Deuteronomy · Chapter 7

When Hashem your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out many nations from before you — the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you —

ונשל This is an expression denoting casting away, and throwing to a distance, and similar is, (Deuteronomy 19:5) “and the iron flies off" (ונשל).

"And He will drive out" (וְנָשַׁל): the nun is part of the root, and it is from the same root as "your olives will drop off" (כִּי יִשַּׁל זֵיתֶךָ; Deut. 28:40).

ונשל, he threw. If one uproots, or separates anything its position where it was firmly attached is described in such terms. Compare Deuteronomy 28,40 כי ישל זיתיך, “for your olives will drop off.” Compare also Deut. 19,5 ונשל הברזל מן העץ, “the iron (axe) will fall off the handle.”

and Hashem your God delivers them before you, and you smite them, you shall utterly destroy them. You shall not make a covenant with them, nor shall you have compassion on them.

ולא תחנם means, THOU SHALT NOT ASCRIBE GRACE (חן) TO THEM: it is forbidden to a person to say “How beautiful is this heathen”. Another explanation: thou shalt not grant them a חניה, an encampment (a settlement) in the land (Avodah Zarah 20a).

ולא תחנם, “and you are not to show them any favor.” The word תחנם has been explained in many different ways. It may mean חן, grace, charm; it may mean חנינה, compassion, pardon. Clearly, the plain meaning is from חנינה, compassion, reprieve, and tells us that we must not indulge our feelings of compassion vis-a-vis these people. It is as if the Torah had written לא תחון אותם, “do not be charmed by them”. According to the Talmud in Avodah Zarah 20 it is forbidden to even comment on the aesthetic beauty of artifacts designed in honor of idols. One must not even admire the physical features of a handsome Gentile or a beautiful Gentile woman. The Talmud suggests that this is part of the word לא תחנם when we read the letter ח as if it had the vowel chirik underneath it. They also understand the expression as meaning that we must not grant these people חניה “parking,” i.e. temporary residence status and that it is forbidden to sell any land to Gentiles in the land of Israel. The Torah spelled out the reason when it said “so that they will not lead you into sin.” You must also not give them any gift, including land, the letters in the word תחנם being read with the vowel pattern patach, sheva, patach, i.e. tachnam. In fact, the word lends itself to still further permutations by changing the vowel pattern. Basically, the sages demonstrate the power of the written Torah, which, because it does not have vowels or other signs such as commas and period signs, is capable of being interpreted in so many different ways. Changing the vowel pattern can give a single word many different meanings. Having appreciated this you will understand even better the power inherent in the names of G’d which lend themselves to so many permutations, i.e. different emphasis of the basic concept of Hashem. I have elaborated on this already in my comments on Numbers 11,15.

You shall not intermarry with them: your daughter you shall not give to his son, and his daughter you shall not take for your son.

לא תתחתן בם, “do not intermarry with them.” The nations referred to are the ones mentioned in Kings I 11,1.

ולא תתחתן בם, “and you must not intermarry with them.” This means even after conversion of the other partner to Judaism. (Compare Yevamot 76, according to which the term התחתנות would be inappropriate for people who had not converted, and with whom marriage in the legal sense does not exist for Jews.) Seeing the Canaanites were guilty of more sins than any of the other nations, the Torah applied stricter yardsticks to them than to our marrying proselytes from other nations.

You shall not intermarry with them; your daughters you shall not give to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons; for whosoever marrieth with them is as if he made marriage with their idols.

For they will lead your son astray from following My service, and they will serve the idols of the nations, and the anger of Hashem will flare against you and He will destroy you swiftly.

כי יסיר את בנך מאחרי FOR HE WILL TURN AWAY THY SON FROM FOLLOWING ME — i.e., the son of the heathen when he marries thy daughter, will turn away thy son (grandson) whom thy daughter will bear unto him from following Me. This teaches us, that thy daughter's son who is born of a heathen is termed thy son, but thy son’s son, who is born of a heathen woman, is not termed thy son, but her son, for, you see, in regard to the statement: “his daughter thou shalt not take [to thy son]" it does not add “For she will turn away thy son (grandson) from following Me" (Yevamot 23a).

"For he will turn away your son" (כִּי יָסִיר אֶת בִּנְךָ): this refers back to the son previously mentioned — that is, that you shall not give your daughter to his son, or that you shall not take the daughter mentioned above.

כי יסיר, “for he will turn away;” this is the son of a Canaanite marrying a Jewish girl, mentioned in verse three. The father of such a child will bring him up as a heathen, although legally, he is a Jew, his mother being Jewish. In the case of the child being a daughter, this will be even more so, as living as a heathen is so much easier for the children who do not have to observe all the commandments of the Jewish religion. (B’chor shor)

כי יסיר את בנך מאחרי, “for he will lead your son astray from following Me.” The Torah does not say that the mother, i.e. the daughter-in-law of such a marriage will lead your son astray. but it speaks about the next generation, i.e. the grandson from your daughter married to the Gentile. The grandson from a Gentile daughter-in-law could not be referred to as “your son,“ as, seeing his mother is not Jewish, he is not either (compare Kidushin 68). The syntax of the verses makes clear that the Torah considers the mother pivotal in determining who is Jewish. The plain meaning of the verse then is: ”if the son of a Gentile marries your daughter he will lead your grandson born from your daughter astray” (religiously speaking, even though technically your grandson is Jewish). Her husband will train his son to engage in idolatry.

Rather, this is what you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and their pillars you shall shatter, and their Asherah-posts you shall cut down, and the images of their idols you shall burn in fire.

מזבחתיהם — a מזבח is something built up of several stones, ומצבתם — alludes to a single stone (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 12:3). ואשירהם — Trees which they worship (Avodah Zarah 48a). ופסליהם — These are images.

"But rather" (כִּי אִם) — meaning only thus shall you do to them — in the sense of "for you are a holy people" (v. 6), and you must not defile yourself with the things of the Canaanites that are depicted in their pillars (מַצֵּבוֹת) and asherim.

כי אם כה תעשו להם, “rather, this is what you shall do to them, etc.” תגדעון, the root גדע is used whenever something long is being cut down or felled; compare Psalms 75,11 וכל קרני רשעים אגדע, “and I will cut down all the horns of the wicked.”

For you are a holy people before Hashem your God; in you Hashem your God has desired to make you a beloved people to Him, above all the peoples that are upon the face of the earth.

THE ETERNAL THY G-D HATH CHOSEN THEE TO BE HIS OWN TREASURE. For you have no chief, overseer, or ruler among all the angels on high, but you are the treasure of G-d under His power, and, therefore, you should not go astray to serve idols from among the gods of the peoples. I have already mentioned this many times. This is the sense of the verse, The Eternal did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people, for it would have been proper that the King’s [chosen people should] be the most numerous, as it is written, In the multitude of people is the king’s glory, and that He appoint captains of the host at the head of the rest of the people. But you are the fewest [of all peoples] — nevertheless He craved you and chose you!

"Treasure" (סְגֻלָּה): I have already explained this — it is something precious that cannot be found in any other place like it. Similarly, "and the treasured things of kings" (וּסְגֻלַּת מְלָכִים; Eccl. 2:8).

כי עם קדוש אתה, and it is not appropriate for you to desecrate your sanctity through women committed to alien deities, who will bear you children that are already genetically corrupted. It is this that the prophet Maleachi 2,11 had in mind when he spoke of כי חלל יהודה קדש ה' אשר אהב ובעל בת נכר,”for Yehudah profaned what is holy to the Lord, what He desires, by sleeping with daughters of alien gods.” בך בחר, as distinct from corrupt seed; our sages referred to this concept as “the benevolent presence of G’d is present (rests on) only families who are genetically offspring of families with good Jewish pedigrees.” (Kidushin 70)

בך בחר ה' אלוקיך להיות לו לעם סגולה, “Hashem has chosen you to be for Him a nation a treasured people.” This status as a treasured people is evident by the fact that instead of appointing one of His angels to be your guardian angel, as He has done for all the other nations, He Himself acts as your guardian. This is why Moses continues and says

Not because you are more numerous than all the peoples did Hashem desire you and choose you, for you are the fewest of all peoples.

לא מרבכם NOT ON ACCOUNT OF YOUR BEING [MORE] NUMEROUS — This is to he understood according to its plain sense. But its Midrashic explanation (taking לא מרבכם in the sense of “not because you are great") is: Because you do not regard yourselves as great when I shower good, upon you, therefore חשק … בכם DID [THE LORD] DELIGHT IN YOU כי אתם המעט FOR YOU ARE LITTLE — you regard yourselves as small, as, e.g., Abraham did who said, (Genesis 18:27) “For I am dust and ashes", and as, e.g., Moses and Aaron did who said, (Exodus 16:7) “And we, what are we?". Not as Nebuchadnezzar who said, (Isaiah 14:14) “I will be like the Most High", and Sennacherib who said, (Isaiah 36:20) “Who are they among all the gods of these countries [that have delivered their countries out of my hand?]", and Hiram who said, (Er. 28:2), “I am a god, I sit in the seat of God" (Chullin 89a). כי אתם המעט — Here you have the word כי used in the sense of “because".

CHASHAK’ (HE TOOK DELIGHT). The meaning thereof is that He had “bound” Himself with you with a mighty bond that He will never be separated from you, similar in expression to ‘vachashukeihem’ (and their fillets — silver threads encircling the pillars of the Tabernacle) shall be of silver. And He has chosen you from among all peoples that you be His treasure and inheritance, for “being chosen” always implies selection from others. And he stated the reason, But because the Eternal loved you He chose you, meaning, He saw you to be worthier than all peoples to be loved by Him and to be chosen for love. He mentioned for this no [other] reason except that you were chosen [because of His love for you], for he who is chosen to be loved, is known to be ready to suffer whatever comes upon him from his lover, and the Israelites are more qualified for that than any other people. As the Rabbis have said: “Three [creatures] are of strong character, Israel among the nations etc.,” for Israel has stood by Him in all trials. [When challenged by the nations, Israel has stubbornly declared,] “Either [we remain loyal] Jews or [we will be] nailed to the stake.” And the purport of the word you [and He chose ‘you’] is “because of your fathers,” who became so worthy that He swore to them in order that no sin should cause [His] promise [to them] to be nullified. Therefore He brought you out from the land of Egypt with a mighty hand. And He redeemed you — this is an allusion that He smote them in your stead, similar to what is said, I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

"Hashem desired you and chose you" — and not others.

לא מרבכם, not in order to be honoured by a multitude.

כי אתם המעט, "for you are the fewest, etc." The Torah could not content itself with writing "not because you were numerous, etc.," as that might have implied that though the Jewish people were not more numerous than other nations they were nonetheless equal to them in number.

לא מרובכם מכל העמים, “not because you were more numerous than all the other nations;” the “other” nations referred to here are the seven Canaanite tribes that will be replaced by the Israelites shortly. כי אתם המעט מכולם, “rather because you are the least numerous;” but it is because He loves you.

