Комментарий к Шмот 23:27

והמתי I WILL CONFOUND — This is equivalent to וְהָמַמְתִּי (i. e. the root is המם). Its rendering in the Targum is ואשנש “and I will confound”. Similar is every verb the root of which has its last letter doubled (verbs ע"ע): when it is changed (conjugated) to express the idea of “I have done something” (i. e. the first person singular perfect of the Kal; the same really applies to some inflected forms of other conjugations also) there are occasions when one omits the doubled letter (it is actually the first of the two similar letters) and dageshes the remaining letter of these two and vowels it with מלאפום (our חולם). Examples are: וְהַמֹּתִי which is of the same derivation as, (Isaiah 28:28) “and the wheel of his cart makes a confused noise (המם)”; (Ecclesiastes 2:20) וְסַבֹּתִי, “and I turned about” which is of the same derivation as, (I Samuel 7:16) “and he went round (וסבב) to Bethel”; (Psalms 116:6) דַלֹּתִי “I was low”, of the same derivation as, (Isaiah 19:6) “The waters shall become low (דללו) and dried up”; (Isaiah 49:16) “I have graven thee (חַקֹּתִיךְ) upon the palms of my hand”, of the same derivation as, (Judges 5:15) “things engraved (חקקי) in the heart”; (I Samuel 12:3) את מי רַצֹּתִי “whom have I crushed”, of the same derivation as, (Job 20:19) “because he hath crushed (רצץ) and hath forsaken the poor”. He, however, who translates it in the Targum by וְאֶקְטַל , is in error. For if it were derived from the root denoting death (מות), the ה in it would not be vowelled with Patach and its מ would not be dageshed nor vowelled with חולם, but it would read וְהַמַתִּי, as, (Numbers 14:15) “Now if Thou shalt kill (וְהַמַתָּ) this people”, the ת being dageshed because it would come in place of two ת’s, one being a root-letter — for no form of מות can be written without at least one ת (that in the root) — and the other being a servile letter (part of the suffix), just as תִּי in אמר-תי and חמא-תי and עשי-תי. Similarly with נתתי: the second ת is dageshed because it comes in the place of two ת’s — since it (the word) really requires three ת’s, two for the root, as in, (Joshua 10:12) “the day when the Lord giveth (תת)”, and in, (Ecclesiastes 3:13) “it is the gift (מתת) of God”, — and the third as a servile letter.

ונתתי את כל אויביך אליך עורף, they will turn their backs to you out of fear and the confusion in accordance with My promise

את אימתי אשלח לפניך, "I will send My terror before you, etc." Even though G'd had said in verse 23 that He would cut off the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, G'd tells the Israelites here that this would not happen immediately but that He would first terrorise the Canaanite population during the time required for the Israelites to increase in numbers sufficiently to take over the country without leaving large areas empty of human beings. G'd hinted here that the conquest of the land of Canaan would proceed gradually, something spelled out in greater detail in verse 29.

את אימתי, the fear of the Lord will take hold of those engaged in fighting you.

את אימתי, “the fear of Me, etc.” This is the attribute of Justice. The word is the same as in Exodus 15,16 תפול עליהם אימתה ופחד, “may fear and terror befall them.” The צרעה which verse 28 speaks of is a kind of flying insect similar but bigger than a bee. The term צרעה includes many species of a similar type all of which sting people. Just as there were many different kinds of locust during the plague of locust in Egypt, so there are many different kinds of צרעה. The Talmud Sotah 36 claims that this insect injected its poison into the Canaanites who became its victim, blinding them and killing them almost instantly. This insect entered the Holy Land together with Joshua, crossed the Jordan as is reported in Joshua 24,12: “I sent a plague ahead of you.”
The reason that in verse 28 only three of the Canaanite tribes are mentioned as being driven out by this צרעה is that these three tribes were the strongest ones amongst the seven tribes residing in tall fortresses and fortified towns. The Torah wanted to inform us that such mighty warriors in such protected habitats became the victims of such tiny creatures as the hornets. It is an object lesson for us demonstrating that G’d will bring down the strong by using the weakest of His creatures as His agent.

V. 27 f. Bedeutsam ist durch die Parascha-Abteilung der 26. Vers, der dem Sinne nach sich eng dem Vorigen anschließt, der folgenden Parascha, die mit V. 27. beginnt, zugeteilt. So wie die segensreich kräftigende Einwirkung auf eure leibliche Persönlichkeit sich als unmittelbare Gottestat ankündigen wird, so wird dieselbe Gottesmacht die vernichtende Schwächung der Bevölkerung bewirken, die vor euch aus dem Lande weichen soll. Beides, euer Aufblühen und ihr Vergehen, werdet ihr nur eurer sittlichen Unterordnung unter den Gotteswillen verdanken. Es scheint, dass, wenn Israel von Anfang an auf der Höhe seines Berufes gestanden und nicht durch wiederholten Ungehorsam sich noch erst einer erziehenden, und daher prüfungsvollen Führung bedürftig gezeigt hätte, es keinen Schwertstreich zur Eroberung seines Landes hätte zu führen gehabt. Vor dem Gottesverhängnis wären die durch ihre Entartung dem Untergange verfallenen Bewohner des Israel bestimmten Landes geschwunden, und Israel, das Volk des Gottesgesetzes, wäre in das Land hineingewachsen.

את אימתי, “the fear of Me;” this is G-d’s reply to Moses’ request in Exodus 15,16: תפול עליהם אימתה ופחד, “may fear and terror befall them!”כל העם אשר תבא בהם, “any nation that you will come upon;” even those nations that are not part of the seven Canaanite tribes. The end of this paragraph proves that this is the correct meaning, when the Torah writes (verse 33) “they must not live on your land lest they lead you into sin so that you would worship their deities.”

ערף NAPE OF THE NECK — i. e. they will flee before you and so turn the napes of their necks to you.

את אימתי אשלח לפניך והמותי, the same had happened when the Egyptians were at the bottom of the sea bed when the waves began crashing down on them, and they said” I will flee from the Israelites for G’d is fighting for them.” (Exodus 14,25)

והמותי, I will cause these people to become utterly confused by the overpowering noises they will hear which I cause. Such effects of sounds orchestrated by celestial forces are reported in Samuel I 7,10 as well as in Samuel II 22,15. The word is not related to מות, death; if it would mean “I will kill,” it would have to be vocalised differently, i.e veheymatti.”