וְלִבְנֵ֨י בַרְזִלַּ֤י הַגִּלְעָדִי֙ תַּֽעֲשֶׂה־חֶ֔סֶד וְהָי֖וּ בְּאֹכְלֵ֣י שֻׁלְחָנֶ֑ךָ כִּי־כֵן֙ קָרְב֣וּ אֵלַ֔י בְּבָרְחִ֕י מִפְּנֵ֖י אַבְשָׁל֥וֹם אָחִֽיךָ׃
Tetapi kepada anak-anak Barzilai, orang Gilead itu, tunjukkanlah kebaikan, dan biarlah mereka termasuk orang-orang yang makan di mejamu, sebab demikianlah mereka telah mendekat kepadaku ketika aku melarikan diri dari Absalom, saudaramu.
Radak
תאכלנה, a reference to the harvest. We have similar constructions, where at first glance one might think that the text refers to eating what is inedible. Adam was not meant to eat אדמה, soil, anymore that the people who sat at King Solomon’s table were meant to eat the table. (Kings I 2,7) באוכלי שולחנך, refers to the people mentioned in that verse, eating from the food served on the king’s table. We find more such examples, such as Isaiah 36,16,ואכלו איש גפנו ואיש תאנתו, where the reference is not to people consuming their vineyard and their fig tree, but the fruit of their vineyard and the fruit of their fig tree, although the prophet mentions only the source of that fruit. We have elaborated on this in our volume on Hebrew grammar מכלל in the first section of that book.
Rabbeinu Chananel
ועשית שלחן, the table represented the kings of Israel who entertain the Torah scholars at their table This is what David told his son Solomon on his death-bed: “Barzilai’s sons shall be among the people who are regular guests at your table. (Kings I 2,7) We also have a verse in Kings I 5,2 describing the lavishness of King Solomon’s table and the quantities of food consumed on a daily basis.
The Torah, in describing the table in the Tabernacle as overlaid with gold, illustrates that the function of Royalty was primarily to make a great impression on the outside world. After Samuel had told Saul that he would be replaced as king by someone more worthy, Saul still begged the prophet to honour him at least in public as he wanted to maintain the appearance although he realised that this was no longer his position. (compare Samuel I 15,30).
The reason that the length of the table was 21/2 cubits was in order to symbolize two requirements which every king has to meet. 1) He must be competent in meting out justice; 2) he must be competent in waging war. This is what the people had told Samuel when they asked him to appoint a king for them (Samuel I 8,20).
The size and height of the walls [the table did not have legs like our tables, Ed.] which amount to nine cubits cumulatively, symbolise the 9 commandments in the Torah specifically addressed to a Jewish King. 1) “he shall not keep many horses;” 2) “he shall not send the people back to Egypt in order to add to his supply of horses;” 3) “he shall not have too many wives.” 4) “he shall not become haughty;” 5) “he must not turn away from G’d’s commandments either to the left or to the right.” 6) “he shall write for himself two copies of the Torah;” 7) he shall read from the Torah every day of his life;” 8) he shall not amass too much silver and gold;“ 9) he shall not turn away from the commandments.” (Deuteronomy 17,8-20).
The function of the border around the surface of the table was to prevent any of the show-breads from falling off the table for whatever reason. It was intended to protect the show-breads, just as the Levites and the priests are supposed to be on guard against the king deviating from the path of the Torah. We have an example of this in Chronicles II 24,2: “Yoash, the king, did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Yehoyadah the High Priest was alive.” In connection with King Uzziah we read in Chronicles II 26,5: “he applied himself to the worship of G’d during the time of Zecharyah, instructor of the visions of G’d.”
All the details that the Torah writes about in connection with all the vessels of the Tabernacle contain similar allusions of a moral-ethical nature. The Ark represents the righteous people. The table corresponds to the kings of Israel. The Menorah corresponds to the scholars of Israel. The golden altar corresponds to the priests, whereas the copper altar corresponds to the people at large.
The Torah, in describing the table in the Tabernacle as overlaid with gold, illustrates that the function of Royalty was primarily to make a great impression on the outside world. After Samuel had told Saul that he would be replaced as king by someone more worthy, Saul still begged the prophet to honour him at least in public as he wanted to maintain the appearance although he realised that this was no longer his position. (compare Samuel I 15,30).
The reason that the length of the table was 21/2 cubits was in order to symbolize two requirements which every king has to meet. 1) He must be competent in meting out justice; 2) he must be competent in waging war. This is what the people had told Samuel when they asked him to appoint a king for them (Samuel I 8,20).
