Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Joel 2:25

ואחריו לא יהיה כן, “and after it there will never again be its equal.” The Torah refers to a plague consisting of a single species of locusts, seeing that the prophet Yoel 2,2 describes a plague consisting of a variety of species of locusts, a plague which surpassed that of the one which occurred in Egypt now. The verse in Yoel speaks of “a day of densest cloud spread like soot over the hills; a vast enormous horde- nothing like it ever happened, and it shall never happen again through the years and ages.” In Yoel 2,25 when the prophecy had become true the prophet records: “consumed by grubs and locusts the great army I let loose against you, etc.” In Psalms 105,34 David elaborates on this plague in Egypt explaining that there are altogether seven species of locusts, naming them ארבה, סלעם, חרגול, חגב, גזם, ילק, חסיל. Interestingly, the name ארבה occurs seven times in our paragraph. The species called ארבה is the largest and most voracious of them all, as it is described as “My great army” by G’d in Yoel 2,25.

MEN OF ‘CHAYIL.’ This means men who are capable of leading a great multitude of people. Every assembly and gathering is called chayil, and it does not apply only to soldiers going forth to war. Thus it is said [of the dry bones that Ezekiel resurrected], a great ‘chayil’ (host).¹⁰²Ezekiel 37:10. Of the locusts it is said, My great ‘chayil’ (army).¹⁰³Joel 2:25. Of wealth it is stated, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten this ‘chayil’ (wealth);¹⁰⁴Deuteronomy 8:17. they carry upon the shoulders of young asses ‘chayaleihem’ (their riches).¹⁰⁵Isaiah 30:6. Of fruits it is said, the fig-tree and the vine do yield ‘cheilam’ (their strength).¹⁰⁶Joel 2:22. Thus an ish chayil in the administration of justice is one who is wise, alert, and fair; in war, an ish chayil is one who is strong, alert, and who knows the art of arraying forces in battle. A woman also is an eisheth chayil (a woman of valor)¹⁰⁷Proverbs 31:10. when she is alert and knows how to conduct the management of a home.
Jethro thus spoke in general and in particular. [In general], he told Moses to select people with powers of leadership in the administration of justice for this great people. In particular, they should be such as fear G-d, men of truth, hating unjust gain, for it is impossible for them to be “men of chayil” in judgment, without these qualities. It was not necessary for him to mention that they must be wise and understanding, for it is clear that these qualities are included in the term “men of chayil.” Further on, when it says, And Moses chose men of ‘chayil,’¹⁰⁸Further, Verse 25. everything is already included — i.e., that they were G-d-fearing, men who hated unjust gain, wise and understanding. Moreover, Scripture says [that Moses chose them] out of all Israel,¹⁰⁸Further, Verse 25. which means [that they were] the preferred of all Israel, being the ones who have all of these qualities. Since Scripture states that he chose them out of all Israel,¹⁰⁸Further, Verse 25. it is already stating that they were chosen in preference to all, for it is known that the better ones in Israel possess all good qualities. Jethro, however, not being familiar with them, found it necessary to explain in detail [that they be G-d-fearing, men of truth, etc.]
Some scholars¹⁰⁹Ibn Ezra here. Also, R’dak in Sefer Hashorashim, on the root chayil. explain anshei chayil as men of physical strength and zeal, such as have ability to stand in the king’s palace.¹¹⁰Daniel 1:4. Similarly, eisheth chayil¹⁰⁷Proverbs 31:10. is a woman of strength and industry in the work of the home, as Scripture explains there in that section.¹¹¹Proverbs 31:10-31. Likewise, Make them wander to and fro ‘b’cheilcha,’¹¹²Psalms 59:12. which means “by Thy power.” Also, Neither doth it, [i.e., the horse], afford escape by its great ‘cheilo,’¹¹³Ibid., 33:17. [which means “by its great strength”]. The word [chayil] is associated with the Aramaic, as is evidenced by the [Hebrew] expression, ‘yesh l’eil yadi’ (It is in the power of my hand),¹¹⁴Genesis 31:29. which is rendered in the Targum: “there is cheila in my hand.” And further on it says, And Moses chose men of ‘chayil’ out of all Israel,¹⁰⁸Further, Verse 25. which means the preferred ones of the entire nation and all qualities are included, as I have explained.

