Commento su Esodo 24:14
וְאֶל־הַזְּקֵנִ֤ים אָמַר֙ שְׁבוּ־לָ֣נוּ בָזֶ֔ה עַ֥ד אֲשֶׁר־נָשׁ֖וּב אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם וְהִנֵּ֨ה אַהֲרֹ֤ן וְחוּר֙ עִמָּכֶ֔ם מִי־בַ֥עַל דְּבָרִ֖ים יִגַּ֥שׁ אֲלֵהֶֽם׃
Ed agli anziani disse: Attendeteci qui, finché ritorniamo a voi. Aronne e Hhur rimangono presso di voi; chi ha qualche causa, si presenti ad essi.
Rashi on Exodus
ואל הזקנים אמר BUT UNTO THE ELDERS HE SAID when he left the camp (אמר in the sequence of verbs which we find here denotes the pluperfect; the translation therefore is: and to the elders he had said).
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Ramban on Exodus
AND UNTO THE ELDERS HE SAID: ‘TARRY YE HERE FOR US.’ The meaning of this is that when Moses parted from them with his minister, he commanded them that they should tarry there. It does not mean that they were to stay there day and night until their return, for he said, and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whosoever hath a cause, let him come near unto them, and it is in the camp that parties to a dispute would be found, since that was where the seat of justice was, and he had already told everybody, Return ye to your tents.560Deuteronomy 5:27. But the meaning of tarry ye here is that they should stay at that place, and should not break through to come up to them, even to the place where Joshua was, until he [Moses] would come back to them.
In my opinion it is possible that the explanation of the verse is as follows: “Sit561Ramban thus takes the Hebrew word sh’vu [translated as “tarry”] in its literal meaning: “sit” — sit in court in our place and act as a substitute for us. in our place and serve as a substitute for us in the camp; Aaron and Hur are with you, and whosoever hath a cause — one of those hard causes that they would bring to me562See Deuteronomy 1:17. — let him come near unto them in my place.” He said unto them as a special recognition to Aaron and Hur, for they were to come before all the elders and they would all be assembled at one place, just as he said Aaron and Hur are with you. Thus Moses commanded that the elders together with Aaron and Hur should sit as a court, just as he himself did, over the officers of thousands and hundreds, until he returns, since he knew that he would tarry in the mountain. He said: for us [tarry ye here ‘for us’] as a mark of honor to his disciple, just as he said to Joshua, Choose us out men.563Above, 17:9. This is a correct interpretation. But Rashi wrote: “And unto the elders he said — when he left the camp, Tarry ye here for us — stay you with the rest of the people so as to be ready to judge each man’s dispute.” But this is impossible, for they were not at that moment in the camp, and what sense would there be for him to tell them so when they were in the camp and had already been appointed as judges!
Terumah
In my opinion it is possible that the explanation of the verse is as follows: “Sit561Ramban thus takes the Hebrew word sh’vu [translated as “tarry”] in its literal meaning: “sit” — sit in court in our place and act as a substitute for us. in our place and serve as a substitute for us in the camp; Aaron and Hur are with you, and whosoever hath a cause — one of those hard causes that they would bring to me562See Deuteronomy 1:17. — let him come near unto them in my place.” He said unto them as a special recognition to Aaron and Hur, for they were to come before all the elders and they would all be assembled at one place, just as he said Aaron and Hur are with you. Thus Moses commanded that the elders together with Aaron and Hur should sit as a court, just as he himself did, over the officers of thousands and hundreds, until he returns, since he knew that he would tarry in the mountain. He said: for us [tarry ye here ‘for us’] as a mark of honor to his disciple, just as he said to Joshua, Choose us out men.563Above, 17:9. This is a correct interpretation. But Rashi wrote: “And unto the elders he said — when he left the camp, Tarry ye here for us — stay you with the rest of the people so as to be ready to judge each man’s dispute.” But this is impossible, for they were not at that moment in the camp, and what sense would there be for him to tell them so when they were in the camp and had already been appointed as judges!
Terumah
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Sforno on Exodus
ואל הזקנים אמר, when he departed from them in order to ascend to the top of the mountain as G’d had commanded him in verse 12.
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