EXTRA Derasha — not cited by Torah Temimah on this passuk; supplied for completeness of the SKIP range.

EXTRA — Haazinu 32:5 | Destruction is not His

Parashas Haazinu

The Complete Passuk

שִׁחֵת לוֹ לֹא בָּנָיו מוּמָם דּוֹר עִקֵּשׁ וּפְתַלְתֹּל׃

Destruction is not His; it is His children’s defect — a crooked and twisted generation.

Source Citation

Sifrei / Targum / classic midrash on 32:5

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
שִׁחֵת לוֹ לֹא – חַבִּילוּ לְהוֹן לָא לֵהּ. הַשַּׁחֲתָת לֹא לוֹ, אֶלָּא לְבָנָיו. בָּנָיו מוּמָם – אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהֵם בָּנָיו, הַמּוּם שֶׁלָּהֶם הוּא. דּוֹר עִקֵּשׁ וּפְתַלְתֹּל – דּוֹר שֶׁעִקֵּשׁ אֶת דְּרָכָיו וְעִוֵּת אֶת נְתִיבֹתָיו.

English: “Destruction is not His” — the damage is theirs, not His. The destruction is not His, but His children’s. “His children’s defect” — even though they are His children, the blemish is theirs. “A crooked and twisted generation” — a generation that has made its ways crooked and perverted its paths.

The midrash (and Targum) insists that the corruption belongs to the people, not to God; the dual adjectives underscore the thoroughness of the moral twisting.

Type of Learning

Custom (theological clarification that defect belongs to the children, not to the Father).

What Is Learned

See the Core Text and context note for the specific point derived from the verse.