ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 3:3

AND, BEHOLD, THE BUSH ‘BO’EIR’ (BURNED) WITH FIRE. [The word bo’eir] has the same meaning as doleik (burning),¹⁴¹Ramban’s intent is to solve this difficulty: In the verse before us it says, and, behold, the bush ‘bo’eir’, and in Verse 3 it says that Moses asked, why the bush is not ‘yiv’ar’? Ramban explains that in the first case, bo’eir has the same meaning as doleik (burning), while yiv’ar means “consumed.” i.e., [the bush] was in the midst of a burning fire, and it is like the verse, and the fathers ‘m’va’arim’ the fire,¹⁴²Jeremiah 7:18. meaning, “kindling” and burning the wood with fire. But the expression, why the bush is not ‘yiv’ar’?¹⁴³Verse 3. means, “why is it not consumed and wasted?” Similarly, As flax that was ‘ba’aru’ with fire¹⁴⁴Judges 15:14. means “consumed.” And so is the opinion of Onkelos, who translated the first [bo’eir] as bo’eir (burning), and the second one [yiv’ar] as mitokad, [the Aramaic word for “consumed”]. It may be that yiv’ar has the same meaning as in the verses, ‘Uvi’arta’ (So shalt thou put away) the evil from the midst of thee;¹⁴⁵Deuteronomy 17:7. Then a man useth it ‘l’va’eir’ (for fodder).¹⁴⁶Isaiah 44:15. The expression “for fodder” suggests destruction and annihilation. See R’dak, (mentioned in my Hebrew commentary, p. 288), who so interprets this verse. Here then the sense of the verse would be: “why does the fire not remove or eat up the bush altogether?” Such is the style of the Sacred Language to use [one term in the same instance with two different meanings], as in the verse: They rode on thirty ‘ayarim’ (ass colts) and they had thirty ‘ayarim’ (cities).¹⁴⁷Judges 10:4. Thus the word ayarim has two separate meanings in the same verse. In the instance before us here, the Hebrew root bo’eir is used with two separate meanings: burning, and consuming or removing.

And he saw the place from afar. But not from up close, because he saw the radiance of the Divine Presence of the Holy One, Blessed be He, who is called “the Place of the world,” specifically from afar — a physical sight, like looking at the sun, which a person can gaze at from afar but not from up close, because the sense of sight lacks the power to look at the sun when it is close to a person. This is all the more so regarding the brilliant radiance of His Divine Presence, may He be blessed. Similarly, Moses said, Let me turn aside now and see (Exodus 3:3) — Let me turn aside now means to distance himself from the holy place and not to be close to it, all so that he would be able to see. And so too Jeremiah said, The Lord appeared to me from afar (Jeremiah 31:3), implying but not from nearby.

THE ETERNAL OUR G-D SPOKE UNTO US IN HOREB, SAYING. In my opinion Horeb was the name of a place near Mount Sinai⁵⁶See Vol. II, pp. 239, 253. where Israel dwelled in the year [of the exodus]. The wilderness was large and therein was the mountain which G-d hath desired;⁵⁷Psalms 68:17. its name was Sinai and it is for this reason that the entire wilderness is called the wilderness of Sinai,⁵⁸Exodus 19:1. as it were, “the wilderness of Mount Sinai.” Thus Scripture states, and they came to the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped opposite the mount,⁵⁹Ibid., Verse 2. meaning that they encamped in the wilderness in a place called Horeb, this being opposite the mountain. It is possible that both the mountain and the wilderness were called “Sinai” because many sneh (thorn-bush) trees were there, and near that mountain was a locality or an inhabited city called Horeb, and there they stopped. And the verse which states, and he [Moses] came to the mountain of G-d, unto Horeb⁶⁰Ibid., 3:1. [which might indicate that the name of the mountain itself was really Horeb or, perhaps, that the mountain was in the region called Horeb], means that he came to Horeb where the mountain of G-d was. Now the sneh (thorn-bush) [out of the midst of which the angel appeared to Moses] was on that mountain. Moses [at that moment] was in Horeb, the place before it, nearby, where the camp of Israel stood for [close to] a year [after the exodus]. Therefore Moses said, I will turn aside now and see [this great sight, why is the bush not consumed],⁶¹Ibid., Verse 3. meaning that he will turn aside from Horeb [and walk] up to the mountain. At times Scripture calls the mountain itself [Horeb], as it is said, And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb,⁶²Ibid., 33:6. that is to say “from the mountain which was in the area of Horeb, in its vicinity or before it.” Or it may be that Horeb was the name of the entire region and the mountain was within it. Similarly, Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances,⁶³Malachi 3:22. alludes to all that he was commanded on the mountain, and in the Tent of Meeting which was there in Horeb.
Now I have seen a Midrash in Yelamdeinu Rabbeinu:⁶⁴Literally: “May our master teach us.” See Vol. II, p. 131, Note 196, for description of this Midrash. “Yea, thou knewest not⁶⁵Isaiah 48:8. The verse reads: Yea, thou heardest not; yea thou knewest not; yea, from of old … — at Sinai; yea, thou heardest not — at Horeb; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened — in the plains of Moab.” The Midrash thus intimates that Horeb is the place where the Tent of Meeting was, [thus confirming the view that Sinai and Horeb are different places]. However, Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra states⁶⁶Choreb in Hebrew means “desolation,” or “dryness.” — This interpretation is found in Ibn Ezra’s commentary to Exodus 3:1-2. that Horeb is Mount Sinai, for, because of its desolation and dryness, the sneh (thorn-bush) grows there, so the mountain is known by two names [Horeb and Sinai], both being similar in meaning [“Horeb” referring to its desolate nature, and “Sinai” indicating the thorn-bushes that are products of the dryness].