Komentarz do Wyjścia 24:14

ואל הזקנים אמר BUT UNTO THE ELDERS HE SAID when he left the camp (אמר in the sequence of verbs which we find here denotes the pluperfect; the translation therefore is: and to the elders he had said).

AND UNTO THE ELDERS HE SAID: ‘TARRY YE HERE FOR US.’ The meaning of this is that when Moses parted from them with his minister, he commanded them that they should tarry there. It does not mean that they were to stay there day and night until their return, for he said, and behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whosoever hath a cause, let him come near unto them, and it is in the camp that parties to a dispute would be found, since that was where the seat of justice was, and he had already told everybody, Return ye to your tents.⁵⁶⁰Deuteronomy 5:27. But the meaning of tarry ye here is that they should stay at that place, and should not break through to come up to them, even to the place where Joshua was, until he [Moses] would come back to them.
In my opinion it is possible that the explanation of the verse is as follows: “Sit⁵⁶¹Ramban thus takes the Hebrew word sh’vu [translated as “tarry”] in its literal meaning: “sit” — sit in court in our place and act as a substitute for us. in our place and serve as a substitute for us in the camp; Aaron and Hur are with you, and whosoever hath a cause — one of those hard causes that they would bring to me⁵⁶²See Deuteronomy 1:17. — let him come near unto them in my place.” He said unto them as a special recognition to Aaron and Hur, for they were to come before all the elders and they would all be assembled at one place, just as he said Aaron and Hur are with you. Thus Moses commanded that the elders together with Aaron and Hur should sit as a court, just as he himself did, over the officers of thousands and hundreds, until he returns, since he knew that he would tarry in the mountain. He said: for us [tarry ye here ‘for us’] as a mark of honor to his disciple, just as he said to Joshua, Choose us out men.⁵⁶³Above, 17:9. This is a correct interpretation. But Rashi wrote: “And unto the elders he said — when he left the camp, Tarry ye here for us — stay you with the rest of the people so as to be ready to judge each man’s dispute.” But this is impossible, for they were not at that moment in the camp, and what sense would there be for him to tell them so when they were in the camp and had already been appointed as judges!
Terumah

ואל הזקנים אמר, when he departed from them in order to ascend to the top of the mountain as G’d had commanded him in verse 12.

ואל הזקנים אמר שבו לנו בזה, “and he said to the elders: ‘wait for us here.’” According to Rashi Moses said this when he was about to leave the camp, [not at the foot of the Mountain. Ed.] They were to spend the time he was absent judging the people and filling in the void whenever the need would arise. Nachmanides questions how this was possible, seeing that the previous verse had both the elders and Moses at the bottom of the Mountain, not in the camp. He therefore explains what happened as follows. When Moses and Joshua took their leave of them, they both said to the elders to go back to their respective tents. However, they added that under no circumstances were they to come back to this location or beyond, not even to the place where Joshua remained during all the forty days Moses would be on the Mountain. It is possible to understand the words שבו לנו as meaning “remain in lieu of us and be our deputies.” During our absence, you will be ably assisted by Aaron and Chur.

When he left the camp. [Rashi knows this] because otherwise, how were the elders here [outside the camp]? Only Moshe and Yehoshua left the camp as it is written (v. 13), “Moshe and Yehoshua, his attendant, set out.”

V. 14. שב׳ לנו wie: ימים רבים תשבי לי (Hoschea 3, 3). — בזה: hier, in der Nähe des Berges; ziehet inzwischen nicht weiter. — בעל דברים ,מי בעל דברים וגו׳, wörtlich: der Besitzer von Worten, im Gegensatz zum Sachbesitzer, also: derjenige, der einen Anspruch an den faktischen Besitz eines andern erhebt, der יגש, der hat zum Gerichte hinzutreten, nicht aber der Sachbesitzer. Darin liegt der Kanon: המוציא מחברו עליו הראי׳, derjenige, der ein Eigentumsrecht auf den Besitz eines andern beansprucht, hat den Anspruch zu beweisen, und so lange dieser Beweis nicht erbracht ist, liegt dem Besitzer nicht die Rechtsverteidigung seines Besitzes ob. Es heißt ferner nicht יבא אליהם, wie oben Kap. 18. 15 u. 16 בא אלי ,בא אלי, sondern יגש אליהם, und liegt in diesem Ausdruck ein im Verhältnis zu einem andern näheres Hintreten. Daher zugleich der Kanon: נזקקין לתובע תחלה, d.h. das Gericht hat sich auf die Sache des Klägers zuerst einzulassen, eine Regel, die eine vielseitige Anwendung findet, z. B. in gewissen Fällen, wo der Angeklagte eine Gegenklage hat, oder: dass der Verklagte in der Regel nicht ein Urteil provozieren kann, wenn der Kläger eine Sistierung des Urteils beantragt, oder allgemein: dass in der Regel der Kläger zuerst angehört werden muss, damit der Verklagte nicht ihm mit einem Teilzugeständnis zuvorkommt und damit die ihm sonst als מודה במקצת zukommende Eidespflicht illudiert (B. K. 46 b, Ch. M. 24. ש׳׳ך daselbst).

