לֹ֥א תִירָ֖א מֵהֶ֑ם זָכֹ֣ר תִּזְכֹּ֗ר אֵ֤ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ לְפַרְעֹ֖ה וּלְכָל־מִצְרָֽיִם׃
Não terás medo deles; lembrar-te-ás bem do que o Eterno, teu Deus, fez a Paró e a todo o Mitzrayim:
Rabbeinu Bahya
In this verse Solomon explains that a multitude of subjects and their presence constitute a king’s honor and pride. The reason that this is so is because among his subjects there may be individuals who can match or even surpass the king in wisdom, in prowess, in wealth or in other characteristics. The king’s superiority over all these people who can compete with him in individual attributes comes to the fore only in his commanding a multitude and in the size of the kingdom he controls. If, for some reason, the people abandon him, this spells the ruin of his glory.
The word רזון comes from רוזנים, rulers. Seeing Solomon had commenced his sentence with the words הדרת מלך, he should by rights have continued the contrast by writing מחתת מלך, instead of מחתת רוזנים. However, Solomon wanted to convey the idea that the absence of the usual multitude so affects the king that even the title מלך can no longer be applied to him. He will be merely like any other “ruler” whose sole distinction consists in the fact that he can impose his will on a number of inferiors. The title מלך is simply not appropriate for someone who does not have a (willing) people at his disposal. It follows that the self-confidence of a king, i.e. his faith is bound up with the people at his command. This is the reason that G’d did not really want that the Jewish people should have a king. If his faith would be placed in the people under him, how could he be faithful to the Lord above him and make Him the focus of his trust?! Not only that! The people too would place their trust and faith in the visible king instead of in the Lord (who remains invisible).
We, the people who are the recipients of the Torah, have been commanded את ה' אלו-היך תירא, “fear the Lord your G’d” (Deut. 6,13). We have also been commanded not to fear the Canaanites (both in Deut. 7,18 and elsewhere). Seeing the Torah has forbidden us to fear mortal man and has commanded each one of us to place our trust and faith exclusively in the Lord it follows that if we truly keep this commandment not only do we have no need for a mortal king, but we will be far better off than if we did have a king of flesh and blood.
However, seeing that G’d foresaw in His wisdom that the time would come when even the Jewish people would demand to be governed by a mortal king just as is the norm among the Gentiles, the Torah forestalled some of the negative fallout of such a phenomenon by stipulating rules both for who could become such a king and how such a king would have to conduct himself. This is the reason for Deut. 17,14-16 writing: “when you will say: ‘I wish to appoint a king for myself similar to the nations around me, you shall certainly appoint a king over yourself.’” Actually, the very demand for a mortal king should have been considered a sin by the people seeing that when G’d took the people out of Egypt He had demonstrated that He could do so much more for the people than any king of flesh and blood.
It would seem logical that He who controls the whole universe should be king. This is especially so when this king has seen fit to manifest His presence among the people in the Temple. No wonder that G’d considered the very demand of the people as an insult directed at Him rather than at the previous leader Samuel (Samuel I 8,7). What could possibly prompt the people to “trade” G’d’s benevolent leadership for a mortal king? The fact that King Shaul eventually fell in battle was a demonstration to the people that they had not done well in demanding a king of flesh and blood as their political leader. Based on such considerations Solomon said in the verse we quoted above that the glory of a king is in the multitude who willingly pay homage to him.
A righteous person who places all his faith in the Lord is on safer ground than if he were to rely on his king, as the king who places his faith in the loyalty of his people will sometimes fall into the hands of his enemies and all his soldiers will not then be able to save him.
Sichon and Og, mighty kings, placed their trust in their armies and it did not help them. They did not realize that in the last analysis success in life does not depend on numbers but on G’d’s decrees. David expressed this clearly in Psalms 33,16: “kings are not delivered by a large force, warriors are not saved by great strength; horses are a false hope for deliverance; for all their great power they provide no escape.” Seeing some of the mightiest kings of their time all fell victim to Moses it is not surprising that Balak was terrified at the approach of the Israelites who had defeated nations far stronger than his own. This is why our portion commences with the words:
The word רזון comes from רוזנים, rulers. Seeing Solomon had commenced his sentence with the words הדרת מלך, he should by rights have continued the contrast by writing מחתת מלך, instead of מחתת רוזנים. However, Solomon wanted to convey the idea that the absence of the usual multitude so affects the king that even the title מלך can no longer be applied to him. He will be merely like any other “ruler” whose sole distinction consists in the fact that he can impose his will on a number of inferiors. The title מלך is simply not appropriate for someone who does not have a (willing) people at his disposal. It follows that the self-confidence of a king, i.e. his faith is bound up with the people at his command. This is the reason that G’d did not really want that the Jewish people should have a king. If his faith would be placed in the people under him, how could he be faithful to the Lord above him and make Him the focus of his trust?! Not only that! The people too would place their trust and faith in the visible king instead of in the Lord (who remains invisible).
