Комментарий к Дварим 1:45

ולא שמע ה' בקלכם BUT THE LORD WOULD NOT HEAR YOUR VOICE — If it is at all possible to say so of God, you made His attribute of mercy as though it were cruel (Numbers Rabbah 17:3).

AND YE RETURNED AND WEPT BEFORE THE ETERNAL. There [in the Book of Numbers]¹²¹Ibid., 14:45. Scripture did not mention this weeping, for there was no need to mention it. But Moses mentioned it now as praise that they regretted their sin, and to tell them that this sin was too great to forgive¹²²See Genesis 4:13. because the great oath [of G-d] had already been pronounced, and a Heavenly decree accompanied by an oath cannot be rent.¹²³Rosh Hashanah 18a.

ולא שמע ה' בקולכם, on account of the desecration of His name that was part of their sin. Whenever a sin includes חילול השם, the desecration of G’d’s name, (seeing that is by definition something public) forgiveness without death of the penitent sinner is impossible. Not only that, but G’d’s decree had been formulated as an oath, something that made it irrevocable after both Joshua and Calev had made efforts to make the people reconsider their negative attitude by accusing G’d of hating them. As a matter of fact, even when they did repent afterwards, this was not genuine, but was based on their fear of punishment. As a result, such a repentance is not sufficient to cancel the punishment due in this life. Something similar had already occurred with Kayin, who also repented but only because he could not face the punishment in store for him. (Genesis 4,15) Both King Shaul, in respect of his failure to wipe out Amalek completely, (Samuel I 15,26) and the High Priest Eli (Samuel I 3,14) repented, but did so only out of their unwillingness to face their punishment.

ותשובו ותבכו לפני השם, "you returned and wept in the presence of the Lord." We need to analyze the meaning of this verse. If the meaning is that these people returned from their ill-fated attempt to conquer the mountain and that they wept over their failure and the casualties they had suffered at the hands of the Emorites, this is certainly not made plain by the wording of the verse. Besides, if so, what is the meaning of such expressions as: "G'd did not hearken, and G'd did not give ear?" If the weeping concerned an event which had already occurred, such expressions are pointless! We must assume therefore that what Moses is telling us is that only after the defeat by the Emorites did the Israelites finally decide to humble themselves before the Lord, becoming penitents. They wept in recognition of their great guilt. Nonetheless, and in spite of their profession of humility, G'd did not listen to their prayers, i.e. He did not reverse the evil decree He had issued.

You made His attribute of compassion, etc. For otherwise, the name Adonoy denotes compassion — so why then is it mentioned regarding punishment? (Devek Tov).

V. 45. ולא שמע ד׳ בקלכם: er gewährte euch euer Verlangen nicht, wie überall שמע בקול, und auch von Gott in Bezug auf Menschen, ein Erfüllen des Erbetenen oder Verlangten ist. So Bamidbar 21, 4; Josua 10, 14; Richter 13, 9 usw. — ולא האזין אליכם: hörte gar nicht auf euch hin, nahm gar keine Rücksicht auf euer Weinen, etwa um das über euch Verhängte zu mildern. — Wir haben zu Bamidbar 21. 1 — 3 mit רמב׳׳ן vermutet, dass das Gebiet des Königs Arad in Palästina und nicht im transjordanischen Lande lag. Sollte dies jedoch etwa nach der Ansicht, die Arad identisch mit Sichon auffaßt, nicht, und Arads Gebiet transjordanisch zu suchen sein, dann wäre es nicht unmöglich, dass das dort genannte Chorma identisch mit dem Chorma unseres Textes wäre. Sie hätten dann nach vierzig Jahren an derselben Stelle den ersten Sieg über eine kanaanitische Bevölkerung errungen, wo sie vor vierzig Jahren von Gott verlassen eine schmachvolle Niederlage erlitten hatten. Es wäre dann nicht unmöglich, dass das ולא שמע ד׳ בקלכם auf das spätere וישמע ד׳ בקול ישראל (daselbst 3) in dem Sinne hinblicke: damals erhörte Gott euch nicht, wie er euch später an derselben Stelle erhörte.

ותשובו ותבכו, “you returned (repented) and wept.” Moses here referred to Numbers 14,39: ויתאבלו, “they mourned;” as soon as they mourned for what they thought would be their fate in accordance with the majority report of the spies, G-d issued instructions concerning their immediate future. You commenced reversing your journeys in the direction of the sea of reeds.

ולא האזין אליכם. G’d did not even listen to your plea to delay the punishment, or to suspend the part of the punishment for their children after their parents had died. Moses used this fact as proof that the repentance of their parents at the time had not been complete, sincere. As a result, even their tears had been to no avail.