לָ֠כֵן יְשַׁלַּ֨ח הָאָד֜וֹן יְהוָ֧ה צְבָא֛וֹת בְּמִשְׁמַנָּ֖יו רָז֑וֹן וְתַ֧חַת כְּבֹד֛וֹ יֵקַ֥ד יְקֹ֖ד כִּיק֥וֹד אֵֽשׁ׃
C’est pourquoi le Seigneur, l’Éternel-Cebaot enverra la consomption parmi ses robustes légions, et sous ses splendeurs flambera un brasier, pareil à un feu ardent.
Rabbeinu Bahya
It would appear that this wording is the source for our sages (Sanhedrin 52) stating that one of the four death penalties, called שרפה, burning, is to consist of the victim having molten lead poured down his throat. As a result of this procedure the victim’s windpipe and gullet would be burned and his soul would leave his body. There is no law in the Torah which decrees that someone’s body be burned. The only example of anyone dying by what is described as “burning,” are the sons of Aaron and their bodies clearly were not burned.
The army of Sancheriv which perished on a Passover night (185,000 of them) also died in the same manner as did Nadav and Avihu as we have been told in Sanhedrin 94. The prophet Isaiah 9,4 had predicted this when he said: כי כל סאון סואן ברעש ושמלה מגוללת בדמים והיתה לשרפה מאכולת אש, the meaning of this verse is that whereas in all other wars and battles victory and defeat are earmarked by deafening noise and the soldiers uniforms are tainted with blood, in the case of Sancheriv the soldiers of his army will suffer burning, being devoured, not like soldiers in other battles. Kings II 19,35 reports that on that night (anniversary of the Exodus) “an angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 of the Assyrian camp and the following morning they were all dead corpses.” The plague which struck the Assyrian army was the result of the combined prayers of King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Isaiah as reported in Chronicles II, 32,20-21: “Then King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amotz, prayed about this, and cried out to heaven. The Lord sent an angel who annihilated every mighty warrior, commander, and officer in the army of the King of Assyria, and he returned in disgrace to his land. He entered the house of his god, and there some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword.”
Seeing that the deaths of the sons of Aaron consisted of their souls being “burned,” on the inside, their bodies and clothing remained intact. This is why the prophet Isaiah 10,16 in describing heavenly fire when predicting the downfall of Assyria uses the word יקוד several times in describing that fire, i.e. it is not fire in the physical sense as we understand it, but it is like the fire that killed Nadav and Avihu, leaving no outward trace. The words תחת כבודו in that verse mean that the כבוד of a person, i.e. his clothing which lends him a measure of dignity will be untouched as the “fire” operates beneath the clothing and the body, even. The Talmud (Sanhedrin quotes Rabbi Yochanan as referring to his clothing by the description כבודי, “my honour, my dignity.” Concerning the phenomenon we have just described Isaiah said in verse 18 of the chapter quoted וכבוד יערו וכרמלו, “it will burn its great army which looks like a forest wiping it out body and soul, so that it will remain like something that has been eaten by worms.” The simile of the worm was used by the prophet to describe something destroyed from the inside though until the last moment none of that destructive process had been visible on the outside. The woodworm leaves the bark of the tree untouched providing no warning of what goes on inside the trunk. The word סס occurs also in connection with the moth devouring woolen garments. The word was borrowed in this verse of Isaiah to describe a silent process unnoticed by outsiders. This entire army of the Assyrians was composed of descendants of Japhet, second son of Noach who had enjoyed the protective merit that their clothing was saved as their ancestor had been a party to his brother Shem when he covered the nude body of his father by walking into the tent backwards (Genesis 9,23). His brother Shem, who initiated that move and whose descendants we are, merited the commandment of wearing ציצית on our garments (compare Tanchuma Noach 13).
