Devarim 31:20, 21 - G-d’s last message in the Torah to Moshe concerning the people

Devarim 31:20,21 record that G–d explained to Moshe (and seemingly also Yehoshua) that the people were going to worship other gods when they would come to the land of Israel since G-d knew "their yetser even before they entered the land that I promised them." The word yetser is usually translated as devisings, but as we discuss on Bereshit 8:21 "Is man evil?" I think it means people’s selfish nature. In any event, these verses raise several questions, and maybe answer a question from the flood in the beginning of the Torah.

One question is do these verses state that the people were destined to sin when they would come into the land of Israel? Note, this same question would seem to apply to 30:16, 29; also 4:25. If the answer is yes, then the people have no free will. However, Moshe seems to affirm the principle of free will at the end of his speech by the establishment of the covenant on the plains of Moav, 30:15,19. Yet, if people have free will, then how could G-d state the people were destined to worship other gods? Thus, either one must understand these verses as being conditional that if the people would sin, which seems difficult, or that in these verses G-d was saying that there was a high probability, but not 100%, that the people would sin. Note, as one refers to more and more generations of people, then the cumulative odds would get higher and higher that some generation would sin.

A second related question is do these verses imply that G-d does not know the future? 31:21 states that G-d knew the people would sin since He knew their yetser, but if He knows the future, then there is no reason to relate G-d’s knowledge of the future to the people’s yetser in the present. Ibn Ezra (on 31:21) writes that the verse means that even if G-d did not know the future, still G-d would have known that the people were going to sin. My impression is that the Torah (see Bereshit 6:6) is written based on the idea that G-d does not know the future, and hence 31:20,21 should be understood that since G-d knew that people are selfish, He could predict with a very high certainty that the people would worship idolatry in the future. One might wonder how being selfish would lead a person to worship other gods, but it could be that people would worship other gods in order to get the “benefits” they would think come from worshipping these other gods, that the person would think that he/ she is “covering his/ her bases.” With regard to the basic question of does Judaism believe that G-d knows the future, this might depend on how one understands Pirkei Avot 3:19.

A third unrelated question is if there was a high probability that the people would sin when they would come into the land of Israel, why would G-d give the people the land of Israel? One answer could be there was still a small chance the people would not sin. A second answer is that they received the land of Israel based on their present status, and while they had the yetser even before they entered the land of Israel, it had not yet caused them to sin. A third answer is that they received the land since G-d had promised it to the patriarchs, which is re-called in 31:20.

The connection between these verses and the flood is that the word yetser only occurs three times in the Torah, here, before the flood, Bereshit 6:5, and after the flood, Bereshit 8:21. Alter (2004, p. 1035) writes, "This relatively unusual word, yetser, is surely a pointed allusion directing us to G-d's bleak words about human nature after the Flood: For the yetser of the human heart is evil from youth." This word establishes a connection between the beginning of the Torah and the end, but what is the connection?

Why did G-d re-start the world after the flood if people have this yetser which can cause them to be evil? Maybe, the entire Torah is to answer the question can people be good even though people have this yetser? If the answer is a categorical no, then there was no point to re-starting the world after the flood. However, G-d did re-start the world after the flood, which means that even though people have this yetser, this selfishness, a (the) point of the Torah was to teach man to overcome/ modify or channel his yetser to become a good person.

When it is all said and done at the end of the Torah, does G-d think that people will succeed or not in overcoming/ modifying or channeling their yetser to do good? The answer from 30:20,21 is not a resounding yes, as otherwise G-d would not have stated that the people were going to sin in the future. However, since we have argued that the verses are speaking in probable terms, even highly probable that the people will sin, still there is some chance that people will not sin. Some people at some time, will be able overcome/ modify or channel their yetser and be good people, but others, maybe the majority, will fail. This possibility leaves people with the free will to be good or bad even though we have this yetser.

Bibliography:

Alter, Robert, 2004, The five books of Moses: A translation and commentary, New York: W. W. Norton and Company

The definition of the word shamor in Moshe's speeches in the book of Devarim - To remember

Most of the book of Devarim records Moshe’s speeches to the Jewish people at the end of his life. One of the key words in Moshe’s speech in the book of Devarim is shamor, and there is great confusion about the meaning of this word since the word in the Torah has a different meaning than its meaning in modern day Hebrew. In modern Hebrew it means to watch, guard, protect, but in the Torah, the word shamor means to remember. I will now give several examples.

