ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף ישעיהו 33:16

THAT IT GIVE FORTH ITS WATER. The meaning thereof is that a large amount of water should immediately spring forth, just as it is said, and water came forth abundantly,¹⁴⁷Further, Verse 11. for the term “giving” denotes abundance, as in [the verses]: and the Land shall ‘give’ her produce, and the trees of the field shall ‘give’ their fruit;¹⁴⁸Leviticus 26:4. For as the seed of peace, the vine shall ‘give’ her fruit, and the Land shall ‘give’ her increase, and the heavens shall ‘give’ their dew.¹⁴⁹Zechariah 8:12. In all these [verses] He was promising them abundance. And so, it is written, [Behold, He smote the rock, that waters gushed out], and streams overflowed.¹⁵⁰Psalms 78:20. Now the meaning of ‘its’ water [that it give forth ‘its’ water] is not like [the Land] shall give ‘her’ produce, and [the trees] shall give ‘their’ fruit, since it is not in the nature of a rock to have water in it. But its meaning is [that it will give forth] the water which will come out of it, for when G-d turns the flint into a fountain of waters,¹⁵¹Ibid., 114:8. so that they are [contained] in it and come forth out of it, the waters may [indeed] be called ‘its’ water. Similarly, and He will bless ‘thy’ bread, and ‘thy’ water;¹⁵²Exodus 23:25. ‘his’ bread shall be given, ‘his’ waters shall be sure.¹⁵³Isaiah 33:16. He stated it in this way [that it give forth ‘its’ water] in order to inform us that the waters will come forth from the very rock itself, not from the ground beneath it, as occurs naturally in the case of many fountains; but [these waters] will come forth from the middle of the rock. And so it is written, Who turneth the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.¹⁵¹Ibid., 114:8. He repeated a second time [in this verse], and thou shalt bring forth to them water, meaning that “while you [Moses] are still there, you should bring them forth water from the rock, so that they should all see it gushing forth.” SO THOU SHALT GIVE THE CONGREGATION AND THEIR CATTLE DRINK. [This means] that “you should command them to drink from it in your presence.” All this was for the purpose of publicizing the miracle. In the actual event, [however], it is not mentioned that “he gave the congregation and their cattle to drink;” instead, it says, and the congregation drank, and their cattle,¹⁴⁷Further, Verse 11. because owing to their great thirst, as soon as they saw water gushing out in abundance, they fell upon the river and drank.
Now according to the opinion of our Rabbis about Miriam’s Well,¹⁵⁴This was a moving well in Miriam’s merit which accompanied the Israelites throughout their forty year’s journeys in the desert. “When Miriam died [as mentioned here in Verse 1] the well was taken away.” (Taanith 9a). Hence the crisis of the lack of water. See also Vol. II, pp. 240-241, and Note 436 ibid. this rock [in Kadesh] is the same flint which was in Horeb;¹²⁴Exodus 17:6. therefore they explain [that the expression] ‘its’ water [in that it give forth ‘its’ water] refers to the water which it used to give, for now as a result of Miriam’s death the fountain ceased [and was only restored in the merit of Moses and Aaron].¹⁵⁵Taanith 9a. When Aaron died it continued in the merit of Moses. For when our Rabbis speak of Miriam’s Well, they mean that there was always a miraculous well,¹⁵⁶Ramban here appears to be referring to the tradition mentioned in the Mishnah in Aboth 5:9 that ten things were created in the twilight of the eve of the first Sabbath, amongst them “the mouth of the well.” It was this well which appeared wherever G-d wanted it to, as explained further on. a fountain of living waters,¹⁵⁷Jeremiah 2:13. flowing wherever it was His Will. Thus He caused it to come up for Ishmael in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.¹⁵⁸Genesis 21:14; 19. In Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 30 the tradition is recorded that this was the same well mentioned in connection with Miriam. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 277. It was this rock which became cleft in Horeb,¹²⁴Exodus 17:6. and throughout their travels [water] flowed from the rock wherever they encamped. But when the righteous one [Miriam] died, the fountain stopped, and now it continued through [the merit of] Moses to be a fountain opened¹⁵⁹Zechariah 13:1. for him from that very same rock [which had been in Horeb], this being the meaning of the phrase, and speak ye unto ‘haselah’ (‘the’ rock) — the known rock. According to the plain meaning of Scripture, [however], there was a rock near the camp, and He commanded “and speak ye unto the rock which is before you” [hence the phrase ‘the’ rock]. One can also explain it as “and speak ye unto the rock which is before their eyes,” meaning to say “the first rock that they will see.”

