Commentaire sur Les Nombres 11:17

וירדתי AND I WILL COME DOWN [AND SPEAK WITH THEE THERE] This is one of the ten instances of the use of the term “coming down” written in the Torah to describe a Divine manifestation on earth (Sifrei Bamidbar 93).

AND I WILL COME DOWN AND SPEAK WITH THEE THERE, ‘V’ATZALTI’ (AND I WILL TAKE OF THE SPIRIT) WHICH IS UPON THEE, AND WILL PUT IT UPON THEM. The intention of the verse is to say that the transmission [of the spirit resting on Moses to the seventy elders] will take place at the time when G-d will speak to Moses; and it will be from that [Divine communication that the prophetic power will be transmitted to them],²¹⁴So clearly explained in the Tur. See my Hebrew commentary p. 234. as is stated at the actual occurrance [of the events], And the Eternal came down in the cloud, and spoke unto him, [and took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders].²¹⁵Further, Verse 25. Now Scripture did not explain here what this communication was about, as is [usually] written in the whole Torah, where after [stating that G-d spoke to Moses] it explains what the Eternal said and what He spoke. [The reason for this is] that what happened here was that the elders, of whom Scripture states that they prophesied,²¹⁵Further, Verse 25. did not hear any communication from the mouth of G-d, nor did He appear to them in a vision or in a dream,²¹⁶See further, 12:6. but G-d spoke to Moses, and from the atziluth [as is explained further on] of the spirit upon Moses, they understood that Divine communication. This is the sense of the expression, and they prophesied, but they did so no more,²¹⁵Further, Verse 25. meaning that they did not continue receiving Divine communication on their own, for it was only the communication that G-d said to Moses in which they shared. This is also the meaning of v’atzalti [of the root eitzel — “near”], that “I will hold back with Me of the spirit which I put upon you, and I will put it upon them.” This is not the same idea as in the verse, and thou [Moses] shalt put of thy honor upon him [Joshua],²¹⁷Ibid., 27:20. for the term atziluth always means “holding something back,” as in the expressions: And whatsoever mine eyes desired ‘lo atzalti’ (I did not keep) from them;²¹⁸Ecclesiastes 2:10. ‘Halo atzalta’ (Hast thou not reserved) a blessing for me?²¹⁹Genesis 27:36. Similarly, [Now the upper chambers were shorter, for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middlemost, in the building. For they were in three stories, and they had not pillars as the pillars of the courts;] therefore ‘ne’etzal’ (room was taken away) from the lowest and the middlemost, in comparison with the ground,²²⁰Ezekiel 42:5-6. meaning that more [room] was left by them [i.e., the upper chambers] relative to the ground, than by the chambers on the bottom and middle [stories], since their galleries did not take away from these upper chambers.²²¹The meaning is as follows: It is clear from the verses that there were three stories, and that they were not supported on pillars. Thus each floor had to be set in somewhat in relation to the floor below it, leaving “galleries” around it. The top floor was the shortest, since the lower ones protruded and covered more of the ground-area than the highest story; thus more room was left relative to the ground by the top floor than by the other two. This shows that the root ‘atzal’ used in the verse signifies “holding back.” Likewise, and to the ‘atzilei’ of the children of Israel²²²Exodus 24:11. means “those who were left and were separated from them, who were withdrawn to themselves from the rest of the ordinary people.” Or it may be that great men are so called [atzilim — from the root eitzel (near)] because everybody comes to them [for counsel and instruction]. And translators of languages²²³Ramban is obviously referring to translators from Arabic into Hebrew. See e.g., in Yehudah Halevi’s philosophic work Al Khazari, written in Arabic, which Ibn Tibbon rendered into Hebrew, where he writes of atziluth ne’etzeleth mimenah sibah shenith (an Emanation from which emanated a second) etc. (Hirschfeld’s translation, I, 