לא מרבכם מכל העמים, “not because you are the most numerous amongst all the nations, etc.” The premise underlying the verse is that seeing we have a principle that the glory of a king is manifest in the numerous legions he owns, and it would therefore be natural for G’d, the King of Kings, to command the most numerous legions as His people, this is not the case in the G’d-Israel relationship. His relationship to you is governed by the degree of fondness He has developed for you, a consideration outweighing considerations of numerical strength. This is why He chose you to be His special people as already mentioned in verse 6. You do not have officers or policemen in the celestial regions you are subservient to, only to G’d Himself. This is the meaning of being an עם סגולה i.e. under His immediate authority. This is why you must not err to serve idols in any shape or form (see Nachmanides on that verse). I believe that the correct way to interpret the words: “not on account of your being the most numerous,” refers to the reason G’d took us out of Egypt to make us His nation. The verse provides evidence that we were indeed the most numerous people at the time but this did not provide G’d with the motivation to take us out of there. Rather, He was motivated by feelings of a strong fondness so that even if we had been the least numerous nation He would still have taken us out of there. G’d loved us and wanted to keep His oath to the patriarchs. The reason G’d felt compelled to state all this now in the fortieth year after the Exodus is that now Moses had referred to how numerous the people had become, i.e. “like the stars in the sky” (1,10). If so, and especially seeing that the numbers of the people had not changed since the Exodus, how could G’d say that He had taken us out because we actually were the least numerous, i.e. כי אתם המעט מכל העמים? We may add further that the absence of a dot, dagesh in the letter מ in the word המעט proves this; had the letter מ in המעט been written with a dagesh I would have used this as confirmation that the people had indeed been the least numerous. However, seeing that it is written without such a dagesh, just as in the word המעט In Numbers 16,9 or 16,13, the word is not to be understood as confirmation of anything, rather as a supposition. The meaning of the line is: the word אתם refers to the spiritual level of the people, i.e. a very high level. Moses, resp. G’d is saying: “you who are numerically the smallest nation are yet on such a high spiritual level that instead of considering yourselves the most insignificant of all you are the most significant of all. Nonetheless, even considering your relative excellence, the reason the Lord took you out of Egypt was because of a feeling of love for you and in order to keep His oath to them. Our sages in the Midrash (compare Rashi Pinchas 26,36) interpret the words: “for you are the smallest, etc.” as ה מעט, “five families.” The total number of families of the Jewish people was 65, i.e. five fewer than the 70 nations (families) enumerated in Noach after the dispersal of mankind subsequent to the Tower. The expression חשק is a variant of קשור and is found in that sense in Exodus 27,10 חשוקים כסף, surrounded by bands of silver (closely attached). These bands were firmly attached. The word in our verse indicates that the attachment between G’d and the Jewish people is permanent, extends beyond the death of the bodies of the individual Jews. A Midrashic approach based on Chulin 89: the word לא מרבכם means “not because you boast of the fact that you are so numerous but, on the contrary, because you are unassuming, modest before Me do I relate to you in this manner. David referred to this in Psalms 136,23: “He remembered us because we were humbled, for His kindness is everlasting.” This is the true meaning of: “for you are the least assuming of all the nations.” G’d said: “at a time when I bestow greatness upon you, you belittle yourselves.” When I granted greatness to Avraham, he said: “I am but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18,27). When I granted greatness to Moses and Aaron they said “who are we?” (Exodus 16,8). When I bestowed greatness upon David, he said: “I am only a worm and not a man” (Psalms 22,7). The nations of the world do not react in this manner. When I granted greatness to King Nimrod he went ahead and said “let us a build a tower which reaches into heaven!” (Genesis 11,3) When I granted greatness to Pharaoh he reacted by saying: “who is Hashem that I should listen to His instructions!” (Exodus 5,2): When I granted great stature to Sancheriv, he responded by saying: “Who amongst all the gods of these countries has saved them from my hand that you (Chizkiyah) would think that the Lord can save Jerusalem from my hand?” (Isaiah 36,20) When I granted greatness to Nevuchadnezzar he proclaimed: “I will ascend the highest places” (Isaiah 13,14). Chirom the king of Tzor said: “I am a god; I sit enthroned like a god in the heart of the seas” (Ezekiel 28,2).

Not because you are more numerous than all the peoples did the Lord desire you and choose you. This language requires explanation, because it is difficult to understand where the assumption comes from that the Lord desired them because of their large numbers, since they are indeed few. Furthermore, what is the reason given when He says, because of the Lord’s love for you — He gives love itself as the reason for love? And there is another difficulty: He desired you and He chose you — why does it say you twice? It should have said, “The Lord desired and chose you.” And what is the difference between desire and choose? And there is another subtle point to consider: in the word “miruvchem” [from your multitude], it includes both the people and the number in one word, but when it says for you are the fewest, it distinguishes between them. And the explanation for all this is, that God saw Israel who in truth are not perfect in every way because they are a stiff-necked people, but they are better than the other nations because they have more merits than the peoples, and fewer sins than all the peoples. One might think that because they have somewhat more merits, God desired them since desire is applicable to something beloved, and because they have fewer sins, He chose them as one chooses the lesser evil. And perhaps they might err and say that in this manner their deeds are pleasing to God, therefore scripture teaches us because of God’s love for you. You are pleasing but your deeds are not pleasing, and they caused neither the desire nor the choice. And this is what it means when it says not because you are more numerous than all the peoples — since it speaks of the abundance of merits attached to them, it includes the people and the number in one word for their honor, and says that God did not desire you because of this somewhat greater abundance of merits that you have over all the peoples. And He chose you also refers to the word not as if it said that He also did not choose you because you are the fewest because you have fewer sins than all the peoples, as one choosing the lesser evil. And for their honor, He separated the number from the people so as not to connect the sins to them in complete attachment but separated them. Not because of these two aspects did God desire and choose you, for such a small thing does not raise or lower [your status] since in truth your deeds are not pleasing. Because of God’s love for you — because you yourselves are pleasing due to your lineage, and because He kept the oath, etc. meaning the merit of the forefathers is what stood for you. And this is alluded to in the word you [etkhem] saying that you alone are pleasing but your deeds are not pleasing, as it is written Not because of your righteousness, etc. (Deuteronomy 9:5).

לא מרובכם, “(what motivated G’d was) not your being numerous, etc.” although it would have seemed appropriate that a great King, the King of the universe, should select a most numerous people as His special favorites. Throughout our history we have been taught (Proverbs 14,28) that ברב עם הדרת מלך, “where there is a multitude that is a king’s honour.” This would enable the King to appoint many generals to be in charge of different divisions of his armies. Although, in your case, you are not a numerous people, nonetheless Hashem chose you. חשק, “desired;” the meaning of this word in this connection is that He established a permanent inseparable bond with you. We find this root in the same context in Exodus 38,12 and 38,18 וחשוקיהם כסף, where it describes how the silver bands connected the lace hangings of the Tabernacle to the pillars supporting them. ויבחר בהם, “He chose them;” He chose you out of all the nations that He had at disposal. The word בחר always means that the one doing the choosing had the option to select his choice from a number of candidates. The reason why He chose the Jewish people was out of a feeling of love for them. G’d had seen that this nation was worthy of His love more than all the other nations. Moses does not spell out a special virtue of the Jewish people that made them worthy of this extraordinary love of Hashem. When someone has been chosen as another person’s especially beloved, he must henceforth endure with equanimity anything that results from the fact that he is so beloved. Israel qualified as being especially beloved by G’d because they were a tough nation, a nation capable of enduring a great deal when being tested by their lover, Hashem. He took a liking to you on account of your forefathers the three patriarchs whom G’d had subjected to so many trials all of which they had endured uncomplainingly so that He eventually swore an oath to them promising to give them the Holy Land. He swore the oath in order that His promise previously not reinforced by an oath, should not become null and void on account of sins that the offspring of these patriarchs might become guilty of. As a result of this oath, G’d took this nation out of Egypt amongst all the miracles that were needed to accomplish this. ויפדך, He liberated you, redeemed you;” an allusion to how G’d smote the Egyptians on account of the Israelites; (compare Isaiah 43,3 נתתי כפרך מצרים, “I have given (away) Egypt as a ransom in exchange for you.”)

לא מרובכם מכל העמים, intelligent people cannot conceal their surprise that Moses should have thought that the Israelites considered themselves as the most numerous nation so that Moses had to tell them that they were not. Furthermore, not only does G’d make the point that quantity does not determine whom He loves or prefers by adding חשק ה' בכם, but the meaning of the verse is as follows: In verse one the Torah had spoken of the many nations which G’d will dispossess on account of the Jewish people, seven powerful nations. These people had been described both as more numerous and as more powerful than the Israelites in that same verse. It was therefore possible that the Israelites might consider themselves as more numerous than those people and as militarily more powerful so that they could conquer the land of Canaan due to their military prowess and numerical superiority. Moses disabuses them of such thinking by saying that G’d would not like them on account of their being numerous even if that were true. The fact is that they were less numerous than any of these seven tribes. But, there is an irrational reason for what G’d does, i.e. He loves the Jewish people. 2.) He has to make good on an oath sworn to the forefathers of the Jewish people concerning their future.

לא מרובכם, “not on account of your being so numerous, etc.;” Rash’bam understands this verse as linked to the first verse of the paragraph starting in chapter 6,10. He explains the sequence as follows: G–d does not like you because you are numerous, but He loves you, period. (Love is never motivated by logical considerations based on calculations). Furthermore, He is obligated to make good on the promise He made to your forefathers. If you were to argue then that if He loves us as a father loves his children, why should we burden ourselves with having to observe all His commandments? The answer is that His patience extends until one thousand generations in searching for one that merits His keeping the oath He has given to your forefathers. Whenever such a generation of descendants of these forefathers is prepared to observe the condition of His oath, namely to observe His commandments, all the promises He has made will become effective.

Rather, because Hashem loves you and because He guards the covenant that He swore to your fathers, Hashem brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

כי מאהבת — Here, however, you have the word כי used in the sense of “but": NOT ON ACCOUNT THAT YE WERE MORE NUMEROUS … DID GOD DELIGHT IN YOU … BUT ON ACCOUNT OF THE LORD'S LOVE TO YOU. ומשמרו את השבועה means, on account of His keeping the oath.

"And His keeping of it" (וּמִשָּׁמְרוֹ): this is an infinitive nominal form.

כי מאהבת ה' אתכם, seeing that you are the seed of someone who loved Him and who was more familiar with His name than any member of any of the other nations.

Know, therefore, that Hashem your God — He is God, the faithful God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness with those who love Him and with those who observe His commandments, for a thousand generations.

לאלף דור TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS — But elsewhere (5:10) it states: to thousands of generations! The explanation is: Here where it is connected with (refers to) "those who keep His commandments" it states that God's grace is extended to a thousand generations; but there where it is associated with "those who love Him" it states that it is extended to thousands of generations (Sotah 31a); לאהביו are those who do the commandments out of love. ולשמרי מצותיו are those who do them out of fear.

KNOW THEREFORE from the [circumstances of the] departure from Egypt THAT THE ETERNAL THY G-D, HE IS G-D Who created heaven and earth, as I have explained. And know furthermore from this that He is THE FAITHFUL G-D Whose word shall not return void, and WHO KEEPETH THE COVENANT AND MERCY WITH THEM THAT LOVE HIM, AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, who fear His Name, TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS of their seed, just as He kept for you the covenant of your fathers. And know further that He repayeth them that hate Him the recompense of their wickedness to the face of each one of them to destroy them, just as He destroyed the Egyptians and did not delay [in bringing punishment] to them. Now this attribute that he mentioned is true forever. Thus although there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his evil-doing, it happens to him only because of this above-mentioned attribute that He is the Keeper of Mercy, and he [the wicked] has done some good which must be recompensed. If so, there are among the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, but two ways [of dealing with people]: He repays good for good, and evil for evil. It is possible that those that hate Him [mentioned here as destined to be destroyed without delay] are those confirmed sinners who deny His existence and have no merit at all. As the Rabbis have said: “Rabbi Yashiyah said: Because of three things the Holy One, blessed be He, is long-suffering to the wicked in this world: they may repent, or they have observed commandments for which the Holy One, blessed be He, repays them their recompense in this world, or perhaps righteous people will descend from them. For so we find that He was long-suffering with Ahaz, and Hezekiah came from him; so also to Amon, and Josiah came from him; and so also to Shimei, and Mordecai came from him.” Thus all these [three above categories] are not included in [the term] those that hate Him. Now there is a secret in the expression ‘el panav’ (to his face) [And He repayeth ‘them’ that hate Him ‘el panav’ — “to his face”] as applying to a wicked man who has a good [i.e., a happy and prosperous] life. And then he returns to say, Thou shalt therefore keep the commandment etc., meaning: “therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances so that you should not be among those who hate Him, who are destroyed, but instead you should be of those that love Him and keep His commandments who are remembered for good and for life.”Eikev

"He is the God" (הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים): the meaning is: this One is the true God, who has power and is faithful. The point concerns the oath — for there is one who is faithful yet lacks the power to fulfill his oath, and there is one who has power yet is not faithful. "Who keeps the covenant and the lovingkindness for those who love Him": none are above them. "And for those who keep His commandments": these come after them. Or alternatively: those who love Him in their heart are those who keep His commandments in speech and deed. "To a thousand generations": one who says that the celestial sphere completes its cycle in thirty-six thousand years is mistaken, for the degree is found to advance in seventy years — and "a thousand" here means without end.

הא-ל הנאמן, Who is constant, not subject to change. שומר הברית ומשלם לשונאיו, the meaning of the words רשע וטוב לו, [a favourite argument of the heretics who point to the afflictions suffered by the pious and the good life enjoyed by the pious in this life. Ed.] can be understood on two levels: 1) the “good” the wicked appear to enjoy in this life is due to merits accumulated by their forefathers who had not been recompensed for these as yet by G’d. A prominent example of this is the enjoyable life lived by Ishmael who benefited by Avraham’s merits. G’d Himself referred to this in Genesis 21,13 when He said כי זרעך הוא, “because he is your seed. 2) The wicked person himself has accumulated some merits; seeing that on balance he does not qualify for life in the hereafter, G’d has to compensate him while he is on earth. This He does by letting him enjoy the transient joys available in this life to the extent his merits entitle him to.

