• Please see License for Copyright notice and Licensing information.

1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.

2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:

3 Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.

4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.

6 Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?

7 Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.

8 When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

9 For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

12 So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

14 Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.

19 And when the Lord saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.

20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

22 For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

23 I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.

24 They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.

25 The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs.

26 I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:

27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.

28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.

29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.

32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:

33 Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

34 Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?

35 To me belongs vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.

36 For the Lord shall judge (vindicate) his people, and have compassion on his servants; when he sees that their power is gone, and there is none remaining, slave or free.

37 And he shall say, “Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,”

38 “Which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you, and be your protection.

39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

40 For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.

41 If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.

42 I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.”

43 Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.

44 And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he, and Hoshea the son of Nun.

45 And Moses made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:

46 And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

47 For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

48 And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,

49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:

50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:

51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of MeribahKadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel.

52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.

h.האזינו השמים HEAR YE HEAVENS that I warn Israel, and be ye witnesses to this matter; for so I have told them that ye will be witnesses (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 31:28). Similar is the meaning of ותשמע הארץ (i.e. the verb has the force of an imperative: AND LET THE EARTH HEAR). And why did He call heaven and earth as witnesses against them? Moses thought: “I am a being of flesh and blood (mortal); tomorrow I shall be dead. If the Israelites will once say, ‘We have never accepted the covenant’, who can come and refute them?” Therefore he called heaven and earth as witnesses against them — witnesses that endure forever (Sifrei Devarim 306:15). And a further reason was that if they should act worthily, the witnesses might come and give them their reward: the vine might yield its fruit, the ground give its increase, the heaven bestow its dew; while if they should act sinfully, the hand of the witnesses might first be against them (Rashi uses a phrase similar to that used of human witnesses; cf. e.g. Deuteronomy 13:10): “and He will restrain the heaven, that there be no rain, and the earth will not give its increase; and you shall perish quickly” (Deuteronomy 11:17) — through the attacks of other nations (Tanchuma 5:10:1).

h.יערף כמטר לקחי MY DOCTRINE DROPPETH AS RAIN — This is the evidence that ye will have to give: that in your presence I declare that the Torah which I gave to Israel (לקחי) is life to the world as the rain which is life to the world (cf. Sifrei Devarim 306:17) — even as the heavens drop down dew and rain.

h.יערף means, IT DROPS. Similar is (Psalms 65:12) “[And thy paths] drop fatness” (ירעפון, where רעף = ערף); (Deuteronomy 33:28) “[also his heavens] shall drop down (יערפו) dew”.

h.תזל כטל IT FLOWS AS THE DEW in which everybody rejoices. He adds this because rain involves annoyance to some people, as, for instance, to those on a journey, or a man whose pit (the pit into which the wine flows when the grapes are being pressed) is full of wine (which thus becomes spoiled) (Sifrei Devarim 306:17).

h.כשעירים — This word has the same meaning as in (Psalms 148:8) “stormy (סערה) wind” (the ס and ש interchanging), as the Targum has it: כרוחי מטרא “like winds that bring rain”. How is it with the winds? They strengthen the herbage and promote their growth! So, too, the words of the Torah promote the moral growth of those who study them (Sifrei Devarim 306:18).

h.וכרביבים — these are DROPS OF RAIN. It seems to me that it (the rain) is called רביב because it shoots down like an arrow, just as you say, (i.e. just as the text reads) (Genesis 21:20) “A shooter (רבה) with the bow”.

h.דשא — herbaries in old French. English herbage — the vesture of the ground when it is covered with vegetation (greens).

h.עשב HERB — a single stalk is called עשב and similarly each species of herbs by itself is called עשב (whilst דשא denotes vegetation in general). (Cf. Rashi on Genesis 1:11 and Note thereon).

h.כי שם ה' אקרא WHEN I SHALL CALL THE NAME OF THE LORD [ASCRIBE YE GREATNESS UNTO OUR GOD] — You see, כי is here used in the meaning of “when”, similar to (Leviticus 23:10) “When (כי) ye come into the land”. The meaning is: when I proclaim and mention the Name of the Lord, YE ASCRIBE GREATNESS TO OUR GOD and bless His name. From here they (the Rabbis) derived the law that people make the response, “Blessed be the Name of His glorious Kingdom for ever and ever“, after the recital of a Benediction in the Temple (Sifrei Devarim 306:37; Berakhot 21a; Taanit 16b).

h.הצור תמים פעלו THE ROCK, HIS WORK IS PERFECT — Although He is strong (הצור!) yet when He brings punishment upon those who transgress His will, He does not bring it in a flood of anger, but in deliberate judgment, because תמים פעלו HIS WORK IS PERFECT.

h.אל אמונה A GOD OF FAITHFULNESS — faithful to recompense the righteous their righteousness in the world to come; and even though He defers their recompense, in the end He will prove faithful (אמן) to His promise.

h.ואין עול AND WITHOUT INJUSTICE — even to the wicked He pays the reward for their meritorious deeds, but in this world (Sifrei Devarim 307:11; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 7:10).

h.צדיק וישר הוא — The meaning is: All acknowledge His judgment to be just (צדיק), and this is befitting and right of them (ישר), i.e., He is declared צדיק by the mouth of men, וישר, and it is right for them to declare Him צדיק, as righteous.

h.שחת לו — Take it as the Targum has it: חבילו להון לא לה “Corruption is theirs, not His”.

h.בניו מומם HIS CHILDREN, THEIR FAULT — i.e., they were His children, and the corruption which they wrought is their fault.

h.בניו מומם means: it was the fault of His children not His fault.

h.דור עקש means, [A] CROOKED AND PERVERTED [GENERATION]. עקש has the same meaning as the verb in (Micah 3:9) “and pervert (יעקשו) all equity”. In Mishnaic Hebrew we have (Chullin 56a): a weasel whose teeth are bent and crooked (עקושות).