1, p. 36). use the term atziluth with reference to an emanation of any powers [coming forth] from the Creator and spreading to a created object. Thus they speak of the soul as atzulah (emanating) from Ruach Hakodesh (the Holy Spirit), since they understand atziluth as an expression of “drawing forth.” But it does not appear to me to be correct that atziluth should mean “drawing forth” or²²⁴“Or placing upon etc.” — In Kur Zahav it is suggested that the reading in Ramban should be [instead of: o hanachah — “or placing upon”]: ela hanachah — “but placing upon.” That is to say, Ramban differs with the translators who understood atziluth as an act of both, coming forth from one subject and spreading to another, while Ramban holds it is primarily a concept of “placing upon” a subject, part of something which the bestower has set aside for it. — See further my Hebrew commentary p. 235. “placing upon” [the receiver], something which the bestower has set aside [for him]. Onkelos, however, explained that the term atziluth has two meanings. Thus he translated here [v’atzalti] — “and I shall make great” [thus indicating that the term atziluth is to be understood as a “drawing forth” by the giver for the benefit of the receiver, that he will be made great], and similarly and to the ‘atzilei’²²²Exodus 24:11. [he translated], “and to the great men;” but he rendered ‘Halo atzalta’ a blessing for me²¹⁹Genesis 27:36. — “Have you not ‘left’ for me a blessing?” Thus it appears that his opinion about the meaning of atziluth is that it [sometimes] refers to a drawing forth or bestowing by a giver on a receiver; thus [according to this interpretation] the verse here is saying: “I will draw forth from that which is upon you [Moses] of the spirit of prophecy, and I will put it upon them.” But we may [also use the term atziluth in speaking of] a “drawing forth” which a giver does to himself from that which is given, so that it remains with him, this being the meaning of the verse, ‘Halo atzalta’ a blessing for me²¹⁹Genesis 27:36. — “Have you not kept to yourself for me one of the blessings with which to bless me?”
The general principle about the elders is that their Divine communication came only from [G-d’s] spirit which spoke to Moses, and from him it came to them. Therefore the Rabbis have said in Bamidbar Sinai Rabbah:²²⁵Bamidbar Rabbah, at the end of Seder Beha’alothcha. “This can be compared to a master who gave an orchard to a guardian, and paid him a wage for his service. After a while the guardian said to him: ‘I cannot guard the whole orchard alone; bring in some more people to guard it with me.’ Thereupon the master said to him: ‘I gave you my orchard to guard, and all the fruits for guarding it I gave you [i.e., I gave you a reward for it], and now you tell me to bring in others to guard it with you! I will bring in others to help you guard it, but you should know that I will not give them wages for watching it out of my resources; rather it is from the wages that I have given you that they will take their payment.’ So did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Moses: ‘I have given you spirit and knowledge to lead My children, and I did not want anyone else [to help you], in order that you alone should be singled out for this guardianship, and now you want someone else! Know then that from Me they will not take anything, but I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them.’ Yet nonetheless Moses did not lose anything [of his spirit].” Thus far is in the Midrash.
It appears likely to me that this [bestowing of the Divine spirit that was upon Moses] happened to the elders throughout their lives, so that they knew whatever G-d commanded Israel by the hand of Moses in connection with the temporary needs of the people and the events which happened to them in the wilderness. This is the meaning of the expression [in the verse before us] and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that whatever Moses told the people they knew, and each one would pass the Divine communication about it to the people of his tribe, and thus Moses no longer had to bear their complaints alone.

