출애굽기 19:9의 인용 해설

On the 4th of Sivan. . . [Rashi knows this] because afterwards it is written (v. 3), “Moshe came and told the people. . .” and Rashi explains that Moshe told it to them on that same day. [And that verse goes on to say that Moshe told them] “all the words of Adonoy.” And Rashi explains that this is the command to separate from their wives. And Rashi explained earlier, in Parshas Yisro (19:9—10), that the mitzvah of separation was on the 4th of Sivan.

You should know that in the view of Maimonides (Moreh Nevuchim section 2 chapter 33) at the revelation at Mount Sinai the sound the Children of Israel heard (G’d’s voice) had been created for the purpose. This was a one-time manifestation of that sound and while they heard it, they were not able to separate different letters from one another. It was heard a single time and comprised only the first two of the Ten Commandments. Concerning this phenomenon the Torah wrote (Deut. 5,19) “a powerful sound without break.” The Torah also wrote concerning this sound (Deut. 5,20) “when you heard the sound.” Furthermore, in Deut. 4,12 Moses said קול דברים אתם שמעים, “you hear the sound of words.” Significantly, Moses did not say that the people actually heard words,” i.e. were able to hear distinct letters. This is also what is meant in Exodus 19,9: “in order that the people hear when I speak with you (Moses).” The meaning is that the people will hear the sound but will not be able to make out the individual words.
Our sages (Makkot 24) say that the Israelites heard the first two commandments from G’d’s own mouth. The wording there is: מפי הגבורה שמענום. This reflects the difference between what Moses heard and what the people heard. The people only heard קול דברים, “the sound of words,” whereas Moses heard the words themselves. This is why Moses interpreted the words he had heard to the people by separating between letter and letter and word and word. This is what Moses referred to when he said (Deut. 5,5) “I was standing between you and G’d at that time in order to tell you the word of the Lord.” Moses referred to the first two commandments which the people, though having heard them, had not been able to understand.
This explains the way Onkelos renders both the words וידבר אלוה-הים את כל הדברים האלה לאמור, and וידבר אלו-הים אל משה לאמור, as ומליל ה’ as if both verses meant the same. He is correct because the word לאמור in each verse means that Moses was to communicate G’d’s words to the people. In 20,15 when Onkelos translates the people saying to Moses ואל ידבר עמנו אלו-הים פן נמות, “let not G’d speak to us so that we shall not die,” he translates this as ולא יתמלל עמנא מן קדם ה’, instead of ולא ימלל עמנא. The distinction Onkelos makes between the way the people heard G’d’s voice and the way Moses perceived it is clearly reflected in his rendering what the people had heard as מן קדם ה’. The people had been aware that what they heard was something other than words.
After the people had heard the first two commandments by hearing G’d’s voice their souls departed as we know from Song of Songs 5,6 (compare our comments page 1049 this volume on Exodus 19,17) נפשי יצאה בדברו, “my soul departed at His decree.” They were afraid that they would continue to hear G’d’s voice and were afraid they would die as a result. This is when they said to Moses (Deut. 5,22) “let us not die,”....(and in verse 24) ”approach you and hear what G’d says,....and tell us what G’d said.” Moses heard every one of the Ten Commandments one at a time and related them to the people. To sum up: the Israelites did hear the first two commandments at the same time and from the same source as did Moses, but they could not make sense out of them. The other eight commandments they heard from Moses just as they heard all other commandments in the Torah from Moses. This is what is meant at the beginning of Shir Hashirim Rabbah (5,6), that the words in Deut. 33,4 תורה צוה לנו משה “Moses commanded us the Torah” (not G’d), means that Moses relayed to the people 611 of the 613 commandments. The numerical value of the letters in the word תורה add up to 611. The other two commandments G’d personally commanded the people. Seeing that the first two commandments were heard by the people as a continuous utterance (no break between letters to form words or sentences), this was what David had said in Psalms 62,12: “G’d said a single word but I heard two.” This is the opinion of Maimonides of what transpired at the giving of the Torah.

HIGAD’TI’ (I PROFESS) THIS DAY. “Through this fruit which I have brought I profess and give thanks to the Eternal your G-d Who brought me into the Land which He swore unto our fathers to give us. Thus G-d fulfilled His words, and I give thanks and praise to His Name.” The meaning of the word higad’ti is like “I have told.” So also ‘vayageid Mosheh’ (and Moses told) the words of the people unto the Eternal,¹⁸Exodus 19:9. — The difficulty in the verse here is the word higad’ti which is in the past, when he has not made yet his declaration. Therefore Ramban writes that the very act of bringing the first-fruits into the Sanctuary Court constitutes a form of professing the omnipotence of G-d and an expression of thanksgiving to Him. In this sense the form of the word higad’ti is properly in the past, since the act of bringing the first-fruits has formed the way of communicating these thoughts. Such a usage is seen in the verse vayegeid Mosheh, which means that Moses “communicated” the words of the people to the Eternal. which means communicating. Or the interpretation thereof may be as follows: “I declare to you, O priest, and to all who stand by, and this declaration is unto the Eternal thy G-d, that is to say, to His Name, that I am come into the Land which He swore unto our fathers, for it is He Who brought me [near] to Him to serve Him in the Land.”