וּ֠מִֽתְכַּנְּשִׁין אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנַיָּ֞א סִגְנַיָּ֣א וּפַחֲוָתָא֮ וְהַדָּבְרֵ֣י מַלְכָּא֒ חָזַ֣יִן לְגֻבְרַיָּ֣א אִלֵּ֡ךְ דִּי֩ לָֽא־שְׁלֵ֨ט נוּרָ֜א בְּגֶשְׁמְה֗וֹן וּשְׂעַ֤ר רֵֽאשְׁהוֹן֙ לָ֣א הִתְחָרַ֔ךְ וְסָרְבָּלֵיה֖וֹן לָ֣א שְׁנ֑וֹ וְרֵ֣יחַ נ֔וּר לָ֥א עֲדָ֖ת בְּהֽוֹן׃
At ang mga satrapa, ang mga prepekto, at ang mga gobernador, at ang mga tagapayo ng hari ay nagtipon at nakita nila ang mga lalaking ito: hindi nagkaroon ng kapangyarihan ang apoy sa kanilang katawan, hindi nasunog ang buhok ng kanilang ulo, hindi nagbago ang kanilang mga balabal, at ni amoy ng apoy ay hindi kumapit sa kanila.
Rabbeinu Bahya
In the course of the entire Book of Proverbs Solomon is at pains to demonstrate to us the superiority of intellect, wisdom, spirituality, etc. over the influence of man’s body.” He points out the ineffectiveness of the body demonstrating that it is lazy and inert by definition. Allowing it to dominate man would result in his having neither food, shelter nor clothing. Seeing that the acquisition of these things is necessary for man’s survival, unless he followed the dictates of his intellect he would perish as nature had not provided him with these necessities at birth. It is clear that the intellect should play a dominating role in man. The body does not know that clothing protects against cold, for instance. In order to know this one needs a brain, intelligence. It is because of such considerations that Solomon said: (Proverbs 12,27) “the lazy man does not roast his game; diligence is man’s precious possession.” The meaning of the verse is that a lazy man will not hold on to his wealth. Seeing that it is the custom of the hunter to burn the wings (feathers) of the birds to prevent them from escaping, Solomon says that that he who steals and expects to hang on to his stolen game will not get to roast it. The only wealth a person can expect to hang on to is that which was earned by diligent effort. If man were to rely on nature, he would become an opportunist or worse, a criminal. His intellect teaches him which activities are worthwhile and which even if successful in the short run will ultimately result in his being shamed. In Proverbs 20,17 Solomon elaborates further by writing “bread gained by deceit may taste sweet; but later his mouth will be filled with gravel.” Whereas “nature,” i.e. the body desires instant gratification, partying, sexual activity, etc., man’s intelligence warns him of the tenuous nature of all such joys. The reason that sexual activity is a physically gratifying experience is because G’d wants to encourage people to procreate and to ensure the continuity of the human species. [In order to show man that such joy may turn into the reverse, Solomon describes the temptress as dripping honey from her lips which eventually turns bitter as wormwood (Proverbs 5,3-4). [The author continues, illustrating his view of the parables employed by Solomon in his book of Proverbs. I have only quoted a brief selection of a long list of examples. Ed.]
Rabbeinu Chananel
ולא נחם אלוקים דרך ארץ פלשתים, He led them through the desert for a different reason, apart from the fact that the route through the land of the Philistines was the most convenient one. Had He led them in that direction, and He would have convinced the Philistines to allow the Israelites free passage, based on the longstanding treaty between Yitzchak and Avimelech, G’d could not have performed even a fraction of the miracles He had in mind to perform in order to strengthen the people’s confidence in Him.
Therefore, by making the Israelites take a circuitous route, G’d would be able not only to provide the people with manna, meat in the form of the quail, water produced by striking a rock, etc., etc., but the further away the Israelites would be from inhabited areas the greater would be the miracle that G’d could provide for several million people all of their needs. The lesson would also be taught that even in such inhospitable regions of the earth, the human species could survive if G’d wanted it so.
