Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Jeremias 31:11

This section was written in order to inform us that the Holy One, blessed be He, delivered His servant, and He redeemed him from the hand of him that is stronger than he,¹Jeremiah 31:11. and he sent an angel²Numbers 20:16. and saved him, and in order to further teach us that Jacob did not place his trust in his righteousness and that he strove for delivery with all his might. There is yet in this section a hint for future generations, for everything that happened to our father with his brother Esau will constantly occur to us with Esau’s children, and it is proper for us to adhere to the way of the righteous³See Job 17:9. by preparing ourselves in the three things for which he prepared himself: for prayer, for giving him a present, and for rescue by methods of warfare, to flee and to be saved. Our Rabbis have already derived this hint from this section, as I shall mention.

UNTO A GOOD AND LARGE LAND, UNTO A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY; UNTO THE PLACE OF THE CANAANITE, AND THE HITTITE, AND THE AMORITE, AND THE PERIZZITE, AND THE HIVITE, AND THE JEBUSITE. He mentions here six nations and omits the seventh.¹⁶⁶The Girgashite, mentioned among the seven nations that Israel was to inherit (Deuteronomy 7:1). Perhaps this was because his land was not flowing with milk and honey as were these [lands of the six nations mentioned]. Similarly, He mentions these six only in the verse, For Mine angel shall go before thee.¹⁶⁷Further, 23:23. And bring thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. It may be because He alluded here [to a future event], i.e., that they will conquer these six nations first, for it is these six nations who assembled to fight Joshua,¹⁶⁸So clearly stated in Joshua 9:1-2. and G-d gave them into his hand. Our Rabbis have said¹⁶⁹Yerushalmi Shebiith VI, 1. that the Girgashite arose and emigrated of his own accord. This is why he is not mentioned together with those destined for destruction, as it is said concerning them, and I will cut them off.¹⁶⁷Further, 23:23. And bring thee in unto the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. I will discuss this matter further,¹⁷⁰Further, 23:25. with the help of G-d.
The sense of the expression, a land flowing with milk and honey, is that He first praised the land as a good land, meaning that its climate is good and beautiful for people and that all that is good is found in it, and as a large land, meaning that it will afford all Israel to be established in a broad place.¹⁷¹See Psalms 31:9. It may be that r’chavah (large) means spaciousness, referring to [the extensive lands of] the lowland, the valley and the plain, large and small, and is not confined mostly to mountains and valleys. He then began to praise the land as being a land for cattle, having good pasture and good water which cause the cattle to have abundant milk, for healthy and good cattle with abundant milk are to be found only where the climate is good, with plenty of vegetation and good water. But since these are found only in the marsh-lands,¹⁷²The Hebrew: ba’achu. See Ramban, Genesis 41:2 (Vol. I, p. 495) for his explanation of that term. while on the height of the mountains fruits are not very fat and good, He further states that this land is so fat that its fruits [all over] are fat and sweet, even to the extent that it all flows with the honey that comes from them. Thus He has praised the land for all its goodness of the Eternal, for the corn, and for the wine, and for the oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd.¹⁷³Jeremiah 31:11. This is the meaning of the verse, It is the beauty of all lands.¹⁷⁴Ezekiel 20:6.
The reason that He said, unto the ‘place’ of the Canaanite, and not “unto the ‘land’ of the Canaanite” as He said in all other places,¹⁷⁵E.g., see further, 13:5. is to allude to the fact that they will inherit [the Canaanite, etc.], and will destroy them and settle in their places, and not dwell among them as their fathers had done.

AND THOU SHALT EAT AND BE SATISFIED. “This is another blessing, meaning that there will be a blessing on the bread within your stomach, and you eat and be satisfied.” This is Rashi’s language and Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented: “And thou shalt eat and be satisfied. This refers back to thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil [mentioned in the preceding verse], not to the grass in thy fields which is near [in the same verse].” The correct interpretation in my opinion is that it refers to everything: “and thou shalt eat and be satisfied with the corn, wine, and oil, and also the sheep and cattle [will eat and be satisfied with the grass in the field].” And in the Sifre we find:³²⁶Sifre, Eikev 43. “And thou shalt eat and be satisfied, when your cattle eats and is satisfied, it works the ground [with strength], and so it is said, and much increase is by the strength of the ox.³²⁷Proverbs 14:4. Another interpretation: [And thou shalt eat and be satisfied] from the young [of the cattle]. Although there is no proof of this, yet there is an indication, for it says, And they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow unto the goodness of the Eternal, to the corn, and to the wine, and to the oil, and to the young of the flock and of the herd etc.”³²⁸Jeremiah 31:11. This is the correct interpretation.