שֶׁ֖מֶן לַמָּאֹ֑ר בְּשָׂמִים֙ לְשֶׁ֣מֶן הַמִּשְׁחָ֔ה וְלִקְטֹ֖רֶת הַסַּמִּֽים׃
אײל פֿאַר דער לײַכטונג, בשׂמים פֿאַר דעם אײל פֿון זאַלבונג, און פֿאַר דעם װײַרױך פֿון שמעקעדיקע געװירצן;
Kli Yakar
And in the Midrash Tanchuma it concludes, gold corresponds to the Babylonian kingdom, as it says You are the head of gold (Daniel 2:38). And silver corresponds to Media [Persia], as it says about it, and 10,000 talents of silver, etc. And copper corresponds to the Greek kingdom, which is inferior to them all. Red-dyed ram skins corresponds to the kingdom of Edom [Rome], etc. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: “Even though you see the four kingdoms acting haughtily and coming upon you, by your lives, I will cause salvation to sprout for you from within the subjugation.” What is written after this? Oil for lighting — this is the King Messiah, as it says There I will cause a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one (Psalms 132:17), and it is written Arise, shine, for your light has come (Isaiah 60:1). And regarding this midrash and others like it, many have wondered why they removed the verse from its plain meaning and interpreted it as referring to the four kingdoms.
Ramban
AND RACHEL STOLE THE TERAPHIM. Her intention was to wean her father from idol-worship. This is the language of Rashi.
Now it is possible that Laban used the teraphim for idol worship, as he himself said, Why hast thou stolen my gods?193Further, Verse 30. But not all teraphim were for the purpose of worship, for how could one find idolatry in the house of our lord David.194See I Samuel 19:13, where it states that there were teraphim in David’s house. That which the commentators195R’dak, in his Commentary on the verse here. say seems reasonable, namely, that these are vessels to receive196“Receive.” According to the Tur, “determine.” a knowledge of the hours, and they divine with them in order to gain knowledge of future events. The word teraphim is derived from the expressions: ‘rephai’ (weak) handed;197II Samuel 17:2. ‘nirpim’ (idle) ye are, idle.198Exodus 5:17. They are called “teraphim” in order to hint by their name that their words are like a weak prophecy, usually occurring as a prophecy for many days hence199Ezekiel 12:27. and turning out to be false, just as the prophets have said, For the teraphim have spoken vanity.200Zechariah 10:2. People of little faith set them up for themselves as gods. They do not seek to know by the glorious name of the Eternal, nor do they offer their prayers to Him. Rather, their deeds are guided by divination revealed to them by the teraphim. Thus it is written, And the man Micah had a house of G-d, and he made an ephod, and teraphim,201Judges 17:5. and it is further written there, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of G-d that we may know whether our way which we are going shall be prosperous,202Ibid., 18:5. for they used to ask of the teraphim. Such also was the case in Israel with the ephod, for, having been accustomed to the sacred ephod203See Exodus 25:6-12. they made something similar in form, and they would seek guidance of it, believe in its words, and blunder after it. Even in sickness they sought not G-d but only them.204See II Chronicles 16:12. This is the meaning of the verse, And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house,205Judges 8:27. for they turned aside from following the Eternal. Now Laban was a diviner and an enchanter, just as he said, I have divined.206Above, 30:27. His country, too, was ever a land of diviners, as it is written, For they are replenished from the east, and with soothsayers like the Philistines,207Isaiah 2:6. Laban’s city Haran was in the land of the children of the east (above, 29:1). and Balaam the son of Beor the diviner was from his city.208See Numbers 23:7. And this is the meaning of, Why hast thou stolen my gods?193Further, Verse 30.
Now it is possible that Laban used the teraphim for idol worship, as he himself said, Why hast thou stolen my gods?193Further, Verse 30. But not all teraphim were for the purpose of worship, for how could one find idolatry in the house of our lord David.194See I Samuel 19:13, where it states that there were teraphim in David’s house. That which the commentators195R’dak, in his Commentary on the verse here. say seems reasonable, namely, that these are vessels to receive196“Receive.” According to the Tur, “determine.” a knowledge of the hours, and they divine with them in order to gain knowledge of future events. The word teraphim is derived from the expressions: ‘rephai’ (weak) handed;197II Samuel 17:2. ‘nirpim’ (idle) ye are, idle.198Exodus 5:17. They are called “teraphim” in order to hint by their name that their words are like a weak prophecy, usually occurring as a prophecy for many days hence199Ezekiel 12:27. and turning out to be false, just as the prophets have said, For the teraphim have spoken vanity.200Zechariah 10:2. People of little faith set them up for themselves as gods. They do not seek to know by the glorious name of the Eternal, nor do they offer their prayers to Him. Rather, their deeds are guided by divination revealed to them by the teraphim. Thus it is written, And the man Micah had a house of G-d, and he made an ephod, and teraphim,201Judges 17:5. and it is further written there, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of G-d that we may know whether our way which we are going shall be prosperous,202Ibid., 18:5. for they used to ask of the teraphim. Such also was the case in Israel with the ephod, for, having been accustomed to the sacred ephod203See Exodus 25:6-12. they made something similar in form, and they would seek guidance of it, believe in its words, and blunder after it. Even in sickness they sought not G-d but only them.204See II Chronicles 16:12. This is the meaning of the verse, And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah; and all Israel went astray after it there; and it became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house,205Judges 8:27. for they turned aside from following the Eternal. Now Laban was a diviner and an enchanter, just as he said, I have divined.206Above, 30:27. His country, too, was ever a land of diviners, as it is written, For they are replenished from the east, and with soothsayers like the Philistines,207Isaiah 2:6. Laban’s city Haran was in the land of the children of the east (above, 29:1). and Balaam the son of Beor the diviner was from his city.208See Numbers 23:7. And this is the meaning of, Why hast thou stolen my gods?193Further, Verse 30.
Da'at Zekenim
בשמים ראש, “chief spices;” seeing that previously the Torah had written: בשמים לשמן המשחה, “spices for the oil of anointing,” (Exodus 25,6) without specifying those spices, now both the spices and their respective amounts are being spelled out. The word ראש occurs here as number, i.e. “first in rank,” just as it does in verse 12, כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל, “when you count the number, i.e. sum total, of the Children of Israel,” or in ראש חודש, “first of the month.” Compare also Amos 6,6: וראשית שמנים ימשחו, “and anoint themselves with the choicest oils.” Compare also Song of Songs 4,14: עם כל ראשי בשמים, “with all the choicest spices.”