ה' קנני ראשית דרכו קדם מפעליו מאז, “The Lord created me at the beginning of His course; as the first of His works of old” (Proverbs 8,22).

In this verse Solomon speaks in the name of the emanation חכמה, wisdom. This is the level of wisdom which is concealed even from the מלאכי השרת, “the ministering angels.” Job referred to this elusive wisdom when he said: ”but where can wisdom be found?” (Job 28,12) Concerning this level of wisdom we also have a verse in Job 28,21 “it is hidden from the eyes of all living, concealed from the fowl of heaven.” Our sages interpreted the words: “from the fowl of heaven” as a reference to the ministering angels. This is the “wisdom” which preceded creation of heaven and earth. We have an allusion to this fact in Proverbs 3,19: “The Lord founded the earth by wisdom; He established the heavens by understanding.” We have a further verse in Scripture alluding to this in the very next verse. “By His knowledge the depths burst apart, and the skies distilled dew.” All the verses we have just quoted prove that heaven and earth, the depths and all that is contained within them have been created by G’d using this חכמה, “wisdom” as His instrument. This is also what Solomon meant to say in Proverbs 8,25-29: “Before [the foundations of] the mountains were sunk, before the hills I was born. He had not yet made earth and fields of the world’s first clump of clay. I was there when He set the heavens into place; when He fixed the horizon upon the deep. When He made the heavens above firm, and the fountains of the deep gushed forth; when He assigned the sea its limits so that its waters never transgress His command.” If you want to examine the various expressions used by Solomon in greater depth, the expression “the deep” refers to what our sages call the קו ירוק, another word for the emanation בינה, “insight.” The word הרים, “mountains” is a reference to the patriarchs. (the emanations חסד, גבורה and תפארת represented by the patriarchs.) The word ארץ is a reference to the emanation סוף [an alternate name for the emanation מלכות, Ed.] Solomon called this חכמה by the name ראשית, seeing that it preceded the creation of the universe popularly known as מעשה בראשית. This was also the reason that when the Torah commenced its report about the creation of the universe it had to commence with the word בראשית. The word ראשית not only refers to the beginning of something in terms of time, but it also means that something is superior in quality. An example is found in Amos 6,6: וראשית שמנים ימשחו, “and anoint themselves with the best oils.” Just as superior oil floats to the top of all other liquids so wisdom rises to the top of all other forms of existence. This is what is meant by the words in our opening verse: “He has created (acquired) me at the beginning of His discourse.” In other words, wisdom proclaims that it had been G’d’s first acquisition, something G’d has secured for Himself from a hidden source. This mysterious source is the region in which wisdom originates. Inasmuch as the words “and from the fowl of heaven it is hidden,” were understood to be a reference to the angels, it is clear that the word קנני of which Solomon spoke in Proverbs 8,22, has its root in the word קן, i.e. a bird’s nest. The nest is the place in which the bird originates. Solomon explained that the original “site” of wisdom gave birth to wisdom which is its first “nest.” Wisdom relates to all other phenomena in this universe as does the nest to all the chicks hatched in it, i.e. it is its origin. If all this is true then wisdom was not created out of a total void as some of the philosophers have thought, but it is a phenomenon and a derivative of the original אין, void or nothingness, the supreme and hidden source. This is what Job spoke about when he said: “where can wisdom be found?” These words of Job must not be understood as an inquiry, a question expressing hopelessness, but as a piece of information. The Torah has informed us that “wisdom” emanates from a hidden source. The Torah itself was created by drawing on that hidden source. Seeing that the Torah originates in that domain it is called לקח טוב, “good instruction” (Proverbs 4,2) and the ministering angels are envious that it was entrusted to man. Our sages in Shabbat 85 confirmed this when they described that when G’d was about to give the Torah to Moses the angels were upset and remonstrated with G’d how He could entrust such a hidden treasure to mere man, a creature that defiles himself so often, a creature dominated often by its evil urge? We derive the fact that such a conversation took place from David’s remark in Psalms 8,2: “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name throughout the earth, You Who have covered the heavens with Your splendor!“ This statement reflects the angels’ argument that G’d’s splendor should remain in the heaven and not be made available on earth. G’d answered the angels with rhetorical questions such as: “it is written in the Torah ‘you should remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.’ It is written: ‘honor your father and your mother!;’ it is written in the Torah: ‘you shall not steal, etc., etc.’ Is there any need for such instructions for celestial beings? Do you suffer from either an evil urge or exposure to defilement? Are there foods which are permitted to you and others which are not?” Thus far the Midrash.

