דברים

כאשר ידאה הנשר. זה אספסיאנוס וטיטוס שהיו מלכים ממלכי אדום והחריבו בית שני, וכך דרשו רז"ל על אספסיאנוס דחשיב למיתי בעשרה יומי ואתא בחמשה ושמע לינוקי דקא אמרי ישא ה' עליך גוי מרחוק מקצה הארץ כאשר ידאה הנשר, אמר שמא אנא הוא נשרא. וכן כל התוכחות האלו בבית שני היו, ושם נתקיימו כלן.

כאשר ידאה הנשר, “as the eagle will swoop.” This is a reference to the Roman Emperor Vespasianus and his general (and son) Titus (before the latter became Emperor). He had thought that it would take him 10 days to reach Jerusalem whereas he found that he reached the city after only five days of travel. He had overheard a young child quote our verse in which G’d describes a nation being carried against the Jewish people from the end of the earth much like an eagle which swoops down out of the sky. He applied this verse to himself when he experienced such an extraordinarily fast journey in his campaign against Jerusalem. Just as this particular verse applies to the destruction of the second Temple, so the entire chapter speaks of events happening at the end of the period of the second Temple.