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Biblical Parallels Index – Shemot 34

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Ramban Bemidbar 14:17-20רמב״ן במדבר י״ד:י״ז-כ׳

(17-20) AND NOW, I PRAY THEE, LET THE POWER OF THE ETERNAL BE GREAT, ACCORDING AS THOU HAST SPOKEN, SAYING. "And what is that utterance? The Eternal is long-suffering — both to the righteous and to the wicked. When Moses ascended to heaven [to receive the Torah], he found the Holy One, blessed be He, writing: The Eternal is long-suffering. Whereupon he [Moses] said to Him: 'To the righteous.' But G-d answered him, 'Also to the wicked!' Moses then said, 'The wicked — let them perish!' Whereupon G-d said to him: 'By your life! You will [eventually] need to resort to this' [attribute — that G-d is long-suffering even with sinners]. When the Israelites had sinned because of the golden calf and spies, and Moses prayed to G-d that He be long-suffering with them, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'Did you not tell Me that this is [only] for the righteous!' Whereupon Moses answered Him, 'But did You not tell me that it is also for the wicked. Let then the power of the Eternal be great to do as You have spoken.'" These are the words of Rashi, based on the interpretation of Agadah. The way of Truth you will recognize because G-d's Name in this context is written with Aleph Daleth (A-donoy) — [a Name which alludes to the attribute of judgment], and Moses meant to say that the greatness be in the power which is mercy, since it was the attribute of judgment that was directed against them. Now Moses mentioned among the [Divine] attributes long-suffering, and plenteous in loving kindness, but he did not mention "truth" [although it is also one of the Thirteen Attributes], for according to the attribute of truth they would have been guilty. Nor did Moses mention keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, because Moses did not pray [for mercy] here on the basis of the merit of the patriarchs, and [therefore] he did not mention Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at all in this prayer. The reason [for not mentioning them] was because the Land was given to the patriarchs, and it is from them that they were to inherit it, but they rebelled against their ancestors, and did not want the gift which the patriarchs desired very much, so how could he say now, [Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants,] to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self, … and all this Land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, since they were saying: "We do not want this gift!" Moses [mentioned here the attribute of forgiving iniquity and transgression but he] did not say and sin, because these people were wilful transgressors and sinners. But I do not know why he did not mention [the attributes] merciful and gracious. Perhaps Moses knew that judgment was directed against them and He would never forgive them; therefore he prayed only that [G-d be] long-suffering, and should not destroy them as one man, and should not slay them like sheep in the wilderness where they would die in a plague. And since Moses only prayed now for [G-d to be] long-suffering, G-d said to him, I have pardoned according to thy word, meaning that "I will be long-suffering towards them and great in loving kindness." He [Moses] mentioned visiting the iniquity of the fathers, meaning to say that [even] if He should see fit not to erase their iniquity, He should [at least] visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children, [thereby mitigating the severity of the punishment from upon one generation], and he should be long-suffering with them in meting out punishment upon them. It was because of this [prayer of Moses] that there was a [Divine] decree to fix a weeping for them on that night throughout their generations, since He visited their sins upon their seed. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that "since we find the verse, Surely they shall not see the Land after G-d said, I have pardoned according to thy word, we know that the expression 's'lach na' (pardon, I pray Thee) [is a prayer that G-d be] long-suffering to them [but not that they be totally forgiven]. The same meaning also applies to 'v'nislach lo' (and he shall be pardoned), which implies [that G-d will be long-suffering with him] until he repents sincerely." The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the term s'lichah means remittance of punishment, as Onkelos rendered it: [s'lach na — "Let go please"]. And the offerings [which one brings for a sin committed in error] remove the punishment for the error from him [the person who brings the offering]. So also, For Thou, Eternal, art good 'v'salach' [means "and are ready to remit punishment"]. And G-d said, 'salachti' according to thy word meaning [that He has remitted punishment] from the people as a whole, and will not smite them with a pestilence and destroy them, and make of Moses a nation greater and mightier than they while they and their seed will perish from the earth; instead, He will pardon them — so that their children [at least] will inherit the Land, and they [themselves] will not die in a plague, for He decreed that their carcasses perish in the wilderness and that each will die when his day comes. Now in the Book of Deuteronomy in mentioning the sin of the golden calf Moses recalled the prayer which He had prayed on their behalf, saying, And I fell down before the Eternal, as at the first etc. and he explained there what the prayer was, And I prayed unto the Eternal, and said etc., and he also mentioned his prayer on behalf of Aaron. But in [recounting] the affair of the spies he did not mention at all that he had interceded on their behalf. All this is for the reason that I have mentioned, namely, that he did not pray that G-d should forgive them [completely], but rather that He should remit their punishment and be long-suffering with them, and should visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children. Thus his prayer on their behalf was not a complete one [inasmuch as he was not able to intercede for total forgiveness], and therefore [when speaking to the second generation in the Book of Deuteronomy] he did not mention it to them, since they might have complained against him [for not praying for total forgiveness, without realizing that he could not do so because of the greatness of their parents' sin].

