## Chizkuni, Leviticus

###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:2:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:2:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:2:1)

**ויקחו אליך שמן** וגו'. אהדריה קרא בשביל על המנורה הטהורה וגו׳‎ לפי שבספר זה שהוא תורת כהנים סדר כל תשמישי המשכן והקרבנות ומילוי ידי הכהנים והפרשות הטמאות שאוסרות לבא למקדש ולאכול בקדשים ובא עתה לפרש סדר המנורה והשלחן ששניהם תלויים זה בזה והקטרת כבר נזכר בפרשת אחרי מות ומן הדין היה להקדים פרשת לחם הפנים לפרשת המנורה שהרי המנורה היתה בכלל לחם הפנים כדכתיב ואת המנורה נוכח השלחן אלא רצה לסמוך פרשת מקלל לפרשת לחם הפנים כמו שפרש״‎י.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויקחו אליך שמן זית, “that they will bring you olive oil;” the reason that this verse, i.e. the instructions it contains, was repeated is that in this Book of the five Books of Moses, the one containing most of the instructions connected with the service of the priests in the Temple, was that the time had come to list in the appropriate order the rules surrounding the function of the Lampstand, Menorah, and the Table, which are interdependent on one another. The incense had already been dealt with at length in Leviticus chapter 17,12-13. By rights we could have expected to read about the presentation of the showbreads before reading about the function of the Menorah which was not a sacrificial act, and was subservient to the presentation of the show breads as had been made plain by the words: ואת המנורה נוכח השלחן, “and the Lampstand opposite the Table,” (Exodus 26,35). The reason that the Torah did not write matters in that order was that it wanted to write the report about the blasphemer next to the portion of the showbreads, as Rashi has explained. Rashi quoted a sage as saying that the blasphemer had made fun of the showbreads ridiculing a law that offered the Lord bread that was on occasion a whole week old, as these breads were only exchanged for new ones every Sabbath.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:2:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:2:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:2:2)

**להעלת נר תמיד** אף בשבת אף בטומאה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
להעלות נר תמיד, “to kindle a lamp to burn continually;” it was kept burning also on the Sabbath, and even if it had become ritually contaminated.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:3:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:3:1)

**מחוץ לפרכת העדת באהל מועד** מלמד שהיא סמוכה לפרכת יותר מן הפתח.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
מחוץ לפרוכת העדות באהל מועד, “outside of the curtain of testimony of the tent of Meeting.” The wording is to teach that the position of the Menorah inside the Sanctuary was relatively closer to the dividing curtain than to the entrance of the Sanctuary.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:3:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:3:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:3:2)

**יערך אתו** את השמן.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
יערוך אותו, “he is to arrange it.” (the olive oil)


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:4:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:4:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:4:1)

**על המנרה הטהרה** על טהרה של מנורה שלא יסמכם בקסמים וצרורות.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
על המנורה הטהורה, “upon the pure Menorah according to Rashi, as he understood the Sifra, seeing that the priest kindling the lamps on the Menorah did so without using tools such as matches, etc., it was important to make certain that no material was used that could potentially confer ritual impurity on the lampstand which was made of metal and therefore liable to such contamination.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:4:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:4:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:4:2)

**לפני ה'** שלא יתקן בחוץ ויכנס בפנים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
לפני ה׳, “before the Lord;” the fire was not to be lit outside the Sanctuary and then to be transferred to the wicks in the oil on the lampstand.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:5:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:5:1)

**שתים עשרה חלות** במספר השבטים והם לחם הפנים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
שתים עשרה חלות, “twelve loaves,” corresponding to the number of the tribes. (Ibn Ezra) They are the loaves known as “showbreads.”