I believe that when the Midrash speaks about “jealousy” between the angels and man we need to examine these words. Jealousy is an emotion which is the result of man being equipped with an evil urge. Seeing that G’d Himself is on record as denying that the angels possess an evil urge, how could they be described as being “jealous” of man? This fact is spelled out even more forcefully in Chagigah 15 where the Talmud states: “in the celestial regions such concepts as standing, being seated, jealousy and competition are non-existent.” It is a region in which all beings are inclined to agree with one another in the search for a deeper understanding of the Essence of their Creator. The nutrition of these celestial beings consists of their obtaining progressively deeper insights into the Essence of G’d. This ensures the continued existence of the ministering angels. Seeing that all these beings are united in the same aspirations, how could there exist amongst them something described as ‘jealousy?” At the same time, it is no secret that jealousy is a well known phenomenon amongst human beings which afflicts mostly people who are envious of their immediate superiors. You do not find that a king is envious or jealous of a simple villager, neither is the villager envious of the king seeing that the difference between their respective social situations makes comparisons pointless. A fool is not jealous of a scholar as he has no conception of what it means to be a scholar. The scholar is not envious of the fool as he has no need of him. Jealousy is reserved for people of similar status. A scholar may be jealous of another scholar, a warrior of another warrior who has achieved greater fame, etc. A rich man is jealous of someone richer than himself (compare Avodah Zarah 55). Having appreciated all this, how could one apply the term “jealousy” to a relationship between such unequals as human beings and the ministering angels? We must therefore understand this term when used by the Midrash to describe a situation prevailing in the celestial regions as a mere euphemism, a parable. Clearly, the angels were aware of the difference between human beings, creatures who were a fusion of body and soul, of the material and the spiritual. It is equally clear that they were aware that most of what is written in the Torah in the form of legislation was not addressed to them as they were not capable of fulfilling such commandments by reason of their being of a uniform “material,” i.e. disembodied creatures. What concerned the angels was that there was a “wisdom” which was deemed appropriate for creatures whom they considered inferior by definition precisely because they had bodies and urges which interfered with their serving their Creator at all times. They could not understand why such a superior wisdom would be entrusted to inferior beings instead of to them! They had assumed that the absence of a body made them superior to man by definition. They considered any matter which was a combination of materials as something inferior to matter consisting of a single element. Creatures which were the result of some fusion represented to the angels something of a dichotomy, containing built-in tensions. G’d, in a manner of speaking agreed with them, saying that precisely because of this built-in tension the superior wisdom represented by Torah was needed by man. A superior person such as Moses attained the highest level of insight called ראשית, something not attained by any other living human being, as testified to in the Torah itself (Deut. 33,21) where we read: ”He saw (chose) for himself the ראשית, the best; for that is where the lawgiver’s portion is hidden.” He received this from the domain called ראשית. This attainment by Moses was not part of his prophetic qualities but an intellectual achievement on his part. This is why the Torah refers to it as וירא, “he saw,” i.e. he comprehended. The other outstanding achievement of Moses, the one called by our sages אספקלריא מאירה, “a clear vision,” was something that he attained as a prophetic quality. It was an insight into the workings of the attribute of Mercy. This was something which the patriarchs with whom G’d communicated in His dimension as the attribute of Justice had not comprehended as personal insights. [They had been aware of it as a phenomenon but not by personal experience applied to their lives. Ed.] All the other prophets who experienced various levels of revelations did not experience such revelations of the attribute of Mercy. This was an attribute which resulted in certain supernatural miracles becoming part of G’d’s manifestations during those days. The word אספקלריא employed by our sages (Yevamot 49) to describe visions received by the prophets is an acronym composed of ספק קלריא, i.e. “supplied a degree of light, enlightenment.” It resembles the ability to look through a solid body because the material the body is made of is transparent glass. When the sages said that all prophets other than Moses received אספקלריא שאינה מאירה, the meaning is not that they received blurred visions which they could not decipher, but that G’d did not supply additional light so that what was beyond the solid material was lit up brilliantly. The “picture” they saw was clear, not blurred, but insufficiently illuminated to reveal to them every detail. When Moses received a similar vision, the “picture” was brilliantly illuminated so that he could distinguish every detail in it. To reflect this fact G’d made the skin of Moses’ forehead radiate light so brilliant that the people approaching him became intimidated by that light (Exodus 34,20). They could not absorb it, i.e. “digest it.” It blinded them. Proof that Avraham and the other patriarchs did not receive this level of prophetic insight is provided by the fact that Avraham never uttered the tetragrammaton when he addressed G’d but used the name א-ד-נ-י. Moses, on the other hand, used the name י-ה-ו-ה when addressing G’d. Moses employed both the attribute of G’d שדי as well as His attribute י-ה-ו-ה when he was active in his capacity as a prophet. When G’d reveals Himself to a prophet preparatory to performing “hidden” miracles, i.e. miracles which are not directly “impossible” in terms of the laws of nature, such revelations are also called אספקלריא שאינה מאירה, “unclear vision.”

