וַיֹּאמְר֨וּ אֵלָ֥יו בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֘ל בַּֽמְסִלָּ֣ה נַעֲלֶה֒ וְאִם־מֵימֶ֤יךָ נִשְׁתֶּה֙ אֲנִ֣י וּמִקְנַ֔י וְנָתַתִּ֖י מִכְרָ֑ם רַ֥ק אֵין־דָּבָ֖ר בְּרַגְלַ֥י אֶֽעֱבֹֽרָה׃
이스라엘 자손이 이르되 우리가 대로로 통과하겠고 우리나 우리 짐승이 당신의 물을 마시면 그 값을 줄 것이라 우리가 도보로 통과할뿐인즉 아무 일도 없으리이다 하나
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויתעצב אל לבו, “and His heart felt sadness.” In terms of the plain meaning of the words the term “heart” when applied to G-d is, of course, only a figure of speech. The same is true whenever the Torah speaks of other organs and appears to attribute them to G-d Who is totally abstract, devoid of any such organs. The reason that the Torah nonetheless employs such terms is to convey to us that our actions may or may not please G-d, may even elicit reactions that if they had been observed in humans would be described as “joy, anger, frustration, happiness and the like.” Such reactions when expressed by human beings usually involve human organs also. When the psalmist (Psalms 104,31) speaks about ישמח ה' במעשיו, “G-d rejoices in His works,” on the one hand, and in this instance we read ויתעצב ה' אל לבו, ”G-d was saddened in His heart,” both descriptions are of necessity anthropomorphisms, i.e. approximations of G-d’s reactions in terms which we humans can understand. They do not reflect the objective reactions of Someone Whose Essence we have not been privileged to understand
It follows that when the Torah wishes to give us an inkling of G-d’s reaction to man’s behavior it uses the word “heart” in order to help us understand. Seeing that the human heart is a major vessel in his thinking process, the Torah chose to attribute G-d’s feelings in reaction to human aberrations as reactions by “His heart.”
You find that if a person wants to concentrate he isolates himself and bends his head so as to exclude distracting intrusions into his thinking. The reason for this is that the brain, i.e. the head is where his ability to form thoughts originates. This thought process is then relayed to the heart. Granted, that this metaphor sounds somewhat far-fetched, the fact remains that ideas, thoughts travel in a downward direction from the brain to the heart.. When the Bible speaks about a messenger from G-d, such a messenger is usually described as פי ה', the “mouth” or “mouthpiece” of G-d (compare Isaiah 34,16) כי פי הוא צוה, “for My mouth (He) has commanded.” The prophet describes himself as G-d’s messenger (agent, or angel) who acts as G-d’s mouthpiece. The spirit of G-d is described as פי the spirit of the angel known as פי,“my,” resp “His mouth.” Yonathan ben Uziel therefore translates our verse here not as “G-d was saddened to His heart,” but as “His angel was saddened to his heart.” [Our editions of Yonathan ben Uziel do not have this wording; Ed.] According to our author the אורים ותומים, the parchment with the Holy name of G-d inside the breastplate of the High Priest which served as a source of communication from G-d to him, was also known as פי ה’, “the mouth of G-d, i.e. as an angel named “mouth of G-d.” Another example of such a reference to פי ה' is found in Joshua 9,14 where the acceptance of the Gibeonites as allies of the Jewish people is described. The failure of consulting G-d on that issue is described there as ואת פי ה' לא שאלו, “they did not consult ‘the mouth of G-d.” When we read in Numbers 11,1 ויהי העם כמתאוננים, רע באזני ה', “the people were as if looking for something to complain about, it was evil in the ears of G-d;” here to the word “in the ears” may be understood as the “ear” in question being one of G-d’s angels. Whenever the function of G-d’s angel is passive, i.e. he is to be an instrument of receiving G-d’s instructions, such a function of the angel is described as his being the “ears” of G-d. When he is supposed to be active in a supervisory manner, he is called “the eyes of G-d.” A very interesting example of this approach is found in Zechariah 3,9 where the prophet describes G-d’s supervision of the Jewish people in revolutionary terms, saying על אבן אחת שבעה עינים, “a single stone enjoying a variety of no less than seven supervisory “eyes,” i.e. agents of G-d.” When David speaks of אזנים כרית לי , “You assigned an ear [in order to listen to You ] “to me” [rather than the commandment to offer sacrifices, Ed.], he refers to his ear as the organ, or in this case G-d’s instrument, which helps to make him tune in to G-d’s “wavelength.” Whenever the term “ear or ears” is used for celestial beings the meaning is that these ”ears” are listening to Israel’s prayers. When G-d dispatches an angel to fight against Israel’s adversaries such an angel is usually described as יד ה' “the hand of G-d,” i.e. His executive arm. One of the examples of such a meaning of the term יד ה' is found in Samuel I 5,11 כבדה מאד יד האלוקים שם, “for the hand of the Lord had been very heavy there.” There are, of course, numerous similar quotations in Exodus when the Torah describes the plagues G-d inflicted upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. When G-d’s agents are about to reveal a previously unknown manifestation of the Lord, the angel performing this task is often described as “the feet of G-d.” We find an example of this in Zechariah 14,4 ועמדו רגליו ביום ההוא על הר זיתים, “and on that day His feet will stand on Mount Olives, etc.” The prophet refers to G-d’s “soldiers.” There are numerous other examples of that nature.
