Comentario sobre Exodo 20:17

לבעבור נסות אתכם signifies, in order to exalt you in the world (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:17:2) — that you may obtain a great name amongst the nations because He has revealed Himself to you in His Glory.

FOR G-D IS COME IN ORDER TO ‘NASOTH’ YOU. “I.e., to make you ‘great’ in the world, [to ensure] that you obtain a name amongst the nations [because of the fact] that He in His Glory revealed Himself to you. Nasoth is a term for ‘exalting’ and ‘greatness,’ just as in the verses: Lift up a ‘neis’ (an ensign);⁵⁵¹Isaiah 62:10. ‘k’neis’ (as an ensign) on a hill,⁵⁵²Ibid., 30:17. which is so called because it is high.” Thus Rashi’s language. But this is not correct.⁵⁵³Rashi connects nasoth with neis (ensign, banner). Ramban objects to this because in his opinion, the root of the word nasoth is nasoh (try, accustom). Instead, it is possible that Moses is saying that “it is in order to get you ‘accustomed’ to have faith in Him that G-d is come. Since He has shown you the Revelation of the Divine Presence, your faith in Him has entered your hearts to cleave to Him, and your souls will never be separated from it forever. And that His fear may be before you when you see that He alone is G-d in heaven and upon the earth, you will have great fear of Him.” It may be that Moses is saying that “the fear of this great fire⁵⁵⁴Deuteronomy 5:22. will be before you, and you will not sin because of your fear of it.” And the word nasoth is similar in expression to the verses: And he [David] assayed to go, but could not, for he had ‘nisah’ (tried) it. And David said unto Saul: I cannot go with these; for I have not ‘nisithi’ (tried) them,⁵⁵⁵I Samuel 17:39. something like “accustomed.”
The Rabbi [Moshe ben Maimon] has said in the Moreh Nebuchim⁵⁵⁶Guide of the Perplexed, III, 24. The Hebrew text here follows Al Charizi’s translation, and not that of Ibn Tibbon. that Moses said to the people, “Fear not, because the purpose of that which you have seen is that when the Eternal G-d, in order to demonstrate your faithfulness to Him, will test you by sending you a false prophet who will aim to reverse that which you have heard, your steps will never slide from the way of the truth, for you have seen the truth with your own eyes.” But if so, the sense of the verse, [according to Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon], is that “in order to be able to prove you in the future, G-d came now so that you should remain faithful to Him in all trials.”
In my opinion, the real “trial” is now, [and not as Rambam has it that “He now came in order to be able to prove you in the future”]. Moses is saying: “Now G-d wanted to try you whether you will keep His commandments,⁵⁵⁷See Deuteronomy 8:2. since He has now removed all doubt from your hearts. From now on, He will see whether ye do love Him,⁵⁵⁸Ibid., 13:4. and whether you want Him and His commandments.” So also does every expression of nisayon mean “test,” such as: I cannot go with these; for I have not ‘nisithi’ them,⁵⁵⁵I Samuel 17:39. which means “I have never tried to walk with them.”
It is possible that this “trial” is for the good [of the one who is being tried],⁵⁵⁹See Vol. I, p. 275. for the master will sometimes try his servant with hard work in order to know whether he will endure it out of his love for him. Sometimes he will do him good in order to know whether he will requite him with additional service and honor for the good he has done him. This is similar to what the Sages have said:⁵⁶⁰Shemoth Rabbah 31:2. “Happy is the person who stands through his trials, for there is no man whom the Holy One, blessed be He, does not try. He tries the rich to see if his hand will be open for the poor; He tries the poor if he can bear suffering, etc.” This is why Scripture says here: “G-d has been good to you in showing you His Glory, which He hath not dealt with any nation,⁵⁶¹Psalms 147:20. in order to prove you whether you will requite Him according to the good He has done to you to be unto Him a people of inheritance,⁵⁶²Deuteronomy 4:20. similar to what He said, Do ye thus requite the Eternal?⁵⁶³Ibid., 32:6. And it is said. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities,⁵⁶⁴Amos 3:2. for the nations are not obligated to me as are you, whom I have known face to face.”

לבעבור נסות אתכם, in order that you become used to prophetic insights which this time were of the highest caliber, i.e. what is known as פנים אל פנים, “face to face.” The people’s experience paralleled that of the prophet Elijah at the same mountain where the fire and the overpowering sound were only an introduction to the קול דממה דקה, to the barely audible voice which heralded the arrival of the Shechinah. On that occasion (Kings I 19,13) Elijah had wrapped his mantle around his face as he was so afraid. Elijah’s prophetic vision at the time was on a very high level, as he was able to freely make use of all his physical faculties. It presumably was only slightly inferior to the level of prophecy achieved by Moses.

אל תיראו, "do not fear, etc." Moses reassured the people that even if the Lord were to continue speaking to them directly they would not die, as G'd had already accomplished His purpose in testing the Jewish people by inspiring awe of Him in them. He had already removed the residue of pollutants that they had still contained within themselves, pollutants dating back to Adam. There was also a second reason G'd had spoken to Israel directly. Once their pollutants had been removed, G'd's presence was able to occupy a permanent presence amongst them and the image of the Lord which original man had been created in had now been fully restored to all of the Israelites. The combination of these two elements was a great barrier to the Israelites sinning again in the future. Anyone who possesses shame, i.e. another word for "fear of the Lord," will not easily be tempted to commit a sin.

