Month: February 2021

Sabbath Regulations

1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.

Rashi

Moses assembled—Heb. וַיַּקְהֵל. He assembled them on the day after the Day of Atonement when he came down from the mountain. This word is used in the verbal form that expresses the idea of causing a thing to be done, because one does not actually assemble people with ones’s hands, but they are assembled by his command. Its Aramaic translation is וְאַכְנֵשׁ.

Shabbat 97b:2

Wasn’t it taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says that the Sabbath is mentioned in the verse: “These are the things [eleh hadevarim] that God has commanded to perform them” (Exo 35:1)? Several points are derived from the superfluous emphases in this verse. The law could simply have stated: This is a thing [davar]. When it states things [devarim] in the plural, it teaches at least two points. The addition of the definite article the in the term the things [hadevarim] adds at least a third point. The numerological value of letters of the word eleh, which are alef, one; lamed, thirty; and heh, five, is thirty-six. The phrase: These are the things, alludes to three plus thirty-six derivation, i.e., the thirty-nine prohibited labors that were stated to Moses at Sinai. Since Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi maintains that there are a fixed number of primary categories of labor, he would certainly hold a person liable for the primary categories but not for the subcategories.

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. ROM 2:13

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. JAS 1:22

2 Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.”

Rashi

Six days—He intentionally mentioned to them the prohibition in reference to the Sabbath before the command about the building of the tabernacle in order to intimate that it does not set aside (supersede) the Sabbath (cf. Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 35:1:1).

Shabbat 70a:2

We learned in the mishna that one is liable to bring a sin offering for each prohibited labor that he performs on the Sabbath. The Gemara asks: From where do we derive the division of labors? What is the source of the halakha that if one performs numerous prohibited labors on the Sabbath in the course of one lapse of awareness, each prohibited labor is considered a separate offense with regard to punishment? Shmuel said that the verse says: “You shall observe the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who desecrates it shall die [mot yumat]” (Exo 31:14). We learn from the double language, mot yumat, that the law amplified multiple deaths for a single desecration. Although several violations were committed in the course of a single lapse of awareness, each is considered a separate offense with regard to punishment. The Gemara asks: That verse was written with regard to intentional transgression. The Gemara is seeking a source for multiple sacrifices brought for unwitting transgression. The Gemara answers: If it does not refer to the matter of intentional transgression, as the verse does not teach a halakha applicable to intentional acts, as it was already written: “Six days you shall perform work, but on the seventh day it shall be holy to you, a Sabbath of rest to God; all who desecrate it shall die” (Exo 35:2), refer it to the matter of unwitting transgression. The verse teaches that that which was written with regard to the death penalty for desecration of the Sabbath in general applies to all halakhot of the Sabbath, including cases of unwitting transgression. And what, then, is the meaning of the term: Shall die, in the verse? Does it mean that one who commits an unwitting transgression is punishable by death? It means that he shall die by payment of money. Death is used in the sense of punishment; he will be forced to pay for numerous sacrifices to atone for his sins.

14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it?” LUK 13:14-15

And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. JOH 5:16

2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,

3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, HEB 2:2-3

28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? HEB 10:28-29

Contributions for the Tabernacle

4 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded to say:

Rashi

This is the thing that the Lord has commanded me to say to you.

5 Take from among you a contribution to the Lord; every generous hearted person shall bring it, the Lord’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;”

Chagigah 10a:8

Rabbi Yitzḥak says: These halakhot have something to support them, as it is stated: “Every generous hearted person shall bring it” (Exo 35:5). This verse indicates that as long as one retains the same desire to fulfill the vow, he must continue to fulfill it, but if he regrets taking the vow he may arrange for it to be dissolved. Ḥananya, son of Rabbi Yehoshua’s brother, also says: They have something to support them, as it is stated: “I have sworn an oath and fulfilled it, to keep your righteous rules” (Psa 119:106). This verse indicates that certain oaths need not be fulfilled, i.e., those that have been dissolved.

Rashi

Generous hearted person—Because his heart prompts one to generosity, he is called “generous hearted.” I have already explained the contribution for the tabernacle and the work done for it in the passages where the commands about them were given.

11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.

12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 2CO 8:11-12

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2CO 9:7

12 the ark with its poles, the ark cover, and the veil of the screen;

Rashi

And the veil of the screen—The veil which serves as a screen. Everything that screens, whether it hangs above or in front of it is called a screen or a cover. Similarly, “You . . . put a hedge about him” (Job 1:10); “I will hedge up her way” (Hos 2:8).

19 the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their priestly service.

Yoma 72a:13

The Gemara returns to its discussion of the priestly garments: Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The finely worked [serad] garments for serving in the Holy Place” (Exo 35:19)? Why does the verse refer to the priestly garments as “serad garments”?

21 And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments.

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. MAT 12:34

22 So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought bracelets and earrings and signet rings and buckles, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord.

Rashi

And women means and women and closely following them.

חָח is a circular golden ornament placed upon the arm, and it is the צָמִיד.

And buckles—Heb. וְכוּמָז. This was a golden ornament worn by the women upon their private parts, Our Rabbis explain the name כּוּמָז as an acrostic meaning here is the place of licentiousness. (cf. Shabbat 64a).

Shevuot 26b:15

The Gemara raises an objection to the opinion of Shmuel from a baraita: The verse states: “You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth” (Deu 23:24). From here I have derived only a case in which he expresses with his lips. From where do I derive a case where he decided only in his heart? The verse states in the context of the contributions to the building of the tabernacle: “So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought bracelets and earrings and signet rings and buckles, all sorts of gold objects” (Exo 35:22). The fact that the verse describes those who contributed as of a willing heart indicates that one becomes liable via a non-verbal decision.

And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. MAT 2:11

27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece,

Rashi

And the leaders brought—R. Nathan asked, “What reason had the leaders to give their contributions at the dedication of the altar first of all the people, whereas at the work of the tabernacle they were not the first, but the last to contribute?” This is what the leaders said, “Let the community contribute all they with to give and what will then be lacking we shall supply” But when the community gave everything needed in its entirety—as it is said (Exo 36:7), “For the material they had was sufficient”—the leaders asked, “What can we now do?” therefore they brought onyx stones, etc. That is why they were the first to contribute at the consecration of the altar. Because, however, they were dilatory at the beginning, a letter is missing here from their title, and וְהַנְשִׂיאִם is written instead of וְהַנְשִׂיאִים (Bamidbar Rabbah 12:16).

Yoma 75a:19

With regard to donations for the tabernacle, the verse states: “They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning” (Exo 36:3). The Gemara asks: What is the meaning of “every morning”? Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: They still kept bringing donations from that which fell every morning with the manna. This teaches that pearls and precious stones fell for the Israelites with the manna. It states: “And the leaders [nesi’im] brought onyx stones” (Exo 35:27). A tanna taught that the word nesi’im means actual clouds brought them. As it states: “Like clouds [nesi’im] and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.” (Pro 25:14). We learn from this that the precious stones fell from the clouds with the manna.

27 And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

Gittin 60b:2

The Gemara continues its discussion concerning the writing of the law: Rabbi Elazar says: The majority of the law was transmitted in writing, while the minority was transmitted orally, as it is stated: “I wrote for him the greater part of my law; they were reckoned a strange thing” (Hos 8:12), meaning that the majority of the law was transmitted in written form. And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The majority of the law was transmitted orally [al peh], while the minority was transmitted in writing, as it is stated with regard to the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai: “For on the basis of [al pi] these matters I have made a covenant with you and with Israel” (Exo 34:27), which indicates that the greater part of the Sinaitic covenant was taught orally.

Gittin 60b:5

Rabbi Yehuda bar Naḥmani, the disseminator for Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, expounded as follows: It is written: “Write you these matters” (Exo 34:27), and it is written later in that same verse: “For on the basis of [al pi] these matters.” How can these texts be reconciled? They mean to teach: Matters that were written you may not express them orally [al peh], and matters that were taught orally you may not express them in writing. The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: The word “these” in the commandment recorded in the verse “Write you these matters” is used here in an emphatic sense: These matters, i.e., those recorded in the Written Law, you may write, but you may not write halakhot, i.e., the mishnayot and the rest of the Oral Law.