h.ופתלתל entortille in old French, Engl, twisted: like a thread (פתיל), which one twines and twists round the central strand. The word פתלתל is of the “doubled” words (in which the two last letters are the same), like (Leviticus 13:49): ירקרק. אדמדם; (Psalms 38:31): סחרחר; (‎1 Kings 7:23; Targum Jonathan on): סגלגל‎.

h.הלה׳ תגמלו זאת DO YOU THUS REQUITE THE LORD? — This Is an expression of astonishment: Do you mean to grieve Him Who has the power to punish you, and Who has bestowed all these favours upon you?

h.עם נבל A FOOLISH PEOPLE — i.e., a people that has forgotten all that has been done to them,

h.ולא חכם AND NOT WISE to consider what will result from their actions, viz., that it is in His power to do them good or evil according to their actions (cf. Siphre).

h.הלא הוא אביך קנך IS NOT HE THY FATHER קנך? The last word may mean: Who has acquired (קנה) thee, or, Who has placed thee (more lit., made thee nest, קנן) in a nest of rocks and in strong ground, or. Who has fitted you out (תקן) with everything that will benefit you.

h.הוא עשך HE HATH MADE THEE a nation among the nations of the world,

h.ויכננך AND HATH ESTABLISHED THEE afterwards on every kind of firm base and foundation (כן) (i.e. made you self-contained): out of your midst come your priests, out of your midst your Levites, and out of your midst your kings — a city in which is everything (Sifrei Devarim 309:7; Chullin 56b).

h.זכר ימות עולם REMEMBER THE DAYS OF OLD — what He did to previous generations who provoked Him to anger,

h.בינו שנות דר ודר [CONSIDER] THE YEARS OF GENERATION AFTER GENERATION — the generation of Enosh over whom He caused the waters of the ocean to flow, and the generations of the flood whom He drowned by flood (cf. Sifrei Devarim 310:1). Another explanation is: If you have not set your attention to the past (i.e. if you fail to remember the days of old, then) בינו שנות דר ודר CONSIDER at least THE YEARS OF GENERATION AND GENERATION so that you become conscious of what might happen in the future — that He has the power to bestow good upon you and to make you inherit the blissful days of Messiah and the world to come (cf. Sifrei Devarim 310:5).

h.שאל אביך ASK THY FATHER — these are the prophets who are termed fathers, as it is stated in the history of Elijah that Elisha exclaimed when Elijah departed, (2 Kings 2:12): “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel!” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 310:3).

h.זקניך THY ELDERS — these are the sages,

h.ויאמרו לך AND THEY WILL TELL THEE the events of the former days:

h.בהנחל עליון גוים WHEN THE MOST HIGH DIVIDED TO THE NATIONS THEIR INHERITANCE — when the Holy One, blessed be He gave those who provoked Him to anger their inheritance, He afterwards caused the flood to pass over them and He drowned them (Sifrei Devarim 311:1)

h.בהפרידו בני אדם WHEN HE SEPARATED THE SONS OF ADAM — i.e. when He scattered the generation which witnessed the separation of races, He also had the power to remove them from the world, yet He did not do so, but יצב גבלת עמים HE FIRMLY ESTABLISHED THE BOUNDARIES OF THE NATIONS — He let them (the peoples) remain in existence and did not destroy them,

h.למספר בני ישראל ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — i.e. because of the number of the children of Israel that were in future to descend from Shem’s sons, and in accordance with the number of seventy souls of the children of Israel who went down to Egypt He firmly established גבלת עמים THE NATIONS ACCORDING TO THEIR BOUNDARIES — i.e. seventy separate nations (cf. Sifrei Devarim 311:5).

h.כי חלק ה' עמו FOR THE PORTION OF THE LORD, HIS PEOPLE — Why all this? (Why did He save them from destruction?) because His portion was comprised in them and was destined to come forth. And who is His portion? עמו HIS PEOPLE. And Who is His people?

h.יעקב חבל נחלתו JACOB THE ROPE OF HIS INHERITANCE — and he is the third amongst the patriarchs, who is endowed with three merits: the merit of his grandfather, the merit of his father and his own merit thus altogether three — like a rope (חבל) that is made up of three strands. Only he and his sons became His inheritance, not, however, Ishmael, Abraham’s son, nor Esau, Isaac’s son (cf. Sifrei Devarim 312:3),

h.ימצאהו בארץ מדבר HE FOUND HIM IN A DESERT LAND — for them (Jacob’s sons) he found to be faithful to Him in the desert land, when they accepted His Torah, His sovereignty and His yoke, something that Ishmael and Esau had refused to do, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 33:2) “And He shone from the Seir (Esau) unto them, He appeared from Mount Paran (Ishmael)” (cf. Rashi on that verse).

h.ובתהו ילל ישמן AND IN THE DESOLATE HOWLING SOLITUDE — i.e. in a land of drought and desolation, a place of screeching monsters and ostriches; even there they adhered to their faith and did not say to Moses, “But how can we go out into the wilderness, a place of drought and desolation?” — just as it is stated, (Jeremiah 2:2) “[I remember the loving kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals,] When you went after Me in the wilderness, [in to a land that was not sown]” (cf. Rashi on Exodus 12:39).

h.יסבבנהו HE SURROUNDED HIM — there He surrounded them and encompassed them with the “clouds of Glory”; He surrounded them with the banners on their four sides; he surrounded them by the underside of the mountain (Sinai), which He arched over them like a cask (cf. Sifrei Devarim 313:11).

h.יבוננהו HE INSTRUCTED HIM there in Torah and wisdom. h.יצרנהו HE GUARDED HIM from snakes, serpents and scorpions and from hostile nations,

h.כאישון עינו AS THE אישון OF HIS EYE — that is the black in the eye from which the light comes. Onkelos, however, rendered ימצאהו by “He provided Him” with all He needed in the wilderness. It took the words to be of the same meaning as, (Numbers 11:22) “[Shall the flocks … be slain for them] to suffice (ומצא) them?” and (Joshua 17:16) “The hill is not enough (ימצא) for us”.

h.יסבבנהו — Onkelos renders this by “He made them abide round about His Divine dwelling place” — the “tent of congregation” in the middle and the divisions of the tribes (lit., the banners) on the four sides.