ולשומרי מצותיו לאלף דור, "and to those who observe His commandments for a thousand generations." Our sages in Sotah 31 say that those who perform the commandments out of fear will be favourably remembered for one thousand generations whereas those who perform the commandments out of love will be favourably remembered for two thousand generations. This is parallel to what is written in the second of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20,6). I do not believe that the word אלפים in Exodus 20,6 means merely twice one thousand; it may mean as many as 100,000. The reason that the Torah was not more specific is because love cannot be measured so precisely, some people love G'd more than others. As a result, G'd requites some people's love for longer periods than others. What the Torah did postulate was that he who serves G'd out of love, even if his love is minimal, deserves twice as much consideration as he who serves G'd out of fear though out of the most refined kind of reverence.

וידעת כי ה' אלוקין־, “for you know that He is the Lord your G-d;” this is a continuation of the two previous verses. The reason why you are so certain that Hashem is the Lord your G-d is because you are aware of what He has done for your ancestors commencing with Avraham. He has faithfully kept all the promises He has given them. (B’chor shor) לאלף דור, “for up to a thousand generations.” Why did these words have to be added? Having told you that G-d loves you, you might think that you do not have to bother to keep all the commandments of His Torah, seeing that G-d is obligated to keep His oath to our forefathers, regardless. G-d is willing to wait with keeping His promises for as long as a thousand generations, if in the interval no generation had proved worthy of what He had promised to the forefathers. שומר הברית, “He keeps His covenant;” the word שומר here means: “waiting in anticipation,” as it did in Genesis 37,11 where Yaakov was described as awaiting fulfillment of Joseph’s dream with the words: ואביו שמר את הדבר, “and his father remained in expectation of what would happen.”

וידעת כי ה’ אלו-היך הוא האלו-הים ה-אל הנאמן, “and you know that the Lord your G’d He is the true G’d.” The word “you know” refers to the knowledge the people acquired at the Exodus that the Lord is the G’d who had created heaven and earth; further more you will know that He is a true G’d seeing that on that occasion He kept His promise and will continue to so seeing He has the power to do so. Whereas in our verse Moses speaks of one thousand generations hence, in a different context the Torah speaks of G’d remembering things two thousand generations hence. Our sages in Sotah 31 do not see a contradiction in this but say simply that when G’d is served out of fear He will remember this for 1,000 generations and there will be positive fallout. When someone serves Hashem out of love the fallout will continue for 2,000 generations. In each instance, the number of generations that G’d reacts to who either hate Him or love him is mentioned next to the words לשונאיו or לאוהביו respectively. This teaches that the verse is not to be understood only collectively, but that G’d deals with each person on his merits (Nachmanides).

וידעת, “You must know;” the Exodus from Egypt surely taught you that the Lord your G’d is the true G’d, the One who created heaven and earth; this also taught us that this G’d is faithful and keeps His promises, including the various covenants which He entered into with your forefathers. You should know that just as this G’d keeps His promises so He will also exact retribution from those who deserve it. Each one of His enemies will be dealt with individually according to the severity of his sins. While it is true that sometimes we observe that G’d’s patience with a wicked person is extremely long, He will eventually, in His own good time, deal with such people, just as He dealt with the Egyptians. The reason that such retribution sometimes appears as long overdue, is that G’d also practices His virtue of rewarding everyone for his good deeds, and such wicked people as experience all this patience by G’d must have had good deeds to their credit for which they had not yet received a reward. Moses now reverts to

וידעת כי ה' אלוקיך הוא האלוקים, in the event that you might says: “seeing that G’d has to keep His oath to our patriarchs, why do we have to bother to keep His commandments, seeing that he has to give us this land under any circumstances? Moses answers such a theoretical question before it is even mouthed by telling the people that G’d does not have to let them have the land as an heritage, Although, He has sworn to give the land to Avraham’s and Yaakov’s descendants, He would not violate His oath if this generation of Jews were not to take possession of this land forthwith. It is one of G’d’s attributes that He sometimes lets a long time elapse before carrying out anything He has said which was not tied to a date. Just as He remembers loving kindness performed by His creatures for 1000 generations, so, not lapsing any reward due to the descendants of a deserving ancestor, so He may decide that you are the generation which will be the beneficiary of the promise and oath mentioned. Moses promises that the people whom he addresses will indeed become these beneficiaries with the proviso that they keep G’d’s commandments.

And He repays His enemies the good deeds that they perform before Him during their lifetimes, to cause them to perish. He does not delay repaying the good to His enemies — the good that they perform before Him during their lifetimes He repays them.

ומשלם לשנאיו אל פניו AND HE REPAYETH THEM THAT HATE HIM TO THEIR FACE [IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM PERISH] — i.e. during their lifetime (cf. Rashi on Genesis 11:28 s. v. על פני) he repayeth them their good recompense, in order to banish them from the future world (cf. Onkelos).

"And He repays those who hate Him" — each and every one of His haters, as in "the righteous are as confident as a lion" (Prov. 28:1). "To His face" (אֶל פָּנָיו): the meaning is, to the person himself. Others say it means as in "before his face," in his anger — the meaning being that He repays His enemies because they hated the truth. "To destroy him He will not delay for His enemy": some say the meaning is that He repays the wicked man the reward for the good he did in this world and does not delay giving it to him in the world to come. But what seems correct to me is that this stands in contrast to those who love Him, who endure for a thousand generations — His enemies will be destroyed. And He adds "He will not delay," because one might think that he will persist through his son or his son's son, in the sense of "to the third and to the fourth generation."

ומשלם לשונאיו, "and He repays them that hate Him." Why is the first half of this verse written in the plural, i.e "those who hate Him," whereas the individual who is the victim of this repayment is described in the singular? Perhaps the meaning is that unless G'd foresees that not only the individual who hates Him has sinned but also his children and children's children will continue to sin, He would forego repayment, (retribution), awaiting the penitence of the sinner's children. If, however, G'd foresees that the sinner begets only other sinners, He has no incentive to delay repaying such a sinner. This conforms to the principle ברא מזכה אבא, that "a son may confer a merit on his father." The verse concludes with the singular, i.e. ישלם לו, "He will repay him," as the Torah speaks about individual sinners and the word לשונאיו was the exception. The Torah adds לא יאחר, "He will not delay." This means that if G'd deals with only a single שונא, person who hates Him, one whose children will not relate to G'd with hatred, then He will devise a means of punishing that person in this life immediately so as to prevent him from incriminating himself further if he were to commit still more sins while being allowed to live. By punishing such a person promptly either by death or afflictions, G'd demonstrates His love as He has hopes that the son of the sinner will confer merits on him through his exemplary conduct on earth. The meaning of the words אל פניו, "to his face," is to be understood in connection with Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah chapter 3 that shortly before their deaths G'd lets the righteous experience a foretaste of what is in store for them after death in order that they should die happily. The reverse is true of the wicked. G'd shows them a foretaste of what is in store for them so as to make their deaths a painful experience for them (compare Esther Rabbah on Esther 1,12 that Queen Vashti refused the king's command). The Torah adds: "He will not delay repaying him who hates Him to his face." This refers to punishment in this life; before the face of the sinner is brought to burial G'd will show him what is in store for him. He will not wait until the sinner gets to Gehinom.

ומשלם לשונאיו אל פניו, “and He repays them that hate Him to his face.” He punishes such people for their sins during their lifetime. אל פניו ישלם לו, “He pays him in his lifetime,” instead of waiting to punish his children if they continue in their father’s way. If they do not do so, (continue to sin) they will not be burdened with the sins of their fathers. This is spelled out clearly in Ezekiel 18,17: והוא לא ימות בעדן אביו, “but he will not die on account of the sin of his father.”

אל פניו “to his face.” to each one of them, individually. להאבידו, “to destroy him.” Just as He destroyed the Egyptians and not a single Israelite. This attribute is a demonstration of the absolute truth with which G’d operates in this world. Although it may take a long time before the wicked person gets his deserts seeing G’d has a lot of patience during which time the wicked continues his evil, the reason he appears to get away with it is that G’d may still owe him a reward for good deeds he has done without having been rewarded as yet. Others (Ibn Ezra) explain the wording here differently, saying that the word אל פניו means “personally, without intermediary,” similar to Samuel II 17,11. לא יאחר לשונאו, “He shall not delay for His enemy.” He will not wait for three or four generations with retribution as mentioned as sometimes occurring (Ten Commandments 5,9). He personally will experience the retribution, not a descendant. This is the meaning of the words following אל פניו ישלם לו, “He will pay him back to his face.” A Midrashic approach based on Midrash Tehillim 99: our wording “He pays back His enemies to their faces” expresses what is written in Psalms 73,4: “כי אין חרצובות למותם ובריא אולם, “death has no pangs for them; their body is healthy (standard translation). The word חרצובות is understood as an acronym of the two words אחר צביונן, a change of colour, appearance. G’d does not prescribe a medication for these kind of wicked people which, though making them suffer, would cure them ultimately. You may understand this by means of a parable. A doctor who attends two patients prescribes unpleasant medicines to the one patient whereas he tells the nurse of the second patient to let him eat whatever he wants, etc. When questioned why he did not prescribe medicines for the second patient, he explains that that patient is doomed and therefore there is no point in letting him undergo the additional discomfort of a medicine which will do nothing for him. Moses says something similar here. Seeing that G’d is going to destroy the deliberate unrepentant sinner anyway, the fact that he enjoys some of the benefits life on terrestrial earth has to offer in the meantime is irrelevant. We have another Midrash on the subject in Kohelet Rabbah 7,32: Rabbi Yoshiah said that there are three reasons why G’d allows the wicked to flourish in this world. 1) He hopes they will repent. 2) They have already fulfilled a major mitzvah for which G’d owes them a reward. 3) He foresees that a righteous person of major dimensions will be descended from them. We know, for instance that one such example was King Achaz, a heretic of considerable proportions who became the father of King Chizkiyah of Yehudah, a king who almost qualified to be the messiah. Another example is Shimi ben Gerah, the one who cursed David, from whom Mordechai is descended. Had G’d punished Shimi sooner than when Solomon eventually executed him, perhaps we would have been without a Mordechai. Mind you, Shimi, was not a heretic though he challenged the legitimacy of David both as king and as Jew. The only people who qualify under the heading of G’d’s שונאיו are the ones who deny Him and His authority. Only concerning such utter heretics does the Torah say that G’d will wipe out such people. Onkelos believes that our verse speaks of G’d repaying the sinner generously for his relatively insignificant good deeds so that He will not have to use unrewarded good deeds as ameliorating the eventual punishment of such people in the hereafter. G’d chooses the inferior world to be the arena in which such sinners receive their rewards, a world which is brief and transient. By doing so, He is free to deny such people any share in the world to come, a world which is unending. It follows that what the onlooker perceives a the “good fortune” of the sinner in this life is actually part of his ill fortune, seeing it is the cause he will not enjoy life in the hereafter. This is what David alluded to in Psalms 92,7: “a foolish man cannot know, a fool cannot understand זאת, this.” Such people as the ones David refers to do not understand the workings of the attribute זאת, the way the attribute of Justice works. This is also what is meant when the psalmist describes in the following verse: בפרוח רשעים כמו עשב ויציצו כל פועלי און—להשמדם עדי עד, “when the wicked sprout like grass and the evildoers blossom; it is only in order to destroy them forever.” G’d often treats the righteous in the opposite way by punishing him for his relatively few sins through inflicting pain and discomfort on him in this life so as to preserve his life in the hereafter fully intact.

ומשלם לשונאיו. retribution for its sins. אל פניו, during their lifetime, not that of their children or children’s children. לא יאחר, either in his lifetime, or latest to the fourth generation. This is the plain meaning of the text. This is virtuous act, as Rashi says, that by letting the sinner die for sins (prematurely) it preserves his afterlife if the guilty party had repented his errors. G’d does not enact retribution for sins committed more that four generations ago. On the other hand, reward is paid even many generations later than merely four generations after the good deed had been performed. Even if the intervening generations had been sinful, this does not cancel out a reward G’d had not paid for the good deeds of the ancestor. If, eventually, a righteous person emerges from a sinful family, such a righteous person will become the beneficiary of merits accumulate by his ancestor who G’d had not yet repaid for this.

ומשלם לשונאיו אל פניו, “but He will make a reckoning with those who hate Him to their face,” i.e. He will make a reckoning immediately and not wait one thousand generations for their descendants to become penitents. But as soon as such people become penitents, they will become the beneficiaries of My promises to their forefathers. Therefore, as Moses said in Deuteronomy 7,12: והיה עקב תשמעון וגו', “it will come to pass as an immediate result of your listening to My voice that all My promises will be showered upon you.”

You shall therefore observe the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances that I command you today, to fulfill them.

היום לעשותם [WHICH I COMMANDED THEE] TO-DAY TO DO THEM — to do them to-day, but only in the time to come — in the future world — to receive the reward for them (Eruvin 22a).

