Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Genesis 9:5

WHOEVER THROWS OFF THE YOKE OF TORAH. Rav: one who says that it is too hard for him to bear the yoke of Torah.
It isn’t that “forfeiting one’s life” in the case of one who turns his mind to idle things in the preceding mishna is more serious than “the yoke of kings and daily needs” being placed upon the one who throws off the yoke of Torah in our mishna—this is certainly not true. For when the preceding mishna says that the “forfeits his life,” it means simply that should bandits or mazikin attack him, he himself has forfeited his life, and will be held accountable or his death, as in the verse, “But for your own life-blood I will require a reckoning” (Genesis 9:5), per Rashi’s explanation there. But it is possible that no evil will befall him. In our case, on the other hand, the yoke “will be placed upon him,” and he will be unable to avoid bearing the burden of these yokes. So it seems to me.

והשבתי חיה רעה מן הארץ. “I will remove wild beasts from the earth.” Nachmanides accepts the view of Rabbi Yehudah in Torat Kohanim that this verse refers to the removal of ferocious beasts from the land of Israel as the plain meaning. When these beasts observe that the cities are filled with thriving human beings, they will refrain from entering such populated areas. Rabbi Shimon, on the other hand, understands the verse to mean that G’d shall render these beasts harmless as far as the land of Israel is concerned. This appears as the correct interpretation according to Nachmanides. It is a promise that when the Jews observe the commandments they will not have to worry about such problems as wild beasts and the danger to life and property that these represent. As far as the land of Israel is concerned, the norms of the world will return to the idyllic conditions prevailing before man first sinned, when no creature harboured aggressive intentions against man and none of the beasts would even kill each other. Such conditions have been described by the prophet Isaiah 11,6-9 as a period when the wolf shall dwell with the sheep, the leopard will lie down with the kid, etc.” It teaches that the damage and harm caused by such beasts that we know as ferocious, predatory, was never an integral part of such creatures’ nature, but was only the result of their observing man ignore the Creator’s laws, which caused them to copy man’s corrupt ways. We know from the Torah’s report of the creation of all these beasts that they had been meant to feed only on grass, etc. (Genesis 1,30) In other words, the natural disposition of all of these animals is to feed on the vegetation the earth provides, as do the ruminants still, and their becoming flesh eaters was not part of G’d’s original plan. This is also why, originally, man was not allowed to feed on animal tissue. Only after the deluge was the eating of meat permitted to man, certain pre-historic conditions not being restored at that time. At the same time, however, G’d warned the beasts not to attack and maim or kill man, or He would punish them for doing so. (Genesis 9,5). If the animals’ pre-deluge nature had undergone a change for the better during their enforced stay in the ark, G’d would not have had to warn them not to employ their ferocious nature against man. The Torah now tells us that if and when life in the land of Israel will proceed on the lines envisaged by G’d for His people, He will neutralize that part of the animals’ nature that would pose a potential threat to their safety.

AND I WILL CAUSE EVIL BEASTS TO CEASE OUT OF THE LAND. According to Rabbi Yehudah who said¹⁵Torath Kohanim, Bechukothai 2:1. that He will remove them from the world [entirely, the verse] is [to be understood] in its plain sense — that evil beasts will not come into their Land. For since there will be plentitude and an abundance of blessings, and the cities will be full of people, [wild] beasts will not come into inhabited places. And according to Rabbi Shimon who says that He will cause them to cease from causing harm, the verse is stating: “and I will cause the evil of the beasts to cease out of the Land.” This is the correct interpretation for when [Israel] observes the commandments, the Land of Israel will be like the world was at its beginning, before the sin of the first man, when no wild beast or creeping thing would kill a man, just as the Rabbis have said:¹⁶Berachoth 33 a. “It is not the wild ass that kills, but it is sin that kills.” It is [because of] this that Scripture says, and the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp,¹⁷Isaiah 11:8. and similarly, and the cow and the bear shall feed … and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.¹⁸Ibid., Verse 7. For dangerous beasts only prey [on human beings] on account of the sin of man, because of which it was decreed upon him that he be a prey to their teeth,¹⁹Psalms 124:6. See in Genesis 9:5 (Vol. I, pp. 134-135) where Ramban also discusses this theme. and preying was made a part of their nature so that they also prey on each other, as is well-known for having once preyed on man, they add [to this tendency that of preying on animals] so that they become more harmful. And so Scripture states, And he learned to catch the prey, he devoured men.²⁰Ezekiel 19:3. Now at the time of the creation of the world, it is said of the beasts that He gave them the herb for food, as it is written, And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food,²¹Genesis 1:30. and Scripture states, and it was so,²¹Genesis 1:30. meaning that such was the nature with which they were endowed forever. It was [only] afterwards that they learned how to prey, on account of [human] sin which causes death, as I have explained. Now when slaughtering animals [for food] became permitted for the sons of Noah after the flood,²²See ibid., Vol. I, p. 57 for the reason for this permission. He warned with reference to humans [that shedding their blood was forbidden saying], And surely your blood of your lives will I require … the life of man,²³Ibid., 9:5. but not the blood of one beast from the hand of another, for they were left to prey [on each other and on man] as was their wont. But the beasts of the Land of Israel, when [man will be] in a state of perfection, will cease from their harmful way, and revert to their original nature with which they were endowed at the time of their creation. I have already referred to a part of this in Seder Eileh Toldoth Noach.²³Ibid., 9:5. Therefore Scripture stated concerning the time of the redeemer who is descended of the stock of Jesse, that peace will return to the world and preying and all dangerous beasts will cease, as was their nature at first. The [original] intention [when referring to the redeemer was in connection with] Hezekiah [king of Judah], whom the Holy One, blessed be He, had wished to make the Messiah,²⁴Sanhedrin 94 a. but their merits [i.e., those of the people of his generation] were not sufficient for such [achievement], so that the fulfillment [of that prophecy] will be with reference to the Messiah who is destined to come.