The first time the word shamor appears in the book of Devarim is 2:4, when Moshe was re-telling the people G-d’s instructions to the people when they had circled around Edom/ Esav. 2:4 records that the people were told that even though Edom was scared of them, ve-nishmartem meod. Tigay (1996, p. 24) translates the phrase as “be very careful” that the people were to be careful not to provoke Edom, the following verse. This definition follows the idea that shamor relates to guarding but does it accord with the definition of keeping, which is how the word shamor is explained in most cases in the book of Devarim? Instead, the phrase should be understood to mean that people are to strongly remember that Edom/ Esav is considered their brother, which is mentioned in the beginning of the verse, and hence they should not provoke Edom, the following verse.

The next case of the word shamor is Devarim 4:2, which records that Moshe told the people that they are to lishmor the mitzvot of G-d. Can this phrase mean to guard or protect the mitzvot? Instead, the usual explanation/ translation is to keep the mitzvot (see for example Alter, 2004, p. 897) which can fit the context, but it is not the idea of guarding. Instead, the phrase should be interpreted to mean that Moshe told the people to remember the mitzvot.  This same idea appears in 5:10,26, 8:2, 10:13, 12:28, 13:5, 26:17, 18, and 28:9.

Devarim 4:6 records that Moshe told the people, u-shemartem va-asitem. Alter (2004, p. 898) translates the phrase as meaning that Moshe said “you shall keep and do,” as again he translates the word shamor as meaning keep. How does keep differ from do? It is redundant to say to do, to do. Instead, the word shamor means to remember, and Moshe was telling the people to remember the laws to do them. Similarly, 5:1, 5:29, 6:3, 6:25, 8:1, 11:32, 12:1, 13:1,19, 16:5,12, 17:10,19, 19:9, 24:8 (the second and third times the word appears in the verse), 26:16, 28:1,13,15, 28:58, 29:8, 31:12 and 32:46 have the phrase of shamor la-asot, which again means to remember to do.

Devarim 4:9 then records that Moshe told the people “But, he-shamer lecha, ushemor nafeshcha moed, pen tishkach.” In this phrase, the word shamor appears twice. Alter (2004, p. 898) explains the phrase as meaning “Only be you on the watch and watch yourself closely lest you forget.” In this phrase, Alter is translating the word shamor to mean on the watch. Is this the same meaning as keep, his translation of the word shamor in 4:6? What does it mean for a person to be on their watch? Instead, Devarim 4:9 means, “But, you should remember, remember greatly with your nefesh, do not forget.” This double language of remembering stresses the importance of the people remembering. 6:17 and 11:22, also record the word shamor twice, which again is to stress to the people to remember. 9:18 also had the double language of remembering, though with the word zachor, the synonym of shamor. In addition, 4:15 records remembering with regard to a person’s nefesh.

4:23 records that Moshe told the people, “he-shamru lachem pen tishkachu.” Alter (2004, p. 901) translates the phrase as "Be you on the watch, lest you forget," similar to his translation of the word shamor in 4:9. However, the phrase means that Moshe told the people to remember, do not forget. This phrase has both the positive injunction to remember and the negative injunction not to forget, as in 4:9, 6:12, 9:7 (with the word zachor) and 8:11.  This charge to remember, hishamer, in order not to do something wrong also appears in 11:16, 12:13,19,30, 15:9, and 24:8 (the first time the word appears in the verse and this remembering connects with the remembering in 24:9).

4:40 records that Moshe ended his first (?) speech in the book of Devarim by saying “ve-shamarta et chukov ve-et mitzvotov.” Alter (2004, p. 904) translates the word shamor here as keep as he did in 4:6, but Tigay (1996, p. 39) writes that the word shamor should be translated as “take to heart.” This is similar to idea of remembering, and 4:40 should be understood to mean that Moshe was telling the people to remember G-d’s laws. This same idea appears in 7:11, 8:6, the end of 8:11, 9:13, 11:1, and 11:8.  Similarly, 27:1 records that Moshe told the people to remember to follow his instructions when they would cross the Jordan River.  Also, in 33:9, the idea is that the tribe of Levi remembered G-d’s words.

