Komentarz do Wyjścia 17:9
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֤ה אֶל־יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙ בְּחַר־לָ֣נוּ אֲנָשִׁ֔ים וְצֵ֖א הִלָּחֵ֣ם בַּעֲמָלֵ֑ק מָחָ֗ר אָנֹכִ֤י נִצָּב֙ עַל־רֹ֣אשׁ הַגִּבְעָ֔ה וּמַטֵּ֥ה הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּיָדִֽי׃
I rzekł Mojżesz do Jehoszuego: "Wybierz nam mężów i wyjdź, walcz z Amalekiem. Jutro ja stanę na szczycie pagórka, a berło Boże w ręku moim."
Rashi on Exodus
בחר לנו CHOOSE OUT MEN FOR US — for me and for you: he (Moses) placed him (Joshua) on the same level with himself. They (the Rabbis) derived from here the teaching: let thy disciple’s honour be as dear to thee as thy own. And whence may we derive the next statement in thee well-known passage: and thy colleague’s honour as dear to thee as the reverence due to thy teacher? Because it is said, (Numbers 12:11) “And Aaron spake to Moses, “I beseech thee, my lord” — but surely Aaron was older than his brother and yet by addressing him as “my lord” he treated his colleague (Moses) as his teacher! “And the reverence due to thy teacher as the reverence due to God” — whence may this be derived? Because it is said, (Numbers 11:28) “[And he (Joshua) said (to his teacher, Moses)] “My lord, Moses, כלאם”, destroy them (כַּלֵּם) from out of the world! they who rebel against thee deserve to be destroyed just the same as though they had rebelled against the Holy One, blessed be He (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 17:9:1).
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Ramban on Exodus
AND MOSES SAID TO JOSHUA. It would appear from here that from the day he came before him, Moses called him Joshua, and so it is also written: And Joshua heard the noise of the people.443Further, 32:17. Scripture which states in the case of the spies, And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua,444Numbers 13:16. must then be referring to the beginning, [when Joshua first came to minister before him]. The verse informs us that this Hoshea the son of Nun, who was chosen to be among the spies, is the same one that Moses called Joshua. Our Rabbis commented445Sotah 34 b, and quoted by Rashi, ibid. [that Moses gave him this name of Yehoshua, which is a compound of Y-ah (G-d) and hoshea (help), because] he in effect prayed for him, “May G-d help thee that thou mayest not follow the [evil] counsel of the spies.” The intent of this comment is to state that because of this event of which Moses knew in advance, i.e., that Joshua was destined to go with the spies, he called him by that name [Yehoshua — Joshua] at the outset. We may also say that at that time [when the spies were chosen], Moses designated that name in front of the assembly, i.e., that his name henceforth be not Hoshea but Joshua.
The reason that Moses commanded Joshua to fight with Amalek was so that he [Moses] might pray with the raising of hands on the top of the hill.446Verse 10. He went up there so that he might see the Israelites engage in battle and train his sight on them to bring them blessing. They too, upon seeing him with his hands spread heavenward and saying many prayers, would have trust in him, and they would thus be endowed with additional valor and strength.
In Pirke d’Rabbi Eliezer,447In the middle of Chapter 44. we find additionally: “All Israel went outside of their tents, and they saw Moses kneeling on his knees, and they did likewise. He fell on his face to the earth and they did likewise. He spread his hands heavenward, and they also did so. [From here, you learn the principle that] as the public reader of prayers448Literally: “the deputy of the congregation.” recites, so do all the people respond after him.449See Berachoth 49 b: “After the fashion of his benediction, so do the others answer him.” See my Hebrew commentary, p. 371, for further elucidation of this point. And thus the Holy One, blessed be He, caused Amalek and his people to fall by the hand of Joshua.” But if so, [i.e., if Moses’ hands were spread heavenward], the sense of the expression, with the rod of G-d in my hand, must be that when Moses went up to the top of the hill and saw Amalek, he stretched forth his hand with the rod to bring down [upon the Amalekites] strokes of pestilence, the sword and destruction,450See Esther 9:5. just as it is said in the case of Joshua: Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai, for I will give it into thy hand.451Joshua 8:18. From the moment Moses began to pray and his hands were spread heavenward, he held nothing in his hand.
Moses our teacher did all this because Amalek was an enduring nation452See Jeremiah 5:15. and very powerful. The Israelites, on the other hand, were not accustomed to battle and had never seen it, just as Scripture says, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war.453Above, 13:17. In addition they were faint and weary, as it is written in the Book of Deuteronomy.454Deuteronomy 25:18. Therefore, he [Moses] feared them, and it became necessary for all this prayer and supplication.
