Commento su Numeri 14:5

THEN MOSES AND AARON FELL ON THEIR FACES. The reason for this was that they saw that the people were about to decide to appoint a leader and return [to Egypt] immediately; so the righteous ones [Moses and Aaron] arose and prostrated themselves with their faces on the ground saying to them, ‘I pray you, my brethren, do not so wickedly,’⁹⁶Genesis 19:7. and let this be no stumbling-block unto you.⁹⁷See I Samuel 25:31. Therefore it says [that they fell on their faces] before all the congregation of the children of Israel, for it was for their sake that they prostrated themselves on their faces [imploring them to abandon their plan to return to Egypt].⁹⁸Ramban here is excluding the possibility of interpreting their falling on their faces as a preparation for prayer (see further, 16:22). Therefore he points out that here it says that they [fell on their faces] before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel, thus indicating that they did so in order to implore them to abandon their plan of returning to Egypt. See also Note 155 further. Similarly, and he [David] fell on his face to the ground and bowed down three times⁹⁹I Samuel 20:41. [before Jonathan, is an expression of conciliation and supplication]. And the meaning of the word liphnei [“before” — ‘before’ all the assembly is like lahem [“for them” — to implore them, for their good, to renounce their plan of returning to Egypt]. Similarly, And his brethren also went and fell down ‘l’phanav (‘before’ him)¹⁰⁰Genesis 50:18. Here too, it could not mean that the brothers did so in order “to pray” to Joseph, but only to plead with him on their behalf. [also means “to” him — Joseph — to beg him for forgiveness]. There are many examples of this usage.

ויפול משה ואהרן על פניהם, when they saw the truth of (Kohelet 1,15) Solomon’s famous proverb that מעוות לא יוכל לתקן, that “when something has been twisted out of shape it can not be straightened out again.” The Talmud Sanhedrin 19 illustrates this when relating that the entire Sanhedrin out of fear of the King Yannai, perverted Torah law and only Shimon ben Shetach had the courage to tell the king the truth about Torah law on the issue under discussion, which would have embarrassed the king. Shimon ben Shetach appealed to heaven to uphold the one who had interpreted correctly. Thereupon the angel Gavriel killed the entire Sanhedrin, except Shimon ben Shetach. However, in order for such a tragedy not to occur again, the ruling that the king must testify and must be judged by his peers was revoked for the future.

When Yehoshua and Kalev saw that Moshe and Aharon humbled themselves before the people (by bowing down), a divine fire burned in them ... and they did not let them speak, but they spoke on their behalf...

ויפול משה ואהרן על פניהם לפני כל קהל עדת ישראל, “Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the entire congregation of the community of Israel.” They bowed their faces to the ground in full view of the whole community. The matter is comparable to Samuel I 20,41 ויפול לאפיו ארצה וישתחו שלש פעמים, David bowed with his face to the ground three times, (in taking his leave from Yonathan) [according to our author the expression in our verse above is also one describing deference. Ed.] When Moses and Aaron saw that the people had made up their minds to select a new leader and to head back toward Egypt, they bowed down imploring them not to commit such a grave wrong, one that would become a terrible stumbling block for them. Seeing that all the people were involved, Moses and Aaron made certain that their appeal would be heard by all those assembled.

V. 5. ויפל וגו׳. Durch das נתנה ראש des vorangehenden Verses war ihnen der Gehorsam gekündet, damit war ihrerseits ihre Sendung zu Ende. Sie warfen sich לפני כל קהל וגו׳ nieder. קהל עדת וגו׳ ist das mit der Leitung der Gemeinde betraute Kollegium, die Ältesten (siehe Schmot 12, 6). Indem sie vor ihnen sich niederwarfen, gaben sie das Volk ihrer Leitung zurück und sprachen damit aus, dass mit dieser Kündigung des Gehorsams ihre menschliche Macht zu Ende sei, sie nichts weiter vermögen.

"And Moshe and Aharon fell on their faces": Here it is not mentioned what they said to them, but it is mentioned in [Deuteronomy]....