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25 [1] AND THE LAND WAS DEFILED, THEREFORE DID I VISIT THE INIQUITY THEREOF UPON IT, AND THE LAND VOMITED OUT HER INHABITANTS. Scripture was very strict in forbidding these sexual relationships on account of the Land which becomes defiled by them, and which in turn will vomit out the people that do [these abominations]. Now forbidden sexual relationships are matters affecting personal conduct, and do not depend on the Land, [so why should the Land be affected by these personal immoral acts]? But the secret of the matter is in the verse which states, *When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the borders of the people*, etc. *For the portion of the Eternal is His people* etc. The meaning thereof is as follows: *The Glorious Name* created everything and He placed the power of the lower creatures in the higher beings, giving over each and every nation *in their lands, after their nations* some known star or constellation, as is known by means of astrological speculation. It is with reference to this that it is said, *which the Eternal thy G-d hath allotted unto all the people*, for He allotted to all nations constellations in the heavens, and higher above them are the angels of the Supreme One whom He placed as lords over them, as it is written, *But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me*, and it is written, *lo, the prince of Greece shall come*. They are called “kings,” as it is written [there], *and I was left over there beside the kings of Persia*. Now *the Glorious Name* is *G-d of gods, and Lord of lords* over the whole world. But the Land of Israel, which is in the middle of the inhabited earth, is the inheritance of the Eternal designated to His Name. He has placed none of the angels as *chief, observer, or ruler* over it, since He gave it as a heritage to His people who declare the Unity of His Name, the seed of His beloved ones [i.e., the patriarchs]. It is with reference to this that He said, *and ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine*, and it is further written, *so shall ye be My people, and I will be your G-d*, and you will not be subject to other powers at all. Now He [also] sanctified the people who dwell in His Land with the sanctity of observing the laws against forbidden sexual relationships, and with the abundant commandments, so that they [His people] would be dedicated to His Name. It is for this reason that He said, *And ye shall keep all My statutes, and all Mine ordinances, and do them, that the Land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, vomit you not out*, and it is further written, *But I have said unto you: ‘Ye shall inherit their Land, and I will give it unto you to possess it’ … I am the Eternal your G-d, Who have set you apart from the peoples*, meaning to say, that He has set us apart from all the nations over whom He appointed princes and other celestial powers, by giving us the Land [of Israel] so that He, blessed be He, will be our G-d, and we will be dedicated to His Name. Thus the Land which is the inheritance of the Glorious Name, will vomit out all those who defile it and will not tolerate worshippers of idols, nor those who practise immorality. Now this section mentioned the Molech, which is a form of idolatry, together with the forbidden sexual relationships, and with reference to all of them He said, *Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things; for in all of these the nations are defiled*, *and the Land vomited out her inhabitants* [thus showing that the Land is unable to contain idol worshippers or those who practise immorality]. And so also did He say in the second section [i.e., in *Seder Kedoshim*], *and I have set you apart from the peoples, that ye should be Mine*, which is [the basis for] the strict prohibition against idolatry. Therefore He stated that it is because they are dedicated to His Name that He gave them the Land, as it is said, *And I have said unto you: ‘Ye shall inherit their Land, and I will give it unto you to possess it’ … I am the Eternal your G-d, Who have set you apart from the peoples*.
Now outside the Land of Israel, although it all belongs to *the Glorious Name*, yet its purity is not perfect, because of “the servants” who hold sway there, and the nations go astray after their princes to worship them as well. It is for this reason that Scripture states, *the G-d of the whole earth shall He be called*, since He is the G-d of gods Who rules over all, and He will in the end *punish the host of the high heaven on high*, removing the celestial powers and demolishing the array of “the servants,” and afterwards He will punish *the kings of the earth upon the earth*. This is the meaning of the verse stating, *The matter is by the decree of ‘irin’* (*the wakeful ones*), *and ‘sh’elta’* (*the sentence*) *by the word of the holy ones*, meaning, the matter that was decreed on Nebuchadnezzar [that he be driven from men and eat grass as oxen etc.] is the pronouncement of the guarding angels and the sentence of the word of the holy ones, who have ordained on the powers emanating from them that it be so. They [the angels] are called *irin* [literally: “the wakeful ones”], because from their emanations proceed all the powers that stir all activities, similar to that which it says, *and behold ‘ir’* (*a wakeful one*) *and a holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus: ‘Hew down the tree* etc. — [In the verse] *And ‘sh’elta’* (*the sentence*) *is by word of the holy ones*, [the word *sh’elta*] is like *sha’alu*, meaning first “they ask” what is the will of the Supreme One about it, and afterwards they decree that it be so done. It is with reference to this that Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, *it is the decree of the Most High*, for everything is from Him, blessed be He.