ונשאו אתך, seeing that they have now also attained the level of prophecy they are able to assist you in assuring the people get justice under your guidance because they see that the elders are with you and approve of what you are doing.

ואצלתי מן הרוח, "and I will hold back from the spirit, etc." The manner in which the Torah describes the transfer of part of Moses' Holy Spirit to the elders was meant to emphasise that Moses had possessed sufficient Holy Spirit to cope with the task allocated to Him by G'd. G'd did not need to increase the total amount of Holy Spirit available for that task. He simply reduced the amount of Holy Spirit which Moses had enjoyed up until that time.

וירדתי ודברתי עמך שם, “I will descend and speak with you there.” Nachmanides writes that the meaning of this verse is that at the time when G’d would speak with Moses the transfer of some of his Holy Spirit to the elders concerned would take place, with these elders experiencing part of the conversation between G’d and Moses. This is not equivalent to what G’d had described in Numbers 27,20 as מהודך, “part of your glory,” when He instructed Moses to appoint Joshua as his successor. Interestingly, when G’d carries out in verse 25 what He had said to Moses here, we do not read a single word about the subject of G’d’s conversation with Moses. This was a departure from all other occasions when G’d was described as speaking to Moses. The reason is that here the whole purpose was for G’d to address these elders via Moses. The latter neither heard G’d’s voice, nor did they have any visual communication such as a dream in which G’d appeared to them. G’d spoke to Moses, and the elders, thanks to the transfer of some of Moses’ Holy Spirit, became instantly aware of a conversation between G’d and Moses being in progress. This is also the meaning of what we read in verse 25: ויתנבאו ולא יספו, “they prophesied but did not continue to do so.” In other words, they were not able to call on their prophetic spirit themselves but had been given such inspiration only with Moses as the vehicle. The meaning of the words

One of the ten descents. You might ask: Why did Rashi explain this case more than all of the others. The answer is that the term “standing” was not written here like in the other cases.

V. 17. ואצלתי .וירדתי ודברתי עמך ואצלתי: seiner Grundbedeutung nach bezeichnet אצל das von einem Gegenstande Freigelassene, von ihm nicht Eingenommene, daher räumlich: neben, den Punkt, wo der von einem Gegenstande eingenommene Raum aufhört. Daher auch אצילי ידים, die Stelle, wo der Arm an den Körper grenzt: die Achsel. Dann: die außerhalb eines Kreises bleibenden Räume (Jes.41, 9) und Personen (Schmot 24, 11; siehe daselbst). Vergleichen wir die Stellen: Bereschit 27, 36 הלא אצלת לי ברכה und Pred. 2, 10 לא אצלתי מהם, in welchen אצל als Zeitwort vorkommt, so bedeutet es offenbar in beiden Stellen nicht: aus dem Bereiche eines Menschen etwas nehmen, das derselbe bereits besessen, sondern: etwas nicht in sein Bereich kommen lassen, etwas von dem zurückhalten (neben ihm, außerhalb seiner lassen), was ihm wohl hätte zukommen können. Und so dürfte es auch hier wohl nicht heißen: ich werde von dem Geiste, der auf dir ist, nehmen und auf sie legen, sondern: ich werde von dem Geiste, der auf dich (indem ich mit dir rede) kommt, zurückhalten und auf sie legen. Indem ich mit dir rede, werde ich von dem Geiste, der sonst auf dich allein kommt, auch auf sie kommen lassen. Damit werden sie geistig Teilhaber deiner Persönlichkeit, gehören in innigster Weise geistig zu dir.

וירדתי, “and I (the Lord) will descend, etc.” from this we learn that this day was as important for G–d as the day when He gave the Jewish people the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. We know this as it is the only day that has also been described as G–d descending. Compare Exodus 19,11, where the Lord has been described as descending to Mount Sinai on the third day of the people preparing for that event. (Bamidbar Rabbah 15,25)

ואצלתי מן הרוח אשר עליך, “and I will enhance some of the spirit that is part of you;” did G-d not have holy spirit that He could have taken from somewhere else other than Moses? We therefore must understand G-d’s words as follows: He told Moses that that he should judge the Jewish people and that He had given him sufficient wisdom to know how to this. How could Moses therefore complain that he could not do it by himself? (verse 14) If so, it was proof that he, Moses, had to share some of his holy spirit with the elders he would now appoint.