Gittin 60b:6

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The Holy One, blessed be he, made a covenant with the Jewish people only for the sake of the matters that were transmitted orally [be’al peh], as it is stated: “For on the basis of [al pi] these matters I have made a covenant with you and with Israel” (Exo 34:27).

Nedarim 32a:6

Alternatively, so great is the commandment of circumcision that it is equal to all the commandments of the law, as it is stated at the giving of the law: “For in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel” (Exo 34:27), and “covenant” refers to circumcision. Alternatively, so great is the commandment of circumcision that if not for circumcision heaven and earth would not have been established, as it is stated: “If I have not established my covenant with day and night, I would not have established the fixed order of heaven and earth” (Jer 33:25), and the covenant that exists day and night is the covenant of circumcision, as it is always found on the person’s body.

Rashi

These words—But you are not permitted to write down the “Oral Law” (Gittin 60b).

Temurah 14b:3

Before resolving the difficulty, the Gemara further discusses the prohibition of writing down the law: Rabbi Yehuda bar Naḥmani, the disseminator for Reish Lakish, expounded as follows: One verse says: “Write you these words,” and one verse says, i.e., it states later in that same verse: “For by the mouth of these words” (Exo 34:27). These phrases serve to say to you: Words that were taught orally you may not recite in writing, and words that are written you may not recite orally, i.e., by heart.

28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Sotah 13b:25

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: Over an area of twelve mil by twelve mil, equivalent to the size of the camp of Israel, a divine voice proclaimed and said: And Moses, the great scribe of Israel, died. And some say: Moses did not actually die, as it is written here: “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there” (Deu 34:5), and it is written there: “So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights” (Exo 34:28). Just as there, where it says: “So he was there with the Lord,” it means that he was standing and serving before God; so too, here, when it says: “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there,” it means that he was standing and serving before God.

Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 2CO 3:7

The Shining Face of Moses

29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.

Beitzah 16a:6

Apropos the statements about honoring the Sabbath, the Gemara cites another statement on the same topic. Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: One who gives a gift to his friend need not inform him that he has given it to him, and he need not concern himself that the recipient might not realize who gave it to him. As it is stated: “And Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone” (Exo 34:29); Moses received this gift unawares.

Rashi

When Moses came down—When he brought the second tablets on the Day of Atonement.

That . . . shone—קָרַן is is an expression connected with the word קַרְנַיִם “horns” because light radiates and projects like a horn. And whence was Moses privileged to have the rays of glory? Our Rabbis said that they originated at the time when he was in the cave, for the Holy One, blessed be he, then put his hand upon his face, as it is said (Exo 33:22), “and I will cover you with my hand” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 37).

Shabbat 10b:5

With regard to the halakha itself, the Gemara asks: Is that so? Didn’t Rav Ḥama bar Ḥanina say: One who gives a gift to his friend need not inform him, as God made Moses’ face glow, and nevertheless it is stated with regard to Moses: “And Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone when he spoke with God” (Exo 34:29)? The Gemara answers: This is not difficult. When Rav Ḥama bar Ḥanina said that he need not inform him, he was referring to a matter that is likely to be revealed. When Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said that he needs to inform him, he was referring to a matter that is not likely to be revealed. The Gemara asked: If so, isn’t the Sabbath likely to be revealed, as it will be necessary to inform them of the Sabbath together with the other commandments? Why was Moses asked to inform them about the Sabbath separately? The Gemara answers: The giving of its reward is not likely to be revealed, and it was necessary to inform them about so extraordinary a gift.

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. MAT 17:2

For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. MAR 9:6

And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him. MAR 14:40

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” LUK 2:49

Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. JOH 5:13

And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. ACT 6:15

And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ACT 12:9

And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ” ACT 23:5

In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. REV 1:16

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire. REV 10:1

31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them.

Rashi

The leaders of the congregation—Lit., the leaders in the congregation, like the leaders of the congregation.

And Moses talked with them sharing the message of the Almighty. This whole section denotes frequentative action.

32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.

Rashi

Afterward . . . came near—After he (Moses) had taught the elders he used again to teach the section or the single halakha in question to the Israelites. The Rabbis have taught: How was the system of teaching? Moses used to learn the law from the mouth of the Almighty; Aaron entered and Moses taught him his lesson. Now Aaron moved away and took his seat to the left of Moses. Then his (Aaron’s) sons entered and Moses taught them their lesson. They moved away and Eleazar took his seat to the right of Moses, whilst Ithamar sat down at Aaron’s left. The elders then entered and Moses taught them their lesson. The elders moved away and took their seat at the side. Finally the whole people entered and Moses taught them their lesson. Consequently what was taught came into the possession of the whole people once, into the possession of the elders twice, into the possession of Aaron’s sons thrice and into Aaron’s possession four times etc.—as it is stated in Eruvin 54b.

33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. ROM 10:4

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2CO 4:4-6

34 Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he left; then he would leave and told the people of Israel what he was commanded,

Rashi

And told the people of Israel . . . and they would see the rays of glory on his face; and when he would leave them.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 2CO 3:16

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. HEB 4:16

35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he would come again to speak with him.

Rashi

Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he would come again to speak with him—But when he came to speak with him, he would remove it from his face.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. MAT 5:16

Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. MAT 13:43

He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. JOH 5:35

that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, PHP 2:15

The Covenant Renewed

10 And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or among all the nations. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.”

Rashi

I am making a covenant about this.

Before all your people I will do marvels—An expression of the same meaning as “and we shall be distinguished” (Exo 33:16), meaning that you shall be different from all the pagan nations, that my glory will not rest upon them.

Rosh Hashanah 17b:7

Rav Yehuda said: A covenant was made with the thirteen attributes that they will not return empty-handed, meaning that if one mentions them, he will certainly be answered, as it is stated in this regard: “Behold, I am making a covenant” (Exo 34:10).

14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

Chullin 62b:9

Rav Pappa says: The bird known as the reclining and eating mardu is permitted, while the bowing and eating mardu is forbidden. And your mnemonic to remember this is the verse: “You shall worship no other god” (Exo 34:14). Shmuel says: The bird called the wine drinker is forbidden. And your mnemonic to remember this is the halakha: Those who drank wine are unfit for service in the temple. And Shmuel says: The bird called the wine pourer is forbidden.

Gittin 57b:16

They then brought in another son, and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the law: “You shall worship no other god” (Exo 34:14). And so they took him out and killed him. They then brought in yet another son, and said to him: Worship the idol. He said to them: I cannot do so, as it is written in the law: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deu 6:4). And so they took him out and killed him.

Horayot 4a:20

The Gemara cites proof against the statement of Rav Yehuda, citing Shmuel. We learned in the mishna: The judges are liable if they said: There is a prohibition against engaging in idol worship written in the law, but one who bows to the idol but did not sacrifice an offering is exempt. The Gemara asks: And why should they be liable in that case? With regard to one who bows to an idol, isn’t it written in the law, as it is written: “You shall not bow to another god” (Exo 34:14)?

Rashi

Whose name is Jealous—Who is zealous to exact punishment and is not indulgent. This is the meaning of every expression of jealousy wherever it is used in connection with God. He maintains (insists upon) his superiority over other gods, and punishes his enemies (those who worship idols).

Sanhedrin 60b:12

The baraita asks: We have heard the punishment for bowing down to an idol, but from where is the prohibition against doing so derived? The baraita answers that the verse states: “For you shall bow to no other god” (Exo 34:14).

Sanhedrin 63a:2

The Gemara asks: And does Abaye actually say this? But doesn’t Abaye say: Why are there three mentions in the law of the prohibition against bowing to an object of idol worship? The prohibition against bowing to an idol appears three times: “You shall not bow to them or worship them” (Exo 20:5), “You shall not bow to their gods nor serve them” (Exo 23:24), and “For you shall bow to no other god” (Exo 34:14).

Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

“ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’ ” MAT 4:10

Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 1CO 10:22

16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

Avodah Zarah 36b:9

The Gemara rejects this: The prohibition concerning a Jew who engaged in intercourse with a Gentile woman is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai, not a rabbinic ordinance. As the Master said: With regard to one who engages in intercourse with an Aramean woman, zealots may attack him, as Phinehas did to Zimri in the wilderness (see Num 25:6–8).

18 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt.