וארא אל אברהם אל יצחק ואל יעקב באל שדי, ושמי ה’ לא נודעתי להם. “whereas I appeared to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, I appeared to them in My capacity as the G’d Shaddai, but in my capacity as Hashem I did not become familiar to them.” The Torah used the expression וידבר אלו-הים when telling Moses about this, whereas at the beginning of the chapter, 2 verses earlier, when G’d spoke to Moses this was prefaced by the words ויאמר ה'. There is a reason for this. The name ה’ denotes the attribute of Mercy, and the word ויאמר implies a friendly tone used by the speaker, whereas the name אלו-הים is a reference to the attribute of Justice, and the word וידבר implies that the speaker uses stern language. We find proof of this when the brothers related how Joseph had spoken to them when he accused them of being spies. They said: (Genesis 42,30) דבר האיש אדוני הארץ אתנו קשות, “the man, the ruler of the country spoke harshly with us.” When you examine the entire dialogue between G’d and Moses at the burning bush, you will find that in all the sixteen instances when G’d addressed Moses He did not once use דבור, i.e. stern language. Here G’d resorted to דבור, to stern language, after Moses had challenged His method of doing justice with the words: “why did You make matters bad for the people, etc.?” Also the attribute אלוה-ים which is mentioned here indicates that it was the attribute of Justice which addressed Moses here in contrast with the attribute of Mercy which G’d had employed previously at the burning bush. At the end of the previous portion G’d is on record as responding kindly to Moses’ challenge, i.e. ויאמר ה’...עתה תראה, He had reassured Moses that He was going to punish those who deserved it and reward those who had experienced suffering. Now however, G’d wanted to let Moses know that he had overstepped the bounds of what is proper by asking that question. It is not unusual for G’d to at almost one and the same time appear both as a stern mentor and as a kindly teacher. In Leviticus 19,3 we read איש את אמו ואביו תיראו ואת שבתותי תשמורו אני ה’ אלוקיכם, “each one of you shall display reverence for his mother and his father and you shall observe My Sabbath days, I am Your G’d (the merciful) and the (just).” G’d employs the attribute of Justice to lend weight to the command, but He also employs the attribute of Mercy to inform us that He can be counted on to reward our compliance with His instructions. We encounter a similarly worded verse in Leviticus 19,12 where the Torah first forbids the use of G’d’s name to swear a false oath, by writing לא תשבעו בשמי לשקר וחללת את שם אלוה-יך, “do not use My name to swear a false oath and to thereby defile My name (attribute of Justice)- אני ה’, “for I am the Merciful G’d (attribute of Mercy). Again our sages explain the conclusion of this verse in which G’d suddenly switches to the use of the tetragrammaton as meaning that (“I am guaranteed to pay you your reward for observing My commandment”). The point G’d is making here is that although He had not bothered to add the assurance that He would recompense the patriarchs for observing His commandments again and again, they nevertheless had not seen fit to question His manner of running the universe every time they were mystified by something which appeared to affront their sense of justice. Moses, who had been the recipient of such assurances, seeing he had become privy to the fact that G’d upsets the laws of nature (in order to help His people) had seen fit to question Him and His methods. Use of the word שדי in our verse is a reference to G’d’s handling the universe and sometimes employing an attribute designed to overcome the powers He has delegated to the horoscopic influences on the fate of man. However, He had not employed the powers inherent in the use of His four-lettered holy name י-ה—ו-ה in His relations with them. According to the opening word וארא, “I have become visible,” in our verse, the word נודעתי used as a contrast is strange; we would have expected the Torah to write לא נראתי להם, I have not become visible to them, by My attribute י-ה-ו-ה, or words to that effect. Or, the verse should have commenced with the words ואודע אל אברהם אל יצחק וגו’ “I became visible to Avraham, to Yitzchak, etc.” Why this asymmetry in the verbs used here? The answer is that the patriarchs as a rule experienced their visions at night. It was appropriate therefore to apply the expression “vision” from the root ראה “to see” to their experiences of encounters with G’d. G’d wanted to contrast the fact that Moses had been granted a revelation of His presence while he was fully awake already the first time he had had a communication from G’d. The word נודעתי which is derived from ידע, “to know intimately,” was therefore more appropriate to bring home to Moses that G’d had seen fit to let him experience a superior form of divine communication. In fact the use of the intransitive form לא נודעתי instead of the transitive form לא הודעתי להם, “I have not made (Myself) known to them,” teaches that He and His name are all one. We find a similar switch between the transitive and intransitive use of the same word in Exodus 33,22 והיה בעבור כבודי.....עד עברי. The Torah wanted to inform Moses (and us) that he and His כבוד are all one.

