והתמה כי מתי מעט מכם ירדפו מתי רב מהאויבים וכבר הודעתיך בספר מאזנים כי עשרה ומאה ואלף ורבבה שהיא עשרת אלפים סך חשבון ומנהג המרבה לומר אחד לעשר כמו כי עתה כמונו עשרת אלפים ופה הוסיף כי המאה ירדפום חמשה והנה כפל מנהג המרבה וכל אחד מהמאה ירדוף מאה ויש אומרים כי בעבור התחברות האחדים יוסיף המספר וכן איכה ירדוף אחד אלף. ואין צורך: The greater wonder shall be that a small number of you shall pursue a large number of your enemies. I have previously informed you in my book Moznayim that ten, one hundred, a thousand, and ten thousand are round numbers.28Literally, are the sum of the count. The ones end in ten, the tens end in a hundred, the hundreds end in a thousand, and the thousands end in ten thousand. I.E.’s point is that if a person wants to exaggerate “ones,” he says ten; if he wants to exaggerate tens, he says a hundred; to exaggerate hundreds he says a thousand; if he wants to exaggerate thousands, he says ten thousand. It is customary for one who magnifies a number to say “one to ten.”29If one wants to say that one person shall pursue many, one says he shall pursue ten. If one wants to say that a hundred shall pursue many, one says one hundred shall pursue a thousand, and so forth. Compare, but thou art worth ten thousand of us (II Sam 18:3).30Ten thousand is not to be taken literally. Scripture here mentions that a hundred shall be chased by five.31The usual way of making the point that Scripture is making is to say that ten shall pursue a hundred. Note, Scripture doubled the number used by the one who magnifies.32If ten chase a hundred, then five chase fifty. However, Scripture tells us that five shall purse a hundred. Hence it doubles the amount that the Israelites would pursue. Each one of a hundred Israelites shall chase a hundred of their enemies.33For Scripture states, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand. There are those who say that Scripture adds to the number because the number is increased when the individuals come together.34Five Israelites shall chase a hundred of their enemies but a hundred Israelites shall chase ten thousand of their enemies because a hundred Israelites fighting together can achieve a greater victory per person than five Israelites fighting together. Similarly, How should one chase a thousand (Deut. 32:30).35The verse continues, And two put ten thousand to flight. Here too the Israelites accomplish more when they fight together. There is no need for this.36For Scripture employs exaggerated numbers which are not to be taken literally.
ונפלו אויביכם. פעם אחרת שיפלו פעם אחר פעם בלי תקומה: AND YOUR ENEMIES SHALL FALL. This is stated a second time.37Scripture had already stated in the previous verse that Israel’s enemies would fall before them. The repetition indicates that they will fall time after time. They will not rise again.