Manifold Punishment/2

Manifold Punishment

Exegetical Approaches

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Punished More than Deserved

Sometimes, people are punished more severely than their sins call for.  This position subdivides in how it explains why this is justified:

Natural Order

Since this world is run via natural order, it is possible that the nation might receive more than its proper share of retribution.

Sources: Keli YekarVayikra 26:18About R. Shelomo Ephraim Luntschitz, ר׳ שלמה מאריגיcited by Shadal Yeshayahu 40:2About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto,

Divine providence vs. natural order

Punishment in this world or the next

Vicarious Punishment of Children

Hashem's system of justice allows for the vicarious (or collective) punishment of children for their parent's sins, resulting in undue suffering of the descendant.

Sources:Rashi, R. Yosef KimchiYirmeyahu 16:18, RalbagYehoshua 7:1About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelYeshayahu 40:2About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel #3,

Punishment Less Harsh than Appears

The verse's description of the punishment makes it sound worse than it really is.  As such, the nation did not really suffer more than deserved.

Sources:perhaps RashbamVayikra 26:18About R. Shemuel b. Meir, Ibn EzraVayikra 26:18Yeshayahu 40:2About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Eliezer of BeaugencyYeshayahu 40:2About R. Eliezer of Beaugency, Akeidat YitzchakTorah 37Torah 70Torah 88About R. Yitzchak Arama, AbarbanelYeshayahu 40:2About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, ShadalYeshayahu 40:2About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto, MalbimYeshayahu Beur HaInyan 40:2About R. Meir Leibush Weiser

"כִּי לָקְחָה מִיַּד י"י כִּפְלַיִם בְּכׇל חַטֹּאתֶיהָ" – Though these sources agree that in reality the people did not suffer as much as the verse suggests, they differ in how they explain why the prophet makes it sound as if they did:

• Exaggeration as Comfort – According to most of these sources,¹ when comforting another, it is natural to exaggerate the afflictions that the person suffered. The individual does not want to hear that they deserved what they received, but that their suffering was more than their due. Thus, Hashem, too comforted the nation in this manner.
• Relative punishment – Ibn Ezra, in contrast, suggests that the prophet is not intentionally exaggerating the punishment, but rather speaking in relative terms.  Yeshayahu tells the people that they received double the punishment that other nations received (presumably because they sinned more than others).²

"וְיָסַפְתִּי לְיַסְּרָה אֶתְכֶם שֶׁבַע עַל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם" – The same general possibilities mentioned above can be applied to the verse in Vayikra as well.

• Exaggeration as threat – Hashem intentionally exaggerates when speaking of the punishment the people are to receive, so as to frighten them into obedience.
• Relative punishment– According to Akeidat Yitzchak, the punishment mentioned is a relative one.  Hashem tells the nation that if they do not improve their ways, they will be punished seven times the amount they had been punished previously.

Sin More Egregious than Appears

The sin for which the nation is punished is actually more severe than the verse makes it appear.  As such, the harsh punishment described is justified.

Sources:Sifra Vayikra26:18About the Sifra Vayikra, Eikhah RabbahIntroductionAbout Eikhah Rabbah, RashiVayikra 26:18About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorVayikra 26:18About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RadakYeshayahu 40:2About R. David Kimchi, Paneach RazaVayikra 26:18About R. Yitzchak b. Yehuda, AbarbanelYeshayahu 40:2About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel #2, Or HaChayyimVayikra 26:18About R. Chayyim b. Atar

"וְיָסַפְתִּי לְיַסְּרָה אֶתְכֶם שֶׁבַע עַל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם" – Most of these sources claim that the seven-fold punishment is measure for measure punishment for the nation's seven-fold transgression.³ As such, there is a one to one correspondence between sin and punishment, not seven to one.⁴

"כִּי לָקְחָה מִיַּד י"י כִּפְלַיִם בְּכׇל חַטֹּאתֶיהָ" – Radak⁵ explains that the "double punishment" refers to the two exiles, each a punishment for its own set of sins. The nation's many crimes (כׇל חַטֹּאתֶיהָ) merited them two stints in exile.  According to this reading, the prophecy of Yeshayahu speaks of Messianic times. Yeshayahu comforts the nation by telling them that since they have already suffered through two exilic periods, their punishment is finally complete, and the final redemption is at hand.

"Seven" and "Double": Literal or figurative? These sources read each of the terms literally, suggesting that Hashem speaks of either seven or two punishments (and not simply "many" punishments), to match either seven or two sets of sins.

Who is punished? The commentaries on Vayikra understand the punishment to be inflicted on one generation, who has itself erred in multiple ways, while Radak on Yeshayahu assumes that the prophet is speaking of the nation's sins and retribution during two distinct generations.

Divine providence – This approach assumes that Hashem punishes the nation exactly as it deserves, and no more.  As these verses speak only on the national level, it is not clear if these sources would say the same regarding individual providence.

World to Come – The existence of a World to Come does not preclude justice in this world; thus Hashem never punishes Israel unduly.  It is even possible that the World to Come is reserved for individual justice, while all justice pertaining to the nation as a whole must be meted out already in this world.

¹ See R. Eliezer of Beaugency, Akeidat Yitzchak, Abarbanel, and Shadal.

² Malbim raises a third possibility – that the people received double the punishment but for half the time.  Thus, if they were supposed to suffer 50 lashes a day over 10 years, they instead received 100 a day over 5 years.  He compares this to the enslavement in Egypt.  Though the people were supposed to be in Egypt for 400 years, they were instead there for only 210 years, but under much harsher conditions.

³ See the lists brought by R. Yosef Bekhor ShorVayikra 26:18About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor and Or HaChayyimVayikra 26:18About R. Chayyim b. Atar. Each points to the immediately preceding verses in Vayikra, which speak of various iniquities committed by the nations.

⁴ The phrase "וְיָסַפְתִּי לְיַסְּרָה אֶתְכֶם שֶׁבַע עַל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם" appears three times in Vayikra 26 (verses 18, 24 and 28) ) and one final time (verse 21) with a slight difference, "וְיָסַפְתִּי .עֲלֵיכֶם מַכָּה שֶׁבַע כְּחַטֹּאתֵיכֶם" This version of the phrase might support the idea that the punishment was measure for measure - seven times, just like your (seven) sins.

⁵ See also the second possibility raised by Abarbanel.