When G’d saved Chanayah, Mishael, and Azaryah from the fiery furnace, G’d could have saved these people by performing a far lesser miracle. However, He wanted to demonstrate His power at that time. (compare Daniel 3,27) G’d did not simply extinguish the flames in the furnace, for instance, but let it roar at its fiercest in order to show that if He wanted man to survive unharmed inside such a furnace it could be done, if only G’d wanted it. Or, to take the example of Daniel in the lions’ den. All G’d had to do was to kill the lions and Daniel would have been saved. The reason why G’d went to the trouble of preventing these starved lions from making a meal out of Daniel was to demonstrate to the onlookers the extent of His control over nature. (compare Daniel 6,23).
Another example of the same kind is found in Judges 7,2. If G’d would have allowed Gideon with 10,000 men to defeat the many times larger army of the Midianites, this would have been miracle enough. Why did G’d shrink the number of soldiers at Gideon’s disposal to 300? For no other reason than to make the miracle so much greater.
G’d wanted to teach the lesson that numbers did not matter at all; what counted was that the soldiers be G’d fearing men who had never bowed their knee to an alien deity. Prowess with a sword was not what was required, but lapping up water by hand and bringing it to one’s mouth is what distinguishes man from the beasts who lower themselves to the water.
Therefore, by making the Israelites take a circuitous route, G’d would be able not only to provide the people with manna, meat in the form of the quail, water produced by striking a rock, etc., etc., but the further away the Israelites would be from inhabited areas the greater would be the miracle that G’d could provide for several million people all of their needs. The lesson would also be taught that even in such inhospitable regions of the earth, the human species could survive if G’d wanted it so.
When G’d saved Chanayah, Mishael, and Azaryah from the fiery furnace, G’d could have saved these people by performing a far lesser miracle. However, He wanted to demonstrate His power at that time. (compare Daniel 3,27) G’d did not simply extinguish the flames in the furnace, for instance, but let it roar at its fiercest in order to show that if He wanted man to survive unharmed inside such a furnace it could be done, if only G’d wanted it. Or, to take the example of Daniel in the lions’ den. All G’d had to do was to kill the lions and Daniel would have been saved. The reason why G’d went to the trouble of preventing these starved lions from making a meal out of Daniel was to demonstrate to the onlookers the extent of His control over nature. (compare Daniel 6,23).
Another example of the same kind is found in Judges 7,2. If G’d would have allowed Gideon with 10,000 men to defeat the many times larger army of the Midianites, this would have been miracle enough. Why did G’d shrink the number of soldiers at Gideon’s disposal to 300? For no other reason than to make the miracle so much greater.
G’d wanted to teach the lesson that numbers did not matter at all; what counted was that the soldiers be G’d fearing men who had never bowed their knee to an alien deity. Prowess with a sword was not what was required, but lapping up water by hand and bringing it to one’s mouth is what distinguishes man from the beasts who lower themselves to the water.
Rabbeinu Bahya
Rabbeinu Chananel wrote that G’d had a different reason for leading the Israelites through the desert. He needed an excuse for demonstrating miracles for the people. Had G’d led the Jewish people by the most direct route and had influenced the Philistines to let them travel through their country unmolested, this would have been such a minor miracle that it would not have impressed the people with an appreciation of how G’d had exerted Himself on their behalf. G’d’s desire to demonstrate His power and ability to triumph over what appeared to be insurmountable difficulties made it necessary for Him to lead the people through an inhospitable desert. By leading the people through the desert G’d forced Himself to come up with the heavenly manna as the solution to their food problems, with the extraction of water from a rock and the traveling well as the solution to their water problems, with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire as the solution to problems of an inhospitable climate, etc., etc. The further the Israelites traveled from civilization the greater were the miracles required to keep them alive and well.
