Komentarz do Wyjścia 19:9

בעב הענן signifies in the thickness of the cloud, and this is the ערפל, the thick darkness mentioned in Exodus 20:18 “And Moses stepped near unto the thick darkness where God was” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:9:1).

IN A THICK CLOUD. This is the thick darkness where G-d was,¹⁸⁷Further, 20:18. and all the people saw it and recognized it as such, as it is said, And the appearance of the Glory of the Eternal was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.¹⁸⁸Ibid., 24:17.

בעב הענן, even though all of Moses’ prophetic stature underwent a drastic change on the occasion of the revelation at Mount Sinai, and he now received “clear” messages, something described in Numbers 12,8 as ותמונת ה' יביט, “he sees the message from G’d as a clear picture” (not merely as a reflection by a mirror) he was not to behold the Shechinah, but it was shrouded in thick cloud. The present communication with G’d which Moses used was not of the אספקלריא מאירה, “clear view” type.

הנה אנכי בא אליך "Here I am about to come to you, etc." Seeing that G'd was in the habit of speaking to Moses on a "mouth to mouth" basis, He may have announced to him that in this instance He would depart from that method. In this instance G'd would speak out of the thick cloud; this meant that His speech would not be as totally spiritual in nature as usual. G'd told Moses that the reason for this was not that Moses was not worthy of the usual mode of communication, but that G'd wanted the people to be able to hear that G'd spoke with Moses. Seeing the people were not on the level on which G'd usually communicated with Moses, He had to lower the level of His communication with Moses in order for them to become aware of what was happening. G'd added that the reason He wanted the people to hear that He, G'd, spoke with Moses was in order for the people to strengthen their belief in the level of Moses' prophetic powers. As a result of that experience their faith in Moses would become enduring. G'd hoped that this explanation would put Moses' mind at rest over the reduced level of communication between G'd and himself.

בעב הענן, a thick darkness to prevent him from seeing the presence of G’d with his eyes. [the people were to hear, not see. Ed.]

And they will also believe in you forever. They would comprehend that Moshe was on a higher spiritual plane than other people, even in that generation of prophets. From this they would infer that no one else would ever attain to his level, consequently the Torah received by him would never be replaced.

הנה אנכי בא אליך בעב הענן, “Here, I am about to come to you, within a thick layer of cloud.” Ibn Ezra writes that among the Israelites there were some who had ambiguous feelings about the existence of prophecy and the extent of it, or if indeed some people had been endowed with such powers. This was in spite of the Torah itself having testified that when at the edge of the Sea of Reeds the people appear to have been described as believers, i.e. ויאמינו בה' ובמשה עבדו, “they believed in G’d and in His servant Moses.” (Exodus 14,31) The Torah had refrained from describing all of the people as sharing this absolute faith. Even after the crossing of the sea when the bodies of the dead Egyptians had become visible, the Torah does write “the Israelites saw Egypt dead on the edge of the sea,” (Exodus 14,30) again the Torah had omitted the crucial word כל, “all”, when describing who saw what. This is what is meant when after the revelation at Mount Sinai (Deut. 5,21) the people acknowledge היום ראינו, “on this day we have seen that the Lord has spoken to man and yet man has remained alive.” The fact that they had originally not believed completely in G’d, according to Ibn Ezra, is supported in that G’d had told Moses that as the result of His miracles not only would they have faith in Him but in Moses also. (compare וגם בך יאמינו, “they will also believe in you forever (our verse).” Nachmanides disagrees, saying that the Israelites never doubted either the existence of prophetic powers, as they had the tradition that their patriarchs had all been endowed with such powers. When G’d told Moses to approach him into the thick cloud, this was designed to reinforce the people’s belief in Moses’ superior prophetic powers, a level of prophecy never before attained by any human being. Exodus 4,31 is already testimony that the people had complete faith in G’d. In fact, to a certain degree, all the Israelites had been endowed with some prophetic powers as proven by the fact that they were bidden by G’d to approach as testified by Moses in Deuteronomy 4,10, i.e. that instead of having to depend on hearing G’d’s words through the mouth of a prophet they themselves would hear it directly. This would teach them to relate to G’d with the appropriate degree of awe, as is spelled out there. Once they would do this it would be easy for them to have full confidence in everything Moses would tell them in the name of the Lord. The words וגם בך יאמינו לעולם, mean that not only the present generation would have full faith in what Moses had related in the name of the Lord, but all future generations who had not known Moses personally, would have a similar degree of faith in the words Moses had handed down. This would have the effect that if there were to arise in the future someone claiming that G’d had appeared to him in a dream, or spoken to him while he was fully awake and that the message he had received would contradict the teachings handed down in the name of Moses, such a person would have proven himself to be a liar, a fake, someone totally fraudulent. The people’s experience of Moses’ superiority as a confidant of G’d would guarantee that they would not lend credence to anyone who would attempt to countermand G’d’s orders as conveyed by Moses. The people, because they had prophetic powers themselves, would know for a fact that Gd had spoken directly to Moses. At the conclusion of the revelation, as recorded by Moses to the next generation in Deuteronomy 4, they are quoted as having said that as of that day they had seen with their own eyes that G’d had communicated directly with Moses, and that just as they themselves had survived their own experience during the revelation, they had no longer any doubt that Moses had survived many such direct communications from G’d during his waking hours. Once this degree of trust in Moses had been established, they asked him to approach G’d on their behalf and to relate His words to them as they had become overawed by their own experience, and were afraid that they could not endure any more such experiences and remain alive. (compare Deut. 5,24 where they told Moses to become their intermediary.)

