Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Bilangan 20:14

“And Jacob sent angels before him.” Rashi explains these were actual angels. Some say he derived this from the proximity of this sending to the verse and angels of God encountered him. Others say it is derived from the initials of Machanayim — from that army Jacob took angels. Rabbeinu Bachya explains that he derived it from the writing “and the angels returned” when we don’t find mention of them going — because before they went, they had already returned. One can explain that this is derived from the phrase before him [lefanav] which is only mentioned here. For it says And Moses sent messengers (Numbers 20:14), and it is written And Israel sent messengers (Numbers 21:21), but “before him” is not mentioned. Rather, here it speaks of actual angels whose way is to go before him, as it is written For My angel shall go before you (Exodus 23:23). This hints that they were before him constantly, even while they were with Esau, and they appeared in two distant places simultaneously — something only possible with actual angels. And if you wish to interpret and the angels returned as referring to their verbal response when they answered him we came to your brother then it necessarily follows from within the text itself that they were actual angels.

כי ימצא איש גונב נפש, “when a man is found having kidnapped a person, etc.;” why has this verse been repeated seeing that it has been written already in Exodus 21,16? (In Exodus nothing is mentioned about the nationality of the kidnapped person. Here the circumstances are defined more clearly, i.e. from among his brethren, i.e. excluding gentiles and even Edomites, i.e. descendants of Yitzchok who elsewhere were addressed even by Moses as “brother.”(Numbers 20,14). An alternate interpretation: Ed.) if we had only heard about the first verse dealing with this subject, I might have thought that even an eight day old baby is included in the legislation, i.e. if such a young baby had been kidnapped. (Sifri, as elaborated on by Malbim) The Torah in our verse therefore adds the word מאחיו, “from among his brethren,” meaning that a baby under 30 days old is not included, as we are not sure yet that he is healthy enough to grow up to be a man.

מאחיו מבני ישראל, “from among his brethren the Children of Israel.” The words: מבני ישראל, are intended to exclude a Jew kidnapping an Edomite (even though Moses addressed the Edomites (who descended from Isaac) as “brothers”. (Numbers 20,14.) The death penalty does not apply in that case. Where do we find the verse in which kidnapping is forbidden as a crime? See Exodus 20,13 in the Ten Commandments, לא תגנוב, “do not steal!”