ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמואל א 2:27

AND THIS IS THE BLESSING WHEREWITH MOSES THE MAN OF G-D BLESSED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BEFORE HIS DEATH. It states the man of G-d in order to indicate that his blessing will be fulfilled because he was the man of G-d, and the prayer of the upright is His delight.¹Proverbs 15:8. Now Scripture calls Moses our teacher the man of G-d, and so also the rest of the prophets,²The Sifre, Brachah 342, lists eighteen prophets of whom Scripture speaks as ‘men of G-d.’ Elijah,³I Kings 17:18. and others,⁴Those not identified by name. Thus: And there came a man of G-d to Eli (I Samuel 2:27), and other similar cases. but it does not state “the man of the Eternal;” instead it says Moses the ‘servant’ of the Eternal.⁵Joshua 1:1. Moses is the servant of the Eternal Who has created everything, and Moses’ conception of Him was like that of a servant who is afraid to behold his master. Moses was also the man of G-d, since all his deeds and words came by command of the Almighty (Ma’or V’shamesh). The reason is known to every student learned in [the mystic lore of] the Torah. So also by way of the Truth, [the expression ‘v’zoth habrachah’ (and this is the blessing) means that] “v’zoth is the blessing” [as explained further on], for From the Eternal has ‘zoth’ (this) come.⁶Psalms 118:23. — “By way of the Truth,” another name for the teachings of the Cabala, thus begins a new thought of Ramban. First he intimated that the reason for Scripture stating the man of G-d and not “the man of the Eternal” is known to every student of the mysteries of the Torah. And now he begins to explain, on the basis of the Cabala, the unique expression of v’zoth habrachah. Similarly it is said in the case of Jacob, ‘v’zoth’ (and ‘this’ is) what their father [Jacob] spoke unto them.⁷Genesis 49:28. It was this blessing that David meant when he said, ‘Zoth’ (this) came to pass unto me, because I have kept Thy precepts,⁸Psalms 119:56. alluding to Zion the city of David, for there the Eternal commanded the blessing, even life forever.⁹Ibid., 133:3. The student learned in the mysteries of the Cabala will understand. Our Rabbis meant this secret in their interpretation in Bereshith Rabbah:¹⁰Bereshith Rabbah 100:13. “‘v’zoth’ (and this is) what their father spoke unto them.⁷Genesis 49:28. A man like me is destined to bless you, and, from the very place where I [Jacob] concluded — from there will he begin. At the moment Moses our teacher rose to bless them, he began with ‘v’zoth habrachah’ (and this is the blessing) — from the very place where their father concluded. This then is the meaning of the expression ‘v’zoth’ what their father spoke unto them⁷Genesis 49:28. [their father Jacob told them that the next blessing they receive would be from a man who will begin with v’zoth — v’zoth habrachah]. He [i.e., the patriarch Jacob] said to them: When will these blessings reach you? From the time you accept the Torah, in which is written, ‘V’zoth’ (And this is) the Law etc. ”¹¹Above 4:44. For this word zoth alludes to the blessing which is the Torah, and this is the covenant, as it is written ‘Zoth’ (this is) My covenant.¹²Genesis 17:10. I have already mentioned this.¹³Ibid., 2:20 (Vol. I, p. 79); Exodus 25:3 (Vol. II, pp. 437-438).

ויאמרו הרק אך במשה דבר, “did G-d then speak exclusively to Moses?” We have a rule in the Hebrew language that when restrictive clauses such as “only,” or “exclusively,” follow one another consecutively, they are meant to add something instead of to subtract something. In this instance we have two such clauses following one another, i.e. רק and אך. The addition follows promptly by Miriam adding that G-d had spoken to them, i.e. herself and to her brother Aaron also, so that they too were prophets. (The Talmud, tractate Megillah folio 14, and tractate Sotah folio 12 claims that Miriam had prophesied even before Moses had been born.) Concerning Aaron prophesying, the reader is referred to Samuel I 2,27, as interpreted by Sh’ ’mot Rabbah 3,21.)

A kabbalistic approach: I have already indicated in my commentary on 28,13, that the letter ה in the word התחת need not be understood as introducing a question, but that the whole word is definitive. It is similar to Samuel I 2,27 הנגלה נגליתי, “I have indeed revealed Myself, etc.” Yaakov indicated to Rachel that his likeness (אנכי) was indeed engraved under the throne of G’d and it was this which enabled him to know that G’d Himself had prevented her from having a child. Upon hearing this Rachel overcame her natural reluctance and gave her maid-servant to Yaakov to sleep with in order to benefit from Bilhah’s potential to bear children. In the end she herself addressed G’d in prayer as we know from 30,22: “G’d remembered Rachel and G’d listened to her.”

And I said to them Aaron proclaimed this prophecy to them before the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Moses in the thorn bush. This is what was said to Eli (I Sam. 2:27): “Did I appear to the house of your father when they were in Egypt, etc.?”

Like the smiting of him who smote him did He smite him Have you seen My might, that like the smiting of the one who smote Jacob, I smote him. They drowned them in the water, and I drowned them in the water. There are some other rhetorical questions that warrant an affirmative answer, e.g. (I Sam. 2:27), “Did I appear to the house of your father?” Also (Ezek. 8:6), “Do you see what they are doing?”

תורישמו This is an expression for poverty and need, (meaning “my hand shall make them poor”), just as, (I Samuel 2:27) “He maketh poor (מוריש) and maketh rich.”

גם מתמול וגו׳ NEITHER FROM YESTERDAY [NOR FROM BEFORE YESTERDAY] — This teaches us that for an entire period of seven days God had been endeavouring to persuade Moses at the thornbush to go on his mission, for the terms מתמול and שלשום and מאז דברך imply three days, and the three-fold גם which is mentioned here point to three extensions of the period, making six in all, and therefore he had now reached the seventh day when he further said to him, (Exodus v. 13) “Send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt send” — until God became angry with him (Exodus v. 14), and he accepted the mission (cf. Leviticus Rabbah 11:6, and Seder Olam ch. 5). All this reluctance was because he was unwilling to assume any dignity that would make him superior to his brother Aaron who was older than he and was also a prophet, as it is said (I Samuel 2:27) that the man of God spoke to Eli, the high-priest, in God’s name, “Surely I revealed myself unto the house of thy father when they were in Egypt” — thy father means Aaron. Similary in : (Ezekiel 20:5, 7) “And I made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt … and I said unto them, “cast ye away every man the detestable things of his eyes”, and that prophecy was spoken to Aaron (Exodus Rabbah 3:16; and cf. ברייתא דל"ב מדות).