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:5:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:5:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:5:2)

**החלה האחת** כל לישתה ועריכתה לא יהיה אלא אחת.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
החלה האחת, “the one loaf;” the kneading, making the dough, etc., should be a single operation.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:6:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:6:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:6:1)

**ושמת אותם** שלשה דפוסים היו שם אחת לדפוס כשהיא בצק, ואחת לאופו בתוכו בתנור, ואחת שנותן בו כשהן נאפות כדי שלא יתקלקלו. שתים מערכות בשני ראשי השלחן.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
[ושמת אותם, “you shall place them;” the sudden switch to the plural mode, אותם, ”them,” means that when it came to baking, 2 loaves each were put in the oven at one time. (Sifra) Ed.] ושמת אותם, there were three sets of moulds; one to shape them when they were dough; one while the dough was in the oven; and the third when they were finished baking to arrange them in such a manner that they would not deteriorate between one Sabbath and the next. (Sifra) שתים מערכות, “two rows;” one at each end of the Table;


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:6:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:6:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:6:2)

**שש המערכת על השלחן הטהר** שש חלות זו על גב זו באחד משני ראשי השלחן, ושש חלות אחרות זו על גב זו בראשו השני דפני החלה לצדי השולחן ופתחי החלה לאורך השולחן כמו שפירשתי בפרשת תרומה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
שש מערכות על השלחן הטהור, “six rows upon the pure Table;” six loaves would be placed one above the other on either side of the Table the sides of the loaves would face the side of the Table, as I have explained in Exodus 25,29.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:7:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:7:1)

**ונתת על המערכת** אצל כל מערכת בטפח חלק שיש בין שתי המערכות על טהרו של שולחן כמו ועליו מטה מנשה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ונתת על המערכת, “you are to place next to each row, which were one handbreadth apart, frankincense.” The word על here is to be understood as in Number 2,20 עליו where it mans “next to” (the next tribe).


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:7:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:7:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:7:2)

**על המערכת** מה מערכת האמור שם המערכת תופס שתיים מערכות אף מערכת האמור כאן תופס שתים מערכות **[על המערכת** עם המערכת]

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
על המערכת, “frankincense would be placed on the surface of the table next to each row.”[The reader will find an illustration at the end of the last volume. Ed.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:7:3
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:7:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:7:3)

**והיתה ללחם לאזכרה** רבי שמעון אומר נאמר כאן אזכרה ונאמר להלן אזכרה מה להלן מלא קומץ אף כאן מלא קומץ.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
והיתה ללחם אזכרתה, ”so that the frankincense may serve the loaves as a symbol of it.” Rabbi Shimon states that the expression אזכרה here, as well as in Leviticus 2,2, refers to the partial fistful used. In other words, two partial fistfuls of frankincense were required, one for each row of six showbreads.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:8:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:8:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:8:1)

**ביום השבת ביום השבת** בשבת עורך חדשה ובשבת מקטיר ישנה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ביום השבת, ביום השבת, “Every Sabbath day;” while new breads were replacing last week’s breads, the frankincense of last week’s breads was burned up at the end of the week on the Sabbath.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:8:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:8:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:8:2)

**יערכנו** ללחם קאי אבל לא לקנים שהרי אינו עורך עמו קנים בשבת אלא נכנס בערב שבת ושומטן ונתנן לארכו של שלחן שכל הכלים שהיו במקדש ארכן לארכו של בית חוץ מן הארון ואחר השבת היה נכנס וסודר שלשה תחת כל אחת ואחת וכו'.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
יערכנו, “he shall arrange it;” the subject is the showbreads, not the branches described in Exodus 25,32. The latter were not arranged on the Sabbath but on the Sabbath eve. All the furnishings in the Tabernacle were arranged so that their length was parallel to the long walls of the structure, with the exception of the Holy Ark.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:10:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:10:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:10:1)

