Komentaryong Sumisipi para sa Mga Awit 62:12

“God has spoken once, twice I have heard this” (Psalms 62:12). From one verse, emerge several explanations. [However] in conclusion, a verse does not depart from its literal sense and meaning. Although the Prophets have employed metaphors, let each metaphor be explained simply, each statement fitting its context.

וידבר ה' אל משה לאמור, “G’d spoke to Moses for him to communicate.” According to the plain meaning of the text the word לאמור means that Moses was to relay the instructions received from G’d to the people. Alternatively, the word could mean that in addition to what the Torah has spelled out clearly for all to read and understand there are hidden meanings to be deciphered by those who apply themselves to Torah-study in depth. The נגלה, the revealed part, are the details of the commandment. The נסתר, the mystical, hidden aspect of this portion, is that which not everybody can grasp even if he tries. There have always been aspects of Torah not accessible to the average person. This is what David said (Psalms 62,12) “G’d has said one thing; yet I have heard two.” A single communication may contain more than one message. Solomon echoed the same sentiment when he said: “a word spoken properly is like golden apples set in silver” (Proverbs 25,11). In this verse Solomon compared the matters which are revealed to silver, whereas matters concealed he likened to gold, i.e. they had first been overlaid, made invisible by silver.

Another way of understanding the word לאמור in our verse is that it refers to the hidden meaning of the words of the revelation. Each utterance of G’d contains meanings obvious to all as well as hidden meaning. In this instance the expression דבור, i.e. וידבר, refers to the plain meaning, the revealed message, whereas the hidden meaning is alluded to by the word לאמור. This principle may be applied to most instances where the Torah writes: וידבר ה’ אל משה לאמור, “G’d spoke to Moses, saying.” The text tells us that G’d said more than what meets the eye at a superficial reading of the words. I have already elaborated on this concept in my commentary on Exodus 13,1 (page 907 my translation, Ed.) In this instance, a moment in time when the Israelites were all of a level capable of receiving prophetic insights, G’d revealed both aspects of His words, the plain and the more sophisticated, at one and the same time to all of them. This is the meaning of Psalms 62,12: “G’d has said one (word) whereas I have heard two.”

זכור — This word REMEMBER which opens this commandment here and שמור “observe” which opens it in Deuteronomy (5:12) were spoken in one utterance. Similar is, (Exodus 31:14) “Everyone that profaneth it (the Sabbath) shall surely be put to death”, which apparently is in contradiction with (Numbers 28:9) “And on the Sabbath day [ye shall offer] two lambs”, a command necessitating actions which, if done for any other purposes on the Sabbath, would involve a profanation of that day. Similar is, (Deuteronomy 22:11) “Thou shalt not wear a garment of two kinds, [as of woollen and linen together]” and (Deuteronomy 22:12) “Thou shalt make thee tassels”, for the performance of which command wool and linen may be employed in combination. Similar is, (Leviticus 18:16) “The nakedness of thy brother’s wife” (the prohibition of marriage with her), and (Deuteronomy 25:5) “her husband’s brother shall come unto her” (he shall marry her). — This is the meaning of what is said (Psalms 62:12) “One thing did God speak, these two things did we hear” (Mekhilta). זכור — This word expresses the verbal action without any reference to a particular time (the infinitive), similar to, (Isaiah 22:13) אכול ושתו “to eat and to drink”; (II Samuel 3:16) הלוך ובכה “to go and to weep”; and the following is its meaning: take care to remember always the Sabbath day — that if, for example, you come across a nice article of food during the week, put it by for the Sabbath (Beitzah 16a).