the word לאמור may be that He asked G'd to tell the spies before their deaths why they were being punished. It is also possible that Moses wanted G'd to tell the Israelites that the people who had spread lies about the land were being punished in order to frighten the people into not causing G'd to become angry again on their account. We find something analogous in Psalms 9,17 בפעל כפיו נוקש רשע הגיון סלה, "He works judgments; the wicked man is snared by his own devices. Higgayon, Selah." [The verse comes on the heels of the Psalmist demonstrating that G'd's powers of retribution were seen to have reached the enemies of the Jewish people. Ed.] The initials of the words ועתה יגדל נא כח equal the numerical value of the name of G'd, i.e. 86. The name used for G'd in the verse is also a reference to G'd in His capacity as Judge. Having said all this, Moses reverts to ask G'd's mercy for the people.

Yet another meaning of the word ועתה is that Moses referred to G'd's suggestion to create a new Jewish nation making him the founder. We have a tradition that the curse of a wise man, even if it was only conditional, leaves a mark (Makkot 11). A blessing by a scholar certainly does so also. When the blessing has been pronounced by G'd Himself, there is no question that He will not withdraw it. Moses prayed that G'd should preserve the Jewish people and be aggrandised through their very survival even though He was aware that what G'd had promised him would come true. We find indeed that Berachot 7 tells us that the descendants of Rechaviah (Chronicles I 23,17) Moses' grandson from his son Eliezer amounted to well over 600,000. Moses used the words דברת לאמור, to indicate that at the very time G'd had spoken harshly of the Israelites He had exalted him by contrast. [the word לאמור is used again in the sense of Deut. 26,17. Ed.]

Still another meaning of כאשר דברת, is that it refers to Moses himself becoming a great nation, even greater (in numbers) than the Jewish people at present.

If we accept this, we must examine why Moses did not react in this fashion as soon as G'd proposed to make him into a replacement of the present Jewish people. The words כאשר דברת refer to the time when G'd had offered to make a new Jewish nation with Moses as the founder at the time of the golden calf episode (Exodus 32,10). The word עתה, "now," means "this time" as distinct from the previous occasion.

A careful comparison will reveal that on the previous occasion when G'd had offered to make a new Jewish nation based on Moses, He had not added that that new Jewish nation would be more powerful because it would be ממנו, based on the original Jewish people, as G'd had done here in verse 12. I have explained that one of the possible reasons for the statement that the new and powerful nation G'd had referred to would be more powerful is that they would not have absorbed the morally negative influences due to having been part of the Egyptian culture. Having prayed that the Jewish nation should continue to exist in its present form, i.e. the nation that had experienced the Exodus, Moses now turned to G'd's promise to make a nation out of him. He declined, seeing that all G'd had promised was to use him as the founder of a continuation of the Jewish people [seeing he himself was a member of that nation. Ed.]. This is why he said to G'd: "now let Your power be great, etc." At the time G'd had offered to make a nation out of Moses during the episode of the golden calf, G'd had not used the word ממנו, i.e. that the new nation would be a continuation of the original Jewish people. It could be assumed that although, at the time, G'd had changed His mind about wiping out the people immediately, the promise made to Moses to make him into a great nation had not been cancelled. G'd could be presumed to have planted new souls at the time that would be fruitful and multiply. Perhaps this may even have been the meaning of the sages (quoted by Rashi) who claimed that Moses argued that if a stool with three legs had proved unstable how could a stool with only a single leg (Moses) be expected to be more stable? Moses had referred to the three patriarchs as the three legs of the Jewish people. This appears to be a very weak argument. After all, Moses himself was also a descendant of the patriarchs and the new nation would therefore be based on himself plus the "three legs" represented by the patriarchs? If you accept my interpretation that G'd planted new souls at the time He made that original promise in Exodus 32,10, then Moses' argument was solid, seeing these "new" souls would not have been descendants i.e. reincarnations of souls who had existed at the time of the patriarchs. As a result, they would have only a solitary "leg" to rely on i.e. their founding father Moses.

Another reason why Moses prayed at this juncture may be related to the word עצום which G'd had used to describe such a new "Jewish" nation. Moses understood that term to refer to the element of sanctity to be found in that new nation who would therefore not spurn Him. He prayed to G'd that this part of the promise should be speedily fulfilled. He added the word נא in the knowledge that the choice of doing good or evil was not something under G'd's control (Berachot 33). He begged G'd to create souls which had a tendency to be good.

ה' אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם “The Lord is long suffering” towards both the righteous and the wicked. When Moses ascended to Heaven to receive the Law he found the Holy One, blessed be He, engaged in writing: “The Lord is long-suffering”. He asked, “Surely only to the righteous?” The Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, “To the wicked also!” Whereupon Moses said: “The wicked — let them perish!” He (the Lord) replied to him: “I swear by your life that you shall eventually need this thing (the extension of My mercy also to the wicked)”. When the Israelites sinned at the incident of the Golden Calf and at that of the spies, Moses offered prayer before Him, with mention of God’s attribute of ארך אפים (of His being long suffering). The Holy One, blessed be He, then said to him: Did you not say, “Surely only to the righteous!?” Whereupon Moses replied, “But did You not tell me, ‘To the wicked also’?” Let then — Moses added — the strength of My Lord be great [even as Thou didst say] — by fulfilling Thy statement and not mine! (Sanhedrin 111a).

פוקד עון אבות על בנים, this may extend until the fourth generation, i.e. if the fourth generation of the original sinner will still continue in the wicked ways of their forbears that will make the measure of sin of those families in the third generation so full that it has become irreversible and G’d will take the appropriate action. If the sons and grandsons continued in the evil ways of their forbears but not until the fourth generation, G’d will suspend retribution to see how the fourth generation would conduct themselves before exacting retribution.

ה׳ ארך אפים, The Lord is slow to anger, etc. Why did Moses not invoke all of the thirteen attributes G'd had taught him after the sin of the golden calf? We may understand this in accordance with Rosh Hashanah 17. We quote: "ה׳, ה, I am the Lord before man sins as well as after he has sinned and has repented his sin." In my commentary on Exodus 34,6 I have quoted what the Rosh has to say on this subject as well as my own understanding of it. You have learned that the attribute of Mercy has to be invoked on behalf of man even before he has sinned. In this instance Moses had to invoke that attribute only after the sin. This is why he said השם only once.

ה', the attribute of G’d as the Eternal; The Holy name is not repeated here as it had been when Hashem revealed 13 of His attributes to Moses in Exodus The reason is that in that context it meant that Hashem is and remains Hashem before man sins as well as after he has sinned and before he has repented. G’d is ready to forgive man’s error, as long as man displays remorse. This was an attribute that it was appropriate to stress in context of the sin of the golden calf as in Exodus 34 the people had already repented and done what they could to cleanse themselves of their sin. In our context, at the time when G’d responds to Moses, the people had not yet become penitents, hence the attribute Is mentioned only once.

Those who repent. You might ask: Surely this verse is also written in Parshas Ki Sisa (Shemos 34:7) and there Rashi explains the entire verse. The answer is that here he only explains the word “acquits” in order that one not question Rashi’s earlier comment “slow to anger” which meant both to the righteous and to the wicked. However here it writes “acquits” meaning the righteous “but does not acquit” meaning the wicked. Thus Rashi explains that He acquits those who repent but He does not acquit those who do not repent.

V. 18. ד׳ ארך אפים וגו׳, und er hebt die Seiten der ihm offenbar gewordenen göttlichen Waltungsweisen hervor, deren Betätigung er eben in dem gegebenen Falle anrufen möchte. ארך אפים steht im Vordergrunde: das sich lange Gedulden mit Befriedigung der berechtigten Forderung. Statt verdienter augenblicklicher Vernichtung gestattet diese Weise Zeit, lange Zeit zur Besinnung, zur Besserung, zur Erhebung aus dem Fall, zum Wiedergutmachen des Verscherzten. Und רב חסד, jener Liebesreichtum, der nicht knickert mit der Liebe, der immer Vorrat hat an Liebe, der sie gibt und wieder gibt, und bereit ist, sie zum tausendsten Male wiederzugeben, wenn sie bereits neunhundertneunundneunzigmal war verscherzt. נשא עון ופשע: das Emporheben, Hinwegheben der Krümme und Empörung, dass ihre Last den bewusstvoll, aber in Leidenschaft vom rechten Weg Gewichenen, ja, dass sie selbst den in offener Empörung gegen Gottes Gesetz Begriffenen nicht begrabe. Endlich jene Tiefe der Liebesgröße der göttlichen Waltungsweise, die jede Gegenwart in ihrer Zukunft, den Menschen in seinen Kindern und Kindeskindern, das gegenwärtige Geschlecht in seinen kommenden Geschlechtern mitbegreift, und wo sie, eben um Menschen, Geschlechter, Zeiten zu reinigen, um sie zu retten aus sittlichem Untergange, נקה לא ינקה, nicht die geringste Verirrung ohne Umkehr ungeahndet lässt, doch diese Umkehr auf Geschlechter, auf Zeitfolgereihen verteilt, und ehe sie den Stab über den Großvater bricht, auf den Urenkel hinschaut, der vielleicht sich wieder besinnt und die sittliche Höhe wieder hinanklimmt, von welcher der Ahn — irrend, strauchelnd, frevelnd, hinabgesunken —נקה לא ינקה פקד עון אבות על בנים על שלשים ועל רבעים (siehe Schmot 34, 6-7 und 20, 5).

ונקה לא ינקה, “and He will not let a guilty person be exonerated completely without having paid a price for knowingly having sinned.” [This is the standard explanation of this expression. Ed.] Our author- if I understand him correctly,- understands it as G–d saying that the world we live in will never be completely free of deliberate sinners. He used Jeremiah 30,11 as his proof for this interpretation. The Prophet there says: ויסרתיך למשפט ונקה לא ינקך, (after having wiped out the sinful nations) “but I will not let you go unpunished, but I will chastise you in measure”.

ה׳ ארך אפים, “the Lord is slow to anger;” Moses does not mention the attribute “el” here in connection with erech apayim, though it usually is mentioned. The reason for this is that it normally reflects aspects of G-d’s power, and Moses did not want G-d to display His power against Israel. He also did not mention the attributes of rachum v’chanun aspects of G-d’s mercy and grace, as these attributes are used when describing G-d as bestowing gifts on mankind, as we know from Psalms 37,21: וצדיק חונן ונותן, “and the righteous excels in generosity and keeps giving.”Moses did not beg G-d to show his people favoritism, but he wanted Him to grant forgiveness on the basis of the attribute: emet, “truth,” but on the basis of what is known as lifnim mishurat hadin, somewhat beyond the strict requirements of justice. However, the word אמת describes absolute truth, without allowances being made for special considerations of the person or persons being judged. (compare b’chor shor on Leviticus 5,15.) An alternate interpretation: the reason why Moses omitted to refer to G-d’s attribute of truth is that he did not want G-d to employ that attribute as it had been mentioned by G-d when He said: “I will smite them with pestilence,” which would have been what the Israelites deserved at that stage. [after all, surely G-d would not have exceeded the application of pure justice as represented by emet, truth. EdMoses also did not invoke G-d’s attribute of נוצר חסד, “storing up good deeds,” performed in the past by the party or parties being judged. G-d had told Moses, that on the contrary, the people had tested Him beyond endurance already 10 times [and had certainly used up any reservoir of goodwill they had built up in the past. My words. Ed.]

ונקה AND HE CLEARS those who repent,

ארך אפים ורב חסד, “slow to anger and abundant in kindness.” Nachmanides draws attention to Moses not referring to the attribute אמת which G’d had also revealed to him in Exodus 34. He could not do so now, as seeing that the people had not yet repented, Moses could not invoke an attribute of G’d which comes into play only after the people had owned up their own version of אמת, truth, by having sincerely repented. Moses did not mention such attributes as נוצר חסד לאלפים, “Preserver of kindness for thousands of generations” (Exodus 34,7) either, as he did not invoke the merit of the forefathers in his present prayer. Moses had not referred to Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov in his prayer on this occasion at all, seeing that the land had been deeded to these patriarchs and the people’s sin here consisted of their rejecting this very inheritance. Moses did not mention the attribute known as חטאה at this juncture either, as that attribute could be invoked only if the sins committed had been committed inadvertently. When sins were committed knowingly, or even in a spirit of rebellion against G’d, it would have seemed frivolous to mention that attribute. I am not sure why Moses did not invoke the attributes of רחום וחנון on this occasion. Perhaps it is because he was aware that the entire scenario was one in which dominance had been given by G’d already to the attribute of Justice. There could no longer be any point in appealing to G’d’s attributes of pity, etc, as those attributes presuppose at least some redeeming aspect in what the sinner had done. He did mention G’d’s attribute of ארך אפים, inordinate amount of patience when dealing with sinners, which manifested itself here by the people not dying all at once, but their punishment being spread over a period of 38 years. In deference to Moses’ invoking only the attribute of G’d’s patience, G’d responded by saying: “I have forgiven, in accordance with your words,” i.e. by spreading the decree of death in the desert over a whole generation. (Verse 20) Moses also did invoke the attribute known as פוקד עון אבות על בנים, that G’d remembers the sins of the fathers to their children, [another kind of deferment of punishment, i.e. if the fathers had been punished in full, the children would never have been born to them before they died. Ed.] when He decreed that for having wept when they had no reason to weep, they would have to weep for many hundreds of years on the anniversary of the destruction of the Temple, something they would have reason to weep about if they reflected on their history. At any rate, as mentioned, G’d’s response to Moses’ prayer was:

Tossaphot in Rosh Hashanah 17 quote both the Rosh and comments by Rav Nissim according to whom the first word השם in Exodus 34,6 is not part of the 13 attributes at all. It is only inserted to tell us who it is that is reciting the remainder of the attributes. Accordingly, there was never a reason for Moses having to say השם השם. We only need to understand how Rav Nissim could disagree with all the earlier authorities.

בנים sind hier überhaupt Nachkommen, und ist erst der Begriff der "Waltungsweise" durch אבות על בנים ausgedrückt, und deren Begrenzung dann על שלשים ועל רבעים beigefügt. שלשים sind nämlich schon Urenkel, und würden, wenn בנים nur Kinder bedeutete, בני בנים wie Schmot 34, 7, fehlen, daselbst 20, 5 lautet wie hier.

פוקד עון אבות על בנים, “visiting the sins of the fathers on the children;” this is another aspect of G–d’s attribute of Mercy, that He delays punishing the fathers, waiting if the children or grandchildren will return to Him before carrying out the punishment that had been deserved by them. In Exodus 34,7, where the list of G–d’s attributes first appears, the wording isבני בנים , “grandchildren,” not “children,” as here. In both instances, the point G–d makes is that while He may delay exacting punishment, depending on the severity of the sin in question, He will not allow sins that are not repented to go totally unpunished.

וחטאה, “an inadvertent transgression;” Moses could not invoke this attribute of G-d as what the people had just become guilty of could never be called “inadvertent.”

