וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אֵ֖לֶּה שְׁנֵ֣י בְנֵֽי־הַיִּצְהָ֑ר הָעֹמְדִ֖ים עַל־אֲד֥וֹן כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
Lalu ia berkata, “Inilah kedua orang yang diurapi dengan minyak, yang berdiri di hadapan Tuhan seluruh bumi.”
Ephod Bad
And many: I will make you as many as the plants of the field: Commenting on the words “And many” in Deuteronomy 26:5, the Haggadah quotes two verses, Ezekiel 16:7 and 16:6 that teach us about the Exodus from Egypt.
I let you grow like the plants of the field: Just as vegetation receives nutrients from the earth, so has God prepared two stones for you from which you can suckle, as it is written in Deuteronomy 32:13: “He fed them honey from a crag and oil from a flinty stone.”
And you did increase: in numbers. And grew great: in quality. They grew in stature and in number. They had many children and received both glory and greatness. And you came to excellent beauty: You left Egypt with silver and gold. None of this was for the service that you provided to the Egyptians while you were in their land.
Until your breasts became firm: The two breasts represent Moses and Aaron, or possible they are an allusion to the two crowns that they received at Mount Sinai, na’aseh v’nishma, “We will do” and “we will listen.” The people, however, were no better than the Egyptians – both were idolaters.
and your hair grew; hair is a symbol of the luxuries and extravagances which the people craved while they were in Egypt.
yet you were naked and bare. You lacked in any wisdom or commandments. Therefore I gave you two commandments to fulfill so you would become worthy of being redeemed.
I let you grow like the plants of the field: Just as vegetation receives nutrients from the earth, so has God prepared two stones for you from which you can suckle, as it is written in Deuteronomy 32:13: “He fed them honey from a crag and oil from a flinty stone.”
And you did increase: in numbers. And grew great: in quality. They grew in stature and in number. They had many children and received both glory and greatness. And you came to excellent beauty: You left Egypt with silver and gold. None of this was for the service that you provided to the Egyptians while you were in their land.
Until your breasts became firm: The two breasts represent Moses and Aaron, or possible they are an allusion to the two crowns that they received at Mount Sinai, na’aseh v’nishma, “We will do” and “we will listen.” The people, however, were no better than the Egyptians – both were idolaters.
and your hair grew; hair is a symbol of the luxuries and extravagances which the people craved while they were in Egypt.
yet you were naked and bare. You lacked in any wisdom or commandments. Therefore I gave you two commandments to fulfill so you would become worthy of being redeemed.
Da'at Zekenim
והיה האיש אשר יבחר ה' הוא הקדוש, “then the man whom the Lord chooses, he will be the holy one.” This statement by Moses appears superfluous, as the rebels were surely aware that there were only these two alternatives. We must therefore understand Moses’ statement as a warning to them not to become guilty of the punishment for their actions. He reminded them that the incense offering was the one most beloved by Hashem and that it contained a deadly poison for people not qualified to offer same. This had been demonstrated beyond doubt when two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, had been killed by heavenly fire on the spot for daring to offer it while they were not qualified to do so. If all his supporters were to dare to do the same, they would all share the fate of Nadav and Avihu. All of these people, in spite of thus having been warned by Moses, insisted on proceeding with their plan, and they paid the price of disobeying his warning. This is why Numbers 17,3 refers to them all a sinners, guilty of death. If you were to ask how Korach, an extremely intelligent individual, could have committed such obvious foolishness, our sages say that he had foreseen that great men would be descended from him in the future, and he thought that was proof that he had to survive this confrontation with Moses. Compare Rashi on that subject. Furthermore, he misinterpreted the words of blessing in Deuteronomy 7,13: according to which תירושך ויצהרך, “your wine and oil will be blessed,” as a reference to himself seeing that his father’s name had been יצהר, “oil.” He was aware that in any mixture of liquids, oil always rises to the top. He concluded that he had therefore been destined for distinction. Zachariah 4,14, commences with the words: ואלה בני היצהר, “these are the descendants of Yitzhar, etc.” Seeing that oil has no descendants, Korach interpreted this statement by the prophet as referring to himself. Actually, the prophet had referred to Aaron and Chur, who had been anointed as priests or the honour of hereditary monarchy with the oil of anointing. David took the honour of hereditary monarchy, whereas Aaron received that of the Priesthood. Korach reasoned, that if these who had only been anointed with oil had qualified for these honours, he who had been referred to as the descendent of oil twice, surely was in line for these honours. As a result of such considerations, he decided to revolt against Moses. [who in his opinion had forfeited the right to leadership seeing that his whole generation had been decreed to die in the desert. Ed.]
Rashi
and their wives apart because of decency. Now why were the families of the priesthood and the kingdom [mentioned]? In order to restore their crowns to them, as it is stated in the beginning of the Book (4:14): “These are the two anointed ones who stand before the Lord of all the earth.”