Comentários de Citação sobre I Reis 2:4

AND BE THOU A BLESSING. You will be the blessing by whom people will be blessed, saying, “G-d make thee as Abraham.” To this He added that all families of the earth²³Verse 3 here. will cite him in blessing, not just the people of his country alone. It may be that the expression, And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed,²³Verse 3 here. means that they will all be blessed on his account.
Now this portion of Scripture is not completely elucidated. What reason was there that the Holy One, blessed be He, should say to Abraham, “Leave your country, and I will do you good in a completely unprecedented measure,” without first stating that Abraham worshipped G-d or that he was a righteous man, [and] perfect?²⁴Above, 6:9. As was the case with Noah. Or it should state as a reason for his leaving the country that the very journey to another land constituted an act of seeking the nearness of G-d.²⁵Psalms 73:28. This may indeed be an illuminating personal remark shedding light on Ramban’s journey, towards the end of his life, to the Land of Israel; the very journey constituted to him a religious experience of “seeking the nearness of G-d.” The custom of Scripture is to state, “Walk before Me,²⁶Genesis 17:1. and hearken to My voice, and I will do good unto you,” as is the case with David²⁷See I Kings 2:4. and Solomon,²⁸Ibid., 3:13-14. as well as throughout the Torah: If ye walk in My statute;²⁹Leviticus 26:3. And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Eternal thy G-d.³⁰Deuteronomy 28:1. And in the case of Isaac, it says, For My servant Abraham’s sake.³¹Genesis 26:24. But there is no reason for G-d to promise [Abraham a reward merely] for his leaving the country.
However, the reason [for G-d’s promising Abraham this reward] is that the people of Ur of the Chaldees did him much evil on account of his belief in the Holy One, blessed be He, and he fled from them to go to the land of Canaan, tarrying for a time at Haran, whereupon the Eternal told him to leave these places as well and to fulfill his original intention that his worship be dedicated to Him alone and that he call upon people [for the worhip of] the Name of the Eternal in the Chosen Land. There He would make his name great, and these nations would bless themselves by him, not as they treated him in Ur of the Chaldees, where they abused and cursed him, put him in prison or in the fiery furnace. He further told Abraham that He will bless those who bless him, and if some individual will curse him, he will be cursed in turn.
This then is the meaning of this portion of Scripture. The Torah, however, did not want to deal at length with the opinions of idol worshippers and explain the matter between him and the Chaldeans in the subject of faith, just as it dealt briefly with the matter of the generation of Enosh³²Above, 4:26. See also above in Seder Noach, Note 280. and their thesis concerning the idol-worship which they instituted.

and much peace will flourish in his days, and this peace will last forever. Now all this prayer was fulfilled except this thing, because Solomon sinned. Therefore his kingdom did not endure, for the kingship was given to David on this condition (I Kings 2: 4): “If your children take heed to their way,” but Israel sinned in his days. As it is said (ibid. 4: 20): “Judah and Israel [were] many, as the sand, etc.” And Israel flourished in his days, as it is said... And there was much peace, as it is said (ibid. 5:5): “And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, etc., all the days of Solomon.”

AND WHO SPOKE ‘LI’ (UNTO ME). Rashi comments: “The word li means ‘in my interest,’ just as in the verse, which He spoke ‘alai’ (concerning me).⁹⁴I Kings 2:4. In the same way, in every case where li and lo and lahem follow the word dibur (speaking), they are to be explained in the sense of al (concerning). For proper usage of the verb dibur [in the sense of speaking to a person, the pronouns li and lo and lahem are not appropriate, and] only eilai and eilav and aleihem are appropriate, and their renderings in the Targum are imi and imei and imhon. In the case of the word amirah, however, the expressions li and lo and lahem are appropriate.”
In the section of Vayeitzei Yaakov, Rashi brought [proof of his above mentioned principle which states that li or lecha, etc., following the word dibur, must be explained in the sense of al (concerning)] from that which is written there, that which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach,’⁹⁵Further, 28:15. [which must be interpreted to mean “in thy interest and concerning thee”] since He had never spoken to Jacob before this occasion.
But this difference is not valid for we find: And now go, lead the people unto the place of which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach’;⁹⁶Exodus 32:34. Here the word dibur is found in connection with lach, and yet it means “to you,” and not “concerning you,” as Rashi claimed. And the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic;⁹⁷Daniel 2:4. This too is a case similar to the above. And thou shalt drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as the Eternal hath spoken unto thee.⁹⁸Deuteronomy 9:3. This too is similar to the above. Similarly the verb amirah is used with both li and eilai: And they shall say ‘li’ (to me), What is His name? What shall I say ‘aleihem’ (to them)?⁹⁹Exodus 3:13. And as for [the verse which Rashi mentioned as his proof], that which ‘dibarti’ (I have spoken) ‘lach,’⁹⁵Further, 28:15. [which must mean, as Rashi said, “concerning thee,” since He had never spoken to Jacob before this occasion], its interpretation is as follows: “that which I have said to you now that I will give the land to you and to your seed, and I will bless you.” [Thus the word lach (to you) follows the understood verb “give” and is not related to dibarti.]

ואשר דבר לי AND WHO SPOKE לי—The word לי means “in my interest”, just as (1 Kings 2:4) “which He spake concerning me (עלי)”. In the same way, in every case where לי or לו or להם follow after the verb דבר they must be explained in the sense of על “concerning” — and in the Targum they should be rendered by עלי or עלוהי or עליהון regarding me etc. — for with this verb דבר in the sense of speaking to a person, the expressions לי and לו and להם are not the appropriate ones, but אלי and אליו and אליהן, and their renderings in the Targum should be עמי and עמיה and עמהן i. e., to speak with me or him or them. In the case of the verb אמר, however, the expressions לי and לו and להם are the appropriate ones.

that is for Your fear That I and my children shall fear Your name, for on that condition You promised me (I Kings 2:4): “if your children take heed in their way, etc.”