שופטים ו׳

ויעשו הרע. עד כאן נאמר 'ויוסיפו', שהיה נצבר חטא על חטא, אבל בשירה זו נמחל להם כל אשר עשו, ועכשיו מתחילין לחטוא, כך נדרש באגדת תהלים (מדרש תהלים יח ו):

Acted wickedly. Until this period, Scripture states, "They resumed [acting wickedly]" since their iniquities accumulated. However, through this hymn¹Sung by Devorah and Barak [ch.5]. they were granted forgiveness for all that they had perpetrated.²Anyone rescued miraculously who then sings a hymn of praise forgiven all his sins, as if he had been newly created. (Yalkut, 60) But now they began sinning anew. This interpretation is in Agadas Tehilim.

המנהרות. (תרגום:) מטמוריתא, ובלשון לע"ז: וודו"ש, ועל שם שעושין בהם מאור קטן במקום שאין ניכר קוראן מנהרות, לויישיט"ש בלע"ז:

Retreats. Hidden places.³This is Targum Yonasan’s translation. In old French, "voutes". Because a slight bit of illumination is positioned in them in some inconspicuous spot, they are referred to as מִנְהׇרוֹת, lit. "glimmerings", "lucerno" in old French.

מערות. גרוטי"ה בלע"ז:

Caves. "Grotte" in old French

מצדות. פליישדי"ץ בלע"ז, על שם שעושים ביערים על ידי הפלת האילנות סביב סביב:

Stockades. "Palliser" in old French, "pales", as it is constructed in the forest by felling trees around its perimeter.⁴The trees serve as the pales or stakes forming the stockade.

הם ומקניהם. לרעות את התבואה:

With their cattle to graze on the produce.

איש נביא. זה הנביא הוא פנחס, ב"סדר עולם" (פרק ב):

A prophet. This prophet was Pinchas.⁵ See above, 2:1. Taken from Seder Olam.

אבי העזרי. מבני אביעזר בן גלעד בן מנשה:

The Aviezrite. One of the sons of Aviezer ben Gilod ben Menasheh.

וגדעון בנו. אביו היה חובטן והוא כוברן, אמר לו: אבא, זקן אתה ואם יבאו המדינים לא תוכל לנוס, לך אתה ואני אחבט:

His son Gidon. His father had been threshing, while he sifted. He told him, "Father, you are elderly. If the enemies come, you will never be able to escape. You leave, and I will thresh."

בגת. בקורות בית הבד:

In the wine press. With beams of an olive press.

ה' עמך גבור החיל. שנתן לך כח כזה:

Adonoy is with you, man of supreme power. Since He infused you with such power.

ויש ה' עמנו. ואם יש ה' עמנו, למה מצאתנו וגו':

If [lit. and] Adonoy is with us.⁶Not “And Adonoy is with us,” as the literal reading would indicate, but “If Adonoy is with us,” as demonstrated by the following phrase cited by Rashi, “why has [all this] occurred, etc.”. If Adonoy is with us, why has [all this] occurred, etc.

אשר ספרו לנו אבותינו. פסח היה, אמר לו: אמש הקרני אבא את ההלל, ושמעתיו שהיה אומר (תהלים קיד א): בצאת ישראל ממצרים, 'ועתה נטשנו', אם צדיקים היו אבותינו, יעשה לנו בזכותם, ואם רשעים היו, כשם שעשה להם נפלאותיו חנם כן יעשה לנו, ואיה כל נפלאותיו:

Which our forefathers recounted to us. It was Pesach, and he told him, "Last night father recited the Hallel for me, and I heard him read, "When Yisroel departed from Egypt"⁷ “…the sea observed and fled, the Yardein turned back, etc.” (Tehilim, 114)—but now He has abandoned us. If our forefathers were saintly, let Him act in our behalf in their merit; and if they were wicked, then, just as He worked His wonders for them gratuitously, so, let Him act in our behalf. Where are all His marvels?"⁸Yalkut, 62.

ויפן אליו. הקדוש ברוך הוא בעצמו:

Turned to him. The Holy One, blessed is He, Himself.⁹Gidon was visited by Adonoy himself in the merit of his advocacy of Yisroel. (Yalkut, ibid)

בכחך זה. בכח הזכות הזה שלמדת סניגוריא על בני, כך דרש רבי תנחומא (מדרש תנחומא שופטים ד):

By this power of yours. By the power of the merit of your advocacy of my children.¹⁰Ibid. This is R' Tanchuma's explanation.

הנה אלפי. האלף שאני נמנה בו להיות תחת שר האלף, הוא האלף הדל בכל אלפי מנשה:

Behold, my unit [lit. thousand]. The thousand member unit of which I am a constituent, under the command of its captain, is the most inadequate unit among all the units in Menasheh.

שאתה. כמו שאתה:

That you. The same as שֶׁאַתׇּה, with the segol vocalization.¹¹ שֶׁאַתׇּה, with the “kamatz” vocalization, which appears in the text, is the same as שֶׁאַתׇּה “that you.”

