예레미야 6:4의 인용 해설

ותשא כל העדה ויתנו את קולם, “The entire assembly raised its voice,“ According to the plain meaning of these words the people commenced crying in the evening and kept crying all night long. We know that the spies had returned close to nightfall bringing with them a special kind of darkness, similar to the one we experience on the night of the ninth of Av when we mourn the destruction of the Temple. The prophet Jeremiah (Lamentations 1,2) refers to the repeated crying of the Jewish people on that night. Midrash Eicha Rabbati (1,28) points out that the dates when the people cried mentioned by Jeremiah coincided with the date they cried on this occasion.
How is the date of this occurrence arrived at? According to Taanit 29 Moses constructed the Tabernacle during the first year of the Exodus and put it together during the second year when he also sent out the spies. The cloud lifted off the Tabernacle on the twentieth of the second month in that year. The month of Iyar is always only 29 days long. The Torah testifies (10,11) that the people commenced their journey away from Mount Sinai on the twentieth of that month and that they traveled for three days in the first instance. The first of these three days does not count in the calendar as it was identical with the day on which the cloud had lifted. According to Rabbi Chama in the name of Rabbi Chanina this (the third) was the day on which the people already departed from their obedience to G’d, as the Torah mentions in Numbers 11,4 that the rabble among them lusted after various cravings, which in turn caused even the elite (בני ישראל) to commence crying from discontent. This occurred on the 22nd day of Iyar. The meat provided by G’d as a result of this rebellion lasted for 30 days (11,20) which brings us to the 22nd day of Sivan. The Torah then mentions that further travel was delayed while Miriam was isolated for seven days (12,15) which brings us to the 29th day of Sivan. This is the day when Moses dispatched the spies who returned after 40 days, i.e. the 9th day of the month of Av. The month of Sivan had thirty days whereas the month of Tammuz had 29 days. This would mean that the spies actually stayed away only thirty nine days if they returned on the ninth of Av. The Talmud raises this point. The answer given is that during that particular year the month of Tammuz had thirty days so that the ninth of Av occurred on the fortieth day of the spies’ departure. The scriptural reference to this unusual length of the month of Tammuz is provided by Lamentations 1,15: “He proclaimed a set time against me to crush my young men.” This “time” was the thirtieth day of Tammuz which caused the spies’ return to occur on the fateful ninth of Av.
When the Torah wrote in our verse that the entire congregation raised their collective voice in weeping, the reference is to the calendar date, the ninth day of Av. Rabbi Yochanan quotes G’d as saying that seeing that on the occasion of the spies’ report the people spent the night weeping without cause, He would give them cause to weep on a future occasion on that same date, i.e. the night of the destruction of the Temple. Starting from that night, the people would have many occasions to weep; this accounts for the repetition of the words בכה תבכה,“you will weep repeatedly, in Lamentations 1,2.
Our sages in that connection also understand the repetition of these two words as referring to the weeping for the destruction of the first Temple as well as the weeping for the destruction of the second Temple. Midrash Eicha Rabbati 1,24 also comments that the repetition refers to weeping for the destruction of the Northern Kingdom (10 tribes which preceded the destruction of the Kingdom of Yehudah) and that for the destruction of the latter kingdom. Similarly, the words refer to separate weeping for Jerusalem and Zion respectively, i.e. the loss of our physical and our spiritual capital respectively. We have evidence that the destruction of the first Temple occurred at night as this is mentioned explicitly in Jeremiah 39,4: “When King Tzidkiyahu of Yehudah saw them, he and all the soldiers fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the double walls.” Jeremiah had already prophesied (Jeremiah 6,5) “up, let us attack by night, and wreck her fortress!” The destruction of the second Temple also occurred at night as the Talmud Taanit 29 interprets Jeremiah 6,4: “alas for us! For the day is declining, the shadows of the evening grow long,” as a reference to the destruction of the second Temple. When the wicked Titus destroyed Jerusalem and set it ablaze the Jews fled to the camp of Titus’ army and were exiled from their city. There were a number of Arabs in that army and they kidnapped 400 Jewish children and carried them to the sea at night and shipped them to their homeland as prisoners. (Gittin 57). The children debated among themselves if to commit suicide by jumping ship. They were afraid to lose their share in the world to come if they would commit suicide. To this argument other boys replied that there is a verse (Psalms 68,23):”The Lord said: ‘I will retrieve from Bashan, I will retrieve from the depth of the sea.’” [They meant that their share in the world to come would not be forfeited. Ed.] When the girls heard this they immediately jumped overboard drowning themselves. When the boys observed this they said to themselves that if even the girls who are no strangers to being sexually abused prefer death to being violated, they, the boys, who are not usually exposed to sodomy [an Arab specialty, Ed.] must certainly prefer death to such indignities being perpetrated upon them.