We, the people who are the recipients of the Torah, have been commanded את ה' אלו-היך תירא, “fear the Lord your G’d” (Deut. 6,13). We have also been commanded not to fear the Canaanites (both in Deut. 7,18 and elsewhere). Seeing the Torah has forbidden us to fear mortal man and has commanded each one of us to place our trust and faith exclusively in the Lord it follows that if we truly keep this commandment not only do we have no need for a mortal king, but we will be far better off than if we did have a king of flesh and blood.
However, seeing that G’d foresaw in His wisdom that the time would come when even the Jewish people would demand to be governed by a mortal king just as is the norm among the Gentiles, the Torah forestalled some of the negative fallout of such a phenomenon by stipulating rules both for who could become such a king and how such a king would have to conduct himself. This is the reason for Deut. 17,14-16 writing: “when you will say: ‘I wish to appoint a king for myself similar to the nations around me, you shall certainly appoint a king over yourself.’” Actually, the very demand for a mortal king should have been considered a sin by the people seeing that when G’d took the people out of Egypt He had demonstrated that He could do so much more for the people than any king of flesh and blood.
It would seem logical that He who controls the whole universe should be king. This is especially so when this king has seen fit to manifest His presence among the people in the Temple. No wonder that G’d considered the very demand of the people as an insult directed at Him rather than at the previous leader Samuel (Samuel I 8,7). What could possibly prompt the people to “trade” G’d’s benevolent leadership for a mortal king? The fact that King Shaul eventually fell in battle was a demonstration to the people that they had not done well in demanding a king of flesh and blood as their political leader. Based on such considerations Solomon said in the verse we quoted above that the glory of a king is in the multitude who willingly pay homage to him.
A righteous person who places all his faith in the Lord is on safer ground than if he were to rely on his king, as the king who places his faith in the loyalty of his people will sometimes fall into the hands of his enemies and all his soldiers will not then be able to save him.
Sichon and Og, mighty kings, placed their trust in their armies and it did not help them. They did not realize that in the last analysis success in life does not depend on numbers but on G’d’s decrees. David expressed this clearly in Psalms 33,16: “kings are not delivered by a large force, warriors are not saved by great strength; horses are a false hope for deliverance; for all their great power they provide no escape.” Seeing some of the mightiest kings of their time all fell victim to Moses it is not surprising that Balak was terrified at the approach of the Israelites who had defeated nations far stronger than his own. This is why our portion commences with the words:
Rabbeinu Bahya
לא יתיצב איש בפניכם, פחדכם ומוראכם יתן ה' אלו-היכם על פני כל הארץ אשר בה כאשר דבר לכם, “no man will remain standing upright before you (on account of you); the Lord your G’d will give the fear of you and the terror of you all over the land on which you set foot, just as He has said.” This verse contains 72 letters corresponding to the 72 letters (number 72) in the tetragrammaton when spelled in a certain manner, adding the following letter to the original one. [י+יה+יהו+יהוה =72. Ed.]. This name is invoked by people familiar with Kabbalah when they want G’d to counteract fears experienced on journeys into uncharted territory. When Moses adds the words כאשר דבר לכם, “as He has said to you,” he refers to Exodus 23,27: “the fear of Me I shall send ahead of you.” This is also what Moses had prayed for at the end of the Shirah in Exodus 15,16: “may fear and terror fall upon them.” He wanted the attribute of Justice to be constantly poised against the enemies of the Israelites both then and in the future. This is also the method employed by G’d in His dealings with the righteous as we know from Psalms 91,11: “for He will order His angels to guard you wherever you go.” This is a reference to G’d’s “sword” which has 16 facets which are instructed to smite the adversaries. I have explained this matter in connection with Genesis 3,24. We have three veses in Scripture referring to this “sword of G’d” in Leviticus 26,25, Isaiah 27,1 and Genesis 3,24.
In our paragraph the Torah simply assures us that if we keep all the commandments He will deliver into our hands all the far more powerful nations surrounding us and that we would inherit their possessions. This is why the Torah also had to caution us not to be afraid of the pagans. Anyone who is afraid of someone made of flesh and blood is deficient in his trust in G’d’s promise. This is the reason why fear itself is one of the greatest obstacles our soul encounters in its effort to trust G’d absolutely. Such people may become the architects of their own misfortune although none had been decreed against them. People who are saved from all troubles are the ones who take to heart Deut. 20,5 and Psalms 40,8: “he puts his trust in the Lord.”
In our paragraph the Torah simply assures us that if we keep all the commandments He will deliver into our hands all the far more powerful nations surrounding us and that we would inherit their possessions. This is why the Torah also had to caution us not to be afraid of the pagans. Anyone who is afraid of someone made of flesh and blood is deficient in his trust in G’d’s promise. This is the reason why fear itself is one of the greatest obstacles our soul encounters in its effort to trust G’d absolutely. Such people may become the architects of their own misfortune although none had been decreed against them. People who are saved from all troubles are the ones who take to heart Deut. 20,5 and Psalms 40,8: “he puts his trust in the Lord.”