Комментарий о цитате к Тегилим 73:20

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Since it says I am the Lord and the special Name is in the language of Being [Havayah], indicating that He, blessed be He, is always in His being, whether in the past, present, or future — at all times He was, is, and will be in one state of being — it was necessary to say here You shall have no [other gods], because these [other gods] are not in a state of being and they change. For we find that our Sages of blessed memory (Pesachim 23) interpret the language of will be [yihyeh] as indicating “in their state of being they will remain.” Therefore it says here [literally] There will not be for you to indicate that they [other gods] will not remain in their state of being, but rather they change and become “others” — both from the perspective that as they age, their form deteriorates, in the city You despise their image (Psalms 73:20); and from the perspective that they change from silver to gold to wood to stone; and from the perspective that they are “other” to their worshippers, who cry out to them but are not answered. Therefore it says there will not be for you, and the proof of this is that they are other gods. And it says before Me — we have already said above that specifically when My face is turned toward you, then You shall have no other gods, but if sin causes you to be in a state of “the hiding of [God’s] face” [hester panim], then inevitably you will serve other gods, as Moses warned in the rebuke (Deuteronomy 28:64), And there you will serve other gods, which means that because you pay taxes to idolatrous priests, Scripture considers it as if you worshipped them.

I have seen how the wicked were buried. In this prophecy, I saw wicked men buried, who were worthy of being buried in the dust, for they were held in contempt by the nations, about whom it is stated, “this people has never been,”¹⁹Yeshayahu 23:13. and they ruled over the Beis [Hamikdosh] of the Holy One, Blessed Is He, which is a holy place. And when they went from there to their land, they boasted in their city that they did such and such in the Beis [Hamikdosh] of the Omnipresent. Do not read ‘וְיִשְׁתַּכְּחוּ’, [=and they will be forgotten,] but ‘וְיִשְׁתַּבְּחוּ’, [=and they will boast]. So did our Rabbis of blessed memory expound it.²⁰See Maseches Gittin 56b. Concerning the forgetting,²¹I.e., the wording of the written text [וישתכחו]. it is expounded as follows in the Aggadah: And ultimately, their name and their remembrance will be forgotten from that very city, that they did so therein, as it is stated, “I will gather all the nations [and I will take them down] to the Valley of Yehoshophot.”²²Yoel 4:2. In the place where they angered Him, He will mete out retribution upon them, and so it states, “O Adonoy, in the city, You will despise their form.”²³Tehillim 73:20.

AND G-D SAID: ‘LET US MAKE MAN.’ There was a special command dedicated to the making of man because of his great superiority since his nature is unlike that of beasts and cattle which were created with the preceding command.
The correct explanation of na’aseh (let us make) [which is in the plural form when it should have been in the singular] is as follows: It has been shown to you that G-d created something from nothing only on the first day, and afterwards He formed and made things from those created elements.²⁰¹Fire, wind, water, and earth. Thus when He gave the waters the power of bringing forth a living soul,²⁰²Verse 20. the command concerning them was Let the waters swarm.²⁰²Verse 20. The command concerning cattle was Let the earth bring forth.²⁰³Verse 24. But in the case of man He said, Let us make, that is, I and the aforementioned earth, let us make man, the earth to bring forth the body from its elements as it did with cattle and beasts, as it is written, And the Eternal G-d formed man of the dust of the ground,²⁰⁴Genesis 2:7. and He, blessed be He, to give the spirit from His mouth, the Supreme One, as it is written, And He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.²⁰⁴Genesis 2:7. And He said, In our image, and after our likeness, as man will then be similar to both. In the capacity of his body, he will be similar to the earth from which he was taken, and in spirit he will be similar to the higher beings, because it [the spirit] is not a body and will not die. In the second verse, He says, In the image of G-d He created him,²⁰⁵Verse 27. in order to relate the distinction by which man is distinguished from the rest of created beings. The explanation of this verse I have found ascribed to Rabbi Joseph the Kimchite,²⁰⁶The father of Rabbi David Kimchi (R’dak, the famous grammarian and commentator of the Bible). The explanation is found in R’dak’s commentary to the Torah here as well as in his Sefer Hamichlal. In his works on Hebrew grammar and Bible, R’dak often mentions the interpretation of his father. Moses Kimchi, a second son to Joseph, also continued the tradition of the family. and is the most acceptable of all interpretations that have been advanced concerning it.
The meaning of tzelem is as the word to’ar (appearance), as in ‘Vetzelem’ (And the appearance) of his face was changed;²⁰⁷Daniel 3:19. similarly, Surely ‘b’tzelem’ (as a mere appearance) man walketh;²⁰⁸Psalms 39:7. When Thou arousest Thyself ‘tzalmam’ (their appearance) Thou wilt despise,²⁰⁹Ibid., 73:20. that is, the appearance of their countenance. And the meaning of the word d’muth is similarity in form and deed, as things that are akin in a certain matter are called similar to each other. Thus man is similar both to the lower and higher beings in appearance and honor, as it is written, And Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor,²¹⁰Ibid., 8:6. meaning that the goal before him is wisdom, knowledge, and skill of deed.²¹¹Ecclesiastes 2:21;4:4. In real likeness his body thus compares to the earth while his soul is similar to the higher beings.