It is possible that Moses feared lest Amalek be victorious with the sword, for he was the nation that inherited the sword by virtue of the blessing of the patriarch [Isaac], who said [to Esau, Amalek’s ancestor], and on thy sword you shall live.455Genesis 27:40. The first and final wars against Israel stem from this family, as Amalek is of the descendants of Esau.456Ibid., 36:12. It is from him who stood at the head of the nations [in power]457Numbers 24:20. Amalek was the first of the nations. See Ramban, ibid., where he interprets it to mean: “Amalek is the ‘mightiest’ of the nations. This was why he dared to come to fight Israel,” it is clear that Ramban’s intent here is similar. that the [first] war came against us. From Esau’s descendants, [namely, Rome],458See Vol. I, pp. 445, 568-569. the [present] exile and the last459Ramban pointedly uses the word “last” and not “the second” in order to indicate that the Third Sanctuary, for the restitution of which we pray, will never suffer destruction. The second destruction by the hands of the Romans was thus the “last” destruction. destruction of the Sanctuary came upon us, just as our Rabbis have said460Gittin 57b. See also above, Note 458. that today we are in the exile of Edom. When he will be vanquished, and he together with the many nations that are with him will be discomfited, we shall be saved out of it [i.e., the exile] forever, just as [the prophet] said, And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion, to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Eternal’s.461Obadiah 1:21. Now whatever Moses and Joshua did with them [the Amalekites] at first, Elijah and Mashiach ben Yoseph462Succah 52b. See Ramban’s Sefer Hag’ulah (Kithvei Haramban, Vol. I, pp. 255-295) for further elucidation of his views of the process by which the final redemption will come to pass. For the purpose of illuminating his language here, suffice it to say that Mashiach ben Yoseph — or as Ramban calls him there, “Mashiach ben Ephraim,” since Ephraim was a son of Joseph — will first accomplish the ingathering of the exiles and fight their wars. Then Mashiach ben David will come. will do with their descendants. This was why Moses strained himself in this matter.
The reason that Moses commanded Joshua to fight with Amalek was so that he [Moses] might pray with the raising of hands on the top of the hill.446Verse 10. He went up there so that he might see the Israelites engage in battle and train his sight on them to bring them blessing. They too, upon seeing him with his hands spread heavenward and saying many prayers, would have trust in him, and they would thus be endowed with additional valor and strength.
In Pirke d’Rabbi Eliezer,447In the middle of Chapter 44. we find additionally: “All Israel went outside of their tents, and they saw Moses kneeling on his knees, and they did likewise. He fell on his face to the earth and they did likewise. He spread his hands heavenward, and they also did so. [From here, you learn the principle that] as the public reader of prayers448Literally: “the deputy of the congregation.” recites, so do all the people respond after him.449See Berachoth 49 b: “After the fashion of his benediction, so do the others answer him.” See my Hebrew commentary, p. 371, for further elucidation of this point. And thus the Holy One, blessed be He, caused Amalek and his people to fall by the hand of Joshua.” But if so, [i.e., if Moses’ hands were spread heavenward], the sense of the expression, with the rod of G-d in my hand, must be that when Moses went up to the top of the hill and saw Amalek, he stretched forth his hand with the rod to bring down [upon the Amalekites] strokes of pestilence, the sword and destruction,450See Esther 9:5. just as it is said in the case of Joshua: Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai, for I will give it into thy hand.451Joshua 8:18. From the moment Moses began to pray and his hands were spread heavenward, he held nothing in his hand.
Moses our teacher did all this because Amalek was an enduring nation452See Jeremiah 5:15. and very powerful. The Israelites, on the other hand, were not accustomed to battle and had never seen it, just as Scripture says, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war.453Above, 13:17. In addition they were faint and weary, as it is written in the Book of Deuteronomy.454Deuteronomy 25:18. Therefore, he [Moses] feared them, and it became necessary for all this prayer and supplication.
It is possible that Moses feared lest Amalek be victorious with the sword, for he was the nation that inherited the sword by virtue of the blessing of the patriarch [Isaac], who said [to Esau, Amalek’s ancestor], and on thy sword you shall live.455Genesis 27:40. The first and final wars against Israel stem from this family, as Amalek is of the descendants of Esau.456Ibid., 36:12. It is from him who stood at the head of the nations [in power]457Numbers 24:20. Amalek was the first of the nations. See Ramban, ibid., where he interprets it to mean: “Amalek is the ‘mightiest’ of the nations. This was why he dared to come to fight Israel,” it is clear that Ramban’s intent here is similar. that the [first] war came against us. From Esau’s descendants, [namely, Rome],458See Vol. I, pp. 445, 568-569. the [present] exile and the last459Ramban pointedly uses the word “last” and not “the second” in order to indicate that the Third Sanctuary, for the restitution of which we pray, will never suffer destruction. The second destruction by the hands of the Romans was thus the “last” destruction. destruction of the Sanctuary came upon us, just as our Rabbis have said460Gittin 57b. See also above, Note 458. that today we are in the exile of Edom. When he will be vanquished, and he together with the many nations that are with him will be discomfited, we shall be saved out of it [i.e., the exile] forever, just as [the prophet] said, And saviors shall come up on Mount Zion, to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Eternal’s.461Obadiah 1:21. Now whatever Moses and Joshua did with them [the Amalekites] at first, Elijah and Mashiach ben Yoseph462Succah 52b. See Ramban’s Sefer Hag’ulah (Kithvei Haramban, Vol. I, pp. 255-295) for further elucidation of his views of the process by which the final redemption will come to pass. For the purpose of illuminating his language here, suffice it to say that Mashiach ben Yoseph — or as Ramban calls him there, “Mashiach ben Ephraim,” since Ephraim was a son of Joseph — will first accomplish the ingathering of the exiles and fight their wars. Then Mashiach ben David will come. will do with their descendants. This was why Moses strained himself in this matter.
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Sforno on Exodus
ומטה האלוקים בידי, to show the people at what time he would be praying in order that they too would coordinate the time they offered their own prayers with that of Moses. The importance of this harmonising of prayers is demonstrated when the Talmud tells us that in the large synagogue of Alexandria they waved flags so that the people who could not hear the cantor could pray in harmony with him, nonetheless. (Sukkah 51).
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