Rashi

The month of Abib—The month of early ripening, when the grain is in its first stage of ripening.

It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, MAR 14:1

Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. LUK 22:1

and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. ACT 12:3

22 You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the first of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year.

Menachot 84b:4

The baraita continues: And from where is it derived that the two loaves precede the bringing of the firstfruits as well? The verse states: “You shall observe a Feast of Weeks, the first of the wheat harvest” (Exo 34:22). The order of the verse teaches that the offering of the feast, which is the two loaves offering, precedes the bringing of the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. I have derived only that the two loaves precede the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. From where do I derive that they also precede the bringing of the firstfruits of the barley harvest? The verse states with regard to the Feast of Weeks: “You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you will sow in the field” (Exo 23:16). The order of the verse teaches that the offering of the feast, which is the two loaves offering, precedes all forms of firstfruits that are sown in the field, which includes barley.

Menachot 84b:6

The baraita continues: From this verse, I have derived only that the two loaves precede the bringing of produce that grew in a field. From where do I derive to include even produce that grew on a roof, or that grew in a ruin, or that grew in a flowerpot, or that grew on a ship? The verse states with regard to the priestly gifts: “The first fruit of all that grows in their land, which they shall bring to the Lord, shall be yours” (Num 18:13). The term “first fruits” in this verse is referring to all types of first fruits. This teaches that when the two loaves are referred to as the first fruits (see Exo 34:22), the intention is that they should be brought first before all other types of produce.

Rashi

The first—It is so called because it is the first meal offering which is brought in the temple of the new wheat crop; for the meal offering of the omer which had already been brought on Passover was of barley (Menachot 84a).

The first of the wheat harvest—This is the feast on which you offer the two loaves of wheat (Lev 23:17).

And the Feast of Ingathering—Which falls at the time you gather your produce from the field into the barns. This gathering is a term denoting bringing in as (Deu 22:2) “You shall take it home to your house” (cf. Rashi on Exo 23:16 and on Gen 49:29).

תְּקוּפַת is a term denoting going round.

At the end of the year—Which is at the return of the year, at the beginning of the coming year.

Now the Jews’ Feast of Booths was at hand. JOH 7:2

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ACT 2:1

24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

Pesachim 8b:1

This person is a full-fledged righteous person as far as that commandment is concerned? These ulterior motives, e.g., seeking a reward, do not detract from the value of the commandment. The Gemara answers: There is still concern lest he look for the needle after he searched for leaven and completed the search. There is danger that since he already completed the commandment, its merit will not protect him when he is searching for the needle.

Pesachim 8b:7

The Gemara answers: It is in accordance with the opinion of this tanna, as it was taught in a baraita that Isi ben Yehuda says: With regard to that which the law said: “No one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before God your Lord three times in the year” (Exo 34:24), this teaches that your cow shall graze in the meadow and no beast will harm it, and your rooster shall peck in the garbage dump and no marten shall harm it. In other words, your property will be protected while everyone ascends to Jerusalem for the feast, despite the fact that the farm will not be defended.

26 The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Chullin 115b:1

Is that derivation that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi taught ugly, that you derive a new one? The verse states with regard to an animal’s blood: “You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth like water” (Deu 12:24), and the next verse adds: “You shall not eat it, that all may go well with you and with your children after you.” Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi teaches that the redundant second verse is not referring to the prohibition of blood. Rather, the verse is speaking of the prohibition of meat cooked in milk, teaching that it is prohibited for consumption.

Rashi

The best of the firstfruits of your ground—But only from the seven kinds of produce which are mentioned as an excellency of your land (Deu 8:8) “A land of wheat and barley, of vines, fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey” (Mishnah Bikkurim 1:3). That is the honey of dates.

You shall not cook a young goat—This is a prohibition to mix meat with milk. This is written three times in the law: once to prohibit the eating of such mixture, once to prohibit us from deriving any other benefit from it and once to prohibit the cooking of it (Chullin 115b; cf. Rashi on Exo 23:19).

A young goat—Heb. גְּדִי. Any tender young animal is meant, even a calf or a lamb. From the fact that the writer felt it necessary to state specifically in several passages “a young goat” you may learn that the term גְּדִי without further definition implies any suckling (Chullin 113a; cf. Rashi on Exo 23:19).

In its mother’s milk—A fowl is therefore really excluded from this law since it has no milk; for the prohibition regarding it is not a Biblical law but only an enactment of the scribes (Chullin 113a).

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. MAT 6:33

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1CO 15:20

Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. JAS 1:18

2 Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.

Rashi

נָכוֹן means ready.

3 No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.

Beitzah 5b:4-5

And if you say an alternative explanation, that the instruction to “return to your tents” was not given to permit the men to return home to their wives, but rather it came as a special command to fulfill the commandment of conjugal rights, i.e., the obligation of a man to engage in periodic marital relations with his wife, then it was to refute this possibility that Rav Yosef continued: Come and hear a different proof from another verse: “When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain” (Exo 19:13).

Now since it is written: “Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain” (Exo 34:3), this indicates that the prohibition applies only when the divine presence is revealed on the mountain, and it is permitted immediately afterward. If so, why do I need the verse “When the trumpet sounds a long blast”? Why is a special signal required? Conclude from this that any matter established by a vote requires another vote to permit it.

Rashi

No one shall come up with you—Because the first tablets were given amidst great noises and alarms and a vast assembly the “evil eye” had power over them—there is no finer quality than to be unostentatious (Midrash Tanchuma 3:9:31).

Taanit 21b:4

Upon hearing this impressive argument, Rav Naḥman bar Rav Ḥisda said to Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak: Let the master arise and come to live with us as our community leader. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said to him: We already learned in a baraita that Rabbi Yosei says: It is not the place of a person that honors him; rather, the person honors his place, as we found with regard to Mount Sinai, that as long as the divine presence rested upon it, the law said: “Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain” (Exo 34:3). Once the divine presence departed from the mountain, the law said: “When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain” (Exo 19:13). This indicates that the sanctity was not inherent to the place but was due to the divine presence resting there.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 1TI 2:5

For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” HEB 12:20

4 So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.

Shabbat 86a:6

The Gemara explains the source of this opinion: He ascended Mount Sinai early in the morning, as it is written: “And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him” (Exo 34:4). And he descended the mountain early in the morning, as it is written: “Go down, and you shall ascend bringing Aaron with you” (Exo 19:24). The law juxtaposes descent to ascent to establish that just as Moses’ ascent was early in the morning, so too, his descent was early in the morning. Moses told the people to separate in the early morning so that there would be five complete periods of separation over the course of the three days.

5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

Rashi’s Commentary

And proclaimed the name of the Lord—We render this in the Targum by, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

34 As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.

35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” LUK 9:34-35

6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,”

Arakhin 8b:13

The Gemara asks: With regard to what principle do Rav Yehuda and Rabba disagree? The Gemara answers that they disagree with regard to the dispute between Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, about how God applies his attribute of “abounding in steadfast love” (Exo 34:6) when he judges a person whose merits and sins are equal. As it was stated that Rabbi Elazar says: He hides away some sins and does not put them on the scale, thereby allowing the merits to outweigh the sins. Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: He lifts the side of the scale that holds the sins so that the merits outweigh the sins.

Bava Kamma 50b:1

In the verse that recounts the thirteen attributes of mercy: “Slow to anger [erekh appayim]” (Exo 34:6), using the plural form, and it is not written as erekh af, in the singular? In order to teach that he is slow to anger for both the righteous and for the wicked and does not punish them immediately for their transgressions.

Eruvin 22a:6

In a similar vein, Rabbi Ḥaggai said, and some say it was Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, merciful and gracious, slow to anger [erekh appayim], and abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exo 34:6)? Why does it say “erekh appayim,” using a plural form? It should have said erekh af, using the singular form.

Rashi

The Lord, the Lord—This is the attribute of divine mercy. The one alludes to God having mercy on the sinner before he sins and the other after he has sinned and repented (Rosh Hashanah 17b).

God—This is also an attribute of divine mercy. Thus also does Scripture say (Psa 22:2), “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”—for surely one would not say to the attribute of stern justice “why have you forsaken me?” Thus have I found in the Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 15:2:2.

Slow to anger—He defers his anger and does not hasten to punish—it may be that the sinner will repent.

