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Ramban on Deuteronomy 4:25/רמב"ן על דברים ד׳:כ״ה

אכִּי תוֹלִיד בָּנִים וּבְנֵי בָנִים וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם, עִנְיַן הַכָּתוּב הַזֶּה, שֶׁיַּזְכִּיר וְיֹאמַר: כִּי תוֹלִיד בָּנִים וּבְנֵי בָנִים, וּבַעֲבוּר הֱיוֹתְכֶם יְשָׁנִים בָּאָרֶץ וְתֵשְׁבוּ לָבֶטַח, אוּלַי תִּשְׁכְּחוּ אֶת הַשֵּׁם; הַעִדֹתִי בָּכֶם הַיּוֹם שֶׁתֹּאבְדוּ מַהֵר, כִּי לֹא יַאֲרִיךְ לָכֶם, מֵאַחַר שֶׁתַּעַבְדוּ עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה. וְהַפָּרָשָׁה הַזּוֹ, אע"פ שֶׁהִיא אַזְהָרָה, לֹא נֶאֶמְרָה בִּלְשׁוֹן "אִם", וְהַטַּעַם, כִּי הוּא כְּמִתְנַבֵּא עַל עִנְיָנָם, וִידַבֵּר בְּלָשׁוֹן יְשַׁמֵּשׁ בִּשְׁנֵי פָּנִים, בִּלְשׁוֹן אַזְהָרָה וּבִלְשׁוֹן עָתִיד לָבֹא, יֹאמַר שֶׁיַּעֲשׂוּ וְיִהְיֶה לָהֶם כָּכָה וְלֹא יִגְזֹר עֲלֵיהֶם. וּמִפְּנֵי זֶה אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ (גיטין פח א) שֶׁרָמַז לְגָלוּת בַּיִת רִאשׁוֹן בְּמִלַּת וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם בְּגֵימַטְרְיָא, וְהָיְתָה קַבָּלָה בְּיָדָם כִּי יֵשׁ בַּפָּרָשָׁה הַזֹּאת רֶמֶז לִזְמַן הַגָּלוּת, וְכַאֲשֶׁר בָּא עֲלֵיהֶם הִתְבּוֹנְנוּ בָּהּ בִּינָה.

1KI’ (WHEN) THOU SHALT BEGET CHILDREN, AND CHILDREN’S CHILDREN, AND YE SHALL HAVE BEEN LONG ESTABLISHED IN THE LAND. The purport of this verse is that it mentions and affirms that “when ye shall beget children and children’s children, and because you will have been long established in the Land and dwelled in security, you may perhaps forget G-d — I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day⁸⁷], but instead they constitute one statement, as follows: “Should a longer period of security in the Land create a tendency among the people to idolatry, heaven and earth will witness Israel’s loss of the Land.” that ye shall speedily perish, for He will not be long-suffering with you seeing that you worshipped idols.”Now this section, although constituting a warning, opened [with the word ki — “when” and] not with the expression im — “if” [which would be here more appropriate, since it speaks of a hypothetical condition of future time]. The reason is that he [Moses] was virtually prophesying about their affairs, and therefore he spoke in an equivocal manner — using an expression which in addition to being a warning [to avoid the sin of idolatry] also contains a prediction of things to come [when the warning will not be heeded]. He was thus saying that if they do so the following will happen to them, but he does not decree that they will do it. Therefore our Rabbis have said⁸⁸ that in the numerical-value of [the letters in the Hebrew word] v’noshantem (and ye shall have been long established)⁸⁹ is equivalent to 852 [vav = 6; nun = 50; vav = 6; shin = 300; nun = 50; tav = 400; mem = 40; — totalling 852]. Thus at the end of 852 years from the time that Israel came into the Land the exile was to occur. G-d, however, brought this about two years earlier in order that the prophecy — they shall “utterly perish” — at the end of that period should not come to pass. By bringing about the exile two years before the terminus of 852 years, G-d voided the prediction of total retribution. — It is of interest to note that in his Sefer Hage’ulah (Book of Redemption) Ramban similarly writes of the future redemption that, after it will have occurred, the allusion to that date will be found in this section of the Torah (Kithvei Haramban, Vol. I, p. 263). he alluded to the time of the exile following the destruction of the First Sanctuary. It was thus a tradition [among the prophets and Sages of the generations] that this section of the Torah contains an allusion to the time of the exile, and, when it actually came to pass, they understood the allusion by contemplating this section [and interpreting the hidden message of the prophecy in light of the historical event].

בוְאָמַר וַעֲשִׂיתֶם פֶּסֶל תְּמוּנַת כֹּל, וְלֹא אָמַר וַעֲבַדְתֶּם אוֹתוֹ אוֹ וְהִשְׁתַּחֲוִיתֶם לוֹ, אֲבָל אָמַר וְהִשְׁחַתֶּם, כִּי הַפֶּסֶל בְּכָאן תְּמוּנַת כֹּל, וּמִפְּנֵי הַשְׁחָתָה יֶאֱסֹר אוֹתוֹ, כַּאֲשֶׁר פֵּרַשְׁתִּי לְמַעְלָה.

2He states and ye make a graven image, ‘t’munath kol’ (even the form of any thing),⁹⁰ but does not say “and you will worship it or bow down to it.” Instead he says, and ye shall corrupt yourselves, for “the graven image” spoken of here is the form of Kol (All)⁹¹ and on account of “corruption”⁹² He prohibited it, as I have explained above.⁹³