Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Levitico 19:11

He states, ‘Al tiphnu’ (Turn ye not) unto the idols,³⁰Verse 4. the term tiphnu (turn ye) being of the expressions: and if thy heart ‘yiphneh’ (turn away);³¹Deuteronomy 30:17. whose heart ‘poneh’ (turneth away) this day.³²Ibid., 29:17. The verse [here] is thus stating that one’s heart should not turn away to the idols, to believe that there is some benefit in [worshipping] them, or that the events that they foretell will really transpire; rather, they and all their activities should appear to him as things of nought, and vanity,³³Isaiah 40:17. and future events occur only by decree of the Most High. And so also have our Rabbis said:³⁴Shabbath 149 a. “It is forbidden to look at the statues [of the idols] themselves, because it says, ‘Turn ye not’ unto the idols.” Thus the Rabbis included within this prohibition even looking at the statues, so that one should not allow one’s thoughts to dwell on their matters at all.
He states, nor make to yourselves molten gods,³⁰Verse 4. thus prohibiting them from the very moment that they are made. Admonitions against idolatry are stated in the Torah in many places.
In the Midrash of Vayikra Rabbah the Rabbis mentioned concerning this section [of the Torah the following text]:³⁵Vayikra Rabbah 24:5. “Rabbi Levi says: Because the Ten Commandments are included in this section [therefore it was proclaimed to the full assembly]. I am the Eternal thy G-d,²⁶Exodus 20:2. and here it is written, I am the Eternal your G-d. Thou shalt have no other gods,³⁶Exodus 20:3. and here it is written, nor make to yourselves molten gods.³⁰Verse 4. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Eternal thy G-d in vain,³⁷Ibid., Verse 7. and here it is written, And ye shall not swear by My Name falsely.³⁸Further, Verse 12. Remember the Sabbath day,²⁹Ibid., Verse 8 (Vol. II, pp. 306-311). and here it is written, and ye shall keep My Sabbaths.²⁷Verse 3. Honor thy father and thy mother,²⁸Exodus 20:12. and here it is written, Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father.²⁷Verse 3. Thou shalt not murder,³⁹Exodus 20:13. and here it is written, Neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor.⁴⁰Further, Verse 16. Thou shalt not commit adultery,³⁹Exodus 20:13. and here it is written, Profane not thy daughter, to make her a harlot.⁴¹Ibid., Verse 29. Thou shalt not steal,³⁹Exodus 20:13. and here it is written, Ye shall not steal.⁴²Ibid., Verse 11. Thou shalt not bear false witness,³⁹Exodus 20:13. and here it is written, Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people.⁴⁰Further, Verse 16. Thou shalt not covet,⁴³Exodus 20:14. and here it is written, and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”⁴⁴Further, Verse 18. For if you love him as yourself you will not covet that which is his, since that which is hateful to yourself, you should not do to others (Etz Yoseiph in the name of Rabbi David Luria). Thus far is the text of the Midrash.

או אל המזוזה, “or against the doorpost;” Rashi comments on this that the Torah draws a parallel between “door” and “doorpost;” both are upright. What Rashi means is that the doorpost is compared to the door only in respect of their both being upright. The definitive aspect of this procedure is found in Deuteronomy 15,17, where the Torah stipulates that the ear of the person who is going to have it pierced is to be adjacent to the door at that time. This is proved by the Jerusalem Targum which translates the word או in our verse as meaning אשר, “which is;” there are similar constructions to this, as in 21,36 או נודע כי שור נגח הוא, where the word או also means אשר, i.e. “an ox which is known to be aggressive.” The author quotes more examples. In our verse here, Rashi prefers an allegorical explanation based on the Mechilta, i.e. the ear which had heard G-d say at Mount Sinai: ”do not steal,” and which had heard G-d say: “the Children of Israel are My slaves,” needs to be reminded of this by being pierced after having opted to ignore both of these statements by G-d. Our author corrects the reference to “do not steal” from the Ten Commandments, as that commandment speaks of stealing persons, i.e. kidnapping. Therefore the version found in Leviticus 19,11 is preferred as there the Torah speaks of the theft of objects. Also, the prohibition in the Ten Commandments carries a death penalty as opposed to the version of theft discussed in Leviticus. In that version the ordinary penalty is to make restitution of twice the value of the stolen objects; if the thief is unable to come up with the money, then he [his labour, Ed.] is sold by the court to someone willing to buy him and to abide by the Torah’s rules concerning how to treat him. The reason why Rashi chose the prohibition of stealing when he had so many others to choose from, is because the thief displayed greater fear of the Lord than many other kinds of sinners, as he committed his sin in secret when insulting G-d by being more afraid of the police seeing him than of G-d seeing what he did. Moreover, the Jewish servant choosing to continue serving his master in spite of living with a non Jewish mate and raising non Jewish children, has demonstrated that he does not care what G-d had said nor what G-d’s servant, his master, has said. Hence his deliberately “faulty” hearing is being punished.

she who conceived them behaved shamefully Jonathan, who renders: Their teachers are ashamed. The wise men who teach them with instructions are ashamed before the ignorant populace. They tell them, “You shall not steal,” but they steal. “You shall not lend for interest,” but they lend.

לא תגנוב THOU SHALT NOT STEAL — Scripture here is speaking about a case of one who steals human beings, whilst the command (Leviticus 19:11) “Ye shall not steal” speaks about a case of one who steals money (another person’s property in general). Or perhaps this is not so, but this speaks about the case of one who steals money and the other about the case of one who steals human beings! You must, however, admit that the rule applies: a statement must be explained from its context. How is it in regard to, “Thou shalt not murder” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery”? Each, speaks of a matter for which one becomes liable to death by sentence of the court; similarly, “Thou shalt not steal”, must speak of a matter for which one becomes liable to death by sentence of the court, and this is not so in the case of theft of money but only in that of kidnapping (Sanhedrin 86a; cf.Mekhilta).