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| [4] The deeds of the [Mighty] Rock are perfect, for all His ways are just; a faithful G-d, without injustice He is righteous and upright. |
The deeds of the [Mighty] Rock
are perfect Even though G-d is strong [like a rock], when He brings retribution
upon those who transgress His will, He does not bring it in a flood [of
anger], but [rather] with justice because “His deeds are perfect.”
a faithful G-d[Faithful] to reward the righteous their due in the world-to-come. And even though He defers their reward, in the end He will fulfill His words. without injustice Even to the wicked; G-d rewards them in this world for [any] meritorious deeds [they might have performed].-[Sifrei 32:4] He is righteous and upright All acknowledge G-d’s judgment meted out to them to be just, and therefore fitting and upright for them. [That is, G-d is declared] just by people, and He is upright, and it is fitting to declare G-d as righteous. |
| [5] Destruction is not His; it is His children's defect, you crooked and twisted generation. |
It is His children’s defect. They
were G-d’s children, and the destruction they wrought is their blemish.
It is His children’s defect The destruction was His children’s blemish, not His blemish. |
| [6] Is this how you repay the Lord, you disgraceful, unwise people?! Is He not your Father, your Master? He has made you and established you. |
Is this how you repay the Lord This
should be read as a question: "[Why] are you doing such saddening things
before G-d? He has the power to punish you, [nevertheless] He has bestowed
all these favors upon you. [Is this the way you repay Him for those favors?]"-[Sifrei
32:6]
you disgraceful... people who have forgotten all that has been done for them. unwise [because you do not] understand the outcome, since it is in G-d’s power to do them good or evil [according to their actions].-[Sifrei 32:6] Is He not your father, your Master? He made you A [special] nation among nations, and established you After [making you a special nation, G-d established you] upon every kind of firm base and foundation [i.e., made you self-contained]: your kohanim are from among yourselves; your prophets are from among yourselves, and your kings are from among yourselves. [Indeed, you are like] a city from which all [resources] are [drawn].-[Sifrei 32:6] |
| [7] Remember the days of old; reflect upon the years of [other] generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you your elders, and they will inform you. |
Remember the days of old what G-d
did to past generations who provoked Him to anger.
reflect upon the years of [other] generations [I.e.,] the generation of Enosh, whom [G-d] inundated with the waters of the ocean, and the generation of the Flood, whom [G-d] washed away. Another explanation is: [If] you have not set your attention to the past, then “reflect upon the years of generations,” i.e., to recognize the future, that He has the power to bestow good upon you and to give you as an inheritance the days of the Messiah and the world-to-come.-[Sifrei 32:6] Ask your father These are the prophets, who are called “fathers,” as Scripture states regarding [Elisha’s crying out to] Elijah, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel!” (II Kings 2:12). your elders These are the Sages.-[Sifrei
32:7]
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| [8]When the Most High gave nations their lot, when He separated the sons of man, He set up the boundaries of peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. |
When the Most High gave nations their lot
When
the Holy One, Blessed is He, gave those who provoked Him to anger their
portion, He flooded them and drowned them [i.e., that was their lot].
when He separated the sons of man When [G-d] scattered the Generation of the Dispersion [which built the tower of Babel], He had the power to remove them from the world [altogether], but He did not do so. Rather, “He set up the boundaries of peoples,” [i.e.,] He let them remain in existence and did not destroy them. according to the number of the children of
Israel [G-d let man remain in existence] for the sake of a [small]
number of the children of Israel who were destined to descend from the
|
| [9] Because the Lord's portion is His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance. |
Because the Lord’s portion is His people
And why did G-d go to all this effort [to save mankind]? "Because the Lord’s
portion" was hidden within them [i.e., mankind] and was destined to come
forth. And who is G-d’s portion? "His people." And who is His people? Jacob,
the lot of His inheritance And he is the third among the Patriarchs. He
is endowed with a threefold [parcel] of merits: The merit of his grandfather,
the merit of his father, and his own merit—thus, totaling three, like a
rope composed of three strands [twined together for added strength (Sifrei
32:9)]. Thus, it was [only] Jacob and his sons who became G-d’s inheritance,
not Ishmael, the son of Abraham, and not Esau, the son of Isaac.