All these tragic events occurred at night as a punishment for the weeping of the children of Israel on the night after the return of the spies. Even the eventual destruction of the Temples and the dispersion of the Jewish people was decreed on the night mentioned in our verse. This is the meaning of Psalms 106,25-27: “they grumbled in their tents and disobeyed the Lord. So He raised His hand in oath to make them fall in the wilderness. To disperse their offspring among the nations and scatter them through the lands.” The prophet Ezekiel also refers to this when he says in Ezekiel 20,23: “However, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the lands.” So you have clear proof from all three parts of the Bible that this night was predetermined to become a night of weeping for the Jewish people throughout the generations.

bis dieses eintritt. Die Wendung עד לפני הפסח resp. עד פני הפסח könnte in dreifachem Sinne gedeutet werden: 1) bis (Angesichts des) Pessach, d. h. nur bis zu dem Eintritt des Pessach; 2) bis zu dem Momente, da Pessach sich wendet, d. h. bis kurz vor Ausgang des Pessach, vgl. כי פנה יום, Jerem. 6, 4, arab. فنى, dahinschwinden, aram. עד דמיפני פסחא, bis das Pessachfest sich wendet, bis es vorüber ist, Kid. 65a; 3) Angesichts des Pessach, während Pessach, wobei das עד = inclusive ist. R. Meir nun ist der Ansicht, dass der Gelobende die Zeit gemeint hat, die unter לפני הפסח jedenfalls verstanden wird, d. i. bis zum Eintritt des Pessach, denn beim Geloben wird man nicht einen Ausdruck wählen, der über die Dauer des Gelübdes noch Zweifel zulässt,

BEIN HA’ARBAYIM’ (AT EVENTIDE). “The period beginning at the sixth hour and onward, [counted from the beginning of the day, which in Torah-law is always divided into twelve hours], is called bein ha’arbayim (at eventide), because the sun inclines in the direction of its setting there to become darkened. It appears to me that the expression bein ha’arbayim denotes those hours which are between the beginning of the darkening of the day and the final darkening at night. The darkening of the day is at the beginning of the seventh hour of the day, from the time the shadows of the evening are stretched out,¹²⁰Jeremiah 6:4. and the darkening of the night is at the beginning of the night. The word erev (night) is an expression of gloom and darkness, just as in the verse, All joy is ‘arbah’ (darkened).”¹²¹Isaiah 24:11. Thus the language of Rashi.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra refuted [this explanation of Rashi] by pointing to the verse which says, And when Aaron lighteth the lamps ‘bein ha’arbayim’¹²²Further, 30:8. [‘There is no doubt that he lights the lamps at sundown”], as it is written there, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order from evening to morning.¹²³Ibid., 27:21. [Thus it proves that bein ha’arbayim does not begin with the seventh hour of the day as Rashi would have it, but at sundown near night.] Besides, the verse regarding the paschal offering itself states: There thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering at even, at the going down of the sun, at the time thou camest forth out of Egypt,¹²⁴Deuteronomy 16:6. and “the going down of the sun” occurs at sunset. [How then could Rashi explain bein ha’arbayim mentioned here as commencing at the seventh hour of the day?]