**ויצא בן אשה** לפי הפשט לשון יציאה שייך גבי ריב כדכתיב יצאו נצבים, אל תצא לריב מהר. כאן פירש״‎י אמרו לו איש על דגלו באותות לבית אבותם כתיב, נכנס לבית דינו של משה ויצא מחויב. ואם תאמר למה יצא מחויב הרי מקושש בשנה ראשונה היה כדאמר בעלמא אלמלא שמרו ישראל שתי שבתות אין כל אומה ולשון יכולה לשלוט בהם שמרו הראשונה ובשניה בא זה וחללה, וכן פרש״‎י בפרשת שלח ואף מקלל זה באותו פרק היה כמו שפרש״‎י לאלתר, א״‎כ למה יצא זה מחויב הרי לא נאמרה פרשת דגלים עד שנה שניה כדכתיב בפרשת במדבר אלא יש לומר אף על פי כן משבאו למדבר סיני חונים היו כסדר שמסר להם יעקב אבינו כמו שפירש רש״‎י בפרשת ויחי ובפרשת במדבר ולפי מנהג הסדר יצא מחויב.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויצא בן אשה ישראלית, “the son of an Israelite woman went out, (became involved in a serious argument) the word יצא is used in this sense also in Numbers 16,27: יצאו נצבים, “they went out in a challenging posture;” as well as in Proverbs 25,8: אל תצא לריב מהר, “do not be in a hurry to start a quarrel; this is the plain meaning of the line. Rashi on this line comments that this man whose father was an Egyptian, went to pitch his tent among the tents of the tribe of Dan, his mother’s tribe, as stated by the Torah. The Danites rejected him as tribal allegiance is based on the father and not on the mother. When he came to Moses complaining, the court upheld the opinion of the Danites. As a result of being frustrated, he cursed the G-d Who had so discriminated against him. The Torah had ruled that the tribes should each take up positions in camp in the vicinity of their respective tribal flags. Numbers 2,2. This man then ridiculed a religion which sees fit to offer its G-d bread that had been baked as long ago as a whole week ago, instead of presenting Him daily with fresh bread. This had come to his attention on a Sabbath. According to tradition, the incident with the blasphemer and that with the person who had collected kindling on the Sabbath occurred about the same time. This seems difficult to accept as the incident with the person collecting firewood on the Sabbath occurred in the first year of the Israelites’ wandering. Any incident involving tribal allegiance could not have happened until the second year when the order in which the Israelites took up their positions relative to the Tabernacle in their midst was established during the second month of the second year.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:10:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:10:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:10:2)

**והוא בן איש מצרי** אעפ״‎י שלא היה ממזר בתוך אותו זמן, הוא היה כממזר.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
והוא בן איש מצרי, “and he was the son of an Egyptian man.” Even though at that time he was not yet a bastard as that law had not yet been publicized, he was adjudged as guilty of blasphemy by the court as if he were a bastard. [He would be guilty of violating one of the seven Noachide Commandments that apply universally, bastard or no bastard. (law #2) Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:10:3
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:10:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:10:3)