h.כנשר יעיר קנו AS AN EAGLE STIRRETH UP ITS NEST — He guided them with mercy and pity like the eagle which is full of pity towards his young and does not enter its nest suddenly — before it beats and flaps with its wings above its young passing between tree and tree, between branch and branch, in order that its young may awake and have enough strength to receive it (Sifrei Devarim 314:1).

h.יעיר קנו means, AWAKENS ITS YOUNG (i.e. קן, “nest” is a term for young birds).

h.על גוזליו ירחף IT HOVERETH OVER ITS YOUNG — it does not press heavily upon them, but hovers above them — touching them and yet not touching them. So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, (Job. 37:23) “The Almighty, we did not find Him to be too powerful in strength”: when He came to give the Torah to Israel, He did not reveal Himself from one side, (thus concentrating His power at one point), but from four sides, as it is said, (Deuteronomy 33:2) “The Lord came from Sinai, and shone forth from Seir unto them; He appeared from Mount Paran”; also (Habakkuk 3:3) “God came from Teman” — this is the fourth side (Sifrei Devarim 314:1).

h.יפרש כנפיו יקחהו [AS AN EAGLE …] SPREADETH ABROAD ITS WINGS, TAKETH IT — When it comes to remove them (the young) from one place to another, it does not take them with its claws, as other birds do: because other birds are afraid of the eagle that soars so high and flies above them, therefore they carry them (the young) by their (the mother’s) claws for fear of the eagle. But the eagle is afraid only of an arrow, therefore it carries them (the young) on its wings, saying, “It is better that the arrow pierce me than that it should pierce my young”. So, too, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, (Exodus 19:4) “I bare you as on eagles wings” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:4:3): when the Egyptians marched after them and overtook them at the Red Sea, they threw arrows and stone missiles at them, whereupon at once “The angel of God moved … and came between the camp of Egypt [and the camp of Israel]” that it might receive the arrows etc. (Exodus 14:19—20 And Rashi thereon).

h.ה׳ בדד ינחנו THE LORD ALONE GUIDED THEM — i.e. He guided them in the wilderness alone (unassisted) and yet in security,

h.ואין עמו אל נכר AND THERE WAS NO STRANGE GOD WITH HIM — for not one of the gods of the other peoples possessed the power to display its might and to war with them. — Our Rabbis, however, explained it as a promise referring to the future (cf. Sifrei Devarim 315), and so, too, does Onkelos render it. But I say that they (the statements of this chapter) are words of reproof which he said with the view of calling heaven and earth as witnesses against them, and also in order that this song (cf. Deuteronomy 31:21) should be witness, because He knew (Deuteronomy 31:29) that they would in future prove faithless and would bear in mind neither the past (lit., the first) deeds that He performed for them nor those that would come to pass (lit., that would be born), which at a future time He would do for them. For this reason it is necessary to make the text fit in with this and with that (the past and the future). Indeed, the whole section is to be connected with (v. 7) “Remember the days of old (i.e., the past), consider the years of generation after generation” (the future) (cf. Rashi on that verse): Thus has He done for them and thus will He in the future do for them — all this they ought to bear in mind.

h.ירכבהו על במתי ארץ HE MADE HIM RIDE ON THE HIGH PLACES OF THE EARTH — The entire text (vv. 13 and 14) is to be understood metaphorically as the Targum has it (i.e., as referring to Eretz Israel).

h.ירכבהו וגו׳ HE MADE HIM RIDE [UPON THE HIGH PLACES] — This expression is used because the land of Israel is higher than all other countries (Sifrei Devarim 316:1).

h.ויאכל תנובת שדי THAT HE MIGHT EAT THE PRODUCE OF THE FIELDS — This refers to the fruits of the land of Israel which are quicker to shoot (נוב) and to ripen than all the fruits of other countries (Sifrei Devarim 316:2).

h.וינקהו דבש מסלע AND HE MADE HIM SUCK HONEY OUT OF THE ROCK — Indeed it once happened that a man said to his son In Sichnin (a town in Galilee): “Bring me dried figs from the cask”. He went and found the honey flowing over its brim. He said to him, “But this is a vat of honey (not of figs)”. Thereupon he said to him: “Put your hands deep into it and you will bring up figs from it” (Sifrei Devarim 316:3).

h.במתי ארץ is an expression denoting height.

h.שדי has the same meaning as שדה, field.

h.מחלמיש צור (lit., out of the flint of the rock) — The meaning is: the strength and the hardness of the rock. — When it is not connected with the following word (that is, when it is used in the absolute state) it is vowelled חַלָּמִישׁ (as in Deuteronomy 8:15). whilst when it is connected (is in the construct state) it is punctuated חַלְמִישׁ as here.

h.ושמן מחלמיש צור AND OIL OUT OF THE FLINTY ROCK — this refers to the olives of Giscala (a place in Galilee) (Sifrei Devarim 316:4).

h.חמאת בקר וחלב צאן [AND HE GAVE THEM TO EAT] CLOTTED CREAM OF THE HERD AND MILK OF THE FLOCK — This was in the days of Solomon, as it states (1 Kings 5:2—3): “[And Solomon’s provision for one day was …] ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen (בקר) out of the pasture, and an hundred sheep (צאן)(Sifrei Devarim 317:1).

h.עם חלב כרים WITH FAT OF FATTENED LAMBS — This was in the days of the “Ten Tribes” (the period of the Northern Kingdom). as it is said, (Amos. 6:4) “Who eat lambs (כרים) of the flock” (Sifrei Devarim 317:1).

h.חלב כליות חטה [WITH] THE FAT OF KIDNEYS OF WHEAT — This again was in the days of Solomon, as it is said, (1 Kings 5:2) “And Solomon's provision for one day was [thirty measures of fine flour etc.]” (Sifrei Devarim 317:1).

h.ודם ענב תשתה חמר AND THOU SHALT DRINK THE FOAMING BLOOD OF THE GRAPE — this again was in the days of the “Ten Tribes” as it is said, (Amos 6:6) “That drink wine in bowls” (Sifrei Devarim 317:1).