But this is no refutation of the Rabbi’s [Rashi’s] explanation. Our Rabbis have already said¹²⁵Berachoth 9a. that the meaning of the verse is as follows: “At even, you slaughter [the Passover-offering]; at the going down of the sun, you eat it; at the time thou camest forth out of Egypt, [i.e., in the morning of the fifteenth day of Nisan, it becomes nothar]¹²⁶Literally, “left over.” Portions of sacrifices left over after the prescribed time within which they are to be eaten must be burnt. See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 103-4. Now since the Passover-offering is to be eaten only on the night of the fifteenth day, whatever is left by the morning of that day is to be burnt. The actual burning, however, takes place on the morning of the sixteenth day, since it is not permissible to burn nothar on a Festival day. and you burn it.” The Rabbi [Rashi] has already so commented [in his commentary to Deuteronomy 16:6].
The correct interpretation on this matter appears to me to be that the night is called erev, as it is said, ‘ba’erev’ ye shall eat unleavened bread,¹²⁷Further, Verse 18. and this is at night, as it clearly states, And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread.¹²⁸Ibid., Verse 8. Similarly, And there was ‘erev’ and there was morning,¹²⁹Genesis 1:5. means the beginning of night when the stars do come forth. The same applies to the verse, In the twilight, ‘ba’erev’ of the day, in the blackness of night and the darkness,¹³⁰Proverbs 7:9. [where the word ba’erev, coming after “the twilight,” must signify the night]. Now the end of the day is also called erev, as the verses indicate: And the two angels came to Sodom ‘ba’erev,’ and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom;¹³¹Genesis 19:1. In view of the fact that Lot surely did not sit in the gate at night, ba’erev must mean at the end of the day. And it came to pass ‘ba’erev’ that the quails came up,¹³²Further, 16:13. and the quails did not come at night.¹³³Ibid., Verse 12: At eventide ye shall eat flesh. This clearly indicates that the quails came before the night. The word ba’erev in the verse, And it came to pass ‘ba’erev’ that the quails came up, must therefore mean at the end of the day. There are many other such cases.
It is further written: ‘Erev,’ and morning, and at noonday, I will sigh and moan.¹³⁴Psalms 55:18. Now these three periods include the whole day [of twenty-four hours. Therefore, if we interpret erev as meaning actual night, the hours from noonday to night will be missing here. We must] thus conclude that [the period] immediately after noonday is called erev, [which lasts from the latter part of the day till morning. Thus the verse encompasses the whole day of twenty-four hours].
Morning is so called from sunrise and thence onward as long as the sun remains in the east. This period lasts four hours, just as the Rabbis testified¹³⁵In Tractate Eduyoth 6:1. This testimony is attributed to Rabbi Yehudah ben Baba. that the morning Daily Whole-offering [for the entire congregation of Israel] may be offered in the [first] four hours of the day [but not later].
After morning, the time is called tzohorayim (noonday), just as it is said, from morning until ‘tzohorayim’ (noon).¹³⁶I Kings 18:26. It consists of two hours: the fifth and the sixth hours of the day. The word tzohorayim is of the root ‘tzohar’ (A light) shalt thou make to the ark,¹³⁷Genesis 6:16. and implies brightness. It is written in the plural [tzohorayim] because it is the two [brightest parts of the day] which, so to speak, make two tzohorayim. It may be that it is written in the plural because light is then disseminated on all sides. In the morning the light is centered in the east, and towards evening it is in the west, but in the middle of the day when it is high in the sky, it gives light on all sides.
