Komentaryo sa Exodo 34:10: Rashi, Chizkuni, Sforno & Rashbam

כרת ברית [BEHOLD, I] MAKE A COVENANT about this.

הנה אנכי כורת ברית, “I hereby make a covenant, etc.” G-d promises to walk with the Children of Israel. He adds: “concerning your question (33,16) ‘how will it be known that both I and Your people are distinguished?’” The answer is: נגד כל עמך אעשה נפלאות, “I will perform miracles in full view of your whole people the like of which I have never performed on earth.”An alternate explanation: the covenant G-d speaks of here is the one spelled out in detail in verse 27: where it is made clear that a new covenant was necessary as the people had broken the original covenant as stated there: כי על פי הדברים האלה כרתי אתך ברית ואת ישראל, “for according to these commandments (words) I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” The commandments referred to are the observance of the three pilgrimage festivals that have been listed already in Exodus 23,16: Passover, Pentecost and the festival of huts. They are repeated here as a reminder, as all three are related directly to the Exodus from Egypt. Seeing that the subject of the Exodus from Egypt came up, the law concerning sanctification of the firstborn males of humans and pure animals, as well as the donkeys, which also mention the Exodus are brought here again.

הנה אנכי כורת ברית, to be in your midst. Compare Megillah 29 “when the Jewish people were exiled to Babylonia the presence of the Lord was “exiled” together with them, i.e. accompanied them; when they were exiled to Eylam the same was true. Even when they were exiled to Edom (by the Romans) this remained true.

אעשה נפלאת — The word נפלאת is an expression of the same meaning as ונפלינו (Exodus 33:16; so that the phrase means: I will make a difference) meaning that you shall be different in this respect from all other peoples — in that My Shechinah will not rest upon them.