It follows that when the Torah wishes to give us an inkling of G-d’s reaction to man’s behavior it uses the word “heart” in order to help us understand. Seeing that the human heart is a major vessel in his thinking process, the Torah chose to attribute G-d’s feelings in reaction to human aberrations as reactions by “His heart.”
You find that if a person wants to concentrate he isolates himself and bends his head so as to exclude distracting intrusions into his thinking. The reason for this is that the brain, i.e. the head is where his ability to form thoughts originates. This thought process is then relayed to the heart. Granted, that this metaphor sounds somewhat far-fetched, the fact remains that ideas, thoughts travel in a downward direction from the brain to the heart.. When the Bible speaks about a messenger from G-d, such a messenger is usually described as פי ה', the “mouth” or “mouthpiece” of G-d (compare Isaiah 34,16) כי פי הוא צוה, “for My mouth (He) has commanded.” The prophet describes himself as G-d’s messenger (agent, or angel) who acts as G-d’s mouthpiece. The spirit of G-d is described as פי the spirit of the angel known as פי,“my,” resp “His mouth.” Yonathan ben Uziel therefore translates our verse here not as “G-d was saddened to His heart,” but as “His angel was saddened to his heart.” [Our editions of Yonathan ben Uziel do not have this wording; Ed.] According to our author the אורים ותומים, the parchment with the Holy name of G-d inside the breastplate of the High Priest which served as a source of communication from G-d to him, was also known as פי ה’, “the mouth of G-d, i.e. as an angel named “mouth of G-d.” Another example of such a reference to פי ה' is found in Joshua 9,14 where the acceptance of the Gibeonites as allies of the Jewish people is described. The failure of consulting G-d on that issue is described there as ואת פי ה' לא שאלו, “they did not consult ‘the mouth of G-d.” When we read in Numbers 11,1 ויהי העם כמתאוננים, רע באזני ה', “the people were as if looking for something to complain about, it was evil in the ears of G-d;” here to the word “in the ears” may be understood as the “ear” in question being one of G-d’s angels. Whenever the function of G-d’s angel is passive, i.e. he is to be an instrument of receiving G-d’s instructions, such a function of the angel is described as his being the “ears” of G-d. When he is supposed to be active in a supervisory manner, he is called “the eyes of G-d.” A very interesting example of this approach is found in Zechariah 3,9 where the prophet describes G-d’s supervision of the Jewish people in revolutionary terms, saying על אבן אחת שבעה עינים, “a single stone enjoying a variety of no less than seven supervisory “eyes,” i.e. agents of G-d.” When David speaks of אזנים כרית לי , “You assigned an ear [in order to listen to You ] “to me” [rather than the commandment to offer sacrifices, Ed.], he refers to his ear as the organ, or in this case G-d’s instrument, which helps to make him tune in to G-d’s “wavelength.” Whenever the term “ear or ears” is used for celestial beings the meaning is that these ”ears” are listening to Israel’s prayers. When G-d dispatches an angel to fight against Israel’s adversaries such an angel is usually described as יד ה' “the hand of G-d,” i.e. His executive arm. One of the examples of such a meaning of the term יד ה' is found in Samuel I 5,11 כבדה מאד יד האלוקים שם, “for the hand of the Lord had been very heavy there.” There are, of course, numerous similar quotations in Exodus when the Torah describes the plagues G-d inflicted upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. When G-d’s agents are about to reveal a previously unknown manifestation of the Lord, the angel performing this task is often described as “the feet of G-d.” We find an example of this in Zechariah 14,4 ועמדו רגליו ביום ההוא על הר זיתים, “and on that day His feet will stand on Mount Olives, etc.” The prophet refers to G-d’s “soldiers.” There are numerous other examples of that nature.