When tzohorayim (noonday) passes and the sun departs from shining upon two sides, the time of the day is called arbayim — [from the root erev (darkness)] - because the sun has darkened from [its state of shining on] those two sides. This period [of arbayim] lasts as long as the sun shines in the sky [and is permissible for the slaughtering of the Passover-offering]. But beginning with sundown, which is about an hour and a quarter [before the day terminates with the coming out of the stars], it is no longer the time for the slaughtering thereof according to the opinion of our Rabbis,¹³⁸Mechilta Pischa, 5: “At eventide. I might understand this to mean at the evening twilight. Scripture therefore says, etc.” for that period of time is no longer arbayim but rather erev yom (the evening of the day).¹³⁹In the twilight, ‘b’erev yom’ (in the evening of the day) (Proverbs 7:9).
The reason it is called bein ha’arbayim [in the Torah, and not just arbayim], is not that the word bein signifies here “between,” [as Rashi above explained that the expression bein ha’arbayim denotes that time-period which is “between” the beginning of those hours, etc.], but it is something like “in their midst,” similar to these verses: Let there now be an oath ‘beinotheinu beineinu ubeinecha';¹⁴⁰Genesis 26:28. It is generally translated: between us, even between us and thee. But according to Ramban, the meaning thereof would be: “let there be an oath in our midst, even in us and in thee.” A piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that ‘beini ubeincha’?;¹⁴¹Ibid., 23:15. It is generally translated: between me and thee. Ramban understands it: “in the midst of me and you, the value of the land is not worth discussing.” And her stature was exalted ‘al bein’ (among) the thick branches;¹⁴²Ezekiel 19:11. Ramban would explain it: “her stature was exalted in the midst of the thick foliage.” Take fire ‘mibeinoth’ the wheelwork,¹⁴³Ibid., 10:6. It is generally translated: “from ‘between’ the wheelwork.” which means from “within their midst”; Take up their fire-pans ‘mibein’ the burning,¹⁴⁴Numbers 17:2. which means “from the midst thereof,” similar to the expression, She rises also ‘be’od’ night,¹⁴⁵Proverbs 31:15. It is generally translated: “she rises also ‘while it is yet’ night.” which means in the midst of the night. And so is the expression bein ha’arbayim, [which signifies “in the midst of that part of the day called arbayim,” as explained above]. It does not state ba’arbayim, for that might have indicated the erev of many days. Thus Scripture is saying that we should slaughter the Passover-offering in the midst of the arbayim, since the time prescribed by the Torah for the slaughtering of the Passover-offering is from after the sixth hour of the day till the commencement of sunset. And Scripture also says, In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month ‘bein ha’arbayim’ (at eventide) is the Passover of the Eternal,¹⁴⁶Leviticus 23:5. which refers to the time of the slaughtering [of the Passover-offering]. Similarly, the verse, In the fourteenth day of this month ‘bein ha’arbayim’ ye shall observe it,¹⁴⁷Numbers 9:3. refers to the beginning of the observance, which is the slaughtering, [while the eating of the Passover-offering takes place on the following night]. The verse stating [in connection with the quails], ‘bein ha’arbayim’ ye shall eat flesh,¹⁴⁸Further, 16:12. also refers to the hours mentioned, [i.e., from after the sixth hour of the day till the start of sunset], since they had extensive time for the eating of meat. The following verse there which states, And it came to pass ‘ba’erev’ (at even), that the quails came up,¹⁴⁹Ibid., Verse 13. is [so stated] because on the first day, the quails came up for one hour within that period called erev.¹⁵⁰In other words, Scripture is stating that during the part of the day called erev which, as explained above, extends from immediately after tzohorayim until the end of the day — making a period of six hours — the quails came up for a time. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 327, for further discussion of this text. [Therefore it does not say, “and it came to pass bein ha’arbayim that the quails came up,” for that would have signified that the quails came up during the whole stretch of time from after the sixth hour of the day till sundown.]
