Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Amsal 10:20

AND THEY BROUGHT THEIR OFFERING BEFORE THE ETERNAL. Since the wagons [which the princes brought] were for the purpose of the offerings [i.e., for transporting the Tabernacle, where offerings are made before G-d] they are also called “offering.” Similarly, And we have brought the Eternal’s offering, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold,¹³⁵Further, 31:50. meaning “an offering” for the repairs of the Tabernacle. Now the princes thought that it would be impossible for the Levites to carry on their shoulders the boards of the Tabernacle and the sockets, which were very heavy, and therefore they brought the wagons of their own accord, for such is the way that all those who carry houses of kings and their palatial tents adopt, transporting them on wagons.
We may also explain that the expression And they brought their offering before the Eternal, six wagons ‘tzov,’ means six large wagons bearing their offerings, and twelve oxen drawing the wagons. Thus they brought the wagons laden [with the offerings], and the oxen [drawing the wagons] before the Tabernacle. And G-d commanded Moses, Take all of it of them, and the wagons and the oxen which were not brought for offerings shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting.¹³⁶Verse 5. Afterwards the princes took their offerings down from the wagons and brought them before the Tabernacle,¹³⁷Verse 10. intending to offer them all up on that day since they had been given permission to offer them before Him, but G-d commanded, each prince on his day¹³⁸Verse 11. shall they bring their offerings. And because of this [i.e., since the wagons that the princes brought contained the animals that they intended to offer up] it was not necessary now that He should say to Moses “take it of them,” [as the original statement¹³⁶Verse 5. already implies G-d’s consent to the offerings as well].¹³⁹But according to the first interpretation, that the wagons were empty and were brought so that the Levites could transport the Tabernacle in them, and G-d consented by saying to Moses, Take it of them, the question arises: when the princes came back and brought the actual dedication-offerings, why did G-d likewise not tell Moses to take the offerings from them? Hence the second interpretation is to be preferred. And it is a linguistic expression [in the Sacred Language] to say “wagons” when referring to their contents, just like: those who eat ‘shulchan Izebel’¹⁴⁰I Kings 18:19. [literally: “Jezebel’s table,” which means “the food on Jezebel’s table”]. So also: for all ‘sha’ar ami’ do know¹⁴¹Ruth 3:11. [literally: for all “the gates of my people” do know, which means: “for all the people in the gates of my people do know”]. And [likewise we find] in the language of the Sages:¹⁴²Baba Bathra 146 a. “a hundred wagons of pitchers of wine and pitchers of oil, and of silver and golden vessels” [the meaning being “the amount of wine and oil and vessels that can be contained in a hundred wagons,” and not just wagons of pitchers of wine and oil]. It is possible that the word tzov [six wagons ‘tzov’] means “full,” and so also: ‘uvatzabim’ and upon mules,¹⁴³Isaiah 66:20. which means “in wagons full of people.” In that case six wagons ‘tzov’ [in the verse before us] means “six wagons laden full,” their load being the dedication-offerings which Scripture specifies further on.
Now Scripture mentions the offerings of each of the princes individually and afterwards it includes them all in a general statement, saying, This was the dedication-offering of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, at the hands of the princes of Israel: twelve silver dishes,¹⁴⁴Further, Verse 84. and Rashi wrote:¹⁴⁵Ibid., Verse 85. “This teaches you that the vessels of the Sanctuary were exactly equal in weight [as specified in the verses: one silver dish, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels etc.]. If one weighed each one separately and then weighed them all together, it was neither more nor less [than the total should have been]. This is based on [the explanations of] Rabbi Moshe the Preacher.”¹⁴⁶This final statement [“This is based on … “] is not found in our editions of Rashi. Rabbi Moshe the Preacher is however quoted here in Verse 23. He was an older contemporary of Rashi’s who lived in the city of Narbonne. His work was in the nature of a Midrashic commentary compiled from earlier sources. See in Vol. I, p. 424 Note 196. But I cannot understand what they mean in saying this. If we are to consider this a miracle, what benefit is there in the occurrence of this miracle? And if this is the natural result with all weights, why should Scripture specifically mention it? In the Sifre the Rabbis have clearly said:¹⁴⁷Sifre Naso 54. “This is to teach you that the vessels of the Sanctuary¹⁴⁸Literally: “the Permanent House” (see Vol. II, p. 335, Note 598). Here, however, the term beith olamim refers both to the Tabernacle and to the Sanctuary. were not like ordinary vessels. In the case of ordinary vessels, if one weighs each separately and then weighs them all together, the total is sometimes more or less [than it should have been] etc.”¹⁴⁹Now this Sifre “clearly” states [as Ramban wrote above] that there was some special phenomenon in the weighing of the vessels. It does not yet explain what purpose it served; hence Ramban continues to quote from the Sifre the words of Rabbi Nathan. And there [in the Sifre] the Rabbis further said: “Rabbi Nathan says: If one were to weigh all the vessels of the Sanctuary together¹⁴⁸Literally: “the Permanent House” (see Vol. II, p. 335, Note 598). Here, however, the term beith olamim refers both to the Tabernacle and to the Sanctuary. and then turn them into bullion, and again make vessels of it, they would be neither more nor less [than the original weight].” He means to say by this that [these vessels were made of] a very pure gold [or silver, as the case may be], so that even if one melted them down and turned them into bullion, they still remained at their original weight. This was not because a miracle happened to them, but because they were made of a very pure gold.