In Moshe’s second speech to the people in the book of Devarim, he re-calls the Decalogue and he stated, shamor et yom ha-Shabbat le-kadsho, 5:12. On this phrase, Tigay (1996, p. 68) writes, “the verb shamor is commonly used for keeping a holiday and fulfilling obligations.” This understanding creates an inconsistency with the Decalogue in the book of Shemot (20:8), which records the phrase, “zachor et yom ha-Shabbat lekadsho.” However, as should be clear from all the examples above, the words shamor and zachor are synonyms, and in both cases the phrase has exactly the same meaning, that the people are to remember the Shabbat to make it kadosh (to separate it from the other days of the week), see our discussion on Devarim 5:6-18, “The Decalogue in Shemot 20 and Devarim 5.”  This similar idea also occurs in 16:1, that the people are to remember (shamor) the month of Aviv.

The beginning of 6:2 records that the people should fear G-d, which will lead lishmor all the laws, and the beginning of 6:3 records that the people should hear, shamarta, to do. Tigay (1996, p. 75) explains that the beginning of 6:3 means “literally, obey and faithfully do,” as now he is explaining the word shamor to mean faithfully. However, again the word shamor means to remember. The beginning of 6:2 means that Moshe told the people that they should fear G-d and this fear will lead them to remember the laws, as in 4:40, and the beginning of 6:3 means that Moshe was telling the people to listen, to remember (shamor) and to do (la-asot).

Towards the end of parashat Va-ethannan, Moshe told the people that G-d shomer the covenant, 7:9, and this idea is repeated in the second half of the first verse of parashat Ekev, 7:12. In between these verses, 7:11, records that the people are ve-shamarta et ha-mitzvah and the first half of 7:12 record that if the people shemartem va-asitem, then G-d will shomer the covenant. In these four verses, 7;9-12, the word shamor appears four times, twice in reference to G-d and twice in reference to people. Tigay (1996, p. 88) writes that in reference to the people, the word shamor means to observe, while in reference to G-d, the word means to keep or maintain, maybe since he did not want to say that G-d observes the covenant. Again, the simplest explanation is that shamor means to remember that the people are to remember the covenant, and G-d will remember the covenant, see Vayikra 26:42,45.

One case that is not clear is 23:10. This verse records that when the people go to war, ve-nishmarta from all bad things. In this case, one might be tempted to interpret the word shamor as guard, that when the people go to war, the soldier should guard himself from all bad things. What are the bad things? Something dangerous, but then the soldier would have known this on his own. Also, how does this verse relate to the ensuing verses which refer to a person having a nocturnal emission? I think the verse is usually understood to mean that a soldier should not do bad things, that is to say to keep from bad things. These bad things are undefined and then the verse is unrelated to the following verses. A different possibility based on the definition of shamor meaning to remember, is that the verse is stating that when a soldier in the war camp remembers some bad things, something sexual, then this can lead the soldier to have a nocturnal emission, see Talmud Avodah Zara 20b.

One interesting case in the section of laws is 23:24 which records that what comes out of one’s lips, tishmor. The usual translation is that a person should keep the promises that he/ she makes, but really it means that a person needs to remember his/ her promises and vows.

This understanding that the word shamor means to remember is not unique to the book of Devarim.  In the story of Yosef, Bereshit 37:11 records that after Yosef told his second dream to his father and brothers, that Yaakov shamor the words, and this means that Yaakov remembered the dream, see Rashi on 37:11.  My impression is that the majority of cases where the word appears in the Torah, the definition it to remember and not to watch.  Hopefully in the future, I will add posts about the word in the other four books of the Torah.

I did not examine the word shamor in Neviim and Ketivum, but in Tehillim 121:3,4,5,7,8 the word shamor has the meaning to watch and protect, the modern interpretation of the word. However, Tehillim 130:3, follows the meaning of the word shamor in the Torah that the verse records a plea to G-d not to shamor, not to remember, the sins of the people. Three verse later, Tehillim 130:6, the word shamor (twice) also probably refers to remembering.

Bibliography:

Alter, Robert, 2004, The five books of Moses: A translation and commentary, New York: W. W. Norton and Company

Tigay, Jeffrey H. 1996, The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.