פרשת בחקתי - אויבים בארץ ישראל מקורות

When I, in turn, have been hostile to them and have removed them into the land of their enemies, then at last shall their obdurate heart humble itself, and they shall atone for their iniquity.

O’ (OR) THEN PERCHANCE THEIR UNCIRCUMCISED HEART BE HUMBLED. “[The word o here has the same meaning] as in ‘o’ (or) it is known that the ox was wont to gore. Another interpretation is [that the word o means] ‘perhaps’ — perhaps then their uncircumcised heart will be humbled; and they then be paid the punishment of their iniquity, meaning that they will achieve atonement for their iniquities through their sufferings.” This is Rashi’s language. The correct interpretation appears to me to be that He is stating: “And I will bring them into the land of their enemies, o (either) until such time when their uncircumcised heart will be humbled, o (or) until the time when they will have been paid the punishment of their iniquity by the length of the exile.”Now it is after [the verse], and they shall confess their iniquity that He should have said, Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob etc., for what reason is there [to state here, between these two verses] and I will bring them into the lands of their enemies, since this is not a time when He would exile them and bring them into the lands of their enemies [since they have just confessed their sins]! Therefore Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra interpreted [the verse to mean]: “This also I did with them, that I punished them by bringing them into the land of their enemies in order to humble their uncircumcised heart.” And He mentioned this here [in order to indicate] that they confessed their sin “because it was I Who brought this about, for even at the time that they became corrupted, My intent was that they should repent and confess.”In my opinion He hints here [by placing the verses in this order] that [even] after the confession [of their sins], He will walk contrary to them and will still bring them into the land of their enemies until their uncircumcised heart is humbled, this being an allusion that He will bring them back into the Land but it will not be subdued before them; rather, they will have adversaries and enemies there, as it is said, And our adversaries said;And it came to pass when our enemies heard. The Land [at that time, when they returned from Babylon], was in the hands of foreign peoples, just as Ezra said in his prayer: Behold, we are servants this day, and as for the Land that Thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold we are servants in it. And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom Thou hast set over us because of our sins; also they have power over us, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

(2) Thus is completed the Book of the Law of the Priests [i.e., the Book of Leviticus], their offerings and their commandments. May G-d the Most High restore matters to their [former] condition, the Levites to their song, the priests to their ministry, and Israel to their mighty habitation. And may our eyes behold Jerusalem, the garden of the Palace; And the Palace upon its wonted place, The Temple and the Innermost Sanctuary upon their firm foundation, and the daughters of Judah in their security. Then will the offering of Judah be pleasant unto the Eternal as in the days of old, and as in their ancient years. And acceptable upon His altar will be the Daily Whole-offerings in their order and the Additional Offerings according to their law. (3) Finished and completed is the Book of Leviticus with the help of G-d.

And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

או אז יכנע לבבם הערל, “perhaps then their unfeeling heart will be humbled.” Rashi understands the word או in our verse as similar to Exodus 21,36 או נודע כי שור נגח הוא, “but if it becomes known that the ox is wont to gore.” [Rashi often views the word או as meaning: “if.” Ed.] Nachmanides considers that the meaning of the word here is that the Torah offers two different scenarios for the duration of the exile. It will either last until the people’s uncircumcised heart will become humbled, or until their sins have been expiated (in full) due to the length of the exile. The word או refers to what follows, i.e. “or the exile will last until the people experience a change of heart, and confess their guilt, etc., or it will last for such a long time that time itself will expiate for their sins as their suffering has been so prolonged.” After the Torah had already mentioned that the people did confess their guilt (verse 40) we would have expected that at that point G’d would remember them kindly, i.e. that He would remember His covenant with the patriarchs, but we would certainly not have expected to be told at this point that G’d would exile people who had just confessed their guilt. In tackling this apparently incomprehensible development described here, Ibn Ezra says that in verse 41 G’d takes credit for having brought about this confession, saying that the reason He had treated them so harshly, exiling them to a foreign and inhospitable country, was designed to bring about their confession and repentance. [In other words, whenever G’d chastises, exacts retribution, the purpose is not revenge, but punishment is G’d’s instrument in eventually refining His people by means of their experiences. Ed.] In my own view, (still Nachmanides writing) the meaning of these verses is that after the people have confessed their guilt G’d would relate to them בקרי, with casualness, bringing them to the land, [the land of Israel] but that they would not conquer it as did Joshua, but it would still be populated by their enemies who would cause them much grief as we know from Nechemyah 4,5 and Ezra chapter 9 (Ezra’s prayer) [The second commonwealth was firmly established as Jewish both physically and spiritually only many years after Zerubavel’s return there with about 43000 of his fellow Jews. In his prayer, Ezra had described himself and his fellow Jews as slaves in their own land. Ed.]