ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף בראשית 4:7

Therefore it is said, “And it shall be, when you draw near to the battle,” with the nations, and you fear sin lest the evil inclination cause you to stumble, for it is the Satan, who prosecutes in times of danger, then they should engage in Torah study. This is what is meant by the priest shall approach and speak to the people. In the Tractate Sotah (42), they said, and speak to the people in the holy language, and we learn this from the verbal analogy with Moses’ would speak mentioned at the giving of the Torah Moses would speak (Exodus 19:19) — just as there it was in the holy language, so too here. And I say the verbal analogy is not partial — just as there it concerned Torah study, so too here the priest speaks words of Torah to the people. For Joshua was punished for neglecting Torah study during war, as the angel said to him, Now I have come (Joshua 5:14), [which our Sages interpreted as] “because of the neglect of Torah” (Eruvin 63b). The reason for this is that Torah study protects against the evil inclination, the Satan who especially prosecutes in times of danger.
And if perhaps there is someone who is not learned in Torah, for not everyone has mastered Torah, then with what will those groups be saved from the hand of this internal enemy during war? Therefore, and he shall say, ‘Hear, O Israel,’ meaning they should recite the Shema, which everyone knows how to recite, and through this all will be saved from the head of the enemy’s attacks. And if perhaps there is an ignorant person who doesn’t even know the Shema, or some stiff-necked person whose evil inclination is stronger than him and will not turn back because of any Torah or Shema, then it is necessary to remind him of the day of death, and then it [the evil inclination] will certainly depart. Therefore, the officer announces, Who is the man who has built a house, etc., lest he die in battle, etc. By mentioning death in war, he will incidentally remember the day of death in general, and with this he will certainly overcome his inclination, as it is written If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin crouches at the opening (Genesis 4:7) — meaning, let him remember the opening of his grave, and then even though its desire is for you, nevertheless you shall rule over it.

Alternatively, Turnus Rufus was aware that man's external appearance, i.e. that tangible aspects of man reflect some of his intangible parts inside of him; he thought that such stains on man's character as were reflected by his exterior had been given to him by G'd at birth. He believed that when G'd ordered for man to remove his foreskin, the character stains which his foreskin reflected would be removed from him by G'd. Rabbi Akiva gave him a general answer concerning the purpose of the positive and negative commandments. Having a foreskin is not indicative of a single stain on one's character or even a single inadequacy which has become part of human nature. Rather, it is a reminder of basic inadequacies which man is troubled by ever since Adam ate from the tree of knowledge. Inasmuch as man caused these inadequacies, he must labour to overcome them. G'd does not do it for him. Rabbi Akiva explained that all the positive commandments combined are designed to refine man, i.e. to gradually remove the stains which are part of his being a creature born of woman. Performance of each positive commandment restores some of the spiritual light which has become encapsuled in a "peel" as a result of eating from that tree. The negative commandments on the other hand, are the agents which remove the sickness which adheres to man's soul ever since first man allowed such diseases to become part of him. The whole process of rehabilitation is best described in Proverbs 6,23 כי נר מצוה ותורה אור, "performance of a single commandment is equivalent to providing the kind of light given by a single candle, whereas the performance of all of the Torah's commandments (not given to a single individual to perform) provides "Light", i.e. will restore the light which existed when Adam was in גן עדן." It is not G'd who does all this; G'd gave man the commandments as tools in order to enable him to find his way back to "paradise lost." Seeing Adam had contaminated all future souls, it is up to each human being to rehabilitate himself individually. I have dealt with the subject in my commentary on Genesis 4,7.

אז חללת יצועי עלה, “then you desecrated Him Who abode on my bed.” According to our sages, Yaakov referred to Reuven having desecrated the Presence of the Divinity, which was ever present near his father’s bed. Another explanation: your פחז, i.e. “your haste,” which was comparable to the ease with which water gushed forth from a spring, caused you to forfeit your advantage, for in your haste to ascend my couch you desecrated it thereby. Ibn Ezra understands the word עלה here as meaning “disappeared, withdrew,” as if the Torah had written עלה מעלי, “distanced himself from me.” He quotes David in Psalms 102,25 אל תעלני בחצי ימי, “do not let me die when only half my allotted lifespan is over.” Rabbi Joseph Kimchi views the paragraph as a blessing (just as the others) each of the sons receiving a blessing compatible with his personality. He includes the wish that just as he is willing to forgive Reuven for his indiscretion, so may the Lord also forgive him this sin. As a result you will be able to display the natural advantages common to a firstborn. The word שאת appears in the context of forgiveness, (Genesis 4,7 with Kayin). Yaakov described Reuven’s inability to control his libido as comparable to water gushing forth. The episode was understood by Yaakov to have been a momentary failure of reason controlling natural urges, resulting in his couch being desecrated. The word עלה belongs to the words פחז כמים instead of being part of חללת יצועי.

Than an old and foolish king. This is the evil inclination, which rules over all the limbs. “Old,” for when a child is born, it comes to him,²¹The evil inclination is referred to as “king” because all obey it, and “old” because it becomes part of man long before the good inclination. as it is stated, “sin rests at the opening.”²²Bereishis 4:7. And foolish. Because it misleads him in the way of evil. It is expounded in the Midrash in this manner.