Thus *the Glorious Name*, blessed be He, *is G-d of gods*, in the whole world, and G-d of the Land of Israel which is *the inheritance of the Eternal*. This is the meaning of the expression, *and he will go astray after the foreign gods of the Land*, for the gods are foreign to the Land of G-d and His inheritance. This is what Scripture means when it states [of the Cutheans who were settled by the king of Assyria in the cities of the kingdom of Israel], *they knew not the manner of the G-d of the Land; therefore He hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the G-d of the Land*. Now the Cutheans were not punished in their own land when they worshipped their gods, by G-d sending lions among them, but only when they came into the Land of G-d and conducted themselves as before, did He send lions among them who slew them. And so the Rabbis taught in the Sifra: “*And the Land vomit not you out also* etc. The Land of Israel is unlike other lands; it is unable to contain sinners.” And in the Sifre we find that the Rabbis taught: “*And there was no strange god with Him* [when He took Israel out of Egypt, and protected them during their wandering through the wilderness], so that none of the princes of the nations should have power to come and exercise authority over you, something like that which it is said, *and when I go forth, lo, the prince of Greece shall come*, etc.” This is the meaning of the saying of the Rabbis: “Whoever lives outside the Land, is as if he had no G-d, for it is said, *I am the Eternal your G-d, Who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, to be your G-d*, and it is further said, *for they have driven me* [David] *out this day that I should not cleave unto the inheritance of the Eternal, saying: Go, serve other gods*.” And in the Tosephta of Tractate Abodah Zarah the Rabbis have said: “Now it is said, *And I* [Jacob] *will come back to my father’s house in peace, then shall the Eternal be my G-d*, and it is further said, *to give you the land of Canaan, to be your G-d*. When you are in the land of Canaan I am your G-d. When you are not in the land of Canaan, I am not your G-d if it were at all possible to say so [for He is our G-d under all circumstances and in all places]. Similarly it is said, *about forty thousand ready armed for war passed on in the presence of the Eternal unto battle*, and it is further said, *and the Land is subdued before the Eternal, and before His people*. But how could it enter one’s mind that Israel subdued the Land before the Eternal [as if to say that they captured it for His sake]? But [this teaches that] as long as they are upon the Land, it is as if it were subdued [before Him, since He is their G-d, as explained above], but when they are not upon it, it is not subdued.”
It is on the basis of this matter that the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: “*And ye perish quickly from off the good Land*. Although I banish you from the Land to outside the Land, make yourselves distinctive by the commandments, so that when you return they shall not be novelties to you. This can be compared to a master who was angry with his wife, and sent her back to her father’s house and told her, ‘Adorn yourself with precious things, so that when you come back they will not be novelties to you.’ And so did the prophet Jeremiah say [to the people in exile in Babylon], *Set thee up waymarks*. These are the commandments, by which Israel is made distinctive.” Now the verses which state, *and ye perish quickly … and ye shall lay up these My words* etc. only make obligatory in the exile [the observance of those commandments] affecting personal conduct, such as the [wearing of] phylacteries and [placing of] *Mezuzoth* [these being specifically mentioned there in the following words of Scripture], and concerning them the Rabbis [in the above text of the Sifre] explained [that we must observe them] so that they shall not be novelties to us when we return to the Land, for the main [fulfillment] of the commandments is [to be kept] when dwelling in the Land of G-d. Therefore the Rabbis have said in the Sifre: “*And ye shall possess it, and dwell therein. And ye shall observe to do all the statutes* etc. Dwelling in the Land of Israel is of equal importance to all the commandments of the Torah.” A similar statement is also found in the Tosephta of Tractate Abodah Zarah. This in fact was the thought of the wicked ones who [misusing the intention of the above statement], said to the prophet Ezekiel [whose prophetic activity was in the Babylonian exile]: “Our master Ezekiel, if a servant is sold by his master, does the master still have any claim to him?” For it is said, *and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all; in that ye say: We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone*. And this was the command of our patriarch Jacob *to his household, and to all that were with him*, at the time that they came into the Land, *Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves*. And