לא ינקה BUT DOES NOT CLEAR those who do not repent (Yoma 86a; cf. Onkelos and Rashi on Exodus 34:7).

Perhaps we should understand Rav Nissim to mean that he explained what the other authorities had said. When they referred to the two words השם referring to G'd's attribute of Mercy before the sin and after the sin which the sinner repented respectively, they meant to tell us that the quality of G'd's mercy has not changed because man sinned. G'd tells us that there is no new element in His attribute of Mercy as a result of man having sinned. This consideration may also help us answer the question of the Rosh. The latter had asked why G'd's attribute of Mercy needs to be invoked before the sin at all. Actually, it does have to be invoked even then. You will note that Moses also skipped three more attributes of the 13 attributes G'd had revealed to him; he did not mention either קל, רחום, or חנון. The reason was that these three attributes need to be invoked only if someone either finds himself in trouble already and has no means of extricating himself. Or, it may be invoked on behalf of someone already suffering severe pains; it may also be invoked on behalf of someone totally deprived of any of the good (pleasant) aspects of life. Moses commenced with invoking G'd's patience, ארך אפים, which is something He extends even to deliberate sinners. We are told in Sanhedrin 111 that when Moses ascended to the celestial regions in order to receive the Tablets, he found G'd occupied writing the word ארך אפים. He assumed that G'd meant that He extended His patience to the basically Torah-observant people. G'd corrected him saying that he extends His patience even to the habitual sinners. Moses objected saying that those ought to be wiped out. G'd told Moses that he would soon learn that even the habitual sinners had need of this attribute of His. When Israel sinned, G'd asked Moses: "did you not say that I should be patient only with the righteous?" Moses retorted: "Did You not tell me that You extend Your patience even to the sinners?" This is what Moses meant when he said: "now let Your power be great!" In other words, Moses invoked the attribute called ארך אפים. Moses also invoked the attribute of רב חסד, abundant loving kindness, as he wanted G'd to tilt towards love rather than towards retribution when judging the people. He omitted mentioning the attribute of אמת, Truth, neither did he refer to the attribute of נוצר חסד לאלפים, that G'd keeps His mercy towards thousands of generations, as neither of these two attributes were relevant to the situation under discussion. He did mention G'd's attributes as being נושא עון ופשע, forgiving iniquities of varying degrees of severity, as both of these attributes were needed in this situation. He omitted that G'd forgives unintentional sin, חטאה, as it did not apply here either. He mentioned the remainder of the thirteen attributes as they all had bearing on the present situation.

V. 19. בגדל הסדך .סלח וגו׳, so feiert der Vorsehungspsalm 145 die "Größe" Gottes vorzüglich in Schilderung seiner Liebe. — וכאשר נשאת לעם הזה וגו׳: die ganze bisherige Geschichte von Mizrajim bis jetzt war ja auch nichts als Betätigung deiner verzeihenden Liebe, die dem Verirrenden und sich Versündigenden gegenüber Ertragung übt, und ihn nicht unter der Last seiner Sünde den verdienten Untergang finden lässt. Beides liegt ja wohl in dem Begriff נושא עון. Der נושא עון nimmt gleichsam die Sünde auf sich, hilft sie dem Sünder mittragen, führt ihre Sühne und seine Heilung auf anderem Wege, als durch seinen Untergang herbei. — Wiederholt heißt es: העם לעם הזה ,הזה, sein jetziges Verfahren steht nicht im Widerspruch mit seinem ganzen bisherigen Benehmen, es ist nur der Gipfel des Abfalls, zu dem es auch bisher immer hingeschwankt.

סלח נא לעוו העם הזה, “please forgive the deliberately committed sin of this nation!” This is a reference to the sin of the spies;

וכאשר נשאת לעם הזה ממצרים ועד הנה, “just as You have upgraded the sins of the nation ever since they left Egypt especially the episode of the golden calf, [by remembering their lowly origins. Ed.].

כדברך [I HAVE FORGIVEN] ACCORDING TO THY WORD — i.e. because of what you have said, “Lest they say: ‘Because the Lord was unable, etc.’”.

סלחתי כדברך. As you said when I mentioned smiting them all with pestilence. Even when I said this, I had not intended to smite them all simultaneously; I had intended to let them all die, little by little, in the desert, preventing them from crossing to the land of Canaan.

ויאמר ה׳ סלחתי כדברך, G'd said: "I have forgiven according to your word." G'd meant that He had not forgiven the sin absolutely, only, -as Moses had asked- that He would not kill them as one man. This was in response to Moses' argument that otherwise G'd would be perceived as unable to conquer the Canaanites. At any rate, He would invoke His attribute of ארך אפים by spreading the punishment over 40 years. The following verses are all illustrations of what G'd meant by invoking His attribute of ארך אפים on the one hand, and swearing an oath that all of the people would suffer retribution on the other.

סלחתי כדבריך; I forgive immediately. The word is phrased in the past tense, just as Avraham had said to Ephron נתתי כסף השדה, “I have given the money for the field,” when he had not done so yet at all. He had meant that he had held the money available for the moment it would be required. Similarly, G’d had held His forgiveness in reserve awaiting the pretext to trigger it. (Genesis 23,13)

"I have forgiven as you have spoken": The forgiveness was complete, because each person lived out their days, but despite that they would not see (yir'u) the land, because that is a gift, and they were not deserving (re'uim) of it.

סלחתי כדבריך, “I have forgiven in accordance with your own terms.” The “forgiveness” referred to the people as a whole, meaning that He would not smite the people with pestilence immediately, and His forgiving the people would result in their children, at least, inheriting the land that had been promised to their fathers. However, He decreed that their carcasses would all be buried in the desert, each one of them dying at a predetermined date already set by G’d at this time. In the Book of Deuteronomy Moses makes mention of the prayer he had prayed on behalf of the errant people at the time of the golden calf, and he also mentioned his prayer on behalf of Aaron at that time. He did not, however, refer to the prayer he had offered on behalf of the people on this occasion. The reason is that Moses had not prayed to G’d to forgive the sin of the people, but that he had only tried to get G’d to temper the punishment. He had tried to invoke the attribute of ארך אפים so that He would defer the impact of His decree over a longer period of time. Had he mentioned his prayer to the generation of the children in Deuteronomy, these children most likely would have criticized him for not having appealed on behalf of their parents in stronger language.

Lest they say. But not because of your “words” — because you prayed for them and said “Please forgive…” (v. 19). For if not so, what is meant by “just as you spoke”? Surely “I have forgiven them” [alone] would be sufficient!

V. 20. ויאמר ד׳ סלחתי כדברך. Gott hatte bereits von vorhinein aus denselben, von Mosche hervorgehobenen Beweggründen ihre Verzeihung beschlossen, hatte mit V. 12 Mosche nur das angekündigt, was des Volkes Abfall ohne diese äußeren Rücksichten erheischen würde, um Mosche selbst einen Einblick in die Natur der göttlichen Waltung finden zu lassen, gleichzeitig ja auch ihm eine Gelegenheit zu geben, seine vollendete Selbstlosigkeit zu betätigen. Nicht das leiseste Gefühl von Bitterkeit hat sein Gemüt gegen das Volk, dessen Aufruhr ja zunächst gegen ihn gekehrt war, und nichts Verlockendes die glänzende Aussicht, ein zweiter Abraham, der Stammvater des verheißenen Gottesvolks zu werden! Nur einer solchen ענוה, einem solchen völlig selbstlosen Charakter ist es vergönnt, sich zu dem Erschauen der göttlichen Waltung, zu der, der göttlichen Einsicht entgegenkommenden menschlichen Einsicht zu erheben. Nur einer solchen ist die von allem Subjektiven ungetrübte Objektivität, möglich, die ein solches Erschauen voraussetzt (vergl. Schmot 6, 14-30 über die Vorbedingung עשיר zur נבואה). Psalm 99, 6 wird die Gottesnähe Mosche, Aharons und Samuels in der Erhörung vergegenwärtigt, die Gott ihrem Anrufen gewährt: קראים אל ד׳ והוא יענם. In diesem קראים ruht aber das א und es wird קורים gelesen, als ob es von der Wurzel קרה wäre. Wir glauben, dass in dieser Schreib- und Leseweise das Geheimnis entüllt ist, weshalb sie mehr als andere Sterbliche auf Erhörung rechnen durften. Mit dem, was sie von Gott erflehten, "begegneten" sie Gott, kamen sie Gott entgegen. Sie erflehten nichts Ungehöriges. Mit ihrem Flehen standen sie auf dem Standpunkt der göttlichen Waltungsgedanken und kamen den Erwägungen der Gottesgedanken entgegen. Es ist ganz das: סלחתי. — סלחתי כדברך. Wir haben bereits (Bereschit 24, 21) die Verwandtschaft von סלח mit שלח und צלח angedeutet. Hier haben wir סלח in dieser seiner eigensten Bedeutung. Durch die Versündigung des Volkes war sein ganzes Fortschreiten in die Zukunft gehemmt. Gottes Milde und Waltungsweisheit lässt es noch einem solchen Fortschreiten wieder zu.

'ויאמר ה, “Hashem said (in response to Moses’ plea): “I have forgiven in accordance with your words.” G–d teaches Moses that He has set aside a date in the calendar reserved for forgiving, i.e. the day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.” This Day will serve as the day for forgiveness throughout the generations. To the question whence we know that G–d forgave the people the sin of the golden calf on that date, we derive this from when Moses had asked G–d to act as He had done “when the people had recently come out of Egypt,” (verse 19).The day G–d had forgiven that sin had also been the tenth day of the month of Tishrey. Furthermore, G–d having said to Moses here: כאשר אמרת “as You had said,” is a clear reference to the first time G–d had forgiven the people as a whole.

I have forgiven according to your words: that I will be patient with them (literally - lengthen my breath of my nostrils) and I won't kill them immediately.

סלחתי כדבריך, “I have forgiven, as you yourself have said,” i.e. the episode of the golden calf. Now, however, I am unable to do so. And have to demand what is My due.

כדבריך, I will not punish and kill them immediately, but will spread the punishment over the next forty years.

Another meaning of the word כדברך could be that G'd responded only because of Moses' having pleaded on behalf of the people, as well as the fact that one of Moses' arguments had been the presumed reaction of the Gentile nations if G'd were to wipe out the people all at once. We have already explained that Moses described the Gentiles' reaction as being either that G'd had ceased to be powerful, or that His powers sufficed only to overcome the Egyptians, not the more powerful Canaanites. G'd said (verse 23) ואולם חי אני, "in fact I am very much alive," in response to the Gentiles who would presume G'd to have faded away. Concerning the alternative reaction by the Gentiles that G'd did not have the power to disinherit the Canaanites, He said וימלא כבוד ה׳ את כל הארץ, that at the end of the period of retribution for this sinful generation He would demonstrate to one and all that He did have the power to carry out what He had said, that the seven Canaanite nations would be wiped out. G'd based His alternative plan of retribution and a degree of pardon for the Jewish people only on the honour He wished to bestow on Moses whose pleas He did not want to be perceived as having been rejected.

An alternate interpretation: “in accordance with your request.” G-d refers to two occasions when He had forgiven the Jewish people, once during the episode of the golden calf, and now for the sin of the people being misled by the majority report of the spies. On the first occasion His forgiveness had been more comprehensive, i.e. He had used more of His attributes in doing so. This is why He adds the words: “according to your words.” You yourself, by appealing to only a part of the attributes I have taught you to use when the need arises to appeal to Me, are in agreement that this situation cannot be compared to the incitement of the mixed multitude at the time when you had not returned from Mount Sinai for over forty days, and they thought you might not be able to return. G-d reminded Moses that he himself had agreed that the rules of justice were not to be bent, by omitting to appeal to this.

The author continues to find hints of this in the difference of the spelling of the word כדברך without the plural letter י i.e. כדבריך, which the rules of grammar would have dictated as the correct spelling. By condemning the generation of male adults who had left Egypt at the Exodus to die only gradually, about two and a half percent a year, G-d demonstrated that the principle of considering the positive accomplishment of the past generation when dealing with the younger generation had been considered by Him even here.

ואולם BUT, means , (I will not slay them), but this will I do unto them (what is mentioned in v. 22 ff.).

AS I LIVE. “This is an expression of an oath. AND ALL THE EARTH SHALL BE FILLED WITH THE GLORY OF THE ETERNAL. 23. IF THEY SHALL SEE THE LAND. This is an inverted verse [and the sense of it is as follows:] As I live, says the Eternal, [I swear] that all those [that have seen My Glory … and did not listen to My voice — Verse 22], if they shall see the Land [Verse 23], and My Glory shall fill [all] the earth [Verse 21], so that My Name will not become profaned through this plague, [by the nations] saying: Because the Eternal was not able to bring them [into the Land],¹¹⁰Verse 16. since I shall not kill them suddenly as one man,¹²⁸Verse 15. but over a delayed period of forty years, little by little.” This is Rashi’s language. But it is not correct at all.¹³⁹Rashi’s interpretation requires the rearrangement of the second half of Verse 21 [and all the earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Eternal] after Verse 23, since this second part of Verse 21 is not part of the oath of the Eternal. Ramban, however, does interpret it as part of the oath, which [as he continues to explain], starts at the beginning of Verse 21, and hence there is no need to rearrange the second half of that verse and to place it after Verse 23. See also Note 147. Rather, these verses omit the oath [itself] out of respect to Him Who is on high, [and the meaning thereof is as follows]: “As I live and all the earth shall be filled with My Glory — if all these men who have tested Me shall see the Land, this matter shall not be so!” Similarly, As I live, saith the Eternal … If ye come into the Land¹⁴⁰Further, Verses 28-30. omits the [Divine] oath [meaning: “If they shall come into the Land, it shall not be so!”] Similarly we find verses speaking of a human being which shorten the oath: G-d do so unto me and more also,¹⁴¹II Samuel 3:35. See also Vol. I, pp. 273-274, where Ramban discusses this theme briefly. where Scripture did not want to set forth the imprecation. G-d do so unto the enemies of David, and more also¹⁴²I Samuel 25:22. — here the verse omits the blessing.¹⁴³That is to say, David pronounced a curse against himself, but did not wish to use an actual curse; therefore he blessed his enemies, so that he would be cursed. Nonetheless he only alluded to it, but did not actually express the blessing. Similarly we find that Caleb said to Joshua, Thou knowest the thing that the Eternal spoke unto Moses the man of G-d concerning me and thee,¹⁴⁴Joshua 14:6. and it is written there, And Moses swore on that day, saying: Surely the land whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to thee and to thy children forever, because thou hast wholly followed the Eternal my G-d.¹⁴⁵Ibid., Verse 9. This refers to that which is written here, But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the Land wherein he went, and his seed shall possess it.¹⁴⁶Verse 24 here. And Caleb [in the Book of Joshua, quoted above] mentioned an oath [and Moses ‘swore’] in connection with this promise, because it is all joined to the verse, But in very deed as I live,¹⁴⁷Verse 21. According to Rashi, however, [see Note 139 above] the oath is completed at the end of Verse 23. Verse 24 promising a reward to Caleb is therefore not part of the oath. But according to Ramban, the Divine oath continues up to the end of Verse 24, and Caleb could therefore properly refer to this promised reward of his as one given by oath. Ramban continues to explain why Caleb mentioned that Moses swore. which is an oath, as I have explained [above]. Caleb said, and Moses swore¹⁴⁵Ibid., Verse 9. because Moses mentioned the oath.¹⁴⁸Further, Verse 39: And Moses told these words unto all the children of Israel. And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], But in very deed as I live — and all the earth shall be filled with the Glory of the Eternal constitutes a promise to Moses about forgiveness, the verse stating that all the earth shall be filled with His Glory through the seed of these people, but not through them [the generation of the exodus].

