פרשת האזינו תש"ו - "גוי אובד עצות המה"

For they are a nation void of counsel, And there is no understanding in them.

כי FOR that nation גוי אבד עצות המה ואין בהם תבונה IS A NATION OF ERRING COUNSEL, NEITHER IS THERE ANY UNDERSTANDING IN THEM — for if they were wise (לו חכמו),‎ ישכילו זאת THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND THIS viz., איכה ירדף וגו׳ HOW COULD ONE PURSUE [A THOUSAND] etc.

If they were wise, they would understand this, They would discern their latter end.

איכה ירדף אחד HOW ONE MAN of the nations COULD PURSUE אלף A THOUSAND of the Israelites.

How should one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight, Except their Rock had given them over And the LORD had delivered them up?

כי לא כצורנו צורם FOR THEIR ROCK IS NOT AS OUR ROCK — all this the enemies should have understood, — that it is the Lord who delivered them (the Israelites) into their hands, and the victory is neither theirs nor their god’s, for until now their gods could achieve nothing against our Rock, “for not as our Rock is their Rock”. — The word צור wherever it occurs in Scripture is the equivalent of סלע, rock.

ואיבינו פלילים AND OUR ENEMIES ARE JUDGES — i.e. are now judges over us; it is evident therefore that our Rock must have delivered us over to them.

כי מגפן סדם גפנם FOR THEIR VINE IS OF THE VINE OF SODOM — This is to be connected with what is stated above, (v. 26, verses 27—31 being a parenthesis): “I said in My heart, I would scatter them into corners and make the remembrance of them cease…” because (כי) their doings are as the doings of Sodom and Gomorrah.

שדמת denotes fields of grain, as in (Habakkuk 3:17) “and the fields (שדמות) shall yield no corn”; (II Chronicles 23:4) “in the fields (בשדמות) of Kedron”.

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, And of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of gall, Their clusters are bitter;

אשכלת ממרת למו BITTER CLUSTERS SHALL BE THEIRS — i.e. a bitter drink is what they deserve: according to their actions should be their punishment. Onkelos also renders it thus: “the recompense of their actions shall be according to their bitterness”.

הלא הוא כמס עמדי IS NOT THIS LAID UP IN STORE WITH ME — Understand this as the Targum has it: (“Are not all their doings open before me?”) — i.e., they believe that I have forgotten their doings, but really they are all stored up and kept with Me.

לי נקם ושלם means, with Me is prepared and held in readiness the punishment of vengeance, and it will recompense them according to their doings. As regards the word ושלם, it means that vengeance will pay them their recompense (וְשִׁלַּם is therefore a verb with the Vau conversive, the subject being the noun נקם which precedes it). — But some explain the word וְשִׁלַּם as a noun, having the same meaning as שִׁלּוּם “recompense”, when it would be of the same grammatical form as the noun in the phrase (Jeremiah 5:13) “And the דִּבֵּר is not in them”, where it has the meaning of דִּבּוּר, “Divine utterance”. And when will I recompense them? לעת תמוט רגלם AT THE TIME WHEN THEIR FOOT SHALL TOTTER — i.e. when the merit of their ancestors upon which they are relying (which is, as it were, their foot, their support) will become exhausted.

כי קרוב יום אידם FOR THE DAY OF THEIR CALAMITY IS AT HAND — i.e. as soon as I shall desire to bring about the day of their calamity, it will be near at hand and held in readiness by Me — that I may bring it by any of the many agencies I have.

וחש עתדת למו means, AND THE THINGS THAT ARE TO COME (עתידות) UPON THEM WILL COME QUICKLY (חש).

וחש עתדת למו means, AND THE THINGS THAT ARE TO COME (עתידות) UPON THEM WILL COME QUICKLY (חש). וחש — The word חש has the same meaning as the verb in (Isaiah V. 19) “Let him make speed and hasten (יחישה)”. — So far Moses exhorted them with words of reproof, so that this song should be witness against them, i.e., that when the punishment would come upon them they would know (acknowledge) that I told them about this from the very beginning. From here onwards he exhorted them with a statement of the comfort that would come upon them when their punishment would have ended; this being similar to all that is stated above (30:1—2) “And it shall come to pass when [all these things] are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, … then the Lord thy God will turn they captivity, etc.”

כי ידין ה' עמו — This means, when He will sentence them to all these sufferings that are mentioned concerning them. The phrase has the same meaning as (Job 36:31) “For by them ידין nations”, i.e. He will chastise the nations. — This word כי has not the meaning of “because”, giving the reason for the preceding statements, but it is an expression (a particle) beginning a new a statement, as (Leviticus 25:2) “When (וכי) ye will come into the land” (cf. Rashi on that passage). The meaning is: When these judgment will come upon them, and the Lord will bethink Himself concerning His servants to have mercy on them again.

יתנחם HE WILL REPENT — This is an expression for changing one’s mind whether for good or for evil.

— In a different manner is it (the section from v. 26 onwards) expounded in Sifrei, and there is a difference of opinion regarding it between R. Judah and R. Nehemiah. R. Judah expounds the whole of it as having reference to Israel, whilst R. Nehemiah refers the whole of it as referring to the other nations (Sifrei Devarim 327). R. Judah explains it as referring to Israel as follows: (26) אמרתי אפאיהם in the same manner as I have explained it, up to (27) כי גוי אבד עצות המה (28) .ולא ה' פעל כל זאת FOR THEY ARE A NATION LOSING COUNSEL, i.e., they have lost My Torah, which was a fitting counsel for them, ואין בהם תבונה AND THERE IS NO UNDERSTANDING IN THEM to consider,# (30) איכה ירדף אחד HOW ONE MAN of the nations COULD PURSUE אלף A THOUSAND of them, אם לא כי צורם מכרם EXCEPT THAT THEIR ROCK HAD DELIVERED THEM into their power.# (31) כי לא כצורנו צורם — all as I have explained, right up to the end. — R. Nehemiah expounds it as referring to the other nations as follows: (28) כי גוי אבד עצות המה — This he explains as I have explained it at first up to (31): ואיבינו פלילים