The correct interpretation of the verse is that the Holy One, blessed be He, bestows honor upon those who fear Him, just as He said, for them that honor Me I will honor.¹⁵⁰I Samuel 2:30. Now all the princes brought this offering on the same day, because they all agreed to it simultaneously. But since it was impossible that one of them should not precede the others, He honored those who came first in [the position of] the standards to bring their offerings on the earlier days. He wanted, however, to mention them all by name and the details of their offerings, and to cite the day of each one, rather than honoring the first one by saying, This was the offering of Nachshon the son of Amminadab¹⁵¹Verse 17. and then saying “and so did each of the princes offer on his day,” for that would have been a diminution of the honor of the others. Afterwards [i.e., after having listed them all separately] He included them all again in a general verse,¹⁴⁴Further, Verse 84. in order to tell us that they were all equal before Him, blessed be He. And so did the Rabbis say in the Sifre:¹⁵²Sifre Naso 53. “Scripture tells us that just as they were all equal in the thought [of bringing these offerings] so were they all alike in merit. Twelve silver dishes¹⁴⁴Further, Verse 84. — these were the same ones that they donated, and nothing which would have invalidated them¹⁵³Such as becoming chipped or perforated, in which case a sacred vessel may no longer be used. (Kether Kehunah, commentary to Sifre ibid.). occurred to them.”
There is another explanation of this [chapter] in the interpretations of the Rabbis,¹⁵⁴Bamidbar Rabbah 13:13. namely that each of the princes intended to bring a dedication-offering to the altar which would be of the amount [specified in the verses, each one of them intending to bring the same offerings], but Nachshon [prince of the tribe of Judah] had a particular reason for [bringing] this number [of offerings], and each of the other princes thought of an independent reason. Thus the Rabbis said¹⁵⁵Mentioned by Rashi (in Verse 19) in the name of Rabbi Moshe the Preacher, who doubtless quoted an older source. that Nachshon thought he would bring a ka’arath keseph (a silver dish),¹⁵⁶Verse 13. since the numerical value of its [Hebrew] letters is nine hundred thirty,¹⁵⁷Kuph is 100; ayin 70; reish, 200; tav 400. Kaph is 20; samech 60; pei 80. The total is 930. corresponding to the years of the first man;¹⁵⁸Genesis 5:5. and the weight thereof was a hundred and thirty shekels¹⁵⁶Verse 13. indicating the years when he [Adam] begot children [to maintain the existence of the world, i.e., when he begot Seth,¹⁵⁹Ibid., Verse 3. from whom the world was founded] — and likewise the whole Midrash, as Rashi wrote it.¹⁵⁵Mentioned by Rashi (in Verse 19) in the name of Rabbi Moshe the Preacher, who doubtless quoted an older source. Or [the offerings of each prince were,] according to another Midrash,¹⁵⁴Bamidbar Rabbah 13:13. [an allusion to] the tradition each tribe had from our father Jacob about all that would happen to it until the days of the Messiah. And so Nachshon [prince of the tribe of Judah] began by bringing his offerings with reference to royalty. The dish and the basin¹⁵⁶Verse 13. corresponded to the two kings who would be descended from him, who would rule over the sea and land, these being Solomon and the Messianic King. This was why Nachshon brought a ka’arah (silver round dish), to symbolize the ocean which covers the whole world and is like a [round] dish.