The Midrash Rabbah on Exodus, parasha 25, comments: [When the verse states], “His bread shall be given, his waters shall be trustworthy. Your eyes will behold a King in His beauty;”²⁵Isa. 33:16–17. [it is referring] to the Holy One, blessed be He, who commands those who study Torah. One should never say, “I heard” about anything that he did not hear. Never forbid others from doing that which you allow yourself. Let all the utterances that come from your mouth be reliable, as were those that came from Moshe, and I will make you behold His beauty face to face.

‘KATONTI’ OF ALL THE MERCIES, AND OF ALL THE TRUTH. “My merits have diminished as a consequence of all the kindness and truth which You have already shown me. For this reason I am afraid lest I have become depraved by sin since the time You made these promises to me, and this may cause me to be delivered into the hand of Esau.” This is Rashi’s language. But it is not a correct interpretation because it does not fit into the language of the verse, [for katan refers to size, not quantity]. Furthermore, Jacob said afterwards, And Thou saidst: I will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of the sea,²⁵Verse 13 here. but of what efficacy would this promise be if subsequent sin caused him to be deprived of it? Moreover, Jacob mentioned two promises which the Holy One, blessed be He, had made him — one in Beth-el,²⁶Above, 28:14. and one in Haran²⁷Ibid., 31:3. — and he first stated the promise given to him in Haran, O Eternal, who saidst unto me: Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do to thee good,²⁸Verse 10 here. this being what was said to him when he was about to leave the house of Laban: Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.²⁷Ibid., 31:3. Now following this promise, G-d did not bestow good upon Jacob to account for all these mercies and truths of which Jacob mentioned that his merits should be diminished on account of them.
The word katonti rather means that he is too small to have been worthy of all the mercies which He had done for him. Likewise, How shall Jacob stand? for he is small,²⁹Amos 7:2. that is, too small to be able to bear all that was decreed against him. And so the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah,³⁰76:4. “Katonti. Rabbi Abba said that it means ‘I am not worthy.’” Now hachasadim (the mercies) are the kindnesses which G-d did for him without having vowed to do them, and ha’emeth (the truth) is the kindness which He promised him and fulfilled. Jacob thus said that he was unworthy of G-d’s promising him and performing those kindnesses which He promised him, nor was he worthy of those other many kindnesses which He did for him without having promised to do them.
But I have not understood the opinion of Onkelos who translated, “from all the mercies and all the good,” when he is accustomed to translate chesed ve’emeth as “mercy and truth.” Perhaps Onkelos is rendering chasadim here as referring to Jacob’s rescue, that is, the many times He had saved him from his troubles. Onkelos rendered emeth as referring to all this good which Jacob possessed, for G-d had given him sons and daughters, wealth and belongings, and honor.
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that long-lasting kindnesses such as children and wealth are called emeth, which is from the root of emunah (faith), just as: ‘Vene’eman’ (and confirmed shall be) thy house and thy kingdom forever,³¹II Samuel 7:16. This was said to David, whose kingdom was assured of existence. which connotes assured existence; His bread shall be given, his waters ‘ne’emanim’ (shall be sure),³²Isaiah 33:16. just as the prophet said, Wilt thou indeed be unto me as a deceitful brook as waters that are not ‘ne’emanu’ (sure)?³³Jeremiah 15:18.