"And you shall keep" (וְשָׁמַרְתָּ): the meaning is — just as Hashem keeps the covenant, so shall you keep His commandments.

ושמרתם את המצוה, “You shall therefore keep the commandment;” your observing His commandments will be appropriate as a repayment for G-d keeping His promises to the forefathers.”

אשר אנכי מצוך היום לעשותם, “which I command you this day to perform.” Our sages in Eiruvin 22 use the superfluous word “this day,” to teach that whereas performance of the commandments is incumbent upon us “this day,” G’d does not promise that the reward will also be paid immediately, i.e. “this day.” Basically, our terrestrial world is perceived a the עולם העשיה, the world of “action,” as opposed to being the period in which one enjoys the reward for one’s actions. Solomon already alluded to this when he said in Kohelet 9,10: “for there is no action, no reasoning, no learning no wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.” His message is that it is too late to rectify after death what one has failed to rectify while alive. Once one has died one has forfeited all one’s former potential. This is why one has to perform all the good one can while on this earth and capable of exercising one’s faculties. This is what Solomon had said in the first half of the verse we just quoted, where we read: “whatever it is in your power to do, do with all your might.” Our sages in Avodah Zarah 3 have paraphrased this thought when they said that he who labors on the Sabbath eve will have what to eat on the Sabbath, When will the one who did not trouble himself on Sabbath eve have food to eat on the Sabbath? All these considerations commit each one of us to spend as much effort to perform a so-called מצוה קלה, an easy commandment, or one that appears capable of fulfilling with little effort as that which requires great efforts on our part. We do not know which mitzvah will be rewarded more greatly. G’d did not take us into His confidence [else nobody would perform the מצות קלות.] Our sages in Avot 2,1 spelled this out quite clearly. We must not commit the error of applying our yardsticks to G’d’s thinking and deciding what in His view deserves a great deal of reward and what does not. In referring to the inadequacy of our intellect, Solomon writes in Proverbs 5,6: “she does not chart a path of life, her ways are unstable; you do not know them.” We must not overestimate the reliability of the conclusions we draw about what is good and bad by second-guessing G’d. David had a similar message in Psalms 119,14 and 16: by emphasizing the positive, i.e. the delight of accepting G’d’s law, His teaching in preference to all riches available on this earth.

ושמרת את המצוה, “You shall observe the commandment, etc;” In order that you will not belong to the group of people classified as those who hate Him and who will perish, it is incumbent upon you to keep the commandments, all types of them, Belong to the group of people described as those who love Him, the ones who receive favourable mention! Ibn Ezra writes that the reason why Moses at this point repeated the previous call to observe the commandments, is to compare G’d’s keeping His promises to the patriarchs by redeeming their offspring; hence you should keep your part of the bargain by keeping His commandments.

ושמרת, as I have explained on verse 9; G’d describes here the reason for otherwise perplexing sounding statements.

And it shall come to pass, because you hearken to these ordinances and observe and fulfill them, that Hashem your God will keep for you the covenant and the lovingkindness that He swore to your fathers.

והיה עקב תשמעון AND THE CONSEQUENCE WILL BE, IF YE HEARKEN (The Hebrew text may be taken to signify if you will hear the heel, עקב) — If, even the lighter commands which a person usually treads on with his heels (i.e. which a person is inclined to treat lightly), ye will hearken to, ושמר ה׳ וגו׳ THEN THE LORD [THY GOD] WILL KEEP FOR THEE His promise (Midrash Tanchuma, Eikev 1).

AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS ‘EIKEV’ YE HEARKEN. Eikev means “because.” So also, ‘eikev’ (because) that Abraham hearkened to My voice. And Rashi wrote: “If you will hearken even to the lighter commandments which a person usually treads upon with his ‘heels’ [i.e., those commandments which a person is inclined to treat lightly] then G-d will keep His promise to you.” Now Scripture mentions the ordinances [And it shall come to pass ‘eikev’ ye hearken to these ‘ordinances’] perhaps because he admonishes them not to be disdainful of the lightly-esteemed ordinances such as the laws pertaining to monetary matters. And the commentators have said that the meaning of the word eikev is that “in the end” there will be reward. Similarly, in keeping them [the ordinances of G-d] ‘eikev rav’ (there is [in the end] great reward). The verse here is thus stating: “and the end [the ultimate consequence] of your hearkening to the ordinances and your observing them is that G-d shall keep the covenant and the mercy, and He will love thee. ” This is correct, for in the Sacred Language the beginning of anything is called rosh [literally: “head”], as it is said, ‘rosh’ (the beginning of) Thy word is truth. So also is the leader of the generation called “the head of the people,” and the best of spices is called rosh. Similarly, the conclusion of any matter is called akeiv (heel) as the Sacred Language adopts these figurative expressions from the human body; and thus “the head” is the beginning while “the heel” is the conclusion and end of the body. Scripture also speaks of the head and the tail [with reference to people], figuratively using the body of the animal. And Onkelos rendered the word eikev as chalaf (“in exchange for”), like ‘cheilef’ (in return for) your service. Onkelos thus made it an expression of “roundabout” [the end result of a series of events], derived from the verse, and ‘he’akov (the crooked) shall be made straight — that is, the circuitous road which goes roundabout [will become a straight, level path]. So also ‘akubah’ of blood means “it is surrounded and encircled” [with blood]. The verse here is thus stating [according to Onkelos]: “and it shall come to pass that the effect caused by your hearkening to the ordinances and your performing them will be that G-d will keep His covenant with you.” He has explained it well. A similar expression is ‘biglal’ (for the sake of) this thing which means “on account of,” from the word ‘v’gal’lu’ (and they roll) the stone. Similarly it is my opinion that every expression of akeivah is a term denoting “circle” or “circuit.” Thus: ‘akov haleiv’ (the heart is deceitful); ‘vaya’akveini’ (and he hath gotten the better of me) these two times; but Jehu did it ‘b’akbah’ (in subtlety) — all these being expressions of “rolling” and “circling.” Therefore they called Jacob “Jeshurun” [from the root yashar (straight and upright)] because the opposite of “the deceitful one” is he who is “upright” [as indicated by the name “Jes...

"Because" (עֵקֶב): as in "always, the reward is at the end" (לְעוֹלָם עֵקֶב שָׂכָר בָּאַחֲרוֹנָה). The meaning of this first verse is: the Keeper of the covenant — who kept the covenant with Abraham — will, if you are among those who love Him, continue to keep the covenant. And if you were among those who love Him, He will love you and bless you and multiply you; this is the explanation of "the covenant and the lovingkindness."

והיה עקב תשמעון, Moses explains that the reason why the King, i.e. G’d, commands them to observe all these commandments is in order to be able to fulfill the promises made to their forefathers regarding them. The people were meant to observe these commandments out of a feeling of love for G’d, not because they did so in order to earn a reward. [If I understand the author correctly, the wordsואת החסד in the phrase את הברית והחסד, are to establish reciprocity of G’d’s loving care for the patriarchs, the parties to the covenant, and their descendants’ feeling of love on their part towards the Creator. Ed.] את המשפטים, for the earth’s continued existence is linked to performance of justice by its inhabitants. (Proverbs 29,4) ושמרתם, and study them, (according to Sifri) ועשיתם אותם, as a result of studying them you will perform them in accordance with halachah. ושמר ה' אלוקיך לך את הברית, the one He swore, when He said (Genesis 17,7) “I will give My covenant between Me and you, and between your descendants after you for all generations as an eternal covenant, to be your G’d and that of your descendants after you.” Being our G’d means that He will supervise our fates not by means of some intermediary, such as the fates which are supervised by appointees of G’d, including horoscopes, and angels assigned to each nation. Besides, anything which is done by G’d personally, without His having recourse to an intermediary, is something that endures forever. Compare Kohelet 3,14 כי כל אשר יעשה האלוקים הוא אשר יהיה לעולם,”anything which G’d does Himself is something that will endure forever.” By contrast, transient phenomena, [such as extinct species, for instance, Ed.] are proof of the fact that they were the products of intermediaries of G’d. [G’d had commanded the waters to produce the living creatures of the waters, and He had commanded the earth to produce vegetation and the mammals, etc. Water and the earth are both intermediaries. Ed.] ואת החסד, as He had said in Genesis 17,8 when He promised the land of Canaan to Avraham’s descendants. Such acts are acts of loving kindness and have nothing to do with the reward awaiting us as compensation for performing the commandments in the world to come. (based on the statement in Kidushin 39 that reward, in the sense of compensation, for commandments performed is not something that is due while we are on earth.)

והיה עקב תשמעון, "It will be because you hearken, etc." Why did the Torah have to write the word והיה? If the word refers to G'd keeping His covenant with us, i.e. ושמר …את הברית, it would have sufficed for the Torah to write עקב תשמעון without the word והיה as introduction. Another problem is the use of the word עקב instead of simply אם "if." In a simliar situation in Leviticus 26,3 the Torah wrote אם בחוקותי תלכו, "if you walk in My statutes." Tanchuma on our verse writes that the word עקב heel, is an allusion to the kind of commandments people ignore, i.e. step on with their heels because they consider them as inconsequential. This is a purely homiletical comment, of course. I think we must explain the word in terms of the statement in Bereshit Rabbah 42,3 that whenever the Bible uses the term והיה it implies that something pleasant is being discussed. Moses was telling the Israelites that it does not behoove a person to rejoice unless he feels secure in the knowledge that he has fulfilled all his obligations vis-a-vis G'd. As long as a person is conscious of failing to perform either certain positive or negative commandments he must not deport himself in a joyful manner. This is what Kohelet had in mind when he said (Kohelet 2,2: ולשמחה מה זה עשה", "and of joy, what does this accomplish?" Moses tells us "as a result of your hearkening to these statutes etc." you will become joyful. There are other instances when the word עקב is used in a similar vein by our sages such as in Sotah 49 where the Mishnah says that at the end (עכבתא) of the period preceding the arrival of the Messiah disrespectful behaviour will become the norm. The period immediately preceding the arrival of the Messiah is referred to as עקב. Similarly, once people have reached the level where they fulfill all of G'd's commandments they qualify for a life full of joy. The author of Chovot Halevavot phrases this thought as follows in the fourth chapter of his treatise dealing with Perishut. "Any person deserving of the title Parush is sad on the inside but exudes joy on the outside." The reason he does not feel this joy is that it does not behoove a person who will eventually appear before his Maker for judgment feeling full of shame and embarassment to be prematurely joyful in this life. If this applies to people deserving of the appellation פרוש, ascetic, pious, then an ordinary mortal who may be guilty of death for sins committed must most certainly not feel joyful. If we use these examples of the use of the word עקב we must understand it as a level when the Israelites have hearkened to every last one of all the commandments. Moreover, a person does not experience a feeling of joy until he has completed the "hearkening," i.e. performance of the commandment in question. He cannot be certain that he has done everything correctly. This is similar to what we have been told in Job 15,14-15: "How can a human being feel righteous if G'd does not even believe that His angels are rig...

והיה עקב משמעון, “it shall come to pass as a result of your hearkening, etc;” Moses tells the people that on account of their observing the laws of the Torah the blessings following will be bestowed upon them collectively. On the other hand, if you do not observe His commandments He will not fulfill the terms of His covenant until the following generation.