And abounding in steadfast love—To those who need steadfast love because they have not sufficient merits.

And faithfulness—Faithfully rewarding those who perform his will.

Rosh Hashanah 17b:4

Ilfai, and some say it was the Sage Ilfa, also raised a contradiction: It is written in the list of God’s attributes: “And abounding in steadfast love” (Exo 34:6), and it is written in the same verse: “And faithfulness,” which implies the attribute of justice. He answered: Initially, at the time of judgment: “And faithfulness,” i.e., God employs strict justice, but in the end, when he sees that the world cannot survive on judgment based only on faithfulness and justice: “And abounding in steadfast love,” i.e., he is merciful.

Rosh Hashanah 17b:5

The verse states: “The Lord passed before him and proclaimed” (Exo 34:6). Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Were it not explicitly written in the verse, it would be impossible to say this, as it would be insulting to God’s honor. The verse teaches that the Holy One, blessed be he, wrapped himself in a prayer shawl like a prayer leader and showed Moses the structure of the order of the prayer. He said to him: Whenever the Jewish people sin, let them act before me in accordance with this order. Let the prayer leader wrap himself in a prayer shawl and publicly recite the thirteen attributes of mercy, and I will forgive them.

Rosh Hashanah 17b:6

The verse continues: “The Lord, the Lord,” and it should be understood as follows: I am he before a person sins, and I am he after a person sins and performs repentance, as God does not recall for him his first sins, since he is always “God merciful and gracious” (Exo 34:6).

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. JOH 1:17

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ROM 2:4

20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,

21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ROM 5:20-21

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight EPH 1:7-8

7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; yet he does not completely clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.

Berakhot 7a:26

The Gemara expands upon these righteous and wicked individuals: The master said: The righteous person who prospers is a righteous person, the son of a righteous person. The righteous person who suffers is a righteous person, the son of a wicked person. The Gemara asks: Is it so that one is always punished for his ancestors’ transgressions? Isn’t it written: “Visiting iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exo 34:7). And it is written elsewhere: “Fathers shall not die because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall die for his own transgression” (Deu 24:16). And the Gemara raises a contradiction between the two verses.

Rashi

Keeping steadfast love—That a person does in his presence.

For thousands—To two thousand generations.

Iniquity and transgression—Iniquities (עִוֹנוֹת) are sins committed presumptuously (with premeditation). פְּשָׁעִים are sins committed rebelliously.

Yet he does not completely clear the guilty—According to its plain sense this means that he does not completely overlook the iniquity but exacts retribution for it little by little. Our Rabbis, however, interpreted this expression to mean: He clears those who repent, but does not clear those who will not repent (Yoma 86a).

Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children—When they retain in their hands (follow the example of) the evil doings of their fathers. This must be the meaning because in another verse of a similar character it has already been stated: of those who hate me (cf. Exo 20:5).—from Berakhot 7a; Sanhedrin 27b

And the fourth generation—It follows, therefore, that the measure of good (reward) is greater than the measure of punishment in the proportion of one to five hundred, for in respect to the measure of good it says: “Keeping steadfast love for thousands” (cf. Rashi above: Tosefta Sotah 4:1; see also Rashi on Exo 20:5).

Sanhedrin 27b:16

The Gemara asks: And are children not put to death for the sin of the fathers? But isn’t it written: “Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exo 34:7)?

Shevuot 39a:16

The Gemara asks: And is it not stated with regard to all of the other transgressions in the law that God “will not hold guiltless [lo yenakkeh]” one who transgresses? But isn’t it written: “And who does not completely clear the guilty [venakkeh lo yenakkeh]” (Exo 34:7)?

8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

Rashi

And Moses quickly—When Moses saw that the glory passed by and heard the sound of the proclamation he immediately worshiped.

EXO 33

17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

Rashi’s Commentary

This very thing—That my glory shall not rest henceforth upon the other nations of the world, I will do. Balaam’s (the heathen prophet) words did not come about through the resting of the glory upon him, but his prophecy would occur when he would “fall and his eyes would be unveiled” (Num 24:4); such as “Now a word was brought to me stealthily” (Job 4:12). They (the heathen prophets) used to hear God’s message through a medium.

In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. JOH 16:23

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. JAS 5:16

14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.

15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. 1JN 5:14-15

18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”

Rashi’s Commentary

Moses said, “Please show me your glory”—Moses saw that it was a time of God’s good will, and that his petitions were being favourably received, he therefore made a further request—that God show him a reflection of his glory.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2CO 3:18

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2CO 4:6

waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, TIT 2:13

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. REV 21:23

19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Rashi’s Commentary

He said, “I will make . . . pass before you”—The time has arrived when you shall see of my glory so much as I will allow you to see according as I wish, and therefore I find it necessary to teach you a set form of prayer. Just now when you felt the need to pray for mercy on Israel’s behalf you besought me to remember the merits of the patriarchs and you thought that if the merits of the patriarchs are exhausted there is no more hope—I will therefore cause all the attribute of my goodness to pass before you whilst you are placed in the cave.

And will proclaim before you my name “The Lord,” to teach you the formula when praying for mercy even though the merits of the patriarchs should be exhausted. And according to the manner in which you see me doing this, cloaked and proclaiming the thirteen attributes, do you teach Israel to do. And because that they will make mention before me of the attributes: “Merciful,” “Gracious!” thereby proclaiming that my mercies do not fail (Rosh Hashanah 17b).

And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious—In times when I shall be disposed to be gracious.

And will show mercy—Those times that I shall desire to show mercy (Midrash Tanchuma 3:9:27). For the time being he only gave him (Moses) the promise: At times I will answer, at times I will not answer. But at the time this was carried out (when he proclaimed the attributes) he said to him (Exo 34:10) “Behold, I am making a covenant.” He promised him that they the Israelites would never return empty i.e., without an answer to their prayers (Rosh Hashanah 17b).

Berakhot 7a:29

Rabbi Yoḥanan’s opinion, that God granted Moses all three of his requests, disagrees with that of Rabbi Meir, as Rabbi Meir said: Two of Moses’ requests were granted to him, and one was not granted to him. God granted him that the divine presence would rest upon Israel and not leave, and that the divine presence would not rest upon the nations of the world, but God did not reveal to Moses the ways in which he conducts the world. As it is said: “And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious” (Exo 33:19); in his mercy, God bestows his grace upon every person, even though he is not worthy. Similarly, God says: “And I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy,” even though he is not worthy. According to Rabbi Meir, the way in which God conducts the world and bestows grace and mercy was not revealed even to Moses.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ROM 2:4

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight EPH 1:6-8

20 “But,” he said, “you will not be able to see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”

Rashi’s Commentary

He said, “you will not be able . . .”—And even when I make all my goodness pass before you I shall not allow you to see my face.

Yevamot 49b:7

The Gemara expands on the events surrounding Isaiah’s death: Rava said: Manasseh judged him as a false witness for issuing statements contradicting the law and only then killed him. Manasseh said to Isaiah: Moses your master said in the law: “He said, ‘You will not be able to see my face, for man cannot see me and live’ ” (Exo 33:20), and yet you said: “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up” (Isa 6:1). Moses your master said: “For which great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is, whenever we call upon him?” (Deu 4:7), and yet you said: “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near” (Isa 55:6), which implies that God is not always near. Moses your master said: “I will fulfill the number of your days” (Exo 23:26), which implies that each individual has a preordained allotted lifespan that he cannot outlive, and yet you said in a prophecy to King Hezekiah: “And I will add fifteen years to your life” (2Ki 20:6).

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. JOH 1:18

who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 1TI 6:16

And to which of the angels has he ever said,

“Sit at my right hand

until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? HEB 1:13

16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, REV 1:16-17

22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

Rashi’s Commentary

While my glory passes by—While I pass by before you.

In a cleft of the rock—Like the following verses: “Will you pick out these people’s eyes” (Num 16:14); “Will be picked out by the ravens of the valley” (Pro 30:17); and “I dug wells and drank waters” (Isa 37:25). All these have the same derivation a place dug out of the rock.

And I will cover you with my hand—Hence it is evident that permission has been given to the destructive agencies to wound. The Targum renders “and I will protect with my word.” This is merely a circumlocution in a manner more respectful to the Most High God, because He (God) does not need to cover a person with an actual hand.

and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 1CO 10:4

that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 2CO 5:19

23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.