בעב הענן, “in the thickness of the cloud.” This is the cloud called ערפל, (20,18, Deut. 4,11). In the former verse the Torah says specifically: אשר שם האלו-הים “in which the attribute אלו-הים was (hidden).” Everybody present could not fail to recognize this as we know from 24,17: “the appearance of the glory of G’d was like consuming fire at the top of the mountain.” The instructions G’d gave to Moses in our verse were: ”I come to you in the thickness of the cloud so that the people will hear (My words) when I speak with you” (so that they themselves will attain the spiritual stature of prophets). Their belief in you will not be predicated on what they hear from others but on what they hear from Me directly. Compare Deut. 4,10: “when G’d said to me: ‘assemble the people to Me and I will let them hear My words so that they will learn to fear Me, etc.’” Here too, G’d added that the people would forever more believe in Moses. The meaning of these words is that if there were to arise in Moses’ life time a false prophet opposing Moses, the people would not even listen to what he had to say but would deny his legitimacy at once. They would do so because they themselves had attained sufficient prophetic stature to know that everything Moses did or said was divinely inspired. G’d reconfirmed all this to Aaron and Miriam when they dared to compare their level of prophecy and intimacy with G’d to that of Moses (Compare Numbers 12,6-8). When the people are quoted in Deut. 5,21 as having said at Mount Sinai: “this day we have seen that Hashem will speak to a person and he can live,” they referred to this experience of theirs that if G’d wants it this is possible.” From this experience they drew the conviction that Moses had attained the highest level of prophecy possible.

The thickness of the cloud which is called ערפל . Rashi is answering the question: Why are two terms [ עב and ענן ] necessary? עב also means cloud, as in (Yeshayah 19:1): “Behold, Hashem rides on a swift cloud ( עב ),” and as in (Melachim I 18:44): “Behold, there was a small cloud ( עב ) like a man’s palm.” Thus Rashi explains that here, עב refers to the thickness ( עובי ) of the cloud. This is ערפל , which is thicker than an ordinary cloud.

V. 9. In einer Verdichtung der Wolke: in einer solchen Weise, dass es die Sinne des Volkes ertragen. Wie sie der Tatsache des absoluten Eingreifens der göttlichen, Menschen- und Naturgewalt überwältigenden Macht durch eigene sinnliche Wahrnehmung gewiss geworden sind, so sollen sie nun auch die zweite Tatsache, die den zweiten Eckstein ihrer Zukunft bilden soll, die Tatsache, daß Gott zu Menschen reden kann, und zu Mosche geredet hat, mit der nur durch eigene Sinneswahrnehmung zu erlangenden Gewissheit erfahren.