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| [10] He found them in a desert land, and in a desolate, howling wasteland. He encompassed them and bestowed understanding upon them; He protected them as the pupil of His eye. |
He found them in a desert land G-d found them [i.e., Jacob’s sons] faithful to Him in a desert land, for they accepted His Torah, His sovereignty, and His yoke upon themselves. |
| [11] As an eagle awakens its nest, hovering over its fledglings, it spreads its wings, taking them and carrying them on its pinions. |
As an eagle awakens its nest He
guided them [Israel] with mercy and compassion like an eagle, which is
merciful towards its own fledglings and does not enter its nest suddenly.
[Rather,] it beats and flaps its wings above its young between one tree
and another, between one branch and another, in order that its young should
awaken and have the strength to receive it.
awakens its nest [I.e.,] it awakens its fledglings. hovering over its fledglings [The eagle] does not impose its [whole] body upon them. Rather, it hovers above them, touching them and yet not quite touching them. So too, is the Holy One, Blessed is He. [As in the verse:] "We did not find the Almighty great in power" (Job 37:23). When He came to give the Torah to Israel, He did not reveal Himself to them from one direction [thus concentrating His power at one point, as it were], but rather, from four directions, as Scripture states, "The Lord came from Sinai, and shone forth from Seir to them, and appeared from Mount Paran" (Deut. 33:2). [This accounts for three directions.] The fourth direction is referred to in [the verse], "G-d comes from Teman" (Hab. 3:3). -[Sifrei 32:11] spreading its wings, taking them When it [the eagle] comes to move [its fledglings] from place to place, it does not pick them up with its feet, as do other birds. Other birds are afraid of the eagle, which soars very high and flies above them. |
| [12] [So] the Lord guided them alone, and there was no alien deity with Him. | [So] the Lord guided them alone G-d guided them safely and alone in the desert. and there was no alien deity with him Not one of the deities of the nations had the power to display its might and to wage war with them [i.e., with Israel]. Our Rabbis, however, explained [this whole verse] as referring to the future [i.e., "(So) the Lord will guide them...."] (Sifrei 32:12), and Onkelos renders [this verse] likewise. But I say that these are words of reproof. [Moses] called upon heaven and earth as witnesses, and this song would [also] be a witness, that eventually [Israel] would betray [G-d], and they would neither remember what G-d did for them in the past [generations], nor [would they bear in mind] what He was destined to do to them. Hence, this [verse] should be understood to refer to both [the past and the future]. And [therefore] this whole passage is apropos of [the phrase]: "Remember the days of old; reflect upon the years of [other] generations" (verse 7)—thus [G-d] did for them, and thus will He do for them in the future. [The passage is admonishing Israel:] They should have remembered all this. |
| [13] He made them ride upon the high places of the earth, that they would eat the produce of the field. He let them suck honey from a rock, and oil from the mighty part of the crag. | He made them ride upon the high places of the earth This entire verse is to be understood as rendered by the Targum [i.e., referring to the Land of Israel]. He made them ride [upon the high places] [referring to] the Land of Israel, because it is higher than all other countries.-[Sifrei 32:13] that they would eat the produce of the field. |
| [14] The cream of cattle and the milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams of Bashan and he goats, with kidneys of wheat, and it [the congregation of Israel] would drink the blood of grapes [which was] as the finest wine. |
The cream of cattle and the milk of sheep
This took place in the days of Solomon, as Scripture states: "[And Solomon’s
provision for one day consisted of...] ten fat cattle, and twenty cattle
from the pasture, and one hundred sheep" (I Kings 5:2-3). -[Sifrei 32:14]
with the fat of lambs This took place in the days of the Ten Tribes [i.e., the period of the Northern Kingdom in Israel], as Scripture states: “And who eat lambs from the flock" (Amos 6:4). -[Sifrei 32:14] fat kidneys of wheat This took place in the days of Solomon, as Scripture states: "And Solomon’s provision for one day consisted of [thirty kor of fine flour...]" (I Kings 5:2). -[Sifrei 32:14] would drink the blood of grapes [...] as the finest wine [This took place] in the days of the Ten Tribes [i.e., the period of the Northern Kingdom in Israel, as Scripture states]: "Who drink [wine] in wine-casks" (Amos 6:6). -[Sifrei 32:14] |