Berakhot 7a:33

What did Moses see? It is said: “Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face you will not see” (Exo 33:23). Rav Ḥana bar Bizna said in the name of Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida, the expression: “And you shall see my back,” should be understood as follows: This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be he, who, as mentioned above, wears phylacteries, showed him the knot of the phylacteries of his head, which is worn on the back of the head.

EXO 34

Moses Makes New Tablets

1 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.”

Menachot 99b:1

The apparent dereliction of the study of the law is its foundation, e.g., if one breaks off his studies in order to participate in a funeral or a wedding procession. This is derived from a verse, as it is written: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which [asher] you broke’ ” (Exo 34:1). The word “asher” is an allusion to the fact that that the Holy One, blessed be he, said to Moses: Your strength is true [yishar koḥakha] in that you broke the tablets, as the breaking of the first tablets led to the foundation of the law through the giving of the second tablets.

Nedarim 38a:3

Rabbi Ḥama, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Moses became wealthy only from the waste remaining from hewing the tablets of the covenant, as it is stated: “Cut for you two tablets of stone like the first” (Exo 34:1). “Cut for you” means that their waste shall be yours. As the tablets were crafted from valuable gems, their remnants were similarly valuable.

Yevamot 62a:4

And his perception agreed with the perception of the Omnipresent, as it is written: “The first tablets that you broke [asher shibbarta]” (Exo 34:1), and Reish Lakish said: The word asher is an allusion to the fact that the Holy One, Blessed be he, said to Moses: May your strength be true [yishar koḥakha] that you broke the tablets.

EXO 32

14 And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.

Sanhedrin 108a:16

And there are those who say that the term “vayyinaḥem” has a different meaning: I did not do well that I prepared graves for people in the earth, as I should not have created them in order to destroy them. From where is it inferred that the term “vayyinaḥem” has a negative connotation? It is written here: “Vayyinaḥem,” and it is written there: “And the Lord regretted [vayyinaḥem] the disaster that he thought to do to his people” (Exo 32:14).

15 Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written.

Rashi’s Commentary

On both sides could the letters be read, and this constituted a miraculous piece of work (Shabbat 104a).

16 The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

Eruvin 54a:19

And, lastly, Rabbi Eliezer said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets” (Exo 32:16)? This teaches that had the first tablets, the subject of this verse, not been broken, the law would never have been forgotten from the Jewish people, as the law would have been engraved on their hearts.

EXO 33

Moses’ Intercession

12 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ”

Rashi’s Commentary

See, you say to me—Set your eyes and your heart on your words. I.e., think for a moment of what you are saying!

You say to me “Lead” but you have not let me know who will come with us—For what you have said to me (Exo 23:20) “Behold, I send an angel” yet this is not considered informing for I am not satisfied with it.

Yet you have said, “I know you by name”—I have distinguished you from all other human beings with a name of importance. For God said to me (Exo 19:9), “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud . . . and may also believe you forever.”

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. JOH 10:14-15

But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 2TI 2:19

13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”

Rashi’s Commentary

Now therefore—If it is true that I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, i.e., what reward you give to those who find favor in your sight.

That I may know you in order to find favor in your sight means, that I may know by this the nature of the reward you bestow i.e., what constitutes finding favor, since I have found favor in your sight. The explanation of “in order to find favor” accordingly is: that I may find out how great is the reward attendant on this finding favor.

Consider too that this nation is your people so that you should not say (Exo 32:10), “in order that I may make a great nation of you,” whilst these (the whole people) you will abandon! Consider that they are your nation from of old, and if you reject them, surely I cannot rely upon it that those who are born of me will endure—rather let me know through this people the reward that is to be paid me. Our Rabbis expounded on this in tractate Berakhot 7a but I come to explain the verses in a manner fitting to them and in their context.

Berakhot 7a:25

Lastly, Moses requested that the ways in which God conducts the world be revealed to him, and he granted it to him, as it is stated: “Show me your ways and I will know you” (Exo 33:13).

Moses said before God: Master of the universe. Why is it that the righteous prosper, the righteous suffer, the wicked prosper, the wicked suffer?

God said to him: Moses, the righteous person who prospers is a righteous person, the son of a righteous person, who is rewarded for the actions of his ancestors. The righteous person who suffers is a righteous person, the son of a wicked person, who is punished for the transgressions of his ancestors. The wicked person who prospers is a wicked person, the son of a righteous person, who is rewarded for the actions of his ancestors. The wicked person who suffers is a wicked person, the son of a wicked person, who is punished for the transgressions of his ancestors.

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. JOH 17:3

As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. ROM 11:28

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, EPH 1:17

so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; COL 1:10

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen. 2PE 3:18

14 And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Rashi’s Commentary

And he said, “My presence will go . . .”—Understand this as the Targum renders it: My countenance will go—I will no more send an angel with you, but I myself will go, similar to the verse: “and that you go to battle in person” (2Sa 17:11).

Berakhot 7a:5

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei: From where is it derived that one must not placate a person while he is in the throes of his anger, rather he should mollify him after he has calmed down? As it is written, when following the sin of the golden calf, Moses requested that the divine presence rest upon Israel as it had previously, God said to him: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exo 33:14). Rabbi Yoḥanan explained: The Holy One, blessed be he, said to Moses: Wait until my presence of wrath will pass and I will grant your request. One must wait for a person’s anger to pass as well.

Berakhot 7b:4

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: From where is it derived that one must not placate a person while the person in the throes of his anger? As it is stated: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exo 33:14).

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. MAT 11:28

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. MAT 28:20

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.

9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, HEB 4:8-9

15 And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.

Rashi’s Commentary

And he said to him—This is what I desired: for if it is to be by an angel rather do not bring us up from here.

16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

Rashi’s Commentary

For how shall it be known—I.e., how shall the “finding of favour” be known? Is it not in your going with us? And yet another thing do I ask you: that you should not let your glory rest upon the other peoples of the world (Berakhot 7a).

So that we are distinct, I and your people—Through this very thing we shall become different from every other people, like (Exo 9:4) “But the Lord will make a distinction (וְהִפְלָה) . . . between the livestock of Egypt.”

Bava Batra 15a:11

The baraita further states that Moses wrote his own book, i.e., the law, the portion of Balaam, and the book of Job. This supports Rabbi Levi bar Laḥma, as Rabbi Levi bar Laḥma says: Job lived in the time of Moses. It is written here with regard to Job: “Oh that my words were written [eifo]” (Job 19:23), and it is written there in Moses’ words to God: “For in what shall it be known here [eifo]” (Exo 33:16). The unusual use of the word eifo in these two places indicates that Job and Moses lived in the same generation.

Bava Batra 15b:8

And what is the proof that all these tanna’im maintain that Job was Jewish? As if it should enter your mind to say that he came from the nations of the world, there is a difficulty: After Moses died, did the divine presence rest any longer on the nations of the world? But doesn’t the Master say: Moses requested that the divine presence not rest again on the nations of the world, and his request was granted to him, as it is stated: “That we shall be differentiated, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth” (Exo 33:16), and it is stated there that God acceded to his request.

Berakhot 7a:23

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei regarding Moses’ request that the divine presence rest upon Israel as it once had: Moses requested three things from the Holy One, blessed be he, at that time, all of which were granted him. He requested that the divine presence rest upon Israel and not leave, and he granted it to him, as it is stated: “For how can it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” (Exo 33:16). The request: Is it not in your going with us, refers to the resting of the divine presence upon Israel.

Berakhot 7a:24

Moses requested that the divine presence not rest upon the nations of the world, and he granted it to him, as it is stated: “So that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth” (Exo 33:16).

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). MAT 1:23

Therefore go out from their midst,

and be separate from them, says the Lord,

and touch no unclean thing;

then I will welcome you, 2CO 6:17

EXO 31

18 And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Nedarim 38a:16

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Initially, Moses would study the law and forget it, until it was given to him as a gift, as it is stated: “And he gave it to Moses when he concluded speaking with him” (Exo 31:18). Once the law was given him as a gift, it became his and he was able to remember it.