ויגד משה, Moses told G-d what the people had said in detail. When we encountered a similar phrase previously in verse 8, it was appropriate for the Torah to use the expression: וישב, “he brought back a reply,” as at that point he brought back a reply to something that had been requested from them, i.e. “if you will surely listen to Me.” Now there was no need to phrase their comments in this mode, as their willingness to obey G-d’s wishes had been established already.

וגם בך AND IN THEE ALSO [WILL THEY BELIEVE] — The word “also” implies that they will believe also in the prophets who will come after thee (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:9:1).

IN ORDER THAT THE PEOPLE MAY HEAR WHEN I SPEAK WITH THEE. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra commented that there were among the Israelites people who doubted the existence of prophecy. And even though it is written, and they believed in the Eternal, and in His servant Moses,¹⁸⁹Above, 14:31. it is said there, and ‘Israel’ saw,¹⁸⁹Above, 14:31. but not “all Israel.” It is this which they said to him [after the Giving of the Torah], This day we have seen that G-d doth speak with man, and he liveth,¹⁹⁰Deuteronomy 5:21. for at first they did not believe so. This is the meaning of the verse here, in order that the people may hear when I speak with thee, the Ten Commandments, and also believe in thee forever, i.e., “that you are My prophet,” for henceforth the matter of prophecy will be confirmed to them. [Thus far the words of Ibn Ezra.]
This is not correct. The children of Abraham never doubted prophecy, as they had always believed in it since the time of their forefathers. Scripture already has stated so: And the people believed, and they heard that the Eternal hath remembered the children of Israel;¹⁹¹Above, 4:31. and they believed in the Eternal, and in His servant Moses.¹⁸⁹Above, 14:31. Even though it does not say there, “and all the people [believed]” or “all Israel believed,” neither does it say here “that ‘all the people’ may hear.”
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that G-d said to Moses: “I come to thee in a thick cloud, so that you should draw near to the thick darkness¹⁸⁷Further, 20:18. in order that the people may hear when I speak. They themselves will be prophets when I speak, not [necessitating] that it should be confirmed to them through others,” just as it is said, When the Eternal said unto me: Assemble Me the people, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days.¹⁹²Deuteronomy 4:10.
“And they may also believe in thee forever, i.e., through all the generations. And if there will arise among them a prophet or dreamer of dreams¹⁹³Ibid., 13:2. to refute your words, they will deny him at once, for they have already seen with their own eyes and heard with their own ears that you have reached the highest stage in prophecy. Through you, will become clear to them that which is written: If there be a prophet among you, I the Eternal make Myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so; he is trusted in all My house; with him do I speak mouth to mouth.”¹⁹⁴Numbers 12:6-8. It is for this reason that He said, “in order that the people may hear when I speak with thee, for they will hear when I speak out of the midst of the fire,¹⁹⁵Deuteronomy 5:21. This verse had been used by Ibn Ezra to bring proof that before the Revelation there were some Israelites who still doubted the existence of prophecy. Ramban is now to interpret the true purport of the verse. and they will know that it is I the Eternal Who speaks to you. They will believe in My words and also in you forever.” Similarly, that which the people said, This day we have seen that G-d doth speak with man, and he liveth,¹⁹⁵Deuteronomy 5:21. This verse had been used by Ibn Ezra to bring proof that before the Revelation there were some Israelites who still doubted the existence of prophecy. Ramban is now to interpret the true purport of the verse. was to state: “Now the thing has been confirmed to us with the sight of our own eyes, as was the wish of G-d [that we should all become prophets]. Henceforth, Go thou near,¹⁹⁶Ibid., Verse 24. for we know that you have reached the great stage in prophecy, and hear all that the Eternal our G-d may say… and we will hear it from you, and do it,¹⁹⁶Ibid., Verse 24. for your prophecy has been confirmed to be above that of all prophets.”
Now I have seen the Mechilta where it is written:¹⁹⁷Mechilta on the verse here. “In order that the people may hear when I speak with thee. This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: ‘Behold, I will call you from the top of the mountain, and you will come up,’ as it is said, and the Eternal called Moses to the top of the mount, and Moses went up.¹⁹⁸Further, Verse 20. And they may also believe in thee forever, i.e., ‘in you and also in the prophets who are destined to arise after you.’” The words of the Mechilta incline towards the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra.¹⁹⁹Since the Mechilta states that “they may believe in you and also ‘in all the prophets,’” it would indicate that prophecy itself was still doubted, as Ibn Ezra wrote.

