Comentários de Citação sobre Juízes 3:25

כי בשש משה [AND WHEN THE PEOPLE SAW] THAT MOSES DELAYED LONG — Understand (בשש as the Targum does, as an expression denoting “lateness”.. Similar are: (Judges 5:28) “[Why is] his chariot so long (בשש) [in coming]?”; (Judges 3:25) “And they waited until it was late (עד בוש)”. For when Moses ascended the mountain he said to them (to the Israelites): at the end of a period of forty days (i. e. on the fortieth day) I shall return during the first six hours of the day (before noon). They thought that the day on which he ascended the mountain (the seventh of Sivan) was to be included in this number (thus — Sivan having 30 days — he was expected back before noon on the sixteenth of Tammuz). In fact, however, he had said to them “after forty days” meaning complete days — forty days, each day together with its night that precedes it — (as is the customary Jewish reckoning; cf. Genesis 1:5: ויהי ערב ויהי בקר). Now, as regards the day of this ascent, its night was not part of it that it can be reckoned as a complete day, for he ascended on the seventh of Sivan early in the morning (cf. Rashi on Exodus 19:3); it follows therefore that the fortieth day really fell on the seventeenth of Tammuz and not as the people had believed on the sixteenth. On the sixteenth of Tammuz Satan came and threw the world into confusion, giving it the appearance of darkness, gloom and disorder that people should say: “Surely Moses is dead, and that is why confusion has come into the world!” He said to them, “Yes, Moses is dead, for six hours (noon) has already come (בשש = ‎בא שש) and he has not returned etc.” — as is related in Treatise Shabbat 89a (cf. Rashi and Tosafot there and Tosafot on Bava Kamma 82a ד"ה כדי). One cannot, however, say that they erred only on account of it being a cloudy day, their mistake consisting in not being able to distinguish between forenoon and afternoon, and that thus they were correct in their supposition that he was to return on the sixteenth of Tammuz; for this assumes that he really returned on the day when they made the calf, but that they were under the impression that noon was past — for, as a matter of fact, Moses did not come down until the following day (the day after they had made the calf), for it is said (v. 6) “And they rose up early in the morrow, and brought up burnt offerings”— and only after wards the Lord said to Moses (v. 7) “Go, go down; for thy people … have corrupted themselves”.

בשש .וירא העם כי בשש משה Piel von בוש, ursprünglich: sich in einer Erwartung getäuscht finden (siehe zu Bereschit 2, 25), daher: ויחילו עד בוש sie warteten so lange, bis sie sich in ihrer Erwartung getäuscht sahen, d. h. sie warteten so lange, bis sie zu dem Bewusstsein kamen, die Erfüllung ihrer Erwartung aufgeben zu müssen (Richter 3, 25). בושש daher: die Erwartungen eines andern in dem Grade nicht erfüllen, daß dieser die Erwartung aufgibt. Mosche blieb so lange aus, daß sie an seiner Wiederkehr verzweifelten. — הִקָהל על־ ,ויקהלו על אהרן: in Massenversammlung über jemanden kommen, jemanden durch eine Massenversammlung überwältigen. Es kommt noch zweimal vor, Bamidbar 16, 3 und 20, 2, das erste über Mosche, das zweite über Mosche und Aaron, und beidemal leisten Mosche und Aaron nicht einmal durch eine Gegenrede Widerstand. Dort, beim Aufstand Korachs, wirft Mosche sofort sich auf sein Angesicht nieder und tritt erst nach erhaltener Gotteseingebung entgegen. Das zweitemal retten sich Mosche und Aaron zum Eingang des Stiftszeltes vor der Masse. es bezeichnet dies somit jedenfalls eine Vergewaltigung, und weist darauf auch der Schlusssatz des Berichtes über diesen Vorgang hin, V. 35: על אשר עשו את העגל אשר עשה אהרן, wo offenbar das Volk als der Urheber des von Aaron Vollbrachten, somit das Volk als der Befehlende und Aaron als der gezwungen Gehorchende erscheint. Wir finden nämlich ganz dieselbe Ausdrucksweise Bereschit 39, 22: ואת כל אשר עשים שם הוא היה עושה. Indem es dort zuvor heißt: der Fürst des Gefängnisses übergab alle Gefangenen Josefs Händen, und dann hinzugefügt wird: und alles, was sie dort taten, tat er, so ist damit offenbar gesagt, daß alles unter Josefs Befehl geschah, alle hatten seine Anordnungen zu befolgen, er war die Intelligenz und der Wille und alle andern die ausführenden Werkzeuge, somit war ihre Tat seine Tat. (Danach ist auch unser Kommentar zur Stelle zu berichtigen.) So war auch hier Aarons Tun des Volkes Tat.

The words איש כי ידור נדר, refer to a person vowing to bring a voluntary sacrifice, just as the words או השבע שבועה mean that he phrases this vow in a negative manner. When the Torah adds that such a person must not יחל his word, the meaning is that he must not be late in fulfilling his vow else he is considered as having broken his promise, i.e. delay carrying out his word, his promise. He has only until (according to one view) the next pilgrimage festival to come to Jerusalem and make good on his vow. Seeing that at that time he must come to Jerusalem at any event, this does not impose any kind of hardship on him. The expression יחל in the sense of delaying, procrastinating, occurs several times in Scripture, for instance in Judges 3,25 ויחל עד בוש, “he waited an embarrassingly long time.” Or, in Genesis 8,10 ויחל עוד שבעת ימים, we read that Noach waited another seven days before sending out the dove again. In Psalms 130,7 David speaks of יחל ישראל אל ה', meaning that Israel is to continue to wait for G’d hopefully. Anyone translating the words לא יחל דברו as “he must not profane, dishonour his word,” as the plain meaning of the verse is in error.