Nachmanides writes as follows. “The true message of this verse is in strict accordance with the text. G’d announced to Moses that “whereas I had appeared to the patriarchs as the attribute שדי,” such as when G’d contrasted His appearance to them with what He spelled out to Aaron and Miriam in Numbers 12,6 when He said: במראה אליו אתודע, ‘I make Myself known to him (prophets other than Moses) in a vision.’” G’d implied that He certainly did not reveal Himself to those prophets in His capacity as ‘by My name י-ה-ו-ה ‘ while granting them prophetic insights.” This did not imply that the patriarchs had not been aware of such an attribute of G’d. This then accounts for the fact that when Avraham addressed G’d he employed the name of the letters א-ד-נ-י (superior to the attribute אלו-הים) which contains two of the letters of the tetragrammaton. G’d’s entire dealings with Moses were based on use of the attribute of Mercy on a regular basis. This attribute is present in more pronounced form in the name י-ה-ו-ה than in any other name of G’d. [I am omitting the balance of Nachmanides’ comments on this verse. Ed.]

לכן אמור אל בני ישראל אני י-ה-ו-ה . Therefore “say to the Children of Israel: “I AM י-ה-ו-ה-.” After the Torah had written earlier (3,15) “and say also to the Children of Israel ‘Hashem the G’d of your forefathers has sent me to you this is My name forever and My remembrance from generation to generation,’ and He had already commanded him to inform the Israelites of this attribute of G’d, He now repeated these instructions adding that the redemption would occur in four stages, i.e. ‘I will take you out, I will save you, I will redeem you and I will acquire you as My people (and I will bring you to the land, etc.).’” The difference between these four stages of the redemption is as follows: stage one referred to termination of slave labor. Stage two meant that the Israelites would no longer be legally inferior to the Egyptians. Stage three was a hint of the crossing of the sea by the Israelites. Stage four was a hint that they would be given the Torah. The promise of freedom from slave labor is contained in the words. והוצאתי אתכם מתחת סבלות מצרים. This implied that whereas the slave labor would be canceled, the Israelites would still be under the authority of the Egyptians. In fact, according to our tradition this state of affairs continued for six months. According to Rosh Hashana 11 the slave labor terminated on the first of Tishrei, whereas the Exodus followed 61/2 months later on the 15th of Nissan. Concerning this event the Torah wrote here והצלתי אתכם מעבודתם, “I will save you from being slaves to them.” It meant freedom from paying taxes to the Egyptian government. The advent of total independence was promised in the words וגאלתי אתכם בזרוע נטויה ובמשפטים גדולים, “and I will liberate you with an outstretched arm and great judgments.” This was an allusion to what would occur at the Sea of Reeds. This experience would remove the Israelites’ fear, (i.e. their slave mentality) from their erstwhile masters. Seeing how the Egyptians drowned would once and for all free the people not only physically but also mentally. The words “great judgments” in the plural referred to a number of phenomena witnessed by the Jewish people; they were first referred to in Exodus 14,31 and they have been elaborated on by Isaiah 51,9 when he specifically referred to G’d employing His ‘arm’ as He had done once before. Rashi, quoting Mechilta on the Shirat Hayam, already points to the fact that when the Egyptians drowned horse and rider remained inseparably attached to one another; he based himself on Exodus 15,1. Moses enumerated several additional phenomena in that song, all of which account for the expression “great judgments.” This stage was going to be followed by והייתי לכם לאלו-הים, “I will become your G’d”- seeing that you accept Me as such.

