ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 19:17

You should know that in the view of Maimonides (Moreh Nevuchim section 2 chapter 33) at the revelation at Mount Sinai the sound the Children of Israel heard (G’d’s voice) had been created for the purpose. This was a one-time manifestation of that sound and while they heard it, they were not able to separate different letters from one another. It was heard a single time and comprised only the first two of the Ten Commandments. Concerning this phenomenon the Torah wrote (Deut. 5,19) “a powerful sound without break.” The Torah also wrote concerning this sound (Deut. 5,20) “when you heard the sound.” Furthermore, in Deut. 4,12 Moses said קול דברים אתם שמעים, “you hear the sound of words.” Significantly, Moses did not say that the people actually heard words,” i.e. were able to hear distinct letters. This is also what is meant in Exodus 19,9: “in order that the people hear when I speak with you (Moses).” The meaning is that the people will hear the sound but will not be able to make out the individual words.
Our sages (Makkot 24) say that the Israelites heard the first two commandments from G’d’s own mouth. The wording there is: מפי הגבורה שמענום. This reflects the difference between what Moses heard and what the people heard. The people only heard קול דברים, “the sound of words,” whereas Moses heard the words themselves. This is why Moses interpreted the words he had heard to the people by separating between letter and letter and word and word. This is what Moses referred to when he said (Deut. 5,5) “I was standing between you and G’d at that time in order to tell you the word of the Lord.” Moses referred to the first two commandments which the people, though having heard them, had not been able to understand.
This explains the way Onkelos renders both the words וידבר אלוה-הים את כל הדברים האלה לאמור, and וידבר אלו-הים אל משה לאמור, as ומליל ה’ as if both verses meant the same. He is correct because the word לאמור in each verse means that Moses was to communicate G’d’s words to the people. In 20,15 when Onkelos translates the people saying to Moses ואל ידבר עמנו אלו-הים פן נמות, “let not G’d speak to us so that we shall not die,” he translates this as ולא יתמלל עמנא מן קדם ה’, instead of ולא ימלל עמנא. The distinction Onkelos makes between the way the people heard G’d’s voice and the way Moses perceived it is clearly reflected in his rendering what the people had heard as מן קדם ה’. The people had been aware that what they heard was something other than words.
After the people had heard the first two commandments by hearing G’d’s voice their souls departed as we know from Song of Songs 5,6 (compare our comments page 1049 this volume on Exodus 19,17) נפשי יצאה בדברו, “my soul departed at His decree.” They were afraid that they would continue to hear G’d’s voice and were afraid they would die as a result. This is when they said to Moses (Deut. 5,22) “let us not die,”....(and in verse 24) ”approach you and hear what G’d says,....and tell us what G’d said.” Moses heard every one of the Ten Commandments one at a time and related them to the people. To sum up: the Israelites did hear the first two commandments at the same time and from the same source as did Moses, but they could not make sense out of them. The other eight commandments they heard from Moses just as they heard all other commandments in the Torah from Moses. This is what is meant at the beginning of Shir Hashirim Rabbah (5,6), that the words in Deut. 33,4 תורה צוה לנו משה “Moses commanded us the Torah” (not G’d), means that Moses relayed to the people 611 of the 613 commandments. The numerical value of the letters in the word תורה add up to 611. The other two commandments G’d personally commanded the people. Seeing that the first two commandments were heard by the people as a continuous utterance (no break between letters to form words or sentences), this was what David had said in Psalms 62,12: “G’d said a single word but I heard two.” This is the opinion of Maimonides of what transpired at the giving of the Torah.

Bamidbar Rabbah 1,6 comments that the reference to the “wilderness of Sinai” is to remind us that the giving of the Torah comprised three elements: 1) fire; 2) water; 3) the desert. We know that fire was a factor in the giving of the Torah from Exodus 19,18: “the whole Mountain of Sinai was smoking on account of the Lord having descended upon it in fire.” We know that water was also a crucial factor from Judges 5,4 (Devorah’s song) “O Lord when You came forth from Seir, advanced from the country of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens dripped, yea, the clouds of water, the mountains quaked before the Lord, Him of Sinai, before the Lord G’d of Israel.” Finally, we know that the desert was a factor in the giving of the Torah from the reference to the desert of Sinai in our verse.”
Why were these three elements an integral part of the giving of the Torah? To tell you that just as three basic phenomena on earth are available for free to everyone, so Torah is to be taught without charge. Isaiah 55,1 spelled this out clearly when he proclaimed: “Ho, all who are thirsty, come for water!” Why was it important to give the Torah in the desert? To teach that one cannot truly acquire Torah except after one has made oneself הפקר, “ownerless like the desert.” [One must not allow oneself to be dominated by other philosophies or the evil urge if one wants to absorb Torah in its undiluted form. Ed.]

מסיני בא [THE LORD] CAME FROM SINAI — He went forth towards them when they were about to take their stand at the foot of the Mount, — as a bridegroom goes forth to welcome his bride, as it is said, (Exodus 19:17) “And Moses brought the people forth to meet God”: this teaches us that He (God) was Himself going forth facing them (cf. Mekhilta and Rashi on the verse quoted).

אף חבב עמים YEA, HE LOVED THE PEOPLES — Also He loved the tribes with exceeding love. — Each individual tribe may be termed עם (or גוי), “a people”, for, you see, Benjamin alone was yet to be born when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Jacob, (Genesis 25:11, see Rashi thereon) “A nation and a congregation of nations shall be of you."

כל קדשיו בידך ALL HIS SAINTS ARE IN THY HAND — the souls of the righteous are stored up with Him, just as it is said, (I Samuel 25:29) “And the soul of my lord shall be bound up in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God" (Sifrei Devarim 344:7).

והם תכו לרגלך AND THEY SAT AT THY FOOT — And they are deserving of this, because they betook themselves right into the middle within the underpart of the mountain unto Thy foot at Sinai.

— The word תכו expresses the idea of “they were acted upon” (a passive) — “they placed themselves right in the middle (תוך) between Thy feet”.

ישא מדברתיך EVERYONE RECEIVED THY WORDS — they bore upon themselves the yoke of the Law (Sifrei Devarim 344:3).