¹⁶⁰The basin indicated the earth, as will be explained further on. Incidentally we see clearly that the Midrashic Sages were aware of the spherical shape of the earth. [The weight of the dish was] a hundred and thirty shekels,¹⁵⁶Verse 13. since it was on the third day [of Creation] that the Holy One, blessed be He, gathered all seas together to one place and called them yamim, the numerical value of these letters being one hundred;¹⁶¹Yod is 10; mem 40; yod 10; mem 40 — totalling 100. and Solomon added one sea to the work of the Sanctuary, and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about.¹⁶²I Kings 7:23. Thus you have one hundred and thirty. One silver basin of seventy shekels¹⁵⁶Verse 13. corresponds to the world which is shaped like a sphere. The seventy shekels symbolize that they [Solomon and the Messiah] will rule over the seventy nations.¹⁶³See Megillah 11b, where Solomon is mentioned as having ruled over the whole world. Both of them full,¹⁵⁶Verse 13. for gifts will be brought to them from all peoples.¹⁶⁴Isaiah 66:20. ‘Soleth’ (fine flour)¹⁵⁶Verse 13. corresponds to these [two kings — as in the expression: the precious sons of Zion] ‘hamesulaim’ (who were comparable to) ‘fine’ gold.¹⁶⁵Lamentations 4:2. Mingled with oil¹⁵⁶Verse 13. — A good name is better than precious oil.¹⁶⁶Ecclesiastes 7:1. Silver — as it is said, The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver.¹⁶⁷Proverbs 10:20. One golden pan of ten shekels,¹⁶⁸Verse 14. The continuation of the verse (“full of incense”) affords the basis for the allusion to the ten generations full of righteous deeds. this corresponds to the ten generations from Peretz to David¹⁶⁹See Ruth 4:18-22: And these are the generations of Peretz … and Jesse begot David. Ten generations are listed there. who were all righteous men full of good deeds, [as pleasant] as the odor of the incense.¹⁶⁸Verse 14. The continuation of the verse (“full of incense”) affords the basis for the allusion to the ten generations full of righteous deeds. One young bullock¹⁷⁰Verse 15. — in allusion to Abraham;¹⁷¹Of Abraham it is stated, And Abraham ran unto the herd (Genesis 18:7). one ram¹⁷⁰Verse 15. — in allusion to Isaac;¹⁷²Ibid., 22:13: and he [Abraham] took the ram — as a substitute for Isaac. one he-lamb¹⁷⁰Verse 15. — in allusion to Jacob.¹⁷³Ibid., 30:40: And Jacob separated the lambs. One male of the goats for a sin-offering,¹⁷⁴Verse 16. to atone for the deed of Judah who brought Joseph’s coat to his father [dipped in the blood of a he-goat].¹⁷⁵Genesis 37:31-32. And for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen — alluding to David and Solomon, who began the royal line [of the House of David], and who were righteous men [during whose reigns] the kingdom was whole.¹⁷⁶During the lifetimes of David and Solomon the kingdom was complete, ruling as they did over all the twelve tribes. After Solomon’s death the kingdom was divided into two parts — Judah and Israel. Hence the allusion here, and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen. These are the two kings — David and Solomon — whose reigns were characterized by shelamim [“peace-offerings,” a term which also suggests “peace” and “completeness”]. Five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year¹⁵¹Verse 17. — in allusion to the fifteen monarchs from Rehoboam to Zedekiah,¹⁷⁷See I Chronicles 3:10-16 — where all these fifteen kings of Judah are listed. who were kings and sons of kings [and may be classified in three groups, just as the fifteen peace-offerings came in three groups], some completely righteous, some average, and some very wicked. This was what Nachshon thought [in bringing these offerings, which symbolized the history of his tribe].