ואולם חי אני וימלא כבוד ה' את כל הארץ, “I swear that just as I am the G’d Wo Am alive and Whose glory fills the whole earth, etc.” כי כל האנשים, the ones who are twenty years and over אם יראו את הארץ, that they will not get to see the land. This is one of the examples where the word אם is not followed by a תנאי כפול, i.e. spelling out both what will happen if the conditions of an agreement are met and what will happen if the conditions are not met. Other examples are found in Genesis 14,23 when Avraham refuses to allow the King of Sodom to “give” him the victor any of the spoils of war. Samuel I 19,6 also has such an unaccompanied word אם, letting the reader arrive at his own conclusions.

ואולם, however.

ואולם חי אני, “But, as I am alive, etc.” Rashi understands this phrase as an oath, claiming that it is an incomplete, truncated phrase and actually continues to the end of verse 23 Nachmanides writes concerning Rashi’s interpretation that it is not an oath, and that the Torah deliberately refrained from quoting G’d as having said anything that could be interpreted as an oath, as it would be unseemly to quote G’d as having sworn an oath unless He himself said so specifically. [Remember that the words quoted here, were spoken by Moses. When G’d utters an oath, He is quoted directly, as in Genesis 22,16 בי נשבעתי נאום ה', “I have sworn by My own self, etc. Ed.] According to Rabbi Chavell, Nachmanides means that if the words וימלא כבוד ה' את כל הארץ would not be part of an oath they should have appeared only at the conclusion of verse 23. Appearing as they do where they do, means that they are the rationale why G’d does not kill all the people now, as if He were to do so, the argument which Moses had portrayed the Egyptians as using to demonstrate G’d’s impotence to defeat the Canaanites would gain public support world-wide. When an ordinary person commences a sentence in a manner similar to the above, i.e. כה יעשה לי אלוקים, “may G’d do such and such to me,” and he leaves the other half of the sentence unspoken, this is also to be interpreted as a לשון שבועה, a formula of an oath, according to Nachmanides. (Compare Samuel II 3,35, Kings I 2,23)

As I live. There are texts that read “As I live is an expression that denotes an oath.” Just as I live and My glory fills all the earth, so I shall fulfill to them “for all the people…” However afterwards these texts do not read “if they will see the Land, and My Glory will fill all the earth, so that My Name will not be desecrated through this plague…” These texts explain “and the Glory of Hashem fills…” as meaning “just as My Glory fills the entire land,” similar to the understanding of Ibn Ezra. According to this explanation there is no need to rearrange the passage (see Rashi’s comment to v. 23). However according to the text that we have written before us, “if they will see…” the passage should be rearranged as follows: “As I live, for all the men…” These texts explain “and the Glory of Hashem fills…” in the future tense (will fill…), like the second explanation given by Ibn Ezra. Thus it is necessary to rearrange the passage and explain “My Glory will fill all the earth, so that My Name will not be desecrated through this plague,” all in the future tense. According to this explanation one has to omit the words above “and My Glory will fill all the earth” and to merely read “as I live, so shall I fulfill for them…” Re’m writes that the passage should be rearranged. The words “the Glory of Hashem will fill” should be at the end of the entire passage since they are related to the oath. And afterwards, “Hashem says ‘Why do I delay punishing them — so that My Glory will fill all the earth and My Name will not be desecrated among the nations — to consider Me as not having the ability.’” This explanation is according to the texts that we have before us.

V. 21. ואולם חי אני וגו׳. Es dürften dies eben die Momente sein, die wir V. 17 u. 18 anzudeuten versucht und die die Betätigung der Waltungsweise ארך אפים in diesem Falle motivieren. So gewiss חי אני, mein die Ewigkeit ist, und über jeden gegenwärtigen Augenblick hinaus ich in jede Zukunft hinein meine Ziele vertagend sie zu erreichen vermag, und so gewiss ימלא כבוד וגו׳, Israels Geschick im Dienste der Gesamterleuchtung der Menschheit steht, deren Herbeiführung das letzte Ziel meiner Waltungen bildet, so gewiss diese beiden Momente für die Nichtvernichtung des Volkes sprechen: so gewiss ist es aber auch,

ואולם חי אני, “Nevertheless, as truly as I live for ever,” this is a formula for an oath. Hashem does not spell out the details of this oath. He contents Himself with warning Moses that He has to be concerned with insuring that the whole earth will become filled with His glory. This is one of the reasons why the Jewish people have to be given the land He had promised that Avraham’s children would inherit. If this were not to happen His name would indeed become desecrated; therefore the children of the generation that had been redeemed from Egypt would be the ones that would prove that He had fulfilled this promise. The men who had been redeemed as adults from Egypt, however, could not be allowed to do so, seeing that they who had experienced all the miracles G–d had performed for them in Egypt had still not inspired them with sufficient faith that He could make them defeat the Canaanites. Their children who had not witnessed all these miracles would do so, however.

חי אני AS TRULY AS I LIVE — This is the formula of an oath: Just as it is true that I live and that all the earth is filled with My glory, so, indeed, will I fulfil regarding them My threat “that all the men who have seen etc.”. [אם יראו את הארץ — This verse is out of order: Its connection with what precedes it is as follows: As truly as I live, I swear that all the men who have seen My glory etc. shall not see the Land, “and yet My Glory shall fill the earth”, since My Name will not become profaned through this plague which I proposed to bring upon them by people stating: “Because the Lord is unable to bring them into the Land etc.” since I shall not then be killing them suddenly, as one man (v. 15), but during a prolonged period of forty years — little by little].

וינסו— Take the passage as what it literally implies: AND THEY HAVE TESTED [ME].

ולא שמעו בקולי, "and who did not listen to My voice." Inasmuch as the Jewish people had previously been granted the privilege to be personally addressed by G'd at Mount Sinai, G'd now was very angry that they had not listened to His voice at this time.

עשר פעמים, not literally, but meaning “many times.” We have encountered such expressions in Genesis 31,7, as well as in Leviticus 26,26, and in Job 19,3. In neither instance is the word עשר to be understood literally.

Twice at the sea. This is the language of the Gemara in chapter Yesh Be’arachin (Arachin 15a): It was taught in a Beraysa: Our forefathers tested Hashem ten times. Twice at the sea, twice with the manna, twice with the quail, twice with the water, once with the golden calf and once at the desert of Paran. The explanation is as follows: Twice at the sea: Once when they descended to the sea, as it is written “is it because there were no graves in Egypt…?” (Shemos 14:11). Once when they ascended as it is written “and they rebelled at the sea of Reeds” (Tehillim 106:7); this teaches that Yisroel were rebelling at that moment saying “just as we came up from this side, the Egyptians are coming up from the other side.” Twice with the water: At Marah as it is written “they came to Marah … and the people complained against Moshe” (Shemos 15:23-24). And at Rephidim as it is written “they camped at Rephidim and there was no water for the congregation to drink, and the people argued with Moshe” (Shemos 17:1). Twice with the manna: As it is written “Do not go out” but they went out (Shemos 16:26-27). And “do not leave over” but they left over (Shemos 19:20). Twice with the quail: Firstly “when we were satiated over the fleshpots” (Shemos 19:3). And secondly “the mixed multitude that was among them” (Bamidbar 11:4). With the golden calf, as it is written (Shemos chapter 32). And at the desert of Paran, which Rashi explains as a reference to the incident dealing with the spies.

VV. 22 u. 23. כי כל האנשים וגו׳, dass die Verzeihung keine absolute sein kann, dass vielmehr alle die Männer, für welche alle bisherigen Gott offenbarenden Erfahrungen nicht genügt haben, ihren Geist und ihr Herz für eine schrankenlose Hingebung an Gott zu gewinnen, damit eben ihre Unwürdigkeit und ihre Unfähigkeit für den Besitz des Landes bekundet haben. הראים את כבדי, sie haben die ganze "Wucht" meiner Größe gesehen, sie haben כבדי "gesehen", es ist ihnen "Gott" kein bloßer Gedanke des Meinens, des Glaubens, des Ahnens, geblieben, er ist für sie mit eingetreten in den Erkenntniskreis sinnlich wahrnehmender Erfahrung, sie haben ihn als die mächtigste, als die allmächtige Potenz inmitten aller irdisch konkreten mächtigen Potenzen "erfahren", ואת אתתי אשר עשיתי וגו׳ sie haben seine "Zeichen", seine Geist erleuchtenden Taten in "Mizrajim" und in der "Wüste", inmitten eines Machtkreises der ausgebildetsten menschlichen Kultur und inmitten einer von allen Stützen menschlicher Kultur entblößten Öde erfahren, sie haben gesehen, wie jene im gegensätzlichen Ungehorsam gegen Gottes Willen zu vollendeter Nichtigkeit zusammenbricht, wie diese bloß durch Hingebungstreue an den göttlichen Willen sich für den Gottgehorchenden in eine wohnliche Stätte für menschliches Dasein und Leben umwandelt; sie haben das alles gesehen, haben bereits zehnmal, in den verschiedensten Lagen, an der Wirklichkeit und dem voll und allein Ausreichenden des göttlichen helfenden, waltenden und beglückenden Eingreifens in die irdischen Verhältnisse zweifelnd, Gott gleichsam auf die Probe gestellt und haben die Wahrhaftigkeit, die Treue, das Wirkliche, das Ausreichende seines verheißenen Beistandes erprobt, ולא שמעו בקולי und haben doch Gott gehorchen nicht gelernt —: אם יראו, unwandelbar, wie ein Eid (siehe Bereschit 21, 23) steht es fest, dass sie das verheißene Land nicht zu sehen bekommen. —

וינסו אתי, “they put Me to the test” The word here is used as equivalent to ויכעיסו, “They made Me angry.” Compare Onkelos on Genesis 40,6, where the word for זועפים is translated as “angry,” נסיסין. This is why the letter ס in this word has a dot, to show that it is a variation of the usual meaning.

זה עשר פעמים TEN TIMES — twice at the Red Sea, twice in the case of the “Manna”, twice in the case of the “quails” etc., as is to be found in the Treatise Arakhin 15a.

אם יראו — הראים. Es will uns scheinen, als ob diese beiden Ausdrücke in enger Beziehung zu einander stehen, und deshalb eben statt des gewöhnlichen אם יבאו אל הארץ hier dieses Kommen ins Land durch ראיה ausgedrückt ist. Das Land, das זבת חלב ודבש, als Boden des Gesetzesvolkes eine Blüte in nie geahnter Fülle entwickeln soll, kann diese Bestimmung nur erreichen, wenn dem Volke, unter dessen Walten es sich zu dieser Höhe entfalten soll, Gott und Gottes Walten und Gottes Gegenwart mindestens eine ebenso konkrete, in die irdischen Verhältnisse hineinreichende, ja sie ganz eigens bedingende Wirklichkeit hat, als das Land und seine Fülle und die ihm damit zu Gebote gestellte Fülle an Größe und Macht, wenn das Volk "Gott" so "sieht", wie es das "Land" "sieht". Sollte doch alles, was es bis zum Einzuge in dieses Land במצרים und במדבר erfahren, nichts als dieses Gottschauen ihm gebracht und damit jene Gottesfurcht und jenes Gottvertrauen unwandelbar ihm in Geist und Gemüt gepflanzt haben, die fortan in der Größenwelt der Natur und Geschichte nichts anderes fürchten außer Gott und auf nichts anderes außer Gott-vertrauen. Das gerade Gegenteil zu diesem "Gottsehen" im Lande ist aber ניאוץ ד, jene Gesinnung, die, wie wir dies zu V. 11 erläutert, den Momenten irdischer Wohlfahrt gegenüber "Gott" für "nichts" achtet, und in der Berechnung hieniedigen Heiles über "Ihn" als nicht mitzählend hinwegeilt. Daher: אם יראו את הארץ אשר נשבעתי לאבתם וכל מנאצי לא יראוה.

וכל מנאצי לא יראוה. Psalm 106, 24 — 27 blickt auf diese Entwicklungsphase in unserer Geschichte mit der Schilderung zurück: וימאסו בארץ חמדה לא האמינו לדברו וירגנו באהליהם לא שמעו בקול ד׳ וישא ידו להם להפיל אותם במדבר ולהפיל זרעם בגוים ולזרותם בארצות, demgemäss wäre die Bestimmung des einstigen Verlustes des Landes und der Zerstreuung unter die Völker in demselben Augenblicke ausgesprochen worden, in welchem der Untergang des aus Ägypten gezogenen Geschlechtes in der Wüste verhängt wurde. Wohl dürfte diese künftige Vertreibung aus dem Lande in diesem וכל מנאצי לא יראוה angekündigt sein (siehe רמב׳׳ן z. St.). Dieselbe Blindheit, die die Väter den Eintritt in das Gottesland des Gesetzes verscherzen ließ, wird, wenn einst die Kinder in sie zurückfallen, auch sie nicht im Besitze des Landes lassen. Und wohl dürfen wir sagen: die ארך אפים-Waltungsweise, die das Verhängnis des Gesamtuntergangs an dem unreifen Geschlechte vorübergehen ließ und die unmittelbar von ihnen erzeugten und erzogenen Söhne in das Land führte, dürfte eben damit die ganze Reihe der Folgejahrhunderte in diesen ihren hiermit eingeleiteten Erziehungsplan mitbegriffen und für die volle, ganze Verwirklichung ihrer Zwecke selbst noch über unsere jetzige Gegenwart hinaus geblickt haben. War doch das von dem Geschlechte der Wüste erzogene Geschlecht, dem das Betreten des verheißenen Bodens vorbehalten blieb, selbst noch keineswegs auf der ganzen reifen Höhe seines Berufes, sein ganzes zweimaliges Staatenleben im Lande, sowie sein zweimaliges Exil bis heute ist nichts, als ein vom ארך אפים geleiteter Erziehungsgang zu unserer geistigen und sittlichen Bestimmung, und die reine volle, für immer hingebungstreue Verwirklichung des göttlichen Gesetzes gehört auch heute noch der Zukunft an. Mit dem וכל מנאצי לא יראוה war unsere ganze Folgegeschichte gegeben.

אם יראו means THAT THEY SHALL NOT SEE.

