Commento su Esodo 16:7

ובקר וראיתם AND IN THE MORNING YE SHALL SEE [THE GLORY OF THE LORD] — Not in reference to that glory of which it stated, (v. 10) “And behold the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud” is this said, but thus, in effect, did he say to them: In the evening ye shall know that His hand has the power to give you your desire and He will give you flesh; but not with a radiant countenance will He give it to you, because you have asked Him something that is not proper (since one can exist without eating meat), and out of a full stomach (i. e. you really have meat for you have an abundance of cattle); but the bread for which you have asked out of necessity — when it falls in the morning you will behold the glory of the radiance of His countenance (His glory), because He will make it fall for you in a manner that is indicative of His love (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 16:7) — in the morning, whilst there is yet time to prepare it, and there shall be dew above it and dew below it as though it were carefully packed in a chest (Yoma 75b).

AND WHAT ARE WE, THAT YE MURMUR AGAINST US. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained it as meaning: “And what power to act is there in our hands? We have only carried out what we have been commanded.” But this is not so. Rather, the sense of the verse here is similar to: What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?³⁵⁶Psalms 8:5. Eternal, what is man that Thou takest knowledge of him?³⁵⁷Ibid., 144:3. For how little is he [man] to be accounted!³⁵⁸Isaiah 2:22. And this [verse here] is an expression of humility. “For what are we that you should attribute us with bringing you out from the land of Egypt? Behold we are nothing, and our work is vanity.³⁵⁹See ibid., 41:24. And your murmurings are not against us, but against the Eternal.³⁶⁰Verse 8. It is He Who has brought you out from the land of Egypt, not we.” And in the Mechilta we find.³⁶¹Mechilta on the verse here. “[They said to them]: ‘Are we so distinguished that you arise and murmur against us?’”³⁶²This bears out Ramban’s interpretation that the expression, and what are we? is one of humility, as explained.

ובוקר, in the morning you will have bread,

ובקר וראיתם את כבוד השם. "And in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord." The "morning" referred to is the one referred to in verses 8-10. This appearance of G'd's glory occurred on the day following. According to this interpretation the letter ו in the word וראיתם must be understood as a conjunctive letter, i.e. "in addition to what G'd had said you will also experience some kind of revelation of the glory of G'd." Alternatively, the meaning of the word ובקר, "in the morning also," is that at that time the Israelites would have another opportunity to realise that it was G'd (and not Moses) who had taken them out of Egypt. The verse then is a continuation of verse 6: "in the evening you will realise, etc." According to this interpretation the letter ו in וראיתם is not a conjunctive but introduces a new thought.

'ובקר וראיתם את כבוד ה, when He will make bread rain down for you in the morning.

ובוקר וראיתם את כבוד ה', “and in the morning you will see the glory of Hashem.” This verse does not refer to the manifestation of G’d’s glory in the shape of the ענני הכבוד the clouds of glory, something that accompanied them on a regular and daily basis. Aaron’s addressing the people advising them of all this (verse 10) occurred on the very same day, and suddenly an additional aspect of G’d’s glory appeared, framed by the cloud. G’d’s benevolence was visible in that the people received the first day’s manna portion during the day when there was still time to prepare it into food before evening. [according to Rashi, based on the Mechilta we need to understand the word בוקר here as an expression of visible goodwill, as opposed to the selav which was supplied in the “evening,” i.e. reluctantly, seeing that it was a luxury, not a necessity, and the people should not have demanded it. Ed.] Nachmanides writes that Rashi’s explanation cannot be correct as the Torah specifically wrote that the manifestation of G’d’s glory would take place in the morning, בבוקר. Seeing the manna was not a manifestation of G’d’s glory, but the fact that G’d had created a special food for His special people was such a manifestation. According to Ibn Ezra the words ובוקר וראיתם do not belong to what follows, but to what had been written previously, i.e. seeing that the people had accused Moses and Aaron of having led them out of Egypt to die in the desert, G’d was going to prove to them how wrong they had been in making such an accusation against Moses and Aaron. They would see evidence, both in the evening and on the following morning, that not Moses and Aaron but Hashem had taken them out of Egypt. The manna, something new in the world, was appropriately revealed in the morning, when a “new” day breaks forth. The word ובוקר is quite separate from the word וראיתם. The fact that G’d’s glory became visible in full daylight was something extraordinary, also. Nachmanides writes that the manna was indeed a great miracle, as opposed to the selav, whose appearance in such quantities was remarkable indeed, but it materialized by natural means, i.e. it was the wind that brought the birds. Moreover, the birds had existed and were part of nature, as opposed to the manna which had neither existed nor been sent by natural means, for manna dropping from heaven is not the same as rain falling from the sky. According to our sages in the 5th chapter of Avot, Manna was one of the items created during the dusk of the sixth day of creation, and preserved in a state of suspended animation up until the Jewish people were in need of it during their wanderings in the desert. No wonder that Moses used quite different language in describing the selav that would arrive toward evening, and the manna that the people would experience on the following morning. Experiencing the latter for the first time, was indeed an overwhelming manifestation of the glory of Hashem becoming visible to man. Our sages, in referring to the manna as לחם אבירים, hinted that this was the food that the ministering angels in the celestial spheres depend on for their sustenance. They did not mean this in a literal sense, but they drew a comparison between the angels and the Israelites during those years, saying that just as the sustenance of the angels is their proximity to the radiation of the waves of Hashem’s presence, so the Israelites in the desert were kept alive in body and spirit by this visible manifestation that Hashem was close to each one of them.