בני לדברי הקשיבה לאמרי הט אזנך אל יליזו מעיניך שמרם בתוך לבבך כי חיים הם למוצאיהם ולכל בשרו מרפא, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ears to my words. Do not lose sight of them; keep them in your heart. For they are life to those that find them; and healing for all flesh.” (Proverbs 4,20- 22). Solomon urges us here to tune in to words of Torah and to tune out to extraneous matters. This is the deeper meaning of the words הט אזנך, “incline your ear.” He uses a similar phrase in Proverbs 2,2 where the words תטה לבך also mean to turn one’s attention away from other matters in order to acquire the requisite תבונה, discernment, insight. Solomon called the commandments דברים ואמרים, warning that neither must the text be forgotten nor the essence, the actual commandment. They must not be forgotten. The words אל יליזו מעיניך refer to forgetting the text of the Torah; even if you have urgent matters to attend to we must always remember these commandments described as הדברים בין עיניך in Exodus 13,9. The reason the Torah commanded us to wear the phylacteries on our forehead is to make it harder to forget these commandments. When saying שמרם בתוך לבבך, “guard them inside your heart,” this refers not so much to the text of the commandments as to their essence. Something buried inside a person’s heart and constantly guarded is not subject to being forgotten. This is why we must guard Torah text as well as essence in our hearts so that we are not in danger of forgetting them. Solomon provides a reason why he considers this so essential, namely that Torah essence is equivalent to life itself for all those who have once found them. Torah (text) and the commandments between them are healing for both body and soul. Solomon has touched on that subject already earlier in Proverbs 3, 22 when he said: ”they will give life to your spirit and grace to your throat.” When Solomon used the word לגרגותיך in that verse, meaning “for your throat,” he meant that when you (also) observe the words of Torah which you express with your mouth, they will then be an adornment for you. In the words of our sages: Torah words are effective when the one who speaks about them also is known as keeping them, i.e. נאה דורש נאה מקיים (compare Chagigah 14). Solomon also says (Proverbs 4,13) נצריה כי היא חייך, “guard her well” for she is your life. Seeing that our Torah is the fruit, i.e. the product of the attribute of חכמה, wisdom of the celestial world, of which it is written in Kohelet 7,12: החכמה תחיה בעליה, “the wisdom revives those who possess it,” this is why Solomon says in our opening verse that “it is life-giving for those who find it.” The plural of חיים הם, is an allusion to Jeremiah 2,13 who quotes G’d as saying that the Jewish people have forsaken Him Who is מקור מים חיים the source of “living” waters. Moses himself refers to this phenomenon in Deut. 4,4 where he attributed the people’s being alive to ואתם הדבקים בה’ חיים כולכם השיום, “you are all fully alive this day because you have cleaved to the Lord your G’d, i.e. His Torah, the wisdom He revealed to you.” Solomon is very specific in describing for whom the words of Torah constitute life, saying “for the ones who have found them.” By adding this rider he makes it plain that not every person is likely to find words of Torah. The reason that not everyone finds words of Torah is because not everyone searches for them. Those who have not found words of Torah would have found them if only they had wanted to find them, if only they had looked for them. This is what Solomon said in Proverbs 2,4-5: “If you seek it as silver, and search for it as for treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and will find knowledge of G’d.” Our sages in Eiruvin 54 comment on the word למוצאיהם, “for those who find them,” by slightly changing the spelling to למוציאיהם בפה “for those who express these words of Torah as wisdom with their mouth.” The moral reason is that it is not enough to possess knowledge of G’d and to keep it to oneself; one has to spread this knowledge, talk about it. In fact, these words of Torah have to be שגורים בפה, fluent in one’s mouth, one must have quotations from the Torah constantly at one’s command. Concerning these two additional facets of Torah Solomon said in Proverbs 22,18: “it is pleasant if you store them within you, so that they will be ever ready on our lips.” As to the meaning of the words ולכל בשרו מרפא, “that the words of Torah will be a therapy for one’s whole flesh,” it is customary for a physician to give a patient a certain drug and to feed it to him in his food or drink so that it will heal the sickness of a particular organ of the body. Very often such treatment has a negative side effect for parts of the body which were not afflicted by the disease. The great advantage of Torah as therapy is that it applies to all parts of the body and that Torah’s therapy does not produce negative side effects in any part of the patient. Solomon also teaches in this verse that not only the body but also the soul benefits therapeutically from Torah. Moses underlines that by saying in 6,24 לטוב לנו כל הימים, “to be good for us for all time.” The word כל in that verse clearly is a reference to the hereafter. The words לחיותנו כיום הזה on the other hand, refer to life in this world. This also explains the division of the commandments into what we called מצות מושכלות and מצות מקובלות. The former are designed to help our bodies while we are on terrestrial earth, whereas the other are primarily of benefit to the soul, all their demonstrable benefit being reserved for the hereafter. David referred to this division, i.e. that the מצות מושכלות are of immediate benefit to our bodies in this world, when he said גם עבדך נזהר בהם בשמרם עקב רב, “Your servant pays them heed; in obeying them there is much reward.” The word עקב meaning reward occurs both in connection with מצות מושכלות and with מצות מקובלות. It occurs in connection with חקים, the commandments which defy our reason. Nonetheless, David says in Psalms 119,33: ”Teach me O Lord the way of Your statutes, I will observe them עקב.” We have a similar verse in Psalms 119,112. In both instances David means that one of the reasons that prompts him to carefully observe the laws known as חקים is the reward which will accrue for their observance, ultimately, עקב. This “reward” is concealed at this time but David describes it as מה רב טובך “how great is Your goodness,” (Psalms 31,20) a reference to the greatness of the reward. Hence the term עקב רב for describing great reward for the observance of the social laws, מצות מושכלות the social laws, משפטים as we know from the following verse: והיה עקב תשמעון את המשפטים האלה ושמרתם ועשיתם אותם, ושמר ה’ אלו-היך לך את הברית ואת החסד אשר נשבע לאבותיך, “This shall be the reward when you hearken to these social laws and observe them to carry them out; Hashem your G’d will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness which He has sworn to your forefathers.” All the promises made in this portion of the Torah are of a physical dimension, refer to the benefits derived by our bodies in this terrestrial life which is but a prelude to life in the world to come. One reason why this type of reward is described as עקב, something “low” “at the bottom like the heel,” is that the reward shared out in this world for mitzvot performed here is insignificant compared to the part which awaits us in the hereafter. That part of the reward is alluded to in the word והיה, a reference to the world to come, a word which contains the letters of the tetragrammaton, G’d’s Holy Name. We already mentioned the relationship between this world and the next world in matters of rewards in explaining the word היום in the last verse of the last portion. In order not to create the impression that מצות מושכלות performed היום i.e. in this life, will not be rewarded at all in this life, Moses wrote our verse here to stress that even those commandments will entitle the people performing them to a measure of reward including זיו השכינה, “a certain divine illumination.” There is yet another lesson, a moral one, in the choice of the word עקב by Moses at this juncture. There are commandments which man does not take seriously, tramples under foot, so to speak with his עקב, his heel. The Torah warns us not to do this as we would miss out on the reward for the meticulous performance of those commandments. Our sages warned us of the punishment for the neglect of just those commandments. We are told in Avodah Zarah 18, based on Psalms 49,6 עון עקבי יסובני, “the guilt of my heels which surrounds me,” that the psalmist has in mind these very commandments which we neglect as not worth our while to pay attention to. Another meaning of that verse is that David refers to the kind of commandments which require from us that we walk toward them, situations which we have to create in order to perform the commandments in question. They include such duties as attending funerals, walking to the synagogue to participate in communal prayer, visiting the sick, etc. The reward for such commandments is especially great as the performance of these mitzvot entails that we extend ourselves. Our sages in Berachot 6 who have taught us that on the Sabbath one does not run or make big steps, have nevertheless suspended this rule for people who run to the synagogue. If one does not fulfill the commandments requiring this use of one’s feet and one’s heels one will be held accountable for this on the day of Judgment after death. Hoseah 11,10 who writes: “the Lord will roar like a lion and they shall march behind Him,” refers to people being allowed to run to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Naturally, if one is held accountable for merely not running or walking toward the opportunity to fulfill a commandment, if one rums toward an opportunity to commit a sin one will be held doubly accountable. Not only will one be punished for the commission of the sin, but separately for the effort made to enable one to commit it. We are told that the daughter of Rabbi Chaninah ben Tradyon was condemned to sit in the company of whores as she had walked with an arrogant gait in front of the noble senators of Rome after she had heard the scholars comment on her beautiful legs. She accepted the sentence by acknowledging that G’d had punished her in accordance with Jeremiah 3,19: “wondrous in purpose and mighty in deed, whose eyes observe all the ways of men, so as to repay every man according to his ways.” We learn from this that even the manner in which we walk (and our purpose in walking in such a manner) is something we are held accountable for. All of this is included in the words והיה עקב תשמעון. A Midrashic approach (based on Devarim Rabbah Lieberman edition page 76) the word עקב teaches that the righteous are rewarded only at the end of their career on earth, whereas the wicked are repaid immediately for any good deeds they perform. This is the real meaning of ומשלם לשונאיו אל פניו, “and He repays immediately (for the good deeds) those who hate Him.” On the other hand: ואחריו כל ישרי לב (Psalms 94,15) “and after him (his life) all those who were of an upright heart.”

“And it shall be because [eikev] you will listen to these judgments.” Rashi explained if you will listen to the minor commandments that people tread with their heels [akeveihem]. He did not want to interpret “eikev” here in the sense of because Abraham listened to My voice (Genesis 26:5), because he found it difficult [to understand] since in the previous verse it was already stated and you shall keep the statutes and the judgments. So why did it mention here judgments without “statutes”? Rather, certainly the term “eikev” includes the statutes and hints at them with the word “eikev,” because Satan and the nations criticize them since their reasons are not known, and for this reason people treat them lightly and tread on them with their heel. This is what he [Rashi] meant by saying “if the minor commandments, etc.” Therefore, he mentioned them with the term “eikev” and not with the term “statutes,” to tell you that regarding the statutes that you were warned about above, perhaps because people tread on them with their heels, you might not be as careful and zealous with them as with the judgments and laws whose benefits are obvious and known to you. Therefore, I am saying that if also the statutes that are hinted at by “eikev,” even though people tread on them with their heels, nevertheless you should be careful with them just as with the judgments. And the word “et” means “with,” as is its usage in many places where “et” means “with,” as if it said that you should listen to the statutes with the judgments. And these two categories of commandments should be equal in your eyes in every respect, for just as you are careful with the judgments, so shall you be careful with the statutes, and conversely, in the manner that will be explained shortly. And a proof for our words from what is concluded in the Yalkut (446) “And it shall be, if you hearken [eikev]” This is as it is said (Psalms 49:6), Why should I fear in days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels [akevai] surrounds me. David said, “I am not afraid of the severe [transgressions] because they are severe, but I am afraid of the minor ones, lest I transgressed them, and You said, ‘Be careful with a minor commandment as with a severe one.’ Therefore it says, And it shall be, if you hearken [eikev].” David said before the Holy One, blessed be He, “Your servant is careful with them; in keeping them there is great reward [eikev rav] (Psalms 19:12). How abundant is Your goodness (Psalms 31:20) — this refers to the reward for minor commandments,” end of quote. I searched throughout the entire Scripture and did not find where the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Be careful with a minor commandment as with a severe one,” so how did David say, “and You said, etc.”? And how did the author of the midrash connect his words to the verse And it shall be, if you hearken [eikev]? And what indicates that the verse How abundant is Your goodness speaks about the reward for minor commandments?Rather, certainly he found it difficult [to understand] And it shall be, if you hearken [eikev] to the judgments [mishpatim] — why didn’t it also mention the statutes [chukim]? Furthermore, if the word “eikev” alludes to minor commandments, it should have said “and the judgments,” because the word “et” [in “et hamishpatim”] is not connected to what is above. Rather, certainly “the heel” [the Hebrew word eikev in the verse] refers to the statutes [chukim], which are the commandments that appear trivial in the eyes of the common people. And the word “et” [in the verse] means “with.” This is the same as the saying, “Be careful with a minor commandment as with a major one.” By connecting the statutes to the judgments in saying “that you shall listen to the statutes along with the judgments,” making them equal and similar. And regarding this, he interpreted the verse, How abundant is Your goodness that You have stored for those who fear You, You have acted for those who take refuge in You, in the sight of people (Psalms 31:20). This means that one who fulfills the statutes is doing something that is contrary to people, opposing most people, since the majority mock these commandments. The one who fulfills them surely expects only the reward of the World to Come, for in this world their benefit is not revealed as is the benefit of the judgments. The one who fulfills them takes refuge in the Blessed One, who will not withhold his reward. Therefore, it says, You have acted for those who take refuge in You, in the sight of people — they take refuge in You regarding matters that are opposed by people who mock them. And on this, he brings [the verse], Moreover, Your servant is careful with them; in keeping them there is great reward (Psalms 19:12). The word careful [nizhar] relates to radiance and clarity, for through observing the statutes, which are alluded to by “the heel” [eikev], those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament (Daniel 12:3) in the World to Come. This is what it says here, And the Lord your God will keep for you the covenant, etc. The Yalkut [midrash] concludes that He will keep your reward for the World to Come. And what we said about equating statutes with ordinances has two aspects. The first is, as we have already said regarding diligence, that just as you are diligent in carrying out the ordinances because you can see their benefit with your own eyes, so too should you be careful with the statutes that are alluded to by the word “heel” [ekev]. And conversely, just as with the statutes — since their benefit is not immediately apparent to you — you certainly fulfill them for the sake of Heaven and not for your own benefit, as the benefit is not immediately perceptible to you, so too with the ordinances, you should not fulfill them for your own benefit but because they are God’s commandments upon you. As it is written: I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep Your word; I have not departed from Your ordinances, for You have taught me (Psalms 119:101-102). Just as with the statutes that I fulfill, my intention is certainly only that I might keep Your statutes — the statutes that You have prescribed for me — so too I have not departed from Your ordinances not for my perceptible benefit but because You have taught me. This follows the way our Sages said: “A person should not say ‘I do not desire to eat pork,’ etc.” (Torat Kohanim, Leviticus 20:128). And this is what is written at the end of Parashat Va’etchanan, And He repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face (Deuteronomy 7:10). Therefore, you shall observe the commandment, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command you this day, to do them (Deuteronomy 7:11). Rashi explains: “In his lifetime, He pays him his good reward in order to remove him from the World to Come.” This raises a difficulty: If a gentile performs some commandment, why is he called “one who hates Him” at the time of performing the commandment? Rather, it must be that even when a gentile performs a logical commandment, he does so only for his immediate sensory pleasure. Therefore, his judgment is according to what he determined for himself — to receive his reward in this world. But you should not act this way towards the Lord your God. Rather, You shall observe, etc., which I command you — meaning, you should observe them because I commanded you, and not for your own pleasure. Then automatically, the judgments and statutes will be of equal importance in your eyes. Regarding this, the text makes a comparison: And it shall be, because you will hearken to these judgments (Deuteronomy 7:12), then it is fitting that the principal be preserved for you for the World to Come, and the Lord your God will keep for you, etc. And this is what it says at the end of the portion, Like the nations that the Lord destroys before you, so shall you perish because you would not listen to the voice of the Lord your God. This entire verse seems superfluous because it was already stated earlier you shall surely perish. Furthermore, why does it connect their destruction with the destruction of the nations? It must be that this verse is not connected at all to what came before, because the preceding passage spoke about idolatry: And if you forget… and regarding idolatry it said you shall surely perish — the doubling of the word perish indicates that one who worships idols is expelled from both this world and the world to come. Afterwards, it says there is another type of destruction that is only from the world to come, and this applies to someone who does not fulfill the “heel” [eikev] which alludes to the statutes whose benefits are not immediately evident. In such a case, it is assumed that even the commandments he does fulfill are only observed for immediate benefit. About this person, it says Like the nations that the Lord destroys — this is the destruction mentioned above, and repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them — from the world to come — so shall you perish — from the world to come. The verse then gives the reason, saying because [eikev] you would not listen — because you will not listen to the commandments alluded to by the “heel” [eikev]. This implies that one who fulfills what is alluded to by the “heel” enjoys the fruits in this world while the principal is preserved for the world to come. Therefore, it says here, the Lord your God will keep for you the covenant and the kindness. This is a precious interpretation. “And the Lord your God will keep for you the covenant, etc.” With the word for you the text aims to explain what is said, which He swore to your fathers. Was the oath not unconditional? Even if they were not worthy, would God not fulfill His oath because of this? Rather, if you are not worthy, then God will keep the oath, but not for you, but for another generation, or as He said to Moses, And I will make you into a great nation (Exodus 32:10). And if you are worthy, He will keep His promise for you in this generation. And what is said for you [singular], even though it began speaking to many [plural], nevertheless it mentions for you [singular] to also allude to the reward of the World to Come, where a compartment is made for each righteous person individually. And he said, “Blessed shall you be above all peoples.” In Rabbati, it is expounded that all peoples will bless you, etc., in the way that [even] an evil angel answers “Amen.” The Abarbanel raised a difficulty with this and said, “What advantage is there for Israel in this?” And I say that since the Land of Israel — the eyes of God inquire after it first, and through that inquiry, He inquires after all other lands, because all lands drink from the runoff of the Land of Israel. Therefore, it is necessary that all peoples bless Israel, for in Israel’s peace there will be peace for them as well. As it is written: Praise the Lord, all nations; laud Him, all peoples. For His kindness has overwhelmed us (Psalms 117:1-2). And therefore you shall consume all the peoples because they will give you what is yours, and specifically “that the Lord your God gives to you” — those who are delivered into your hand, as it is written: For they are our bread (Numbers 14:9). But not those who are not delivered into your hand, for robbing a gentile is forbidden.