| [15] And Jeshurun became fat and rebelled; you grew fat, thick and rotund; [Israel] forsook the G-d Who made them, and spurned the [Mighty] Rock of their salvation. | They disgraced and despised Him, as Scripture states, "[about twenty-five men] with their backs towards the Heichal of the Lord..." (Ezek.8:16). [The prophet Ezekiel was shown these treacherous men, who had their backs to the Temple in the west, and were bowing down to the sun in the east. He was shown other abominable acts as well. However, there can be no more despicable act than this.-[Sifrei 32:16] |
| [16] They provoked His zeal with alien worship; they made Him angry with abominations deeds. | They provoked his zeal They provoked His anger and His zeal with abominations With abominable deeds, such as homosexuality and sorcery, which are described [by Scripture] as, "abominations."-[Sifrei 32:16] |
| [17] They sacrificed to demons, which have no power, deities they did not know, new things that only recently came, which your forefathers did not fear. | which have no power For if they had power, G-d’s jealousy would not have been doubled as it is now.-[see Sifrei 32:17] new things that only recently came [These deities were so recent, that] even the heathen nations were not familiar with them. Indeed, if a heathen saw them, he would say, "This is a Jewish idol!"-[Sifrei 32:17] |
| [18] You forgot the [Mighty] Rock Who bore you; you forgot the G-d Who delivered you. [19] And the Lord saw this and became angry, provoked by His sons and daughters. |
You forgot you have forgotten. However, our Rabbis explained this word homiletically to mean: "When G-d comes to bestow good upon you, you provoke Him to anger, and weaken His power, as it were, to do you good." -[Sifrei 32:18]
the G-d Who delivered you G-d Who brought you out of the womb. It has the same meaning as the verse, "[The voice of the Lord] makes hinds bring forth young" (Ps.29:9), and, "pangs like those of a woman in confinement" (Ps.48:7). |
| [20] And He said, "I will hide My face from them. I will see what their end will be, for they are a generation of changes; they are not [recognizable] as My children whom I have reared. |
I will see what their end will be
[i.e., I will see] what will befall them in the end.
for they are a generation of changes i.e., they change My good will into anger. they are not [recognizable]... whom I have reared. My rearing [them] is not recognizable in them, for I taught them a good way, but they deviated from it. |
| [21] They have provoked My jealousy with a non god, provoked My anger with their vanities. Thus, I will provoke their jealousy with a non people, provoke their anger with a foolish nation. |
have provoked my jealousy They
kindled My anger. with a non-god With
something that is not a god.
with a non-people With a nation that has no name, as Scripture states, "This land of the Chaldeans—this people was not" (Isa. 23:13). And regarding Esau, Scripture states, “You are very despised” (Obad. 1:2). I will...provoke their anger with a foolish nation These are the heretics. So Scripture states, "The fool said in his heart, There is no G-d!" (Ps. 14:1). -[Sifrei 32:21] |
| [22] For a fire blazed in My wrath, and burned to the lowest depths. It consumed the land and its produce, setting aflame the foundations of mountains. |
blazed burned. and
burned within you, to the very foundation. It consumed the land and its produce i.e., your land and its produce. setting aflame Jerusalem, which has her foundations set upon the mountains, as Scripture states: "Jerusalem is surrounded by mountains" (Ps. 125:2). -[Sifrei 32:22] (NOTE: Rashi never saw Israel.) |
| [23] I will link evils upon them. I will use up My arrows on them. [24] They will sprout hair from famine, attacked by demons, excised by Meriri. I will incite the teeth of livestock upon them, with the venom of creatures that slither in the dust. | I will link evils upon them I will link evil upon evil. [This expression is] similar to the verse, "join year upon year," (Isa. 29:1) and, "add the punishment of the unintentional sins," (Deut. 29:18) and, "Add your burnt-offerings to your sacrifices." (Jer. 7:21). |
| [25] From outside, the sword will bereave, and terror from within; young men and maidens, suckling babes with venerable elders. |
From outside, the sword will bereave
Outside the city, the sword of hostile troops will bereave them.
