Komentarz do Liczb 4:6

AND THEY SHALL PUT THEREON [on the ark of the Testimony] A COVERING OF ‘TACHASH’¹⁸⁶“Tachash was a kind of wild animal which only existed at the time [when Israel built the Tabernacle]. Its hide was multicolored” (Rashi, Exodus 25:5). SKIN, AND THEY SHALL SPREAD OVER IT A CLOTH ALL OF BLUE. Because of the importance of the ark, the covering of tachash skin was not visible [at all] upon it; for they covered [the ark firstly] with the Veil as a screening partition,¹⁸⁷Verse 5. and then they covered both of them [the ark and the Veil] with the covering of the tachash skin [as a protection] against the rains, and above them all they spread a cloth all of blue so that this distinguished garment, which was the like of the very heaven for clearness,¹⁸⁸Exodus 24:10. should be seen upon it. But as for all the other vessels — the table, the candelabrum, and the altars — the covering of the tachash skin¹⁸⁶“Tachash was a kind of wild animal which only existed at the time [when Israel built the Tabernacle]. Its hide was multicolored” (Rashi, Exodus 25:5). was visible over them.¹⁸⁹Verses 8-14. And some scholars¹⁹⁰This opinion is stated here by Ibn Ezra. say that the meaning of the verse [before us] and they shall spread over it a cloth all of blue refers to the screening partition Veil [mentioned in the preceding Verse 5, thus meaning: “and they had already spread over it a cloth all of blue”], and they shall put thereon, that is, on the ark and the Veil, the covering of the ‘tachash’ skin.¹⁹¹Thus according to this interpretation, it was the covering of the tachash-skin that was visible on top of the ark when it was carried, and beneath it was the cloth all of blue, and not, as explained before, that the cloth of blue was spread on top over the tachash skin.
And they shall set the staves thereof. This means, they shall put them on the shoulders of the priests.¹⁹²In Ibn Ezra, who quotes this interpretation in the name of “some scholars”, the reading is: “those who are to carry the ark,” namely the Levites of the Kohath family, instead of: “the priests”. See my Hebrew commentary p. 205, Note 74. — Ibn Ezra also mentions another interpretation, namely, that the meaning of the expression and they shall set the staves thereof is that they should replace the staves which they had previously removed while the ark was being wrapped. Ramban evidently rejects this interpretation because of the verse, The staves shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it (Exodus 25:15), which clearly states that the staves are to remain in the rings permanently. See text further. The correct interpretation is that the word v’samu (and they shall set) means that they should adjust them [the staves] so that they should protrude outside [the ark] in such a way that they can carry it by means of them, for the rings [in which the staves were permanently fixed] were wide, so that they were able to lengthen the staves at will, provided only that they were not taken out from them.¹⁹³See Note 192.

ונתנו עליו כסוי עור תחש, “they shall place upon it a covering of Tachash hide.” Nachmanides writes that the Holy Ark was first wrapped in the curtain of blue wool that divided the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies; after that the tachash hide cover was used to wrap both the Holy Ark and the dividing curtain around them. This was unlike the procedure used with the other furnishings of the Tabernacle, such as the table, the golden altar and the menorah. The latter were wrapped in a cover of tachash hide only. The reason why so much more care was used to wrap the Holy Ark was the fact that its sanctity was greater than that of the other furnishings. It was desirable that the blue wool curtain be visible through the tachash hide as it reminds us of the blue sky, which in turn reminds us of Hashem whose throne is in the heavens beyond. Other commentators hold that the tachash hide was used to cover both the Holy Ark and the other furnishings, the former having first been wrapped in the dividing curtain.

ושמו בדיו, “they shall position its staves.” Some commentators understand the word ושמו as meaning: ”they shall adjust,” i.e. the staves were to be adjusted as the Kehatites carried the Ark on their shoulders. Others understand the expression as referring to the positioning of these staves through the rings in the Ark in a manner that assured their proper balance prior to their being hoisted on to the shoulders of the men carrying it. The rings were considerably wider than needed to insert the staves into them. The staves were, however, not to be withdrawn from the Ark altogether.