אַתָּה־הוּא֙ יְהוָ֣ה הָאֱלֹהִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר בָּחַ֙רְתָּ֙ בְּאַבְרָ֔ם וְהוֹצֵאת֖וֹ מֵא֣וּר כַּשְׂדִּ֑ים וְשַׂ֥מְתָּ שְּׁמ֖וֹ אַבְרָהָֽם׃
דו ביסט ה׳ דער גאָט װאָס האָסט אױסדערװײלט אַבֿרָמען, און אים אַרױסגעצױגן פֿון אור-כַּשׂדים, און געמאַכט זײַן נאָמען אַבֿרָהָם.
Chizkuni
ולא יקרא עוד את שמך אברם, “henceforth your name will no longer be called Avram;” anyone still referring to Avraham as Avram will be violating a positive commandment. (Talmud, B’rachot 13)[The underlying reason for this may be that by depriving him of his full name, the caller implies that he was still partially a gentile. This is loosely translated by me for the words לפי שנתלוה עמו גיות, used by the author. Ed.] Nechemyah 9,7 where reference to this name change is made, is no contradiction to what is stated in the Talmud, as it also records what has been written here. The Talmud refers to the difference from Yaakov who was given the additional name Israel, without the name Yaakov having been erased. Seeing that he had been a descendant of Avraham and Yitzchok, the name Yaakov never had a connotation of something connected to paganism which had to be erased. Already Yitzchok’s name never required to be changed.
Radak
ויאמר אלוקים אל אברהם, once G'd had changed Avram's name Moses never again spelled in the former way. Our sages have gone so far as to describe anyone referring to Avraham as Avram as having violated a positive as well as a negative commandment. (Bereshit Rabbah 46,8) They base this on the wording "your name shall not be called Avram, but your name shall be Avraham." (verse 5) Many people question this, pointing out that in Nechemya 9,7 we read אתה הוא ה' האלוקים אשר בחרת באברם , "you are the Lord G'd Who has chosen Avram." The answer is that perhaps what Nechemya meant was that G'd had chosen Avraham to be Avraham at a time when he was still known as Avram. According to the plain meaning of the text, the wording of the Torah is only a warning not to call Avraham by this former name, it is not part of the 613 commandments
Rabbeinu Bahya
Personally, I would like to add that according to tradition the “prime minister” in that parable is one of the senior ministers at G’d’s court. In order to make plain that the natural born Jews had not been the ones who had initiated the sin of the golden calf, He determined that henceforth the ox would be the primary animal to feature in sacrificial offerings.
You will find that similarly the fruit of the עץ הדר, “the tree whose fruit Chavah had eaten in Gan Eden,” became the favourite fruit amongst the four species of plants with which we praise the Lord on the festival of Tabernacles. The fact that the Torah mentions the etrog before the palm frond, a much larger plant, is to indicate that whereas Chavah sinned because she was a victim of deception by the serpent, her husband Adam sinned both in thought and in deed when he ate of that fruit also.
We find that history repeats itself in that Adam atoned for his sin by offering an ox as a sacrifice; similarly his descendants, especially highly placed ones, have to offer an ox as their sin-offering when such an offering is called for. This is the deeper meaning of the verse in Hoseah we quoted, that with the very item which their sin consisted of they subsequently pleased the Lord. According to Chulin 60 Adam offered a single-horned bull as his sin-offering.
We find a verse which combines both the word שור and the word הדר, thereby alluding to the two examples of the instrument of the sin becoming the instrument of pleasing the Lord. The verse in question is in Deut. 33,17: בכור שורו הדר לו, which we may translate allegorically as: “just as we praise Him with the fruit of the tree הדר, so we atone for our sins by means of the ox, the symbol of original forgiveness.”
In a verse preceding the verse from Hoseah we quoted, the prophet said (Hoseah 6,7) והמה כאדם עברו ברית, “they violated the covenant like just like Adam,” an allusion to the comparison of the sin of the golden calf by the Israelites and that of Adam in Gan Eden. On the one hand, the animal which had helped Adam atone for his sin had become the one atoning for the sins of the Israelites. On the other hand, looked at from a philosophical point of view, the Israelites thought that this animal had proven to be the salvation of mankind, i.e. Adam, once, hence it might again become the symbol of their future, seeing Moses had not come back. In fact, Adam had been the original cause of the sin the Israelites participated in. [— My own phraseology in trying to convey this line of reasoning. Ed.]
