כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר הָ֭יִיתִי בִּימֵ֣י חָרְפִּ֑י בְּס֥וֹד אֱ֝ל֗וֹהַּ עֲלֵ֣י אָהֳלִֽי׃
seperti keadaanku pada masa mudaku, ketika persekutuan karib Allah menaungi kemahku;
Ramban
Now the exile was not completed8Ramban is now aiming to explain why the second book of the Torah, which as explained above is the book of the first exile and the redemption therefrom, does not close with the actual exodus or with the Revelation on Sinai, but instead proceeds with the account of the building of the Tabernacle. Ramban’s answer is most illuminating and inspiring. until the day they returned to their place9See Hosea 5:15. and were restored to the status of their fathers. When they left Egypt, even though they came forth from the house of bondage, they were still considered exiles because they were in a land that is not theirs,.11Genesis 15:13. entangled in the desert.10See further, 14:3. When they came to Mount Sinai and made the Tabernacle, and the Holy One, blessed be He, caused His Divine Presence to dwell again amongst them, they returned to the status of their fathers when the ‘sod eloka’ (counsel of G-d) was upon their tents12See Job 29:4, and Ramban’s commentary thereon, (in my Kithvei Haramban: Vol. I, p. 90), where he interprets the verse as follows: “Job is saying that sod eloka — the counsel of G-d - was known in his tent, as if He foretold all future events. Thus Job and all who were with him were guarded from mishaps and troubles. It may be that sod eloka is a reference to the angels of the Supreme One and the host of the heavens that dwelled upon his tent to guard him from all evil, etc.” Ramban is thus intimating here that the complete redemption of the Israelites from their first exile was not achieved until they were restored to the same position held by the patriarchs. Whereas the Divine Presence rested upon the tents of the patriarchs — see Shabbath 55b, where Rashi clearly states that before the building of the Tabernacle, the Divine Presence was to be found upon the tents of the righteous — so Israel regained its original status only when the Divine Glory came to rest upon the Tabernacle at the time of its completion. See end of Book of Exodus. It is for this reason that the second book of the Torah — devoted as it is to the first exile and the redemption therefrom — continues with the account of the building of the Tabernacle. and “they were those who constituted the Chariot of the Holy One.”13Bereshith Rabbah 47:8. See Vol. I, p. 224. Then they were considered redeemed. It was for this reason that this second book of the Torah is concluded with the consummation of the building of the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Eternal filling it14Further, 40:35. always.15Numbers 9:16: So it was always: the cloud covered it…
Ramban
AND WHOSOEVER LIETH CARNALLY WITH A WOMAN THAT IS A BONDMAID, ‘NECHEREPHETH’ FOR A MAN — “‘Destined’ for a man. I know not of a similar usage of this root [choraph] in Scripture.” This is Rashi’s language. It appears to me that it is associated with the expression, as I was in the days of ‘chorpi,’137Job 29:4. meaning, in the days of my youth. Similarly, my heart shall not ‘yecheraph’ me so long as I live,138Ibid., 27:6. meaning that I will not have the heart of a youth [who has not yet matured in wisdom]. The days of youth are called “the days of choreph” [a term which means “winter”], since the winter is at the beginning of the year, while the days of old age correspond to the summer which are the days of gathering in. Scripture, then, is stating here that she is a bondmaid, a young girl designated for a certain man, for a concubine who ministers to a man and with whom she has sexual relations, is called “his maiden,” just as every ministering person is also called [the master’s] lad. It is very common in the language of the Sages to say of a woman who has sexual relations with a man, that she is “an attendant to him.” And it is this [relationship that is here called] necherepheth, meaning that she has become a maiden [— attendant] to a man, and is known to him, called in the vernacular [i.e., in Spanish] mancipada (designated to a man). In the language of the Sages likewise we find the expression:139Sanhedrin 58 b. “that slave’s girl” [assigned to him by his master]. Thus the meaning thereof is that she is not completely as his wife, but he has betrothed her and she is to him a maiden-attendant.
Chizkuni
נחרפת, betrothed, i.e. promised, to a man (as soon as she will have been released by her other owner) This status can be compared to Job, 29,4 בימי חרפי, “when I was in my prime, i.e. in a transitory stage. An alternate interpretation: the word נחרפת means something similar to מופקרת, “abandoned;” Compare Judges 5,18: עם חרף נפשו, “a people left at the threshold of death.”