and terror from within When you flee, escaping from the sword, the inner recesses of your heart will pound within you out of terror, and you will gradually die from this.-[Sifrei 32:25] Another explanation of "Outside, the sword will bereave"—[They will be killed by the sword] on account of what they did in the streets, as Scripture states, "Corresponding to the number of streets in Jerusalem, you set up altars to the shameful thing." (Jer. 11:13) [And along the same lines,] On account of that which they did in the innermost chambers of their houses, as Scripture states, "[Have you seen] what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each one in his paved chambers?" (Ezek. 8:12) -[Sifrei 32:25] |
| [26] I said that I would make an end of them, eradicate their remembrance from mankind. | I said that I would make an end of them One may also explain to mean: I would make them as the corners of one’s field which are left as ownerless for the poor to collect; i.e., I will cast them away as ownerless. |
| [27] Were it not that the enemy's wrath was heaped up, lest their adversaries distort; lest they claim, "Our hand was triumphant! The Lord did none of this!" | Were it not that the enemy’s wrath was heaped up against them to destroy them, and if the enemy would succeed in overtaking them and destroying them, he would attribute the greatness to himself and to his deity, but he would not attribute the greatness to Me [says G-d]. This, then, is the meaning of... lest their adversaries distort lest they misconstrue the matter by attributing their might to an alien, to whom the greatness does not belong. Lest they claim, Our hand was triumphant...! |
| [28] For they are a nation devoid of counsel, and they have no understanding. [29] If they were wise, they would understand this; they would reflect upon their fate. |
For that nation is
a nation devoid of counsel, and they have no understanding for
if they were wise people... they would understand this namely: "How could one [person] pursue [a thousand...]?" (verse 30) they would reflect upon their fate They would turn their attention towards thinking carefully about the end of Israel’s troubles [that the whole cause is G-d’s punishing Israel, rather than attributing Israel’s defeat to their own power]. |
| [30] How can one [person] pursue a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their [Mighty] Rock has sold them out, and the Lord has given them over? |
How could one [person] of us pursue
a thousand of Israel?!
unless their [Mighty] Rock has sold them out, and the Lord has given them over i.e., has sold them out, and given them over into our hands, delivrer in Old French [like the English: to deliver]. |
| [31] For their rock is not like our [Mighty] Rock. Nevertheless, our enemies sit in judgment. |
For their rock is not like our [Mighty] Rock
The enemies should have understood all the above, that the Lord gave Israel
over [to them], and that victory must not be attributed to them or to their
deities. For until now, their deities have achieved nothing against our
Rock. Because their rock is not like our Rock. The word in Scripture is
always an expression meaning, rock.
nevertheless, our enemies sit in judgment Nevertheless, now our enemies are judging us. It must be then, that our Rock has given us over to them. |
| [32] For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the field of Gemorrah; their grapes are grapes of rosh, and they have bitter clusters. | For their vine is the vine of Sodom [This verse is] connected to the above [verse 26. The continuity of these verses thus reads as follows:] "I said to Myself that I would make an end of them, eradicate their remembrance from mankind—because their deeds are those of Sodom and Amorah..." |
| [33] Their wine is the bitterness of serpents, and the bitterness of the ruthless cobras. | Their wine is the bitterness of serpents [Understand this] as the Targum renders it: "Indeed the cup of their drink of punishment is like the bitterness of serpents." and the bitterness of [ruthless] cobras is their cup. [The cobra] is ruthless when it bites; [thus, this verse is referring to] a ruthless enemy, who will come and seek out their retribution. |
| [34] Is it not stored up with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? | Is it not stored up with Me As the Targum renders it, "They think that I have forgotten their [evil] deeds, but these deeds are all locked away and preserved before Me." Is it not [stored] The fruit of their [bitter] vine and the [bitter] produce of their field are stored up with Me. |
| [35] Vengeance is poised with Me, and it will pay at the time their foot stumbles. For the appointed day of their reckoning is near, and what is destined for them hastens. |
Vengeance is poised with Me, and it will pay
The retribution of vengeance is with Me, prepared and held in readiness, and
it will pay out punishment to them, according to their deeds. [That is
to say,] Vengeance will pay the punishment they deserve. And when will
I pay them [their punishment]? at the time their
foot stumbles namely, when the merit of their forefathers expires,
the merit upon which they are relying.
For the appointed day [of their reckoning] is near As soon as I desire to bring the day of their disaster upon them, this day is near and in readiness before Me, to be brought about by many agents. and what is destined for them hastens And the things that are destined to come hasten [in coming]. hastens, as in the verse, "Let him hurry, hasten" (Isa. 5:19). Until here, Moses testified against them with words of reproof, that this Song should be a witness for Israel’s reproof, i.e., when punishment would come upon Israel, they would know that I told them about this from the very beginning. From here onwards, he testifies to Israel with words of comfort, about things that would come upon them at the conclusion of the retribution, like everything he stated earlier: "And it will be, when all these words happen to you—the blessing and the curse... then, the Lord, your G-d, will bring back your exiles..." (Deut. 30:1-3). |
| [36] When the Lord will judge His people, and will reconsider His servants, when He sees that the power is increasing, and none is controlled or strengthened. | When the Lord will judge His people i.e., When G-d will exact judgment upon Israel by bringing upon them these aforementioned sufferings. When these judgments will come upon them, and the Holy One, Blessed is He, will reconsider concerning His servants to return [to them] and to have mercy upon them.... will reconsider [This word] denotes changing one’s mind, whether for good or for evil. when He will see that the power is increasing i.e., when G-d sees that the enemy’s power is becoming stronger and stronger against Israel, and none among them is controlled or strengthened. |
| [37] Then He will say, "Where is their deity, the rock in which they trusted, |
Then He will say The Holy One,
Blessed is He, will say about them [Israel]: “"Where is their deity which
they worshipped [now]?"
