הֲשָׁ֣מַֽע עָם֩ ק֨וֹל אֱלֹהִ֜ים מְדַבֵּ֧ר מִתּוֹךְ־הָאֵ֛שׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר־שָׁמַ֥עְתָּ אַתָּ֖ה וַיֶּֽחִי׃
Слышал ли когда-нибудь народ голос Божий из среды огня, как ты слышал, и жил?
Rashbam
from Se-ir and Paran. How was that possible? שאתה מרבבות קודש, from all the four sides (exposures) of Mount Sinai the light accompanied the angels on the way from Se-ir and Paran until it arrived at Sinai. From the right side of Mount Sinai G’d gave the Torah to the Jewish people out of the fire, for He had been speaking to the people out of the fire. We have been told this explicitly in Deut. 4,33 השמע עם קול אלוקים מדבר מתוך האש כאשר שמעת אתה ויחי?, “for has any nation ever heard the sound of G’d’s voice speak to it out of the fire as you heard it and has survived such an experience? We also find this confirmed in Psalms 68,18 רכב אלוקים רבותים אלפי שנאן ה' בם סיני בקודש, “G’d’s chariots are myriads upon myriads, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them as in Sinai in holiness.” The same thought is repeated in his own words by Chabakuk 3,3 when he said: אלו-ה מתימן יבוא וקדוש מהר פארן סלה כסה שמים הודו ותהלתו מלאה הארץ, “G’d is coming from Teyman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. His majesty covers the skies, His splendour fills the earth, is a brilliant light.” In the victory song of Devorah (Judges 5,4) we also find a reference to this great happening; she wrote: ה' בצאתך משעיר בצעדך משדה אדום, ”O Lord when You came forth from Se-ir, advanced from the country of Edom; etc.”
Rashi
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars The kings of the nations, as the matter that is written (in I Sam. 7:10): “and the Lord thundered with a loud noise etc. upon the Philistines”; (in Isa. 30:31): “For from the Lord’s voice Assyria shall be broken.” And at the time of the giving of the Torah (Deut. 5: 23): “For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speak out of the fire as we have and remained alive?” You heard and remained alive, but the nations of the world would hear it and die.
Rabbeinu Bahya
Their reasoning was correct but it was not their prerogative to make such a ruling. Rav Saadyah Gaon writes concerning this matter that Nadav and Avihu erred when they thought that our verse means that man-made fire was to be placed on the altar “from the outside.” The word ונתנו in our verse is equivalent to ובערו, “they shall burn.” The word ונתנו is used in that sense in Isaiah 37,19: ונתון את אלוהיהם באש, “they have committed their gods to the flames.” Rav Saadyah uses this example of the error committed by Nadav and Avihu to stress how careful one has to be when trying to derive halachic rulings from the written text of the Torah. If people of the stature of Nadav and Avihu could make such a fatal error in understanding the text of the Torah, how much more likely is it that scholars of lesser distinction can make such errors! Had they troubled themselves to confirm with their teachers Moses or Aaron that their interpretation was correct they would not have brought death upon themselves. The mishap which resulted from the error of the sons of Aaron accounts for the fact that Jewish scholars are so careful in repeating the lessons they have learned from their teachers by using the same words. This principle has been made into a rule in Ediyot 1,3: “a person is obligated to repeat what his Rabbi said by using the same words.” If such care is in place when one merely repeats the words of one’s teacher, how much more so is it incumbent upon each one of us not to misquote a single word from the written Torah! If someone nevertheless changes the wording of the Torah the prophet Jeremiah 23,36 said concerning such people that “they pervert the words of the living G’d.”
