וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֔ה זֶ֧ה הַדָּבָ֛ר אֲשֶׁר־צִוָּ֥ה יְהוָ֖ה תַּעֲשׂ֑וּ וְיֵרָ֥א אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם כְּב֥וֹד יְהוָֽה׃
모세가 가로되 이는 여호와께서 너희에게 하라고 명하신 것이니 여호와의 영광이 너희에게 나타나리라
Sforno
מזבח מקטר קטורת, he will put only a minimal amount of fire on that altar in order to burn the incense thereon. This altar did not have to be hollow, filled with earth, as was the copper altar which was filled with earth in order that the supply of fire be on the earth, literally. On this altar the fire was kept on the gold overlay. Seeing that there was only a minimal amount of fire kept going thereon this did not damage or burn wood underneath the gold overlay.
The reason that this altar has not been mentioned together with the major altar standing outside the sanctuary, details of which the Torah described in Parshat Terumah, is that this altar was not intended to ensure that the Shechinah made its permanent home among the Jewish people. The purpose of all the other furnishings in the Tabernacle was just that. (compare how G’d defined this purpose in Exodus 25,8-9) Its purpose was also not to attract the glory of the Lord into the Tabernacle, as was the purpose of all the other communal sacrifices burnt-offering, gift offerings, etc. Concerning G’d’s response to those offerings we had read in Exodus 29,43 ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל, “and there I will meet with the Children of Israel.” Moses himself had confirmed that this was the purpose of the furnishings, etc., in the Tabernacle when he said: (Leviticus 9,6) “and as a result the glory of the Lord will become manifest to you.”
The sole purpose of the golden altar was to honour G’d after He had accepted our service with goodwill mornings and evenings. We used this as a means to welcome His presence by presenting the incense. We find that Chronicles I 16,29 expresses this thought, David saying:הבו לה' כבוד שמו ובאו לפניו, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name!”
The reason that this altar has not been mentioned together with the major altar standing outside the sanctuary, details of which the Torah described in Parshat Terumah, is that this altar was not intended to ensure that the Shechinah made its permanent home among the Jewish people. The purpose of all the other furnishings in the Tabernacle was just that. (compare how G’d defined this purpose in Exodus 25,8-9) Its purpose was also not to attract the glory of the Lord into the Tabernacle, as was the purpose of all the other communal sacrifices burnt-offering, gift offerings, etc. Concerning G’d’s response to those offerings we had read in Exodus 29,43 ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל, “and there I will meet with the Children of Israel.” Moses himself had confirmed that this was the purpose of the furnishings, etc., in the Tabernacle when he said: (Leviticus 9,6) “and as a result the glory of the Lord will become manifest to you.”
The sole purpose of the golden altar was to honour G’d after He had accepted our service with goodwill mornings and evenings. We used this as a means to welcome His presence by presenting the incense. We find that Chronicles I 16,29 expresses this thought, David saying:הבו לה' כבוד שמו ובאו לפניו, “Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name!”
Haamek Davar
a strange fire, which He had not commanded them: The language is not precise. As behold, it was forbidden to bring a strange fire. So how is it fit to say, "which He had not commanded" - as it implies that they were also not prohibited about it. And see what the Baal HaTurim wrote; and the homiletical approach mentioned in the Herchav Devar, that they came in with the fire of enthusiasm of the love of God. Whereas the Torah said that even though the love of God is precious in the eyes of God, it is not so when it is in this fashion that was not commanded, and as I wrote above in the name of the Torat Kohanim on the verse, "And Moshe said, 'This is the thing, etc.'" (Leviticus 9:6).
Ramban
ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIRST MONTH SHALT THOU SET UP THE TABERNACLE OF THE TENT OF MEETING. In the opinion of our Rabbis43Sifra, beginning of Seder Shemini. who say that this was on the eighth day of the installation [of the priests into their sacred office],44On the first seven days of the installation the Tabernacle was put up and taken apart each day. But on the eighth day it was put up and no longer dismantled until they moved away from the encampment at Mount Sinai. Accordingly, since in the opinion of the Rabbis the first day of Nisan was the eighth day of the installation, the expression thou shalt set up the Tabernacle must mean “set it up permanently etc.,” the meaning of the verse is: “you are to put up the Tabernacle and it should remain so; do not dismantle it and do not put it up again, for when the camps will move, the Levites will dismantle it and put it up.” It was not necessary that G-d should command Moses now about the putting up of the Tabernacle during the first seven days, since He had told him at the start, And thou shalt set up the Tabernacle according to the fashion thereof which hath been shown thee in the mountain.45Above, 26:30. Now since He explained to him here that On the first day of the first month the setting up of the Tabernacle would be of a permanent nature, Moses thus understood that during [each of] the seven days of installation it would be necessary for him to put it up and to dismantle it. Perhaps this was done in order to train the Levites how to do it, for they would see how he did it and would do likewise. Or it may be that this was done in order to crown the eighth day with this special crown [that the Tabernacle was for the first time not dismantled on that day].