The words ולקחתי אתכם לי לעם, “I will take you to be My nation,” implies the promise of being given the Torah, a tangible demonstration of that promise. The words וידעתם כי אני ה’ אלוקיכם mean that henceforth, after the revelation at Mount Sinai, “you will know forever more that I am the Lord your G’d” (both attributes.). The promise concludes with the words המוציא אתכם מארץ מצרים, “Who is taking you out of the land of Egypt;” you will never credit anyone else including yourselves with having accomplished that feat.

והבאתי אתכם אל הארץ, “I will bring you to the land, etc.” Seeing that all the previous promises were meant to be realized in the immediate future, this promise too was intended to be fulfilled promptly. If the sin of the spies who talked the people into refusing to engage in a military struggle to oust the Canaanites had not occurred, this promise too would have been fulfilled promptly. The prophet Ezekiel 34,13 speaks of similar four stages of redemption of the Jewish people in the future. I quote: “I shall bring them out from the nations and gather them from the lands and bring them to their ground and tend them on Israel’s mountains, etc.” When commemorating the Exodus annually on the night of the Seder we drink four cups of wine corresponding to these four stages of our redemption outlined by the above-mentioned four expressions. The reward received by the righteous for their conduct has been compared to a כוס, a cup, by David in Psalms 23,5 where he speaks of כוסי רויה, “my cup is abundant.” We find a similar reference in Psalms 16,5: “G’d is my allotted share and cup.” The word כוס, cup, in that context occurs also in Psalms 116,13 “I will raise the cup (in thanksgiving) for salvations experienced.” Isaiah writes something similar (Isaiah 66,11) “that you may suck from her breast consolation to the full.” The author continues to quote examples from the Bible showing that traditionally we either drank or will drink cups of wine as a form of thanksgiving to the Lord for salvations experienced or yet to be experienced.

נשאתי את ידי, “I have raised My hand.” The Torah employs an anthropomorphism here (using language employed by human beings to portray non-existent limbs of disembodied Beings such as G’d). The whole verse is to be understood as an allegory. When a man swears an oath he usually raises his hand towards heaven to reflect his sincerity and earnestness. The Torah used this form of expression to describe that G’d related with similar seriousness and determination to what He had in mind for the descendants of Avraham, etc. This is not an isolated instance in which G’d is described as “raising His hand.” Compare Deuteronomy 32,40: “For I have raised My hand to heaven.”

Nachmanides writes in a similar fashion, prefacing his comment with the words: על דרך האמת. “I have raised My strong arm to Myself that I will give them the land.” He also quotes the verse in Deut. 32,9 as a parallel to our verse. Nachmanides points out, however, that he does not consider Daniel 12,7 ורם ימינו ושמאלו אל השמים, “he (the man dressed in linen, an angel) raised his right hand and his left hand to heaven,” to be in the same category. In that instance the angel is portrayed as swearing an oath in the name of the Lord.