NEITHER SHALL ANY OF THEM THAT PROVOKED ME SEE IT. This means “for none of them that provoked Me shall see it.”¹⁴⁹Since it already says in the first half of this verse: If they shall see the Land etc., the question arises why the same fact is repeated at the end of the same verse? Ramban answers that the second half is an explanation of the first half. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented: “any that provoked Me of their children,” but this [explanation] makes no sense. Perhaps this expression [neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it] alludes to the generations who were to be exiled from the Land [at the time of the destruction of the First Temple], as our Rabbis have said,¹⁵⁰Taanith 29a: “You have wept without cause etc.” See Ramban above in Verse 1. and it is here that He fixed that night [of the ninth of Ab] as one of weeping throughout their generations, for [on that night] He will remember their first punishment.

וכל מנאצי לא יראוהו, also their sons who at this time had not reached the age of 20 but would be among those who disdain Me in the future, will also not be granted the privilege of seeing the Holy Land. Examples of this decree were the men who died during the uprising of Korach and had been under the age of 20 (at the time of the Exodus), as well as the people who died at Shittim 38 years later because of their involvement with the Moabite women, as well as the people who died before Moses could erect the copper snake. The people concerned had not been involved in rejecting the land of Israel at the time when the spies made their report as they were under age. (compare Numbers 21,6 and 25,9)

אם יראו…וכל מנאצי, "Surely they shall not see….any of those who have spurned Me." Why did G'd have to especially mention the people who had spurned Him? Who would have dreamt that those people would be exempt from this retribution? Perhaps they had to be mentioned seeing that G'd had spoken of a people who had tested Him already on ten different occasions. We might have thought that all those who had not been guilty ten times, such as the people who had not yet been 20 years of age at the Exodus, would have been exempt from this oath that they would die in the desert. G'd therefore made it clear that even these young people were included as they had spurned G'd on this occasion. The people described here as having spurned G'd are the ten spies as well as the people who had thrown stones at the cloud behind which Joshua and Caleb had taken cover (compare Sotah 35).

וכל מנאצי לא יראוה , “all those who anger Me shall not see it.” Seeing that G’d had already said that the present generation would not be able to set eyes on the Holy Land, Ibn Ezra understands the words here as applying to their children, in the event that these or some of them would anger G’d. Perhaps these words contain a hint applicable throughout the generations that would also apply to all the Jews who would experience exile in the future. Unless they did not anger G’d, they could not hope to be redeemed and would have to spend the 9th of Av each year weeping for the fate that they still endured and which had its roots in the events in our portion. In other words, this “weeping for generations,” was potentially imposed at this point.

וכל מנאצי, “and all those who provoke Me.” This is a reference to any children or grandchildren of the generation which was to perish in the desert. [I suppose the interpretation is based on the repetition of this expression concerning whom G’d had already decreed death in verse 11. Ed.] This is also an allusion to the weeping which would occur on that night in subsequent generations, all the exiled Jews who would not enjoy the good fortune to see the Land of Israel.

They will not see. (Gur Aryeh) For it is certain that they will not see, since there is never any doubt before Hashem.

לא יראוה THEY SHALL NOT SEE IT — i. e. they shall not see the land.

Our verse may also have introduced a new dimension of punishment of the spies. Seeing they were not worthy of the land, they had forfeited their share in it. This is why we are told in Baba Batra 117 that the descendants of the spies did not take part in the distribution of the land under Joshua. They received shares based only on the size of the families of their grandfathers. The remainder of the generation who were now slated to die in the desert received their share of the Holy Land based on their present family status, i.e. how many male children they had. The verse ends with the promise that "My servant Caleb as well as his descendants will inherit their shares in the land."

רוח אחרת [BUT MY SERVANT CALEB, BECAUSE HE HAD] ANOTHER SPIRIT [WITH HIM] — The word “another’ suggests that he was filled with a twofold spirit — the one to which he gave utterance (lit., one in his mouth), and another which he concealed in his heart. To the spies he said, “I am with you in your counsel”, whilst in his heart he had the intention to tell the truth, and it was only on this account that he possessed the power to silence them (the people), as it is said, (Numbers 13:30) “And Caleb silenced [the people concerning Moses]” (cf. Rashi on that verse), for they thought that he would say the same as themselves (as the spies). It is this that is alluded to in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 14:7) where it states that Caleb said “And I brought him (Moses) word again as it was in my heart” — but not as it was in my mouth (i.e. not what I had said to the spies) (Midrash Tanchuma, Sh'lach 10).

BUT MY SERVANT CALEB. He did not mention Joshua, for He explained to Caleb his reward [for his trust in G-d], namely that he would inherit the Land wherein he went,¹⁴⁶Verse 24 here. but Joshua’s reward — that he would be the successor to Moses — was not fitting to be specified at this moment [since Moses was still to be the leader for many years]. Now Scripture mentioned [Caleb’s name] first, as it says, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun,¹⁵¹Further, Verse 30. because he was the first to contradict the spies, [as it is said], And Caleb stilled the people.¹⁵²Above, 13:30. But Moses said, And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh lived from the men¹⁵³Further, Verse 38. [mentioning Joshua first], because of the great degree of Joshua’s wisdom. And since [both] Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel¹⁵⁴Above, Verse 5. to plead before Him, the communication here was addressed to Aaron¹⁵⁵Verse 26. Since Ramban has explained (above, Verse 5) that the falling on their faces was for the purpose of Moses and Aaron pleading with the people to abandon their plan to return to Egypt, we must understand Ramban’s words here as indicating that after having finished their plea with the people they proceeded to pray to G-d in their behalf. as well, but the command was [only] to Moses, Say unto them,¹⁵⁶Verse 28. The Hebrew emor (say) is in the singular — a reference to Moses. since he was superior in prophecy.

וזרעו יורישנה; Calev’s children will not only take possession of their share in the Holy Land, but will pass on their share to his descendants in future generations. This is different from the other members of the present adult generation who, though not taking possession of any part of the land themselves, assigned it to their children by reason of having become the “original” (potential) owners at the time they left Egypt. Their children “inherited” by a Divine decree only, as opposed to Calev’s children, etc. (compare verse 12)

ועבדי כלב, "and My servant Caleb, etc." Why did the Torah not mention Joshua also at this juncture? The word היתה requires analysis as do the words וימלא אחרי as well as the letter ו in והביאותיו.

ועבדי כלב, “but My servant Calev, etc.” The Torah, at this point, does not mention Joshua, as it concentrates on promising Calev his share in the Promised Land, whereas seeing that Joshua would in due course become Moses’ successor, mentioning his share in the Promised Land at this stage would have been inappropriate. The reason why Calev is mentioned here ahead of Joshua is that he spoke up against the other spies first. When Moses refers to what had occurred here in verse 38, he mentions Joshua first, saying: “but Joshua son of Nun and Calev son of Yefuneh survived of all these men, etc.” He accorded Joshua precedence as he was endowed with greater wisdom than Calev. 14, 25. והעמלקי והכנעני יושב בעמק, “The Amalekite and the Canaanite dwelled in the valley. This sounds somewhat strange seeing that a few verses later (14,45) we are told that the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelled in the mountain descended.” This teaches that the Amalekite and Canaanite joined forces and descended to the valley in order to mount an attack on the Israelites from a position of ambush.

רוח אחרת עמו, “who was imbued with a different spirit,” the word אחרת is relative, i.e. a spirit different from that of the ten spies. The Torah reminds us that the righteous person is “different” from the wicked person. The Torah first uses the word in connection with the third son of Adam and Chavah, Sheth, whom his mother describes as זרע אחר, “a different seed” (Genesis 4,25). Sheth was the righteous person who replaced Hevel both of whom were “different” from Kayin who was wicked. “Goodness” is essentially different from “evil.” Similarly, ”evil” is essentially different from “goodness.” This is the reason idols are described as אלוהים אחרים, “different” gods rather that “other” gods. When the word אחר occurs in connection with someone or something evil, it means “good” by comparison to the evil person.

Two spirits, one verbal and one in his heart. Rashi is answering the question: Did only Caleiv have a different spirit? Surely Yehoshua also had a spirit different from that of the spies! To this he explains that he had “two spirits…”

V. 24. ועבדי כלב. Sein treues furchtloses Auftreten für die Wahrheit der Gottessache hat ihn der höchsten Bezeichnung eines für Gott wirkenden Menschen, עבד ד׳, würdig gemacht. עקב (siehe Bereschit 22, 18). היתה רוח אחרת עמו heißt wohl: ein anderer Geist hat ihm beigestanden, eine andere Anschauung und ein anderer Wille hat ihn vor der Verirrung seiner Gefährten gerettet. מלא ,וימלא אחרי kommt häufig in der Bedeutung: ein Wort, eine Zusage, einen Wunsch erfüllen, vor. So: למלא את דבר ד׳ (Kön. I. 22, 6), ימלא ד׳ כל משאלותיך (Ps.20, 6). Es kann daher auch heißen: er hat die von ihm erwartete Pflichterfüllung erfüllt, indem, אחרי, er mir nachfolgte, mir treu blieb, nicht wie seine Gefährten סר מאחרי ד׳. Oder es kann auch אחרי geradezu als Objekt zu וימלא begriffen werden: er hat meine Nachfolge, d.i, die mir zu zollende Treue voll gelöst, erfüllt. וזרעו יורשנה, vergl. את אשר יורישך כמוש (Richter 11, 24). זרעו ist Objekt und Kaleb ist Subjekt von יורשנה: er wird es auf seine Kinder vererben, während bei den übrigen die Kinder die ersten Besitzer sein werden.

ועבדי כלב, “but My servant Caleb,” there was no need for G-d to mention Joshua by name here seeing it was he who would lead the people into the Holy Land. An alternate interpretation: There was no point in mentioning him, seeing that he had no children who would receive an ancestral share of that land. The Torah could not have written of him that his descendants would inherit their share of the land

וימלא אחרי AND HE HATH FOLLOWED ME FULLY (lit., he hath filled to go after Me) — i.e. he hath filled his heart with the intention to follow Me; — this is an elliptical sentence (the word “his heart” is omitted).

והביאותיו אל הארץ אשר בא שמ'ה וזרע'ו יורישנ'ה. והעמלק'י “And I shall bring him to the land where he has been (already) and his offspring shall possess it.” And the Amalekite, etc.” Here too is an example of the letters of the Ineffable Name appearing in reverse order (the last letters in the last four words of the caption; compare author on Genesis 11,9) This is an allusion to the fact that at that time the attribute of Justice was poised, ready to strike the Israelites. This is why it was decreed that the Israelites make a permanent home in the desert and that they would even retrace their steps in the direction of the sea of Reeds. This also why, when they were willing and anxious to proceed forward and ascend the mountain (as the spies had done), Moses warned them not to commit a sin by violating G’d’s commandment and embark on an undertaking that was doomed (41). The meaning of the words יושב בעמק, applied here to the areas inhabited by the Canaanite and the Amalekite, is not the usual “in the valley,” but “sitting ready to ambush you.” This is why G’d instructed them to change direction to save them from such attacks seeing He, G’d, would not protect them now by means of a miracle.

According to what was in my heart. Rashi is obliged to bring proof from the prophets so that you should not question his source that he had one spirit in his mouth and another in his heart. For perhaps he had another spirit both in his mouth and in his heart; and not that he said to them “I am with you in your plan.” Thus Rashi explains that this is what was said in the book of Yehoshua “I brought back word to him according to what was in my heart” but not according to what was in my mouth.

The Torah wanted to explain why G'd decided to refer to Caleb as "My servant," an exceptional compliment. Although also Joshua did not spurn G'd, Caleb was possessed of a totally different spirit. He had not needed the prayer of Moses to enable him to resist the influence of the other ten spies. Caleb had at one time during the mission experienced the רוח אחרת, i.e. the evil spirit which filled the other spies. He had gone to the graves of the patriarchs in order to recharge his spiritual batteries before he would succumb to the wiles of the evil urge. וימלא אחרי, "He decided to follow Me." The Torah describes how Caleb decided to follow his good urge rather than his evil urge. Man is subject to two advisors. One advises him to follow G'd's wishes, the other advises him to assert his independence. If one decides to resist the urge to commit a sin it is accounted as if one had fulfilled one of G'd's commandments (Kidushin 39). Joshua had not been in a similar dilemma as he had never been tempted to be disloyal to G'd and to act illogically, due to Moses' prayer on his behalf. We have a verse in the Book of Samuel which describes a mystical dimension concerning the prayer of a צדיק such as Moses. It suggests that such a prayer may exert influence on a person's moral tendencies. This is based on Samuel II 23,3 צדיק מושל יראת השם, "the righteous exercises some control concerning matters of reverence for the Lord." Seeing that Caleb's resistance to the evil urge under circumstances of great provocation was unaided by external factors, he is described similarly to Moses, i.e. that he was G'd's servant.

וימלא אחרי, “he followed Me fully;” he completed Moses’ task, My messenger’s task, trying to make him more effective. The use of the root מלא in the same sense as translated here is not unique; we find an example of it in Kings I 1,14: ואני אבוא אחריך ומלאתי את דבריך, “and I will come immediately after you and confirm and reinforce your words.”(The prophet Natan to Batsheva, mother of Solomon)

אשר בא שמה [HIM WILL I BRING UNTO THE LAND] WHEREUNTO HE WENT — Hebron shall be given to him (cf. Rashi on v. 22).

He followed me full-heartedly. The words “[in] his heart” is missing from the text, because if not so, what is meant by “he followed Me fully”? Surely he was with the spies in his mouth though not in his heart.

The Torah adds that G'd would bring him to the land he had already come to (once). The Torah hints here at the inner struggle that had preceded Caleb's deciding to remain loyal to G'd. This struggle may be described as Caleb praying on his own behalf. G'd promises that although Caleb was already 40 years old at the time and conquest of the land of Canaan would now be delayed by at least 40 years, Caleb would live long enough to be among those who would take part in that conquest. This is the only time in recorded history that G'd promised someone that he would live for at least another 40 years.

וזרעו יורישנה, ”and his seed will inherit it.” The root ירש in the transitive mode is used here to mean “inherit,” in other words: “and I will cause his seed to leave it as an inheritance [To more distant generations also. Ed.]

יורשנה — Understand this as the Targum does: “and his seed shall drive it (the population of the land) out” i. e. shall drive out the Anakim and the other people that are in it. — One should not give the rendering ירתינה, “they will possess it”, in the Targum except in place of the Hebrew יִירָשֶׁנָּה (in the Kal, whilst the Hiphil, as here, denotes to drive out).

Chevron will be given to him. Meaning that “I shall bring him” which was mentioned in the verse is understood as “I will give him” and the meaning of “into the land” is to Chevron. The meaning of “to which he came” refers to when he came to spy out the land. The verse is not implying that he would be brought into the land and he would not die in the desert, as might be understood from this passage.