The word אותם at the end of our verse which is spelled with the letter ו in this instance, is an allusion to the “sixth fire of the Shechinah.” We are told in Yuma 21 that there are a total of six different categories of heavenly fire. They are: “a fire which eats” but does not “drink;’ fire which “drinks” but does not “eat;” fire which both “eats and drinks; fire which consumes both dry and wet material;” fire which supplants another category of fire; fire which consumes another category of fire. The fire which “eats but does not drink,” is the fire of which the Torah says that it descended on the altar and consumed the meat of the offerings. Fire which “drinks” but does not eat is fever, which dries out a person at the same time killing his appetite. Fire which eats and drinks was the fire that consumed both Elijah’s sacrifice and the water in the moat he had made around it. The fire which consumed both wet and dry matters was that on the woodpile of the altar which was not extinguished by rain. Fire which supplanted competing fire is the fire of the angel Gavriel which descended into the kiln where Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah had been thrown by Nebuchadnezzar. The latter had stoked the kiln for seven consecutive days (Daniel 3). The angel used “fire” to cool man-made fire. Fire which consumes fire is the fire of the Shechinah. The Midrash tells of G’d burning angels who had opposed Him when He wanted to create man. The letter ו in the word אותם, may also allude to the six sins which our sages claim that Nadav and Avihu were guilty of and which combined to cause their deaths.
The army of Sancheriv which perished on a Passover night (185,000 of them) also died in the same manner as did Nadav and Avihu as we have been told in Sanhedrin 94. The prophet Isaiah 9,4 had predicted this when he said: כי כל סאון סואן ברעש ושמלה מגוללת בדמים והיתה לשרפה מאכולת אש, the meaning of this verse is that whereas in all other wars and battles victory and defeat are earmarked by deafening noise and the soldiers uniforms are tainted with blood, in the case of Sancheriv the soldiers of his army will suffer burning, being devoured, not like soldiers in other battles. Kings II 19,35 reports that on that night (anniversary of the Exodus) “an angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 of the Assyrian camp and the following morning they were all dead corpses.” The plague which struck the Assyrian army was the result of the combined prayers of King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Isaiah as reported in Chronicles II, 32,20-21: “Then King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amotz, prayed about this, and cried out to heaven. The Lord sent an angel who annihilated every mighty warrior, commander, and officer in the army of the King of Assyria, and he returned in disgrace to his land. He entered the house of his god, and there some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword.”
Seeing that the deaths of the sons of Aaron consisted of their souls being “burned,” on the inside, their bodies and clothing remained intact. This is why the prophet Isaiah 10,16 in describing heavenly fire when predicting the downfall of Assyria uses the word יקוד several times in describing that fire, i.e. it is not fire in the physical sense as we understand it, but it is like the fire that killed Nadav and Avihu, leaving no outward trace. The words תחת כבודו in that verse mean that the כבוד of a person, i.e. his clothing which lends him a measure of dignity will be untouched as the “fire” operates beneath the clothing and the body, even. The Talmud (Sanhedrin quotes Rabbi Yochanan as referring to his clothing by the description כבודי, “my honour, my dignity.” Concerning the phenomenon we have just described Isaiah said in verse 18 of the chapter quoted וכבוד יערו וכרמלו, “it will burn its great army which looks like a forest wiping it out body and soul, so that it will remain like something that has been eaten by worms.” The simile of the worm was used by the prophet to describe something destroyed from the inside though until the last moment none of that destructive process had been visible on the outside. The woodworm leaves the bark of the tree untouched providing no warning of what goes on inside the trunk. The word סס occurs also in connection with the moth devouring woolen garments. The word was borrowed in this verse of Isaiah to describe a silent process unnoticed by outsiders. This entire army of the Assyrians was composed of descendants of Japhet, second son of Noach who had enjoyed the protective merit that their clothing was saved as their ancestor had been a party to his brother Shem when he covered the nude body of his father by walking into the tent backwards (Genesis 9,23). His brother Shem, who initiated that move and whose descendants we are, merited the commandment of wearing ציצית on our garments (compare Tanchuma Noach 13).