והיה עקב תשמעון, “it shall be the result of your listening, etc.” Rashi understands the unusual word עקב, “heel,” as a reference to the sort of thing one steps on without giving it a second thought. If we relate to those commandments of Hashem that in our superficial way of evaluating things we consider as insignificant, irrelevant, by observing even such commandments by Hashem meticulously, Moses tells us that we will qualify for extraordinary success in our daily activities on the farm, etc. If we accept this approach by Rashi as correct, the Torah here speaks of two distinctly separate matters. The משפטים judgments, surely do not fall into the category of things the average man belittles, considers irrelevant. Moses must be understood as saying that in order to qualify for all the blessings that follow immediately, it is not enough to meticulously observe the seemingly immaterial command-ments, but we must meticulously observe the laws governing inter-personal relationships, laws that form the fabric of society, of civilization We must not even belittle those when the amount at stake seems trifling. Nachmanides suggests that possibly Rashi had in mind the משפטים that deal with matters and amounts that appear trifling, and that many judges would feel inclined not to waste their time on. Moses warns not to develop a cavalier attitude towards such “trifling” matters. Other commentators understand the word עקב as something that is the result of what preceded it, its outcome. We find that word in such a context in Psalms 19,12 בשמרם עקב רב, “by observing them there is much reward.” The meaning of our verse then would be: “it will be, as a result of your observing My commandments, etc., especially the ones governing human relationships, that Hashem on His part will fulfill the promises inherent in the covenant He made with you.” The beginning of something, in classical Hebrew, is usually referred to as בראש, “at the head,” i.e. the Torah employs body parts to illustrate beginnings; it is therefore not strange that it employs another body part, the heel, as something describing the end, the conclusion. Onkelos translates the word עקב as חלף, “in exchange for.” The word appears in that context in Numbers 18,21 and 18,31 where it describes the various gifts set aside for the priests as being an exchange for the Temple service performed by them on behalf of the people at large. He understands the concept of reward as a “balancing of the scales”, reverting to “zero” by wiping out an indebtedness. It is like Isaiah 40,4 והיה העקוב למישור, “that which had been bent will be straightened out again.” The meaning of our verse then would be: “in compensation for your observing My social commandments on account of My maintaining the terms of My covenant, I will indeed respond generously.” The reason Moses stressed the social laws especially is that many of the other commandments are not applicable in many peoples’ daily lives. He who is not a farmer does not have to observe the dozens of laws that address the farmer. Women are altogether not obliged to observe positive commandments linked to a specific time frame. The social laws apply to one and all at all times hence Moses uses them as an example. Overall, Torah observance by the people is measured against the background of how the social laws are observed. Furthermore, seeing that even the bringing to justice of someone guilty of certain sins against his fellow man does not reverse the situation created by the sin, and therefore many people tend to have compassion with the perpetrator when he was not an intentional criminal, Moses has to stress that the element of deterring a potential sinner overrides such considerations, as we hear again and again וכל העם ישמעו ויראו ולא יזידון עוד, “and the whole people shall hear and see and not sin again.” (Deut 17,13, et al) When discussing the person who tries to lure others into sin, especially idolatry, Moses reinforces this exhortation by warning the people not to advance excuses for the sinner, not to cover up for him, and not to do anything that would make it difficult to convict the culprit. Family members of guilty persons are especially warned not to allow their family ties, or their fear of a violent family member to override their duty to society at large.

ושמר ה' אלוקיך לך, G’d keeps His covenant, i.e. the assurances He gave to the patriarchs concerning their descendants, with any generation which is fit, loyal and deserving. If the descendants do not keep His commandments then the covenant is valid for subsequent generations which do observe the terms of the covenant.

והיה עקב תשמעון, “it will be as a consequence of your hearkening, etc.” Rashi comments on why Moses used the word עקב, “heel,” here when he could have used numerous other words meaning: “as a result of.” He says that Moses refers here to the kind of commandments which the average person tramples underfoot with his heel, is hardly conscious of, for the observance of which meticulously the Torah promises great reward, even though it takes no effort to fulfill theses commandments. This is also what David had in mind in Psalms 49,6 when he said: למה אירא רע בימי עון עקבי יסובני, “why should I be afraid of trouble in days to come –seeing that I have fulfilled the most difficult commandments?-He answers rhetorically, “I have reason to be afraid of being punished for trespassing the commandments that are so easy to fulfill as it is to put one heel behind another.” Our sages in Ethics of the Fathers chapter 2 mishnah 1, warn us to be as meticulous to fulfill the commandments which are easy to fulfill as we are with fulfilling the commandments which are difficult and expensive to fulfill. Something along the same line has been written in Proverbs 5,6 where Solomon warns: ארח חיים פן תפלס נעו מעגלותיה לא תדע “she (the immoral woman who is the subject here) does not chart a path of life; her ways are unstable; you do not know them.” Solomon warns us not to apply our yardsticks to different commandments and taking credit for the ones we performed with a great deal of effort, while neglecting to fulfill the ones we considered as unimportant. We have no way of knowing how G–d values the performance of different commandments, so that we do not know what rewards are in store for their performance. This can be illustrated best by a parable. A king had an orchard; he brought workmen to that orchard to plant trees and did not tell them how much he would pay each for each tree that they planted. If he had told them beforehand which planting would be paid for most, he would find at the end that only half the orchard had been planted with trees, as the workers would, of course, all plant the trees for which they would be paid the most. According to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, G–d revealed the reward of only two of all the commandments; one is the commandment which is the easiest to fulfill, the other is the commandment which is the hardest to fulfill. Honouring father and mother is the easiest commandment to fulfill, it can be fulfilled several times daily without special effort. The other is the sending away of the mother bird when one plans to take the chicks it had hatched or was about to hatch. Both of these commandments are rewarded with same reward, long life of the person who fulfills them. The reason is that G–d wanted to show the world that there are commandments which we think must carry a great reward, and others which precisely because they are so easy to fulfill, and the opportunity to fulfill them is ever present, so that we might have thought that they cannot carry much of a reward. [The author continues with further elaborations, which I have omitted as the point has been made sufficiently. Ed.]

He will love you and bless you and multiply you, and He will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land — your grain and your wine and your oil, the young of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep — upon the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.

שגר אלפיך means the offspring of thy oxen which the female casts out (שגר) from its womb. ועשתרות צאנך AND THE BREEDS OF THY FLOCK — Menachem ben Seruk explains this expression to be parallel to אבירי בשן, which means: "the strong rams of Bashan” (Psalms 22:13), i.e. the choicest of the sheep, similar to (Genesis 14:5), “Ashteroth (עשתרות) Karnaim", where also it is an expression for “strength" (so that עשתרות denotes “the strong ones"). Onkelos. however, translates it: “and the flocks of thy sheep". Our Rabbis said: Why is their name called עשתרות? Because they enrich (עשר) their owner (through the sale of their wool, etc.) (cf. Chullin 84b).

VA’AHEIVCHA’ (AND HE WILL LOVE THEE). The meaning thereof is that when you will observe the ordinances [i.e., the judgments] out of a love for G-d, He will love you as well. It is possible that va’aheivcha is transitive, meaning that He will cause you to be beloved by the families of those judged [to punishment] and you will not be hated because of [what you have done to] them. And He will bless thee, that there shall no evil befall thee because of the judgment [you have rendered]. And He will multiply thee, that you will not be diminished because of the death of the transgressors, even if many are slain such as the people of an apostate city.

"The fruit of your womb" (פְּרִי בִטְנֶךָ): this refers to children, and "womb" (בֶטֶן) is a metaphor. "And the fruit of your ground": He mentioned grain, wine, and oil, for these are the essentials. "Offspring" (שֶׁגֶר): I have already explained this. "Your cattle" (אֲלָפֶיךָ): as in "our oxen are laden" (אַלּוּפֵינוּ מְסֻבָּלִים; Ps. 144:14). "And the young of your flocks" (וְעַשְׁתְּרֹת): meaning flocks. A great scholar who was in Spain offered an explanation of why the Hebrews called cattle by the name alef and sheep by ashtarot; and he similarly explained the Baalim and Ashtarot as the ruling planet of growth and the tenth — but I will not pursue that further. Moreover, not only will He bless the fruit of your womb, but there shall be no barren one among you whose seed does not bear offspring; and so too with your animals. Furthermore, you shall be healthy, free from every kind of illness that is known to occur in the natural course of things — "and all the diseases" refers to those that are outside the natural order.

ואהבך, He loved you, in the sense that you are “children,” reflecting His image; our sages (Avot 3,10) paraphrased this when they said: “Israel is beloved of the Lord,” as we know from the fact that He refers to them as בנים,”children of the Lord.” By performing the commandments the eternal nature of the covenant will be reinforced so that it is perfect. וברכך, with material wealth, measurable in terms of money. This blessing improves the quality of the transient life on earth. By means of this blessing He insures your ability to enjoy the loving kindness of living in the land of Israel successfully, happily.