Perhaps G'd had to describe Caleb as "My servant" in order to justify this extraordinary promise. This was a promise by G'd that Caleb would not forfeit his status as a צדיק during the 40 years the Israelites would wander in the desert. I was asked once how one can reconcile the statement in Shabbat 30 that when David asked G'd to know when he would die and G'd's reply that He does not reveal such information to any living human being nor does He tell him how many years he will live, with the fact that He told King Chiskiyahu that he would have another 15 years to live. Why then had G'd revealed to Chiskiyahu that he had another 15 years to live? I answered that the only date that G'd refuses to reveal is the original lifespan allocated to man at birth. This is based on Job 14,5 אם חרוצים ימיו, "his days are numbered." If and when G'd decides to grant someone a lifespan beyond that which had been originally decreed, the addition is not subject to the decree that its length will not be revealed. It may be G'd's wish to reveal such information as we know from Shabbat 10 where the meaning of לדעת כי אני ה׳ מקדשכם, "to make known that it is I the Lord who sanctify you" (Exodus 31,13), is being discussed. The Talmud derives from that verse that if someone gives a second party a gift he has to inform him of that gift beforehand. This is the reason that G'd informs recipients of an extension of a person's lifespan at the time He grants that gift. You will find something similar in Joshua 14,10 where Caleb asked to conquer Chevron and the mountain it is situated on and to inherit it. At that time Caleb referred to the fact that though aged 85 he was every bit as fit as when he was forty years old and G'd had granted him the additional lifespan. In fact, the Torah added in our verse that G'd's blessing to Caleb would also extend to his descendants.

There is another way of explaining our verse. Caleb had performed two meritorious deeds and as a result he qualified for two rewards. 1) He had a different spirit, i.e. he resisted the temptation to make common cause with the ten spies. 2) He proved his loyalty to G'd by not only not merely keeping silent but by trying to persuade the people to have faith and not to believe the conclusions drawn by the other ten spies. G'd repaid him by 1) bringing him to the Holy Land, 2) letting him take possession of it. Joshua was not mentioned seeing he did not have to overcome the evil urge as he had been the recipient of Moses' prayer on his behalf.

והעמלקי וגו׳ AND THE AMALEKITES [AND THE CANAANITES DWELL IN THE VALLEY] — This is not a mere statement that they dwell there; it is a warning: If you go there they will kill you, since I shall not be with you.

והעמלקי והכנעני יושב בעמק, "And the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the valley." The reason the Torah provides this detail at this juncture, as well as the reason for the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of the word והעמלקי is that G'd had decided that the entire generation would not enter the Holy Land and would die in the desert. He said that He would not kill them all at the same time as will be spelled out in subsequent verses. One might have assumed therefore that the Israelites would remain in their present location during the entire forty years. The Torah had to provide a rationale why it was not practical for the Israelites to remain in the same location during all this time. They were liable to fall victim to attacks by the Amalekites or Canaanites. We do not provoke Satan at a time when we are in danger (Tanchuma Vayigash 1). This is why G'd told the Israelites to move from that area already on the morrow. Whereas it is true that we find that the Israelites lingered at Kadesh for many years (Deut. 1,46) and the sages say that this was a period of 19 years, this occurred on their way back at a time when the effect of their sin had already worn off and half the people guilty of that sin had already died. The reason for the letter ו in the word והעמלקי is to connect our verse to verse 23, אם יראו את הארץ. G'd advised that He added another stricture, namely the immediate departure from their present encampment although they were not headed for their ultimate objective, the land of Canaan.

והעמלקי והכנעני יושב בעמק, “The Amalekite and the Canaanite dwelled in the valley. This sounds somewhat strange seeing that a few verses later (14,45) we are told that the Amalekite and the Canaanite who dwelled in the mountain descended.” This teaches that the Amalekite and Canaanite joined forces and descended to the valley in order to mount an attack on the Israelites from a position of ambush.

They will kill you. This teaches you the reason for the juxtaposition of “tomorrow turn” to “the Amaleki…” which precedes it. Rashi adds the word “back” because without this it would appear that there were two routes by which to enter the Land, one by way of the valley and the other in the desert by way of the Reed Sea. However this is not so, for the desert by way of the Reed Sea was behind them and they had already traveled past it and have come to this encampment. Thus the meaning of “back” is that Hashem does not wish to bring you to the land, because He wants you to perish in the desert.

V. 25. והעמלקי וגו׳ בעמק: jenseits des Bergrückens, vor welchem sie standen. Sie konnten somit ohne Kampf nicht weiter ziehen, und für diesen Kampf fehlte ihnen der göttliche Beistand (Raschi). Daher sollten sie sofort, dem über sie ausgesprochenen Verhängnis gemäß, dass sie das Land nicht betreten sollen, sich von dem Lande abwenden, und wieder zurück in die Wüste dem roten Meere zu ziehen.

והעמלקי, “and the Amalekite and the Canaanite dwell in the alley;” a number of commentators are puzzled by this statement as in verse 45 of this chapter the Amalekite and the Canaanite are described as “descending” from the mountain; according to the plain meaning of the text, we must assume that the Amalekites and Canaanites in anticipation of an invasion by Israel had taken up position on high ground in order to ambush the Israelites from there. A more mystical interpretation would be that although G–d meant to punish these people, He did not enjoy doing this, and made them take a route toward the desert which would afford some chance of escaping.

והעמלקי, “and the nation of Amalek, etc.” G-d now reciprocated what the spies had done. They had intimidated the Israelites by pointing to the Amalekites as powerful adversaries; G-d does the same to the people now.

מחר פנו TOMORROW TURN YOU — i.e. turn backwards, וסעו לכם AND JOURNEY [INTO THE DESERT etc.].

והכנעני, “and the Canaanite; “actually both the Canaanite and the Emorite, who was one of the Canaanite tribes.

יושב בעמק, “who dwells in the valley.” This sounds somewhat puzzling, seeing that a few verses later these people are described as descending (verse 45.) What the Torah had meant was that most of the Canaanites were dwelling in the valley, but the ones dwelling in the mountains would attack and overpower any Israelites daring at this time against the wishes of G-d to engage them in war. It is also possible that although these tribes dwelled in the valley they had moved out of their homes to higher ground in order to have the advantage over any Israelites who would have to climb in order to engage them in a fight. It was not unusual to plant ambushes as we know from Psalms10,8, ישב במארב חצרים, “dwelling in an ambush in isolated areas.”

מחר פנו וסעו לכם, “tomorrow turn, and start journeying;” in this instance the word מחר is not to be understood as literally: “tomorrow,” but as “soon.” Actually, according to our sages the people stayed at Kadesh for 19 years. This is how they interpreted the line in verse 48 which described them as staying there for a long time. Use of the word as meaning something in the distant future is familiar to us from Exodus 13,14: כי ישאלך בנך מחר, “when your son will ask you מחר” [the son could not do this until after the parents having settled in the land of Israel prepared to observe the Passover. Ed.]

המדברה דרך ים סוף, “toward the desert in the direction of the sea of reeds.”

וידבר השם, G'd said, etc. From the wording of this verse one might get the impression that G'd only now addresses Himself to the nature of Israel's sins and the retribution it is about to receive. This is not so, however, seeing that G'd had already been doing just this starting with verse 11. The reason the Torah appears to repeat these things is because up until now G'd had said these things to Moses in a private conversation. Only now does G'd give instructions to Moses and Aaron i.e. לאמור to communicate all this to the Israelites at large. When you review the chapter up until this verse you will note that the word לאמור did not appear once.

וידבר ה' אל משה ואל אהרן, “Hashem spoke to Moses and Aaron.” Seeing that both Moses and Aaron had fallen on their faces, in this instance Hashem also addressed Aaron directly, in order to give him the strength to get up from the ground on which both had fallen. The command Hashem issued in verse 2 was addressed only to Moses, seeing he was the major prophet of the two.

V. 26. וידבר ד׳ וגו׳. Verse 11-25 enthielten nur die Mitteilung an Mosche über die nun bevorstehende Zukunft des Volkes im allgemeinen. Hier die nähere Bestimmung im einzelnen. Sie wird an Mosche und Aharon gerichtet, die beide zusammen ja (Schmot 6, 26) als Führer des Volkes bestellt waren, dessen ferneres Geschick eine so verhängnisvolle Änderung erleiden sollte, und denen zusammen die Aufgabe zu erteilen war, das Volk diese Änderung aus dem rechten Gesichtspunkte begreifen und beherzigen zu lassen.

לעדה הרעה וגו׳ [HOW LONG SHALL I BEAR] WITH THIS EVIL CONGREGATION — This refers to the spies (not to the whole congregation); from here we learn that an עדה, “a congregation” is technically a gathering of at least ten persons (Megillah 23b).

?עד מתי לעדה הרעה הזאת, even though I have forgiven them in accordance with your own stipulation not to decree immediate death for them, instead of letting all of them die already now, I did not include the actual spies themselves in this partial forgiveness. אשר המה מלינים עלי, seeing they were the ones who orchestrated the people slandering Me. They are directly responsible for the sin committed by the multitude. They do not deserve any extension of their lives, I will punish them immediately; concerning them I utter an oath

עד מתי לעדה הרעה הזאת, "How long will this evil congregation, etc." The "evil congregation" referred to here are the ten spies. This view is confirmed by Sanhedrin 108. G'd continues: את תלונות בני ישראל; this is a reference to the rest of the people. The words עד מתי imply that even now the spies were still exerting their evil influence on the people preventing them from identifying with G'd. This is the reason that G'd calls these ten men עדה רעה, an evil congregation. When G'd says אשר המה מלינים עלי, He underlines that not only are these people wicked themselves but they attempt to turn the Israelites into wicked people.

These are the spies. But not the whole of Yisroel, for the Torah writes “[who] provoke Me; the complaints of Bnei Yisroel” which implies those who caused Yisroel to complain.

V. 27. עד מתי לעדה וגו׳ wird Megilla 23b von den zurückgekehrten Botschaftern verstanden, welche מלינים עלי, welche den Aufruhr gegen Gott angestiftet. Es wird daran die allgemeine Bestimmung nachgewiesen, dass je zehn zu einem Zwecke vereinigte Männer den Begriff einer עדה darstellen. — מלינים siehe zu Schmot 16, 2.

אשר המה מלינים [THIS EVIL CONGREGATION] WHICH MAKE the Israelites MURMUR עלי AGAINST ME.

That [a congregation] is ten. There were twelve spies; without Yehoshua and Caleiv who were not part of the conspiracy there were ten who are referred to as a “congregation”.

את תלונות בני ישראל שמעתי, "I have heard the complaints against Me by the children of Israel." It was necessary to inform us that G'd heard, i.e. He only heard the complaints of the Israelites, not the wicked words of the spies. The meaning of the verse is as follows: "The complaints of the Israelites which have been inspired by the spies I have heard, whereas I have not listened to the spies who have inspired these complaints." The words of the spies were so despicable that G'd did not even want to consider if there was any basis for them that He could find an excuse for.

את תלנות בני ישראל אשר המה THE MURMURINGS OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHICH THEY, the spies, מלינים MAKE them MURMUR עלי, AGAINST ME, שמעתי I HAVE HEARD.

The Israelites against me. Rashi adds the word “Israelites” between the words “provoke” and “[against] me” in order that one not explain the word מלינים [translated as provoke [complaint] but which could conceivably mean “complain”] as referring to the spies. This is not true, because the spies delivered a slanderous report about the Land of Israel, but it was Yisroel who were complaining.

חי אני AS TRULY AS I LIVE — This is a formula of taking an oath: If I do not do so, then — if this were at all possible to say of God — I do not live.

IM LO’ (IF NOT) AS YE HAVE SPOKEN IN MINE EARS. The meaning thereof is as an expression of wonder: “Will I not do to you as ye have spoken?” Such is the way of the [Sacred] Language: [Thou art sent] not to many people of an unintelligible speech and of a slow tongue, whose words thou canst not understand. ‘Im lo’ (would they not) have hearkened unto thee if I sent thee to them?¹⁵⁷Ezekiel 3:5-6. Similarly, ‘im lo’ (if not) as I have thought did it come to pass?¹⁵⁸Isaiah 14:24.

חי אני נאם ה' אם לא וגו, whenever we find two successive negatives this is equivalent to a positive statement. [the word אם as well as the word לא are each understood as a negative. Ed.] כאשר דברתם באזני, a reference to verse 2 in which the people are reported as wishing that they had died already in Egypt and inverse 3 when they had prematurely bemoaned their wives and children as becoming part of the Canaanites booty in the war they anticipated losing. G’d also refers to what the spies themselves had said when they described the land of Canaan as “consuming its inhabitants” (13,32). G’d would see to it now that all these statements would become self-fulfilling prophecies.

אמר אליהם…כאשר דברתם, "say to them…as you have spoken, etc." Here G'd relates to the fears the Israelites had expressed, sentiments which G'd had heard and decided to address. As a result, He limited the ages of the people who would die in the desert to those who were over the age of twenty. G'd never allowed the spies themselves to be informed of the decree He was about to hand down as they died a miserable death within the sight of all the Israelites.

אם לא כאשר דברתם באזני כן אעשה לכם, “if I shall not do to you as you have spoken in My hearing.” The wording is to be understood as a rhetorical question. “You will see if what you have accused Me of will not turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy?”

If it were possible to say, I do not live. As if the Torah had said “If I do not do to you as you have spoken, that your corpses shall fall … then I do not live.” However the Torah did not write “I do not live” because the Glory of Hashem is hidden. Thus it relied upon this being understood by first having said “as I live.” For if not so, it should have said “‘As I live,’ says Hashem, ‘as you have spoken in My ears, so shall I do to you.’”

V. 28. אמר עליהם, zu beiden, zu der redeführenden Volksgemeinde (V. 2) und ihren Aufhetzern. — נאם ד׳: siehe Bereschit 5, 29. — כאשר דברתם (V. 2).

כאשר דברתם AS YE HAVE SPOKEN … [YOUR CARCASSES WILL FALL IN THE WILDERNESS] — because you made the request of Me: “Would that we had died in this wilderness” (Numbers 14:2).

כן אעשה לכם; not all at once but at intervals. This is what prompted the psalmist in Psalms 106,26 to say: “So He raised His hand in oath to make them fall the wilderness; to disperse their offspring among the nations and scatter them throughout the land.” Also the prophet Ezekiel sees in the present decree something that had repercussions throughout the ages when he said (Ezekiel 20,23) “also I raised My hand in an oath already in the desert, saying I will scatter them among the nations.” [our author sees in the punishment meted out at this time a parallel to that meted out at the time of the sin of the golden calf where G’d had reserved the right to spread the retribution throughout history in order not to have to wipe out the people then and there as they had deserved. Ed.]

וכל פקדיכם לכל מספרכם AND ALL OF YOU THAT WERE NUMBERED IN ANY COUNTING OF YOU — i.e. all that are numbered of you in any census (מספר) in which you are numbered, as, for instance, on going to or coming back from war, or when giving the shekels: all who are numbered in all these censuses shall die, and these are, everyone מבן עשרים שנה וגו׳ FROM TWENTY YEARS OLD AND UPWARDS — The age is expressly mentioned to exclude the tribe of Levi because those who were numbered of them were not from twenty years old and upwards (but they were either numbered from one month old — cf. Numbers 3:40, or from thirty years old; Numbers 4:3) (Bava Batra 121b).