**בתוך בני ישראל** פרש״‎י מלמד שנתגייר, וא״‎ת הרי לעיל בפרשת שמות פרש״‎י וירא כי אין איש עתיד להתגייר ממנו י״‎ל כשהרגו משה למצרי שלומית היתה מעוברת ממנו ומשה ראה ברוח הקודש שלא יצאו ממנו מכאן ואילך שיתגיירו והרגו ועוד לא מצינו על המקלל ללמוד עליו שום זכות. מלמד שנתגייר, וא״‎ת אמאי צריך גירות הא קים לן עבד ועובד כוכבים הבא על בת ישראל הולד כשר. אלא י״‎ל דאמרינן הולד כשר הני מילי לאחר מתן תורה והוה ליה היחס הולך אחר האם והיא ישראלית אבל הכא המצרי בא עליה קודם מתן תורה שהיא היתה בת נח ואין הולד כשר והוה ליה היחס אחר האב והוה מצרי לכך הוצרך גרות. ד״‎א **בתוך בני ישראל** לפי הפשט היה נמשך אחר אביו המצרי משעת השעבוד עד אחר מתן תורה ואחר כך נתגייר ובא לו אצל משפחת אמו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
בתוך בני ישראל, according to Rashi, who quotes Torat Kohanim, these words mean that he had converted to Judaism. [Why he should, seeing that his mother was Jewish, I fail to understand. Ed.] If you were to ask that we read in Exodus, Rashi explained on the words: וירא כי אין איש, that Moses had made sure that no one had seen him killing the Egyptian (Exodus 2,12), that these words mean that Moses foresaw in a prophetic vision that no potential descendant of that Egyptian would ever convert to Judaism, we would have to assume that at that moment this man’s mother was already pregnant with him. What Moses had seen prophetically was that in the future no one would ever descend from this man who had the potential to convert to Judaism. Hence by killing him, he had not committed any ethical crime, especially seeing that the man had murdered a Jew. Furthermore, there is nothing in our scriptures that asks us to look for extenuating circumstances before executing a blasphemer. At this point, our author raises the question about the relevancy of conversion, seeing that any child born by a Jewish mother, be the father a slave or a pagan, is automatically Jewish from birth. The only answer to this question could be that this automatic Judaism came into force only after the Torah had been given at Mount Sinai. Seeing that this man had been sired at least about 60 years prior to the giving of the Torah, he had not qualified as a Jew automatically, but of course could have converted at any time. [Remember he had been sired before Moses even escaped to Midian. Ed.] Due to these considerations this blasphemer had been a convert. A different approach to the scenario involved here: the plain meaning of the words: בתוך בני ישראל, the blasphemer had been an Egyptian, due to his father having been an Egyptian; going back to the times when the Israelites had still been enslaved. After the Exodus, he converted and therefore ever since he was viewed as a Jew due to his mother having been a Jewess. He felt that seeing he had no father who also having been a Jew belonged to one of the tribes, he was entitled to belong at least to his mother’s tribe.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:11:1)

**ויקב בן האשה, ויקלל** מתוך המריבה גידף.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויקוב בן האשה הישראלית ויקלל, “the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name and cursed;” as a result of the quarrel he began to curse;


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:11:2)

**ויקב ויקלל** אינו אומר ויברך כענין שנאמר בנבות ברך נבות אלקים ומלך אלא **ויקלל** מלמד שאין הורגים בכינוי.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויקוב, ויקלל, the Torah does not use the expression ויברך which is traditionally used someone who curses the name of G-d, as for instance in Kings I 21,13, where Navot had been accused (falsely) of cursing the King and G-d, in order for the King to have a pretext to have him executed for not selling him his vineyard. It uses the word: ויקלל, instead, which refers to someone cursing without using the tetragram as the Lord’s name, a sin not punishable by the death penalty. (Sifra)


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:3
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:11:3)

**את השם ויקלל** אמר רבי יוסי המצריים מטמאים היו ומטמאין את ישראל אמרו חכמים אשת נריה בן בנו של דן שלומית בת דברי שמה ובאותו הלילה באו עליו נוגשי פרעה והרגוהו ובאו על אשתו והרתה והכל הולך אחר הזרע אם מתוק מתוק ואם מר מר, וכשיצאו ישראל ממצרים וינצו במחנה בן הישראלית ואיש הישראלי שאמר לו חברו ממזר אתה ובן איש מצרי שאל אותו בן הישראלית היכן הוא אביו אמרו לו הוא שהרגו משה בשם המפורש התחיל אותו ממזר שהיה בן הישראלית לחרף ולגדף אותו שם היינו דכתיב ויקוב את השם אותו שם מפורש שבו נהרג אביו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
את השם ויקלל, he also used the tetragram when cursing. Rabbi Yossi is on record as saying that the Egyptians who were ritually contaminated, also conferred their ritual contamination on the Israelites. His colleagues claimed that the wife of Neriah, a grandson of Dan, was Shlomit, daughter of Divri, and that during the night following the day when Moses slew the Egyptian who was one of the supervisors checking the number of bricks delivered by the Jewish slaves, raped her. History has a way of repeating itself. According to Tanchuma, Emor 24 as well as Vayikra Rabbah 32,4 when the quarrel broke out, and a Jewish man accused this man to be a bastard, this man asked the accuser where his father had been on the night when he claimed that his mother had been raped. The night he referred to was the night when his mother had supposedly been raped by an Egyptian overseer, who had used a pretext to send her husband on an errant. The reason why this blasphemer used the tetragram when cursing G-d, was that he had overheard how Moses had used that name as a means to kill his father. [I do not follow this, because if he had not been born yet, and his mother became pregnant with him as a result of the rape, how could he have overheard Moses? Ed.][This is why the Torah in Exodus 2,14 has one of the two quarrelling Israelites ask Moses whether he planned to kill him also by using the tetragram to curse him, so that he would fall dead. (הלהרגני אתה אומר: “are you going to utter a word which will kill me?”)]