The word אותם at the end of our verse which is spelled with the letter ו in this instance, is an allusion to the “sixth fire of the Shechinah.” We are told in Yuma 21 that there are a total of six different categories of heavenly fire. They are: “a fire which eats” but does not “drink;’ fire which “drinks” but does not “eat;” fire which both “eats and drinks; fire which consumes both dry and wet material;” fire which supplants another category of fire; fire which consumes another category of fire. The fire which “eats but does not drink,” is the fire of which the Torah says that it descended on the altar and consumed the meat of the offerings. Fire which “drinks” but does not eat is fever, which dries out a person at the same time killing his appetite. Fire which eats and drinks was the fire that consumed both Elijah’s sacrifice and the water in the moat he had made around it. The fire which consumed both wet and dry matters was that on the woodpile of the altar which was not extinguished by rain. Fire which supplanted competing fire is the fire of the angel Gavriel which descended into the kiln where Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah had been thrown by Nebuchadnezzar. The latter had stoked the kiln for seven consecutive days (Daniel 3). The angel used “fire” to cool man-made fire. Fire which consumes fire is the fire of the Shechinah. The Midrash tells of G’d burning angels who had opposed Him when He wanted to create man. The letter ו in the word אותם, may also allude to the six sins which our sages claim that Nadav and Avihu were guilty of and which combined to cause their deaths.
Rabbeinu Bahya
A Midrashic approach (Tanchuma Tzav 2) to the words היא העולה, “it is the burnt-offering.” The reference is to the Roman Empire which is the most arrogant Empire, constantly aggrandizing itself. The same Midrash also states that anyone who aggrandizes himself will eventually be judged by fire. They base this on what happened to the generation of the deluge who had boasted of their own importance saying: (Job 21,15) “who is Shaddai that we should serve Him?” They were judged by fire as it is written (Job 6,17) ”when they thaw they vanish; in the heat they disappear where they are.” The people of Sodom were judged by fire because they were too proud, as we know from Ezekiel 16,49: “Only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: ‘arrogance!’ She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquillity; “ they were judged by fire as we know from Genesis 19,24: “G’d caused it to rain on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire.” Pharaoh was also judged by fire seeing he was so arrogant and had said: “who is Hashem that I should listen to Him?” (Exodus 5,2). He had also claimed: “the river Nile belongs to me and I have created it!” (Ezekiel 29,3). We know that he was judged by fire from Psalms 18,14: “Then the Lord thundered from heaven, the Most High gave forth His voice, hail and fiery coals.” We have also been told in Exodus 9,24: ”there was hail which contained fire within it.” Another arrogant king who was punished by fire was Sancheriv who had boasted (Kings II 19,23) “it is I who have climbed the highest mountains, to the remotest parts of Lebanon, and have cut down its tallest cedars, its choicest cypresses.” He was judged by fire as we know from Isaiah 10,16 ”and under its body (כבודו) shall burn a burning like that of fire, destroying frame and flesh.” Something similar happened to boastful Nebuchadnezzar who had been arrogant enough to proclaim (Isaiah 14,14): I will mount the back of a cloud- I will match the Most High.” He had also said (verse 13): “I will climb to the sky higher than the stars of G’d.” Furthermore, he had said: (Ovadiah 4) that he would ascend beyond the stars. As a result of such boastful statements by their king, his soldiers were burned by fire.
When you check Daniel 3,3 where the preparations for the inauguration of Nebuchadnezzar’s giant golden image are described, mention is made of eight nations, i.e. you will find the names: Adragozariah and seven others. When mention is made of the celebration a second time, i.e. in verse 27, we find that 4 of these nations are no longer mentioned. The Talmud Sanhedrin 92 suggests that the other four nations (i.e. their honour guards representing them at Nebuchadnezzar’s court) had been burned to death. According to Rashi it was the same fire which consumed the men heating the kiln into which Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah were to be thrown.” Thus far the Midrash [approximately. Ed.]
When you check Daniel 3,3 where the preparations for the inauguration of Nebuchadnezzar’s giant golden image are described, mention is made of eight nations, i.e. you will find the names: Adragozariah and seven others. When mention is made of the celebration a second time, i.e. in verse 27, we find that 4 of these nations are no longer mentioned. The Talmud Sanhedrin 92 suggests that the other four nations (i.e. their honour guards representing them at Nebuchadnezzar’s court) had been burned to death. According to Rashi it was the same fire which consumed the men heating the kiln into which Chananyah, Mishael and Azaryah were to be thrown.” Thus far the Midrash [approximately. Ed.]