It is characteristic of G’d’s השגחה פרטית, benevolent providence for the righteous, that He performs miracles within miracles. We find, for instance, that when Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah were thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar because they refused to accept him as a deity and to bow before his golden image, G’d could have saved them by the simple expedient of extinguishing the fire in that furnace (Daniel 3,27). Instead, G’d’ troubled Himself not only to allow these men to walk around within that flaming kiln as if they and their garments were totally oblivious to the infernal heat, but He visibly increased the heat and the fire within that kiln; He showed Nebuchadnezzar a vision of three unbound men enjoying themselves within that flaming kiln totally unperturbed by what Nebuchadnezzar thought he had accomplished. Nebuchadnezzar was enabled to look through opaque thick walls, another miracle. When G’d saved Daniel from the den of lions (Daniel 6,23), He also could have done so by means of lesser miracles such as simply killing the lions in that den. Instead, G’d chose to leave the lions alive but to prevent them from harming Daniel. In other words, the miracle within the miracle was that G’d interfered with the lions’ instincts in order to demonstrate His power.
We find something similar in the Book of Judges when Gideon was commanded to fight the Midianites. Seeing that the Midianites were described as “as numerous as the sand of the sea,” (Judges 7,12) G’d could have allowed ten or twenty thousand men to fight them and their victory would surely have been credited to G’d seeing that even such a number of men would have been greatly outnumbered by their opponents. However, G’d chose to allow only three hundred men to go to war against Midian thus increasing the miracle and as a result His reputation. The prophet states that G’d wanted to ensure that no Israelite would be able to take credit for the victory (Judges 7,2). Actually, in response to the call that the faint-hearted Israelites should return home, ten thousand remained after twenty-two thousand had departed. G’d told Gideon specifically that the remaining ten thousand men were still far too numerous to fight against Midian! (7,4). They were to be tested by the manner in which they would lap up water to drink from a pond or river. The people who lapped up water like a dog were chosen as soldiers in G’d’s army, whereas those that drank like human beings, i.e. bringing the water to their mouths instead were sent home! (7,7).
It is characteristic of G’d’s השגחה פרטית, benevolent providence for the righteous, that He performs miracles within miracles. We find, for instance, that when Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah were thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar because they refused to accept him as a deity and to bow before his golden image, G’d could have saved them by the simple expedient of extinguishing the fire in that furnace (Daniel 3,27). Instead, G’d’ troubled Himself not only to allow these men to walk around within that flaming kiln as if they and their garments were totally oblivious to the infernal heat, but He visibly increased the heat and the fire within that kiln; He showed Nebuchadnezzar a vision of three unbound men enjoying themselves within that flaming kiln totally unperturbed by what Nebuchadnezzar thought he had accomplished. Nebuchadnezzar was enabled to look through opaque thick walls, another miracle. When G’d saved Daniel from the den of lions (Daniel 6,23), He also could have done so by means of lesser miracles such as simply killing the lions in that den. Instead, G’d chose to leave the lions alive but to prevent them from harming Daniel. In other words, the miracle within the miracle was that G’d interfered with the lions’ instincts in order to demonstrate His power.
We find something similar in the Book of Judges when Gideon was commanded to fight the Midianites. Seeing that the Midianites were described as “as numerous as the sand of the sea,” (Judges 7,12) G’d could have allowed ten or twenty thousand men to fight them and their victory would surely have been credited to G’d seeing that even such a number of men would have been greatly outnumbered by their opponents. However, G’d chose to allow only three hundred men to go to war against Midian thus increasing the miracle and as a result His reputation. The prophet states that G’d wanted to ensure that no Israelite would be able to take credit for the victory (Judges 7,2). Actually, in response to the call that the faint-hearted Israelites should return home, ten thousand remained after twenty-two thousand had departed. G’d told Gideon specifically that the remaining ten thousand men were still far too numerous to fight against Midian! (7,4). They were to be tested by the manner in which they would lap up water to drink from a pond or river. The people who lapped up water like a dog were chosen as soldiers in G’d’s army, whereas those that drank like human beings, i.e. bringing the water to their mouths instead were sent home! (7,7).