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:4
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:11:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:11:4)

**למטה דן** הוא שגרם לו המריבה כי ההוא דהוה אמר דונו דיני אמרו ליה מדן קאתי דכתיב דן ידין עמו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
למטה דן, “from the tribe of Dan.” He had been the one causing the quarrel. He had justified his action by saying that he would now rectify an injustice done to him. This may also have been hinted at when in Genesis 49,16, according to the Talmud in Pessachim folio 4, Yaakov on his deathbed, using prophetic vision had said דן ידין עמו, “Dan will judge his people.”


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:12:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:12:1)

**ויניחהו במשמר** פרש״‎י ולא הניחו המקושש עמו ששניהם היו בפרק אחד וכו', וא״‎ת הא פירש״‎י לעיל ויצא מהיכן יצא רבי לוי אומר מעולמו יצא רבי ברכיה אומר מפרשה של מעלה יצא לגלג ואמר ביום השבת ביום השבת יערכנו וכו׳‎ וקים לן שלחם הפנים לא נעשה עד שנה שניה כשהוקם המשכן ומקושש חלל שבת שניה של שנה ראשונה כדאמרינן, וא״‎כ היאך היו בפרק אחד, אלא י״‎ל דפרשת לחם הפנים הכתובה כאן בפרק של מקושש נאמרה ואין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה ועליה לגלג אותו בן איש מצרי.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויניחהו במשמר, “they placed him in custody;” according to Rashi, they did not place the man who had collected kindling on the Sabbath in the same cell with him, although both incidents occurred at about the same time. If you were to ask that Rashi had interpreted the word ויצא, “he went out,” in Leviticus 24,10 by quoting Rabbi Levi who said that “he left his world,” whereas Rabbi Berechyah is quoted as saying that the word means that this blasphemer first ridiculed the legislation about the showbreads (as we already explained), something that could not have occurred until the second year when the Tabernacle was functioning, whereas the person collecting the kindling had done so on the second Sabbath, i.e. at Marah, or at the latest immediately after the giving of the Torah only 49 days after the Exodus in the first year, even before the Torah had given, so how could they possibly have been placed in the same cell as that person had long since been executed? (see Rashi on Parshat S’hlach lecha) We are therefore forced to answer that the tribes had taken up positions in the desert in accordance with the sequence in which Yaakov had blessed them, already before there had been any mention of the erecting of a Tabernacle, so that the incident with the blasphemer could have occurred much earlier than the impression given in our portion. We have explained repeatedly that the author of the Torah did not feel restrained to report events in their chronological sequence. The blasphemer ridiculed the legislation of the showbreads as soon as it was taught, though the Tabernacle had not even been built yet. [he was not driven to do so because he had been refused to put up his tent with the Danites. Ed]


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:12:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:12:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:12:2)

**לפרש להם על פי ה'** נראה בעיניהם שהיה חייב סקילה מדכתיב אביו ואמו קלל דמיו בו ק״‎ו לשכינה אלא שאין עונשים מן הדין ומשום הכי כתיב לפרש להם על פי ה'.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
לפרוש להם על פי ה, ”in order to receive instructions from the Lord how to proceed.” They assumed that the sinner had to be stoned to death as is evident from Leviticus 20,9. If stoning is the penalty for cursing one’s parents, how could the penalty for cursing the Lord be more lenient? We have a rule that penalties cannot be based merely on our judgment, i.e. our logic, but must have been ordained from heaven.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:14:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:14:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:14:1)