h.חמאת בקר is the cream that is gathered from the surface of the milk.

h.וחלב צאן means, and milk of sheep (i.e. the first word is in the construct state); whenever it is connected with the following word it is vowelled חֲלַב, as in (Deuteronomy 14:21) “in the milk of (בַּחֲלֵב) its mother”.

h.כרים are SHEEP.

h.ואילים has its ordinary meaning: RAMS.

h.בני בשן RAMS OF THE BREED OF BASHAN — These were very fat.

h.כליות חטה KIDNEYS OF WHEAT — wheat that is fat as is the fat of kidneys and the kernels of which are as large as kidneys.

h.ודם ענב AND THE BLOOD OF THE GRAPE [THOU SHALT DRINK חמר] — This means: Thou shalt drink good wine, and taste wine of a fine and good quality.

h.חמר — This word means wine in general in the Aramaic language, but this (the word חמר in our verse) is not a noun but it means excellent in taste, vinos in old French, (English = vinous). — One may also expound these two verses according to the Targum of Onkelos which has: אשרינון על תקפי ארעא וגו׳, He made them dwell upon the strong places of the earth etc.

h.עבית has the meaning of “thickness” (stoutness), it therefore means: “ Thou hast waxed fat”.

h.כשית is the same as כסית (‎ס and ש interchanging). It has the same meaning as in Job 15:27 “Because he hath covered (כסה) his face with his fatness”— like a person who is full of fat inside and whose flanks therefore lie in folds outside, as it goes on to state, (Job 15:27) “and be made folds of fat on his flanks” (Sifrei Devarim 318:6).

h.כשית — There exists a Kal form (as is this word) in the sense of covering, as (Proverbs 12:16) “And a prudent man is covered with (וְכֹסָה) shame”. If it had written כִּשִּׂיתָ with a dagesh in the ש. it would imply, “Thou hast covered others (or other things)” (i.e., it would be transitive), as in the text already quoted, “For he hath covered (כִסָּה) his face”.

h.וינבל צור ישעתו AND HE LIGHTLY ESTEEMED THE ROCK OF HIS SALVATION — This means, He showed contempt for Him and scorned Him, as it is said, (Ezekiel 8:16) “[and, behold, … there were … men] with their buttocks towards the Temple of the Lord” — surely, there can be no greater contempt than this (see Rashi on this verse) (Sifrei Devarim 318:9).

h.יקנאהו means, they made His anger and His jealousy (קנאה) glow.

h.בתועבת WITH ABOMINATIONS — i.e. with abominable deeds such as pederasty and sorcery, of which the term תועבה is used (cf. Leviticus 18:23 and Deuteronomy 18:10—12).

h.לא אלה — Understand this as the Targum does: They sacrifice unto devils in which is no utility, for if there were at least any utility in them to the world (as e.g:, the sun, moon and stars) God’s jealousy would not have been so intense (lit. — doubled) as it is now. (Sifrei Devarim 318:13).

h.חדשים מקרב באו [THEY SACRIFICED … TO GODS] THAT CAME UP REGENTLY — i.e. with which even the heathen nations were not familiar. Indeed, if a heathen saw them he would say, “This is a Jewish idol” (Sifrei Devarim 318:14).

h.לא שערום אבתיכם — This means, which your fathers feared not; more literally it means: Their hair (שער) did not stand up on end because of them — for it is the nature of a person’s hair to stand up out of fear. Thus is it (the word שערום) explained in Sifrei Devarim 318:15. But it is also possible to explain it as being connected with the noun in (Isaiah 13:21) “And שעירים shall dance there”; שעירים are demons (satyrs), and the meaning of our verse would then be: your fathers never made these satyrs.

h.תשי means THOU HAST FORGOTTEN. But our Rabbis explained it thus: whenever He was about to bestow good upon you, you provoked Him to anger and, as it were, weakened (תש) His power so that He could not do you good (Sifrei Devarim 319:3).

h.אל מחללך means, God Who has brought you forth out of the womb. It has the same meaning as in (Psalms 29:9) “[The voice of the Lord] makes hinds to bring forth (יחולל)”, and (Psalms 48:7) “travail (חיל) as that of a woman in childbirth”.

h.מה אחריתם [I WILL SEE] WHAT THEIR END SHALL BE — i.e. what will come upon them in the end.

h.כי דור תהפכת המה FOR THEY ARE A GENERATION OF PERVERSITY - i.e. they change (הפך) My goodwill into anger.

h.לא אמן בם means, My training is not evident in them, for I showed them the good way and they have deviated from it.

h.אמן is of the same meaning as in (Esther 2:7) “And he brought up (אמן) Hadassah”. Nouriture in old French — Another explanation of אמן: it has the same meaning as אמונה, faithfulness, as the Targum takes it (“in whom there is no faithfulness”). At Sinai they said, “We will do and we will hearken” and after a very short time they broke their promise and made the golden calf (Sifrei Devarim 320:6).

h.קנאוני means, they made My anger glow (cf. Rashi on v. 16).

h.בלא אל means, with something that is not a god.

h.בלא עם [I WILL MOVE THEM TO JEALOUSY] WITH THOSE WHO ARE NOT A PEOPLE — i.e. with a nation that has no reputation, as it states e.g. of the Chaldeans (Isaiah 23:13), “Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, this people was not; [the Assyrians founded it …]”, and of Esau it states (Obadia 1:2) “Thou art greatly despicable”.

h.בגוי נבל אכעיסם I WILL PROVOKE THEM TO ANGER WITH A DEBASED NATION — these are the “Minim”, the heretics. So indeed, it states, (Psalms 14:1) “The heretic (נבל) hath said in his heart “There is no God” (Sifrei Devarim 320:10; Yevamot 63b).

h.קדחה means, IT BURNS.

h.ותיקד AND IT SHALL BLAZE in your midst to the very foundations (Rashi merely supplies the words “in your midst” and paraphrases עד שאול תחתית).