ואהבך, “He will love you;” Nachmanides writes that what Moses means is that if the Jewish people will perform the social commandments from feelings of love for Hashem, He, in turn, will love them. It is possible that the word ואהבך could be meant transitively, i.e. that G’d will make the Jewish people beloved in the eyes of the families whose members have become the “victims” of the application of these social laws. They will not hate the judges who convicted members of their families. והרבך, ”He will multiply you;” your numbers will not decrease through the loss of the sinners who have been put to death by the judicial process as demanded by the משפטים, the social laws of the Torah. A prime example would be the mass executions if there ever were to be a עיר הנדחת, a city the majority of whose inhabitants had turned to idolatry. (Deut. 13,3-19)

You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall be no barren male or barren female among you, nor among your livestock.

עקר means, a man who cannot procreate.

ברוך תהיה מכל העמים, "You will be more blessed than all the nations." This can either mean that there will not be a nation which is greater in stature than the Jewish nation, or it could mean: ברוך תהיה, "you will enjoy certain blessings over and beyond those enjoyed by other nations;" what are these blessings? "There will be none amongst you that are barren genetically." Beyond that, "if there is someone amongst you who has become barren through sickness, G'd will remove this sickness from you, etc." It will thus become common knowledge that you have been blessed by the Lord your G'd. The words והסיר ה׳ ממך כל חולי, may also be understood in conjunction with Ketuvot 30 "everything is in the hands of heaven with the exception of the common cold." Inasmuch as the common cold is not a sickness decreed upon man as some form of retribution, G'd promises to remove it from Jews who suffer from it. Concerning other maladies which are in the nature of afflictions sent by G'd, the Torah promises that we will not fall victim to them at all if we keep G'd's commandments. Our verse also alerts us that one way of becoming aware of G'd's kindness is the fact that He cures Israel of sickness and disease. We should not presume that if we are free from disease this is due to the fact that at certain times it is natural to be in good health, that there simply are no infectious diseases around at such times. To teach us that this is not so the Torah writes that G'd will not put upon us any of the diseases which were rampant in Egypt and of which we were aware. In other words, these diseases occurred in Egypt all the time. If the Israelites are not subject to these diseases this is proof of G'd's special providence; it is not coincidence or a natural phenomenon. In addition, G'd assures us that even when He afflicts our enemies with these infectious diseases we will not catch these infections.

ברוך תהיה מכל העמים, “You will be blessed more than any other nations.” The word יותר “more than,“ is implied here though it does not appear in the text. It is a construction similar to Deut. 28,1: ונתנך ה’ אלו-היך עליון על כל גויי הארץ, “and the Lord will make you supreme above all the nations of the earth.” Alternatively, the words מכל העמים can be understood as מפי כל העמים, i.e. you will be blessed by all the nations. They will all acknowledge your superiority.

עקר, with two vowels kametz. Other examples of such constructions are חכם as opposed to אשה חכמה, (Samuel II 14,2) or שפל as opposed to ושפלה איננה in Leviticus 13,21. I have found that all the texts published in Spain follow this vowel pattern. [remember that our author was Ashkenazi. Ed.]

Hashem will remove from you every illness, and all the evil afflictions of Egypt that you have known — He will not place them upon you, but He will set them upon all your enemies.

AND THE ETERNAL WILL TAKE AWAY FROM THEE ALL SICKNESS — ordinary ailments which occur in the world. He further mentioned all the evil diseases of Egypt to assure the people that He will inflict them on all who hate thee. Or it may be that he is intimating that by observing the ordinances, they will be saved from them [these evil diseases], but if they do not observe them, they [the diseases] will come upon them just as they did come upon the Egyptians, as is stated in the chastisement: And He will bring back upon thee all the diseases of Egypt etc. I have already explained this in the section And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go. Now he mentioned as the first among the ordinances, the duty to demolish and destroy the idol-worshippers. Therefore he said, ‘v’achalta’ [literally: “and thou shalt eat”] all the peoples, meaning that you should destroy them, similar to what is said, for they are bread for us; for ‘achal’ (he hath devoured) Jacob; ‘va’achaluhu’ (yea, they have devoured him) and consumed him, and so also many similar expressions. He states thine eye shall not pity them as I have mentioned, for, through [undue] pity of the judges all law will be destroyed.

כל חולי, any manner of illness including those that are the result of climactic conditions. הרעים, the ones which are contagious. אשר ידעת, that the Egyptians were smitten with at the Sea of Reeds. לא ישימם בך ונתנם בכל שונאך, even though these diseases will strike your enemies they will not infect you, as described in Psalms 91,7 “thousands may fall by your side….but the source of the death will not reach you.”

והסיר ה’ ממך כל חולי, “the Lord will remove all manner of sickness from you;” This refers to the kinds of maladies all of mankind is plagued by. וכל מדוי מצרים, “and all the specific illnesses prevalent in Egypt;” unusual kinds of diseases. Alternatively, the words כל חולי may refer to sickness which attacks the body from the outside due to climate, and conditions of air pollution, etc. The words וכל מדוי מצרים would refer to diseases originating inside the body. Concerning those, Moses says: “G’d will not afflict you with them.”

והסיר ה' ממך כל חולי, “Hashem will remove every sickness from you.” This refers to sicknesses that are part and parcel of everyday life. Moses adds: וכל מדוי מצרים “as well as all the bad maladies specifically prevalent in Egypt.” Probably, what are meant are different kinds of intestinal maladies, cancer of the colon, etc. Moses singles out these diseases with which the Israelites were familiar from their stay in Egypt, to assure them that G’d will cure them even from such diseases as part of the reward for observing the משפטים. He would instead afflict our enemies with such diseases. It is also possible that Moses hints here that if once afflicted with these diseases the meticulous observance of the social laws would cause G’d to heal the afflicted person, whereas non observance of these laws may bring in its wake such afflictions. When singling out specific commandments representing the social laws, משפטים, Moses singles out first (8,19) and foremost the eradication of every person guilty of practicing any kind of idolatry.

You shall destroy all the peoples that Hashem your God delivers to you; your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their idols, for that would be a snare to you.

"And you shall consume" (וְאָכַלְתָּ): it is a commandment to annihilate them, as one consumes bread — the proof being "your eye shall not pity." "For it is a snare for you" (כִּי מוֹקֵשׁ הוּא לָךְ): each one of their gods.

לא תחוס עיניך עליהם ולא תעבוד את אלוהיהם. By not ignoring idolatry in your country by people remaining there you will ensure that no Israelites will worship such deities. If you will turn a blind eye to their practices they will undoubtedly lead you into sin. כי מוקש הוא לך, although you relate to them by protecting their freedom of worship, they will turn out to be a stumbling block for you by seducing you to join them in their religious rites.

ואכלת את כל העמים, "You shall consume all these nations, etc." This is a positive commandment. Moses continues that this commandment applies to the nations whom G'd delivers into our hands (the seven Canaanite tribes). There is a clear implication that if the Israelites were to be tardy in carrying out this commandment this would be tantamount to despising a divine gift. לא תחוס עינך, "do not display pity, etc." This is what Solomon taught us in Proverbs 12,10: "showing compassion to the wicked is cruelty." Contrary to the common belief that the display of pity is a virtue, the Torah teaches that this is not only not necessarily so, but it can even be a negative virtue. Perhaps the Torah had to warn us about this seeing that G'd blesses Israel with an abundance of children. We have also been taught in Sanhedrin 36 that fathers are apt to show more pity than men who have no children and that as a result men who have no children cannot be appointed to the Supreme Court as they lack a measure of that virtue. To make certain that pity would not be shown to the people whom G'd wants to destroy the Torah had to legislate this in our verse. Our verse continues: "and so that you will not serve their deities" (if you allow these people to survive in your country) to warn you that as a result of your misplaced pity you will "shoot yourself in the leg," as their idols will be a snare unto you, eventually leading to your destruction instead of their death. Your pity will be counter-productive.

ואכלת את כל העמים, “you will consume all the nations.” When you will utterly destroy them the result will be as if you had eaten them as one eats bread. This is in line with what Calev had said when he came back from the spying mission 38 years earlier when he told his compatriots that the Canaanites “are our bread” (Numbers 14,9). אשר ה’ אלו-היך נותן לך, “which the Lord your G’d is about to give to you.” Our sages in Baba Kama 113 state that this was true only at the time when the Canaanites were being delivered into the hands of the Israelites during the years of conquest. Nowadays, stealing from or robbing Gentiles is certainly prohibited. In fact, the Talmud there describes stealing from Gentiles as a greater sin than stealing from Israelites as it involves the desecration of the name of the Lord. The Jewish people are to be models of morality. If we steal we drag G’d’s Torah into disrepute. (See also the author's comment on Lev. 25,50).

Should you say in your heart, 'These nations are more numerous than I — how will I be able to drive them out?'

כי תאמר בלבבך — You must admit that the word כי here denotes “perhaps": perhaps thou wilt say in thy heart, “Because they are many, I shall be unable to dispossess them". Do not speak thus, לא תירא מהם THOU SHALT NOT BE AFRAID OF THEM. — For it is not possible to explain it in one of the three other meanings of כי so that the words לא תירא מהם will then appropriately fit in with it.

כי תאמר...איכה אוכל להורישם, לא תירא מהם, for you will say that they outnumber you. Do not say this in a manner which will inspire fear in you, but reflect on the fact that this would be an argument only if the Lord your G’d had not already demonstrated that with His help you can overcome. זכור תזכור את אשר עשה ה' אלוקיך לפרעה וכל מצרים, they outnumbered you by a far greater margin than the Canaanites and they were stronger than the Canaanites.

You shall not fear them; you shall surely remember what Hashem your God did to Pharaoh and to all of Egypt:

the great trials that your eyes saw, and the signs and the portents, and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm with which Hashem your God brought you out — so shall Hashem your God do to all the peoples before whom you are afraid.

המסות means, THE TRIALS (cf. Rashi on 4:34). והאתת AND THE SIGNS, for example (Exodus 4:3) “and it became a serpent”, and (Exodus 4:9) “It became blood on the dry land”. ... והמפתים AND THE WONDERS, viz., the wondrous plagues. והיה החזקה AND THE STRONG HAND — this refers to the pestilence (Sifrei Bamidbar 115:1; cf. the Passover Haggadah). והזרע הנטיה AND THE OUTSTRETCHED ARM, this refers to the sword for the smiting of the firstborn (Exodus 4:23).

Moreover, Hashem your God will stir up the hornets against them, until those who remain and who hide themselves from before you have perished.

הצרעה — a species of flying insect which injected poison into them, and castrated them and blinded their eyes wherever they hid themselves (Sotah 36a).

"The hornet" (הַצִּרְעָה): a bodily affliction, from the same root as tzara'at (skin disease).

הצרעה, “the hornet;” according to some interpretations this is a type of disease similar to tzoraat, afflicting the body. (Ibn Ezra)

וגם את הצרעה, “and also the hornet,” etc.; Remember that miracles occur on two levels, so-called “open” (supernatural) miracles, i.e. visible manifestations of G’d interfering with the laws of nature; secondly there are the so-called “hidden” miracles (natural) which are no less miraculous although we do not witness overt interference with the laws of nature. In the previous verse G’d referred to the first category of miracles, the ten plagues, etc., in which G’d demonstrated His mastery over the forces of the universe, the laws of nature. Now the Torah, i.e. Moses, turns his attention to the occurrence of “hidden” miracles such as swarms of hornets which occur at regular intervals, almost like rain. Seeing that neither rainfall nor swarms of hornets are the result of changes in the laws of nature they are not regarded as miracles. This is why the Torah introduces this element with the word וגם, “and also,” to say that in addition to the supernatural miracles mentioned above there will also be natural forces such as the hornet. The fact that G’d employs a tiny insect to drive out the powerful people of Canaan is surely enough of a miracle to register with the people who observe this. Therefore — לא תערוץ מפניהם, “You shall not be afraid of them (the inhabitants, not the hornets).” The only One you shall be afraid of is the Lord your G’d Who dwells among you. (The author suggests reading the first 6 words in verse 21 together). It is worth noting that the words ה’ אלו-היך and the word בקרבך contain two separate praises of the Lord. They are the attributes גדול ונורא, “great and awesome.” These two adjectives, i.e. attributes, refer to the two types of miracles we spoke of earlier. The word גדול describes the attribute involved when G’d performs “hidden” miracles, whereas the word נורא describes the attribute involved when He performs “open” miracles. When G’d’s activities at the Sea of Reeds were reported in the Torah we read about נורא תהלות עושה פלא, ”too awesome for praises, Doer of wonders” (Exodus 15,11). Presently (10,21) the Torah will refer to both kinds of miracles describing them under the heading of “את הגדולות ואת הנוראות האלה, “these awesome deeds and these great deeds.” The צרעה is an insect similar to a fly which emits a poison by means of its sting. Our sages in Tanchuma Mishpatim 18 have said that a plague of such hornets occurred twice; once during the time of Moses and once during the life of Joshua. It would attack the enemies of the Israelites disabling them from offering serious resistance. The Israelites would simply kill the Canaanites without encountering resistance. There is another Midrash in Sotah 36 according to which the effect of the bite or sting of the hornet resulted in the victim becoming both blinded and impotent as if castrated. The prophet Amos 2,9 referred to this when he said: “Yet I destroyed the Emorite before them, whose stature was like the cedar’s and who was as stout as an oak; destroying the boughs above and his trunk below.” Onkelos also translates the word צרעה as ערעיתא, “wasp, hornet.” According to Onkelos, the reason for this name may be that it encounters man like the Amalekites encountered the Israelites in the desert, i.e. אשר קרך בדרך (Deut. 25,18), compare Onkelos there.