**וסמכו** מפני מה נתחייב זה סמיכה מכל חייבי מיתות לפי שבשעת גמר דין היו צריכים הדיינים לומר לעדים אמור בפירוש מה ששמעת והעדים אומרים בפירוש ברכת השם כמו ששמעו לכך היו סומכים את ידיהם עליו, כלומר העון הזה שאנו עושים לברך את השם יהא תלוי בצוארך שאתה גרמת לנו. כל השמעים שבעדות נסקל.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וסמכו, “and all who heard the curse are to place their hands, etc.;” what was the reason for this procedure which had to be performed on the bodies of all people about to be executed legally? The reason is that when judgment was passed, the witnesses on whose testimony this sentence was based had been forced during the proceedings to literally quote the words used by the blasphemer in doing so. This had made them perform this symbolic act by means of which they transferred any guilt that they had been burdened with through that to the blasphemer before the latter was executed. כל השומעים, “all who had heard it;” seeing that he would be executed by stoning due to their testimony.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:14:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:14:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:14:2)

**ורגמו אתו** לפי שנתגייר, דאם לא נתגייר לא היה נסקל דבן נח דינו בסייף בעדים ובהתראה. עונש שמענו אזהרה מנין לבן נח מן ויצו ה׳‎ אלקים על האדם, לבן ישראל מאלוקים לא תקלל. אתו ולא כסותו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ורגמו אותו, “and they (all) have to stone him.” This was because that person had converted to Judaism. If he had not converted, he would still have been guilty of the death penalty, but, like all gentiles, he would have been executed by the sword, following the appropriate warning of what he was risking by committing that sin, and, of course by eye witnesses testifying against him. We have now heard of the penalty for blaspheming, but where did we read about the warning not to commit this sin, especially that it applies also to gentiles? It is found in Genesis 2,16-17, according to the Talmud Sanhedrin, folio 56, and the warning for a Jew is found in Exodus 22,27, “you must not curse G-d.” אותו “him,” he shall be stoned but not his clothing. (Sifra)


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:15:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:15:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:15:1)

**כי יקלל אלהיו ונשא חטאו** אין בדבר רק נשיאות חטא כלומר בינו לבין קונו הדבר תלוי שספק נפשות להקל ושמא לא כיון כלפי הקב״‎ה רק כלפי הדיינים שכן דיינים קרואים אלהים ואין לעמוד על בירור דעת האדם המקלל בשם אלוקים אבל נוקב שם ה׳‎ שמפרש שם המיוחד מות יומת.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כי יקלל אלוקיו ונשא חטאו, “whosoever curses his G-d, shall bear the burden of his sin.” When reading this verse superficially, we gain the impression that the guilty person must simply live with the burden of his sin, i.e. that the matter is between him and his G-d, and that the human tribunal on earth is not charged with carrying out the penalty. After all, how did the court know which of his deities that person had had in mind? Not only that, but in the Torah even judges are also described simply as ‘elohim!’”


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:16:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:16:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:16:1)

**כגר כאזרח** לפי שזה גר היה ועל ידו נאמרה פרשה זו הקדימו תחלה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כגר כאזרח וגו, “both convert and natural born Jew, etc;” we might have expected the Torah to mention the natural born Jew first; but the Torah wanted to teach us that the convert who had been born as a pagan, and had had to overcome many obstacles to convert, is given additional credit for having made this effort by being named here before natural born Israelites.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:17:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:17:1)

**ואיש כי יכה כל נפש אדם** מתוך שפירש דין מיתה באיש יוצא לריב, הולך ומסיים דברי ריבות שמביאין לידי מיתה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואיש כי יכה כל נפש אדם, “and any person who strikes another human fatally (deliberately), etc.” since the Torah had just dealt with people who started quarrels, something that may have fatal results, it reminds us once more of the seriousness of starting quarrels, the results of which are beyond one’s original intention.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:20:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:20:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:20:1)

