Sifra Bechukotai Chapter 4

¹1) (Vayikra 26:16) ("I, too, will do this to you, and I shall visit terror upon you: consumption and fever, dimming the eyes and plaguing the soul; and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your foes shall eat it.") "I, too" ("af ani"): "I" shall speak only with "af" (wrath). It is "I" who built; "I" will destroy. "I" who planted; "I" will uproot. And thus is it written (Jeremiah 45:4) "What I have built, I shall destroy. What I have planted, I will uproot." "I will do this": This is more grievous to you than all, for My great name ("I" [one of the names of the L–rd]) is engraved upon you as a debtor. "to you": This came to you by your own hands, (for) evil never proceeds from Me. And thus is it written (Eichah 3:38) "From the mouth of the Most High there shall not go forth the evils, but the good." ²2) "and I shall visit upon you": The plagues will visit you from one to the other. While the first is still with you, I will bring another upon its heels. "terror" ("behalah") — a plague which confounds (mevaheleth) the populace. Which is that? Pestilence. ³3) "consumption" (shachefeth): Sometimes a person is sick in bed, yet his flesh is preserved; it is, therefore, written "shachefeth" — he (i.e., his flesh) is consumed. Sometimes he is consumed, but he is comfortable and not feverish; it is, therefore, written "and fever" — he is feverish. Sometimes he is feverish, but he has hope of living; it is, therefore, written "dimming the eyes" (of hope). Sometimes he does not expect to live, but others expect him to live; it is, therefore, written "and plaguing the soul" (of the onlookers). "and you shall sow your seed in vain": sowing and not sprouting. If "sowing and not sprouting," how are we to understand "for your foes shall eat it." Rather, he sows it the fist year and it does not sprout; the second year, and it sprouts — and foes come and eat it, as it is written "and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your foes shall eat it." Variantly: Scripture speaks re sons and daughters — that you shall labor and raise them, and sin come and consume them. And thus is it written (Eichah 2:22) "Those I fondled and raised, my foes destroyed." ⁴4) (Vayikra 26:17) ("And I shall turn My face against you, and you will be smitten before your foes, and your foes shall rule within you; and you shall flee when none pursue you.") Just as it is written in respect to the good (Vayikra 26:9) "And I shall turn to you," so is it written in respect to the evil "And I shall turn My face against you." To what may this be compared? To a king who says to his servants "I shall turn away from all my affairs and deal with you with evil." ⁵5) "and you will be smitten before your foes": The pestilence will kill you from within and informers will surround you from without. "and your foes shall rule within you": I will place over you (foes) from you (i.e., from your midst) and against you. For when the nations rise against Israel they seek only what is in the open, as it is written (Shoftim 6:3) "And it was, whenever Israel would sow, that Midian and Amalek and the people of the east would rise against him. And they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the land until you come to Azzah. And they would not leave sustenance in Israel, nor sheep nor ox nor ass." But when I place over you (foes) from you, they will seek out your hidden things, as it is written (Michah 3:3) "But you ('heads of Yaakov') have eaten the flesh of My people." "and you shall flee": out of fear; "with none pursuing you": (your) lacking power (to resist).