And Nethanel the son of Zuar [prince of the tribe of Issachar] also thought in his heart that he would bring a dedication-offering of this amount, but he had a different reason for it, bringing his offerings in allusion to the Torah, because the special merit of the tribe of Issachar was [in their knowledge] of the wisdom of the Torah.¹⁷⁸I Chronicles 12:33. See above, in Seder Bamidbar, Note 117. A silver dish¹⁷⁹Verse 19. — referring to the Torah which is called “bread,” as it is said, Come, eat of my bread,¹⁸⁰Proverbs 9:5. and it is said of the showbread, And thou shalt make the dishes thereof.¹⁸¹Exodus 25:29. And [the prince of the tribe of] Zebulun brought his offerings in relation to commerce, which he engaged in and exerted himself in, and [from the profits of which he maintained [through his generosity the Torah-studying tribe of] Issachar, with whom he [equally] shared the reward [for the studying of the Torah]. The [round] dish¹⁸²Verse 25. was symbolic of the ocean, since he [Zebulun] dwelled at the shores of the sea.¹⁸³Genesis 49:13. — Generosity in support of the study of Torah is thus evident throughout the generations, and its reward is extraordinary as the generous person becomes an equal partner in the sacred venture. Similarly the Rabbis found in that Midrash¹⁸⁴Bamidbar Rabbah, Chapters 13-14. a special reason for the offering of each and every tribe and for the amount of the offerings [in accordance with the subsequent history of the tribe]. It is for this reason that Scripture treated them all equally, giving the details of each one separately as if the others had not been mentioned, after which it mentioned them all together, to hint that at the same moment it occurred to each of them to bring the dedication-offering, and none of them preceded the other either in thought or in the actual bringing of the offerings to the Tabernacle. It is because of this Scripture mentioned them all in identical words.

ויאמר יעקב מכרה כיום, the letter כ in the word כיום is known as the כ האמתי, a formulation we also encounter in Samuel I 9,13 כי אותו כהיום תמצאון אותו, “for truly today you will find him.” Other examples of this prefixכ being used to emphasise the truth of something are found in Numbers 11,1 and Proverbs 10,20, as well as in Hoseah 5,10. In our verse the letter כ means that Yaakov did not want Esau to sell him the birthright symbolically, but that he meant for a fully fledged legal transaction to be completed, his making a proper kinyan acquisition. [I believe this supports the view of our sages that what was at stake was not Esau’s share as a firstborn in an extra third of his father’s estate, something that at this point was only a potential claim as opposed to an actual claim, and therefore could not have been transferred legally in a binding manner. What was at stake were obligations a firstborn is duty bound to fulfill from the time he is physically and mentally capable of doing so. Yaakov felt that Esau was spiritually not equipped to perform such duties, hence he wanted to relieve him of them. Yaakov could not acquire the spiritual aspects of the birthright merely by pointing out to Esau that it was a burden for him anyway, as the position of the firstborn was something firmly entrenched in the culture of his time. Seeing that the world at that time was concerned with material wealth primarily, Yaakov had to compensate Esau according to the terms other people would understand as being appropriate. Ed.] In spite of Yaakov compensating his brother Esau in “real” terms for something to which his claim was thus far only potential, he was punished for initiating such a sale because he had upset the norms of civilised society by doing so. The fact that Esau rose to great prominence and distinction and hardly seems to have suffered any disadvantage for the deal Yaakov offered him, did not exonerate Yaakov from trying to upset the norms of society. [this view, i.e. that Yaakov paid Esau with money, not with a dish of lentils, is supported at least in part by Rashbam. Ed.]

When offering these donations and sacrifices, each prince concentrated on matching exactly the donation of the other tribes, but contained significance specific to his tribe as well. Nachshon, the prince of Yehudah thought of the two great men who would be descended from his tribe, King Solomon and the Messiah. They would extend their respective domains both on land and sea. This is the reason he donated a bowl the shape of which is reminiscent of the ocean which spans the universe. The shape of the ocean is like the shape of a bowl. The number 130 mentioned here as its weight refers to the third day of creation when G’d ordered all the waters of the oceans to congregate together in a continuous mass and he called them ימים . The numerical value of that word is 100. When you add one more “round, ocean-shaped bowl” with a circumference of 100 to the appurtenances of the Temple and you bisect it to get the line representing its diameter you have 30, i.e. a total of 130 for that bowl.