**כן ינתן בו** פרש״‎י אינו נתינת מום ממש אלא תשלומי ממון וכן הדין נותן אם החובל ראשון בלא כונה אין יכולת לעשות לו שבר או חבלה בשוה ועוד אם החבלה במקום מסוכן הרי ימות וכן גבי עין מי שחסר שלישית מאור עינו של חברו אין יכול אדם לעשות לחובל כן או אם חובל העין יהיה עור מה יעשו לו לפיכך דברי רבותינו אמת. ואם בעל הדין יחלוק לומר אם החובל עני מה יעשו לו תשובה לדבר כי על רוב העולם דבר הכתוב ושמא העני יעשיר. ומצינו כתוב לא תקחו כופר לנפש רוצח דמשמע אבל אתה רשאי לקחת כופר לאברים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כן ינתן בו, “so shall be done to him;” Rashi on this verse comments that the text is not to be understood literally, but what is meant is that financial compensation must be paid to the victim. This is perfectly logical, as in many instances it would be impossible to carry out the literal meaning of the text, and it would even be totally unfair, for instance, for a one eyed person to have to lose one eye if he had gouged out the eye of a person who had two good eyes with which to see. Our sages’ interpretation of this verse is therefore clearly the correct one. (Ibn Ezra) If the aggrieved party should take issue with this by arguing that he is not to blame that the person who had gouged out one of his eyes had only had a single eye, and that he insists on the literal application of this verse, he is told that the Torah was written in order to address normal situations, not exceptional situations, for if it had intended to provide in its text for every imaginable contingency, the Torah would be far too long. Moreover, even assuming after the exceptions the Torah sometimes made for a person’s financial circumstances, this would not necessarily be fair, as who knows whether a person who is poor today may not become rich next week or vice versa? The overriding consideration for compensation if a life had been taken deliberately is spelled out by the Torah when it wrote that financial compensation for taking a life is absolutely inadmissible, as who can determine the value of a person’s life in terms of money? (Numbers 35,31) Individual limbs, however, are subject to the judges’ evaluation


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:21:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:21:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:21:1)

**ומכה בהמה ישלמנה** שנאו הכתוב לפי שבתחלה הזכיר נפש פירוש שהכהו במקום מסוכן ואחר כך אמר כל מי שימות אפילו הכהו במקום שאינו מסוכן ולכך לא הזכיר עכשיו נפש.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ומכה בהמה ישלמנה, “someone who had deliberately struck his fellow man’s animal must pay compensation.” The Torah has repeated this legislation, as originally it had used the expression: נפש, “lifeforce,” implying that the attacker had aimed at a part of the body that is most vulnerable, whereas here it did not restrict itself to when an especially vulnerable part of the animal had been struck. Compensation is payable even if the animal had not died as the result of being struck.


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:22:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:22:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:22:1)

**כגר כאזרח** כשם שאני תובע עלבון האזרח כך אני תובע עלבון הגר ובהמתו.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
כגר כאזרח, “be it a convert or a natural born Israelite;” just as the Torah is concerned with the wellbeing of a natural born Jew, it is concerned with the wellbeing of a person who has converted to Judaism or to his animal. (B’chor shor)


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:23:1
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:23:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:23:1)

**וירגמו אתו אבן** מלמד שאם מת באבן אחת יצא.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וירגמו אותו אבן, “they stoned him to death with stones.” The use of the word אבן “stone,” in the singular mode, teaches that if one stone had been enough to kill the sinner, no more stones are to be hurled at him. (Sifra)


###### Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:23:2
[Chizkuni, Leviticus 24:23:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Leviticus/r/24:23:2)

**ובני ישראל עשו** מאותו יום והלאה משפט זה בחובל בחברו. ד״‎א **ובני ישראל עשו** אף לסמיכה אף לדחיה אף לתליה. **שלימא סדרא דפרשת אמור**

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ובני ישראל עשו, “and the Children of Israel had done;” from this day onwards the legislation of how to deal with people who injure others was practiced. An alternate interpretation of this line: the words: “they did,” refer not only to the last verse preceding this, but state that all the steps of the legal proceedings of carrying out an execution were performed dutifully by all the people whenever the need arose to do so.(Sifra)