출애굽기 19:11의 주석

והיו נכנים AND LET THEM BE PREPARED — separated from their wives (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:15:1; cf. Rashi on Shabbat 87a).

THE ETERNAL WILL COME DOWN IN THE SIGHT OF ALL THE PEOPLE. I.e., so that all the people will behold His coming down, meaning that they will see the appearance of the Glory of the Eternal like devouring fire on the top of the mount,²⁰⁸Further, 24:17. but they will not see G-d, for it is written, for man shall not see Me and live.²⁰⁹Ibid., 33:20.

והיו נכונים, that not only the mind, the spirit, be in readiness for the revelation but also the body that houses the spirit. This was necessary because the level of prophecy they would experience at the revelation would far surpass anything an ordinary prophet experiences, something for which he does not have to prepare his body by ritual immersion, and loss of any residue of seminal fluids the body ejaculated during the days immediately preceding the prophetic vision. Moses was not forbidden physical contact with his own wife until he had attained this level of prophetic stature. This would commence from the time of the revelation and onwards. At that time he released the other Israelites from the restriction of carrying on marital relations with their wives by saying to them: “return to your tents” (Deuteronomy 5,27-28). Moses himself had been told by G’d at that time: “you remain standing here with Me.” This is what our sages explained in Shabbat 87.

ירד ה' לעיני כל העם, one probably has to understand the beginning of verse 10 ויאמר ה', as referring to an angel who said what follows. Therefore he could say the words ירד ה' in the third person. G’d, personally, had not said verse 10 as otherwise here it should say ארד “I will descend.” I have already explained a similar construction in Genesis 19,24 in connection with who made it rain on Sodom, and the meaning of the words מן השמים “from the heaven,” in that verse. Bereshit Rabbah 51,3 describes the first half of the verse as having been spoken by the angel Gavriel, whereas the second half was spoken by G’d Himself.

ירד ה' לעיני כל העם, “Hashem will descend in full view of all the people.” This means that the fiery spectacle of G’d’s descent to the top of the Mountain will be perceived as a spectacle of consuming fire. The people will obviously not see the essence of G’d, as we have been told in Exodus 33,20 כי לא יראני האדם וחי, “it is inherently impossible for a living human being to see Me.”

Separated from their wives. This is learned by a gezeirah shavah between נכונים here and נכונים in v. 15. Here it is written והיו נכונים , and there it is written היו נכונים לשלשת ימים אל תגשו אל אשה (“. . .do not come near a woman”).

(Ibid. 11) "And have them ready for the third day": the sixth day (of Sivan) on which the Torah was given, viz. (Ibid.) "for on the third day the L rd will go down, etc." "the L rd will go down before the eyes of all the people on Mount Sinai": This is one of the ten "descents" in the Torah. "before the eyes of all the people": We are hereby apprised that there were no blind ones among them. Variantly: "before the eyes of all the people": We are hereby apprised that they saw at that time what Ezekiel and Isaiah could not see, it being written (Hoshea 12:11) "and by the prophets I shall be imaged," (but at Sinai they saw the Shechinah.) Variantly: "before the eyes of all the people": We are hereby apprised that if they lacked (in unity of heart) even one, they could not receive (the Shechinah). R. Yossi says: Even if they numbered 22,000, they could receive it, it being written (Numbers 10:36) "And when it (the ark) rested, he (Moses) would say: 'Return, O L rd (to) the (two) ten thousands (two) thousands of Israel.'"

ליום השלישי, “for the third day.” This was the Sabbath on which the Torah would be given, the third day after Moses had been commanded to prepare the people for that day on the fourth of the month, a Thursday. On that day G-d would descend to the Mountain. Seeing that at this point the Torah did not spell out a specific time or date, this had to be done on another occasion, i.e. in Deuteronomy 5,27 where Moses is to tell the people to return to their daily routine, whereas he is to ascend Mount Sinai and receive the whole Torah there during the next 40 days, as detailed at the beginning of chapter 24 in Exodus. Some commentators accept neither the opinion of the majority of the scholars nor that of Rabbi Yossi, both of whom held differing views as to the precise sequence and timing of the days of the week and days of the month on which events commencing with the Israelites encamping in the desert of Sinai and the conclusion of the revelation have been reported in the Torah.

ליום השלישי AGAINST THE THIRD DAY, which is the sixth of the month. On the fifth Moses built the altar under the mountain and the twelve monuments — the whole narrative as is stated later on in the Sidra ואלה המשפטים (Exodus 24:4), for there is neither “earlier” nor “later” (there is no chronological order) in the Torah (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:10:1-2).

This teaches us that there were no blind among them. . . This was in response to their request, “It is our wish to see our King!”

לעיני כל העם BEFORE THE EYES (in the sight) OF ALL THE PEOPLE — This tells us that there was not a blind person amongst them — that they had all been healed of their blindness (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:11).