מזרק אחד, “one basin of silver,” this was to symbolize the earth which is shaped like a ball. You have an allusion to the oceans in the bowl, and an allusion to the mass of dry land on earth in the offering of the basin. The weight of 70 shekel of the basin is an allusion to the fact that both these kings (Solomon and the Messiah) will extend their rule over seventy nations, spanning earth and the oceans and islands therein. The words שניהם מלאים, “both of them filled,” are an allusion to the gifts these nations will bring to Solomon and the Messiah to demonstrate their homage. The word סולת, “fine flour,” is reminiscent of המסולאים בפז, (Lamentations 4,2) that the Jewish people were valued as fine gold. The words בלולה בשמן, “soaked in oil”, is a reference to the excellent reputation enjoyed by both Solomon and the Messiah, reminding us of Solomon’s statement in Kohelet 7,1: “better a good name than even the best of oils.” The word כסף, is used in the sense of Proverbs 10,20: “the tongue of the righteous is choice silver.” The words: כף אחת עשרה זהב, “one golden ladle of ten shekel weight,” are a veiled reference of the ten generations which elapsed between the birth of Peretz (son of Yehudah and Tamar) until the generation of people who all qualified as righteous. The words מלאה קטורת, “filled with incense,” describe the good deeds of the members of that generation as exuding a pleasant fragrance just as did the incense. The animals listed, i.e. פר אחד, איל אחד, כבש אחד refer to the patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov respectively. The שעיר עזים אחד לחטאת, the male-goat as a sin-offering, is in respect of the sin of the original Yehudah who had presented Joseph's torn coat to his father causing him untold anguish. The words ולזבח השלמים בקר שנים, "and for a peace-offering two cattle," are a reference to David and Solomon respectively who commenced the dynasty of the house of Yehudah on a spiritually high note. The words אילים חמשה, עתודים חמשה, כבשים בני שנה חמשה, "five rams, five he-goats, five yearling sheep," are a reference to the 15 kings of Yehudah starting with Rechavam, son of Solomon and concluding with Tzidkiyahu, the last king of Yehudah prior to the destruction of the Temple. Some of these kings had been thoroughly righteous, some had been lukewarm in their adherence to Torah, whereas others had been fiercely heretical in their beliefs and their behaviour as rulers. This then comprised the thoughts which ran through the mind of Nachshon as he presented his offering.
Netanel ben Tzuor had some other thoughts. Seeing that the tribe of Issachar excelled in Torah knowledge, it was obvious that the thoughts occupying the mind of its prince when he presented his (physically identical) offering would focus on different meanings associated with the individual items he presented. In his mind, “the silver bowl,” which had a connotation of the ocean to Nachshon, reminded him of Torah, as Torah is considered as לחם, bread, and bread is served in a silver bowl. The expression occurs specifically in connection with the show-breads in the Temple, such as in Exodus 25,29 ועשית קערותיו וכפותיו וג', “you shall construct its bowls, its ladles, etc.” Just as Netanel was preoccupied with symbols pertaining to his tribe’s favorite subject, so the prince of Zevulun, Eliav ben Cheylon, was preoccupied with thoughts of his tribe’s favourite occupation, seeing they were mariners. The same applied to the princes of each and every tribe. In effect, we find that although each prince offered the exact same materials in the exact same quantity, the כוונה accompanying each prince’s offering lent it individuality. Nonetheless, each prince addressed the offering to the same attribute of Hashem, acknowledging Him in the same way.
We need to understand why it was necessary for the Torah to write such a lengthy chapter repeating the precise details of each tribe’s sacrifice word for word when weighty matters of Torah legislation had only a few letters devoted to them! The true reason is that G’d acknowledges the efforts made by sincere people and He reciprocates by honoring these people with what appears to be superfluous verbiage in the written Torah. This is the practical application of Samuel I 2,30: “For I honor those who honor Me.” If, at the end of giving the details of Nachshon’s offering, the Torah had written: “this was the offering of Nachshon, and the other princes offered similar offerings,” the Torah would thereby have downgraded the efforts of all the princes who had followed Nachshon.
An additional reason for listing each prince’s offering separately was the fact that each offering was accompanied by individual thoughts of the owner. It would not have been possible to lump together all these different כוונות, meanings, intentions, in one paragraph. Moreover, by listing each offering separately the Torah also wanted to get across to its reader that just as the components of all of these offerings were identical, so the reward which each prince qualified for in bringing them was also identical. Each prince qualified for the same degree of recognition by Hashem.
Although it was quite clear to G’d that in the almost immediate future each one of these princes would become guilty of participating in the uprising of Korach and his 250 collaborators, G'd does not judge man except according to the deeds he has already committed, not what he may or may not become guilty of in the future (compare Rosh Hashanah 16).