Ramban, on Lev 26:8

“Five of yours shall pursue a hundred others, and a hundred of you ten thousand: your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.”

“AND YOUR ENEMIES SHALL FALL BEFORE YOU BY THE SWORD. He assured them at first that they would chase their enemies and that they would fall by their sword, and then He stated again by way of repetition [in the verse before us], and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword, in order to give them fortitude of heart and strength so that five [of them would not be afraid] to pursue a hundred. He [furthermore promised that He] would put faintness into the heart of their enemies, so that a hundred would [in fact] flee before five, and would all fall by the sword of the five, for it would be possible that they [a hundred people] would flee because of the sword and because of their fear, but that they would not be able to kill them by the sword because of their few numbers [therefore He mentioned specifically that they would be able to put them to the sword too]. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra has said that this repetition [in our verse] means that they [the enemies] will fall continually, time after time, without regaining [their strength].”

Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.