Second Sunday of Advent (December 10, 2017)
Gospel (Mar 1:1-8)
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“Behold, I send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’ ”
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him; and they were baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was preaching , and saying, “After me comes one who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Lev 26:40-42
40 “ ‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their ancestors, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against me, and also in their acting with hostility against against me,
Ibn Ezra
Although their ancestors committed their unfaithfulness, in being faithless to me;
it was the sons themselves who even trespassed against Me and acted with stubbornness.
41 I, too, will walk with them in obduracy, and I [myself] will bring them back while in the land of their enemies [this is providential for Israel, viz.: I shall not allow them to become assimilated, though they see no other recourse, but I will raise up my prophets and bring them back under my wings]—or if their uncircumcised heart becomes humbled, then, their sufferings will gain appeasement for their sin [i.e., if they atone for their sin through their afflictions],
Rashi’s Commentary
I, too, will . . . bring them back while in the land of their enemies—I Myself shall bring them; this is a kindly measure for Israel in order that they should not say, “Since we are banished among the nations let us do like their doings.” “For,” says God, “I will not suffer them to do this, but I will raise up my prophets and so bring them back under my wings, as it is said, (Eze 20:32-33) “But what enters your mind will not come about, what you say, ‘We will be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone.’ As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with poured out wrath, will I reign over you.” (Torath Kohanim 26:48).
If . . . becomes humbled—Heb. אוֹ אָז יִכָּנַע This unusual expression, אוֹ אָז, is similar to that in (Exo 21:36), אוֹ נוֹדַע כִּי שׁוֹר נַגָּח הוּא, “If it was known that the bull was a habitually goring bull” (cf. Rashi on that verse and our note thereon). The translation therefore is: “If their
uncircumcised heart then becomes humbled.” Another explanation is that אוֹ אָז means perhaps—“Perhaps their uncircumcised will become humbled. . . .”
Then, their sufferings will gain appeasement for their sin—Means, and they will atone for their sin by their sufferings.
42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also my covenant with Isaac and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember [if Jacob, the “smallest” of the patriarchs is not worthy enough (to atone for them) then Isaac is with him, etc. (“remember” is not mentioned in respect to Isaac, for his ashes on the altar are always present to his sight], and I will remember the land.
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Rashi’s Commentary
Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob—In five places in Scripture it (the name יַעִקוֹב) is written in full, i.e., with a “vav,” and the name אֵלִיָּהוּ is written defectively in five places, to intimate that Jacob—as it were—took one letter of his (Elijah’s) name as a pledge that at some future time he should come and proclaim the good tidings of his descendants’ redemption (Gur Aryeh).
I will remember my covenant with Jacob and also . . . Isaac and also . . . Abraham—Why are they (the patriarchs) enumerated here in a reverse order? It is to say: Jacob the youngest among the patriarchs is worthy of this that, through his merits, his children should be redeemed; if he be not sufficiently worthy, then the merit of Isaac is with him; if that does not suffice, behold, then there is Abraham with him who is surely worthy enough! And why does Scripture not use the word “remember” in connection with Isaac’s name? Because this is unnecessary, for—says God, as it were—the ashes of Isaac (who according to my command to Abraham was to become a burnt offering) are ever visible before Me as though they were heaped up lying
upon the altar and therefore, God does not have to “remember” Isaac, for Isaac is never forgotten (Hagahoth Ubiyurei Hagra on Torath Kohanim).
Exo 21:36
Or if [if it was not tame, but] it was known that the bull was a habitually goring bull from yesterday and the day before [three gorings (including the latest)], yet its owner did not guard it, he must surely pay, animal [full value] for animal, and the dead animal shall belong to him [the owner of the gored bull, (the owner of the gored bull, making up the difference between the value of the dead animal and the full value of the gored bull)].
Eze 20:32-33
32 But what enters your mind will not come about, what you say, “We will be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, to serve wood and stone.” 33 As I live, declares the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with poured out wrath, will I reign over you.
This work, "Second Sunday of Advent," is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0
John the Baptist by the LumoProject