It would appear according to the opinion of the Rabbis that on the first seven days Moses put up the Tabernacle each morning, and it remained standing all day and all the following night, and at each dawn he would dismantle it and put it up again immediately, for Scripture says, And at the door of the Tent of Meeting shall ye abide day and night for seven days,46Leviticus 8:35. and there could be no “door” to the Tent of Meeting except at the time when it was erected.47Thus since Scripture states that during the first seven days of the installation Aaron and his sons had to sit at the door of the Tent of Meeting, we must therefore conclude that the Tabernacle was dismantled at dawn and put up again immediately. The Sages have already interpreted:48Sifra Vayikra, parshata 4. “he shall bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting49Leviticus 1:3. — at the time when it is open, and not when [the Tent of Meeting] is taken to pieces.” Similarly, the Rabbis have said:50Zebachim 55b. “Peace-offerings which have been slaughtered before the doors of the Sanctuary were opened are invalid, because it is said, and he shall slaughter it at the door of the Tent of Meeting51Leviticus 3:2. — at the time it is open, and not when it is locked.” Similarly, “at the Tabernacle, [peace-offerings which were slaughtered] before the Levites put up the Tabernacle, or after the Levites had dismantled it, were invalid.”50Zebachim 55b. Moreover, [during the first seven days of installation, Moses] used to sacrifice the Daily Offering of the evening and kindle the lamps at night. And in Vayikra Rabbah52I have not found this quotation in Vayikra Rabbah, but in Tanchuma Pekudei, 11. I have seen [the following text]: “Moses used to put up the Tabernacle and dismantle it twice every day. Rabbi Chanina the Great says: three times every day, for [the phrase ‘putting up’ of the Tabernacle] is mentioned three times: thou shalt put up;53In Verse 2 before us. the Tabernacle was put up;54Further, Verse 17. and Moses put up the Tabernacle.55Ibid., Verse 18. Once it was put up for the Daily Offering of the morning, and once for the special offerings of the installation, and once for the Daily Offering of the evening.” It is possible that all this was done for the sake of practice, so that they would know the procedure for putting it up, and which order to follow, but they never left it in a dismantled state at all [during the seven days of installation].
And that which Scripture states here, And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle,56Ibid., Verse 34. in the opinion of the Rabbis it refers to the eighth day, for Scripture says, So Moses finished the work,57Ibid., Verse 33. and when he had completed this erection on the first of Nisan, the cloud covered the Tabernacle. Now Rashi has already mentioned the interpretation of the Rabbis: “And they came out and blessed the people.58Leviticus 9:23. During all the seven days of installation when Moses was putting up the Tabernacle, and officiating therein, and dismantling it,59Our Rashi adds: “every day.” the Divine Glory did not rest upon it, and the Israelites felt ashamed, and they said to Moses: ‘Our master! All the trouble which we have taken was only so that the Divine Glory would dwell amongst us, and that we would know that the sin of the calf has been atoned for!’ Then Moses said to them: ‘My brother Aaron is more worthy and meritorious than I am, and it is through his offerings and service that the Divine Glory will rest upon us.’”
And in the Parshath Hamiluim60Sifra, beginning of Seder Shemini. (the Chapter of the Installation) we find written: “I might think that the Tabernacle was put up on the first of the month of Nisan, and that the Divine Glory did not rest thereon until the eighth day of the month. Scripture therefore says, And on the day that the Tabernacle was put up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle, even the Tent of Meeting.61Numbers 9:15. This teaches us that on the day the Tabernacle was put up, the Divine Glory rested thereon through the service of Aaron.” Thus the Rabbis are clearly saying that the cloud covering the Tabernacle was on the eighth day of the installation, which was on the first day of Nisan.
If this is so, then this whole chapter, in the opinion of the Rabbis, took place on the eighth day of the installation. This is indeed so, because Scripture describes the sequence of events as follows: G-d commanded Moses that the final putting up of the Tabernacle should be on the first day of the first month, and then it states that Moses did so and finished the whole work57Ibid., Verse 33. [of the seven days of installation], and then [on the eighth day] the cloud covered the tent,56Ibid., Verse 34. and so it was always [henceforth whenever they journeyed and put up the Tabernacle at their new place of encampment]. Then Scripture goes back to the beginning of the communication which came to Moses from the Tent, saying, And He called unto Moses.62Leviticus 1:1. All this is now in proper order.