The size and height of the walls [the table did not have legs like our tables, Ed.] which amount to nine cubits cumulatively, symbolise the 9 commandments in the Torah specifically addressed to a Jewish King. 1) “he shall not keep many horses;” 2) “he shall not send the people back to Egypt in order to add to his supply of horses;” 3) “he shall not have too many wives.” 4) “he shall not become haughty;” 5) “he must not turn away from G’d’s commandments either to the left or to the right.” 6) “he shall write for himself two copies of the Torah;” 7) he shall read from the Torah every day of his life;” 8) he shall not amass too much silver and gold;“ 9) he shall not turn away from the commandments.” (Deuteronomy 17,8-20).
The function of the border around the surface of the table was to prevent any of the show-breads from falling off the table for whatever reason. It was intended to protect the show-breads, just as the Levites and the priests are supposed to be on guard against the king deviating from the path of the Torah. We have an example of this in Chronicles II 24,2: “Yoash, the king, did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Yehoyadah the High Priest was alive.” In connection with King Uzziah we read in Chronicles II 26,5: “he applied himself to the worship of G’d during the time of Zecharyah, instructor of the visions of G’d.”
All the details that the Torah writes about in connection with all the vessels of the Tabernacle contain similar allusions of a moral-ethical nature. The Ark represents the righteous people. The table corresponds to the kings of Israel. The Menorah corresponds to the scholars of Israel. The golden altar corresponds to the priests, whereas the copper altar corresponds to the people at large.
Rabbeinu Bahya
Rabbeinu Chananel, in connection with the symbolic/moral meaning of these various furnishings of the Tabernacle writes that the Ark was an allusion to the truly righteous and learned individual whose interior matches his exterior and vice versa. This is the meaning of the Ark being covered with gold both on the inside and on the outside. Just as the bottom of the Ark had an area of two and one half cubits by one and a half cubits giving us a total of 4 square cubits minus one quarter cubit square, so the righteous person should remain constantly aware that the four elements which make up his physicality should not become the sum total of his existence but should be augmented liberally with physical matters such as the performance of good deeds for others, etc. Just as the walls of the Ark when combined were twelve cubits (when measuring the combined total of the outside dimensions 1.5x2.5 1,5+2.5 +1,5+2.5) seeing the long walls measured a total of 7.5 cubits and the shorter walls forming the sides measured 4,5 cubits, so the righteous person is expected to fulfill all the 12 conditions mentioned in Psalm 15,1 as the qualifications for dwelling in G’d’s holy precincts (the entire Psalm is devoted to listing these 12 requirements). If one wishes to attain a loftier level of relative perfection than that of a “mere” righteous individual, the next step up is becoming a נביא a prophet, or at least acquiring the spiritual level expected of a prophet. This is symbolised by the kapporet above the Ark. The fact that the entire kapporet was made of pure gold, that it was not only overlaid with gold, indicates that it symbolises something even purer than the Ark itself. We know that a prophet is considered as כלו צדק, “totally righteous” from Proverbs 8,8 “all the words of my mouth are with righteousness.” The cherubs above the kapporet are an allusion to the angels, beings on an even higher spiritual level than the prophets. They were spreading their wings heavenward in an allusion to their striving to be near the Shechinah which is higher than the angels seeing the angels are the throne, ever ready to welcome the attribute of כבוד, occupant of that throne. This is the meaning of the words in verse 20 אל הכפורת יהיו פני הכרובים, “the faces of the cherubs will be turned toward the kapporet.” They had to look downwards towards the lid and were forbidden to gaze at the Shechinah. Above everything is G’d Himself as is written in Samuel II 6,2: אשר נקרא שם שם ה' צבאות יושב הכרובים עליו, ”to which the Name was attached, the name of the Lord of Hosts Enthroned on the cherubs.” Solomon also constructed the cherubs in the Temple out of wood as is written (Kings I 6,23) “he made in the sanctuary two cherubs out of olive wood.”
The table represented the kings of Israel who entertain the scholars of Israel at their table. This is what David told his son Solomon on his death-bed: “Barzilai‘s sons shall be amongst the people who are regular guests at your table” (Kings I 2,7). We also have a verse in Kings I 5,2 describing the lavishness of King Solomon’s table and the quantities of food consumed on a daily basis.
