What are the connotations of "Eikev Tishme'un"?
Rashi and Ramban #1: 'If you will listen to the 'small' Mitzvos' 1 that people tend to trample with their heels.
Ramban #3: It implies that, if you will listen to the Mitzvos, the reward will come in the end'. 4
Ramban #4 (citing Targum Onkelos) and Targum Yonasan: It means 'in exchange for listening to the Mitzvos'. 5
Ramban (commenting on the fact that the Torah mentions specifically "Mishpatim" - Refer to 7:12:2:1): Such as monetary laws (which people tend not to take seriously).
Ramban: As in Bereishis, 26:5.
Seforno: 'If you will keep the Mitzvos out of love - not in order to receive reward, then Hashem will keep the B'ris and the Chesed'.
Ramban: When you will ultimately listen to Hashem and keep the Mishpatim - as in Tehilim, 19:12 - since the Torah tends to refer to the beginning or the leader as 'Rosh' - like we find in Tehilim, 119:160 and in Bamidbar, 25:4, and the end, 'Eikev', just as the head and the heel of a person are the beginning and the end of his body. See also Ba'al ha'Turim.
Ramban: As in Yeshayah, 40:4 (See Ramban) and in Hoshe'a, 6:5. See Ramban, DH 've'Onkelos' and DH 've'Chein al Da'ati.
Why does the Torah mention specifically the Mishpatim?
Ramban #1: It mentions the Mishpatim with reference to the relatively small Mitzvos regarding money matters 1 - hinted in the word "Eikev". 2
Ramban #2 and Seforno: Because it is through the Mishpatim (dispensing justice) that the Torah (the land 3 - Sefornoecause ) will be established. 4 3: Ramban #3: The Torah warn specifically about Mishpatim (dispensing justice), because people are reluctant to carry out the death-sentence, either because they are filled with compassion on a man who has been sentenced to death 5 by stoning or burning, or because they are afraid of his powerful and influential relatives avenging his death. 6
Seforno: Because 'Hashem establishes the world on justice'. 7
See Oznayim la'Torah DH 'Eis ha'Mishpatim' #2.
See Pasuk 13 and Mishlei, 29:4. Seforno - though it is only in conjunction with learning the Torah she'Ba'al-Peh ("u'Shemartem ... ") that this is achieved.
Ramban: As the Torah indicates in Sh'mos 21:21.
Ramban: The Torah forbids this (19:13). Compassion on the part of the judges negates the entire judicial system (Ramban on Pasuk 15). (The Torah itself has compassion, and has many Dinim to avert execution. But compassion more than the Torah mandates is forbidden and destructive
What are the connotations of "Veshamar Hashem ... es ha'Beris ... "?
Rashi #1 (in Yeshayah, 26:2): It means that Hashem will wait [to fulfill] the B'ris.
Rashi #2 (in Melachim 1, 3:6): It means that Hashem will actualize the B'ris.
Rashbam: It means that Hashem waits for a worthy generation to fulfil the B'ris, and if you will not keep the Mitzvos, He will not keep the B'ris, but will wait for another generation that does.
Which Chesed is the Torah referring to?
Rashi: It refers to the 'Chesed and Rachamim' 1 which Hashem promised the Avos, in exchange for the 'Tzedek and Mishpat' that we perform.
Rashbam: It refers to the Chasadim of the Avos 2 that formed the basis of the B'ris that Hashem established with them.
Seforno: It refers to the good that Hashem performs with Tzadikim in this world, which is purely an act of Chesed. 3
Oznayim la'Torah: It refers to the fact that Hashem fulfils the B'ris that He established with the Avos, even when we abbrogate it. 4
Yerushalmi Kidushin, 1:1: It refers to one of three gifts that Hashem granteed Yisrael - That they are 'Rachamanim, Bayshanim and Gomlei Chasadim'. 5
What are the implications of "Veshamar ... es ha'Beris ve'es ha'Chesed""?
Rashi (in Melachim 1, 3:6): It means that Hashem will cause the B'ris and the Chesed that He promised the Avos to come true.
Rashi (in Yeshayah, 26:2): It means that Hashem eagerly waits for the B'ris and the Chesed to materilize.
What are the connotations of the 'Vav' in "Veshamar Hashem Elokcha l'cha"?
Rashi: It switches the verb to the future tense - 'and Hashem will fulfil'.
Which covenant is the Pasuk referring to?
Seforno: It is referring to the covenant that Hashem entered into with Avraham 1 to be for him and his descendants a G-d - directly without a medium. 2
See Bereishis 17:6.
Seforno: Denoting eternity, as the Pasuk writes in Koheles, 3:14 "Ki Kol asher Ya'aseh Elokim hu Yih'yeh Le'olam
Why does the Torah insert the (otherwise superfluous) word "Veshamar
Hadar Zekenim and Da'as Zekenim (both on Pasuk 10): To teach us that, just as Hashem will punish the Resha'im immediately, so too, will He fulfil the B'ris and the Chesed to Yisrael immediately Veshamar
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes that "Eikev" refers to small Mitzvos. Why does the Torah refer specifically to small Mitzvos?
Da'as Zekenim: David ha'Melech said "Lamah Iyra bi'Yemei Ra Avon Akavai Yesubeni" (Tehilim 49:6) - 'I am not worried about big Mitzvos, only about small ones
Avos, 2:1.
Da'as Zekenim: Indeed, Hashem did not reveal the reward for Mitzvos, to prevent people from performing only those with bigger rewards. He revealed the same reward - long life - for only two of them - Kibud Av va'Eim and Shilu'ach ha'Ken, one of the most severe and one that appears to be light (to teach us that there is no distinction between big Mitzvos and small ones).
Rashi writes that people tend to trample small Mitzvos with their heels. What does that mean?
Da'as Zekenim #1: Since Shilu'ach ha'Ken only applies to nests that are Hefker, when one goes away after perrforming the Mitzvah, people tend to trample on the nest with their heels. 1
Da'as Zekenim #2: It is referring to Tzitzis that often drag on the floor, instead of placing them over one's shoulders or holding them in one's hand. 2
The Pasuk, not to be taken literally, means that one tramples on it figuratively - meaning Mitzvos that one treats with disdain.
Since it is not their's, they are not concerned about damaging it (PF).
And the Navi in Yeshayah 14:23 comments about that "ve'Teiteisiha be'Matatei ha'Shemad" - 'And I will sweep it clean with the broom of destruction!'