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. MAT 12:28

But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. LUK 11:20

3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end,

8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 2CO 3:3, 7-8

EXO 32

The Golden Calf

1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

Menachot 53b:4

Rabbi Ezra stated yet another homily structured in a similar manner. Let this one come and receive this from this One for this people. He explained: Let this one come; this is referring to Moses, as it is written about him: “As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt” (Exo 32:1). And receive this; this is referring to the law, as it is written: “This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel” (Deu 4:44). From this One; this is referring to the Holy One, blessed be he, as it is written: “This is my God, and I will praise him” (Exo 15:2). For this people; these people are the Jews, as it is stated about them: “This people whom you have purchased” (Exo 15:16).

Shabbat 89a:6

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “When the people saw that Moses delayed [boshesh] to come down from the mountain (Exo 32:1)? Do not read the word in the verse as boshesh; rather, read it as ba’u shesh, six hours have arrived. When Moses ascended on high, he told the Jewish people: In forty days, at the beginning of six hours, I will come. After forty days, Satan came and brought confusion to the world by means of a storm, and it was impossible to ascertain the time. Satan said to the Jews: Where is your teacher Moses? They said to him: He ascended on high. He said to them: Six hours have arrived and he has not yet come. Surely he won’t. And they paid him no attention. Satan said to them: Moses died. And they paid him no attention. Ultimately, he showed them an image of his death bed and an image of Moses’ corpse in a cloud. And that is what the Jewish people said to Aaron: “For this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Exo 32:1).

43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, “My master is delayed,” MAT 24:43, 48

saying to Aaron, “Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” ACT 7:40

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ACT 17:29

And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. ACT 19:26

They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 2PE 3:4

4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

Avodah Zarah 53b:10

The Gemara challenges: But perhaps it is only with regard to the golden calf that the Jewish people were amenable to worshiping it, but not with regard to any other type of idol worship. The Gemara counters: The verse states with regard to the golden calf: “And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel’ ” (Exo 32:4), in the plural. This teaches that they desired many gods, and they did not desire to worship only the golden calf.

And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. ACT 7:41

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. ROM 1:21-23

5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”

Sanhedrin 7a:3

And the various Sages who offered interpretations of the verse: “And the one greedy for gain despises the Lord” (Psa 10:3), disagree with the explanation of Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai. As Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai says: This verse was stated only with regard to the incident of the golden calf, as it is stated: “And Aaron saw this, and he built [vayyiven] an altar [mizbe’aḥ] before it . . . and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord’ ” (Exo 32:5). What did Aaron see? Rabbi Binyamin bar Yefet says that Rabbi Elazar says: He saw Hur, who had been appointed together with Aaron by Moses to lead the people during Moses’ absence (see Exo 24:14), slaughtered before him, as he had protested the plan to fashion a calf and had been murdered by the people as a result. The verse is therefore interpreted not as: Aaron built an altar before the calf, but rather: He understood [vayyaven] from the slaughter [mizavuaḥ] before his own eyes; and he then called for a feast.

Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1CO 5:8

6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.

Rashi’s Commentary

They rose up early—Satan made them zealous in order that they might sin.

To play—In this term there is also a connotation of sexual immorality, as we find the word used in (Gen 39:17), “to mock (לְצַחֶק) me,” and bloodshed, as it is said (2Sa 2:14), “Let the young men arise and compete (וִישַׂחִקוּ) before us”—here, too, Hur was assassinated (Midrash Tanchuma 3:9:20).

Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 1CO 10:7

and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. REV 11:10

7 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go, descend, for your people whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.”

Rashi’s Commentary

And . . . said—Heb. וַיְדַבֵּר. This is an expression of harshness, like (Gen 42:7) “and spoke (וַיְדַבֵּר) roughly to them.”

Go, descend—Descend from your high position; I have given you distinction only for their sake (Berakhot 32a). At that moment Moses was excommunicated by a decree of the heavenly court (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 22).

Your people . . . have corrupted themselves—It does not say, “The people have corrupted themselves,” but “your people”—the mixed multitude whom you received of your own accord and accepted as proselytes without consulting me. You thought it a good thing that proselytes should be attached to the glory—now they have corrupted themselves and have corrupted others (Shemot Rabbah 42:6).

Berakhot 32a:14

The Gemara elaborates upon additional aspects of the sin of the golden calf. t is stated: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Go and descend, for your people whom you have lifted out of the land of Egypt have been corrupted” (Exo 32:7). What is the meaning of “go and descend”? Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, Blessed be he, said to Moses: Moses, descend from your greatness. Isn’t it only for the sake of Israel, so that you may serve as a messenger, that I granted you prominence; and now that Israel has sinned, why do I need you? There is no need for a messenger. Immediately, Moses’ strength waned and he was powerless to speak in defense of Israel. And once God said to Moses: “Leave me be, that I may destroy them” (Deu 9:14), Moses said to himself: If God is telling me to let him be, it must be because this matter is dependent upon me. Immediately Moses stood and was strengthened in prayer, and asked that God have mercy on the nation of Israel and forgive them for their transgression.

8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

Sanhedrin 63a:14

Therefore, Rav teaches us that he is obligated to bring an offering, as the law compares the acceptance of an idol as a god to a case of active idol worship; as it is written: “They have made for themselves a golden calf and have bowed to it, and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt’ ” (Exo 32:8).

13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, “I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.”

Berakhot 32a:24

As Moses continues his prayer, he says: “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore in your name” (Exo 32:13). What is the meaning of in your name? Rabbi Elazar said: Moses said before the Holy One, blessed be he: Master of the universe, had you sworn to them by the heavens and the earth, I would say: Just as the heavens and the earth will ultimately be no more, so too your oath will be null and void. Now that you swore to them by your great name, just as your name lives and stands for all eternity, so too does your oath live and stand for all eternity.

EXO 30

13 This they shall give, each one who goes through the counting in the census: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs), half a shekel as an offering to the Lord.

Bekhorot 50a:3

Rava says: The biblical sela coins, i.e., the shekels that must be given for the redemption of the firstborn son, are each three and one-third dinars in weight, not four dinars. As it is written: “The shekel is twenty gerahs” (Exo 30:13), and we translate “twenty gerahs” as twenty ma’oth. And it is taught in a baraita: Six silver ma’oth equal a dinar. If so, twenty ma’oth, which is equal to the sela of the law, is worth three and one-third dinars.

Rashi’s Commentary

This they shall give—He (God) showed him (Moses) a kind of fiery coin the weight of which was half a shekel and said to him, “Like this they shall give” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 9).

Who goes through the counting—It is the practice of those who count animate beings to make these pass before them one after the other, counting them as they pass, and so too the word יַעִבֹר in “each one that passes under the herdsman’s staff” (Lev 27:32), and so the word תַּעִבֹרְנָה in “flocks will again pass under the hands of the one who counts them” (Jer 33:13).

Half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary—After the weight of the shekel which I have appointed for you as the standard by which to weigh the shekels of the sanctuary, as, for instance, those shekels mentioned in the section dealing with personal evaluations (Lev 27:1-8) and in the section concerning inherited fields (Lev 27:16-21).

The shekel is twenty gerahs—For a full shekel is four zuzim and a zuz was originally five ma’oth only that they increased it by one sixth and so raised its value to six ma’oth of silver. Now half this shekel of which I have spoken to you they shall give as an offering to the Lord.

The shekel is twenty gerahs—Now he tells you exactly how much it is.

גֵרָה in Hebrew denotes what is called a ma’ah, a coin of small value. Likewise, “shall come to implore him for a piece of silver (אִגוֹרַתכֶּסֶף) or a loaf of bread” (1Sa 2:36).

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” MAT 27:24

19 with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet.

Arakhin 19b:5

The Tosefta teaches with regard to one who says: It is incumbent upon me to donate the weight of my forearm [yad], that Rabbi Yehuda says: He brings a barrel and fills it with water and inserts his forearm up to the elbow. This indicates that the term yad denotes the forearm until the elbow. And the Gemara raises a contradiction from another baraita (Tosefta, Yadayim 2:1): Since it is written: “and let Aaron and his sons wash their hands [yedeihem] and their feet” (Exo 30:19), the priests are obligated to sanctify their hands and their feet in the temple up to the wrist.

