ק֥וֹל צֹפַ֛יִךְ נָ֥שְׂאוּ ק֖וֹל יַחְדָּ֣ו יְרַנֵּ֑נוּ כִּ֣י עַ֤יִן בְּעַ֙יִן֙ יִרְא֔וּ בְּשׁ֥וּב יְהוָ֖ה צִיּֽוֹן׃
Pakinggan! Ang iyong mga bantay ay nagtataas ng tinig; sama-sama silang umaawit nang may galak, sapagkat makikita nila nang mata sa mata ang pagbabalik ng Walang-Hanggan sa Zion.
Kli Yakar
“I am the Lord your God, etc.” There is a disagreement among the commentators, as some say that we only heard I am and You shall have no other gods directly from the Almighty, and their evidence is that these two commandments are stated in first person while the rest of the commandments are in third person. Others say that we heard all 10 commandments from the Holy One, blessed be He, and when they said You speak with us and we will hear (Exodus 20:16), this was after they had heard the 10 commandments. According to this view, it requires explanation why specifically these two commandments were stated in first person.
According to the simple explanation, I will say something that applies to both views: it is the way of the world that after a person sees the face of the king, recognizes him and knows him, from then on he accepts him as king. And after accepting the yoke of his kingship, it is proper to accept his commandments, whether those commanded through a messenger or those commanded directly, even if he does not see the king’s face at the time of the command. But if he has never seen the king’s face and is uncertain about accepting him, how will he listen to his messenger? For if there is no sender, there is no messenger.
Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, needed to speak first in the present tense I am the Lord your God to bring them into the covenant of accepting His divinity, for eye to eye they shall see the Lord of His holy ones. And after accepting His divinity, it is fitting to listen also to His messenger who comes in His name.
But since He said I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and did not say “who created you” or “who created heaven and earth” [for reasons that will be explained shortly], this led to a distorted judgment by those who err, saying: Even if it is true that this is the Lord who brought us out of Egypt, perhaps there is another god who created us and who created heaven and earth. What reason is there to listen to the voice of this God, our God, who brought us out of Egypt? Perhaps there is another God who created us, and it is His voice I should obey.
Therefore, He immediately said, You shall have no other gods before Me, to indicate that there is no other god besides Him. And thus, you are not permitted to listen to any messenger except to this one sent from Me.
According to the simple explanation, I will say something that applies to both views: it is the way of the world that after a person sees the face of the king, recognizes him and knows him, from then on he accepts him as king. And after accepting the yoke of his kingship, it is proper to accept his commandments, whether those commanded through a messenger or those commanded directly, even if he does not see the king’s face at the time of the command. But if he has never seen the king’s face and is uncertain about accepting him, how will he listen to his messenger? For if there is no sender, there is no messenger.
Similarly, the Holy One, blessed be He, needed to speak first in the present tense I am the Lord your God to bring them into the covenant of accepting His divinity, for eye to eye they shall see the Lord of His holy ones. And after accepting His divinity, it is fitting to listen also to His messenger who comes in His name.
But since He said I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and did not say “who created you” or “who created heaven and earth” [for reasons that will be explained shortly], this led to a distorted judgment by those who err, saying: Even if it is true that this is the Lord who brought us out of Egypt, perhaps there is another god who created us and who created heaven and earth. What reason is there to listen to the voice of this God, our God, who brought us out of Egypt? Perhaps there is another God who created us, and it is His voice I should obey.
Therefore, He immediately said, You shall have no other gods before Me, to indicate that there is no other god besides Him. And thus, you are not permitted to listen to any messenger except to this one sent from Me.
Rav Hirsch
V. 3. ושב וגו׳. Sätze wie hier ושב וגו׳ את שבותך und so häufig in den Propheten und Psalmen: בשוב ד׳ שבות עמו (Ps. 14, 7) ושבתי את שבות עמי (Jirm. 30, 3), שב שבות אהלי יעקב (Jirm. 30, 18), ושבתי את שבות מצרים (Ezech. 29, 14) usw. legen die Ansicht nahe, daß in solchen Stellen שוב in transitiver Bedeutung, so viel als השיב, stehe. Allein abgesehen davon, daß, außer dieser Gedankenverbindung, es für eine transitive Bedeutung der Wurzel שוב kein Beispiel gibt, so dürfte schon unsere Stelle selbst gegen eine solche Auffassung sprechen. Offenbar sind ושב וגו׳ und ורחמך Akte, die der Zurückführung Israels in die Urheimat, dem ושב וקבצך usw. vorangehen. Nun könnte hier und in den meisten mit את konstruierten Stellen ושב את שבותך heißen: Gott kehrt mit deinen Vertriebenen zurück, d. h.: in demselben Grade und sobald du im Exil zu Gott zurückkehrst, kehrt er auch zu dir zurück. Allein die ohne את konstruierten Stellen wie: בשוב ד׳ שבות עמו usw. wären damit nicht erklärt. Vielmehr glauben wir, an die ganz normalen Erscheinungen erinnern zu dürfen, daß auch sonstige Verba intransitiva, ganz besonders aber, die eine Bewegung ausdrücken, das Ziel der Bewegung, und bei inneren Bewegungen das Moment, auf welches dieselbe gerichtet ist, das sie hervorgerufen und in welches sie sich konzentriert, im Akkusativ nach sich haben. So ja auch לך שוב מצרים :שוב (Schmot 4, 19), שובה ד׳ רבבות עמך (Bamidbar 10, 36), בשוב ד׳ ציון (Jes.52, 8), ויואב שב ירושלים (Sam. II. 20, 22). וצא השרה :יצא (Bereschit 27, 3), צאו ההר (Nehem. 8, 15), בצאתי שער (Job. 29,7). Auch mit את, wo dann der Akkusativ den Gegenstand bezeichnet, dessen Verlassen das Hinausgehen im Auge hat: יצאו את העיר (Bereschit 44, 4) כצאתי את העיר (Schmot 9, 26) und so auch בני יצאוני ואינם (Jirmija 10, 20). Auch ויגש דוד את העם :נגש (Sam. I. 30, 21). Auch הלך mit ואת בית ד׳ אני הולך :את (Richter 19, 18), wo er den ganzen Weg beschreibt, den er bereits zurückgelegt, und mit את בית ד׳ das eigentliche Ziel seiner Reise bezeichnet und hervorhebt, um hinzuzufügen: und doch nimmt mich keiner auf! ואין איש מאסף אותי הביתה.
Tze'enah Ure'enah
Bahya also writes. The Holy One said: I have allowed My Shekhinah to rest among you. Your sins cause Me to take My Shekhinah away from you, but in the end, My Shekhinah will rest among you and will not depart from you. Now you see the Shekhinah through fire, but in the future, in the days of the Messiah, you will see the Holy One explicitly, as the verse says, “for every eye shall behold the Lord’s return to Zion” [Isaiah, 52:8].15Bahya, Exodus, 40:38.