AND I WILL TAKE SICKNESS AWAY FROM THE MIDST OF THEE. That is to say, through them [the bread and water that I will bless], I will free you from disease, for when your food and drink are good and healthy, they do not cause sicknesses but, on the contrary, heal you. And He states⁴³⁷Verse 26. furthermore that there will not be amongst you a woman that miscarries, a miscarrying womb⁴³⁸Hosea 9:14. nor one barren of the womb and with dry breasts,⁴³⁸Hosea 9:14. for when food and drink and the air are blessed, human bodies become healthy and the organs of reproduction are able to function properly. The verse⁴³⁷Verse 26. singles out women because they are liable to miscarriage, and sterility too is more common amongst them than amongst men. It is possible that [male sterility] is included in the expression, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee, for barrenness is a sickness in bodies. He addresses Himself without specifications to men, and afterwards He mentioned the women, as He said, there shall not be male or female barren among you.⁴³⁹Deuteronomy 7:14. The meaning of the expression in thy land, [None shall miscarry, nor be barren, in thy land],⁴³⁷Verse 26. is to include also the animals, just as He said there, or amongst your cattle.⁴³⁹Deuteronomy 7:14. The number of thy days I will fulfill⁴³⁷Verse 26. means that one will not die prematurely in battle, nor through an epidemic caused by a change in the atmosphere, but only at a ripe age, whatever happens to be the normal span of life during that particular generation, such as seventy or eighty years as in the generation of King David.⁴⁴⁰See Psalms 90:10. I have already mentioned⁴⁴¹Above at the beginning of Seder Va’eira, and on Genesis 17:1 (Vol. I, p. 215). that these are all miracles, G-d showing wonders in the heavens and in the earth⁴⁴²Joel 3:3. for the sake of those who do His will. And then He said that just as He will do on their behalf a sign for good,⁴⁴³Psalms 86:17. so will He do to their enemies for bad; He will give them a trembling heart,⁴⁴⁴Deuteronomy 28:65. — Ramban derives this from the phrase written here: I will send My terror before thee (Verse 27). and in the chambers terror.⁴⁴⁵Ibid., 32:25. — Ramban derives this from the expression here: And I will cause discomfort to all the people to whom thou shalt come. Moreover, He will send the tzir’ah amongst them,⁴⁴⁶Verse 28. this being a certain kind of hornet of the family of the bee. The Sages mention it continually:⁴⁴⁷Machshirin 6:4. “Bees’ honey, hornets’ honey.” The meaning of the verse is that He will send this plague through the atmosphere of their land, like the locust that He had sent in Egypt: the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, His great army⁴⁴⁸Joel 2:25. which came in the days of Joel. The meaning of the expression, and she [the hornet] will drive out the Hivite etc.,⁴⁴⁶Verse 28. is that this will be the cause of their being driven out of the land, for since the hornets will cover the face of the earth⁴⁴⁹Above, 10:5. and darken it, they will not be able to go into battle. Moreover, it will eat up all their produce in the field, similar to that which is said in the imprecations, Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather little in; for the locust shall consume it, etc.;⁴⁵⁰Deuteronomy 28:38. All thy trees and the fruit of thy land shall the locust possess.⁴⁵¹Ibid., Verse 42. Similarly He said here that He will do such things to our enemies.
Scripture mentioned here the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite,⁴⁴⁶Verse 28. [and not the other four nations as well], because it adopted here a shortened form, and the intention is to all those mentioned above.⁴⁵²Verse 23. See Ramban above, 3:8 as to why the Girgashite [the seventh one] is omitted. The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the majority of these three nations [mentioned here] did not go out to battle and thus avoided being killed by the sword, because they remained strongly enclosed in their fortified places. It is against them that He sent only this form of death [through the hornet], in a similar manner to that which is said of Egypt, And thy houses shall be filled, and the houses of all thy servants, and the houses of all the Egyptians.⁴⁵³Above, 10:6. It is this which He said in the Book of Deuteronomy: Moreover the Eternal thy G-d will send the hornet amongst them, until they that are left, and they that hide themselves, perish from before thee,⁴⁵⁴Deuteronomy 7:20. and it is this hornet that crossed the Jordon with Joshua.⁴⁵⁵Rashi’s statement that the hornets did not cross the Jordan but merely “placed themselves on the east bank of the Jordan and from there injected the poison against them” applies to the hornet of the days of Moses. The one in the days of Joshua did cross the Jordan. This distinction is made in Sotah 36a. So did the Rabbis conclude in Tractate Sotah,⁴⁵⁵Rashi’s statement that the hornets did not cross the Jordan but merely “placed themselves on the east bank of the Jordan and from there injected the poison against them” applies to the hornet of the days of Moses. The one in the days of Joshua did cross the Jordan. This distinction is made in Sotah 36a. saying that the hornet injected a poison into them which caused their death, and indeed there is nowadays also in the hornet a poisonous substance which harms or even kills the victim. And it is written in the Book of Joshua: And ye went over the Jordan, and came unto Jericho; and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand,⁴⁵⁶Joshua 24:11. and it is further written there, And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.⁴⁵⁷Ibid., Verse 12. The phrase which drove them out⁴⁵⁷Ibid., Verse 12. refers to those that are left⁴⁵⁴Deuteronomy 7:20. amongst them, for after I delivered into your hand all the nations mentioned, I sent the hornet to drive out those that are left and they that hide themselves. He mentioned the two kings of the Amorites,⁴⁵⁷Ibid., Verse 12. meaning Sichon and Og whom He had referred to earlier. All this you have done not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.⁴⁵⁷Ibid., Verse 12.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that the tzir’ah refers to a disease in the body, the word being of the root tzara’ath (leprosy). But there is no need for this interpretation.
And ye shall serve the Eternal your G-d⁴⁵⁸Verse 25. means that service [by offering or prayer] is to be devoted to the Proper Name [i.e., the Tetragrammaton]. The verse stating and He will bless… and I will take, [thus changing from the third-person pronoun to the first-person pronoun], is similar to the verse and thou wilt keep all His statutes… for I am the Eternal that healeth thee.⁴⁵⁹Above, 15:26. In that case too the pronouns change. I have already explained it, and the person learned [in the mystic lore of the Cabala] will understand the verse here from what I have written there.