G-d, *by Whom* alone *actions are weighed*, [brought it about] that Rachel died on the way when they started coming into the Land, for on account of her own merit she did not die outside the Land, and for Jacob’s merit, he could not dwell in the Land with two sisters [in their lifetime, since this is forbidden in the Torah, and the laws of the Torah were observed by our ancestors in the Land of Israel even before the Torah was given on Sinai], and she [Rachel] was the one by whose marriage the prohibition against two sisters took effect [since Jacob was already married to Leah]. It would appear that Rachel became pregnant with Benjamin before they came to Shechem, and while in the Land Jacob did not touch her at all, for the reason that we have mentioned. And the prophet states, *And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have profaned My Land; they have filled Mine inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable things and their abominations*. This matter [i.e., that the Land of Israel is the inheritance of the Eternal and thus cannot tolerate sinners] is found in many places in the Scriptures, and you will see it clearly after I have opened your eyes to it.
Now Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented in the section of *Vayeilech:* “We know that G-d is One, and changes arise because of those who receive [His beneficent deeds], but G-d does not change His deeds, as they are all done in wisdom. And included in the worship of G-d is to guard the ability to receive [His beneficence] according to the place [so that if a particular place is holier than others, one must observe there more strictly the laws of holiness]. Therefore it is written [of the Cutheans, that they did not know] *the manner of the G-d of the Land*, and of Jacob it is said [when he came into the Land he told his household], *put away the strange gods*, and the extreme opposite of [the sanctity of] the place [i.e., the Land of Israel] is indulging in forbidden sexual relationships, as they are [sins of the] flesh. The student versed [in the mysteries of the Torah] will understand.” Thus are the words [of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra] of blessed memory.
Now do not refute me [in what I have written above, that Israel is under the direct guidance of G-d alone, and no celestial power determines their fate], by citing the verse, *Michael your prince*, for he is only a ministering angel who implores mercy for Israel, but is in no way a prince exercising any royalty or power. So was also *the captain of the host* who appeared to Joshua at Jericho, showing him that G-d had sent him to fight their battles, similar to [that which happened in the days of] Hezekiah. Besides, this matter [of Michael imploring mercy for Israel] was when we were already outside the Land of Israel.
Now I do not have permission to explain on the subject of *ha’aretz* (“the earth” or “the Land”) more than this. But if you will merit to understand the first “earth” mentioned in the verse of *Bereshith* (*In the beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth*), and also the one mentioned in the section of *Im Bechukothai*, you will know a profound and sublime secret, and you will further understand what our Rabbis have said: “The Sanctuary on high is exactly opposite the Sanctuary below.” I have already alluded to this on the verse, *for all the earth is Mine*. Now Scripture mentions that the people of the land of Canaan were punished on account of their immoral [sexual] deeds. And our Rabbis have said that they were warned about these matters from the time of creation, when these laws were declared to Adam and to Noah, for He does not punish unless He admonishes first. Scripture, however, did not state the admonition, but instead said that the Land would vomit them out, for the Land abhors *all these abominations*. Now the Canaanites were not the only ones who were admonished about these matters [for since these laws were declared to Adam and Noah, they applied to all mankind], and the Scriptural section mentions specifically, *After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do*, which proves that the Egyptians also did all these abominations, and yet the land of Egypt did not vomit them out, nor did the lands of other nations vomit them out! Rather, this whole subject shows the distinction of the Land [of Israel] and its holiness [so that it alone is unable to retain sinners]. Scripture states, *and the Land vomited out* [using a past tense, although the Canaanites were still living there], for from the time that He was to punish [them] for the sins committed upon her [i.e. the Land], having decreed destruction upon the Canaanites, it is as if the Land had already vomited them out. Or it may be that the expression, *and the Land vomited out* is a reference to above, similar to what is said, *their defense is removed from over them*.
Version: Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH002108945/NLI
License: CC-BY