בעבור ישמע העם וגם בך יאמינו לעולם, they will believe in the possibility of this “face to face” communication between man and G’d, and the fact that you have been granted this level of prophecy by Me. (compare Deut.5,4 concerning the expression “face to face.”) One of the principal ingredients of this level of prophecy is that the prophet remains in full control of all his faculties including all parts of his body, something no one had been able to credit until they saw that Moses possessed such a capability.The Israelites commented on this in Deuteronomy 5,21 when Moses quoted them as having said: “this day we have seen that G’d can speak directly to man and man can survive such an encounter.” [In other words, it took the revelation at Mount Sinai, experienced by all the people, to teach them that Moses could enjoy such a relationship with G’d on an ongoing basis. Ed.] It is not that the people needed convincing that there were people who enjoyed prophetic stature and communicated with G’d and He with them. After all, they knew about all the patriarchs, Aaron and Miriam as well as Moses being prophets. However, up until this time all prophetic messages from G’d had been communicated either in a dream or in a vision involving the prophet losing touch with his surroundings at the time of such communication by G’d. [at the very least, if such a communication had been received while the recipient was awake he would have to sit down, as he would be unable to stand. [Avraham’s being able to run to welcome the angels, (his vision) was a sign of a higher than usual level of prophecy. Ed.] Now, for the first time, did the people witness that the recipient of such communications need not necessarily have to temporarily forego being in touch with all that goes on in our terrestrial world. You will understand this better in light of how G’d Himself explained to Miriam and Aaron in Numbers 12,7 the difference between their level of communication with G’d and that of their brother Moses, whom G’d described as thoroughly “at home” in all sections of “His house.” Only after having themselves experienced what this kind of prophetic level meant could they credit Moses as possessing it. Now they also understood that no other prophet, even a legitimate one, could challenge Moses, seeing that his stature as prophet was so superior to any other prophet.

ויגד משה את דברי העם אל ה', “Moses told G’d what the people had said.” Ibn Ezra feels that this is one of many verses in the Torah that should have been written previously but have not, and we must understand them as referring to events which had already occurred and which the reader may already know about. Nachmanides does not agree that we are dealing with such a verse here, as he does not understand the line (verse 8) וישב משה את דברי העם אל ה' as referring to Moses having reported the people’s words to G’d immediately, but that Moses had to return first to the Mountain taking the people’s reply with him, so to speak. We must remember that G’d is omniscient, and He did not need Moses to tell Him how the people had reacted to what He had bidden Moses to tell them. On the contrary, as soon as G’d had become aware of the people’s reaction, He immediately told Moses to enter the thick cloud surrounding the Mountain, etc. Upon setting out, Moses told G’d what the people had said to him, assuring G’d that His children had perfect faith in Him and welcomed all the instructions He either had issued already or would issue in the future. Our sages interpret these verses as dealing with the boundaries erected around the Mountain, to protect overenthusiastic Israelites in their desire to come close to G’d from becoming victims instead. Moses had ascended on the third of the month, and reported the famous נעשה ונשמע, “we will do as soon as we will know what to do,” to G’d. G’d immediately instructed him to draw boundaries around the Mountain beyond which the people were not to approach. Moses descended on the same day and relayed this information. He ascended again on the fourth, informing G’d of the people’s reaction in response to the boundaries. Even though the Torah reports this only later, the fact is that the Torah is under no obligation to narrate events in their chronological order. Some commentators say that initially, Moses told G’d that the people had said to him that whatever G’d would say they would do. G’d, Who can read between the lines, i.e. knows how to interpret what had not been spelled out. He realised that Moses was under the impression that the people referred only to what G’d Himself would say to them, but that they had not obligated themselves to carry out automatically everything they would only hear through Moses. He told Moses of the nature of the revelation, which would have as a by-product that henceforth the people would relate with the same degree of faith and trust to what they would hear from Moses’ lips, as they related to what they would hear from G’d directly. Subsequently, Moses confirmed to G’d that the people had indeed made such a commitment, i.e. that this had been their intention already when they had said that all G’d had commanded they would do.

