When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take them away captive, Deuteronomy 21:10 NASB
| When – The most important word in this verse is not “battle” or “enemies.” It’s not the claim that God will fight on your side. It’s the opening conjunction, the tiny word kî. kî can be translated in a dozen different ways: as though, as, because that, but, certainly, except, for, surely, since, that, then, when, etc.[1] In this particular case, the options are significant. Notice the translation of the same verse by the Rebbe on Parashat Ki Teitzei: |
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“If you go out to an optional war….”
Here’s what he has to say about this reading:
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| Our ability to succeed in our Divine mission to vanquish evil in the world at large is directly proportional to our success in vanquishing the evil within ourselves. The theater of our inner spiritual battle with evil is daily prayer, in which we strive to empower our Divine souls over our materialistic, animal drives.
What, then, is the spiritual correlate to the “optional” war? Are we not obliged to confront every instance of evil we perceive within ourselves?
The answer is yes, but there is another way to vanquish our inner negativity besides confronting it directly in prayer: studying the Torah. Studying the Torah fills our consciousness with Divine awareness, and this awareness can largely dissipate the evil within us. Whereas the direct confrontation in prayer requires strenuous effort, the effect of Torah study is virtually effortless.
Thus, whenever there is an option to do away with evil through Torah study, taking the route of direct engagement in prayer becomes an “optional” war. Eliminating evil through Torah study renders the need to battle evil in prayer unnecessary, transforming prayer into the simple, serene expansion of Divine consciousness.[2]
Reading the verse with kî translated as “when” implies that war is inevitable and expected. Reading the verse with kî translated as “if” implies that war is always a choice, and not a particularly good one. Since “if” is possible, why would English Bibles use “when”? Do you suppose that “when” carries theological nuances about the religion of Israel in the Old Testament? Do you suppose that “when” diverts our attention from the war within to some historical war on the outside? Maybe we need to be a bit more careful about reading even the conjunctions.
Topical Index: kî, when, if, war, evil, Rebbe, Deuteronomy 21:10 |
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[1] Oswalt, J. N. (1999). 976 כִי. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 437). Chicago: Moody Press.
[2] An insight by the Rebbe on Parashat Ki Teitzei, excerpted from Kehot’s Daily Wisdom #2, by Rabbi M. Wisnefsky.