You shall not be broken before them, for Hashem your God — His Shechinah is in your midst, a great and awesome God.

"You shall not be terrified before them" — rather, be in awe of Hashem, who is a great and awesome God.

Hashem your God will drive out these nations from before you little by little; you will not be able to destroy them swiftly, lest the wild beasts of the field multiply against you.

פן תרבה עליך חית השדה LEST THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD INCREASE UPON THEE — But is it not a fact that if people perform the will of the Omnipresent they will not have to fear the beasts, as it is said, (Job 5:23) “And the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee”?! But it states this because it was manifest before Him that they would in future sin.

THOU MAYEST NOT BE ABLE TO CONSUME THEM SPEEDILY. He is assuring them that G-d will destroy them all and send the hornet among them to destroy they that are left and they that hide themselves, and thus they will all [ultimately] perish. He states, however, that He will not completely destroy them in war in one day, nor will He drive them out of the Land in one year, lest the Land become desolate, and the beasts of the field multiply against thee. And He assured them further that those [of the peoples] that are left, will not be the majority, but that G-d shall confound them with a great confusion and most of them will be destroyed by the hand of Israel. And so he said, He will destroy them, and He will bring them down before thee; so shalt thou drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, [meaning] that you will destroy most of them quickly, but they will not be completely vanquished until thou be increased, and inherit the Land.

The Gaon [Saadia] said that "lest they multiply upon you" is a reference to the time when they would defeat them — but there is no need for this, and I have already explained it.

לא תוכל כלותם מהר, “you will not be able to destroy them quickly;” the word תוכל is not to be understood as an inability on your part. It will not be in your interest to do so, as you would create a vacuum of not enough people in the land, that would encourage invasion by free roaming beasts.

Hashem your God will deliver them before you and will throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.

והמם AND HE WILL CONFOUND THEM — This word is vowelled entirely (both syllables) with Kametz, because the last ם is not part of the root, and it is equivalent to וְהָם, “And he will confuse”, אותם “them”. But in (Isaiah 28:28) וְהָמַם גלגל עגלתו the verb המם consists entirely of root letters, therefore half of it (one syllable) has Kametz and half of it Patach, just like any other verb of three consonants.

והמם מהומה גדולה, “He will confound them with great confusion;” Moses reassures the people that although the Canaanites will not be wiped out overnight, G’d will utterly confuse them so that none of them will pose a threat. They will survive only long enough for the Israelites to have sufficient children and grandchildren to replace their numbers and not allow part of the land to become desolate because there are not enough of them to work the land. There will remain only small pockets of Canaanites throughout the land during that period.

והמם מהומה גדולה, the construction of והמם, i.e. the vowel pattern of two successive letters מ and the two vowels kametz in succession is clearly parallel to וסבב בית אל in Samuel I 7,16 with the two letters ב, or as in Lamentations 5,18 שמם from שממה. The meaning of the phrase is that G’d made these people hear such powerful and earsplitting noise during the battle that this contributed greatly to their destruction. If we were to assume that the second letter מ is a pronoun ending meaning אותם, “them,” the vowel pattern should have been vehamaman. Seeing that the root of the word is המה as in יהמה לבי (Jeremiah 48,36) “my heart moans, etc.”, the Torah wrote vehamam, i.e. “He made them moan.” We find a line with similar meaning in Isaiah 48,5 עצבי עשם, “my carved images were the cause of this,” the word עשם being derived from the root עשה, or Genesis 29,10 כאשר ראה יעקב something which is referred to later in Genesis 32,3 as כאשר ראם, “when he saw them.” The root המה determines the construction here. If you were to say that the final letter ם was a sign of the pronoun “them,” as in the examples from Isaiah and Lamentations we have quoted, this is impossible, as the expression המיון, which implies something that is part of the human body, as in Isaiah 16,11 and Jeremiah 48,36, or in Psalms 46,4 יהמו יחמרו מימיו, “its waters rage and foam;” i.e. this is self-generated, not the result of action by outsiders. If the word were in the transitive mode, hiphil, the vowel pattern would have had to be vehimah, just as in the root כלה, for instance, the vowel pattern if it appeared in the transitive mode, hiphil, the vowel pattern would have to be kilah. Or it would have to be כלם, kilam as the case would be if the final letter ם were used as the pronoun ending for “them,” as in Lamentations 2,22 or 4,11. When used transitively, the root שנה meaning changing, exchanging, such as clothes, would be שנא, shina, in the plain past tense, as in Kings II 25,29, or וישניה, vayehshaneha, in the past tense introduced by the letter ו changing a future mode to a past mode, as in Esther 2,9.

He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall cause their name to perish from under the heavens; no man shall stand before you until you have destroyed them.

AND HE SHALL DELIVER THEIR KINGS INTO THY HAND, AND THOU SHALT CAUSE THEIR NAME TO PERISH — until they shall have no name abroad — and the Israelites will destroy all who stand up to oppose them. This is similar to what is stated in the Book of Joshua, For it was of the Eternal to harden their hearts, to come against Israel in battle, that they might be utterly destroyed, and not a king was left to them [the Canaanites] in the Land as all their kings fell [in battle].And Rashi wrote: “Lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. But is it not true that when they do His will [as the section begins: And it shall come to pass, because ye hearken to these ordinances etc.] they will have no fear of the beasts, as it is said, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee? But [this assurance is stated because] it was manifest before Him that they were destined to sin.” These are the words of our Rabbis. Now, even though this section is stated as a promise [and any reference to future sin apparently contradicts the principle of man’s freedom of choice], I have already mentioned that, in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses our teacher both assures and warns. He alludes to the fact that their merits will not be sufficient to destroy all the people at once and for Him to cause evil beasts to cease out of the Land as promised to them in the section If ye walk in My statutes. Instead it will be as he said [here] that they will, in the first stage [of the conquest], destroy most of them together with their kings, and, afterwards, they that are left will be destroyed.

"Your destroying them" (הַשְׁמִידְךָ): this is an infinitive nominal form. Even though it is vocalized with a hiriq, it can still function analogously to "He left him a survivor" (הִשְׁאִיר לוֹ שָׂרִיד) — and the proof is "them" (אוֹתָם), which is the object.

ונתן מלכיהם בידך והאבדת את שמם, for allowing any of these Canaanites to survive would become an ongoing source of irritation for you, as demonstrated by the young Haddad, sole survivor of the people of Edom, who became a lifelong source of irritation (militarily) for such a powerful king as Solomon. (Kings I 11,14 and onwards)

ונתן מלכיהם בידך, "He will deliver their kings into your hand, etc." You will capture them alive. We have proof of this in Joshua 10,26.

ונתן מלכיהם בידך והאבדת את שמם, “He will deliver their kings into your hand and you will cause their reputation to perish.” The few Canaanites remaining in the land during that time will not amount to anything, politically or militarily. Anyone who tries to make a stand against you will fail.

The images of their idols you shall burn in fire; you shall not covet the silver or the gold that is upon them and take it for yourself, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to Hashem your God.

THOU SHALT NOT COVET THE SILVER OR THE GOLD ON THEM. The verse omits the word asher (which), [and the meaning is]: thou shalt not covet the silver or the gold which is on them, these being the ornaments of the idols. Thus he first commanded to burn the idol itself, this [being expressed in the statement] The graven images of their gods shall ye burn, and then he also prohibited the ornaments that are upon them. He further warned, And thou shalt not bring an abomination into thy house, lest thou be a doomed thing like it in order to prohibit benefit derived from any aspect of idol-worship — the idol itself, its appurtenances, its offerings, and its ornaments.

"The silver and gold that are upon them" — or the money you take in exchange for leaving them. "You will be ensnared" (תִּוָּקֵשׁ): the vav here stands in place of the yod, as in "I have laid a snare for you" (יְקֹשְׁתִּי לָךְ).

פן תוקש בו, for sometimes, especially if you are successful with the investment of silver and gold deriving from idolatrous sources, you will attribute this to the goodwill of their idols, which in turn will become a trap for you (theologically speaking).

תשרפון באש, “you are to burn them by fire.” When the Israelites, after seeing the golden calf, addressed it with the words: “these are your deities (pl) Israel!” all types of idolatries were included in that declaration, and there is a rule that the only way an idolatry practiced by a Jew can be nullified is by destroying the idol by burning it. (Compare Talmud tractate Menachot folio 53) The only other way is to reduce it to dust and throw the dust to the winds. פן מוקש בו, “lest you be ensnared by it.” Sometimes one hesitates to destroy such images completely as one does not wish to destroy the value of the gold or silver that was part of it. Moses warns that by harbouring any part of it you are inviting disaster to befall your home and family.

פסילי אלוהיהם תשרפון באש, לא תחמוד כסף וזהב עליהם ולקחת לך, “the images of their gods you shall burn by fire. Do not covet the silver or gold on those idols and do not take it for yourself!” The sages in Avodah Zarah 52 read this verse as follows: “if the silver and gold was meant i.e. cast for the idol, do not covet it, if, however it was (once) part of the idol itself (seeing the idol has been destroyed or neutralized, ולקחת לך you may take it for yourself.” This is because the word פסל may have one of two meanings. One meaning is that it is a molten or carved image, the idol itself; the other meaning of the word is related to פסולת, reject, that which is left over, no longer fit for its original purpose. This is why our verse may also refer to a situation where the rejects, the leftovers of an idol after it has been destroyed is permitted for further use, whereas the idol itself is, of course, totally forbidden for any use.

פסילי אלוהיהם תשרפו באש, “You are to burn their hewn or cast idolatrous images by fire.” Moses tells the people that although he had told them that G’d will conduct the war against the Canaanites [by means of various poisonous insects (verse 20) Ed.] just as He had done against the Egyptians at the sea of Reeds, He will not destroy their deities as He had done at the time when the Israelites had come out of Egypt. This is a chore that the Israelites themselves will have to perform.

You shall not bring an abomination into your house and thereby become banned like it; you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is banned.

תתעבנו כי חרם הוא, you must treat that silver and gold as if it were an abomination; כי חרם הוא, not only would you not benefit by their silver and gold, but neither by their other possessions. It is out of bounds for you, it would bring harm to your other properties, the ones you acquired legally, with the approval of the Torah.

שקץ תשקצנו, “you are to treat it as if it were an abomination (regardless of its market value). The reference is to residual gold and silver of such deities even after they have been dismantled.

ולא תביא תועבה אל ביתך, “and do not bring any abomination into your house.” Our sages derive from this verse indirectly that it is forbidden to rent out one’s house to a pagan as a residence seeing the pagan will introduce various idols into your house. The technical reason why the Jew renting the house to a pagan is transgressing the law is that renting does not confer title of the ground the property is on to the person who has rented the house. Seeing the ground remains the property of the Jew he is held liable (rabbinically) when the pagan practices idolatry in that house (based on Meiri in Avodah Zarah 21). However, we find that some halachic authorities take a more lenient view; these include the Jerusalem Talmud as well as Rabbeinu Chananel, hence our practice of renting houses to Gentiles. Nachmanides takes a more stringent view stating that a responsible person will refrain from renting his house to Gentiles not only in the countries under Catholic rule but also in those under Moslem rule. שקץ תשקצנו , “you shall surely abominate it.” The verse teaches that we must relate to idolatry with a very negative and disdainful attitude and when for some reason speaking about it always make plain how we detest it. We are not to refer to houses of pagan worship by the names they are usually referred to but by some name which belittles them, downgrades them. (Sanhedrin 63). We have a principle that unbecoming speech is forbidden unless such epithets are reserved for idolatry and places where such idolatry is practiced (compare Isaiah 46,1 where the prophet ridicules pagan deities in insulting language: “Bel is bowed, Nebo is cowering.”) The author quotes more such examples from the Talmud where pagan sites are referred to in a derogatory manner.