עַמִּי֙ בְּעֵצ֣וֹ יִשְׁאָ֔ל וּמַקְל֖וֹ יַגִּ֣יד ל֑וֹ כִּ֣י ר֤וּחַ זְנוּנִים֙ הִתְעָ֔ה וַיִּזְנ֖וּ מִתַּ֥חַת אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃
O meu povo consulta ao seu pau, e a sua vara lhe dá respostas, porque o espírito de luxúria os enganou, e eles, prostituindo-se, abandonam o seu Deus.
Rashi
קסם קסמים ONE THAT USETH DIVINATION — What is a diviner? One who takes his stick in hand and says, (as though he were consulting it), “Shall I go, or shall I not go?” So does it state, (Hoshea 4:12) “My people ask counsel of their stick, and their staff declareth unto them” (Sifrei Devarim 171:6).
Rabbeinu Bahya
קוסם קסמים, “practicing divinations;” this is a person who takes a staff in his hand and says: “I will go to a certain place, or I will not go to a certain place” as the case may be; this is what the prophet Hoseah spoke about in Hoseah 4,12: ”My people, it consults its stick, its rods direct it.” [The idea is that decisions are based on the stick falling in a certain manner, pointing in a certain direction. Ed.]
מעונן, the word can have one of three meanings; 1) it is derived from עונה, a certain period of time. 2) it is derived from עין eye; 3) It is derived from ענן, cloud. If it is derived from עונה this is the way Rabbi Akiva understood it, i.e. that the person (astrologer) says that certain dates in the calendar are propitious whereas others are not. People determine when to engage in certain enterprises and when not, based on such predictions. The sages who differ with Rabbi Akiva claim that the people who practice the form of sorcery described as מעונן engage in sleight of hand, i.e. they deceive our eyes. The third view, relating the word to ענן, cloud, claim that the people engaging in this practice consult cloud patterns and presume to foretell future events based on this.
מנחש, “someone who interprets signs,” such as if one’s bread fell out of one’s mouth, what does this portend? Or, if a deer crosses one’s path what does this signify? Some explain the word to mean that such people look at birds and their wings or try and interpret the twittering of the birds. They believe that when Kohelet 10,20 speaks about “for a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may betray the matter,” that Solomon spoke of people who through interpreting the movements of such birds could divine their message.
מעונן, the word can have one of three meanings; 1) it is derived from עונה, a certain period of time. 2) it is derived from עין eye; 3) It is derived from ענן, cloud. If it is derived from עונה this is the way Rabbi Akiva understood it, i.e. that the person (astrologer) says that certain dates in the calendar are propitious whereas others are not. People determine when to engage in certain enterprises and when not, based on such predictions. The sages who differ with Rabbi Akiva claim that the people who practice the form of sorcery described as מעונן engage in sleight of hand, i.e. they deceive our eyes. The third view, relating the word to ענן, cloud, claim that the people engaging in this practice consult cloud patterns and presume to foretell future events based on this.
מנחש, “someone who interprets signs,” such as if one’s bread fell out of one’s mouth, what does this portend? Or, if a deer crosses one’s path what does this signify? Some explain the word to mean that such people look at birds and their wings or try and interpret the twittering of the birds. They believe that when Kohelet 10,20 speaks about “for a bird of the skies may carry the sound, and some winged creature may betray the matter,” that Solomon spoke of people who through interpreting the movements of such birds could divine their message.
Rav Hirsch
V. 21. ולפני אלעזר הכהן יעמד. Er wird aber nicht als Autokrat eingesetzt, vielmehr hat er in allen Angelegenheiten des nationalen Gesamtinteresses, wo es sich nicht um nach dem geoffenbarten Gesetz zu entscheidendes Recht und Unrecht, sondern um Zweckmäßigkeit oder Zweckwidrigkeit eines allgemeinen Vorhabens handelt, den Gottesausspruch durch die auf der Brust des nationalen Repräsentanten des Gesetzesheiligtums, des כהן גדול, ruhenden Urim zu erfragen und zu befolgen. ולפני וגו׳ יעמוד (siehe zu V. 19) ושאל לו. Elasar erfragt für ihn die Entscheidung der Urim vor Gott (siehe Schmot Kap. 28, Ende). – שאל ב־ gewöhnlicher Ausdruck für: das Erbitten einer Entscheidung durch Gott hinsichtlich eines Unternehmens. So: Richter 20, 18 f.; Sam. I. 10, 23; Sam. I. 22, 10; 23, 2; 28, 6; 30, 8 1 etc. ושאל לו כד׳ ,וישאלו באלקי Daher auch: עמי בעצו ישאל (Hosea 4, 12). Da der nachgesuchte Ausspruch nicht direkt von Gott, auch nicht direkt von den Urim an den Anfragenden gelangt, so scheint dieses ב den Begriff der Vermittlung, Veranlassung, durch zu bedeuten. Der Anfragende erbittet sich durch Gott, d. h. durch seine Veranlassung Antwort. Die Frage ist an Gott gerichtet und Gott veranlasst die Antwort durch die Urim und Elasar. Nicht aber ist Elasar der Veranlasser der Antwort. Er ist selbst nur passives Organ. – על פיו: nach Elasars Ausspruch. וכל העדה, nachdem bereits כל בני ישראל genannt sind, kann hier העדה nur das ב׳׳ד הגדול bezeichnen, wie Kap. 25, 6 u.7 und Wajikra 4, 13.