נסות, to warn you, to admonish you.

לבעבור נסות, “in order to test, etc.” Rashi, basing himself on the word נס, a banner, something one looks up to, understands the meaning of the line as “in order to elevate you, to grant you greater stature.” Nachmanides understands the meaning to be: “to get you used to supernatural manifestations in order to strengthen your faith.” People who have been granted such revelations will have their belief transformed into knowledge. As a result, they will cling more closely to their Creator.

ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם, “and so that the fear of Him shall remain on your faces, etc.” Mechilta (bachodesh section 8) understands this “fear” as a “sense of shame.” The reason is that fear or reverence are parameters of the heart, whereas shame is something one recognizes in one’s face. This is the reason the Torah refers to it as being על פניכם, “on your faces.” The Torah adds לבלתי תחטאו “in order that you will not sin,” to teach us the psychological lesson that shame inhibits the commission of sin (Mechilta bachodesh section 9).

Because it is raised high. I.e., a banner is called נס because it is lifted up and raised high. Here, too, נסות means “so they will be lifted up.”

V. 17. בעבור ,לבעבור נסות: in dem Übergang zu etwas, in der Absicht, etwas zu erreichen. לבעבור, für diese Absicht: נסות אתכם, damit ihr euch selbst erprobet, ob ihr im Stand seid, unmittelbar das Gottesgesetz zu empfangen, und, indem ihr selbst das Bedürfnis einer Vermittlung fühlet, um so mehr Vertrauen zu dem von Gott gesendeten Vermittler fasset, und auch ובעבור וגו׳, damit der Eindruck dieser Unmittelbarkeit euch ewig bleibe. Geschlossen hat Gott den Bund seines Gesetzes unmittelbar mit euch, er hat zu jedem von euch gesprochen: אנכי ד׳ אלקיך, und jeder von euch hat Ihm und Seinem Gesetze unmittelbar gehuldigt. Keinem Menschen, unmittelbar eurem Gotte habt ihr die Treue geschworen: dies unmittelbar persönliche Verhältnis, das ihr eingegangen, wird euch eurem Berufe festhalten und euch vor leichtsinniger Untreue schützen.

נסות has the sense of exalting and greatness, of similar meaning and root to, (Isaiah 62:10) “Lift up an ensign (נס)”; (Isaiah 49:22) “I will lift up my standard (נסי)”; (Isaiah 30:17) “as an ensign (כנס) on a hill” — and an ensign is called נס because it is something raised on high.

בא האלוקים, G’d’s entourage of angels. We encountered a similar expression meaning the same in 19, 17.

ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם, “and in order that the awe of Him shall be on your faces.” When you realize that He alone is G’d in heaven and on earth, you will be appropriately respectful. This would recall their fiery vision on that occasion. Alternately, the meaning could be related to נסיון, familiarity, being used to something from experience. Compare: לא נסיתי ללכת באלה, “I am not used to wear these.” (David declining King Saul’s armour or uniform before battling Goliath Samuel I 17,39). Maimondes explains the words בעבור נסות אתכם, to mean that “when I want to test you by sending you a false prophet, I steeled you against being misled by allowing you to witness the revelation as a safeguard against any claims by false prophets in the future.” The experience you had at the revelation at Mount Sinai will enable you in all future to be able to resist the lure of the promises that a false prophet is liable to make to you. In addition to this Nachmanides writes that the word refers to a real test, in the constructive manner of the term, and when David declined Shaul’s armour, he meant by saying לא נסיתי ללכת באלה, that seeing he had not had the proper training in handling such garments, he would not want to risk his life by wearing it without first having tested it. When a master assigns a difficult task to a servant in order to see if the servant is equal to the task, the intent may be to bolster the servant’s self-confidence, when he sees that the master expects him to be able to carry out such an assignment. The revelation at Sinai, in a manner of speaking was a compliment by our Master, Hashem Who demon-strated His faith in our being able to endure such a test.

Another meaning contained in the words לבעבור נסות אתכם, is that in the event you would complain in the future why not every Jew has been selected to have prophetic stature, the reason is that you have now indicated you would find the burden to be G'd's prophet, i.e. receive His communications directly, as too awesome. G'd has just tried to elevate all of you to the status of prophet but you have failed this test.

ובעבור תהיה יראתו AND THAT HIS FEAR MAY BE [BEFORE YOUR FACES] — Through the fact that you see that He is feared and dreaded you will know that there is none beside Him and you will therefore fear Him and not sin.

ובעבור תהיה יראתו, this corresponds to what Rabbi Yehoshua answered the Roman Emperor who had asked him when he asked to be shown G’d, that the Emperor first look at the sun. The Emperor, of course, proved unable to do so fearing to be blinded. Rabbi Yehoshua then asked him that if he could not even look at one of G’d’s creations how he could expect to be able to look at G’d Himself?