시편 121:6의 인용 해설

The light: And it is not written like in every [other] section, "and God saw that it was good." Since there are two understandings of the phrase, "that it was good:" A) That the thing was good for the goal for which it was needed. Even though its main purpose is not for a good goal, nonetheless according to what is needed, the thing is good; B) It is really good. And behold, in all of the creation, there are several things that are not good, like types of pests, but the Holy One, blessed be He, saw that for the sake of the creation, it was necessary that it be this way. But light is definitively good. So much, that [it is said about] any good thing that it is light, as it is found (in Ta'anit 7 and Bereshit Rabbah 26), every [time the word,] light is mentioned with Eliyahu, the verse is speaking about rain. And that is because [rain] brings good to the world. (And Ramban in the beginning of Parshat Miketz gives a forced explanation of the matter.) And so, all success is referred to as a 'bright day' and the lack of success, darkness of night.' To the point where the poet made [it] a metaphor and said (Psalms 121:6), At day, the sun does not dim and the moon at night. And later (Genesis 28:15), we explained that the intention is about the time of success and its lack. And this is the expression of Scripture [that tells us] that the Omnipresent saw that light was intrinsically good.

שרב Heat. Comp. 35:7. Nor the sun smite them. Comp. The sun shall not smite thee by day (Ps. 121:6)

בגרב ובחרס, “with wet boils and itch, etc.” The word גרב refers to an itch which the afflicted person scratches with a shard of earthenware. This is the approach taken by most commentators (Ibn Ezra quoting unnamed sources). It is, however, possible to understand the word ובחרס as related to שמש pronounced shamash (Pessikta Zutrata), that this affliction is due to G’d wanting to frighten the victim who faces such an affliction. The affliction is known by three names, שמש, חמה, חרס. The reason it is known as שמש is because man is supposed to be a servant serving his master, which the Jew afflicted with this disease has not been. Seeing that the servant (Israel) is of an especially high-ranking nature, this reflects on his Master and His High Rank. The name חמה reflects the fact that the skin affected becomes especially hot; it is also called חרס, reflecting the fact that the sun is supposed to spread light on earth (Job 9,7). [Both man and the sun have a similar task, the former to provide spiritual enlightenment, the latter to provide physical light. Ed.]
Furthermore, if you examine the three words שמש, חרס, חמה, you will observe that the combined final letters of these three words spell שס'ה (365) an allusion to the number of days in the solar year. This is a reference to the orbit of the sun created on the fourth day of creation. It is the outermost orbit of the four respective orbits, i.e. daily rotation of earth on its axis, the cycle of the week, and the cycle of the month, i.e. lunar orbit. The veiled warning in all this is that if one does not obey the rules laid down by G’d the result will be a universe which will eventually self-destruct due to our not having observed the commandments of the Torah which are part of the laws of nature. [I have translated this somewhat freely. Ed.] The author cites various verses from Scripture such as Judges 14,18, in which the word חרס means “sun.” Seeing that in Psalms 121,6 David appears to view the sun as a negative force, i.e. “the sun will not strike (יככה) you by day nor the moon by night,” it appears that the thrust of David’s words is that disease and malfunctions in nature are all due to faulty eating habits (involuntary at times), or to exposure to an inclement climate. All of these things are caused in one way or an other by the motion of the sun.