וְרָאָ֤ה כָל־הָעָם֙ אֶת־עַמּ֣וּד הֶֽעָנָ֔ן עֹמֵ֖ד פֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֑הֶל וְקָ֤ם כָּל־הָעָם֙ וְהִֽשְׁתַּחֲוּ֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ פֶּ֥תַח אָהֳלֽוֹ׃
E todo o povo via a coluna de nuvem permanecer à entrada da tenda, e todo o povo se levantava e se prostrava, cada um à entrada da sua tenda.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי בענן אראה על הכפורת, “for in a cloud I will appear above the kapporet.” The Torah was careful not to write: כי אראה בענן על הכפורת. Had the Torah written these words in that order the meaning would have been that G’d appears inside the cloud. If that were so, what distinction did the High Priest enjoy over the rest of the people of Israel? They all witnessed a Presence of the Lord within the cloud on a year-round basis, or at least every time the Torah wrote והנה כבוד ה' נראה בענן, “and here the glory of the Lord had appeared within the cloud.” This was an appearance visible to all the people. They did not have to enter any Sanctuary in order to become aware of it. There are several other instances where all the people witnessed such a manifestation of G’d’s glory (Exodus 33,10). In our verse the meaning of the words is that after Aaron enters the Sanctuary [Holy of Holies] in a cloud of incense the glory of G’d previously encased in the cloud will leave that cloud and take up its position on top of the kapporet. In order for us to understand this clearly, the Torah wrote the words אראה על הכפורת as a single sequence without interposing the word בענן. Actually, in that Holy of Holies the glory of G’d would be situated on top of the kapporet on the other days of the year also; only Aaron, or anybody else, were not allowed to enter that Inner Sanctuary except on Yom Kippur. The cloud of incense (which normally was offered in the Outer Sanctuary, daily,) was needed in order to ensure that Aaron would not behold that glory with fatal consequences for himself.
Our sages (in Yuma 53) understand the words כי בענן אראה על הכפורת to mean that G’d’s glory would appear within the cloud of the incense. As a result of such considerations the incense had to be offered in the Holy of Holies (the site of the kapporet) The High Priest was not to make the entire incense ready before he entered. [the view of the Sadducees, whose High Priests were so scared that their mentors could have been wrong that they declined to perform this service on the Day of Atonement for fear of dying. Ed].
In fact, the wording of verse 13 in our chapter, “the cloud of the incense shall cover the kapporet over the testimony” (the Holy Ark) will ensure that the High Priest will not die. It is stated clearly in the verse previous that the High Priest enter beyond the dividing curtain into the Inner Sanctuary before placing the incense on the fire. This is the reason why the Talmud, according to Rava, understands why this legislation was repeated. The first time the Torah had to issue the instructions not to enter at will. The second time was the warning that unless he performed in accordance with these instructions the High Priest would die.
Our sages (in Yuma 53) understand the words כי בענן אראה על הכפורת to mean that G’d’s glory would appear within the cloud of the incense. As a result of such considerations the incense had to be offered in the Holy of Holies (the site of the kapporet) The High Priest was not to make the entire incense ready before he entered. [the view of the Sadducees, whose High Priests were so scared that their mentors could have been wrong that they declined to perform this service on the Day of Atonement for fear of dying. Ed].
In fact, the wording of verse 13 in our chapter, “the cloud of the incense shall cover the kapporet over the testimony” (the Holy Ark) will ensure that the High Priest will not die. It is stated clearly in the verse previous that the High Priest enter beyond the dividing curtain into the Inner Sanctuary before placing the incense on the fire. This is the reason why the Talmud, according to Rava, understands why this legislation was repeated. The first time the Torah had to issue the instructions not to enter at will. The second time was the warning that unless he performed in accordance with these instructions the High Priest would die.
Rashbam
הראני נא את כבודך, at first glance we must surely wonder how Moses could have had the audacity to demand to see G’d and to ask for such as a means to derive personal satisfaction from it. It is totally incompatible with the attitude Moses displayed at the burning bush when the very thought of seeing something Divine filled him with fear and he was afraid to look. (Exodus 3,6). There can be no question but that what motivated Moses to formulate the above request was only that G’d would fulfil his two wishes, 1) to distinguish him individually, and 2) to personally travel with the people. To this effect he added הראני נא את כבודך, referring to previous occasions when a covenant had been concluded between G’d and Avraham, and as a sign of this Avraham had witnessed the entire procedure of the covenant between the pieces in Genesis 15,18. Moses, as Avraham before him, asked for some sign that the covenant would endure. We read about this occurring in 34,6 and 10 where Moses has a special personal revelation which includes G’d revealing to him 13 of His attributes, each of which is of relevance when inducing forgiveness and repentance. In verse 10 in that chapter G’d promises to make this special relationship manifest by hitherto unheard of miracles. The distinction G’d provided for Moses personally was such that the people did not dare approach him as the light radiating from his forehead blinded them (34,30)