Komentarz do Wyjścia 19:5
וְעַתָּ֗ה אִם־שָׁמ֤וֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ֙ בְּקֹלִ֔י וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֖ם אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֑י וִהְיִ֨יתֶם לִ֤י סְגֻלָּה֙ מִכָּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים כִּי־לִ֖י כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
A teraz - jeżeli usłuchacie głosu Mojego, i przestrzegać będziecie przymierza Mojego, tedy staniecie się skarbcem Moim z pomiędzy wszystkich ludów; bo Moja cała ziemia.
Rashi on Exodus
ועתה AND NOW — if you will now take upon yourselves the observance of My commandments, it will be pleasant (easy) to you from now and henceforth, for every beginning is difficult (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:5:1).
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Ramban on Exodus
AND YE WILL KEEP MY COVENANT. I.e., “the covenant which I have made with your fathers to be a G-d unto them and to their seed after them.”153Genesis 17:7. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained it as referring to the covenant which Moses was to make with Israel after the Giving of the Torah, as he said, Behold, the blood of the covenant, which the Eternal hath made with you in agreement with all these words.154Further, 24:8.
By way of the Truth, [that is, the mystic lore of the Cabala, the verse is to be understood as meaning] that “you should keep My covenant to cleave unto Me, for if thou shalt indeed hearken unto My voice and do all that I speak,155See Ibid., 23:22. then ye shalt be Mine own ‘s’gulah’ (treasure) from among all peoples.”156Here in Verse 5. This means that “you will be a treasure ‘in My hand,’” for a king does not hand over a precious object into the hand of another [for permanent possession]. The word s’gulah here is similar in meaning to the expression: ‘us’gulath’ (and treasure) such as kings and the provinces have as their own.157Ecclesiastes 2:8.
By way of the Truth, [that is, the mystic lore of the Cabala, the verse is to be understood as meaning] that “you should keep My covenant to cleave unto Me, for if thou shalt indeed hearken unto My voice and do all that I speak,155See Ibid., 23:22. then ye shalt be Mine own ‘s’gulah’ (treasure) from among all peoples.”156Here in Verse 5. This means that “you will be a treasure ‘in My hand,’” for a king does not hand over a precious object into the hand of another [for permanent possession]. The word s’gulah here is similar in meaning to the expression: ‘us’gulath’ (and treasure) such as kings and the provinces have as their own.157Ecclesiastes 2:8.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Or HaChaim on Exodus
ועתה אם שמוע תשמעו, And now, "if you will hearken carefully, etc." The word ועתה must be understood in accordance with what Bereshit Rabbah 21,6 teaches, in connection with Genesis 3,22 when Adam was being expelled from Gan Eden. The Midrash says there that this word always introduces the element of repentance. Inasmuch as the Israelites were still tainted by the many sins they had committed in the past as well as sins they had committed quite recently, such as when they rebelled against G'd's command in connection with the manna and the Sabbath, G'd warned them that in order to qualify for the gift of the Torah they had to undergo spiritual cleansing, a process of repentance. There is an interesting ruling in Kiddushin 49 that when a man betrothes a woman on the condition that he is righteous and it is found that he had been guilty of a number of sins this fact does not invalidate the bethrothal as it is presumed that he had confessed and repented his sins prior to the betrothal. His repentance entitled him to describe himself as righteous.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy