출애굽기 24:10의 주석

ויראו את אלהי ישראל NOW THEY SAW THE GOD OF ISRAEL — They gazed intently and failing in this they peeped in their attempt to catch a glimpse of the Supreme Being, and thereby made themselves liable to death. But it was only because God did not wish to disturb the joy caused by the Giving of the Torah, that He did not punish them instantly, but waited (postponed the punishment) for Nadab and Abihu until the day when the Tabernacle was dedicated, when they were stricken with death, and for the elders until the event of which the text relates, (Numbers 11:16) “And when the people complained …. and the fire of the Lord burned among them and destroyed בקצה המחנה” — those who were the קצינים “nobles” of the camp (Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 16).

AND THEY SAW THE G-D OF ISRAEL. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained: “They saw Him in a prophetic vision, this being similar to the verse: I saw the Eternal standing beside the altar.⁵²⁹Amos 9:1. — And there was under His feet the like of a paved work of sapphire stone.⁵³⁰Continuing Verse 10 before us. This is identical with what the prophet Ezekiel saw: as the appearance of a sapphire stone was the likeness of a throne.⁵³¹Ezekiel 1:26. — And the like of the very heaven for clearness,⁵³⁰Continuing Verse 10 before us. means that they saw under the paved work of sapphire stone the likeness of the very heaven for clearness, which is identical with the firmament, like the color of the terrible ice, stretched forth⁵³²Ibid., Verse 22. over the heads of the living creatures [that Ezekiel saw]. Now here it is written, And they saw the G-d of Israel, and there it is written, This is the living creature that I saw under the G-d of Israel.⁵³³Ibid., 10:20. [In saying that he saw the living creature under the G-d of Israel, the prophet Ezekiel] used a shortened expression, for the living creature was under the firmament which was under the throne, and all this was under the Glorious Name.” [Thus far is Ibn Ezra’s language.]
In line with the simple meaning of Scripture the expression the G-d of Israel is used here to indicate that the merit of their father Israel [Jacob] was with them, and it was through his merit that they beheld this vision. And by the way of the Truth, [the mystic doctrine of the Cabala], it is because Scripture mentioned at the Giving of the Torah, and G-d spoke,⁵³⁴Genesis 1:3. this being identical with the verse, Behold, the Eternal our G-d hath shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire,⁵³⁵Deuteronomy 5:21. therefore Scripture explained here that they saw the G-d of Israel. It does not say as it does in all other places, the Eternal, the G-d of Israel,⁵³⁶Above, 5:1, etc. but mentioned this [the G-d of Israel] in order to say that the seventy elders perceived in this vision more than the rest of the people who saw upon the earth His great fire,⁵³⁷Deuteronomy 4:36. because the people saw through a partition of cloud and thick darkness.⁵³⁸Ibid., 5:19. Onkelos hinted at this, for he translated here, “and they saw the Glory of the G-d of Israel,” but did not render it, “and the Glory of G-d revealed itself to them,” as is his way of translating in other places.⁵³⁹E.g., in Numbers 16:19, where it states, And the Glory of the Eternal appeared unto all the congregation, Onkelos translated: “and the Glory of the Eternal revealed itself…” Here, however, he wrote “and they saw,” in order to indicate that they achieved a greater insight in this vision than the rest of the people.

ותחת רגליו, on the earth, the lowest point. We have G’d on record as describing “earth” in such terms in Isaiah 66,1 והארץ הדם רגליו, “the earth is My footstool.”

ויראו את אלו-הי ישראל, just as the Torah described “G’d’s “back” becoming visible to Moses in Exodus 33,23 so the meaning of the elders “seeing” means that the manifestations of G’d’s attributes they had experienced made Him as real to them as if they had seen Him with their physical eyes.

ויראו את א-לוהי ישראל, “they experienced a vision of the G’d of Israel.” Ibn Ezra explains that the word ויראו here describes a prophetic vision, not perception with their physical eyes. This vision would be similar to that seen by the prophet Ezekiel when he described the appearance of G’d’s throne. (Ezekiel 1,26) He described it as made of אבן ספיר, whereas here the Israelites due to their familiarity with bricks, described it as לבנת ספיר, as a brick made of sapphire. In verse 28 in that chapter in Ezekiel, the prophet spells out that what he saw was not the actual throne but a דמות, an image of such a throne. Nachmanides writes that according to the plain meaning of the text the words א-לוהי ישראל mean that the merit of the patriarch Israel was the catalyst that enabled them to be granted such a vision.

ויראו את אלו-הי ישראל, “and they ‘saw’ the G’d of Israel, etc.” The Torah refers to the attribute כבוד which we have discussed at length earlier saying that according to Pessikta Zutrata this is another name for what is popularly known as Shechinah. We know that it is impossible to experience a vision of the attribute of Hashem, as Hashem told Moses specifically that His attribute of Hashem cannot be seen by any living human being (Exodus 33,20). This is why Onkelos translates these words as וחזו ית יקר אלהא דישראל. This is the same attribute כבוד which the prophet Ezekiel experienced in a vision in Ezekiel 1,26 as the appearance of a human being above (the other chayot). First he had seen the חיות הקודש, and the אופנים beneath next to the חיות. When he looked again he saw the sky suspended above the heads of the חיות. Then he saw the throne of the Lord above the sky. Above that he saw a likeness resembling that of a human being, still higher above the throne.

They intentionally looked and intently gazed. . . This means that they intellectually perceived, as Rashi explains on the next verse: [ היו מסתכלין בו בלב גס ]. But it cannot mean actually looking, because it is written (33:20), “For no man can see My Presence and live.” And they became liable for death because [through this “looking”], they entered past their designated area.

V. 10. Wer wäre so vermessen, dieses Geschaute präzisieren zu wollen! An der Hand des Wortlauts wagen wir zu bemerken: Da es ausdrücklich heißt (Kap. 33, 20): "du kannst mein Angesicht nicht sehen, denn mich sieht kein Mensch und lebt!" und ebenso ausdrücklich (Dewarim 4, 12 u. 15) mit Hinblick auf diese Offenbarung am Sinai wiederholt gesagt und warnend zum Bewusstsein gesprochen wird, dass keinerlei Gestalt geschaut worden, als Gott zu uns zu Horeb aus dem Feuer sprach: so kann das ויראו את אלקי ישראל sich nur auf die Erscheinung beziehen, durch welche Gott seine Gegenwart ankündigte. Oder, und dies ist uns das Wahrscheinlichere, es ist eine Konstruktion wie: ראיתי את העם הזה והנה עם קשה ערף הוא (Kap.32, 9) ראיתי את הארץ והנה תהו ובהו ואל השמים ואין אורם (Jirmija 4, 23). "Ich sah das Volk und siehe, es ist hartnäckig, ich sah die Erde und siehe, sie ist öde, zu den Himmeln, und ihr Licht ist geschwunden", wo überall nicht das Volk, die Erde, der Himmel, sondern deren Zustände das Objekt des Sehens bilden, und diese Sätze nicht anders heißen, als: ich sah, dass das Volk hartnäckig, die Erde öde, der Himmel Licht geschwunden war. So kann auch ויראו את אלקי ישראל ותחת רגליו וגו׳ vielleicht nur heißen: sie sahen zu Füßen des Gottes Israels wie das Schaffen eines saphirenen Ziegels usw.

ויראו את אלוקי ישראל, “they saw a vision of the Lord, G-d of Israel.” This was a prophetic vision.

כמעשה לבנת הספיר AS IT WERE THE BRICKWORK OF SAPPHIRE — This had been before Him during the period of Egyptian slavery as a symbol of Israel’s woes — for they were subjected to do brick-work (cf. Jerusalem Talmud Succah 6:3; Leviticus Rabbah 23:8).

כמעשה לבנת ספיר, an essence, totally transparent, devoid of colours and permanent contours so that it is almost completely abstract, capable of absorbing spiritual input from spiritual domains at will. An allegorical description of the human נפש, “life-force.”

לבנת, the whiteness of

אלקי ישראל, in den Büchern des Propheten so häufig, kommt im Pentateuch dieser Ausdruck nur einigemal und immer bei besonderer Veranlassung mit Emphase vor, und zwar wie hier absolut, nicht attributiv zu ה׳, nur noch zweimal: Bereschit 33, 20, als Jakob zum erstenmale auf dem Boden seiner Heimat als selbständiger Familienvater ein Haus, erbaute, und, einen "Altar zum Denkmal" setzend, sich damit Gott als "Jisraels Gott" verkündete: ויקרא לו אל אלקי ישראל, und das zweitemal (Bamidbar 16, 9), wo Mosche Korach und seine Anhänger mit den Worten: המעט מכם כי הבדיל אלקי ישראל אתכם וגו׳ daran erinnert, wie der, dem Israel im ganzen als Werkzeug und Diener für seine Zwecke angehört, allein befugt ist, sich auch innerhalb dieser Ihm gehörigen Gesamtheit die besonderen Werkzeuge und Diener seines Willens zu erwählen. So auch hier. Durch das eben eingegangene Bundesverhältnis war erst Israel zu Gott in die wahrhafte Beziehung seiner Bestimmung getreten, war Gott erst wahrhaft אלקי ישראל geworden, und nun sahen sie "Ihm zu Füßen": כמעשה לבנת הספיר. Aus mehreren Gründen kann לבנת הספיר wohl nicht: die "Weiße" des Saphirs heißen. Es kommt sonst nicht die weiße Farbe kemin., sondern לָבָן vor, מחשף הלבן (Bereschit 30, 37) so dass wir לְבֶן הספיר hätten erwarten dürfen. Dann bezeichnet מעשה bei Beschreibungen von Gegenständen nie die Farbe, sondern die Art der Bereitung oder die dadurch dem Gegenstande gegebene Form: כמעשה אופן ,מעשה שושן ,מעשה רשת ,מעשה חשב u. a. m. Endlich ist der Saphir nicht weiß, sondern blau und zwar himmelblau: רקיע דומה לאבן ספיר Chulin 89 a). Es kann demnach) לִבְנָת auch stat. constr. von לְבֵנָה , Ziegel, sein. Die Bereitung von Ziegeln wird Schmot 5, 16 ולבנים אומרים לנו עשור, durch עשה ausgedrückt. כמעשה לבנת הספיר hieße demnach entweder: wie die Bereitung oder: wie die Form eines saphirnen Ziegels. "Ihm zu Füßen", also: zum Bau seines Thrones, sahen sie, war mit diesem Bündnis ein Ziegel getragen. Wie sie als עבדי פרעה im Pharaonendienst Ziegel zum Bau der Pharaonenmacht zu bereiten hatten, so schaffen sie jetzt als עבדי ד׳ im Dienste Gottes "Ziegel" für den Bau des Gottesreichs auf Erden, und ihr נעשה ונשמע war der erste Ziegel zu diesem Bund. "Saphiren" aber, sahen sie, ist ein solcher Ziegel. Alles Irdische, das im treuen Dienste zu diesem Gottesbau getragen wird, vermählt sich mit dem Himmlischen, wird vom Himmlischen durchdrungen, wird himmlisch und "steht dem Himmlischen an Reine nicht nach" וכעצם השמים לטהר. —

