וּכְא֥וֹר בֹּ֖קֶר יִזְרַח־שָׁ֑מֶשׁ בֹּ֚קֶר לֹ֣א עָב֔וֹת מִנֹּ֥גַהּ מִמָּטָ֖ר דֶּ֥שֶׁא מֵאָֽרֶץ׃
И как свет утра, когда восходит солнце, Утро без облаков; Когда сквозь ясное сияние после дождя, нежная трава вырастает из земли.'
Rabbeinu Bahya
In Solomon’s time the sun was viewed as the central planet, the middle one out of a total of seven. As such it is considered symbolic of the essence of the system as Solomon always counsels that man take the “middle path,” stay away from extremes, from fringes.
When the Torah continues with the word על המזבח this is a simile for the lofty spiritual niveau of the angels, the expression מזבח being a term including all of the angels, the species, so to speak. Just as the altar on earth is a site for the sacrifices which express G’d’s goodwill towards man seeing G’d Himself describes the sacrifices as ריח ניחוחי which Onkelos translates as “that which I accept with goodwill” (Numbers 28,2), so all that the angels are doing is to congregate around G’d in order to carry out His will and to listen to His instructions (compare Psalms 103,20).
When the Torah continues speaking about כל הלילה עד הבוקר, “all night long until morning,” this is an explanation of the merit which enables man’s soul to ascend to these lofty spiritual regions, and what it is that enables it to soar so high above the domain of both the planetary system and that of the angels. The merit is the preoccupation with Torah and its precepts. It is presumed that the fact that the soul is imprisoned in a body in this terrestrial world is equivalent to its residing in the “night,” i.e. לילה. If the soul will spend the time it is imprisoned in a night-like earth by devoting itself to Torah until בוקר, until morning, i.e. until it is released from that imprisonment, then it will soar to regions above those inhabited by the angels, even. The “morning” the Torah speaks of here is a morning which does not bring with it disappointments (compare Samuel II 23,4 where David extols such a morning describing it as “without clouds”).
When the Torah continues with ואש המזבח תוקד בו, ”and the fire of the Altar shall be kept aflame on it,” the meaning is that notwithstanding the fact that the “fire” of the angels is very strong and powerful, the “fire” of the righteous described outclasses even that of the angels.
When the Torah continues with the word על המזבח this is a simile for the lofty spiritual niveau of the angels, the expression מזבח being a term including all of the angels, the species, so to speak. Just as the altar on earth is a site for the sacrifices which express G’d’s goodwill towards man seeing G’d Himself describes the sacrifices as ריח ניחוחי which Onkelos translates as “that which I accept with goodwill” (Numbers 28,2), so all that the angels are doing is to congregate around G’d in order to carry out His will and to listen to His instructions (compare Psalms 103,20).
When the Torah continues speaking about כל הלילה עד הבוקר, “all night long until morning,” this is an explanation of the merit which enables man’s soul to ascend to these lofty spiritual regions, and what it is that enables it to soar so high above the domain of both the planetary system and that of the angels. The merit is the preoccupation with Torah and its precepts. It is presumed that the fact that the soul is imprisoned in a body in this terrestrial world is equivalent to its residing in the “night,” i.e. לילה. If the soul will spend the time it is imprisoned in a night-like earth by devoting itself to Torah until בוקר, until morning, i.e. until it is released from that imprisonment, then it will soar to regions above those inhabited by the angels, even. The “morning” the Torah speaks of here is a morning which does not bring with it disappointments (compare Samuel II 23,4 where David extols such a morning describing it as “without clouds”).
When the Torah continues with ואש המזבח תוקד בו, ”and the fire of the Altar shall be kept aflame on it,” the meaning is that notwithstanding the fact that the “fire” of the angels is very strong and powerful, the “fire” of the righteous described outclasses even that of the angels.
Kli Yakar
“Evening, and you shall know that the Lord brought you out, etc.” We have already stated that the manna was a spiritual food and was related to intellectual light, and as the light of morning when the sun rises (Second Samuel 23:4), therefore the manna was given morning after morning given that they asked for it properly. But the quail was a coarse and material food, thus it was given in the evening, because intellect relates to morning and materiality to evening. The quail was only given to them temporarily, as evidenced by the fact that in Kivroth Hataavah they asked for it again. This is similar to what we wrote above in Parshat Vayechi on the verse In the morning he shall consume prey, and in the evening he shall divide spoil (Genesis 49:27). The explanation is that what a person properly asks for, the necessities, are given in the morning, with a shining countenance, and that is what he “consumes” — meaning just enough for his consumption. And the term ad [until/forever] implies that his soul will never lack anything, rather it is given to him permanently and eternally. However, in the evening — meaning the excesses that a person improperly asks for — are given in the evening with a darkened countenance, and these are the things he “divides” to others, abandoning his wealth to strangers. He becomes deprived [meshulal] and distanced from his possessions, as indicated by the term spoil [shalal]. Furthermore, such things are only given temporarily, like the quail that was only given temporarily, for the Lord does not grant the desires of the wicked forever. Rather, today He gives to them to remove their complaints from Him, but tomorrow their soul desires and there is nothing. For this reason, the manna descended from heaven, the place of light, while the quail came up from the earth, the place of darkness, as each one comes from its source according to what it is. Therefore it says, and in the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord — meaning with a shining countenance, for the Lord appeared to them eye to eye. But in the evening it says, you shall know the glory of the Lord — knowledge being inferior to sight, like a king who grants someone’s requests but whose face the person did not see. Even though he knows the gift is from the king, nevertheless, the one whose eyes behold the king in his beauty is certainly better off.