h.ותאכל ארץ ויבלה AND IT SHALL CONSUME THE LAND WITH HER INCREASE — i.e., your land and its produce (Rashi means that ארץ does not mean “the ground”, “the soil”).

h.ותלהט AND IT SHALL SET ON FIRE [THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE MOUNTAINS] — i.e. Jerusalem that is founded on the mountains, as it is said, (Psalms 125:2) “Jerusalem, mountains are round about it” (Sifrei Devarim 320:12).

h.אספה עלימו רעות — This means, I will join evil to evil, אספה having the same meaning as in (Isaiah 29:1) “add ye (ספו) year to year”; (Deuteronomy 29:18) “in order to add (ספות) the drunkenness to the thirst”; (Jeremiah 7:21) “Add (ספו) your burnt offerings to your sacrifices”. — Another explanation of אספה: it means, “I will expend” (bring to an end so that there will be no more evils to bring upon them); similar to (Genesis 19:15) “lest thou be brought to an end (תספה).

h.חצי אכלה בם means all my arrows I will use to the full against them (i.e., there will be no arrows left). This curse according to the wording in which the punishment is expressed, implies a blessing: My arrows will come to an end, but they themselves will not come to an end (i.e. they will never be exterminated) (Sifrei Devarim 321:2; Sotah 9a).

h.מזי רעב — Onkelos rendered this by “swollen by famine”. I have, however, no convincing proof for this meaning. In the name of R. Moses the Preacher of Toulouse have heard that it is the same as שעירי רעב, “hairy through hunger”, for an emaciated person grows much hair on his flesh. In the Aramaic language the term for hair is מזיא, as e.g. in the phrase (Megillah 18a) “who was busying himself with his hair (במזיא)“.

h.ולחמי רשף This means, the demons fight with them (לחם means “to battle”), — as it states, (Job. 5:7) “As the בני רשף fly upwards”, and they are the demons (Berachot 5a).

h.וקטב מרירי means and the destruction caused by a demon whose name is מרירי. The word קטב denotes “cutting off”, “destruction”, as in (Hosea 13:14) “I will be thy destruction (קטבך) O grave”.

h.ושן בהמת [I WILL SEND FORTH] THE TEETH OF CATTLE [UPON THEM] (i.e., even the teeth of cattle, not only of wild beasts) — It indeed happened once that lambs bit people and caused their death (Sifrei Devarim 321:8; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 26:22).

h.חמת זחלי עפר THE FURY OF THOSE CRAWLING IN THE DUST — i.e. the poison of serpents that crawl on their bellies upon the ground as the water trickles (זחל) upon the ground. The root זחל properly denotes the passage of water upon the dust, and it is similarly used as here of the passage of anything that proceeds in a shuffling manner upon the ground.

h.מחוץ תשכל חרב WITHOUT, THE SWORD SHALL BEREAVE — This means, outside the city will the sword of the hostile troops bereave them,

h.ומחדרים אימה AND WITHIN, DREAD — when one flees and escapes, the recesses (חדרים) of his heart will vehemently beat out of dread, and he will gradually die through this (Sifrei Devarim 321:11). — Another explanation of ומחדרים אימה: In the house there will be the fear of pestilence, as it says, (Jeremiah 9:20) “For the death is come up into our windows” (cf. Bava Kamma 60b). So, too, did Onkelos translate it. — Another explanation of this verse: מחוץ תשכל חרב — the sword shall destroy them on account of what they have done in the streets (חוצה; the prefix מ denotes the cause: on account of the streets), as it is said, (Jeremiah 11:13) “According to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have you set up altars to the shameful thing” (Sifrei Devarim 321:12); ומחדרים אימה — on account of what they have done in the innermost chambers of their houses, as it is said, (Ezekiel 8:12) “[Have you seen] what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his marbled chambers?” (Sifrei Devarim 321:12)

h.אמרתי אפאיהם means, I said in my heart, “I will אפאה them”. One may explain אפאיהם to mean: I would make them as פאה, i.e. “as grain left in the corner of the field”, to cast them away from Me as something free to all. We find a similar idea to this in Ezra (Nehemiah 9:22), “And thou gavest them kingdoms and nations and didst set them aside as a corner (פאה)” — i.e., as free to all. Thus (under this meaning) did Menachem ben Seruk classify it. Others expound it as the Targum does: My wrath (אף) will fall upon them. This is, however, not correct, for if it were so (i.e., if אפאיהם were connected with אף) it ought to have written אֲאַפְאֵיהֶם with two Alephs, the one as a servile letter (a prefix) and the other as a root letter, just as in (Isaiah 45:5) אאזרך, “I girded thee”, and (Job 16:5) “I would strengthen you (אאמצכם) with my mouth” (in both these cases the first letter of the root is א as it is in אף), and the middle א (that after the פ) would not be proper to be in it at all. Onkelos, however (in connecting the word with אף, anger), rendered it according to the explanation of a Baraitha taught in Sifrei Devarim 322:1 which divides this word into three words, אמרתי אף אי הם, which means, I said in My anger (אף) I will make them as though they were not existent, i.e., that those who are looking for them would ask about them, “Where are they (אי הם)?“.

h.לולי כעס אויב אגור WERE IT NOT THAT THE WRATH OF THE ENEMY WAS אגור — i.e. were it not that the wrath of the enemy were heaped up (אגור) against them to destroy them, and if he does overpower them and destroy them, he will attribute the greatness to himself and to his god, and he will not attribute it to Me. That is the meaning of what is stated immediately afterwords: פן ינכרו צרימו — i.e. lest they treat the matter as arising from a stranger (ינכרו) by attributing their power to a stranger (נכרי) to whom the greatness, however, does not actually belong, פן יאמרו ידינו רמה וגו׳ LEST THEY SHOULD SAY, OUR HAND IS EXALTED etc.

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

h.יבינו לאחריתם THEY WOULD CONSIDER THEIR LATTER END — i.e. they would set their heart to comprehend the ultimate reason for the misfortune of the Israelites,

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

h.אם לא כי צורם מכרם EXCEPT THAT THEIR ROCK HAD DELIVERED THEM — sold them and delivered them into our hands, 'delivrer' in old French (Eng. = deliver).

