Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Job 39:28

AFTER HE HAD SMITTEN SIHON, THE KING OF THE AMORITES, WHO ‘DWELT’ IN HESHBON — for Heshbon was not his, but he conquered it from the king of Moab and he built it to be his royal capital. Similarly, and Og the king of Bashan, who ‘dwelt’ in Ashtaroth, at Edrei³⁹In Verse 4 before us. means that it was previously the land of Rephaim⁴⁰Further, 3:13. [and then it was occupied by the king of the Amorites] as I will explain⁴¹Ibid., 2:10; 3:11. with the help of G-d. And because Scripture states, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei,³⁹In Verse 4 before us. it indicates that Ashtaroth is the name of a place in which Edrei is located [as will be explained further]. The text of the Sifre is as follows:⁴²Sifre, Devarim 3. “‘B’ashtaroth’ — it was as hard as ashtaroth. ‘B’edrei’ — this was the seat of the government [i.e., the royal city].” Rashi wrote: “Ashtaroth — is an expression denoting rocks and hardness. Ashtaroth is Ashteroth-karnaim⁴³Genesis 14:5. This is an expression for “strength” [“the hard rocks of Kamayim”]. where the Rephaim were, as it is said, and they smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim.⁴³Genesis 14:5. This is an expression for “strength” [“the hard rocks of Kamayim”]. ‘B’edrei’ — this was the name of the kingdom [indicating that the kingdom of Edrei was located in Ashteroth-karnaim]. And⁴⁴The text from this point on, until the end of the quotation is not found in our texts of Rashi. Part of it is found in Rashi further, 7:13. so it is written, ‘ashteroth’ of thy sheep,⁴⁵Further, 7:13. meaning, as Targum [Onkelos] rendered it [‘the flocks of thy sheep’]. And our Rabbis have said:⁴⁶Chullin 84b. Why is the name ashtaroth given to them [i.e., flocks of sheep]? It is because they ‘enrich’ [from the Hebrew word ashir — rich] their owners and strengthen them like these ashtaroth which are strong rocks.” [This is Rashi’s language].
Now the Rabbi [Rashi] incorporated into the word [ashtaroth] two meanings [strength and riches], but we do not know from what source the Rabbi inferred that ashtaroth is a name for rocks and stones. But it is possible for us to say that ashtaroth is a term for flocks of sheep, from the word ashir (rich) as in the words of the Sages [quoted above: “Why is their name ashtaroth? It is because they enrich their owners”]. Ashteroth-karnaim⁴³Genesis 14:5. This is an expression for “strength” [“the hard rocks of Kamayim”]. was a place of high mountains upon which there were strongholds of stone, these being likened by Scripture to “the horns of cattle,” just as Scripture likens them to “teeth,” as it says upon ‘the crag’ [literally: “the tooth”] of the rock, and the stronghold.⁴⁷Job 39:28. Similarly, upon ‘the horns’ of the altar.⁴⁸Exodus 29:12. So also, ‘b’keren’ ben shamen⁴⁹Isaiah 5:1. These verses illustrate the Scriptural tendency of likening topographical characteristics to parts of animals such as horns and teeth. [literally: “in a fruitful ‘horn'”] which the Targum [Yonathan ben Uziel] renders: “On a high hill, in a fruitful land.” There, [upon these high hills,] the flocks of sheep ascend, the he-goats, the she-goats, and the wild-goats⁵⁰Psalms 104:18: The high mountains are for the wild-goats. and their like; and therefore the place is called Ashteroth-karnaim⁵¹Judges 2:13. [because the flocks which “enrich” their owners (ashtaroth) ascend to the “horns” of the mountain (karnaim)]. So also, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth⁵¹Judges 2:13. — ‘Ashtaroth’ because the idol was made in the form of a sheep in order to protect them [the flocks of sheep], in accordance with their foolish belief. [This is in line with our explanation of the word ashtaroth as a synonym for sheep.] Now at the foot of the mountain they built a city whose name was Edrei, this being intimated in the verse which states, and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Edrei,⁵²Further, 3:1. This verse clearly indicates that Edrei is the name of a particular locality rather than the name of the entire country, hence it can be said that Og gathered his army there. This proves Ramban’s explanation “that Ashtaroth is the name of a region wherein Edrei is located.” However, it could not be as Rashi explained that Edrei is the name of the kingdom, for if it were the name of an entire country, how could it be said that Og, gathered his army “at Edrei” when it is not the name of a specific, particular place? (Aboab). denoting that he gathered his entire army to the city where the palace of the king and the throne of the kingdom were. And this is the purport of the [following] Midrashic text [which seems to agree with Rashi’s interpretation], wherein the Rabbis, of blessed memory, have stated: “Who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. Even if Og himself had not been difficult to defeat but had resided in Ashtaroth, he would have been difficult to defeat, because the city was a difficult one to capture etc.”⁵³“And even if the city had not been difficult to capture, but Og resided in it, it would have been difficult to capture because its king was difficult to defeat. How much more so when the king was difficult to defeat and the city difficult to capture” (Sifre). Therefore they interpreted, Ashtaroth to mean that it was “as hard as Ashtaroth,”⁵⁴In other words, the word Ashtaroth here does not indicate something hard. But because Og’s royal city Edrei was well fortified, the Sifre compares it to Ashteroth-karnaim where the Rephaim lived and from where Og originated. [the phrase from which Rashi, quoted above, deduced that the word ashtaroth is defined as “hard”], as if to say that his residence was like the fortified city of Ashteroth-karnaim⁴³Genesis 14:5. This is an expression for “strength” [“the hard rocks of Kamayim”]. from which he and his family originated; for at that time he was not residing in Ashtaroth, but was residing in the land of the Amorites. And “the place of the government” [mentioned in the Sifre above] means that the city where he lived was Edrei⁵⁵Thus, unlike Rashi who wrote that Edrei was the name of the kingdom, Ramban holds that Edrei was the name of the royal city, and the name of the kingdom was “The Bashan.” but Bashan was the name of the land of his kingdom.