The Torah, in describing the table in the Tabernacle as overlaid with gold, illustrates that the function of Royalty was primarily to make a great impression on the outside world. After Samuel had told Saul that he would be replaced as king by someone more worthy, Saul still begged the prophet to honour him at least in public as he wanted to maintain the appearance of power although he knew this was no longer his position (compare Samuel I 15,30).
The reason that the length of the table was two cubits was in order to symbolise two requirements of every king. 1) He must be competent in meting out justice; 2) he must be competent in waging war. This is what the people had told the prophet Samuel when they asked him to appoint a king for them (Samuel I 8,20). They said: “that we may be like all the other nations; let our king rule over us and go out at our head and fight our battles.”
The size and height of the walls which amount to nine cubits symbolise the nine commandments specifically addressed to a Jewish King. They are: 1) “he shall not keep many horses,” or 2) “send people back to Egypt to add to his horses;” 3) “he shall not have too many wives.” 4) “He shall not become haughty,” and 5) “he must not turn away from G’d’s commandments to right or to the left.” 6) “he shall write for himself 2 copies of the Torah.” 7) “He shall read in the Torah every day of his life.” 8) “He shall not amass too much silver and gold.” 9) “He shall not turn away from the commandments.” (Deut. 17,8-20.)
The purpose of the border around the table was to prevent the show-breads sliding off it for whatever reason. It was intended to protect the show-breads just as the priests and the Levites are supposed to be on guard against the kings deviating from the path of the Torah. We have an example of this in Chronicles II 24,2: “Yoash (the King) did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Yehoyadah the High Priest was alive.” In connection with King Uzziah we read in Chronicles II 26,5: “he applied himself to the worship of G’d during the time of Zechariah, instructor of the visions of G’d.”
All the details that the Torah writes about in connection with all the vessels of the Tabernacle have similar moral allusions. The Ark represents the righteous people. The table corresponds to the kings of Israel. The Menorah corresponds to the scholars of Israel. The golden altar corresponds to the priests, whereas the copper altar corresponds to the people of Israel at large. Thus far Rabbeinu Chananel.
The table represented the kings of Israel who entertain the scholars of Israel at their table. This is what David told his son Solomon on his death-bed: “Barzilai‘s sons shall be amongst the people who are regular guests at your table” (Kings I 2,7). We also have a verse in Kings I 5,2 describing the lavishness of King Solomon’s table and the quantities of food consumed on a daily basis.
The Torah, in describing the table in the Tabernacle as overlaid with gold, illustrates that the function of Royalty was primarily to make a great impression on the outside world. After Samuel had told Saul that he would be replaced as king by someone more worthy, Saul still begged the prophet to honour him at least in public as he wanted to maintain the appearance of power although he knew this was no longer his position (compare Samuel I 15,30).
The reason that the length of the table was two cubits was in order to symbolise two requirements of every king. 1) He must be competent in meting out justice; 2) he must be competent in waging war. This is what the people had told the prophet Samuel when they asked him to appoint a king for them (Samuel I 8,20). They said: “that we may be like all the other nations; let our king rule over us and go out at our head and fight our battles.”
The size and height of the walls which amount to nine cubits symbolise the nine commandments specifically addressed to a Jewish King. They are: 1) “he shall not keep many horses,” or 2) “send people back to Egypt to add to his horses;” 3) “he shall not have too many wives.” 4) “He shall not become haughty,” and 5) “he must not turn away from G’d’s commandments to right or to the left.” 6) “he shall write for himself 2 copies of the Torah.” 7) “He shall read in the Torah every day of his life.” 8) “He shall not amass too much silver and gold.” 9) “He shall not turn away from the commandments.” (Deut. 17,8-20.)
The purpose of the border around the table was to prevent the show-breads sliding off it for whatever reason. It was intended to protect the show-breads just as the priests and the Levites are supposed to be on guard against the kings deviating from the path of the Torah. We have an example of this in Chronicles II 24,2: “Yoash (the King) did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as long as Yehoyadah the High Priest was alive.” In connection with King Uzziah we read in Chronicles II 26,5: “he applied himself to the worship of G’d during the time of Zechariah, instructor of the visions of G’d.”
All the details that the Torah writes about in connection with all the vessels of the Tabernacle have similar moral allusions. The Ark represents the righteous people. The table corresponds to the kings of Israel. The Menorah corresponds to the scholars of Israel. The golden altar corresponds to the priests, whereas the copper altar corresponds to the people of Israel at large. Thus far Rabbeinu Chananel.