The reason that the Torah permitted just three categories of ritually pure beasts as potential sacrifices for the altar is in deference to the three patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. The ox symbolises Avraham, of whom the Torah wrote that he ran to the cattle in order to serve a meal to the three angels who visited him as reported in Genesis 18,1-15. The sheep is in deference to Yitzchak, when it was offered as a burnt-offering in his stead in Genesis 22,14. The goat was selected in deference to Yaakov who took the two goats at the behest of his mother in order to secure the blessing from his father (Genesis 27,9) (compare Tanchuma Emor 12). These goats were described in the Torah as טובים, “good,” meaning they were to be good both for him personally as well as for his descendants, seeing that by means of two male goats the Jewish people, Yaakov’s descendants, would secure atonement for their sins on the Day of Atonement. When the Torah therefore wrote: “an ox, a sheep, or a goat which will be born, etc.”, it referred to known functions of these animals on behalf of the Jewish people.
This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote in Kohelet 3,15: “What has been already exists, and what is still to come has already been, and G’d always seeks out the pursued.” What Solomon meant was that if someone were to say to you: “if Adam had not sinned at the time when he ate from the tree of knowledge would he still be alive and well nowadays?” You may answer him that the prophet Elijah did not sin and he did indeed not die but is alive to this day. As to the words אשר להיות, “what is still to come,” if someone believes that the idea of G’d resurrecting the dead is something which occurs only in the future [i.e. we have no proof of something like that being possible, Ed.], tell him that it has already occurred, i.e. that both the prophet Elijah, the prophet Elisha, as well as the prophet Ezekiel are on record as having revived the dead (Tanchuma Emor 9). Finally, the words והאלוהים יבקש את הנרדף in the verse from Kohelet which we quoted, means that whereas the righteous pursue (imitate and try to emulate) the other righteous people who preceded them this is normal and appropriate. The wicked persecute both other wicked people as well as righteous people; this is their nature; however, G’d seeks out the persecuted (righteous ones to save them). If you look for proof, read history. Hevel had been persecuted by his brother Kayin; in response G’d turned to Hevel’s offering while rejecting the gift of Kayin (Genesis 4,4-5). Noach had been ridiculed and persecuted by the people of his generation. G’d responded to Noach positively as stated in Genesis 6,8: “Noach found favour in the eyes of G’d.” Shortly afterwards we are told that all the remainder of mankind was wiped out (Genesis 7,23). Avraham was persecuted by Nimrod; he was saved as we know from Nechemyah 9,7 where it is written: “You are the Lord G’d who have chosen Avraham and removed (rescued) him from the fire of the Chaldaens.” Yitzchak was persecuted by the Philistines; in the end Avimelech (King of the Philistines) acknowledged his rigtheousness, G’d’s power and asked to make a treaty with him (Genesis 26,28). Yaakov was persecuted by Esau; nonetheless we have been told in Psalms 135,4: “for G’d chose for Himself Yaakov, Israel, etc.” Joseph was persecuted by his brothers only to become a most successful individual, i.e. “the Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man” (Genesis 39,2). Moses was persecuted by Pharaoh, but G’d thwarted Pharaoh’s efforts to kill him. The Jewish people were persecuted by the pagans; this is why G’d chose them as His people, as we know from Deut. 14,2: “and the Lord chose you to be His special people.” In our situation we find something parallel. The animals mentioned here are normally the innocent victims of predatory animals. The ox is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by the leopard. G’d chose the animals as suitable for sacrificial offerings because they were the persecuted ones, saying: “do not offer Me animals which are pursuers, predators, but certain categories of their victims, the persecuted.”
You will find that similarly the fruit of the עץ הדר, “the tree whose fruit Chavah had eaten in Gan Eden,” became the favourite fruit amongst the four species of plants with which we praise the Lord on the festival of Tabernacles. The fact that the Torah mentions the etrog before the palm frond, a much larger plant, is to indicate that whereas Chavah sinned because she was a victim of deception by the serpent, her husband Adam sinned both in thought and in deed when he ate of that fruit also.
We find that history repeats itself in that Adam atoned for his sin by offering an ox as a sacrifice; similarly his descendants, especially highly placed ones, have to offer an ox as their sin-offering when such an offering is called for. This is the deeper meaning of the verse in Hoseah we quoted, that with the very item which their sin consisted of they subsequently pleased the Lord. According to Chulin 60 Adam offered a single-horned bull as his sin-offering.
We find a verse which combines both the word שור and the word הדר, thereby alluding to the two examples of the instrument of the sin becoming the instrument of pleasing the Lord. The verse in question is in Deut. 33,17: בכור שורו הדר לו, which we may translate allegorically as: “just as we praise Him with the fruit of the tree הדר, so we atone for our sins by means of the ox, the symbol of original forgiveness.”
