And there is an order to all of the words that are found in a sentence. And there are in this rules and laws as to which word should come first. For example, when a noun precedes a verb and when a verb precedes a noun, we explained their rules in Chapter 12. And when a noun of secondary importance comes first and the reverse. And moreover, each and every word that comes in a sentence.

And after all of these rules, everything is founded on one rule, that the custom of the language is such that the word which is more important will always precede the word that is less important; whether it is a noun, a verb, or another part of speech, whether it is a subject, a predicate, or a preposition, etc. And when we wrote until here about this – as with the order of precedence of an adjective and a noun (Rules 59 and 60), nouns in construct state (Rule 61), and numbers (Rule 78, Rule 92, Rule 109, Rule 119, Rule 120, Rule 121) – all is founded upon this rule. And moreover, in it is many details, as we clarified.

And moreover, with respect to the order of the chapters in the Scripture, it is proper that the first in merit and study will come first. And a chapter from which the following chapter is learned – it is this way due to this law of precedence. And when the section about the anointed priest precedes the section about the congregation of Israel, there is a homiletical interpretation.

In Leviticus 4, the section about the anointed priest precedes the section about the congregation of Israel. This contradicts Rule 184, since the section about the anointed priest says לאשמת העם (so as to bring guilt on the people), indicating that the section about the congregation of Israel should come before the section about the anointed priest. The homiletical interpretation is that if the bullock of the high priest and the bullock of the congregation are both awaiting sacrifice, the bullock of the high priest takes precedence⁴²⁴.

footnotes: ⁴²⁴ Malbim, HaTorah v’HaMitzvah Vayikra 240.