Pensée juive sur L’Exode 32:19

וַֽיְהִ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר קָרַב֙ אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הָעֵ֖גֶל וּמְחֹלֹ֑ת וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֣ף מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֤ךְ מידו [מִיָּדָיו֙] אֶת־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת וַיְשַׁבֵּ֥ר אֹתָ֖ם תַּ֥חַת הָהָֽר׃

Or, comme il approchait du camp, il aperçut le veau et les danses. Le courroux de Moïse s’alluma; il jeta de ses mains les tables et les brisa au pied de la montagne.

Guide for the Perplexed

THE three words karab, “to come near,” naga‘, “to touch,” and nagash, “to approach,” sometimes signify “contact” or “nearness in space,” sometimes the approach of man’s knowledge to an object, as if it resembled the physical approach of one body to another. As to the use of karab in the first meaning, viz., to draw near a certain spot, comp. “As he drew near (karab) the camp” (Exod. 32:19); “And Pharaoh drew near (hikrib) (Exod. 14:10). Naga‘, in the first sense, viz., expressing the contact of two bodies, occurs in “And she cast it (va-tagga‘) at his feet” (Exod. 4:25); “He caused it to touch (va-yagga‘) my mouth” (Isa. 6:7). And nagash in the first sense, viz., to approach or move towards another person, is found, e.g., in “And Judah drew near (va-yiggash) unto him” (Gen. 44:18).