עַל־זֶ֗ה הָיָ֤ה דָוֶה֙ לִבֵּ֔נוּ עַל־אֵ֖לֶּה חָשְׁכ֥וּ עֵינֵֽינוּ׃
Dahil dito ay nanlulupaypay ang aming puso; dahil sa mga ito ay nagdilim ang aming mga mata.
Ramban
D’VOTHAH.’ “This is an expression for anything which flows from her body, derived from the wording11In our text of Rashi: “Another interpretation.” for malady [madveh] and sickness, for no woman sees an issue of blood without becoming unwell, and her head and her limbs feeling heavy on her.” This is Rashi’s language. But I do not know on the basis of which root the word d’vothah can be an expression in the Sacred Language for “anything which flows.” But it is possible that it is an expression of malady, on the basis of what the Rabbis have said,12Niddah 9 a. “and her head and limbs are heavy on her.” So also is the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, who writes: “D’vothah is a noun and means sickness, for the blood which issues indicates a sickness in the woman.” Now it is true that the flow constitutes a cleansing of surpluses [of blood], and due to the fact that her head and her limbs feel heavy upon her, the flow is perhaps termed “a sickness.” The correct interpretation, however, is that d’vothah is an expression derived from the word madveh [which does not mean “sickness,” i.e., an unnatural occurrence in the body, since a woman’s menses are natural; and d’vothah is therefore like the terms] plague and pain, just as in the expressions: My heart is ‘davoi’ (faint) within me;13Jeremiah 8:18. for this our heart is ‘daveh’ (faint),14Lamentations 5:17. and like: the plague of his heart.15I Kings 8:38. Thus menstruation is an affliction upon the woman even though it is in her nature [to experience it regularly]. A similar expression is upon the bed of ‘d’voi’ (illness].16Psalms 41:4.
Kli Yakar
And this is explained in the way we find in Rabbati Parashat Vayeshev (88a) Deliver me from all my transgressions; make me not the reproach of the fool (Psalms 39:9). Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said: The nations of the world were not worthy to have among them anguished and despised individuals, but [they have them] only so that they should not taunt Israel saying to them, “You are a nation of anguished and despised individuals.” This is what is meant by make me not the reproach of the fool. And Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: The nations of the world were not worthy to have among them people with skin eruptions, and why do they have them? So that they should not taunt Israel saying, “Are you not a nation of lepers?” This is what is meant by make me not the reproach of the fool.
One must examine what they are disputing about and what is the difference between the sick and the lepers. It seems to me, as concluded in the midrash: They sinned with this — for this man Moses (Exodus 32:1). And they were afflicted with this — as it says, For this our heart is anguished (Lamentations 5:17). And they were reconciled with this — as it says, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: Take from among you an offering to the Lord (Exodus 35:5-6).
They sinned with these — These are your gods, O Israel (Exodus 32:4). And they were afflicted with these — as it says, For these our eyes are dim (Lamentations 5:17). And they were reconciled with these — as it says, These are the accounts of the Tabernacle (Exodus 38:21).
You see from this midrash that there were two types of sin here. The first is that they sinned against the Holy One, blessed be He, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, and for this they were afflicted with leprosy, which brings to light all evil thoughts. They had already sinned in thought, as it says, You know the people that they are set on evil (Exodus 32:22), as explained above. The leprosy was bringing their evil to the outside to publicize it about them.
Since the law for every leper is to dwell outside the camp, and here all of Israel were lepers, how could they go outside the camp? Therefore it says, And Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33:7) — as if that was where the Divine Presence’s camp was, and they were distanced from the camp of the Divine Presence.
And regarding what it says, For these our eyes are dim — it is because the expression, “this” indicates something that a person sees with his eyes and points to with his finger saying “this is it,” whereas the language of “these” indicates something that one perceives with the vision of the heart, even though one does not see it with his eyes. Therefore it says they sinned with these, referring to the sin they committed against God, for no man shall see Me and live (Exodus 33:20). And they sinned with this, referring to what they sinned against Moses, acting against the sense of sight, because with their eyes they saw the uprightness of his ways, yet they still had doubts about him.
According to this premise, it is difficult to understand why it says For this our heart is anguished, for these our eyes are dim — it should have said the opposite.
One must examine what they are disputing about and what is the difference between the sick and the lepers. It seems to me, as concluded in the midrash: They sinned with this — for this man Moses (Exodus 32:1). And they were afflicted with this — as it says, For this our heart is anguished (Lamentations 5:17). And they were reconciled with this — as it says, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: Take from among you an offering to the Lord (Exodus 35:5-6).
They sinned with these — These are your gods, O Israel (Exodus 32:4). And they were afflicted with these — as it says, For these our eyes are dim (Lamentations 5:17). And they were reconciled with these — as it says, These are the accounts of the Tabernacle (Exodus 38:21).
You see from this midrash that there were two types of sin here. The first is that they sinned against the Holy One, blessed be He, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, and for this they were afflicted with leprosy, which brings to light all evil thoughts. They had already sinned in thought, as it says, You know the people that they are set on evil (Exodus 32:22), as explained above. The leprosy was bringing their evil to the outside to publicize it about them.
Since the law for every leper is to dwell outside the camp, and here all of Israel were lepers, how could they go outside the camp? Therefore it says, And Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the Tent of Meeting (Exodus 33:7) — as if that was where the Divine Presence’s camp was, and they were distanced from the camp of the Divine Presence.
And regarding what it says, For these our eyes are dim — it is because the expression, “this” indicates something that a person sees with his eyes and points to with his finger saying “this is it,” whereas the language of “these” indicates something that one perceives with the vision of the heart, even though one does not see it with his eyes. Therefore it says they sinned with these, referring to the sin they committed against God, for no man shall see Me and live (Exodus 33:20). And they sinned with this, referring to what they sinned against Moses, acting against the sense of sight, because with their eyes they saw the uprightness of his ways, yet they still had doubts about him.
According to this premise, it is difficult to understand why it says For this our heart is anguished, for these our eyes are dim — it should have said the opposite.