כִּֽי־הִ֭שְׁקִיף מִמְּר֣וֹם קָדְשׁ֑וֹ יְ֝הוָ֗ה מִשָּׁמַ֤יִם ׀ אֶל־אֶ֬רֶץ הִבִּֽיט׃
װאָרום ער האָט אַראָפּגעקוקט פֿון זײַן הײליקער הײך; גאָט האָט פֿון הימל געלוגט אױף דער ערד,
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויוצא אותו החוצה, “He led him outside.” It is not usual for people to be able to view the stars from inside their houses until they have stepped outside. The reason the Torah needs to use this description of what transpired when G’d spoke to Avram is because up until now the level of prophetic visions he had enjoyed was the one called “Bet El.” David (Psalms 45,14) had referred to that level of prophecy, i.e. intimacy with G’d, as כבודה בת מלך פנימה, “the glory (entourage) of the King’s daughter consists of her remaining inside.” Now that Avram was going to experience prophecy of a higher level, G’d had to mention that He took him beyond the level of “Bet El”, i.e. outside or beyond that level. This is the meaning of the word ויוצא.
Our sages in Shabbat 156 understand these words to mean that G’d removed Avram’s fate from the influence of the horoscopes, i.e. astrological limitations, when He said to him: הבט נא השמימה, “look skywards”, please.” Whenever we encounter the expression הבט it means “looking down.” If Avram had been on earth and had looked at the sky, the stars, the expression הבט would have been inappropriate. Therefore, the Torah wanted to tell us that G’d had placed Avram in a position above the stars and had told him to look down at the sky. He could henceforth trample the limitations imposed on a person due to his horoscope.
Our sages in Shabbat 156 understand these words to mean that G’d removed Avram’s fate from the influence of the horoscopes, i.e. astrological limitations, when He said to him: הבט נא השמימה, “look skywards”, please.” Whenever we encounter the expression הבט it means “looking down.” If Avram had been on earth and had looked at the sky, the stars, the expression הבט would have been inappropriate. Therefore, the Torah wanted to tell us that G’d had placed Avram in a position above the stars and had told him to look down at the sky. He could henceforth trample the limitations imposed on a person due to his horoscope.
Kli Yakar
“And they shall put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel.” And Moses changed the order and said, And you shall touch it to the lintel and to the two doorposts. According to the midrashic approach (Eichah Rabbah 5:21), we can say that they said that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel (Malachi 3:7), Return to Me first, and afterward I will return to you. And the congregation of Israel responds, “I do not have the strength to return first; rather, You be the one who initiates,” as it is said (Lamentations 5:21), Return us, O Lord, to You, and afterward, and we will return.
In this way, it can be interpreted that the lintel [mashkof] represents the Holy One, blessed be He, who is above all, as it is said (Psalms 102:20), For He looked down [hishkif] from His holy height. And the two doorposts that support the lintel represent the merit of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, as it is written (Deuteronomy 33:27), The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. For the Patriarchs are beneath the Divine Chariot, and they are the arms of the world [such that the lintels would represent the arms].
Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, as one who gives honor to those who fear Him, And they shall put it on the two doorposts first, and afterward on the lintel, suggesting that the righteous descendants of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs should be the ones to initiate. But Moses said, And you shall touch it to the lintel first, because we do not have the strength to initiate.
In this way, it can be interpreted that the lintel [mashkof] represents the Holy One, blessed be He, who is above all, as it is said (Psalms 102:20), For He looked down [hishkif] from His holy height. And the two doorposts that support the lintel represent the merit of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, as it is written (Deuteronomy 33:27), The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. For the Patriarchs are beneath the Divine Chariot, and they are the arms of the world [such that the lintels would represent the arms].
Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, said, as one who gives honor to those who fear Him, And they shall put it on the two doorposts first, and afterward on the lintel, suggesting that the righteous descendants of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs should be the ones to initiate. But Moses said, And you shall touch it to the lintel first, because we do not have the strength to initiate.
Rashi
And narrowing windows [were made] for the cells These cells did not have doors facing the outside, but one open to the other; and so we find in Tractate Middoth (4:3) regarding the cells around the Temple: “Each one had three entrances, one to the cell on the right, one to the cell on the left, and one to the cell above.” But as for the cells in the Court which were only three cells, one beside the other, having no cells above them the middle ones had two entrances: one to the cell on the right and one to the cell on the left; and the outer one, [standing] at the side of the gate, had two entrances: one open to the middle one and one to the side of the gate, and it was likewise with the outer cell of the other second side, on both sides of the gate, as is written above (verse 13): “an entrance opposite an entrance.” Now these [cells] had windows “שְּׁקֻפִים אֲטֻמִים both open and shut” - [I Kings 6:4] - open to the outside and “shut” to the inside, meaning narrow on the inside and wide on the outside to the east. Menahem (p. 180) interpreted שְּׁקֻפִים as being related to the word for looking (הַשְּׁקָפָה), as in (Song 6: 10) “Who is this who looks forth (הַנִשְּׁקָפָה)”; (Ps. 102:20) “For He has looked down (הִשְּׁקִיף) from His holy height.” He interprets [the word “lintel” in] (Exod. 12:22) “to the lintel (אֶל הַמַשְּׁקוֹף)” also, as being related to the word for [over]looking.