On the following day. . . [It could not have been the same day] because Moshe always ascended the mountain early in the morning.

יאמינו לעולם, "they will believe forever." What is meant by "forever" are the subsequent generations. If people would have faith in future prophets it would be based on the father of all prophets, on Moses. Maimonides has explained this in detail in his Yesodey Hatorah chapter 8. This is what he wrote: "Any prophet who arose after Moses is credible not because of any miracles he may perform but because Moses commanded us in the Torah that if the prophet performs a miracle we are to consider this as confirmation that he is a prophet and we should obey him." Maimonides also wrote that the credibility of Moses as a prophet was not based on the miracles he performed but on the fact that the whole nation heard that G'd spoke to him. As a result the people became witnesses of his being a true prophet. Keeping these statements of Maimonides in mind, we can interpret the words: "they will also believe in you forever" as a reference to prophets who would arise in future generations. Any prophet who would arise in the future would bear further witness to the credibility of Moses as a prophet. G'd hinted here that when a future prophet would be sent by Him to the Jewish people, such prophets would be further proof of the credibility of Moses as a true prophet. None of the miracles such prophets would perform would in themselves establish their credibility. The only thing which would do this is the fact that G'd commanded in His Torah that we should obey such prophets. If not for the people witnessing that G'd spoke to Moses, all the miracles he had performed would not totally eliminate doubt in the minds of the people as to Moses' stature as a true prophet.

.ויגד Da schon V. 8 berichtet worden, dass Mosche Gott die Worte des Volkes zurückgebracht, so kann dies ויגד hier nur ein Wiederholen dieser Worte sein. Mosche wollte mit Wiederholung dieser Worte andeuten, wie das Volk sich bereits völlig und einstimmig für die Erfüllung aller von Gott zu erteilenden Gesetze bereit erklärt und damit ja auch sein rücksichtsloses Vertrauen in Mosche als den Überbringer dieser Gesetze kundgegeben habe, weshalb es einer so außerordentlichen Veranstaltung zur Begründung und Sicherung dieses Vertrauens vielleicht nicht bedürfen möchte. Wir haben es daher gewagt, dieses ויגד ganz buchstäblich durch entgegen halten zu übersetzen.

ויגד משה את דברי וגו׳ AND MOSES TOLD THE WORDS OF [THE PEOPLE UNTO THE LORD] on the following day which was the fourth of the month.

'ויגד משה את דברי העם אל ה, when he heard that his Creator had told him that G’d wanted the people to have absolute faith in the supremacy of his prophecy, Moses understood suddenly that the people had entertained some doubts about the nature of his prophetical powers. He conveyed the people’s words to G’d to show that they had unreservedly undertaken to accept everything G’d wanted from them as conveyed to them from him as G’d’s word. He emphasized that the people had not only said: כן נעשה, “so we shall do,” but had said כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה, “everything that G’d has said we shall do.” This was in fact a restrictive comment, meaning that if what they heard was G’d’s command they would do it, not if it was only the command of an angel. We know already from Exodus 23,21 that an angel is not empowered to forgive any errors committed by the people, כי לא ישא לפשעכם, and therefore Moses himself rejected the idea that the people be under the protection of an angel instead of under G’d’s personal supervision. The people were aware of this distinction. This is why they had committed themselves to obey only commands issued by G’d directly.

As hearing from the King. . . Since Hashem responded to Moshe: “For on the third day, Hashem will descend. . .” (v. 11), we may infer that Moshe had said this, and that the people had requested it. But Re”m, citing the Mechilta, explains [that we know this] because otherwise, what could B’nei Yisrael have told Moshe to say to Hashem?

