Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Ki Teitzei #3- Whose Captive?

“When you will go out to war against your enemies, and G‐d, your G‐d, will deliver them into your hand and you will capture its captivity.” (21:10)

Question: The word “שביו “translates to “its captivity” but it literally means “his captive.”

Shouldn't the pasuk have said, “shivyecha” “your captive” or “shevi” “a captive”?

Comment: During wartime generals try to determine the strategy and plan their defense

accordingly. Similarly, in the battle with the yeitzer hara a person should pay careful attention to

how he becomes “shivyo” “his captive.” Therefore one should focus solely on capturing, taking

control and eliminating the weaknesses of the yeitzer hara.

(בעל שם טוב)

Further question- where else in the Torah is a word translated one way but should be translated a different way?

No comments:

Post a Comment