What is the meaning of "Notzer Chesed la'Alafim"?
Rashi: He safeguards the Chesed that a person does - to reward his offspring up to two thousand generations. 1
Da'as Zekenim (citing the Rashbam in 20:6): He guards a person's Chesed to reward his offspring up to one thousand 4 generations, 5
Hadar Zekenim: He remembers a person's Chesed to reward his offspring for thousands of generations,
Riva: They are two Midos. "Notzer (guards) Chesed" for one thousand generations - referring to people who serve out of fear, and "la'Alafim", for two thousand generations - with reference to people who serve out of love.
In Seifer ha'Pardes, Rashi writes that some commentaries list the thirteen Attributes from "Hashem" through "ve'Chata'ah", counting "Notzer Chesed la'Alafim" as two, whereas others include "ve'Nakeh", and count "Notzer Chesed la'Alafim" as one.
As in Tehilim, 98:3 (Ramban).
As in Yeshayah, 11:1 (Ramban).
As the Torah writes in Va'eschanan Devarim, 7:9 "Shomer... le'Elef Dor".
Ignoring the fact that the Torah writes "la'Alafim" (plural) - like the word "Ribe'im" at the end of the Pasuk.
What is the difference between "Avon", "Pesha" and "Chata'ah"?
Rashi (citing Yoma 36b): "Avon" refers to sins performed intentionally (for pleasure), "Pesha", to rebellious sins (where the perpetrator does not benefit from the sin), and "Chata'ah", 1 to sins performed be'Shogeg.
Seforno: "Avon" refers to sins performed for pleasure, "Pesha", to rebellious sins, and Chata'ah, to sins performed joyously 2 in order to anger Hashem. 3
Da'as Zekenim, Hadar Zekenim and Riva: "Avon" refers to what his Yeitzer ha'Ra forces a person to sin. "Pesha" to sins performed rebelliously in order to anger Hashem, and "Chata'ah", to sins perflormed be'Shogeg.
See Yoma, 36b.
As in Yirmiyah, 11:15 (Seforno). In any event, since they are three levels of sin, the Torah counts them as three Attributes - even though they all go together with "Nosei" (Ramban and Seforno).
It is reasonable that the sins are in increasing order of severity, so the latter Midos are a bigger Chidush, and similarly in Vayikra 16:16,21. However, Perek 4 of Vayikra discusses Korban Chatas, which comes for Shogeg, and it is always called Chet! (PF)
If, as most commentaries explain, "Chata'ah refers sins performed be'Shogeg, why does the Torah place it after Avon and Pesha and not before them?
Yoma, 36b: Moshe was saying to Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu 'Ribono shel Olam, When Yisrael sin before You and do Teshuvah, consider their deliberate sins as inadvertent ones!' 1
See Torah Temimah, note 14.
What are the connotations of "Nosei Avon ... "?
Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan: It means 'Hashem pardons their sins'.
Yerushalmi Sanhedrin, 10:1: It means 'Hashem forgets their sins 1 (from the root of 'Nasha'- to forget 2 ).
Yerushalmi Sanhedrin, 10:1 #2: It means 'Hashem removes one sin from the scale of sins' - thereby causing the scale of merits to weigh down. 3
Yerushalmi (Ibid.): Even though in the realm of Hashem never really forgets, He becomes a forgetter when it comes to Yisrael, when He forgets their sins. See Torah Temimah, note 10.
Yerushalmi (Ibid.): Since the Torah writes "Nosei" without the 'Vav'.
Yerushalmi (Ibid.): Since the Torah writes "Avon" (in the singular) and not 'Avonos'. See Torah Temimah, note 11.
What is the meaning of "ve'Nakeh Lo Yenakeh"?
Rashi #1: It means that He does not pardon the sin completely, but enacts punishment slowly, bit by bit.
Rashi #2: It means that He forgives those who do Teshuvah, but not those who don't. 1
Ramban: It means that He carries the various levels of sin and cleanses the sins through reincarnation. 2
Seforno: It means that He pardons completely those who do Teshuvah out of love, 3 but not those who do Teshuvah out of fear. 4 '
Hadar Zekenim: It means that He eradicates the sinner from the world, but only after the fourth generation.
Leiv Eliyahu (p.71): It means that if one does not repent in one's lifetime, his Neshamah remains Tamei until it is cleansed in Gehinom. And if he transgressed something for which one has no share in the world to come, then he is not subject to Taharah.
Hadar Zekenim: Whose sins he visits on their descendants for three or four generations as the Torah goes on to explain.
See Rav Chavel's footnotes.
Whose sins are transformed into Mitzvos (Seforno).
Whose sins be'Meizid are merely transformed into Shogeg, but not forgiven completely, as the Gemara states in Yoma, 86a (Seforno).
Why does Hashem "visit the sins of the fathers on the sons"?
Rashi, Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan: Because it is speaking where the sons continue to go in the way of their fathers.
Seforno: This really pertains to people who have sinned to such an extent that there is no hope that they will do Teshuvah, 1 at which point Hashem will punish them.
Da'as Zekenim: It is a Midah of mercy - He does not rush to punish, but waits for an opportune time 2 to do so. 3
Which generally occurs when the sins are continually transgressed for a number of generations (Seforno).
As the Torah wrote in 32:34 "u've'Yom Pakdi, u'Fakadti".
Da'as Zekenim: This is difficult according to the opinion that Moshe rushed to bow, in case Hashem would add a fifth generation. This is mercy, not to punish a man according to his actions! (Perhaps a sinner should be punished for planting seeds for his descendants to sin. It is mercy not to punish him for this, rather, to punish the descendants who sin like him!)
Why did Hashem specify the third and the fourth generations?
Seforno: He waits for the sins of the third generation to surpass those of their grandfathers 1 before punishing them, but punishes the fourth generation, even if they onlycontinue sinning like their great-grandfathers.
Refer to 20:5:5:3.
As in Yirmiyah, 7:26 (Seforno).
What is the significance of the difference between the extended times of Hashem's reward and punishment?
Rashi: From the fact that Hashem rewards up to two thousand generations 1 and punishes up to only four generations, we see that His measure of goodness is five hundred times more than His measure of punishment.
The question is asked that, seeing as the world will only last until the year six thousand, there will never be two thousand generations? I once heard an answer to this question based on the Midrash that, when Mashi'ach comes, women will give birth every day.
How will we reconcile the Pesuklim here and in Yisro, 20:6 - that Hashem rewards 'up to two thousand generations', with the Pasuk in Va'eschanan Devarim, 7:9, which writes 'up to one thousand generations'?
Refer to 20:6:3:1-2.
How will we reconcile the current Pasuk - that Hashem visits the sins of the fathers on the sons, with the Pasuk in Va'eschanan Devarim, 24:16 which writes that "Sons do not die for the sins of their fathers, only for the sins that they themselves perpetrated"?