כמעשה לבנת ספיר, “like a brick make of sapphire.” There are two kinds of sapphire, the white kind and the black kind. The “white, (bright)” kind is similar in colour to azureblue; seeing that the majority of people have never seen a sapphire in their lives, the Torah has to describe it by comparing it to a phenomenon familiar to everyone, i.e. a cloudless sky in which the sun shines brightly. We find such a description also in Job 37,21: ורוח עברה ותטהרם, “until the wind comes and clears the sky from the clouds.”Rabbi Akiva is quoted as referring to when Pharaoh forced the Israelites to deliver twice the normal amount of bricks, by thus interpreting the word תוכן in Exodus 5,18. They had refused to continue to supply the Israelites with the straw that served as reinforcement for mud bricks, so that the Israelites had to forage for them in the fields. They gathered straw full of thorns and thistles and the skins of their feet were pierced by that straw, blood streaming from their wounds, and was mixed with the loam. (The raw material of the bricks.) According to this Midrash, the source of which is not known, a descendant of Metushelach, called Rachel in that Midrash, experienced extreme difficulty and pain while about to give birth, her birthstool, מלבן, a rectangular mouldlike contraption, becoming mired in loam and thistles and she being bloodied all over. When the archangel Michael became aware of this result of the barbaric treatment of the Israelites by the decree of Pharaoh, he took a brick, לבנה, same root in Hebrew, and deposited this brick made of sapphire beneath the throne of G-d to remind Him of how His people were being treated. It remained there until the destruction of the Temple due to the people’s sins when G-d or one of His angels flung it back down to earth, as G-d had no further use for such reminders.[I had debated with myself if to translate and explain the author’s insertion of part of this Midrash, but decided in favour, as it illustrates better than prose how our sages view both the angels, and G-d’s reaction to excessive torture of His people, but also excessive disloyalty by His people to their covenant with G-d. Ed.] (In his commentary on our verse by Rabbi Menachem Kasher of sainted memory, in his Torah shleymah, the interested reader can read up on this under the heading #88. (With the help of this Midrash, the line: ותחת רגליו כמעשה לבנת הספיר וכעצם השמים לטוהר, “and underneath His feet the mould of a brick pure as the finest sapphire, like a cloudless pure sky,” becomes more meaningful.)

וכעצם השמים לטהר AND AS IT WERE AS THE BODY OF HEAVEN FOR PURITY — This implies that as soon as they (the Israelites) were delivered there was radiance and rejoicing before Him.

וכעצם השמים לטוהר, they perceived that this לבנת הספיר, “essence,” is totally independent of the raw material man is made of; just as what we perceive as the essence of heaven in the sky is totally devoid of tangible matter. It is the essence of what we consider the celestial regions, “heaven,” for lack of a better word. It is not connected to the solid physical planets etc., which form the “inhabitants” of these celestial domains. The fact that the “sky,” “heaven,” has no physical dimensions makes it appear as if it is the spiritual dimension of “Heaven” itself.

וכעצם, the appearance. The construction is similar to Lamentations 4,7 אדמו עצם מפנינים, “their bodies were like sapphires.”

וכעצם — Translate it as the Targum does: “as the appearance”.

לטהר, as when the sky is clear without clouds.

לטהר means FOR BRIGHTNESS AND CLEARNESS.

That is that He commanded us to make tzitzit (fringes). And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "to make for themselves fringes [...] let them attach to the fringe at each corner" (Numbers 15:38). And [the two colors of strings are] not counted as two commandments, even though the main understanding for us is that the blue-purple does not impede the white and the white does not impede the blue-purple. For it is said in the Sifrei, "It is possible that they are two commandments, the commandment of the white and the commandment of the blue-purple. [Hence] we learn to say (Numbers 15:39), 'That shall be your tzitzit' - it is one commandment and not two commandments." And women are not obligated in it, as is explained in the first [chapter] of Kiddushin (Kiddushin 33b). And the regulations of this commandment were already explained in the fourth chapter of Menachot. (See Parashat Shelach; Mishneh Torah, Fringes 1.)