מבן עשרים שנה..אשר הלינותם, "from the age of twenty and up..because you have complained against Me." We must try and understand why G'd said אשר הלינתם. If the word אשר is to be equivalent to על אשר (the way we have translated it), then there is nothing new here. G'd had mentioned this already in verse 27!

במדבר הזה יפלו פגריכם, “your carcasses will drop in this desert.” It appears that the Israelites’ guilt in this episode could be divided into three levels. Some of them had wept, some of them had complained against Moses and Aaron saying: “if only we had died already.” The third level consisted of the people who had said: “let us appoint a leader and head back for Egypt” (verse 4). The reason the Torah mentions the word “your carcasses” three times is to allude to these different levels of the people. The choice of the word “your carcasses,” which at first glance seems very harsh, is actually the reverse. It means that only the bodies of these people would die, they would not lose their entitlement to life in the hereafter. (Compare Rabbi Eliezer in Sanhedrin 105 and 110). This allusion is repeated in verse 35: “in this desert they will expire and there they will die.” The words: “all of you who have been numbered for military service,” mean that the Levites were excluded from this decree as they had not been part of the army and when they had been numbered the babies of one month old were already included in that count (Baba Batra 121).

V. 29. פגריכם: die zunächst Angeredeten sind die die stimmführende Volksgemeinde bildenden Glieder des Volkes (V. 2), die die Anklage formuliert und vorgebracht. וכל פקדיכם sind alle die sonstigen selbständigen, für den Dienst der Gesamtheit verpflichteten Männer von zurückgelegtem zwanzigsten Jahre aufwärts, auf welche die Gesamtheit zu zählen hat und die daher für die Gesamtheit gezählt werden (siehe Kap. 1). An diesem mannhaften Kern des Volkes hätten die Machinationen der zurückgekehrten Kundschafter scheitern müssen und vor allem hätten die intelligenten Wortführer ihren Einfluss dahin geltend machen sollen. Statt dessen haben eben diese Einflussreichen die allgemeine Unzufriedenheit zur formulierten Klage und zu offenem Aufruhr gebracht (Verse 2-4). Es ist begreiflich, dass alle die Männer מבן עשרים ומעלה als die Schuldigen behandelt werden.

מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה, “from twenty years and up.” Seeing that this was the age at which the male Israelites began to bear arms, it was that group who had been afraid to rely on G-d’s help.”

It appears that these words were necessary in view of G'd having spoken of the decree applying to the people who were twenty and over. We might have interpreted this to mean that anyone 20 years of age at the time of the decree was included in the decree that he had to die in the desert. As a result, men who had not been twenty years old at the time of the Exodus would be included in this decree. To make it clear that this was not so, the Torah says אשר הלינתם, people who were 20 years old from the time you started complaining, i.e. immediately after the Exodus. If anyone of the complainants had been twenty years old at the time he complained, he was now included in the group of people to whom this decree applied. This is precisely what G'd had meant when He told Moses in verse 22 that the Israelites had tested Him already ten times.

Perhaps the generation in question did not notice this nuance of the verse as to who was and who was not included in the decree and they thought that the decree applied only to people who had turned twenty as of that day. As a result of such a faulty interpretation they examined who had died in the fortieth year of their wanderings on the night of the ninth of Av. They found then that not a single one had died on that night. When they checked for the next 5 nights and found that not a single Israelite died during those nights either, they declared the 15th of Av of that year as a day of rejoicing concluding that the decree had come to an end (compare introduction to Midrash Eycha Rabbah.) It is difficult to understand why they should have expected anyone to die during the night of the ninth of Av in that year unless they had misunderstood the meaning of who was included in the description "from twenty years and over."

Possibly, G'd had couched the decree in a language which permitted more than one interpretation, something G'd is fond of doing on occasion. The reason G'd couches something in ambivalent language is to allow for a more lenient interpretation if the people deserve it, or for a more stringent interpretation in the event the people do not deserve it. A classic example of what I have in mind is Genesis 2,17 where G'd warned man not to eat from the tree of knowledge on pain of death. The "death" warning is phrased as follows: "for on the day you eat from it you will surely die." This could be taken to mean that death would be practically instantaneous, i.e. the very same day, or it could be taken to mean that on that day man would become mortal but that death might still be a long way off and that the "day" G'd spoke of was the amount of time He considered a "day" in His calendar, i.e. 1000 years in our time. If Adam would repent, G'd would apply the latter interpretation, if not, He would let Adam die within 24 hours after he had eaten from the fruit of that tree. In our verse G'd also used ambivalent language when the Torah wrote אשר הלינתם. The expression lends itself to two interpretations. 1) על אשר הלינותם, "because you have complained." 2) "from the time you have started to complain the first time," as we explained earlier. G'd meant that if the Israelites would repent and behave from now on He would apply the more lenient of the two interpretations, i.e. only people who had reached the age of twenty before the episode of the spies would die. If the people would become guilty of further misdemeanours, G'd would consider all those who had been twenty years at the time of the first complaint as included in this decree. When G'd had mentioned that the Israelites had tested Him ten times, He referred to the majority of the complainers. When the people realised on the night of the ninth of Av in the fortieth year that no one had died, they celebrated as the decree had finally been lifted from those who had left Egypt while under twenty years of age but had been 20 years of age when the decree was pronounced.

וטפכם אשר אמרתם לבז יהיה, "And as to your children of whom you said they will become prey, etc." Seeing that G'd had said He would do to the people in a manner corresponding to what they had said, and they had said that evil would befall their children if they listened to Caleb and Joshua, G'd now specifically exempts those children from the curse that they would not enter the Holy Land. The Torah adds the conjunctive letter ו in front of the word והבאתי אותם, "and I will bring them," to tell us that not only will these children not become prey, but they will inherit the land their parents should have inherited.

והבאתי אותם וידעו את הארץ, “I shall bring them and they shall get to know the land.” It is noteworthy that G’d did not say that these children will inherit the land. The word וירשו, “they will inherit,” would imply many generations of tenure of the land. The choice of the word וידעו by the Torah is a veiled hint that even later generations may face exile from the Holy Land.

ופגריכם אתם — Understand this as the Targum does: (“But your carcasses — those of you — they shall fall in this desert”). Because in the previous verse He said of the children that He would bring them into the Land, and it wishes to state now: “but you will die”, this idiom is appropriate here — to say the word אתם (in addition to the personal suffix in פגריכם, in order to stress the contrast).

ופגריכם אתם, "As to you, you are already carcasses, etc." Why did the Torah have to write this verse, seeing it had already told us in verse 29 what would happen to the parents of these children? Perhaps the Torah intended to inform us that the children would not be allowed to carry the bones of their parents into the Holy Land with them, as the children of Israel had done with the bones of Joseph and those of the other tribes (Joseph's brothers).

פגריכם אתם, “your carcasses;” the meaning is that you are already like carcasses although you may feel perfectly healthy at this time. You will lie down some night and never wake up in the morning.

Bringing [the children] into the land. Meaning that He had discussed the children, recounting that He would bring them into the land, however they [the adults] would die. Thus the word אתם “yours” was necessary to differentiate between one and the other.

V. 32. ופגריכם אתם, das אתם hebt noch einmal den Gegensatz zu den Kindern hervor.

ופגריכם אתם, “and you who are already corpses;” this verse has been truncated, and it should really have been written in the reverse order, i.e. ואתם פגריכם, “and as for you, your carcasses etc.” This is also what Rashi had in mind when he wrote: “as per the Targum, your carcasses.”

The Torah may also have intended to tell us about another dimension of the death of this generation. Not only would their bodies die in the desert but they would experience an even greater indignity in that their very bodies would become the property of the שר המדבר, the spirtually negative force which rules over the desert. Scholars who have researched this matter agree that there is no more demeaning experience than to be told that after one has become a carcass one will yet experience another "fall." This is why the Torah speaks of פגריכם..יפלו, "your carcasses will fall." If the word "you will fall" had applied only to their actual death, the word "you will fall" should have preceded any word which described the death. To make this point very clear, the Torah wrote: "you who are already carcasses will fall." Clearly, this phraseology refers to something demeaning that will happen to their bodies after their deaths. The Torah is at pains to add the word אתם, "you," to prevent us from interpreting the verse as speaking of something that would happen to the grandchildren of the present generation. In view of the fact that grandchildren are often described as children, seeing the son is part of his father, the Torah was careful to prevent any misunderstanding by writing אתם.

I have heard in the name of scholars who have been expelled from Castilia that they interpreted the word אתם as a reference to Moses and Aaron whose death in the desert G'd had also decreed. Seeing G'd was addressing Moses and Aaron at the time, He used the word אתם when referring to what would happen to them personally. G'd provided a reason for His words when He concluded (verse 35) by saying: אם לא זאת אעשה לכל העדה הרעה הזאת…יתמו ושם ימותו. This can be understood as similar to the way Bamidbar Rabbah 19,13 explains Deut. 33,21: ויתא ראשי עם. The Midrash explains that the reason Moses was buried on the East Bank of the Jordan was to enable the generation of the spies to be resurrected at the time Moses would be resurrected. If Moses and Aaron had not died in the desert, the people would have thought that Moses led a new generation into the land of Canaan and thereby fulfilled his life's mission, whereas the generation which died in the desert was lost forever. Moses had to die and be buried in the desert to keep alive the tradition that eventually he himself would lead the generation he had led out of Egypt to the Holy Land at the time of the resurrection. This is, of course, merely an allegorial interpretation. It is quite inconceivable that the Torah would refer to the bodies of Moses and Aaron as פגר, "carcass." Their bodies were as refined as if they had been angels. The Torah would also not apply the tern נפילה, "fall," to two of the most illustrious human beings such as Moses and Aaron.

ארבעים שנה [AND YOUR CHILDREN SHALL WANDER IN THE DESERT] FORTY YEARS — None of them was to die younger than 60 years old (Bava Batra 121b). For this reason a period of forty years was decreed for their wanderings in order that those who were at that time 20 years old (and only those from twenty years old and upwards came under this decree; cf. v. 29) should reach the age of sixty (the average age of man; cf. Moed Katan 28a and Tosefta Yoma 4:10. s. v. ומיתה). The first year that they were in the wilderness was included in the forty although it preceded the sending forth of the spies (which took place in the second year), because from the moment they made the Golden Calf this decree entered the mind of God, but He waited for them (postponed their punishment) until their measure of sin should be full. This is the meaning of what is stated, (Exodus 32:34) “And in the day when I shall visit — viz., at the incident of the spies — I shall visit their sin (that of the Golden Calf) upon them”. And, here, indeed, it states, (v. 34) “ye shall bear your iniquities” (in the plural) suggesting two sins; that of the Calf and that of the murmuring. — In the calculation it (Scripture) regards in the years of their lives a part of the year (of the sixtieth year) as the whole of it, and as soon as they entered their sixtieth year those who were now twenty years old died (Tanchuma 4:4:13).

ונשאו את זנותיכם, suffering for your faithlessness against me when you had said: “let us appoint a leader to take us back to Egypt ” (verse 4).

רועים במדבר, they will derive their livelihood in a manner similar to sheep who wander all over to find grass to graze on. Similarly, the Israelites will move about somewhat aimlessly in the desert during these years.

יהיו רועים במדבר, “will roam in the wilderness, etc.” Just as a shepherd does not remain stationary in the same location but guides his flock to different pastures, you will be searching out places to make camp.

Before the age of sixty. The decree was only made upon those who were twenty years old and they were in the desert for forty years, thus it emerges that they were sixty years old [when they died]. Because even though they were to be punished by death, they were not liable for koreis [premature death before the age of sixty].

V. 33. ובניכם יהיו רעים, indem diese, die Kinder mit betreffende lange Wanderung in der Wüste doch mit dem Begriff רעה, weiden, bezeichnet wird, so ist damit doch zugleich gesagt, dass diese Wanderung ihnen Erhaltung und Gedeihen bringen solle, ונשאו את זנותיכם wir haben hier einen lebendigen Kommentar zu dem פוקד עון אבות על בנים. In unvermeidlich naturgemäßer Folge werden die Kinder mit von dem durch die Eltern verschuldeten Verhängnis ergriffen, und gleichzeitig wird diese Mitleidenschaft der Kinder diesen zu unendlichem Heile. War doch eben diese vierzigjährige Wanderung die Hoheschule des jüdischen Volkes für die Durchdringung mit dem Geiste des Gesetzes und eines unwandelbaren Vertrauens in Gott, dessen wahrhafte Reife noch erst nach Jahrhunderten aufgehen sollte — und soll. — זנותיכם: für die Mitleidenschaft der Kinder wird die Verirrung in ihrer Beziehung zu Gott begriffen als Abfall, da eben die veränderte Beziehung Gottes zu ihnen das Verhängnis gestaltet, unter welchem die Kinder zu leiden haben sollen. Hinsichtlich der Eltern selbst, der eigentlich Schuldigen, heißt die Verirrung (V. 34) objektiv עון, Abweichen vom geraden Pfad. Beidemal steht aber der Plural: עונתיכם ,זנותיכם. Das jetzt sich vollziehende Verhängnis ist eine Frucht der ganzen Reihe von Abirrungen und Verirrungen, deren sie sich bereits schuldig gemacht.

יהיו רועים, “they will be wanderers;” this is meant literally, i.e. like sheep that are wanderers, [not like shepherds, Ed.] Sheep do not wander in one direction but often cross areas that they had fed on earlier in the season. Your children will also be nomads like those sheep.

ונשאו את זנותיכם AND SHALL BEAR YOUR WHOREDOMS — Understand this as the Targum does: and they shall bear your guilt (cf. Targum on ונשא את עונה, Numbers 30:16, and Rashi on that verse).

The first year was included. Meaning that the first year of the count [of forty] was included…

Part of the year as the whole. Meaning that some of the people who were counted after the incident with the golden calf, which was after the first count [in the desert], had turned twenty years old. However, if initially they had been nineteen years old, and only at the sending of the spies did they turn twenty, they would enter the land. This is what Rashi means when he says “so that when they entered their sixtieth year, those who had been twenty years old died.” In the name of Maharitz.

את תנואתי [AND YE SHALL KNOW] את תנואתי — You shall know (realise) that you have removed your heart from following after Me. תנואה is an expression for “removing”, similar to (Numbers 30:6) “for her father hath removed her (הניא) from her vow” (cf. Rashi on that verse, where he quotes this phrase).

במספר הימים, we have a rule in halachah that שלוחו של אדם כמותו that when one appoints someone to act on one’s behalf the appointee is regarded as an extension of the one who appointed him. The spies had therefore not acted on their own, but as the people’s agents. Hence Moses, i.e. G’d, addresses the people as the instigators of this disaster. Their initial sin had consisted in wanting to find out if the land could be conquered.