A kind of proof to what the Rabbis have said, [that during the seven days of installation the Tabernacle was dismantled every day], is what Scripture says, And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the Tabernacle.63Numbers 7:1. Now if he did not dismantle it, what sense is there to the expression, the day that he ‘made an end’ of setting up the Tabernacle, since he began and finished all the work in one day? In that case it should rather have said: “and it came to pass on the day that Moses set up the Tabernacle.” Moreover, it says there [with reference to the eighth day], This is the thing which the Eternal commanded that ye should do;64Leviticus 9:6. and the Glory of the Eternal appeared unto all the people.65Ibid., Verse 23. The implication of these verses is that the cloud had not yet covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the Eternal did not yet fill the Tabernacle.
However it may be, from the first day of the installation G-d communicated to Moses from the Tabernacle all the sections from the beginning of the Book of Leviticus until And it came to pass on the eighth day.66Ibid., 9:1. But the cloud did not cover the Tabernacle, and the people therefore thought that the communication from there to Moses was directly from heaven, just as it was in the land of Egypt. But in the Midrash Chazit67I have not found it in Shir Hashirim Rabbah ( Midrash Chazit ), but in Koheleth Rabbah 1:31. I have found the following text: “And it came to pass on the eighth day.66Ibid., 9:1. This really should have been the beginning of the Book of Leviticus. Why then was it written here? Because there is no strict chronological order in the narrative of the Torah.” Now if this is so, then the chapter beginning And He called unto Moses… out of the Tent of Meeting62Leviticus 1:1. happened after and the Glory of the Eternal appeared unto all the people. And there came forth fire from before the Eternal, and consumed upon the altar;68Leviticus 9:23-24. and the communication addressed to Aaron, drink no wine or strong drink,69Ibid., 10:9. took place on the following day, for it is impossible that G-d should speak to Aaron from the Tent of Meeting before He had spoken to Moses.70But if we say, as Ramban does, that G-d already spoke to Moses from the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the installation, then the communication to Aaron, drink no wine nor strong drink, took place on the eighth day of the installation. But I do not know whether this Midrash represents the unanimous opinion of all the Sages, or whether they are the words of a single Sage, for they are mentioned there in the Midrash with reference to Rabbi Yishmael.
It would appear according to the opinion of the Rabbis that on the first seven days Moses put up the Tabernacle each morning, and it remained standing all day and all the following night, and at each dawn he would dismantle it and put it up again immediately, for Scripture says, And at the door of the Tent of Meeting shall ye abide day and night for seven days,46Leviticus 8:35. and there could be no “door” to the Tent of Meeting except at the time when it was erected.47Thus since Scripture states that during the first seven days of the installation Aaron and his sons had to sit at the door of the Tent of Meeting, we must therefore conclude that the Tabernacle was dismantled at dawn and put up again immediately. The Sages have already interpreted:48Sifra Vayikra, parshata 4. “he shall bring it to the door of the Tent of Meeting49Leviticus 1:3. — at the time when it is open, and not when [the Tent of Meeting] is taken to pieces.” Similarly, the Rabbis have said:50Zebachim 55b. “Peace-offerings which have been slaughtered before the doors of the Sanctuary were opened are invalid, because it is said, and he shall slaughter it at the door of the Tent of Meeting51Leviticus 3:2. — at the time it is open, and not when it is locked.” Similarly, “at the Tabernacle, [peace-offerings which were slaughtered] before the Levites put up the Tabernacle, or after the Levites had dismantled it, were invalid.”50Zebachim 55b. Moreover, [during the first seven days of installation, Moses] used to sacrifice the Daily Offering of the evening and kindle the lamps at night. And in Vayikra Rabbah52I have not found this quotation in Vayikra Rabbah, but in Tanchuma Pekudei, 11. I have seen [the following text]: “Moses used to put up the Tabernacle and dismantle it twice every day. Rabbi Chanina the Great says: three times every day, for [the phrase ‘putting up’ of the Tabernacle] is mentioned three times: thou shalt put up;53In Verse 2 before us. the Tabernacle was put up;54Further, Verse 17. and Moses put up the Tabernacle.55Ibid., Verse 18. Once it was put up for the Daily Offering of the morning, and once for the special offerings of the installation, and once for the Daily Offering of the evening.” It is possible that all this was done for the sake of practice, so that they would know the procedure for putting it up, and which order to follow, but they never left it in a dismantled state at all [during the seven days of installation].