מורשה, “an inheritance.” G’d refrains from saying ירושה. There is a difference between מורשה andירושה . The people addressed were not the ones who would personally receive the land as a heritage seeing that all those who were adults would never get there due to the sin of the spies. They would, however, bequeath their claim to it to their children, i.e. they would be מורישים. This is why the Torah used the word מורשה instead of ירושה. We need to interpret the word מורשה in Deut. 33,4 in a similar manner. Torah cannot be handed down as an inheritance as if it were a house, a field, or a business, i.e. some object merely to be passed on from father to son. Inasmuch as Torah is an inheritance it remains such only for that particular generation. which stood at Mount Sinai and had received it as an inheritance, i.e. something inalienable, not to be stolen from them. The next generation had to study Torah on its own in order that it should become an inheritance for them also. However, the children of someone who “owned” Torah are predisposed to acquire it for themselves. Hence Torah is forevermore a מורשה for such children. Parents have been commanded not only to study Torah but to train their children in studying Torah, ושננתם לבניך, (Deut. 6,7). it is a מורשה, something to be transmitted to successive generations down the ages. By the same token later generations of Jews are as duty-bound to observe the commandments of the Torah as were those who had actually received it at Sinai. According to our sages the souls of those generations had already stood at Mount Sinai at the time when G’d revealed Himself to Moses and to the people (Pesikta Zutrata Va'etchanan 5,3). This concept is spelled out in detail in Deut. 29,14 “including all those who are not present (in the flesh) on this day.” (the day Moses renewed the covenant with the generation who would enter the Holy Land). G’d concluded this promise with the words אני ה’, seeing He had commenced the paragraph (verse 2). The message is : “I Who make a promise can be relied upon to translate it into reality.”

ולא שמעו אל משה, “but they did not listen to Moses.” The reason was not that they either disbelieved G’d’s promise or His servant Moses, but it was due only to shortness of breath and hard work. The people’s collective condition was much like that of an individual who wishes himself dead as he can no longer bear the pain that he is enduring.

According to a Midrashic approach (Pessikta Zutrata) the word מקצר in the expression מקצר רוח which totals 430 in numerical value, made them believe that the redemption was due to occur only after 430 years of such suffering. Such a prospect naturally made them deaf to Moses’ promises at this time. [They did not realise that by commencing the count from the time G’d had revealed Himself to Avraham at the covenant between the pieces 430 years had just about elapsed so that the redemption was close at hand. Ed.]

ויצום אל בני ישראל, “He commanded them regarding the Children of Israel.” G’d commanded Moses and Aaron to put up with the expressions of frustration by the people and not to get impatient with them nor to curse them. ואל פרעה מלך מצרים, “and regarding Pharaoh the King of Egypt.” He instructed them to display respect for Pharaoh seeing he was the King of Egypt. Our sages in Shemot Rabbah 6,3 use the unusual wording on 5,3 where Moses and Aaron referred to G’d as punishing Israel if they did not offer sacrifices to Him as proof. What Moses and Aaron meant was that G’d would punish Pharaoh for refusing to let the Israelites do that. However, they deliberately phrased it the way they did out of respect for Pharaoh’s official position. Here too, G’d repeats the warning to Moses and Aaron to continue in their deferential manner. We note that even in Exodus 11,8 (near the end of all the plagues when Moses predicted that instead of his having to come to Pharaoh’s palace for an audience the role of petitioner and the one who is being petitioned would be reversed) he did not say (though he meant it) that Pharaoh would trouble himself to come to him, but said “all your servants will come down to me and will bow down to me begging us to leave.”

Another Midrash (Mechilta on the verse we quoted from 11,8) understands the words: “He commanded them concerning the Children of Israel,” as a warning to tell the Israelites to desist from idolatrous practices. The Midrash bases this interpretation on Genesis 2,16 where the word ויצו is also understood as a warning against idolatrous practices [one of the 7 Noachide laws]. They derive this meaning of the word צו from Hoseah 5,11 כי הואיל הלך אחרי צו, “for he (the Jewish people) agreed to follow the command of its kings to indulge in idolatry).” Ezekiel 20,5-9 also makes clear reference to the Israelites serving idols while they were enslaved in Egypt, and their being warned to desist prior to the redemption. He warns his compatriots not to commit the same errors made by the Israelites then.

