וַיָּבֹ֤א יְהוָה֙ וַיִּתְיַצַּ֔ב וַיִּקְרָ֥א כְפַֽעַם־בְּפַ֖עַם שְׁמוּאֵ֣ל ׀ שְׁמוּאֵ֑ל וַיֹּ֤אמֶר שְׁמוּאֵל֙ דַּבֵּ֔ר כִּ֥י שֹׁמֵ֖עַ עַבְדֶּֽךָ׃ (פ)
Der Herr kam und stellte sich hin und rief wie die vorigen Male: Samuel, Samuel! Samuel sprach: Rede, denn dein Knecht hört.
Sefat Emet
In the verse (Num. 12:7), "Not so with My servant Moses; he is regular [ne'eman] throughout My household." This is difficult -- the two clauses are inconsistent, for, with respect to the first clause, where is there mentioned any lack of regularity/faith [emunah] in other prophets? Actually, the idea is that all of the [other] prophets had to change when prophesying, by divesting themselves of materiality, and becoming like a new creation, as it is said, "When prophecy rested on them, their faces would glow like torches, etc." If so, prophecy does not attach to them intrinsically. But for Mosheh Rabbeinu, a"h, the opposite is true -- when he needed to speak with them [i.e., the people], a veil would be placed in front of his face, and he would have to alter his attire, while when the prophecy spoke through him, it would be from his actual appearance, as it is written (12:8), "with him I speak mouth to mouth." And this is what is called "regular" [ne'eman]. And thus, they [the other prophets] did not have to separate from their wives as did Moshe Rabbeinu, a"h, as it is said (Zohar), "Moshe Moshe [Exod. 3:4] has no break" [no p'sik; contrast Gen. 22:11, Gen. 46:2, and I Sam. 3:10], for the Moshe of the lower realm is the Moshe of the upper realm, "the man of God" (Deut. 33:1). But the other prophets were attached to their supernal source only at the time of prophesying.
Kedushat Levi
Genesis 22,1. “It was after these events that G’d subjected Avraham to a trial, saying to him: ‘Avraham!’” We must try and understand why at this point G’d addressed Avraham by calling out: ”Avraham,” once, whereas in verse 11 of this chapter the angel addressing Avraham calls out to him: “Avraham, Avraham!” Another nuance that deserves our attention is why, on the first occasion (verse 12) G’d compliments Avraham on not having tried to withhold his beloved son from Him, ולא חשכת את בנך את יחידך ממני, whereas in verse 16 when the compliment is repeated, the word ממני, “from Me,” is absent.
This may be understood when we consider that according to Rashi on verse 11 repetition of the name indicates that the party addressed by G’d is especially beloved by G’d. We find in Samuel I 3,10 that when G’d called on Samuel, He always repeated his name when addressing him. In the case of Avraham, his very name reflects the fact that he was beloved by G’d. Here when G’d called upon him seeing that He wanted him to perform a commandment, He deliberately refrained for indicating how fond he was of him, as this call had not been designed to make him go through with slaughtering Yitzchok. However in verse16, when we became aware that Avraham was not to slaughter his son, this had become the מצוה. By commanding Avraham not to harm Yitzchok in any way, He displayed His true love for him. He did so by repeating his name when He called him.
As to the word ממני in verse 12, this was the angel speaking (although in the name of the Lord) Bereshit Rabbah 56,5 understands the angel as hinting to Avraham that seeing the angels in heaven have shed tears when they heard that Avraham had been asked to sacrifice his son Yitzchok, G’d cancelled the decree. The angel wanted Avraham to know that he had had a share in Yitzchok’s surviving the akeydah. In verse 16, when G’d is speaking to Avraham without intermediary, there was no reason to add the word: ממני, “from Me.”
This may be understood when we consider that according to Rashi on verse 11 repetition of the name indicates that the party addressed by G’d is especially beloved by G’d. We find in Samuel I 3,10 that when G’d called on Samuel, He always repeated his name when addressing him. In the case of Avraham, his very name reflects the fact that he was beloved by G’d. Here when G’d called upon him seeing that He wanted him to perform a commandment, He deliberately refrained for indicating how fond he was of him, as this call had not been designed to make him go through with slaughtering Yitzchok. However in verse16, when we became aware that Avraham was not to slaughter his son, this had become the מצוה. By commanding Avraham not to harm Yitzchok in any way, He displayed His true love for him. He did so by repeating his name when He called him.
As to the word ממני in verse 12, this was the angel speaking (although in the name of the Lord) Bereshit Rabbah 56,5 understands the angel as hinting to Avraham that seeing the angels in heaven have shed tears when they heard that Avraham had been asked to sacrifice his son Yitzchok, G’d cancelled the decree. The angel wanted Avraham to know that he had had a share in Yitzchok’s surviving the akeydah. In verse 16, when G’d is speaking to Avraham without intermediary, there was no reason to add the word: ממני, “from Me.”