And that which Scripture states here, And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the Eternal filled the Tabernacle,56Ibid., Verse 34. in the opinion of the Rabbis it refers to the eighth day, for Scripture says, So Moses finished the work,57Ibid., Verse 33. and when he had completed this erection on the first of Nisan, the cloud covered the Tabernacle. Now Rashi has already mentioned the interpretation of the Rabbis: “And they came out and blessed the people.58Leviticus 9:23. During all the seven days of installation when Moses was putting up the Tabernacle, and officiating therein, and dismantling it,59Our Rashi adds: “every day.” the Divine Glory did not rest upon it, and the Israelites felt ashamed, and they said to Moses: ‘Our master! All the trouble which we have taken was only so that the Divine Glory would dwell amongst us, and that we would know that the sin of the calf has been atoned for!’ Then Moses said to them: ‘My brother Aaron is more worthy and meritorious than I am, and it is through his offerings and service that the Divine Glory will rest upon us.’”
And in the Parshath Hamiluim60Sifra, beginning of Seder Shemini. (the Chapter of the Installation) we find written: “I might think that the Tabernacle was put up on the first of the month of Nisan, and that the Divine Glory did not rest thereon until the eighth day of the month. Scripture therefore says, And on the day that the Tabernacle was put up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle, even the Tent of Meeting.61Numbers 9:15. This teaches us that on the day the Tabernacle was put up, the Divine Glory rested thereon through the service of Aaron.” Thus the Rabbis are clearly saying that the cloud covering the Tabernacle was on the eighth day of the installation, which was on the first day of Nisan.
If this is so, then this whole chapter, in the opinion of the Rabbis, took place on the eighth day of the installation. This is indeed so, because Scripture describes the sequence of events as follows: G-d commanded Moses that the final putting up of the Tabernacle should be on the first day of the first month, and then it states that Moses did so and finished the whole work57Ibid., Verse 33. [of the seven days of installation], and then [on the eighth day] the cloud covered the tent,56Ibid., Verse 34. and so it was always [henceforth whenever they journeyed and put up the Tabernacle at their new place of encampment]. Then Scripture goes back to the beginning of the communication which came to Moses from the Tent, saying, And He called unto Moses.62Leviticus 1:1. All this is now in proper order.
A kind of proof to what the Rabbis have said, [that during the seven days of installation the Tabernacle was dismantled every day], is what Scripture says, And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the Tabernacle.63Numbers 7:1. Now if he did not dismantle it, what sense is there to the expression, the day that he ‘made an end’ of setting up the Tabernacle, since he began and finished all the work in one day? In that case it should rather have said: “and it came to pass on the day that Moses set up the Tabernacle.” Moreover, it says there [with reference to the eighth day], This is the thing which the Eternal commanded that ye should do;64Leviticus 9:6. and the Glory of the Eternal appeared unto all the people.65Ibid., Verse 23. The implication of these verses is that the cloud had not yet covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the Eternal did not yet fill the Tabernacle.
However it may be, from the first day of the installation G-d communicated to Moses from the Tabernacle all the sections from the beginning of the Book of Leviticus until And it came to pass on the eighth day.66Ibid., 9:1. But the cloud did not cover the Tabernacle, and the people therefore thought that the communication from there to Moses was directly from heaven, just as it was in the land of Egypt. But in the Midrash Chazit67I have not found it in Shir Hashirim Rabbah ( Midrash Chazit ), but in Koheleth Rabbah 1:31. I have found the following text: “And it came to pass on the eighth day.66Ibid., 9:1. This really should have been the beginning of the Book of Leviticus. Why then was it written here? Because there is no strict chronological order in the narrative of the Torah.” Now if this is so, then the chapter beginning And He called unto Moses… out of the Tent of Meeting62Leviticus 1:1. happened after and the Glory of the Eternal appeared unto all the people. And there came forth fire from before the Eternal, and consumed upon the altar;68Leviticus 9:23-24. and the communication addressed to Aaron, drink no wine or strong drink,69Ibid., 10:9. took place on the following day, for it is impossible that G-d should speak to Aaron from the Tent of Meeting before He had spoken to Moses.70But if we say, as Ramban does, that G-d already spoke to Moses from the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the installation, then the communication to Aaron, drink no wine nor strong drink, took place on the eighth day of the installation. But I do not know whether this Midrash represents the unanimous opinion of all the Sages, or whether they are the words of a single Sage, for they are mentioned there in the Midrash with reference to Rabbi Yishmael.