ודברתי עמך AND I WILL SPEAK WITH THEE but not with them (Sifrei Bamidbar 93).

ואצלתי מן הרוח אשר עליך, “I will deposit some of the spirit that is upon you placing it on them.” The meaning of the word אצל wherever it occurs is that that which is described as being נאצל is being arrested in a certain static condition, forever remaining dependent on its source. A well known example of the use and meaning of that word is found in Kohelet 2,10, “וכל אשר שאלו עיני לא אצלתי מהם, “and I did not deny, hold back from granting, anything which my eyes desired of the joys available in this world.” Similarly, when we read in Exodus chapter 24 about the אצילי בני ישראל, the reference is to the aristocracy of the Israelites, the ones who considered themselves apart from the multitude. When the word נבואה is used, however, the Torah speaks about a divine inspiration which comes from G’d directly, is not dependent on the input by another human being. Ibn Ezra understands the word ואצלתי as meaning something similar to אקח מאשר אצלך, “I will take something which is beside you, i.e. I will not thereby diminish what is yours.” Some commentators understand the meaning of אצילות as being similar to המשכה, “drawing something away.” Personally, I tend to believe that as long as the elders were being indirectly inspired via Moses that they could divine what it was that G’d expected of them and would command the people in any matters relating to the welfare of the people in all the happenings that the Torah reports as having occurred in the desert. This is the meaning of the words: ונשאו אתך במשא העם, “they will assist you in carrying the burden of the people.” They were informed of all that Moses would instruct the people to do; everyone would share this knowledge with his tribe. As a result, Moses would no longer carry the weight of their complaints all by himself.

I will make greater. וארבי is an expression that denotes greatness.

ולא תשא אתה לבדך, "so that you will not bear it alone." In this verse G'd precluded Moses from retracting on his complaint and expressing willingness to carry on as before. The words לא תשא are equivalent to G'd saying: "you will no longer carry the burden alone under any circumstances." The verse also hints that henceforth Moses' exalted position of authority would no longer be exclusive, and that he would have to share his authority. This is a secondary meaning of the word תשא, i.e. "you will no longer be the only one who has been elevated to high stature." I have come across the following remarks in Bamidbar Rabbah 15: "G'd said to Moses I have equipped you with sufficient insight and knowledge to be a provider for My children and you have been the only one equipped with such stature. From now on they will take from what is yours." According to the scholars who have said in Sanhedrin 17 that the words ולא יספו (11,25) mean that Eldod and Medod did not stop prophesying the words לא תשא may refer to a prophecy such as the word משא in Maleachi 1,1. Accordingly G'd told Moses that henceforth he would no longer be the only prophet in Israel but would have to share that distinction with the elders.