In a verse preceding the verse from Hoseah we quoted, the prophet said (Hoseah 6,7) והמה כאדם עברו ברית, “they violated the covenant like just like Adam,” an allusion to the comparison of the sin of the golden calf by the Israelites and that of Adam in Gan Eden. On the one hand, the animal which had helped Adam atone for his sin had become the one atoning for the sins of the Israelites. On the other hand, looked at from a philosophical point of view, the Israelites thought that this animal had proven to be the salvation of mankind, i.e. Adam, once, hence it might again become the symbol of their future, seeing Moses had not come back. In fact, Adam had been the original cause of the sin the Israelites participated in. [— My own phraseology in trying to convey this line of reasoning. Ed.]
The reason that the Torah permitted just three categories of ritually pure beasts as potential sacrifices for the altar is in deference to the three patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. The ox symbolises Avraham, of whom the Torah wrote that he ran to the cattle in order to serve a meal to the three angels who visited him as reported in Genesis 18,1-15. The sheep is in deference to Yitzchak, when it was offered as a burnt-offering in his stead in Genesis 22,14. The goat was selected in deference to Yaakov who took the two goats at the behest of his mother in order to secure the blessing from his father (Genesis 27,9) (compare Tanchuma Emor 12). These goats were described in the Torah as טובים, “good,” meaning they were to be good both for him personally as well as for his descendants, seeing that by means of two male goats the Jewish people, Yaakov’s descendants, would secure atonement for their sins on the Day of Atonement. When the Torah therefore wrote: “an ox, a sheep, or a goat which will be born, etc.”, it referred to known functions of these animals on behalf of the Jewish people.
This is what Solomon had in mind when he wrote in Kohelet 3,15: “What has been already exists, and what is still to come has already been, and G’d always seeks out the pursued.” What Solomon meant was that if someone were to say to you: “if Adam had not sinned at the time when he ate from the tree of knowledge would he still be alive and well nowadays?” You may answer him that the prophet Elijah did not sin and he did indeed not die but is alive to this day. As to the words אשר להיות, “what is still to come,” if someone believes that the idea of G’d resurrecting the dead is something which occurs only in the future [i.e. we have no proof of something like that being possible, Ed.], tell him that it has already occurred, i.e. that both the prophet Elijah, the prophet Elisha, as well as the prophet Ezekiel are on record as having revived the dead (Tanchuma Emor 9). Finally, the words והאלוהים יבקש את הנרדף in the verse from Kohelet which we quoted, means that whereas the righteous pursue (imitate and try to emulate) the other righteous people who preceded them this is normal and appropriate. The wicked persecute both other wicked people as well as righteous people; this is their nature; however, G’d seeks out the persecuted (righteous ones to save them). If you look for proof, read history. Hevel had been persecuted by his brother Kayin; in response G’d turned to Hevel’s offering while rejecting the gift of Kayin (Genesis 4,4-5). Noach had been ridiculed and persecuted by the people of his generation. G’d responded to Noach positively as stated in Genesis 6,8: “Noach found favour in the eyes of G’d.” Shortly afterwards we are told that all the remainder of mankind was wiped out (Genesis 7,23). Avraham was persecuted by Nimrod; he was saved as we know from Nechemyah 9,7 where it is written: “You are the Lord G’d who have chosen Avraham and removed (rescued) him from the fire of the Chaldaens.” Yitzchak was persecuted by the Philistines; in the end Avimelech (King of the Philistines) acknowledged his rigtheousness, G’d’s power and asked to make a treaty with him (Genesis 26,28). Yaakov was persecuted by Esau; nonetheless we have been told in Psalms 135,4: “for G’d chose for Himself Yaakov, Israel, etc.” Joseph was persecuted by his brothers only to become a most successful individual, i.e. “the Lord was with Joseph and he became a successful man” (Genesis 39,2). Moses was persecuted by Pharaoh, but G’d thwarted Pharaoh’s efforts to kill him. The Jewish people were persecuted by the pagans; this is why G’d chose them as His people, as we know from Deut. 14,2: “and the Lord chose you to be His special people.” In our situation we find something parallel. The animals mentioned here are normally the innocent victims of predatory animals. The ox is hunted by the lion, the sheep by the wolf, the goat by the leopard. G’d chose the animals as suitable for sacrificial offerings because they were the persecuted ones, saying: “do not offer Me animals which are pursuers, predators, but certain categories of their victims, the persecuted.”