Concerning this whole subject Jeremiah 23,33-36 writes: “when this people, or a prophet or a priest, asks you: ‘what is the message of the Lord?’ You shall answer them “what is the message? I will cast you off — declares the Lord. As for the prophet or priest or layman who shall say ‘the message of the Lord,’ I shall punish that person and his house. You shall speak to each other, everyone to his fellow, ‘what has the Lord answered? Or “what has the Lord spoken?’ But do not mention ‘the message’ of the Lord anymore.” Does a man regard his own word as “a message?” According to Rav Saadyah Gaon the meaning of Jeremiah is that none of his listeners are allowed to put their own interpretation on the prophet’s words or to paraphrase his words. The only person allowed to interpret the word of G’d is the prophet to whom it was addressed. If the people would take it upon themselves to re-interpret G’d’s message they would become guilty of perverting G’d’s words.
In verse 36 the prophet Jeremiah used three words extolling G’d; he spoke of Him as “the living G’d,” as “the Lord G’d of Hosts,” and as “our G’d.” The first description of G’d by the prophet as “the living G’d” was a reference to G’d revealing Himself at Mount Sinai. At that time the people had heard His voice, proof that He was alive. Moses had challenged the people in Deut. 4,33 when he asked them if ever a nation had become privy to such an experience as hearing the living G’d? When Jeremiah referred to G’d as “the Lord G’d of Hosts,” he had in mind the second pillar of Judaism, the belief in prophets to whom G’d had transmitted specific messages (compare Zecharyah 7,12). Jeremiah’s referring to G’d also as “our G’d,” אלו-הינו, was a reference to the G’d of the patriarchs. The expression had been used in Joshua 24,17 where Joshua in his parting address to the Jewish people reminds them of their history and implores them to never forget how that attribute of G’d took them out of Egypt and looked after them every step of the way. The terms employed by Jeremiah for describing G’d are proof of how important it is to use the same terms that one’s teacher had used. Rav Saadyah Gaon understands the word ונתנו in our verse as equivalent to the Arabic for “they shall burn,” just as in Leviticus 6,5: “and Aaron shall kindle wood on it every morning.”
Concerning this whole subject Jeremiah 23,33-36 writes: “when this people, or a prophet or a priest, asks you: ‘what is the message of the Lord?’ You shall answer them “what is the message? I will cast you off — declares the Lord. As for the prophet or priest or layman who shall say ‘the message of the Lord,’ I shall punish that person and his house. You shall speak to each other, everyone to his fellow, ‘what has the Lord answered? Or “what has the Lord spoken?’ But do not mention ‘the message’ of the Lord anymore.” Does a man regard his own word as “a message?” According to Rav Saadyah Gaon the meaning of Jeremiah is that none of his listeners are allowed to put their own interpretation on the prophet’s words or to paraphrase his words. The only person allowed to interpret the word of G’d is the prophet to whom it was addressed. If the people would take it upon themselves to re-interpret G’d’s message they would become guilty of perverting G’d’s words.
In verse 36 the prophet Jeremiah used three words extolling G’d; he spoke of Him as “the living G’d,” as “the Lord G’d of Hosts,” and as “our G’d.” The first description of G’d by the prophet as “the living G’d” was a reference to G’d revealing Himself at Mount Sinai. At that time the people had heard His voice, proof that He was alive. Moses had challenged the people in Deut. 4,33 when he asked them if ever a nation had become privy to such an experience as hearing the living G’d? When Jeremiah referred to G’d as “the Lord G’d of Hosts,” he had in mind the second pillar of Judaism, the belief in prophets to whom G’d had transmitted specific messages (compare Zecharyah 7,12). Jeremiah’s referring to G’d also as “our G’d,” אלו-הינו, was a reference to the G’d of the patriarchs. The expression had been used in Joshua 24,17 where Joshua in his parting address to the Jewish people reminds them of their history and implores them to never forget how that attribute of G’d took them out of Egypt and looked after them every step of the way. The terms employed by Jeremiah for describing G’d are proof of how important it is to use the same terms that one’s teacher had used. Rav Saadyah Gaon understands the word ונתנו in our verse as equivalent to the Arabic for “they shall burn,” just as in Leviticus 6,5: “and Aaron shall kindle wood on it every morning.”