ואל הזקנים, “and to the elders, the ones who had enjoyed the vision of the Divine,’אמר, “he had already said;” שבו לנו, “remain seated here for us;” the “us” refers to Moses and Joshua. בזה, “inside the camp;” Joshua had been permitted to approach more closely to the bottom of the Mountain than either Aaron, Chur, and the seventy elders. This is why Joshua had been unaware of what had transpired with the golden calf until he returned together with Moses.

שבו לנו בזה ABIDE YE HERE FOR US and stay ye with all the other people in the camp so as to be ready to decide his dispute for each man.

מי בעל דברים, “if someone has a grievance, etc.” Moses meant that if there would arise a problem beyond the ability of the elders to solve they should turn to Aaron or Chur for a definitive ruling. By saying this to the elders, Moses added stature to both Aaron and Chur, seeing that he publicly appointed them as final arbiters during his absence. The turn of phrase שבו לנו, is also to be understood as a compliment to the elders to whom Moses delegated most of his authority during that period. Moses had used the word לנו once before in a complimentary manner when he authorized Joshua to select fighting man to resist the attack by Amalek, at the end of Parshat Beshalach.

And remain here with the rest of the people in the camp. . . With this, Rashi resolves many issues [that could arise with the verse]. He explains that the word שבו does not mean literally [“to sit”]; rather it means “to remain.” Also, he explains that בזה refers to a place (the camp) rather than to a certain object that [the verse] hints to. Also, he explains that the elders should not remain by themselves but with the rest of the people, since the elders did not leave the camp [as explained previously]. And Rashi also informs us that they remained in camp in order to render decisions for the people. Otherwise, [Moshe’s order to the elders to remain] in the camp would be no different from [the order given to] all of Yisrael [who also remained in the camp].

מי בעל דברים, “anyone who wishes to get back money or chattels from his neighbour;” the reason the singular mode is used here when discussing litigation, is that the party in possession of disputed property will always remain silent.

חור [AND] HUR — He was the son of Miriam and his father was Caleb the son of Jephunneh, as it is said, (1 Chr. 2:9) “Caleb took unto him Ephrath, who bare him Hur”; and Ephrath is identical with Miriam, as it is stated in Treatise Sotah 11b.

He was Miriam’s son. . . Rashi is answering the question: How could Moshe say that Aharon and Chur will be with them [to render decisions, but they are only two and a court of law needs three judges]? If two render a decision, their judgment is invalid. And even according to the opinion that holds that their judgment is valid, such a court would be called insolent. Therefore Rashi explained that Chur was Miriam’s son. This forces us to say that the two would not judge together, since they were relatives. For according to all views, a first generation relative and a second generation relative are unfit to judge together. Rather, it must be that each one rendered decisions on his own, acting as an expert judge who is permitted to render decisions alone.

מי בעל דברים HE WHO HAS ANY MATTER TO DO — i. e. he who has any law-suit.

Whoever has a lawsuit. [Rashi is explaining that] the word מי is not implying a question. Also, [he is explaining that] בעל דברים does not mean בעל לשון (man of speech). Accordingly, we need to add the word שהוא (who is) in between מי and בעל , [in order to complete the verse] so it will say: “ מי שהוא בעל דברים (whoever has a lawsuit).” Rashi hints to this by adding the word שיש (whoever has).