אַל־תִּֽהְי֤וּ ׀ כְּס֥וּס כְּפֶרֶד֮ אֵ֤ין הָ֫בִ֥ין בְּמֶֽתֶג־וָרֶ֣סֶן עֶדְי֣וֹ לִבְל֑וֹם בַּ֝֗ל קְרֹ֣ב אֵלֶֽיךָ׃
Ne soyez pas comme le cheval, comme le mulet, auxquels manque l’intelligence, qu’il faut retenir par les rênes et le mors, leur parure qu’ils rongent pour qu’ils ne s’approchent pas de toi.
Zohar
YE SHALL BE HOLY, ETC. R. Eleazar cited here the text: “Be ye not as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding”, etc. (Ps. 32, 9). ‘How often’, he said, ‘does the Torah warn men, how often does it cry aloud on all sides to rouse them, yet they all sleep in their sins1Al. “in their dens”. and heed not! With what face will they rise on the day of judgement when the Most High King will visit upon them their neglect of the Torah in not listening to her call, since they are full of blemishes and know not the faith of the Heavenly King. Alas for them and for their souls!
Pardes Rimmonim
But the truth [is that] this mishna is not so hard [to understand] except that we will say that the order [of the Sefirot] is difficult in it. But nevertheless, from this is seen the humility of the pious one [= the Ramban] of blessed memory, that he chose to say that he does not understand, instead of contradicting the judgement of his received teaching out of the forced opinion of one mishna. Because he wanted to suspect his knowledge and not to contradict the limit of the ancient ones. But nevertheless, we do not see in this mishna any forced opinion. And this is its explanation: ‘Ten Sefirot בלי מה/without what-ness’. Explanation:
This word is divided into two [words] which means to say: ‘without what-ness’, explanation: ‘מה/what’ is what-ness. And the intention [is] that the ten Sefirot [are] without/ בליwhat-ness/מה, as their what-ness is not comprehended by us. And even if we say that this one is Judgement and this one is Compassion etc., everything is comprehended by us from their action, but from their reality they are without what-ness.
Further it [= the word בלימה now considered as one word and a substantive] is from the expression בלום as it is written “its ornament to restrain/בלום” [Psalms 32:9], as it is fitting for a person to restrain his mouth and not to multiply his words on their what-ness and on their subject, as short is who is comprehending and deep is what is [to be] comprehended.
Or it is from the expression of the hiding and the concealing, just as “its ornament to restrain” and this is covering of the ornament and hiding it.
This word is divided into two [words] which means to say: ‘without what-ness’, explanation: ‘מה/what’ is what-ness. And the intention [is] that the ten Sefirot [are] without/ בליwhat-ness/מה, as their what-ness is not comprehended by us. And even if we say that this one is Judgement and this one is Compassion etc., everything is comprehended by us from their action, but from their reality they are without what-ness.
Further it [= the word בלימה now considered as one word and a substantive] is from the expression בלום as it is written “its ornament to restrain/בלום” [Psalms 32:9], as it is fitting for a person to restrain his mouth and not to multiply his words on their what-ness and on their subject, as short is who is comprehending and deep is what is [to be] comprehended.
Or it is from the expression of the hiding and the concealing, just as “its ornament to restrain” and this is covering of the ornament and hiding it.
Ohr Ne'erav
Have I not said to you, I shall be clear (Ps. 19:14), for he will be a healer (Isa. 3:7)? He who utilizes the Daughter of a Voice will become rich. There is none who aggrandizes himself to say (I Kings 1:5), learn Gemara. And if he is a poor man, he sleeps on his pledge (Deut. 24:12) and rides on a donkey (Zech. 9:9); he glorifies himself in the hidden wisdom and its tumult, and delights in it (Isa. 5:14). There is no spirit within him (Hab. 2:19), and the living will take it to heart (Eccles. 7:2), for with stratagems will we wage war (Prov. 24:6), with a fortiori [reasoning] and equivalent statements in the bundles of Mishnah, and from the desert a gift (Num. 21:18) [by] which man will live (Ps. 89:49), if he will be as a horse or a donkey not to understand (Ps. 32:9) the laws of God, positive and negative. He tells his words; in keeping them there is great reward (Ps. 19:12) to complete their commandments in the most acceptable way.