מן הרוח אשר עליו. Das Erteilen des Geistes der Prophetie ist im Ausdruck scharf von jeder anderen von Gott ausgehenden Ausstattung mit Geist unterschieden. In Josef ist Gottes Geist (Bereschit 41, 38), Bezalel hat Gott mit Geist Gottes erfüllt (Schmot 31, 3 und 35, 31), Josua war voll des Geistes der Weisheit (Dewarim 34, 9), Gott pflanzte durch Mosche seinen heiligen Geist ins Volk (Jes. 63, 11). Der Geist, der Ezechiel auf seine Füße aufrichtet, kommt in ihn (Ezech. 2, 2 und 3, 24), der Geist Gottes, der Gideon mit Mut rüstete (Richter 6, 34), selbst der, der Secharja den Mut gab, dem Volke mit Vorwürfen wegen seines Abfalls entgegen zu treten (Chron. II. 24, 20), sowie der Geist, der Amasai zum Huldigungsgruss an David trieb (daselbst I. 12. 18), war ein Geist, der sich in sie hüllte (לבש). Jede solche Geistesspende war eine Vermehrung, eine Erhöhung des geistigen Innern. Was in Folge solcher besonderen geistigen Begabung und Erregung geschah, ging nicht über das normale Maß menschlicher Fähigkeit hinaus. Es blieb Menschenwort und Menschentat, getragen und gehoben von besonderer, gottgespendeter, geistiger Begabung und Erregung. Allein der Geist der Prophetie ist kein innerer Vorgang, er kommt auf den Menschen, über den Menschen, ruht auf ihm, so der Geist der Prophetie, der über Saul kam (Sam. l. 10. 6 u. 10), über seine Boten (daselbst 19, 20), über Asarja (Chron. II. 15, 1), über Ezechiel (Ezech. 11, 5), auf Jesaias (Jes.61. 1), auf den Diener Gottes, auf Israel, auf alle Menschen (Jes.42, 1; 44, 3 und 59, 21, sowie Joel 3, 1), er ist eine Gottesmacht, eine "Hand" Gottes, יד ד, die über den Menschen kommt (Ezech. 1, 3; 3, 21 und 37, 1 daselbst), es ist Göttliches, dessen Träger, Bringer und Herold der Mensch wird, das von außen, aus der Höhe, an ihn, auf ihn kommt, das ihn über das Niveau des normalen Menschlichen hinaushebt und sein Menschliches zur Staffel des Göttlichen auf Erden macht. Was von ihm gesprochen und vollbracht wird, ist Gottes Wort und Gottes Tat, und der Mensch ist nur sein Bringer und Vollbringer. So werden auch die Krafttaten Simsons durch den über ihn kommenden Gottesgeist (Richter 14, 6 u. 19 und 15, 14) eben damit als übermenschliche gezeichnet.

ואצלתי מן הרוח אשר עליך, “I will draw on the spirit that is on you, etc.;” what transpired now could be compared to a King who owned a beautiful orchard and had hired an expert to look after it all by himself. After a while this expert said to the owner that he could no longer fulfill this task all by himself, but that he wanted other guardians to share the burden with him The owner agreed with the condition that this expert would share the wages that had been paid to him thus far with his helpers as the King was not prepared to budget for additional expense for this orchard. G–d made it clear that he had equipped Moses with sufficient Holy Spirit for the task at hand, but that if he were prepared to distribute this mount of Holy Spirit also among the elders this was acceptable to Him. G–d had resented Moses’ implication that he had not been equipped with the tools necessary to lead this people successfully without additional helpers. Proof that this had been G–d’s attitude can be found by the fact that 40 years later when Moses appointed a successor, Joshua, G–d told him to appoint only one single successor, not a team of leaders. (Numbers 27,18) When Moses transferred his authority to Joshua after forty years to Joshua, as described in Numbers 27,18, this did not result in Moses “losing” any of the Holy Spirit residing within him. According to Bamidbar Rabbah,15,25, we must simply understand this as if a candle imparted its light to another candle, without thereby becoming even one iota less capable of giving of its light to its surroundings.

ואצלתי — Understand this as the Targum does: AND I SHALL MAKE GREAT. Similar is (Exodus 24:11) “And upon the great men of (אצילי) the children of Israel [He laid not his hands]”.

ושמתי עליהם AND I WILL PUT IT UPON THEM — What was Moses like to at that moment? He was like to a light that is placed in a candlestick at which everybody lights his lamps and yet its illuminating power is not the least diminished (Sifrei Bamidbar 93).

ונשאו אתך AND THEY SHALL BEAR [THE BURDEN OF THE PEOPLE] WITH THEE — stipulate with them that they shall join you on the understanding that they take upon themselves the burden of my children — because they are troublesome people and refractory (Sifrei Bamidbar 92).

ולא תשא אתה לבדך THAT THOU BEAR IT NOT THYSELF ALONE — Here you have the answer to what you have said, (Numbers 11:14) “I am not able [to bear all this people] alone” (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 93; Rashi on Numbers 11:16).