It is possible to explain the expression bein ha’arbayim in accordance with the explanation of Rashi,¹⁵¹The plural form of arbayim suggests two kinds of erev, and the word bein signifies “between.” Thus bein ha’arbayim denotes those hours which are between the darkening of the day and the darkening of the night. Thus is the explanation of Rashi. Ramban proceeds to confirm Rashi’s explanation that the word bein means “between,” but adds that the plural form of arbayim denotes two different periods of the day, unlike Rashi who wrote that it is between the darkening of the day and the darkening of the night, as will be explained. i.e., that there are two kinds of erev, an erev of the morning and an erev of the day, for Scripture so calls them: the ‘minchah’ of the morning,¹⁵²Further, 29:41. Ramban will explain the word minchah. and the ‘minchah’ of the evening,¹⁵³II Kings 16:15. as it is said, And it came to pass in the morning, about the time of making the ‘minchah’,¹⁵⁴Ibid., 3:20. and it further says, And I sat appalled until the ‘minchah’ of the evening. And at the evening ‘minchah’ I arose up from my fasting.¹⁵⁵Ezra 9:4-5. Now the word minchah is an expression denoting the resting of the sun and the diminution of its great light, just as the Targum rendered [l’ruach hayom] l’manach yoma (where the day comes to rest).¹⁵⁶In Genesis 3:8, we read: And they [Adam and Eve] heard the voice of the Eternal G-d walking in the garden of Eden ‘l’ruach hayom,’ which Rashi interpreted: “in that direction towards which the sun travels, which is the west.” Onkelos rendered it: l’manach yoma, “in the afternoon,” or literally, “when the day comes to rest.” Thus it is seen that the word minchah denotes rest. And the plural form of arbayim connotes the two afternoons: “the greater afternoon,” [i.e., the time from six and a half hours after the beginning of the day], and “the smaller afternoon,” [i.e., from nine and a half hours after the start of the day until sunset], which the Sages have mentioned.¹⁵⁷Berachoth 26b. Now during this entire period [of bein ha’arbayim], it is permissible to kindle the lamps of the candelabrum [in the Sanctuary]¹⁵⁸Unlike the opinion of Ibn Ezra mentioned above, i.e., that the kindling of the lamps of the candelabrum in the Sanctuary was done at sundown. and to burn the incense, both of which are not permissible to be done at night but only at the time of the Daily Whole-offering of the eventide, and in fact their performance precedes the actual offering of the sacrifice upon the altar.
Onkelos’ opinion seems to incline towards this explanation [that the plural form of arbayim denotes two different parts of the day], for he translated bein ha’arbayim as bein shimshaya (between the suns), meaning the times when the sun is in the east and the sun is in the west. The verse stating, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order from evening to morning,¹⁵⁹Further, 27:21. From this verse, Ibn Ezra had proven at the beginning of this discussion — see at Note 123 — that the lamps of the candelabrum are kindled at sundown. Ramban proceeds to explain that the purport of the verse is that the priests are to put into the lamps their due measure of oil so that they will burn from evening to morning, but not that it mattered that they were kindled only at sundown. As explained above, that could be done anytime during “the greater afternoon” and “the smaller afternoon.” Thus Ibn Ezra’s strictures on Rashi are removed. means [that it be given its due measure of oil] so that it may burn a whole night [although the actual kindling thereof could be done anytime in the bein ha’arbayim. It does not mean, as Ibn Ezra explained, that this verse teaches that the kindling of the candelabrum took place at sundown].
Thus we can explain the verse, There thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering ‘ba’erev’ (at even),¹⁶⁰Deuteronomy 16:6. See above at Note 124 how Ibn Ezra brought this verse in proof against Rashi’s explanation. Ramban already refuted it above on the basis of the teaching of the Rabbis. Here he refutes Ibn Ezra on the basis of the plain meaning of what he has shown, i.e., that erev also means the afternoon, etc. Ramban’s own explanation of this verse is yet to follow. to mean at the above-mentioned time, [i.e., the afternoon], for that is called erev [as explained]. The following expression there, at the going down of the sun, is connected with the following verse, And thou shalt roast and eat it.¹⁶¹Ibid., Verse 7. There are many such cases in Scripture [where an expression in one verse is connected with the following verse].¹⁶²See Vol. I, pp. 437-8.
