(Devarim 32:26) "I said ' afeihem '": I said in My "wrath" (' api ') " Where are they ?" (' ayei hem ') [' api-ayei-hem ' (acronymic of ' afeihem ')] (Devarim, Ibid .) "I will wipe their memory from mankind": They will no longer be in the world. But what can I do to them? " Lulei ": ("Were it not") (Psalms 124:1-2) "' Lulei ('Were it not') for the L-rd who was with us,' let Israel now say. ' Lulei for the L-rd who was with us when (evil) men assailed us…'" Variantly: " Lulei " (Psalms 106:23) "And He thought to destroy them lulei Moses, His chosen one…" (Devarim, Ibid .) "Were it not (" lulei ") that the anger of the foe was stored up ( agur )": What caused them to be punished by these nations? The fact that their anger was stored up (i.e., concealed) within them (behind a façade of friendliness). " agur ": "gathered together," as in (Proverbs 30:1) "the words of " agur bin yakeh " (Solomon) the gatherer of wisdom." And (Psalms 55:16) "Let Him incite death against them; let them go down alive into Sheol. For evils are stored up (' b'meguram ') in their midst." (Devarim, Ibid .) "lest their oppressors estrange them": When Israel is in distress, the nations estrange them, as if they did not exist in the world. And thus we find that when Israel wanted to flee to the north they handed them over (to their foes), viz. (Amos 1:9) "Thus said the L-rd: For three transgressions of Tyre, etc." When they wanted to flee to the south, they handed them over, viz. ( Ibid . 6) "Thus said the L-rd: For three transgressions of Azza, etc." When they wanted to flee to the east, they handed them over, viz. "Thus said the L-rd: For the three transgressions of Damascus, etc." When they wanted to flee to the west, they handed them over, viz. (Isaiah 21:13) "The prophecy for Arav: In the forest, in Arav shall you lodge, O caravans of the Dedanites, etc." And when Israel prospers, the nations dissimulate, presenting themselves as "brothers." As Esav said to Jacob (Bereshith 33:9) "My brother, let there be yours what is yours." And thus did Chiram say to Solomon (I Kings 9:13) "What are these cities that you have given me, my brother?" (Devarim, Ibid .) "Lest they say: 'Our hand is exalted, etc.'" as in (Amos 6:13) "Behold, with our strength we have taken power for ourselves." (Devarim, Ibid . 28) "For it is a nation devoid of counsel": R. Yehoshua expounded it in connection with Israel; R. Nechemiah, in connection with the nations. R. Yehoshua — Israel has lost goodly counsel that was given to them, "counsel" being Torah, as in (Proverbs 8:14) "With me (Torah) is counsel and wisdom." (Devarim, Ibid .) "and there is no understanding in them" — There is not one among them who reflects and says (viz. Ibid . 30) "Last night one of us pursued a thousand of the nations, and two, ten thousand; and now one of them pursues a thousand of us ; and two of them, ten thousand of us! (This could not have happened) if their Rock had not delivered them." R. Nechemiah — The nations have lost the seven mitzvoth that I gave them. "and there is no understanding in them": There is not one among them who reflects and says "Now one of us pursues a thousand; and two, ten thousand. But in the days of the Messiah, one of Israel will pursue a thousand of us ; and two, ten thousand." (This could not have happened) "if their Rock had not delivered them." And it once happened with the (Roman) army in Yehudah that a decurio (a commander of ten horsemen) rode after a Jew to kill him, but could not catch up with him — whereupon a serpent wound itself around his (the Jew's) ankle, (but did him no harm) — at which he (the Jew) said to a bystander: Tell that man one thing: Do not say to yourself "We are strong and they are weak." (But say to yourself: This [our subjugation of the Jews] could not have happened) "if their Rock had not sold them, and the L-rd had not delivered them" (into our hands).
Sifrei Devarim 322
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