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

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

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

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

h.ענבי רוש [THEIR GRAPES ARE] GRAPES OF רוש — The word denotes a bitter herb.

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

h.חמת תנינים יינם THEIR WINE IS THE POISON OF DRAGONS — Understand this as the Targum does: הא כמרת תניניא כס פורענותהון which means: Behold, like the gall of serpents is the cup of the drink of their punishment.

h.וראש פתנים AND AS THE VENOM OF VIPERS is their cup — venom, which proves cruel (אכזר) to him who is bitten. The sense is: a cruel enemy will come and exact punishment from them.

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

h.הלא הוא IS NOT THIS — the fruit of their vine and the produce of their fields (i.e. their doings) כמס עמדי STORED UP WITH ME?

h.לי נקם ושלם means, with Me is prepared and held in readiness the punishment of vengeance, and it will recompense them according to their doings. As regards the word ושלם, it means that vengeance will pay them their recompense (וְשִׁלַּם is therefore a verb with the Vau conversive, the subject being the noun נקם which precedes it). — But some explain the word וְשִׁלַּם as a noun, having the same meaning as שִׁלּוּם “recompense”, when it would be of the same grammatical form as the noun in the phrase (Jeremiah 5:13) “And the דִּבֵּר is not in them”, where it has the meaning of דִּבּוּר, “Divine utterance”. And when will I recompense them?

h.לעת תמוט רגלם AT THE TIME WHEN THEIR FOOT SHALL TOTTER — i.e. when the merit of their ancestors upon which they are relying (which is, as it were, their foot, their support) will become exhausted.

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

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

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

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

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

h.כי יראה כי אזלת יד WHEN HE SEETH THAT THEIR POWER IS GOING ON — i.e. when He sees that the power of the enemies is constantly becoming exceedingly stronger over them,ואפס AND THERE IS NOT among them עצור ועזוב.

h.עצור is one who is saved by a עוצר (a “restrainer”) and ruler who would restrain them,

h.עזוב means one saved by an עוזב. Now an עוצר is a ruler who keeps the people in check that they should not march in scattered groups when they go into war against the enemy, maintenue in old French, (Engl = maintainer). Consequently עצור (the passive) is one who is saved through the restraint of the ruler. עזוב is one who is strengthened, as (Nehemiah 3:8) “and they fortified (ויעזבו) Jerusalem unto the broad wall”; (Jer. 49:25) “How is this city of praise not helped (עזובה)!”. In old French anforcede, (English = fortified).

h.ואמר AND HE, the Omnipresent, WILL SAY with regard to them אי אלהימו WHERE ARE THEIR GODS which they served.

h.צור חסיו בו THE ROCK IN WHOM THEY TRUSTED — i.e. the rock beneath which they sought shelter (more lit., with which they covered themselves) from the heat and the cold; that is to say, “in which they trusted” that it would protect them against evil.

h.אשר חלב זבחימו THE FAT OF WHOSE SACRIFICES THEY, i.e. these gods — used to eat, which they offered to them, and which used to drink יין נסיכם THE WINE OF THEIR DRINK OFFERING.

h.יהי עליכם סתרה LET IT BE YOUR PROTECTION — i.e., let that rock (v. 37) be a refuge and shelter to you.

h.ראו עתה SEE NOW — Realise now from the punishment which I have brought upon you and from which there was no one to save you, and, on the other hand, from the help which I will render you and there will be none who can prevent Me,

h.אני אני הוא [THAT] IT IS I, EVEN I — I am He Who have the power to abase (make low) and it is I who have the power to raise,

h.ואין אלהים עמדי AND THERE IS NO GOD WITH ME — i.e. standing against Me to prevent this.

h.עמדי means, who is my equal and like Me.

h.ואין מידי מציל AND THERE IS NONE WHO CAN DELIVER OUT OF MY HAND those who rebel against Me.

h.כי אשא אל שמים ידי FOR I SHALL LIFT UP MY HAND TO HEAVEN — This means; for in My wrath I shall lift up My hand to Myself in an oath.

h.ואמרתי חי אנכי — This is the expression of an oath: I SWEAR AS TRUE AS I LIVE [FOR EVER].

h.אם שנותי ברק חרבי means, IF I SHALL WHET THE BLADE OF MY SWORD, so that it shall have a flash (ברק); splendeur in old French

h.ותאחז במשפט ידי AND MY HAND TAKE HOLD ON JUDGMENT — i.e., on strict justice, relinquishing (i.e. withdrawing) My attribute of mercy from My enemies who have done so much evil unto you, — “I was angry only a little, but they helped to do harm” (Zechariah 1:15). — but My hand shall grasp the attribute of justice to hold fast to it in order to take vengeance

h.אשיב נקם וגו׳ I WILL RENDER VENGEANCE [TO MY ADVERSARIES]. — Our Rabbis derived in the Agada from the wording of the text which states, “And My hand shall hold the משפט fast”, that the nature of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like the nature of human beings: The nature of a human being is that when he shoots an arrow he cannot bring it back (i.e., cannot check its flight); the Holy One, blessed be He, however, shoots His arrows and it is in His power to bring them back as though He is still holding them in hand, for, you see, lightning is His arrow, for it states here ברק חרבי, “Lightning is my weapon, and my hand holds fast to משפט” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:3). This משפט (i.e., משפט according to this explanation) has the meaning of punishment, in old French justicia, the execution of justice (the third definition given by Rashi on Exodus 28:15 of this word)

h.אשכיר חצי מדם I WILL MAKE MY ARROWS DRUNK WITH BLOOD of the enemy,

h.וחרבי תאכל AND MY SWORD SHALL DEVOUR their FLESH.

