Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Eclesiastes 7:19

Am I not: It is like the Targum [Yonatan], "Is not my wish better to you" - meaning to say, "Is not my wish towards you and my love for you better to you than ten sons?" But some explain, "Am I not better to you than I am to the ten sons I have from Peninah" - meaning to say, I love you more than I love my sons. And he said this because Peninah had ten sons. But according to our explanation, the reason for [the word], "ten," is by way of a general (figurative) count - as in (Leviticus 26:26), "and ten women will bake"; "than ten rulers" (Ecclesiastes 7:19); "seven times like your sins" (Leviticus 26:21); "seven times does a righteous one fall" (Proverbs 24:16); and that which is similar to them.

[Daniel 1:20] Ve-chol (וְכֹל - And every): This indicates that Nebuchadnezzar [himself] knew wisdom, and he found each one of these four knew ten measures/times (eser yadot - עֶשֶׂר יָדוֹת) [more] than every magician (chartom - חַרְטֹם) and exorcist/astrologer (ashshaf - אַשָּׁף). And it is possible that ten (eser) is [treated linguistically as] a plural term, like [in the phrase] “than ten rulers” (me-asarah shallitim - מֵעֲשָׂרָה שַׁלִּיטִים) [Ecclesiastes 7:19], because ten is a sum total/complete count (sach cheshbon - סָךְ חֶשְׁבּוֹן). And the author of Sefer Yetzirah said: “Ten Sefirot of Nothingness” (eser sefirot blimah - עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת בְּלִי מָה) [Sefer Yetzirah 1:4]. And the magicians (chartummim - חַרְטֻמִּים) are not the exorcists/astrologers (ashshafim - אַשָּׁפִים), because behold, it is written [elsewhere]: “to call the magicians (chartummim) and the exorcists/astrologers (ashshafim)” [Daniel 2:2, listing them separately]. And there [in the commentary on that verse] I will explain them.