Rashi’s Commentary

Their hands and their feet—The priest would wash his hands and feet simultaneously. Thus we learn in Zevachim 19b: How was the procedure in washing hands and feet? He placed his right hand upon his right foot (knee) and his left hand upon his left foot (knee) and thus washed both simultaneously.

Zevachim 21a:3

A dilemma was raised before the Sages: What is the halakha with regard to a priest who wishes to sanctify his hands and feet by dipping them in the basin rather than letting the water run from it onto them? Must one say that the priest may not do so, since the merciful One states: “and let Aaron and his sons wash their hands and their feet from it” (Exo 30:19), and not inside it? Or perhaps the priest may even use water still inside it.

8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” JOH 13:8-10

9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,

10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1CO 6:9-11

he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, TIT 3:5

but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. HEB 9:10

let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. HEB 10:22

5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. REV 10:5-6

31 And you shall say to the people of Israel, “This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations.”

Horayot 11b:8

Rabbi Yehuda said to him: And was it merely one miracle that was performed with regard to the anointing oil? But wasn’t it initially only twelve logs, and from it the tabernacle, and its vessels, Aaron, and his sons were anointed for the entire seven days of inauguration, and all of it remains in existence for the future, as it is stated: “This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations” (Exo 30:31)? Since the entire existence of the anointing oil is predicated on miracles, it is no wonder that its preparation also involved a miracle.

Keritot 5b:19

The halakha that the anointing oil was to be kept together with the ark is derived through a verbal analogy between the words “generations” and “generations.” This term is stated with regard to the jar of manna: “To be kept throughout your generations” (Exo 16:33), and also with regard to the anointing oil: “This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations” (Exo 30:31).

Rashi’s Commentary

This—Heb. זֶה. In gematria, this equals 12 “logs” (Horayot 11b).

Throughout your generations—From here our Rabbis derived that it (the anointing oil) was miraculously preserved in its entirety for the time to come (Horayot 11b).

34 The Lord said to Moses, “Take sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense (of each shall there be an equal part),

Keritot 5a:26

Rav Pappa said to Abaye: When one weighs these substances, does he weigh the ingredients with a slight surplus, so that they tip the scales, or does he weigh the ingredients with precision? Abaye said to him that the merciful One writes: “Of there shall be an equal part” (Exo 30:34), which indicates a precise measure, and you say it is possible that one weighs the ingredients with a surplus? The Gemara raises a difficulty: But doesn’t Rabbi Yehuda say: The Holy One, Blessed be he, knows the amount of surpluses that should be added. Evidently, there is a surplus involved in these measures.

Keritot 6b:7

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The eleven ingredients of the incense were stated by God to Moses at Sinai, as not all of them are specified in the verses. Rav Huna said: What is the verse from which it is derived? “Take for you sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, sweet spices with pure frankincense” (Exo 30:34). The plural form of the phrase: “Take for you sweet spices” is referring to two ingredients; “stacte, and onycha, and galbanum” are three ingredients; this results in a total of five; and the other mention of “sweet spices” indicates that there are another five, i.e., that one should double the previous total, and this results in a total of ten. And finally, “pure frankincense” is one, and this results in a total of eleven.

Yoma 3b:4

The Gemara rejects this: They disagree only with regard to instances of taking in general and instances of making in general: Instances of taking in general are as in the verse: “Take you sweet spices” (Exo 30:34); and instances of making in general are as in the verse: “Make you two silver trumpets” (Num 10:2). However, in these cases of inauguration and of the Day of Atonement the verses explicitly teach that the offerings must be from your own property. With regard to the inauguration, now, since it is written: “And to the people of Israel you will speak, saying, ‘Take a goat kid for a sin offering, and an unblemished year-old calf and lamb for burnt offerings’ ” (Lev 9:3), with regard to the verse: “And he said to Aaron, ‘Take you a young calf for a sin offering’ ” (Lev 9:2), why do I need this clear difference between the formulation of the command to the Jewish people and the formulation of the command to Aaron? Learn from it that in this context the phrase: Take you, means from your own property.

And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. MAT 2:11

35 and you shall make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.”

Rashi’s Commentary

Seasoned with salt—Understand this as the Targum renders it: מְעָרֵב, mixed—that they should thoroughly intermix the powder of the ingredients. Accordingly, I say that the following are similar to this: “Then the mariners (הַמַּלָּחִים) were afraid” (Jon 1:5); “your mariners (מַלָּחַיִךְ) and your pilots (Eze 27:27), who are so called because they turn over (stir up) the water with oars when they propel the ship—like a person who stirs up beaten eggs with a spoon in order to mix them with water. Anything that a person wishes to mix up thoroughly he stirs up with his finger or with a spoon.

Seasoned with salt, pure and holy—It shall be seasoned with salt; it shall be pure, and it shall be holy.

EXO 31

17 It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.

Beitzah 16a:10 

The Gemara cites a further statement with regard to the gift of the Sabbath to the Jewish people. Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: All the commandments that the Holy One, blessed be he, gave to the Jewish people, He gave to them in public except for the Sabbath, which he gave to them in private. As it is stated: “It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel” (Exo 31:17), meaning that in a sense, it is a secret between God and the Jewish people.

EXO 28

5 They shall receive gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen.

Rashi’s Commentary

They shall receive—Those wise-hearted people, who are to make the garments, shall receive from the donors gold and blue yarns from which to make the garments.

12 And you shall set the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, as stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel. And Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders for remembrance.

Rashi’s Commentary

For remembrance—So that the Holy One, blessed is he, will see the progenitors of the tribes written before him, and he will remember their righteousness.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers

and to remember his holy covenant, LUK 1:54, 72

And he stared at him in terror and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God.” ACT 10:4

20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree.

Rashi’s Commentary

Set in gold—The rows shall be set in gold filigree, encircled by settings of gold in the depth. According to the measure of the fullness of the thickness of the stone shall be the depth of the settings, no less and no more.

And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. REV 4:3

28 And they shall fasten the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, so that the breastpiece shall not come loose from the ephod.

Rashi’s Commentary

And they shall fasten—Heb. וְיִרְכְּסוּ, a word of joining. Similarly, “from the plots of (מֵרֻכְסֵי) men” (Psa 31:21), meaning plots of wicked men joined together. Similarly, “and the close mountains (וְהָרְכָסִים), a valley” (Isa 40:4). הַרְכָסִים refers to mountains that are close to one another, so that it is impossible to descend into the valley except with great difficulty. Because of their proximity, the valley is steep and deep. These mountains will become a straight valley, where it will be easy to walk.

So that it may lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod—So that the breastpiece would be fastened to the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

Shall not come loose—Meaning severance. It is an Arabic expression.

31 You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue.

Rashi’s Commentary

The robe of the ephod—Upon which the ephod is placed as a belt.

All of blue—All of it the robe was blue, without any other kind of color or material combined with it.

34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe.

Rashi’s Commentary

A golden bell and a pomegranate—A golden bell and a pomegranate beside it.

5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,

6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; COL 1:5-6; 10

36 You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.”

Rashi’s Commentary

A plate—It was like a sort of golden plate, two fingerbreadths wide, encircling the forehead from ear to ear.

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. HEB 12:14

15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1PE 1:15-16

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1PE 2:9

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. REV 21:27

39 You shall weave the tunic in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.

Rashi’s Commentary

You shall weave . . . in checker work—Weave them the tunics of boxes, and all of them shall be made of fine linen.

EXO 29

Consecration of the Priests

1 Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish,

Rashi’s Commentary

Take—Heb. לְקַח, like קַח, and these are two roots, one of קִיחָה and one of לְקִיחָה, but they have the same meaning i.e., take.

One bull—This was to atone for the incident of the golden calf, which was a bull.

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.” MAT 6:9

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. HEB 7:26

but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1PE 1:19

5 Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod.

Rashi’s Commentary

And gird—Gird and affix the belt and the apron around him.

9 and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. And the priesthood shall be a perpetual statute for them, and you shall invest Aaron and his sons with full authority.

Rashi’s Commentary

Aaron and his sons—With the fulfillment (בְּמִלְוּי) and the appointment to the priesthood.

Shall be . . . for them—This investiture, for eternal priesthood.

And you shall invest—Through these things.

4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”;

10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. HEB 5:4-5, 10

18 and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a spirit of satisfaction, a fire offering to the Lord.