Rabbeinu Bahya
A rational/investigative approach to the words: “this is the law of the burnt-offering; it is the burnt-offering, etc.” The Torah here alludes to the superior nature of the soul, the intellectual part of man. The words may be understood as if the Torah had written: “this is the superior nature of the soul which is constantly ascending on account of the input by the Torah which is the subject of the pronoun היא “she” in our verse.” There are numerous instances in the Bible where the Torah is referred to by the pronoun היא, such as in Proverbs 3,18 עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה, or in Psalms 19,8 תורת ה' תמימה משיבת נפש, i.e. that the soul is enabled to return to its Maker thanks to the Torah it has studied.
על מוקדה על המזבח, these words are also an allusion to the lofty nature of the intellectual part of man which is able to rise beyond the world of the planets and which is superior even to the attributes with which angels have been equipped. The word מוקדה, is reminiscent of the world of the planets whereas the word מזבח, alludes to all the angels. We could understand the. words על מוקדה as if the Torah had written על האש, “above the fire,” such as in Isaiah 10,16: “and it wastes away on account of the heat.” [The heat described is fever burning up man’s flesh. Ed.] Our author understands the word אש in this verse as a reference to the sun, i.e. the soul will rise higher than the sun. He views the sun as the immediate cause of all movements involving fire. In a similar way he views the moon as the origin of all influences on the motion of water.
King Solomon, who, in his Book Kohelet 1,9, describes all the things in this world as being תחת השמש, “beneath the sun,” makes an exception when he refers to the soul (רוח), and describes it as ascending beyond that domain, i.e. העולה היא למעלה, “which ascends on high” (Kohelet 3,21). In other words, the spiritual-intellectual part of man has access to regions above the sun which itself serves as a model for the entire planetary system in Solomon’s summation.
על מוקדה על המזבח, these words are also an allusion to the lofty nature of the intellectual part of man which is able to rise beyond the world of the planets and which is superior even to the attributes with which angels have been equipped. The word מוקדה, is reminiscent of the world of the planets whereas the word מזבח, alludes to all the angels. We could understand the. words על מוקדה as if the Torah had written על האש, “above the fire,” such as in Isaiah 10,16: “and it wastes away on account of the heat.” [The heat described is fever burning up man’s flesh. Ed.] Our author understands the word אש in this verse as a reference to the sun, i.e. the soul will rise higher than the sun. He views the sun as the immediate cause of all movements involving fire. In a similar way he views the moon as the origin of all influences on the motion of water.
King Solomon, who, in his Book Kohelet 1,9, describes all the things in this world as being תחת השמש, “beneath the sun,” makes an exception when he refers to the soul (רוח), and describes it as ascending beyond that domain, i.e. העולה היא למעלה, “which ascends on high” (Kohelet 3,21). In other words, the spiritual-intellectual part of man has access to regions above the sun which itself serves as a model for the entire planetary system in Solomon’s summation.
Rashi
like a king destined for the inferno Heb. לכידור. I have not found anything similar to it, but it may be interpreted by means of the interchangeable letters, “resh” with “dalet,” like (Gen. 10:3), “Ashkenaz and Riphath” in the Torah, and in Chronicles (I, 1:6): “Ashkenaz and Diphath;” and similarly (Gen. 10: 4). “Kittim and Dodanim” Here too, לַכִּידוֹר is equivalent to לַכִּידוֹד, to the king who is destined to burn (ליקוד) in the fire of Gehinnom; i.e., Sennacherib, about whom the prophet prophesied (Isa. 30: 33): “For Tophteh has been set up from yesterday, that too has been prepared for the king,” to burn his legions; (Isa. 10:16), “a burning shall burn.” Similar to this (below 41:11), “sparks of (כידודי) fire go forth”; either brands or flames.