Comentários de Citação sobre Lamentações 3:38

Our verse may also be understood thus: וידבר אלוקים, G'd spoke to Moses on matters of justice. Since G'd wanted Moses to know that his argument had been heard and considered, He added: אני השם. The use of this attribute at this juncture is equivalent to G'd asking Moses: "how could you attribute to Me a negative virtue such as being the originator of harm befalling My people? My outstanding characteristic is the sttribute of חסד, love, mercy, etc." Even the prophet Jeremiah has already made it plain that evil never originates with G'd (compare Lamentations 3,38: "Evil does not originate from G'd (but only Good)." The letter ו in front of the word והטוב in the verse in Lamentations refers to the fact that G'd does not interfere if a person wants to be good or evil. These decisions are up to each individual. It is up to man to choose good rather than evil. When you study the Bible you will find that whenever G'd mentions that the wicked are being remembered when they receive their deserts, the Bible underlines that the evil they are being punished for is of their own making. Compare in this respect Samuel I 24,13: "Wicked deeds come from wicked men." Jeremiah 2,19: "Your evil deeds will cause you to be disciplined." Isaiah 64,6: "You have made us melt because of our iniquities." There are many more similar quotations in the Bible. In view of this what gave Moses the right to assume that the Israelites' additional hardships were not due to something they had done themselves? It is also possible that the Israelites had not yet been adequately punished for whatever they had been guilty of prior to Moses' appointment. Perhaps some of the people had even become guilty of lack of faith after Moses had accredited himself as their prophet and leader. Your best proof that this was possible is the fact that the elders who set out to face Pharaoh together with Moses and Aaron dropped out on the way. Perhaps G'd would not have allowed Pharaoh to make the decree of withholding straw if the elders had not abandoned Moses on the way? At any rate Moses had been too quick to describe what happened to the people as being G'd's fault.

These shall stand to bless the people, etc. And regarding the curses it does not say “these shall stand to curse,” because the good things come from God in actuality, but the curses only come by themselves through the hiding of His face, may He be blessed, for from the mouth of the Most High, evil does not come forth (Lamentations 3:38). Therefore it says, and these shall stand upon [i.e., for] the curse and not “to curse,” but only to designate the arrival of the curses, and the matter is uncertain whether they will come or not, since they only come through the hiding of [God’s] face, therefore the matter still depends on the indication of the celestial system/arrangement.

There is reason to question Rabbi Yochanan’s words, who said, “A servant whose master brings many evils upon him” — but does the Holy One, Blessed be He, bring about evils? Does not scripture say, From the mouth of the Most High comes not evil (Lamentations 3:38)? Rather, evil comes by itself through the hiding of His face, as it is written: And I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. This means that automatically they will be devoured, and this cannot be called “bringing about.” There is also reason to question: isn’t it already written and many evils and troubles shall befall them? Why didn’t Rabbi Yochanan weep when reading this verse that was written before the verse And it shall be when these things come upon him? For when it says “when he reached this verse,” it implies that he was reading the passage from the beginning. It is true that we could say he was precise about the language of and it shall be [v’haya] which indicates certainty, as it is written And it shall be if you do not desire her (Deuteronomy 21:14), which Rashi explains as “the verse tells us that you will eventually hate her.” And Rabbi Nathan explained that Rashi was precise about the language of “v’haya” [and it shall be], which implies that this will definitely happen. Similarly, And it shall be when these things come upon him indicates that they will certainly find him. But above it only says and they shall be devoured. However, in and many evils and troubles shall befall them, the phrase “and it shall be” is not mentioned, as if it is uncertain whether they will befall them or not.