יום לשנה יום לשנה ”a day for a year, a day for a year.” We would have expected the Torah to write the opposite, i.e. “a year for a day,” i.e. that the punishment for each day the spies had spent traveling the land and planning to slander it would be that the people would have to spend an additional year in the desert. Theirs would be nomads’ tents which flutter in the wind, an existence daily reminding them of their insecurity on earth. Not only that, but according to the context of the story mention of the punishment should have preceded mention of the sin. If the Torah wrote the verse in the manner it did it was to teach us something about G’d’s mercy which is manifest even while He metes out punishment.
When the Torah chose the wording: “a day for a year,” we must consider the fact that seeing the land of Israel has been described as an area of 400 by 400 miles, approx, this is an area which the spies could not possibly have covered in the space of a mere forty days. However, seeing G’d had known in advance that He would have to decree the punishment mentioned, He telescoped the distance under their feet so that they could cover it in such a short period of time. This is why G’d said: “a day for every year,” i.e. just like a father who is forced to inflict a blow on his son. He does not inflict a cruel blow but is as considerate as possible. The meaning of the verse therefore is: “here I have reduced the extent of your punishment as much as is possible by shortening the time you (the spies) needed to traverse the land so that it took only forty days. “

You diverted your hearts. The Torah calls the diversion of their hearts from Hashem, as ‘Hashem’s diversion from them’. Because given that they diverted their hearts from Hashem, He diverted Himself from them.

V. 34. תרתם ,במספר הימים וגו׳: die Nation durch ihre Botschafter, deren Verirrung sie sich auch angeschlossen. יום לשנה וגו׳: durch diese Zahlbeziehung des Zeitmaßes der Strafe zu dem der Versündigung wird diese während der ganzen Zeit der Strafe den Büßenden gegenwärtig gehalten. Diese Weise, durch bloß äußerliche Zahlengleichheit eine Beziehung dem Bewusstsein präsent zu machen, ist von den Weisen in ihren Anordnungen vielfach benutzt worden. So: ג׳ קרואים ז׳ קרואים כנגד ,וכו׳ י׳׳ח ,ברכות כנגד וכו׳ und immer ist die Frage: הני כנגד מי, und wird durch eine äußere Zahlgleichheit, wie hier, eine innere Beziehung vergegenwärtigt. — תנואתי, das Substantiv תנואה kommt nur hier und noch einmal, Job 33, 10 הן תנואות עלי ימצא, vor. הניא Hifil, heißt versagen, verweigern, נוא, Kal, demnach: Versagung, Verweigerung leiden, durch Versagung, Verweigerung in Erfüllung, Ausführung eines Vorhabens gestört, unterbrochen werden (siehe Bereschit 12, 10-13, Ende). Die Stelle in Job heißt daher wohl: Siehe, Weigerungen will er bei mir finden, d. h. er will so manches finden, das ich ihm verweigert, nicht geleistet habe. תנואתי hier wäre demnach: die von mir durch euch erlittene Weigerung. Ich habe euch den Weg zu eurem Heile führen wollen, ihr habt euch geweigert, auf meinen Willen einzugehen, ihr werdet die Übel kennen lernen, in welche der Mensch verfällt, wenn er Gott das Eingehen auf seine Wege versagt.

במספר הימים, “according to the number of days;” the letter ב in במספר has a dagesh, dot in it.

יום לשנה, on a specific day each year, i.e. the ninth of Av, according to the sages in Taanit 30.

וידעתם את תנואתי, “so you shall know My displeasure.” You claimed that I had planned to kill you by the enemies’ swords in order not to have to bring you to the Holy Land; now you will experience the reverse; you will live out your lives but to no purpose.

תנואתי; you will find out what it means to try and thwart My plans. (a reference to verse 43 when this “self-fulfilling “ prediction came true.).

אני ה׳ דברתי אם לא זאת אעשה, "I the Lord have spoken, surely this I will do, etc." Why did G'd have to announce that it was He who had been saying all this? Did we not know this? What is the meaning of the words אם לא זאת אעשה? Why did G'd repeat שם ימותו, "they will die there?" This was implied already by the words "they will be consumed in this wilderness." I believe we have to approach this verse by concentrating on the attribute G'd applies to Himself here. He describes Himself as השם, i.e. as the attribute of Mercy. It is an announcement by G'd that the attribute of Mercy concurred with the decision of the attribute of Justice. G'd emphasised דברתי, "I spoke these harsh words," to show that even the attribute of Mercy had to associate itself with this decree. In the event that we would wonder how the attribute of Mercy could agree to subject the people of Israel to such harsh punishment, G'd said "if I do not do this, etc." He meant that If He did not now decree death but extended His patience even longer, in the end He would not only have to deny them life on earth now but He would have to deny them life in the hereafter. This would be due to future acts of spurning G'd of which the Israelites would become guilty. The words במדבר הזה יתמו "they will be consumed in this desert," mean that they would die in שלמות, i.e. that at the time of their deaths their bodies would expire, ושם ימותו, and in the hereafter their souls would die. The only way G'd could forestall such a development was to let them die in the desert now so that they would not also forfeit any chance at a life in the hereafter (according to the view expressed in Sanhedrin 108 that the generation of the desert had not forfeited their life in the hereafter).

אני ה' דברתי, “I the Lord have spoken, etc.” This expression is equivalent to the rendering of an irrevocable decree; seeing that it is accompanied by an oath it could not be revoked. Although it could not be revoked, it's application could be delayed. Moses’ prayer accomplished that execution of the decree was spread over almost forty years.

V. 35. העדה הרעה וגו׳ sind alle die selbständigen Männer, הנועדים עלי, die in der Empörung gegen mich ihre Einigung gefunden. במדבר הזה יתמו: ihre Bestimmung geht nicht über diese Wüste hinaus, sie werden aus dieser Wüste nicht hinauskommen.

אם לא זאת אעשה, “surely this I will do;” we have here three short verses all dealing with the same subject. 1) You will not get to see the land you were to have made your home in. 2) You will not even enter it. 3) This will include your whole congregation [the ones who were 20 years old at the time of the Exodus. Ed.]

הנועדים עלי, “that have ganged up against Me.” They did so by trying to stone My representatives on earth. They traded My honour for something infinitely inferior.

וישבו וילינו עליו [AND THE MEN WHOM MOSES SENT TO SEARCH THE LAND] RETURNED AND MADE THE WHOLE CONGREGATION MURMUR AGAINST HIM — This meant: “the men whom Moses sent and who, when they returned (וישבו) from searching the Land, made the whole congregation murmur against him by making them utter an evil report, — those men died. Wherever the phrase הוציא דבה occurs it denotes instructing to speak — that people teach their way of speaking to a person that he may speak it (cf. Rashi on 23:31). Similar is, (Song 7:10) “causing the lips of those who are asleep to speak." (דובב) There may be one (a דבה, “an utterance”) for good, or there may be one for evil: and it is for this reason that it states here, “[even those men] that made the people utter evil speech about the Land”, because, as I have stated, there is a דבה which may be termed good.

והאנשים אשר שלח משה, who at the time had been considered as loyal by him but had in the meantime become disloyal,

והאנשים אשר שלח משה, And the men whom Moses had despatched, etc. This entire verse seems superfluous. We already know that Moses had despatched the spies and what the spies had done. Perhaps this verse wanted to inform us that although under normal circumstances G'd extends His patience also to sinners -as we explained on verse 18- in this instance G'd punished these men immediately. The Torah repeats the nature of their sin in order to explain why they did not deserve G'd's patience.

והאנשים אשר שלח משה, and who had in the meantime returned from the land of Israel, וישובו וילינו and had upon their return incited the people to voice their complaints, וימותו, they died forthwith.

רעה מוציאי דבת-הארץ, “spreading slanderous report about the land,” Nachmanides says that the “slander” mentioned here was their claim that the land consumes its inhabitants. This was an outright lie, as not only was the land full of people, but the spies themselves during the forty days they had spent in the land had not experienced any problems with their health. We have a record of Joshua describing the Land of Canaan as densely populated in Joshua The precise wording is עם רב כחול הים אשר על שפת הים לרוב, “a people as numerous as the sand on the beaches of the sea.” Rashi explains the words מוציאי דבת הארץ as causing people to speak fluently, i.e. in this case as harping on the negative aspects. On occasions, the same expression is used to describe someone constantly underlining the positive aspects of something. This is why the Torah had to add the word רעה when referring to דבת הארץ. Nachmanides counters that we have a statement in Pessachim 3 containing the word דבה, where it is clearly referring to negative comments without the word רעה being added. According to Nachmanides the reason the Torah did add the word רעה here although it had already been implied by the use of the word דבה, is to tell us of how much the spies overemphasized the negative aspects of what they claimed to have seen.

V. 36. וילינו וגו׳ להוציא וגו׳, sie haben die Volksgemeine zur Empörung gegen Gott dadurch gebracht, dass sie Verleumdung über das Land ausgebracht.

והאנשים אשר שלח משה, “and the men that Moses had sent forth;” the spies, G-d did not let them live out their lives but killed them at once by a plague.

דבה is parlerie in O. F.; (Engl = utterance).

become enemies by causing to make slanderers out of the whole elite of the nation (the word עדה is taken to refer to the members of the Supreme Court, Sanhedrin) and the leaders of the nation. They had stated that “the local inhabitants are stronger than we.” (13,31) they had intended to slander the land by this remark. They reasoned that during the time it would take the elders of the people to assimilate the information they had just received, they themselves would have time to speak to the ordinary people and to spread lies about the land of Canaan. They could not have gotten away with telling such lies to the elders who knew that these statements were lies.

דבה, the word is related to דובב, as in Song of Songs 7,10 דובב שפתי ישנים, “He makes the lips of those who sleep (in their graves) move and articulate words.” [The author quotes more verses, i.e. Proverbs 11,10 Job 20,5, but I confess that I do not understand how they relate to דבה. Ed.]

There are five different circumstances which cause G'd to exact retribution without extending patience towards the sinner. 1) The sinner in question is a person of exceptional stature. When such a person rebels against G'd, He does not want to forgive him. After all, such a person should have known better and cannot expect to be judged by the same standards as an average person who commits a sin. 2) A person who has moved in a Torah-observant society and has abandoned this society to pursue a sinful conduct. 3) If someone experiences a strong urge not to commit a certain sin and he makes every effort to resist that urge and sins regardless of his primordial urge not to sin. The Talmud Menachot 44 illustrates this with the example of someone deliberately ignoring the warning by his ציציות not to go through with his intention to sleep with a certain harlot. 4) If the person involved not only sinned but caused others to sin. 5) If the nature of the sin is greater than normal; the Talmud in Sanhedrin 103 describes Amon the son of King Menashe as committing such a sin when he slept with his mother against her will. When his mother tried to dissuade him claiming he could not possibly derive any gratification from entering an area of her body which he had come out of at birth and which was unclean, he countered that his objective was not gratification but causing G'd to be angry.

וישובו וילינו, “made all the congregation murmur against him.” Once was not enough, but they repeated their negative attitude to conquering the land of the Canaanites.

In our situation the Torah informed us that G'd did not extend His customary patience to the ten spies in question as they had been guilty of all the five factors we just enumerated. The Torah described the spies as והאנשים, to remind us that these men used to be looked up to as models of Torah-observance. Bamidbar Rabbah on our verse states that the term אנשים throughout Scripture means that such people were knwon for their exemplary conduct. 2) They were described as leaders of thousands, i.e. people looked up to them. They were despatched by a society, i.e. Moses and the children of Israel, all of whom were known to be a healthy Torah-observant environment. 3) Although they were exposed to great dangers in their mission as spies, they had themselves acknowledged that they only returned safely because they had experienced G'd's personal protection. In spite of this they had committed such an ugly sin. 4) The Torah tells us that they not only sinned themselves but caused the whole community to sin, i.e. וילינו עליו את כל העדה, "They caused the whole congregation to murmur against G'd." 5) By slandering the nature of ארץ ישראל they angered G'd although they could not possibly derive any gratification from their sin. It is hardly surprising then that G'd did not extend His patience to such men.

במגפה לפני ה׳ [EVEN THOSE MEN DIED …] BY THE PLAGUE BEFORE THE LORD — by that death which was fitting for them — measure for measure. They had sinned with their tongue, therefore their tongue grew long extending right down to their navels, and worms came from their tongue and entered their navels. This is the reason why it states, they died by “the” plague, and not בְּמַגֵּפָה by “a” plague; this, too, is the meaning of the words “before the Lord” (they died by the plague which was before the Lord) — by that plague which was fitting for them according to the methods of the Holy One, blessed be He, Who metes out “measure for measure” (Sotah 35a).

AND THOSE MEN, THAT DID BRING FORTH ‘DIBATH’ (AN EVIL REPORT) OF THE LAND, DIED. I have already explained¹⁵⁹Above, 13:32. that their severe punishment was because of the report which they spread that it is a Land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof,¹⁵⁹Above, 13:32. which was a complete falsehood since the Land was full with many people, as it is written in the Book of Joshua, And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.¹⁶⁰Joshua 11:4. And in the Torah it is written, and He shall cast out many nations before thee … seven nations greater and mightier than thou.¹⁶¹Deuteronomy 7:1. The spies also emphasized the strength of the people, saying: the people are fierce,¹⁶²Above, 13:28. and they are very strong,¹⁶³Ibid., Verse 31: for they are stronger than we. and did not report back concerning the words of Moses who told them [to ascertain] whether they are few or many,¹⁶⁴Ibid., Verse 18. but they told the people afterwards that the Land is one that eateth up the inhabitants thereof!¹⁵⁹Above, 13:32.
Now Rashi commented:¹⁶⁵On Verse 36: And they [the spies] made all the congregation to murmur against him by bringing forth ‘dibah’ against the Land. “Whenever Scripture uses the expression ‘he brings forth dibah’ it means bringing forth words which ‘capture’ a person so that he speaks about it, just like ‘doveiv’ (stirring) the lips of those that are asleep.¹⁶⁶Song of Songs 7:10. And [the expression ‘bringing forth dibah’] may be for good, or for evil. That is why it says [the men … that did bring forth an “‘evil’ dibath” (report of) the Land,¹⁶⁷Verse 37 here. because there may be a dibah which is good.” [Thus far is the language of Rashi.] But it is written: he that bringeth forth ‘dibah’ is a fool,¹⁶⁸Proverbs 10:18. See Ramban above, 13:32. and this cannot [refer] to a good [utterance]. Similarly, bringing forth ‘dibah’ against the Land,¹⁶⁹Verse 36. and so also, ‘v’dibathcha’ (and thine utterance of ‘dibah’) he will not turn away¹⁷⁰Proverbs 25:10. — all signify speech of evil, as the term dibah itself connotes evil, and when Scripture uses the expression dibah ra’ah [“evil dibah,” as it does in our verse: and those men that did bring up ‘dibath ha’aretz ra’ah’ (an evil report of the Land) died] it is to emphasize the greatness of the evil that they did.

וימותו האנשים מוציאי דבת הארץ רעה במגפה, from the type of pestilence which they claimed had caused the death of the people they had seen dying in the land of Canaan during their tour of exploration. (13,32) It was the kind of pollution in the air which kills almost instantly.

וימותו האנשים מוצאי דבת הארץ רעה, The men who had issued an evil report about the land died, etc. We have to understand this verse as follows: "The men who died were the ones who issued the evil report." We find a parallel construction in Psalms 9,17: בפועל כפיו נוקש רשע, "The wicked person is snared by his own deeds." The verse may also tell us why these people died by pestilence; this was an appropriate tit-for-tat because they had spread evil tales. The words davar, word, and dever, pestilence, are spelled identically.

