What are the connotations of "Hu ha'Nosen lach ko'ach La'asos Chayil"?
Ramban: It means that He is the One Who gives them the strength to fight with the Cana'anim, whom they are destined to vanquish because they (Yisrael) are a mighty nation. 1
R. Bachye: With reference to 8:17:0.1:1 -it means that He gives Yisrael the power to control the Mazel, so that the Mazel has no power over them 2 - ?Ein Mazel le'Yisrael!'
Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan: It means that He is the One who counsels them how to amass property.
Ramban: Seeing as they are compared to lions and to wolves that tear apart their prey - See Bereishis 49:9 & 27.
R. Bachye (citing Shabbos 156a): As Hashem told Avraham Avinu in Bereishis 15:" -- See Shabbos ibid. This is confined however, to Yisrael communally. Each individual is in fact, governed by a Mazel, as the Gemara states in Mo'e Katan 28a "Children, life and sustenance depend, not on merits but on Mazel!' - See R. Bachye foot of p. 301 & p. 302 - and the current Pesukimare written in the singular because the Torah is accustomed to doing so, even when it is discussing a community. See also R. Chavel's footnotes DH ?Al ha'Kelal Amru'.
Why does the Torah mention the fact that He gives Yisrael strength ... ?
Ramban: The Torah is warning Yisrael that, when they fight with the Cana'anim - and defeat them, they should not ascribe their victories to their own prowess, but rather recall how Hashem delivered them from the Egyptians - against whom they themselves were helpless, and how He provided for them in the desert - even though they were totally incapable of fending for themselves. 1
Oznayim la'Torah: To warn them that (now that they were entering Eretz Yisrael, and would have to work to earn a living), 2 they should take care not to ascribe their successes to their efforts, but to Hashem's blessing - and He reminded them that how Hashem provided them with silver and gold when they left Egypt and at the Yam-Suf, produced water on a number of occasions and fed them the Manna - all without their participation.