In my opinion however, the verse, There thou shalt sacrifice the Passover-offering, does not at all refer to the time of the slaughtering thereof, [which took place on the afternoon of the fourteenth day of Nisan]. Rather, the purport thereof is to state that at the place which the Eternal thy G-d chose to establish His name in, there thou shalt observe [the commandment concerning] the Passover-offering at night, at the going down of the sun, which is the time thou camest forth out of Egypt. It is concerning this performance that Scripture says [in the following verse], And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place¹⁶¹Ibid., Verse 7. mentioned. The sacrifice itself is called zevach,¹⁶³Ramban’s intent is to clarify that the word tizbach — There thou shalt ‘tizbach’ the Passover-offering — does not mean “slaughter,” in which case it would necessarily be referring to the afternoon of the fourteenth day of Nisan. Instead, Ramban proceeds to show that the word zevach refers to the sacrifice itself, and the verse therefore refers to the eating thereof which takes place on the following night of the fifteenth day. All this, however, is from the standpoint of the plain meaning of Scripture. Ramban has already noted that the Rabbis in the Talmud (see Note 125), as well as Rashi in his commentary to Deuteronomy 16:6, have explained tizbach as “slaughter.” as Scripture says, Thou shalt not offer the blood of ‘zivchi’ (My sacrifice) upon leaven,¹⁶⁴Further, 34:25. which means “My Passover-offering.”
This then is the purport of the whole chapter [in Deuteronomy]: Observe the month of Aviv, and observe the Passover unto the Eternal thy G-d; for in the month of Aviv the Eternal thy G-d brought thee forth out of Egypt by night, etc. Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it.¹⁶⁵Deuteronomy 16:1-3. Thus He mentioned the observance of the Passover-offering and the night, [clearly indicating that in those verses, He refers only to the time of the eating of the Passover-offering, which occurs on the night of the fifteenth day, and not to the slaughtering thereof which takes place in the afternoon of the fourteenth day]. Commanding how they are to eat it, He then mentioned that [we must eat no leavened bread] for seven days.¹⁶⁶Ibid., Verse 3. But in this entire chapter, there is not a single reference to the fourteenth day of Nisan on which the slaughtering of the Passover-offering takes place. Similarly He said there, Neither shall any of the flesh which thou sacrificest the first day at even, remain all night until the morning,¹⁶⁷Ibid., Verse 4. Now the expression, the first day at even, [definitely] means the fifteenth day of Nisan, the first of the seven days mentioned,¹⁶⁶Ibid., Verse 3. since the fourteenth day is not mentioned here at all. So also, the verse stating, On the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread,¹⁶⁸Further, Verse 18. means the night of the fifteenth day. Thus the intent of the expression, which thou sacrificest the first day at even,¹⁶⁷Ibid., Verse 4. is that neither shall any of the flesh of the offering which you are eating on the night of the first day [of the seven-day festival] remain until the morning.

בין הערבים AT EVENTIDE — The period beginning at six hours (reckoning from six o’clock in the morning) and hence forward is called בין הערבים (Mekhilta), because the sun then inclines in the direction of the place of its setting to become darkened. The expression בין הערבים appears to me to denote those hours which are between the darkening of the day and the darkening of the night. The darkening of the day is at the beginning of the seventh hour in the day, from when the shadows of evening decline; and the darkening of the night is at the commencement of the night (this period is therefore from noon until the beginning of night). The word ערב is an expression for gloom and darkness, as in (Isaiah 24:11). “All joy is darkened".

until the time changes until the time changes, i.e., before the shadows of evening slant, when the time of morning changes.

Now it came to pass when the gates of Jerusalem cast shadows When the shadows of the Sabbath eve fell on the gates, I ordered the doors of the city to be closed and not re-opened until after the Sabbath so that the traffickers would not enter the city to sell their merchandise and cause Israel to profane the Sabbath.