אלה ראשי בית אבותם, “these are the heads of their father’s houses.” Seeing that the time of the end Israelites’ stay in Egypt was close at hand, and their redemption meant their separation from Egyptian society, the Torah saw fit to list their genealogies from Reuven until Levi, seeing that Moses and Aaron were Levites. The word אלה, “these,” is used to disqualify anyone else from belonging to the Jewish nation. Had the Torah not begun this list with the tribe of Reuven but had only listed Levi as the head of the “houses,” we might have thought that Levi was the firstborn as far as the genealogy of the Israelites leaving Egypt was concerned, and that the entire list was only recorded in honour of Moses.

ויקח אהרן את אלישבע בת עמינדב אחות נחשון, “Aaron married Elisheva daughter of Aminadav, sister of Nachshon (from the tribe of Yehudah).” The point of the Torah giving us these details at this time was to show that the tribe representing Royalty and the tribe representing the Priesthood (religious leadership) formed a liaison through marriage. Elisheva was the sister of the outstanding one of the princes of the twelve tribes, Nachshon scion of the tribe of Yehudah. The verse even mentions the background of the mother of Pinchas seeing that Pinchas became a High Priest in due course through his own — rather than merely hereditary — merit. It is customary in Scriptures that the mother of the ruling monarchs are mentioned (by name and /or background) For instance: Kings I 15,2 records the name of the mother of Aviyam King of Yehudah as being Maachah daughter of Avishalom. In Chronicles II 20,31 we are told that the mother of King Yehoshaphat was Azuvah daughter of Shilchi. The reason the Torah identifies the wife of Eleazar as “of the daughters (pl) of Putiel” instead of merely stating her personal name or that she was “a daughter” of Putiel is to indicate that she was descended either from Yitro or from Joseph. According to Sotah 43 there was some doubt if this lady was related paternally or maternally respectively to descendants of Joseph/Yitro respectively.

Our paragraph contains the names of no fewer than six prophets from the tribe of Levi. They are: Aaron, Moses, Pinchas (identical with Elijah), plus three sons of Korach Assir, Elkanah, and Aviasaph (verse 24). They have been enumerated in the list of 48 prophets in Megillah 14. These six prophets all lived during the same time. Presumably, the verse in Numbers 26,11 stating that Korach’s sons did not die (during the uprising) refers to these three prophets.

הוא אהרן ומשה, “the same Aaron and Moses, etc.” Aaron was mentioned here ahead of Moses seeing he was the older of the two brothers. In verse 27, the Torah lists Moses ahead of Aaron seeing that he was greater than his brother in stature as prophet. We find that the Torah sometimes mentions Joshua ahead of Calev (Numbers 14,38), whereas at other times it mentions Calev ahead of Joshua (Numbers 14,30). Joshua was greater than Calev seeing he was a prophet. Calev was greater than Joshua by genealogy, seeing he was from the tribe of Yehudah. We also find something similar when the Torah mentions heaven and earth. In Genesis 1,1 the Torah mentions heaven ahead of earth seeing that disembodied celestial beings are more distinguished than creatures who require a body in order to be functional. They also enjoy infinite life as distinct from creatures on earth. On the other hand, in Genesis 2,4 the Torah lists the earth ahead of the heaven. The reason is that the Holy Temple and the Shechinah are at home on earth rather than in the heaven. The reason the Torah repeats (verse 28) “it was on the day that G’d spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,” is because earlier (verse 13) it sounded as if the command to release the Israelites from Egypt was addressed to both Moses and Aaron. The Torah wants to clarify that the verbal instructions for this were issued by G’d only to Moses. Moses relayed them to Aaron.

הן אני ערל שפתים ואיך ישמע אלי פרעה, ”here I am (still) of sealed lips. How could Pharaoh listen to me?” When G’d had commanded Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh earlier in our chapter Moses had remained silent. He assumed that the instructions had been intended for Aaron. When, at this point, he alone was addressed by G’d i.e. “all that I am saying to you,” he repeated his previous argument that his speech defect made him unfit to serve as G’d’s vessel and that even the people did not listen to him. At this point G’d explained to him (ויאמר ה’) in a friendly fashion how He would deal with that problem.