מָרוֹר זֶה שֶׁאָנוּ אוֹכְלִים “The maror which we eat…” Let us examine why the sages chose hazeret²⁷⁸"A bitter vegetable, often romaine lettuce, placed on the seder plate" חֲזֶרֶת (for the bitter herbs) over מָרוֹר maror. For Scripture commands us to eat maror with the Passover offering, and certainly if there was no herb found whose name is maror then it would have been good for us to use another, or something that causes the same results. Since there is an herb called maror, as the Mishnah states, “And these are the vegetables with which a person can fulfill his obligation to eat bitter herbs on Passover: ḥazeret, chervil [tamkha], field eryngo [ḥarḥavina], endives [olashin], and maror,”²⁷⁹Mishnah Pesachim 2:6 why don’t we choose the one that is expressly called maror instead of ḥazeret (for the bitter herbs)?
It may be that this is because the sages said, the mitzvah is with ḥazeret; because ḥazeret is also called חַסָּא hassa, lettuce, because God had compassion (ḥassa) upon us .²⁸⁰BT Pesachim 39a It is as if they were saying, “It is true that it would have been more appropriate to take maror since this is explicitly stated in the Torah. But since ḥazeret is also called ḥassa, and the Holy One, had compassion, ḥassa, upon us and redeemed us, it is appropriate to eat ḥazeret. But we still need to understand why this is the case and why it (ḥazeret) is what it is. Why is it that God had compassion upon us and yet we are still commanded to eat maror, and that the commandment came after the redemption? We shouldn't have had to exchange it with ḥazeret if the taste was not appropriate! It appears to say that the sages saw that the different types of herbs that are used for maror allude to the different exiles. Maror was an allusion to Egyptian exile and ḥazeret is an allusion to the present exile since we need to arouse God’s compassion to send a redeemer to redeem us.. That is why the sages said it is a mitzvah to use ḥazeret now. It could be that in each era they chose an herb that alluded to that exile. They were ordered as follows: Maror was for the Egyptian exile because they embittered our lives with hard labor. Ḥarḥavina alludes to the Babylonian exile because they destroyed our land and our Holy temple. Tamkha alluded to Media/Persian exile because the Holy One supported us and helped us in the rebuilding of the Temple. Or else it is because God supported us against the will of our enemies who sought to accuse us. Or it could refer to God’s support that we did not fall at the advice of Haman. Olashin refers to the exile by the Greeks who passed decrees against Israel so that they couldn’t study Torah. It is called olashin which is an abbreviation of Ol Shin, Shin from the word shinun, learning, that is, they took from them the yoke of learning. Or it (olashin) may come from the expression שן סלעים shen selaim, a rocky crag²⁸¹See I Samuel 14:4 and Job 39:28 Also see Ramban on Deuteronomy 1:4 It literally means the tooth of the rock. which means a strong hold because the whole world weighed down on them. Or it might be from the word , sone’, שונא hater or enemy, because we did not have an enemy who hated us as much as those who prevented us from studying Torah. חֲזֶרֶת, hazeret, refers to the present exile during which God will return us to our place as we originally were. Also חֲזֶרֶת, hazeret, is from the expression hazir, boar/pig, “wild boars from the forest gnaw at it…” (Ps. 80:14) Why is it called hazir? Because in the future God will return the kingdom to the one to whom it belongs, speedily in our days.