במגפה לפני ה, “by a pestilence before the Lord.” The punishment was commensurate to their sin. They had sinned by abusing their power of speech with their tongues; this is why their death resulted from a plague which first attacked their tongues lengthening them until their navels. Then worms crawled out of their navels through their tongues (Sotah 35). This is why the Torah added the words: “before the Lord,” This is the way Rashi explains this verse.

לפני השם, in the presence of G'd. The Torah means that they died before G'd's presence as represented by the cloud ascended again. The type of permission granted to the destructive forces in this instance differs from that given to the same forces when Aaron and Miriam had been guilty of slandering Moses. On that occasion the Tzoraat had not struck until after G'd departed. The fact that in this case G'd gave permission for the destructive forces to become active immediately indicates the seriousness of the sin of the spies.

Before Hashem. It was evident to all that this was Divine providence and not a random event.

ויהושע וכלב ... חיו וגו׳ AND JOSHUA AND CALEB LIVED [FROM THOSE MEN] etc. — What is the force of חיו מן האנשים ההם (does it not state later on, Numbers 26:65, ‘‘And there was not left a man of them save Caleb the son of Yephuneh and Joshua the son of Nun)"? But the phrase teaches that they received the portion of the spies in the Land and thus remained alive, so to speak, in their stead (i.e. the text does not intend to state that they alone of all those men remained alive, but that they lived “from” the other men, i.e. from their portion in the Land) (Bava Batra 118b).

ויהושע בן נון, And Joshua son of Nun, etc. Why was there a need to write this verse seeing the Torah had already written that the men who issued the slanderous report died? Besides, what is the meaning of the words מן האנשים, "from amongst the men, etc.?"

What does the Torah teach by saying “lived.” Rashi is answering the question: In another verse (Bamidbar 26:65) the Torah writes “no man from among them was left, aside from Caleiv son of Yefuneh and Yehoshua…”

The meaning will become clear when we recall a statement by the Talmud Baba Batra 121 that Yair son of Menashe was born while Jacob was still alive. The Talmud queries this seeing that this same Yair was among the people who entered the land of Canaan as we know from Joshua 7,5 where the men of Ai are reported as having killed about 36 Israelites during the latter's first attempt to conquer that town. The Talmud there suggests that the peculiar phrase כשלושים וששה איש, means that only one man was killed and that the man was Yair ben Menashe. The reason the Book of Joshua spoke about "approximately 36 men," is that this Yair was so outstanding a person that he was considered equal to half the members of the Sanhedrin of 71 sages, i.e. 36. At any rate, it is obvious that this Yair was far older than 20 years when he left Egypt. How is it that he was permitted to enter the land of Canaan? Rabbi Acha concludes from this example that G'd's decree to kill the men over 20 applied only to the men between the ages of 20 and 60, i.e. the men who would bear arms and who would have been in danger of being killed by the Canaanites in any attempt to conquer the land. Our verse hints at the conclusion Rabbi Acha arrived at in the Talmud. The reason that Joshua and Caleb were exempted from the decree although they were under the age of 60 at that time was because they had been part of the group of spies and had proven their loyalty to G'd. Had they not been מן האנשים אשר תרו, from amongst the men who toured the land, they too would have been affected by the decree that all men between 20 and 60 had to die in the desert even though they were righteous.

Our verse hints at yet another comment we find in Chagigah 15 that the deserving person inherits also the place in the hereafter reserved for a person who forfeited it through having become wicked. The words מן האנשים allude to Caleb and Joshua inheriting the share the other ten spies would have inherited in the hereafter had they not spread slander about the land. They also took over the shares reserved for these spies inside the land of ארץ ישראל (compare Baba Batra 117).

אל ראש ההר [AND THEY … WENT UP] INTO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN — that is the route that leads up to the Land of Israel.

'אל המקום אשר אמר ה, and He commanded us to go there and to take possession of the land.

וישכימו בבקר ויעלו אל ראש ההר לאמור הננו, ועלינו אל המקום, וגו', “they arose early in the morning and ascended toward the top of the mountain, and they said: ‘here we are ready to ascend to the place, etc.” My sainted father the Ro’sh of blessed memory, could not come to terms with people who had said already that they wanted to appoint a new leader to take them back to Egypt having suddenly decided to make a 180 degree turn about, after it had already been decreed that they would die in the desert. Surely, in view of that decree, logic would have dictated that they make every effort to avoid doing something which is the opposite of their expressed wish, namely to return to Egypt. They seemed intent on embarking on a course of action that would hasten their death even more by confronting the Canaanites whom they had considered unbeatable. He explained that we must understand that ever since the Israelites had seen the Egyptian soldiers dead on the beaches of the sea, they had intended to return to an Egypt devoid of men, a rich country theirs for the taking, and had seen no point in journeying to the land of Canaan, a land populated by giants, a challenge that they had no stomach for. Every time there had been a problem, their desire to return to a defeated Egypt had come to the fore. Already in Exodus 15,22 we read that Moses had to forcefully compel the Israelites to turn towards the desert instead of returning as victors to a defeated Egypt. Finally, when they had come to the desert of Paran, they had agreed to send spies to Canaan in order to examine the feasibility of conquering that land. They had hoped that by reporting on the nature of the inhabitants in that country G’d might at least consent to their returning to Egypt, instead. When, in response to the majority report of the spies they had decided to appoint a new leader to lead them back to Egypt, this must not be understood as a rebellion, but as a request to G’d to allow them to return to Egypt where they hoped to live in peace without having to face a war of conquest. When they had now found out that this was not a viable option, they decided to accept the unpalatable alternative and with G’d’s help to conquer the Land of Canaan.

הננו ועלינו אל המקום LO, WE ARE HERE, AND WILL GO UP INTO THE PLACE, viz., to the Land of Israel,

כי חטאנו, when we believed the advice given by the spies.

אשר אמר ה׳ WHICH THE LORD HATH PROMISED to give us; thither will we go up, (and we will not return to Egypt).

כי חטאנו FOR WE HAVE SINNED in that we said, (v. 3) “were it not better for us to return to Egypt?”

והיא לא תצלח AND IT SHALL NOT PROSPER — What you are about to do will not be successful.

WHY NOW DO YE TRANSGRESS THE COMMANDMENT OF THE ETERNAL? This does not refer to the [Divine] decree which He mentioned [previously] that your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness,¹⁷¹Above Verse 32. but it means: “Why do ye transgress the commandment of the Eternal: for He has commanded me that you should not go up at all, that ye be not smitten down before your enemies.”¹⁷²Verse 42. And similarly Moses said in the Book of Deuteronomy, And ye deemed it a light thing to go up into the hill-country. And the Eternal said unto me: ‘Say unto them: Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.’¹⁷³Deuteronomy 1:41-42.

?למה זה עוברים את פי ה' והיא לא תצלח; by defying G’d in this manner you will not merely be guilty of a sin due to your trying to indulge your whims, but to the sin of deliberately trying to cause G’d to become angry. (the worst category of sin)

והיא לא תצלח, this way will not succeed.

והיא לא תצלח, ”this plan will not succeed.” Moses explained to these people that the fact that they planned to act against the wishes of Hashem doomed their attempt.

Your actions. The word “it” refers to an action in the feminine [form], as if the Torah had stated “this action that you are doing will not succeed.”

Why are you now transgressing. Although it is good to rectify the sin with the very thing with which he sinned, this is not so when the repentant deed is against the Will of Hashem; sacrifice of this sort is unacceptable.

'את פי ה, “the Lord’s commandment?” He had told you that you would turn back in the direction of the sea of reeds, whereas you now insist on undertaking a military campaign against the Canaanites. (compare verse 25)

V’HI’ (AND IT) SHALL NOT SUCCEED. “This [attempt] that you are making¹⁷⁴Since the verse does not contain a noun to which the feminine pronoun v’hi [literally: “and she”] can refer, Rashi interprets it as referring to “this attempt that you are making.” Ramban suggests two other explanations. will not succeed.” This is Rashi’s language. Or it may mean that “the violation of G-d’s commandment does not carry with it success,” as Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote. By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala, this is like] ‘hi’ mithhalecheth’ (she moved to and fro) between the living creatures].¹⁷⁵Ezekiel 1:13. The pronoun v’hi thus refers back to the pi Hashem (“the commandment of the Eternal”) which, when violated cannot bring success, for the Eternal is not among you (Verse 42 — Abusaula).

It will not succeed. Every war requires success, and without success the paths of war are presumed to be dangerous.

אל תעלו כי אין ה׳ בקרבכם, "do not go up for G'd is not in your midst." Moses gave two reasons why the מעפילים should not attempt to invade the land of Canaan. 1) G'd was not in their midst. 2) Seeing that G'd was not in their midst, i.e. had not approved their plan, any attempt to invade the land of Canaan now would be an act of rebellion against G'd. You will find that Moses spells this out in Deut. 1,43 when he recalled to the new generation that he had warned their fathers at the time not to attempt to invade the land and thereby to rebel against G'd.

כי על כן שבתם — means: for (כי) this will come upon you, because (על כן) ye have turned away etc. (cf. Rashi on Genesis 18:5 and Numbers 10:31).

כי העמלקי והכנעני שם, "for the Amalekite and the Canaanite are there, etc." The meaning is clear: The ten spies had given as the reason that the people would be unable to conquer the land the very presence of the Amalekite and the Canaanite. In view of this, any attempt to invade that part of the land knowing that G'd was not in their midst was an act of rebellion as it reflected the fact that they relied on themselves rather than on G'd. Moses warned that the certain result of such an attempt would be that they would fall by the sword just as the ten spies had predicted.

כי על כן שבתם, the line has the word אשר missing; we find a similar construction with the missing word אשר in Genesis 39 4 where the Torah writes וכל יש לו בידו instead of וכל אשר יש לו בידו.

Because you turned. The meaning of על כן (for) is “since” [rather than “therefore”], which Rashi explains as על אשר (because). Given that it would be incorrect to say הואיל ושבתם (since you turned away) the Torah adds the formation “verb … על כן” to the word כי which indicates causation — “since you did so…” referring to you turning away from following Hashem.

V. 43. כי על כן (siehe Bereschit 18, 5). Denn nur darum sage ich euch, dass ihr nicht euch hinauf wagen sollt, weil ihr zurückgewichen seid von der Nachfolge Gottes.

כי על כן שבתם, “for you turned away from Hashem again.” The reason why the spies frightened you was in order to turn you away from G-d, and now when they succeeded you wanted to do this once more? Do you still not place your confidence in Him? The only reason why He is not going to be on your side is that you constantly rebel against Him! If you will again transgress against His commandment you will surely be defeated until the forty years He decreed will have passed.

ויעפלו is an expression for “strength” (doing a thing by insolent force). Similar is, (Habakkuk 2:4) “Behold it is insolent (עפלה)”, engres in O. F., an expression for insolent force. Similar also is, (Micah 4:8), “stronghold (עפל) of the daughter of Zion”; (Jes. 32:14) “the forts (עפל) and towers”. The Midrash Tanchuma 4:4:19, however, explains it (ויעפלו) to be of the same meaning as אופל, darkness, i.e. they went in darkness — without permission.

ויעפילו, they stiffened their attitude, similar to Exodus 6,13 where Pharaoh is reported as stiffening his attitude, and as a result not paying heed to Moses’ and Aaron’s warning.

ויעפילו לעלות אל ראש ההר, But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain, etc. They erred in thinking that by ascending the mountain they could demonstrate their faith in G'd and that as a result G'd would save them. G'd was not impressed, 1) for their punishment was still too recent to have run its course, and 2) the decree had been made absolute so that G'd could not reverse it. Please compare what I have written on this subject in Deut. 1,43.

משו, from the root לא ימיש, Exodus 13,22, “did not move.” Here too it means “did not move.”

וארון ברית ה' ומשה לא משו, “while the Ark of the covenant of Hashem and Moses did not move.” The Torah mentioned the Ark at the beginning of the verse; we find a similar expression in Samuel I 4,11 when the Ark was taken to battle by the two sons of Eli and captured by the Philistines. The basic difference between here and there is that the two sons of Eli were killed, which is the reason that they were mentioned by name only at the end of that verse.

ויעפילו, the word is derived from עפל, climbing a fortified place and means that they tried to ascend a fortified hill.
A Midrashic approach found in Bamidbar Rabbah (10) compares the word to the root אפל, darkness, i.e. “they walked in darkness,” not having secured approval for their undertaking.which was considered wicked.

V. 44. ויעפלו (siehe Bereschit 4, 1-2). Sie stemmten sich, beharrten hartnäckig dabei.

They defiantly. Rashi explained in the name of the Midrash Tanchuma that ויעפילו connotes darkness. The intention is that there were many of those who went up who believed and knew they would not succeed and would fall in war, but nevertheless they considered it worthwhile to be killed in the Land of Israel and be buried there and not in the desert. However, Hashem annulled their plan.

וארון ברית ה' ומשה לא משו, “and the Ark of the covenant of the Lord as well as Moses had not moved.” In this verse the Torah drew a comparison between Moses and the Ark of the covenant. In Numbers 11,21 we have a formula where the Torah seems to equate Moses to the 600,000 men of military age of the Israelites when it is written: “and Moses said the people are 600,00 foot-soldiers, etc.” The Torah alluded to the spiritual worth of Moses as being equivalent to the people as a whole. If that had not been the intention of the Torah in that verse it should have written: “the people amongst whom I find myself comprise 600,000 foot-soldiers.”

ויכתום AND COMPLETELY DISCOMFITED THEM — This word is the same in meaning as (Deuteronomy 9:21) “and I pounded it (ואכות) and ground it very thin”. The text implies: blow upon blow.

וירד העמלקי, and did not give them a chance to climb the mountain.

To commemorate this incident. Meaning either that this was prophetic, or that Moshe used this name when he wrote down the Torah after forty years in the desert. By this time the place was already called Chormah.

V. 45. בהר ההוא in dem Gebirge. Oben V. 25 heißt es, dass sie בעמק wohnten, also wohnten sie nicht auf dem Berge, sondern im Gebirge, im Tale jenseits der Anhöhe, die sie ersteigen wollten. ויכתום, ebenso Dewarim 1, 44. ויכתו אתכם scheint eine ungewöhnliche Hifilform zu sein von כתת zerstoßen, oder vielmehr Kal von נכת, wie ואכת אותו טחון; es müsste dann normal ויכתום heißen; vielleicht ist das Patach im Anklang an ויכום gewählt und auch Dewarim 1, 44, wo ויכתו allein steht, geblieben und in diese Form ויכום und ויכתום zusammengefasst: sie schlugen sie bis zur Zermalmung.

ויכום, the Amalekites defeated them.” ויכתום, “the Canaanites beat them.”

ער החרמה EVEN UNTO HORMAH — The place was so called (חרמה doom, destruction) on account of what happened there.