민수기 17:23의 인용 해설

אחרי מות, “after the death;” when we read in Kohelet 9,2: כטוב כחוטא, “as is the good man so is the sinner,” this is a reference to the two sons of Aaron who died only on account of having arrogated to themselves the right to preempt their elders Moses and Aaron in issuing a religious ruling. This is the meaning of the Talmud, tractate Yuma, folio 53, where Rabbi Eliezer explained the word חוטא as referring to their having done so. What precisely was the “new” ruling that they revealed? They interpreted the line: ונתנו בני אהרן הכהן אש על המזבח, ”the sons of Aaron the priest placed fire (man made) on the altar;” (in addition to the fire that came down from the heaven). (Leviticus 1,7) Their sin was basically the same as that of Korach and his congregation, and that is why both were burned to death by heavenly fire. (Compare Tanchuma on our portion, section 1) Rabbi Acha son of Ze-ira adds (in the Tanchuma) that this is also the meaning of Job 37,1: אף לזאת יחרד לבי ויתר ממקומו, “also on account of this my heart quakes and leaps from its place;” he compares what happened to the staff of Aaron when it was placed inside the Sanctuary which sprouted almonds, whereas his sons when they entered the Sanctuary were burned to death. (Numbers 17,23) He also contrasts the fact that the Roman general Titus dared to enter the Holy of Holies, and he left it unharmed although surely he was less qualified to have entered such sacred grounds. He had entered in order to blaspheme, whereas the sons of Aaron had entered in order to offer incense to the Lord. (Tanchuma section 4 on our portion) [No wonder at the reaction of Job when he reflected on this phenomenon. Ed.] This phenomenon is also the subject of Psalms 78,63: בחורי אכלו אש ובתולותיו לא הוללו, “Fire consumed their young men and their maidens remained unwed.” The psalmist explains the reason that the sons of Aaron had to die as being that they had failed to get married. They had described themselves as so superior that no one was good enough to become their wives. They overestimated the value of having been born into such prominent families as their father and uncle. The result of their haughtiness was that they died without leaving behind any children. (Tanchuma section 6) In other words, no one remembered them.

“And Korah took” - This matter that was in the wilderness of Sinai, when the firstborns were replaced and the Levites were separated,
For the Israelites thought that Moshe our Leader did it according to his own thought, to give greatness to his brother, and also to the sons of Kehat for they are close to him, and all of the Levites that they are his family.
And the Levites conspired against him because they were given to Aaron and his sons.
Datan and Aviram conspired because the firstborn privilege was removed from Reuven their father and given to Yosef; perhaps they suspected that [Moshe did that] for the sake of Yehoshua his servant [who was from Yosef].
Also Korah was a first born, for thus was written.
>And those Heads of the Congregation (edah) were firstborns and they were bringing the olah offerings.
And the proof for this explanation is the miracle of the staff (Bamidbar 17:16-26) that all of Israel saw that Hashem chose the tribe of Levi in place of the firstborns, and therefore it is written (Bamidbar 17:25) “their mutterings ceased,” for the mutterings were about this.
Also Moshe said that “it is not from my own mind” (Bamidbar 26:28), because they suspected that it was from his own mind that he did it.
And further proof is “Hashem did not send me” - for this task - because all the Israelites already believed in him [in general]. Another total proof is “all the congregation are holy” and this is a hint to the firstborns that they are holy, because it is written (shemot 13:2) “sanctify to Me every first born” and they are the priests (Kohanim) that approach Hashem and they are the essence of the whole congregation.

and the young fruit of an inferior fig is the position of his glory And the position of the planting of his glory - the young fruit of his blossom shall be inferior figs (נֹבֵל) They are the spoiled figs, as we learned in Berachoth (40b): For noveloth. And our Sages explained: Burned by the heat. young fruit (צִיץ) synonymous with נֵץ, as the Targum renders: (Num. 27:13) וַיָּצֵץ צִיץ, “and it produced young fruit,” as וְאָנֵץ נֵץ.

and he overlaid it from within with pure gold The inside of the Heichal, which was the greater house, he overlaid with gold, but not the vestibule, and he proceeds and delineates further how he did it. And the greater House He overlaid the entire House with pure gold. he overlaid with juniper wood - Heb. עֲצֵי בְרוֹשִּׁים. [This translation follows Yehuda Feliks, Nature & Man in the Bible, pp.110f.] For the entire House, the Debir and the Heichal, he first overlaid with juniper wood, and afterwards, “he overlaid it with fine gold” over the walls of juniper, and because of the overlaying of gold, with which he wished to overlay the House, he overlaid it first with wood in order that the gold would adhere firmly, for he would reinforce the gold with nails, with the decorations of the wood, for he made decorations in the wood. palm trees - Heb. תִּמּרִים. They are trees like a sort of palm trees and cherubim, and in I Kings (6:32) it is written: “and he carved upon them carvings of cherubim and palm trees and open flowers (וּפְטוּרֵי צִצִּים),” like (Num. 17:23) “and it sprouted fruit (וַיָּצֵץ צִיץ)”. And פְטוּרֵי is like “A man frees (פּוֹטֵר) his wife (entwerfen in Middle High German). (From Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Meshullam of blessed memory.)