Rashi’s Commentary

It is a spirit of satisfaction—It is satisfaction to me that I commanded and my will was performed.

A fire offering—Heb. אִשֶׁה, a word related to fire אֵשׁ, and it means burning the limbs that are on the fire.

And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. MAR 12:33

26 You shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion.

Rashi’s Commentary

Wave offering—Heb. תְּנוּפָה, an expression of moving to and fro, vantiler or ventiller in Old French, to make horizontal movements to and fro.

32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Rashi’s Commentary

In the entrance of the tent of meeting—The entire courtyard is called thus.

how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? MAT 12:4

41 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as in the morning, for a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord.

Rashi’s Commentary

For a pleasing aroma—This is stated regarding the grain offering, for the grain offering of drink offerings is entirely burned, and the order of their sacrifice is: first the limbs of the burnt offering and afterwards the grain offering, as it is said: “burnt offerings and grain offerings” (Lev 23:37).

46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

Rashi’s Commentary

That I might dwell among them—With the intention that I dwell among them.

EXO 30

The Altar of Incense

1 You shall make an altar for bringing incense up in smoke; you shall make it of acacia wood.

Rashi’s Commentary

For bringing incense up in smoke—To raise smoke up on it, namely the smoke of incense.

And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, REV 8:3

4 And you shall make two golden rings for it. Under its molding on its two corners, you shall make them on its two opposite sides, and it shall be holders for poles with which to carry it.

Rashi’s Commentary

Its . . . corners—Heb. צַלְעֹתָיו. Here it is a term meaning corners, unlike in Exo 25:12; 26:20, 26-27, where צֶלַע means a side, because it says further in the verse: “on its two opposite sides,” meaning on its two corners that are on its opposite sides.

It shall be—Heb. וְהָיָה, lit., and it shall be in the singular, referring to the making of these rings.

Holders for the poles—The ring itself shall be a holder for a pole.

8 and when Aaron kindles the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations.

Rashi’s Commentary

And when . . . kindles—Heb. וּבְהַעִלֹת, lit., and when . . . causes to ascend. When he will kindle them to cause their flame to ascend.

He shall burn it—Every day, one pras in the morning and one pras in the afternoon.

Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. ROM 8:34

pray without ceasing, 1TH 5:17

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. HEB 7:25

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. HEB 9:24

9 You shall offer up on it no unauthorized incense, burnt offering, or grain offering, and you shall pour no drink offering upon it.

Rashi’s Commentary

You shall offer up on it—On this golden altar.

Unauthorized incense—Any donated incense; they are all unauthorized except for this one.

Burnt offering, or grain offering—Neither burnt offerings nor grain offerings. A burnt offering is one of an animal or fowl. A grain offering is one of bread.

10 As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; let them measure its plan.

Rashi’s Commentary

You, son of man, describe etc., that they may be ashamed of their iniquities—When I show them my loving-kindness that I do not reject them for their iniquity.

Let them measure its plan—Let them take measurements through you, for you will show them the measurements of the building plan.

But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. ROM 6:21

11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out.

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. MAT 28:20

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. JOH 13:17

Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. 1CO 11:2

They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” HEB 8:5

Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you were shown on the mountain. EXO 26:30

Rashi’s Commentary

Then you shall erect the tabernacle—After it is completed, erect it.

You were shown on the mountain—Prior to this, for I am destined to teach you and show you the order of its erection.

Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. ACT 7:44

You shall make it hollow, with boards. As it has been shown you on the mountain, so shall it be made. EXO 27:8

Rashi’s Commentary

Hollow, with boards—There should be boards of acacia wood from all sides with a space in the middle. But all of it shall not be made of one piece of wood that would measure five cubits by five cubits, like a sort of anvil i.e., like one solid block.

12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. REV 21:27

15 and the altar hearth, four cubits; and from the altar hearth and above, four horns.

Rashi’s Commentary

And the altar hearth—The height of the top of the altar, from the circuit and above; and in the second temple it was only three cubits. Jonathan, too, renders: And the altar was four cubits.

16 The altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve broad, square to its four sides.

The altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long by twelve broad, square.

Rashi’s Commentary

The altar hearth shall be twelve cubits long—The entire place for the woodpile was twenty-four cubits by twenty-four cubits and this section was twelve by twelve.

To each of its four sides—i.e., he measured twelve cubits from its center to every side. Behold it was 24 cubits by 24 cubits. The altar of the second temple was 32 by 32 cubits. It extended upward a cubit and receded a cubit forming the base leaving it 30 by 30 cubits. It extended upward five cubits and receded a cubit this is the circuit leaving 28 by 28 cubits. The area for the horns was a cubit here and a cubit there, leaving 26 by 26 cubits. The area for the priests to walk was a cubit here and a cubit there, leaving 24 by 24 cubits the place for the woodpiles.

17 The ledge also shall be square, fourteen cubits long by fourteen broad, with a rim around it half a cubit broad, and its base one cubit all around. The ascent of the altar shall face east.

Rashi’s Commentary

The ledge . . . fourteen cubits long—The top of the altar, including the area for the horns and including the area for the feet of the priests, was 28 by 28 cubits, and the 14 mentioned here were measured from its center, as is explained by “square.”

With a rim around it—Our Sages explained it as referring to the horns.

Half a cubit—He measures from its center; hence it was a cubit by a cubit.

And its base one cubit—This is the recession of the base.

The ascents of the altar shall face east—The ramp upon which they ascended was in the south in order that the one who ascended it would face east, for all the priests’ turns were made toward the right, and when you place the ramp in the south, the one who ascends it and turns right faces east.

18 And he said to me, “Son of man, thus says the Lord God: These are the ordinances for the altar: On the day when it is erected for offering burnt offerings upon it and for throwing blood against it,

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. HEB 12:24

19 you shall give to the Levitical priests of the family of Zadok, who draw near to me to minister to me, declares the Lord God, a bull from the herd for a sin offering.

Rashi’s Commentary

The Levitical priests—i.e., who are of the tribe of Levi.

Of the family of Zadok—Since he was the high priest who was the first to serve in the temple, in the days of Solomon, they are all called by his name.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2CO 5:21

He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. HEB 7:27

20 And you shall take some of its blood and put it on the four horns of the altar and on the four corners of the ledge and upon the rim all around. Thus you shall purify the altar and make atonement for it.

Rashi’s Commentary

On the four horns—i.e., the four horns of the altar.

Corners of the uppermost ledge—The top of the altar.

And make atonement for it—You shall “wipe” it of its ordinariness to initiate it into sanctity, so that it will befit for providing atonement from then on.

and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. EXO 29:12

Rashi’s Commentary

On the horns—On top, actually on the horns.

And the rest of the blood—I.e., the remaining blood.

At the base of the altar—A sort of protruding receptacle was made all around it the altar after it was elevated a cubit from the ground.

21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.

22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. HEB 9:21-23

21 You shall also take the bull of the sin offering, and it shall be burned in the appointed place belonging to the temple, outside the sacred area.

11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp.

12 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. HEB 13:11-12

22 And on the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering; and the altar shall be purified, as it was purified with the bull.

Rashi’s Commentary

You shall offer a male goat—This was not done in the tabernacle of Moses’ time, but the investiture of the future will be done so by divine ordinance.

but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1PE 1:19

23 When you have finished purifying it, you shall offer a bull from the herd without blemish and a ram from the flock without blemish.

Rashi’s Commentary

Purifying it—Heb.:מֵחַטֵא, from purifying.

24 You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall sprinkle salt on them and offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. MAT 5:13

49 For everyone will be salted with fire.

50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another. MAR 9:49-50

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. COL 4:6

25 For seven days you shall provide daily a male goat for a sin offering; also, a bull from the herd and a ram from the flock, without blemish, shall be provided.

Rashi’s Commentary

Without blemish, shall be provided—(The burnt offering).

27 And when they have completed these days, then from the eighth day onward the priests shall offer on the altar your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, declares the Lord God.

Rashi’s Commentary

And I will accept you—Heb.: וְרָצִאתִי, from רָצוֹן will.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ROM 12:1

to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. ROM 15:16

to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. EPH 1:6

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. PHP 2:17

20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, COL 1:20-21

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. HEB 13:15

you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1PE 2:5