h.מדם חלל ושביה FROM THE BLOOD OF THE SLAIN AND THE CAPTIVE i.e., this will happen to them because of the sin of those slain in Israel (i.e., on account of their blood; מדם), and because of the captives they have made amongst them,

h.מראש פרעות אויב — because of the sin of even the very first (ראש) breach (פרעות) made by the enemy (פרצות = פרעות); because when the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts punishment from the heathen nations for the wrongs they have inflicted upon Israel, He visits on them their own sin and the sins of their ancestors, from the very first breach they have made in Israel (Sifrei Devarim 332:5).

h.הרנינו גוים עמו SING ALOUD, O YE NATIONS, OF HIS PEOPLE — At that time (when I shall take vengeance on them) the nations will praise Israel (Sifrei Devarim 333:2): “See, how praiseworthy is this people, — that they have cleaved to the Holy One, blessed be He, amidst all the troubles which have passed over them, and have not forsaken Him, for they had constantly experienced His goodness and His excellence”.

h.כי דם עבדיו יקם FOR HE WILL AVENGE THE BLOOD OF HIS SERVANTS — i.e., the shedding of their blood, as the phrase usually implies.

h.ונקם ישיב לצריו AND HE WILL RENDER VENGEANCE TO HIS ADVERSARIES for their robbery and their violence, just as it is stated, (Joel 4:19) “Egypt shall be a desolation and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence against the children of Judah …”, and it states in another passage (Obadiah 10) “For the violence against thy brother Jacob [shame shall cover thee]” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 333:3).

h.וכפר אדמתו עמו means, and He will appease His land and His people for the miseries that have passed over them and for that which the enemy has caused them.

h.וכפר is an expression denoting appeasing and calming, as e.g. (Genesis 32:21) אכפרה פניו which is rendered in the Targum by “I will appease his anger” (cf. Rashi on that verse).

h.וכפר אדמתו AND HE WILL PROPITIATE HIS LAND — and what is His land? עמו HIS PEOPLE — when His people receives comfort His land, too, receives comfort, and so, too, it states, (Psalms 85:2) “Thou hast been favourable, O Lord, unto Thy land” — whereby hast Thou been favourable unto Thy land? The words that follow in the text give the answer: “Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob” (Thy people).

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

h.— (‎32) כי מגפן סדם גפנם FOR AS THE VINE OF SODOM IS THEIR VINE — i.e. the vine of the other nations.

h.ומשדמת עמרה AND OF THE FIELDS OF GOMORRAH etc., — and they do not set their mind to attribute the greatness to Me.

h.ענבמו ענבי רוש THEIR GRAPES ARE GRAPES OF GALL — This is what it stated above לולא כעס אויב אגור WERE IT NOT THAT THE ANGER OF THE ENEMY IS HEAPED UP against Israel to destroy them (cf. Rashi’s explanation of אגור above) — so, too, here: “their grapes are grapes of gall”, to make them (the Israelites) reel and to embitter their lives, and therefore אשכלות מררות למו BITTER CLUSTERS ARE FOR THEM to make them swallow them for what they have done to My children.

h.(33) חמת תנינם יינם WINE OF DRAGONS IS THEIR WINE — i.e., the wine prepared to give them to drink for what they have done to them (יינם “their wine” is not the wine which they prepare, but that which is prepared for them).

h.(34) כמס עמדי IS IT NOT LAID WITH ME — “it” means that cup (which is implied in the word יינם, “the wine prepared for them”), as it states. (Psalms 75:9) “For in the hand of the Lord is a cup … [and the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall drink them]”.

h.(35) לעת תמוט רגלם AT THE TIME THEIR FOOT (i.e., of the enemies) SHALL TOTTER — this is similar to what is said, (Isaiah 26:6) “The foot shall tread it down”.

h.(36) כי ידין ה׳ עמו — In this explanation, in the phrase כי ידין the word כי is used in the meaning of “because” (not as in the former explanation where it means “when”), and ידין is not an expression for sufferings (the meaning it was given above) but it means as much as: For He (God) will plead their cause (take their parts) against the power of their oppressors, כי יראה כי אזלת יד וגו׳, when He sees that the hand of the enemy waxes mighty, etc.

h.(37) ואמר אי אלהימו AND HE SAYS WHERE IS THEIR GOD — i.e., when the enemy (cf. this with Rashi’s previous explanation) will say, “Where is the God of Israel?” — even as Titus, the wicked, asked, when he pierced the curtain of the Holy of Holies (cf. Gittin 56b), just as it is said, (Micah 7:10) “Then my enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her who said unto Me, Where is the Lord, thy God?”

h.(39) ראו עתה כי אני וגו׳ means, then the Lord will display His saving power and will say, SEE NOW, THAT IT IS I, EVEN I — from Me came the evil upon them (the Israelites) and from Me will good come upon them.

h.ואין מידי מציל AND THERE IS NONE THAT CAN DELIVER OUT OF MY HAND — i.e. that can deliver you (the nations) from the evil which I shall now bring upon you.

h.(40) כי אשא אל שמים ידי — The first two words (continuing this exposition) are as much as כי נשאתי, “Because I have lifted up”, and the text means: everlasting I made the heaven the dwelling-place of My Glory, — as the Targum takes it (“For I have established in heaven the place of My Divine Glory”) — therefore there will surely be none that can deliver you, for even when the weak person is above and the strong below, the fear of him that is above lies upon him that is below; how much more is this so when “I”, the strong, am above and you, the weak, are below.

h.— ידי means the place of My Divine Glory, as (Numbers 2:17) “every man by his place (ידו)”, — therefore I had the power to punish you immediately, but I said that I shall live forever, therefore I need not hasten to exact punishment, because I have time for this matter: I live for ever and in later generations can punish them, for I have the power to exact punishment both from the living and the dead. A human king who is always going to die (may die at any moment), takes quick vengeance to punish during his lifetime, because either he or his enemy may die with the result that he would never exact his vengeance from him; but I live for ever, and if they (My enemies) should die and I shall not have exacted punishment from them during their lifetime, I can exact it when they are dead.

h.(41) אם שנותי ברק חרבי — There are many instances where the particle אם is not used conditionally (i.e., it does not signify “if”). Here, also: when I shall whet ברק חרבי MY GLITTERING SWORD AND MY HAND SHALL HOLD FAST ON JUSTICE, etc., etc., all as I have explained above.