קמח מצות. למדנו שפסח היה, יום תנופת העומר, לכך נאמר (לקמן ז יג) והנה צליל לחם שעורים מתהפך וגו':

Matzos containing flour. We learn that it was Pesach, the day the Omer offering was waved.¹²On the second day of Pesach. (Vayikra, 23:11) This is why it is said,¹³Below, 7:13. "Behold, a toasted barley bread was careening,¹⁴ “… into the camp of Midyon. It reached the tent and struck it down.” This was in the merit of the Omer offering (Rashi, there, Yalkut, 62), which was made of barley. etc."

והמרק. והרוטב:

Soup. Broth.

אהה. לשון דאגה, כלומר מה תהא עלי:

Aahha. This denotes apprehension, as if to say, "What will become of me?"

כי על כן ראיתי. כי על אשר ראיתי מלאך ה', לכך אני דואג וצועק 'אהה':

This, because I have seen. Because I have seen an angel of Adonoy—this is why I am apprehensive and exclaim "Aahha!"

ויקרא לו. גדעון למזבח:

Entitled it. Gidon named the altar.¹⁵The reading is, “[He] entitled it, ‘Adonoy is peace,’” not “Adonoy entitled it, ‘Peace.’”.

ה' שלום. ה' הוא שלומנו:

Adonoy is peace. Adonoy is our peace.

פר השור. פר הבחור, שהשור בן יומו קרוי שור:

Bullock [lit. bull ox]. The young bull, as even a day old ox is called an "ox".¹⁶The inference of “Bull ox” is a bull that qualifies as an ox. Since even a day old bull qualifies, the reference is to a young bull.

ופר השני. (תרגום:) ותורא תנינא:

A second bull.וְתוֹרָא תִּנְיׇנׇא, "A second bull".¹⁷This is Targum Yonasan’s rendition.

שבע שנים. (תרגום:) דאיתפטם שבע שנין לעבודה זרה. שמונה דברים הותרו אותו הלילה: מוקצה, אשרה, ולילה, ובמה וכו', כדאיתא בתמורה (כח ב):

Seven year. Which had been fattened for seven years to be brought as an idolatrous sacrifice. Eight prohibitions were suspended¹⁸ 1. The second bull, which had been designated as an idolatrous sacrifice, was now brought as an offering. 2. Utensils used previously for the Asheirah sacrifices were now used. 3. The wood of the Asheirah tree was used as fuel. 4. The offering was brought at night. 5. It was brought on a personal altar outside the Mishkon at Shiloh. 6. The second bull had been actually worshipped as a deity. 7. Gidon was not a Kohein. 8. He did not use the required sacred utensils. that night; 'designated', 'asheirah', 'night', 'altar', etc., as enumerated in Temurah.¹⁹29:a.

ראש המעוז. ראש הסלע:

Top of the bulwark. Top of the rock.

האתם תריבון לבעל. בשביל הבעל:

You want to fight for [lit. "to"] the baal? For the sake of the baal.

תושיעון אותו. תנקמו נקמתו, וכן (שמואל א כה לב): והושיעה ידי לי, דדוד בנבל:

To avenge [lit. rescue] him. To exact vengeance for him.²⁰The literal translation of תּוֹשִׁיעוּן, “to rescue,” does not apply, since the idol was no longer endangered. The alternate interpretation, “to avenge,” is correct here. Similarly, "by my own hand exacting my vengeance,"²¹Shmuel 1, 25:33. הוֹשִׁיעָה is interpreted as “avenge.” by David concerning Novol.

אשר יריב לו. בשבילו:

Whoever fights for [lit. "to"] him. For his sake.

עד הבקר. עד הבקר המתינו:

Wait until morning. Until morning, wait.

אם אלהים הוא. יריב הוא לעצמו ריבו ונקמתו, וכדי לדחותם עד שיברח גדעון היה אומר כן:

If he is a god let him fight his own battle and exact his own vengeance. To rebuff them until Gidon could escape, he said this.

ירב בו. בגדעון אצל ריב נופל עם, או את, או בו, כמו (בראשית לא לו): וירב בלבן, אבל 'לו' אינו נופל על הלשון, וכל 'לו' הכתובים כאן 'בשביל' הם:

Fight against him. Against Gidon. In relation to רַיב, "fight", the proper term is עִם, or אֶת, or בּוֹ, "with" [him], as in "he fought with Lavan".²²Bereishis, 31:36. However, לוֹ, lit. "to", is not the proper term. Every לוֹ mentioned here is interpreted as "for his sake."

רוח ה'. רוח גבורה:

The Divine spirit. The spirit of valor.

ויזעק אביעזר. כל המשפחה:

Aviezer gathered. The entire clan.

ויהי כן. שהיה טל על הגזה לבדה יותר מבשאר מקומות, כמו שהוא אומר (פסוק לז): מלא הספל מים, אבל 'על כל הארץ חורב' לא נתקיים, שהברית כרותה לטל שאינו נעצר (תענית ג א):

That is what occurred. The dew condensed on the fleece alone more than everywhere else, as it is said, "a full bowl of water." However, "while all of the ground is dry" did not materialize, as a Divine covenant assures perpetual dew fall.

ויזר. לשון מכבש, וכן (ישעיהו א ו): לא זורו ולא חובשו, לא נחבשו להוציא הלחה:

He squeezed. The word connotes pressure. Similarly, "They were neither pressed nor bandaged."²³Yeshaya, 1:6. They were not strapped in bandages to draw out the discharge.