בשמוע את תלונותיכם על ה' ונחנו מה, “that He has heard your complaints against G’d, and what are we?” Moses made reference to the “glory” of G’d, i.e 'כבוד ה', the attribute of Justice. This terminology is found also in Exodus 24,17 ומראה כבוד ה' כאש אוכלת, “and the appearance of the glory of G’d was like a consuming fire,” where it is clear that it refers to the attribute of Justice. This is also the reason that the name of G’d is alluded to here backwards, (in the acrostic of the words ה' ונחנו מה). Whenever the letters in the name of G’d appear in a reverse order this is an allusion to the attribute of Justice (compare our commentary on Exodus 3,1).

Not a reference to the glory that is mentioned: “and behold. . .” [Rashi knows this] because it is not written, “And behold the glory of Hashem was visible in the cloud in the morning.” [Rather, the glory was visible in the cloud that same day.]

(Exodus 16:7) "and in the morning you will see": From here you learn that it was with a "radiant countenance" that the manna was given to Israel. The quail, which they requested with a full stomach, was given to them with a "darkened countenance." The manna, which they requested legitimately (i.e., from hunger) was given to them with a "radiant countenance." "for He hears your cavilings, which are against the L rd.": And of what significance are we that you stand and rail against us?

V. 7. ובקר וראיתם את כבוד ד׳. Wie כבוד, als die geistige Schwere, den Eindruck bezeichnet, den der geistig sittliche Gehalt eines Wesens macht, dessen Wahrnehmung ebenso den geistig sittlichen Gehalt desselben ermessen lässt, wie die Schwere das Maß für einen materiellen Gehalt abgibt: so heißt von Gott כבוד der Eindruck, die Spur, die sein Einwirken in irdischen Verhältnissen zurücklässt, aus welchen man eine Ahnung seiner Gegenwart und seiner Größe zu gewinnen vermag. So bittet Mosche: הראני נא את כבודך und es wird ihm "טובו" das ganze Walten der "Gottesgüte" in den Menschenverhältnissen offenbar, die Spuren der Gotteswege — דרכך — in der Menschengeschichte, die eine Ahnung der Gottesgegenwart und der Gottesgröße in der Menschengeschichte gewähren. So heißt die Erscheinung der Wolke: כבוד ד׳, weil sie als der Eindruck der Gottesgegenwart in der Wolke diese Gegenwart ahnen lässt. Nirgends erscheint aber der Eindruck dieser Gegenwart größer und deren Wirkung überwältigender, als wenn ein trostloser, öder Zustand, eine trostlose Öde durch Gott in einen Paradieseszustand, in eine Paradiesesaue umwandelt ist. Dieser Eindruck ist deshalb so groß, weil der Gegensatz ein so großer und dem Menschengemüte dabei das Bewusstsein sich aufdrängt, wie an all dem gegenwärtigen Herrlichen die Erde doch so gar keinen Anteil habe und alles auf Gott hinweise. So Jesaias 35, 1 ישושום מדבר וציה ותגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת פרח תפרח ותגל אף גילת ורנן כבוד הלבנון נתן לה הדר הכרמל והשרון המה יראו כבוד ד׳ הדר אלקינו: "Ihnen wird Wüste und Steppe fröhlich, es freut sich die Öde, sie blüht auf wie eine Lilie, blühet, blühet, wird fröhlich bis zu allgemeinem Frohsein und Jauchzen, die Herrlichkeit des Libanons ist ihr verliehen, die Pracht Karmels und Sarons: die sehen die "Ehre" Gottes, die Pracht unseres Gottes!" Und so auch hier. Heute Abend werdet ihr nur einen Beweis erhalten, dass Gott euer Führer ist, und dass er jedes eurer Worte vernimmt. Der Morgen aber bringt euch einen Anblick, der euch die ganze Größe eures Gottes ahnen lässt. Die Wüste, die euch jetzt mit ihrer trostlosen Öde bis zur Verzweiflung anstarrt, seht ihr mit einem Male von Gottes Wunderhand als einen glänzend gedeckten Tisch für euch mit Weibern und Kindern vor euch. — בשמעו את תלונתיכם וגו׳, und das, indem er euch gleichzeitig heute Abend zeigt, dass er sehr wohl euer Murren vernommen und ihr euch sehr wohl sagen könnt, dass ihr durch dieses Murren eigentlich die Sorge seiner fürsorgenden Güte verscherzt hättet. ונחנו מה, wir aber, wie verschwindet bei allem diesem unser Anteil an der Gestaltung eures Geschickes zur vollendeten Bedeutungslosigkeit, und wie wenig sind wir es wert, dass ihr über uns murret oder doch Unzufriedenheit über uns rege macht, wenn ihr auch nicht offen damit hervortretet; denn das haben nur einige im Volke getan (siehe V. 31). Wir sind ja nur die völlig verschwindenden Werkzeuge! — תַלִינו: eine ungewöhnliche Form des הפעיל's der נ׳׳ע für תָלִינו. Vielleicht weil תָלִינו auch als קל erscheinen könnte, hier aber das Veranlassen deutlich hervorzuheben war, ist dafür die Form תָלינו gebraucht und dann auch allen andern הפעיל-Zeiten konsequent geblieben. V. 2 ist das וילונו :קרי und das וילינו :כתיב. Hier ist es umgekehrt. Dort wird gesagt, dass das Murren ein allgemeines war, obgleich ein großer Teil nur indirekt den offenen Aufruhr mit veranlasste. Mosche Milde macht allen nur den Vorwurf indirekter Veranlassung des Aufruhrs, obgleich er ja auch in der Tat zum offenen Ausbruch gekommen.