h.הוא והושע בן נון HE AND HOSHEA THE SON OF NUN — It was the Sabbath of transmission of office (lit., “of two pairs” of judges): authority was taken from one and given to the other (Sotah 13b). Moses appointed a Meturgeman for Joshua that he (Joshua) should hold in public an Halachic discourse during his (Moses') lifetime in order that the Israelites should not say to him, “During your teacher’s lifetime you did not dare to raise your head!” — And why does it (Scripture) here call him Hosea (since his name had long since been changed to that of Joshua — cf. Numbers 13:16)? In order to indicate that he did not become haughty, for although this dignity had been conferred upon him, he assumed a humble bearing as at the commencement of his career (cf. Sifrei Devarim 334:3).

h.שימו לבבכם SET YOUR HEARTS [UNTO ALL THE WORDS WHICH I TESTIFY AGAINST YOU THIS DAY] — Indeed, it is necessary for a man that his eyes, his heart and his ears, should all be attentively directed to the words of the Torah, for so it states, (Ezekiel 40:4) “Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart [upon all that I shall show thee]” (viz., the plan of the Temple). If in the case of the model of the Temple, which was being made visible to the eyes and was being measured by a rod, it was necessary for a man, according to Scripture, that his eyes, his ears and his heart be attentive, then in order to understand the words of the Torah which are like mountains suspended on a hair (i.e., numerous laws are derived from a single word of the Torah), how much the more is this necessary!

h.כי לא דבר רק הוא מכם FOR IT IS NOT A VAIN THING FOR YOU — it is not for nothing that you are to occupy yourselves laboriously with it. because much reward depends on it, כי הוא חייכם FOR IT IS YOUR LIFE (life is the reward). Another explanation: There is not one empty (ריק i.e., apparently superfluous) word in the Torah that, if you properly expound it, has not a grant of reward attached to it for doing so. You can know this, for so did our Rabbis say: It states (Genesis 36:22) “And Lotan’s sister was Timna”; (Genesis 36:32) “and Timna was concubine [to Eliphaz, Esau’s son]”. Why is this stated? Because she (Timna) said, “If I am unworthy to become his (Elphaz's) wife, would that I would become his concubine!”. And why all this (why does Scripture enter into all these details of her birth and marriage; of what interest is it to us)? To tell you in what distinction Abraham was held — that rulers and kings (Lotan was one of the chieftains of Seir, cf. Genesis 36:20—21) were eager to connect themselves by marriage to his descendants (Sifrei Devarim 336:1; cf. Rashi on Genesis 36:12).

h.וידבר ה' אל משה בעצם היום הזה AND THE LORD SPAKE TO MOSES THAT SELF SAME DAY — In three places in Scripture the expression בעצם היום הזה is used. It states in the narrative of Noah (Genesis 7:12) בעצם היום הזה entered Noah … [into the ark]” — which means in the glare of full daylight. Because his contemporaries said: By this and by that we swear; (cf. Note 2 on Deuteronomy 1:1): If we notice him about to do so we will not let him enter the ark, and not only that, but we will take axes and hatchets and we will split the ark in pieces. Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “See, I will let him enter at midday and anyone who has power to prevent it, let him come and prevent it!” Of Egypt, too, it states, (Exodus All. 11) “The selfsame day the Lord did bring [the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt]”: because the Egyptians said: By this and by that! If we notice them about to do so, we will not let them leave, and not only that, but we will take swords and other weapons and will kill them. Thereupon said the Holy One, blessed be He, “See, I will bring them forth in the middle of the day, and anyone who has power to prevent it, let him come and prevent it!” Here, too, regarding Moses’ death, it states בעצם היום הזה, because the children of Israel said, By this and by that! If we notice him about to ascend the mountain, we will not let him do so, — the man who brought us out of Egypt, and divided the Red Sea for us, and brought the Manna down for us, and brought a flight of quails for us, and made the “well” rise, and gave us the Torah: we will not permit him to go!” Thereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Behold, I will bring him unto his resting place in the middle of the day, etc.” (Sifrei Devarim 337; cf. Rashi on Genesis 17:23).

h.כאשר מת אהרן אחיך [AND DIE] … AS AARON THY BROTHER DIED — i.e., and die by that death which you witnessed and for which you longed. For Moses stripped Aaron (before the latter’s death) of his first (i.e., the upper) garment, similarly the second, and similarly the third, and attired Elazar with them, and thus he (Aaron) beheld his son in his new dignity. Moses then said to him, “Aaron, my brother, ascend the bier”, and he ascended; — “Stretch out your hand”, and he stretched it out; — “Stretch out your leg”, and he stretched it out; “Close your eyes”, and he closed them; — “Close your mouth”, and he closed it, and thus did he pass away! Thereupon Moses said, “Happy is he who will die a death like this!” (Sifrei Devarim 339:3; cf. Rashi on Numbers 20:26).

h.על אשר מעלתם בי BECAUSE YE TRESPASSED AGAINST ME — i.e., because you made the people to trespass against Me.

h.על אשר לא קדשתם אותי BECAUSE YE SANCTIFIED ME NOT — i.e. because you brought it about that I was not sanctified; I said to you, ‘Speak to the rock!” They, however, smote it and had therefore to smite it twice. Had they, however, spoken to it, and it had given forth its water without being smitten, the Name of the Heaven would have been sanctified; for the Israelites would have said, “How is it with the rock which is subject neither to reward nor to punishment, for when it acts meritoriously it receives no reward and when it sins it is not punished? It fulfils so obediently the command of its Creator! — how much the more should we do so!”

h.כי מנגד means, BECAUSE FROM THE DISTANCE.

h.תראה וגו׳ YOU SHALL SEE [THE LAND] etc. — If you do not see it now, you will not see it at any time during your lifetime,

h.ושמה לא תבוא SINCE YOU SHALL NOT COME THERE — for I know that it is dear unto you, therefore I tell you (v. 49) “Ascend and see it!”.