We must pay careful attention to what Maimonides writes about any doubt the people might have entertained about Moses being a true prophet, seeing that the Torah has already told us in Exodus 14,31 "they believed in G'd and in Moses His servant." The Torah had made this statement in connection with the outstanding miracle Moses had orchestrated not only in splitting the Sea of Reeds but in reversing the process so that the Egyptians drowned in it. How can Maimonides claim that but for the fact that the people heard G'd speak to Moses they would have doubted his stature as a prophet? Granted that later prophets who did not perform those kinds of miracles needed to be connected to Moses by reminders that just as G'd Himself spoke to Moses in the hearing of the people in order to establish their respective credibility that they too had heard the word of G'd, but surely the same did not apply to Moses himself? How do we explain Maimonides who wrote that the miracles Moses performed were not in order for the Israelites to believe in him but because they were needed in order to advance the Israelites' cause? After all, eventually Moses would be revealed as a true prophet?

את דברי העם וגו׳ THE WORDS OF THE PEOPLE etc. — He said to God: “I have heard from them a reply to this statement — that their desire is to hear the commandments from You and not from me. One who hears from the mouth of a messenger is not the same (in the same position) as one who hears directly from the mouth of the King himself. It is our wish to see our King (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:9:2).

I believe that initially the Israelites believed that Moses was a true servant of the Lord who enjoyed G'd's ear, that G'd would respond favourably to Moses' prayers, etc. They did not believe that G'd actually spoke to Moses. They believed the theories of the philosophers that it is impossible for G'd to speak with man and for man to remain alive. The same philosophers admitted however, that man can speak to G'd and that He listens to man and responds positively. Inasmuch as this was a widespread belief, we may say that though the Israelites believed that Moses was a true servant of G'd, i.e. one to whose prayers G'd would respond and carry out his wishes, this did not mean that they also believed that G'd spoke to Moses. The suspicion still lurked in the back of the minds of the Israelites that G'd did not speak to Moses. This is why G'd now wanted to erase this suspicion from their minds by making them witnesses when He spoke to him. The people would then realise that it was possible for G'd to speak to man without man having to die.

The second matter that the people would believe from then on was וגם בך יאמינו לעולם, that through the experience the people had when they heard G'd speaking with Moses they would believe that other prophets would take the place of Moses in the future. If G'd had spoken to one prophet, i.e. Moses, there was no reason for Jews in the future not to believe that G'd spoke to other prophets. The word בך may also mean that when you, Moses, will command the people to obey the instructions of any prophet in the future who also identifies himself by means of a miracle, they will do so because they have seen you as a role model of a prophet. The deciding factor in obeying future prophets is not the miracle he performs but the instructions you have given the people to accept such a prophet in good faith. Having written this, I discovered the following statement in the Mechilta: "They will also have faith in you as well as in future prophets." This is identical to what I have already outlined.

Once the people heard all this from G'd they all agreed that G'd does indeed speak to man without man dying as a result. This whole problem has been spelled out in Deut. 5,21: "on this day you have seen that G'd speaks to man and man stays alive." The beliefs held by the Israelites up until that time were dispelled once and for all by their visual experience. At the same time they realised the great stature of Moses whom G'd had elevated to such a lofty spiritual niveau. This is the meaning of 19,19: "Moses spoke and G'd answered him by voice." The Mechilta describes this in greater detail.

ויגד משה את דברי העם, Moses relayed the words of the people, etc. Perhaps what Moses told G'd was that the Israelites had expressed their desire to hear the words of G'd from His mouth directly just as G'd had told Moses; alternatively, they may have said that there was no need to prove Moses' credibility as a prophet as they already believed in him as such. Moses told G'd all this in order to put the people in a good light. The Mechilta understands the verse to mean that Moses told G'd that the people had expressed a desire to hear G'd directly. Seeing that there are people who attributed to Israel the desire to see G'd, the expression ויגד is aptly chosen as it applies to relatively harsh words as we explained in connection with 19,3. The demand by the people to hear G'd or to see G'd is not really appropriate as it does not befit a slave to make demands on his master; this is why the Torah chose the word ויגד to describe what Moses told G'd in the name of the people. While it is true that G'd Himself had said: "in order that the people will hear when I speak with you," G'd had not said: "in order that the people will hear when I speak with them." Why did Moses need to tell G'd something that He was aware of already, just as He is aware of everything we think or say? Moses wanted to prepare the ground for G'd's reply. If he had not been on record as relaying the people's request, how could he portray G'd's reply as an answer to their request? We find that G'd replied immediately by saying: "sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, etc."