כי תלונו, this word (on this occasion as opposed to verse 2) is spelled with the letter ו in the middle, whereas it is read as if that letter had been a י.

את תלנתיכם על ה׳ this is the same as תלנתיכם] אשר על ה׳] YOUR MURMURINGS WHICH ARE AGAINST THE LORD.

'וראיתם את כבוד ה, and may it be G’d’s will that you will see Hashem’s glory when He will set limits to various times of the day, so that you will know that your complaints addressed to Aaron and myself should really have been addressed to Him, seeing it is He who will remove the cause of these complaints.

ונחנו מה, “and what are we (worth)?” Ibn Ezra comments on this rhetorical question that Moses and Aaron referred to their total impotence in influencing events, indicating that they were merely tools in the hands of Hashem. These words reflect the psalmist saying: מה אדם כי תדעהו, “what is the value of man that You should bother to become intimately familiar with him?” (Psalms 144,3)

For you asked for something improperly. . . I.e., you asked it unnecessarily because a person can survive without meat. Furthermore, you made your request “on a full stomach,” i.e., they had much livestock.

ונחנו מה (lit., and we, what?) means AND WE, WHAT ARE WE accounted (of what importance are we?),

Is the same as: that are against Hashem. [Rashi is answering the question:] The apparent meaning of בשמעו את תלונותיכם על ה' is: now He will hear that your complaints are against Him. But Hashem knows this! [Thus Rashi explains:] It rather comes to tell us against whom these complaints really were. [Although they ostensibly were “against Moshe and Aharon” (v. 2), in truth] they were against Hashem. [For “what are we that you cause complaints against us?”].

כי תלינו עלינו THAT YOU MAKE everyone MURMUR AGAINST US — your sons, and your wives, and your daughters and the mixed multitude. — And whether I like it or not I am forced to explain the word תַלִּינוּ in the sense of “you make (people) do something”, viz., murmur (i. e. what we call the Hiphil conjugation), because of its (the ל) be eshed and because of the קרי. For if it (the ל) were weak (i. e. without a Dagesh), I would explain it in the sense of “ye do something” (our Kal), just as, (Exodus 17:3) “And the people murmured (וַיָלֶן) against Moses”, or, if there was still a Dagesh but there was no י in it, so that it could be read תִלּוֹנוּ, I would explain it as meaning “ye put yourself in a state of murmuring” (our Niphal; cf. Rashi on Exodus 15:24). Now, however, it being as it is, it must imply “you make others murmur”, just as in the case of the spies it states, (Numbers 14:36) “And they made all the congregation to murmur (וַיַּלִּינוּ) against him” (where וַיַּלִּינוּ is the same grammatical form, so far as conjugation is concerned, as תַלִּינוּ, but as it has an object, כל העדה, it cannot mean “And they murmured”, and must necessarily mean “they made the congregation murmur).