the rock in which they trusted [This figuratively means: The rock under which] they used to shelter themselves from the sun and the cold. That is to say, [the deity] in which they had placed their trust to protect them against any harm. |
| [38] who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their libations? Let them arise and help you! Let them be your shelter! |
who ate the fat of their sacrifices
i.e., these deities would eat up [the fat] and would drink up the wine
of their libations when they offered the sacrifices before them.
Let them be your shelter! Let that same rock [you worshipped] be a refuge and shelter for you. |
| [39] See now that it is I! I am the One, and there is no god like Me! I cause death and grant life. I strike, but I heal, and no one can rescue from My Hand! | See now Understand from the punishment that I brought upon you, from which no one can rescue you, and from the salvation with which I will save you, and that there is no one to stop Me, that It is I! I am the One - "It is I" Who can bring someone down, and "I am the One" Who can lift someone up. and there is no god with Me! [There is no deity] which can stand up against Me, to stop Me. with Me resembling Me, like Me. and no one can save from My Hand those who sin against Me. |
| [40] For I raise up My hand to heaven, and say, 'As I live forever.' | For I raise up My hand to heaven For in My fury, I will raise up My hand to Myself, making an oath. and say, "As I live..." This is the expression of an oath, like the verse, "’As I live,’ says the Lord, 'if not for that which you have spoken in My ears’" (Num. 14:28). So too, here in our verse [the meaning is]: "I swear, just as I live[forever]..." |
| [41] When I sharpen the blade of My sword, and My hand grasps judgment, I will bring vengeance upon My adversaries and repay those who hate Me. | When I sharpen the blade of My sword, and My hand grasps judgment leaving the attribute of mercy [and applying the attribute of justice] on My enemies who harmed Israel, for "I was angry only a little, but they helped to do harm" (Zech. 1:15). |
| [42] I will intoxicate My arrows with blood, and My sword will consume flesh, from the blood of the slain and the captives, from the first breach of the enemy.' |
I will intoxicate My arrows with blood of
the enemy; and My sword will consume flesh
their flesh [i.e., of the enemy].
from the blood of the slain and the captives [All] this will happen to them, because of the sin of the blood of Israel’s slain, and of the captives they took from them. from the first breach of the enemy From the very first breach the enemy made. For when the Holy One, Blessed is He, inflicts punishment upon the nations, He visits upon them their own sin and the sins of their ancestors, from the very first breach they made in Israel.-[Sifrei 32:42] |
| [43] Sing out praise, O you nations, for His people! For He will avenge the blood of His servants, inflict revenge upon His adversaries, and appease His land [and] His people. |
Sing out praise, O you nations, for His people
At that time, the nations will praise Israel, saying: "You see, now, what
the praise of this nation is! That they cleaved to the Holy One, Blessed
is He, through all the sufferings that befell them, and they did not forsake
Him! They appreciated His goodness and His praise!" and He will avenge the blood of His servants i.e., [G-d will avenge] the shedding of their blood, as the phrase literally means. inflict revenge upon His adversaries for the robbery and the violence [which they perpetrated against Israel], like the matter that is stated, "Egypt will be a desolation and Edom as a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah..." (Joel 4:19); and Scripture also states, "For the violence against your brother Jacob..." (Obad. 1:10). and appease His land and His people And He will appease His land and His people for the distresses that they experienced, and that the enemy perpetrated against them. and appease , an expression of conciliation. When His nation is comforted, His land is also comforted. |
Deuteronomy 32:44 And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song into the ears of the people he and Hoshea the son of Nun. [45] And Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel. [46] And he said to them, "Set your hearts to all of the words which I bear witness for you this day, so that you may command your children to observe to do all the words of this Torah. [47] For it is not an empty thing for you, for it is your life, and through this thing, you will lengthen your days upon the land to which you are crossing over the Jordan, to possess it."