(יז-כ) יגדל נא כח י״י כאשר דברת לאמר – ומהו הדבור: י״י ארך אפים – לצדיקים ולרשעים. שכשעלה משה למרום מצאו להקב״ה שהיה כותב: י״י ארך אפים. אמר לו: לצדיקים, אמר לו: אף לרשעים. אמר לו: רשעים יאבדו. אמר לו: חייך שתצטרך לדבר זה. כשחטאו בעגל ובמרגלים ונתפלל לפניו בארך אפים, אמר לו הקב״ה: והלא אמרת לי לצדיקים. אמר לו: והלא אמרת לי אף לרשעים, יגדל נא כח י״י לעשות דבורך. לשון רבינו שלמה מדברי אגדה (בבלי סנהדרין קי״א.). ודרך האמת תכיר: מפני שהשם במקום הזה כתוב באל״ף דל״ת, יאמר שיהיה הגדולה בכח רחמים, כי מדת הדין היא שמתוחה כנגדם, והזכיר במדות: ארך אפים ורב חסד, ולא הזכיר: אמת, כי במדת אמת יהיו חייבים. ולא הזכיר: נוצר חסד לאלפים (שמות ל״ד:ז׳), כי לא בזכות אבות נתפלל משה עכשיו, ולא הזכיר בתפלה הזאת לאברהם ליצחק וליעקב כלל, והטעם בעבור שהארץ נתנה לאבות ומהם יירשוה, והם מורדים באבותם ולא היו חפצים במתנה שלהם אשר האבות היו בוחרים בה מאד, והיאך יאמר: אשר נשבעת להם בך, וכל הארץ הזאת אתן לזרעכם (שמות ל״ב:י״ג), והם אומרים: אי איפשנו במתנה זו. ולא הזכיר: וחטאה, בעבור שאלו מזידים ופושעים. ולא ידעתי למה לא הזכיר: רחום וחנון, אולי ידע משה כי הדין מתוח עליהם ולא ימחול לעולם, על כן לא בקש רק אריכות אפים, שלא ימיתם כאיש אחד, ולא ישחטם כצאן במדבר, שימותו במגפה. ובעבור שלא בקש עתה רק אריכות אפים, אמר לו: סלחתי כדבריך (במדבר י״ד:כ׳) – שאהיה להם ארך אפים ורב חסד. והזכיר: פוקד עון אבות – לאמר שאם יראה שלא למחות עונם, יפקוד עון אבות על בניהם, ולארך אפיו יקחם. ומזה היתה הגזרה לקבוע להם בכיה לדורות בלילה הזה, כי פקד עונם על זרעם. ואמר ר׳ אברהם (אבן עזרא במדבר י״ד:י״ט) כי בעבור שמצאנו: אם יראו את הארץ (במדבר י״ד:כ״ג) אחר: סלחתי כדבריך (במדבר י״ד:כ׳), ידענו כי מלת: סלח נא – אריכות אף. וכן: ונסלח לו (ויקרא ד׳:כ״ו) – עד שיעשה תשובה שלימה. והנכון בעיני: כי סליחה – הנחת העונש, כדברי אנקלוס, והקרבנות מעלים עונש השוגג מעליו. וכן: טוב וסלח (תהלים פ״ו:ה׳). ואמר: סלחתי כדברך (במדבר י״ד:כ׳) – לעם בכללו, שלא יכם בדבר ויורישם ויעשה אותו לגוי גדול ועצום ממנו, והם וזרעם יאבדו מן הארץ, אבל יסלח להם שירשו בניהם את הארץ ושלא ימותו הם במגפה, וגזר שיתמו פגריהם במדבר וימותו שם כל אחד בבוא יומו. והנה במשנה תורה הזכיר משה במעשה העגל תפלתו אשר התפלל עליהם, ואמר: ואתנפל לפני י״י כראשונה וגו׳ (דברים ט׳:י״ח) ופירש שם תפלתו: ואתפלל אל י״י ואומר וגו׳ (דברים ט׳:כ״ו), והזכיר גם תפלתו על אהרן (דברים ט׳:כ׳). ולא הזכיר להם במרגלים שהתפלל עליהם כלל. וכל זה מן הטעם שהזכרתי, כי הוא לא התפלל למחול להם, אלא שבקש שישא להם, ויאריך אפו, ויפקד עון אבות על בנים, ולא היתה תפלתו שלימה עליהם, ועל כן לא הזכירה להם, כי היו יכולים לטעון עליו.