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ספר הברית THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT — the book which we have said contained the part of the Torah from בראשית till the “Giving of the Torah” including the Commandments that were given to them at Marah (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 19:10:2; cf. Rashi on v. 4).

ספר הברית. The book in which G’d’s words had been recorded as well as the laws concerning which the covenant was concluded. Reference has to be made to this book in verse four of our chapter.

ספר הברית, the book mentioned in verse four where Moses is reported as recording in writing.

The Book of the Covenant (bris). Bereishis is called the Book of the Covenant because it contains all the covenants made with Noach and the Patriarchs. Alternatively, the word bris is a variant of the word bri’ah—“creation,” in which case Bereishis is actually called the Book of Creation.

From Bereishis till the Giving of the Torah. . . Therefore it is called [“the Book,”] with ה"א הידיעה , because it is referring to what was mentioned before (v. 4), “Moshe wrote down. . .”

V. 7. ספר הברית: das V. 4 niedergeschriebene Gesetz, das ihnen bereits V. 3 mündlich vollständig mitgeteilt und durch ihr Erfüllungsgelöbnis zur Bundesverpflichtung erwachsen war. — נעשה ונשמע, oben (V. 3) nach der mündlichen Darstellung der Gesetze, genügte das Gelöbnis: נעשה. Es waren ihnen ja die Gesetze vollständig detailliert zum Bewusstsein gebracht. Demgegenüber war nur "Erfüllung" anzugeloben. Die Schrift enthielt aber nur die Gesetze in ihren kurz gefaßten Grundnormen, wie wir sie in der Schrift vor uns haben, die Detaildarstellung verblieb der mündlichen Belehrung und der Auffassung im Geiste durchs Gehör. Dem zu lesenden, geschriebenen Gesetze gegenüber würde sich das נעשה-Gelöbnis nur auf den, ohne mündliche Überlieferung unvollständigen, Wortlaut beziehen. Sie fügten hier daher: "ונשמע" hinzu, und sagten damit: alles, was Gott gesprochen, nicht nur die uns hier vorgelesenen Grundzüge, wollen wir vollbringen, und zu diesem Ende auch "hören", d. h.: uns durch Kennenlernen und Beachten des Mündlichverbliebenen in den Stand setzen, den göttlichen Willen wirklich und vollkommen zu erfüllen.

ויקח ספר הברית, “He took hold of the Book of the Covenant;” It is well known that the Torah was not written in chronological sequential order. The Mechilta of Rabbi Yishmael, on the 19th chapter of the Book of Exodus, has proven this beyond any question. Among other proofs the author has cited is Leviticus 25,2, where the Torah wrote: ושבתה הארץ, that the soil of the land of Israel is to observe a year of lying fallow, (immediately after the Israelites entering that land) and the Torah proceeds to lists the laws pertaining to the sh’mittah cycles followed by the Jubilee cycles, concluding with 26,46: “these are the statutes and social laws that G-d has given as applying to the Jewish people all of which He had revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai.” The Jewish people heard and accepted all the laws including the blessings and curses applying to those who observed them and those who would disobey them, after which Moses took the remainder of the blood and sprinkled it upon them, as the seal of the covenant. He told the people to listen to detailed instructions of these laws starting on the day following. [In other words, the Jews had already bound themselves to be obedient to the Torah’s laws even though they had not yet been written down. There is considerable discussion about the term ספר הברית, here whether what was already written in there at the time Moses read from it was subsequently written in the Torah out of context or not. According to our author’s interpretation of the Mechilta when the Israelites said their famous: נעשה ונשמע generally understood as their giving G-d a blank cheque, this was not so, they simply expressed the wish to learn the details of what Moses had already read out to them. Ed.]

ויקרא באזני העם, Moses read out the contents so that the people would know what they had committed themselves to. Only by knowing the contents would they be prevented from violating the commandments inadvertently.

נעשה ונשמע, “we will carry out what G’d has said already, and we are also prepared to listen (obey) to what He will command from here on in.

נעשה ונשמע, a reference to action designed to ensure that they could obey G’d’s directives without thought of any reward that might be in store for them by doing this. We find a similar construction in Psalms 103,20 עושי דברו לשמוע בקולו, “who do His bidding, ever obedient to His bidding.”