AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL STRIPPED THEMSELVES OF THEIR ORNAMENTS. The meaning of this is that when they heard this declaration, they stripped and divested themselves of all their ornaments, even more so than they had done before. Now Onkelos who translated the word edi (ornament) as “the equipment of armor,” was in agreement with the opinion of the Sage⁴³⁰ in Bereshith Rabbah⁴³¹ who said “He tied them with belts.” That is to say, at the time of the Giving of the Torah the Holy One, blessed be He, girded them with weapons of armor to save them from all mishaps and the angel of death, just as the Rabbis have interpreted:⁴³² “‘charuth’ (graven) upon the Tablets⁴³³ — ‘cheiruth’ (freedom) from the angel of death” [was given to the Israelites together with the Tablets of the Law], these [weapons of armor] being the Names of the Holy One, blessed be He.⁴³⁴ Thus Israel now accepted upon themselves death from their own free will as a form of punishment for the incident of the calf. This was indeed an expression of great repentance and regret for their sin.

footnotes: ⁴³⁰ Reference is to Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai. ⁴³¹ I have not found it in Bereshith Rabbah, but in Shemoth Rabbah 45:1. ⁴³² Erubin 54a. ⁴³³ Above, 32:16. ⁴³⁴ And as long as they were in possession of that knowledge they were above the power of the angel of death. Now, however, that they were divested of this knowledge they became subject to the decree of death as all human beings are (Bachya, Vol. II, p. 340, in my edition).

NOW MOSES TOOK THE TENT AND WOULD PITCH IT WITHOUT THE CAMP. Rashi wrote: “This was practiced by Moses from the Day of Atonement until the Tabernacle was set up [five and a half months later — on the first day of Nisan], but not afterwards. For on the seventeenth day of Tammuz the Tablets of the Law were broken, on the eighteenth he burnt the calf and brought the sinners to judgment, and on the nineteenth he ascended the mountain and stayed there for forty days. On the first of Ellul it was said to him, and come up in the morning⁴³⁵ to receive the second Tablets. There he spent another forty days [which terminated on the tenth day of Tishri]. On the tenth of Tishri the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled with Israel, and He handed over to Moses the second Tablets, whereupon Moses came down the mountain and began to command them concerning the work of the Tabernacle. This occupied them till the first of Nisan, and from that time on, since the Tabernacle was set up, G-d only communicated with him from there.” This also is the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, that all this [narrated here in Verses 7-11] took place after Moses brought down the second Tablets [the account of which is narrated further on in 34:1-10], there being no strict chronological order in the narrative of the Torah. But it does not appear to me to be correct, for what reason is there to mention this [practice of Moses] here in the middle of the section? The words of our Rabbis in all Midrashim are also to the effect that Moses did this on account of their sin with the calf. Thus they explained⁴³⁶ [that Moses said], “One who is excommunicated from the master, is also excommunicated from the disciple,” and as Rashi mentioned [that G-d said to Moses], “I am angry and you are angry; if so, who will bring them near to Me?” Now if the removal of the Tent was after the Day of Atonement [as Rashi and Ibn Ezra have it], the Holy One, blessed be He, as well as Moses, was already in [complete] reconciliation with them! Rather, it appears that on the day that he came down from the mountain — on the seventeenth of Tamuz — he burnt the calf and punished the worshippers.⁴³⁷ On the next day, [i.e., on the eighteenth of Tammuz] he told them that he would go up to G-d to seek atonement for them,⁴³⁸ and so he went up to the mountain where the Glory was. This is the sense of the verse, And Moses returned unto the Eternal,⁴³⁹, Verse 31. and prayed briefly: Oh, this people have sinned a great sin,⁴³⁹, Verse 31. and G-d answered him, Whosoever hath sinned against Me, etc.;⁴⁴⁰, Verse 33. And now go, lead the people,⁴⁴¹, Verse 34. and the plague began.⁴⁴², Verse 35. Then He commanded him, Depart, go up hence, thou and the people etc.,⁴⁴³ and Moses told this to Israel, and they mourned, and stripped themselves of the ornaments.⁴⁴⁴ Then Moses realized that the matter was a very long one, and did not know what the end thereof would be, therefore he took the tent and pitched it outside the camp so that the Divine Glory would communicate with him from there, for it was no longer dwelling in the midst of the people, and if the tent were to be in the midst of the camp, He would not communicate with him from there. Scripture continues, and it came to pass, that every one that sought the Eternal…,⁴⁴⁵ meaning that everyone who sought the Eternal used to go out to him.⁴⁴⁶ (the imperfect — “was going out”) as yotzei (a participle — taking of the nature of both a verb and an adjective — “used to go out”). Rashi explained it likewise. Then Scripture [in Verse 8-11] completed the narrative of all that happened whilst the tent was there until the Tabernacle was set up, which was, according to the opinion of our Sages, from the Day of Atonement until the first day of Nisan.⁴⁴⁷ I have seen in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer [the following text]:⁴⁴⁸ “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha says: “[After the Revelation] Moses spent forty days on the mountain, studying the Written Law at daytime, and the Oral Law at night. After the forty days he took the Tablets and came back to the camp. On the seventeenth of Tammuz he broke the Tablets and killed the sinners of Israel, and then stayed in the camp forty days until he burnt the calf and ground it like dust of the earth. Thus he eliminated idolatry from Israel, and established each tribe in its place. On the first of Ellul the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, come up unto Me into the mount⁴⁴⁹ [to be given the second Tablets]. Then the ram’s horn was sounded throughout the camp, announcing to the people that Moses was going up the mountain, so that [they might not be alarmed by his absence] and not be misled anymore after idols. [On that day] the Holy One, blessed be He, was exalted by the sound of that ram’s horn, as it is said, G-d is gone up amidst shouting, the Eternal amidst the sound of the horn.⁴⁵⁰ And thus likewise the Sages ordained that we blow the horn every year on the first day of Ellul.”⁴⁵¹ Thus far are the words of this Agadah. And if this is so, then the whole section from: Moses took the tent, applied to the time from the eighteenth of Tammuz till the end of the forty days [i.e., up to the first of Ellul], and from the Day of Atonement till the first of Nisan [when the Tabernacle was set up]. But this exposition does not fit in well with what Scripture says, And I fell down before the Eternal, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread etc.,⁴⁵² and it is further written there, So I fell down before the Eternal the forty days and forty nights that I fell down; because the Eternal had said He would destroy you,⁴⁵³, Verse 25. and it is impossible that all this refers to the last forty days [i.e., between the first of Ellul and the Day of Atonement], since He told him, Hew thee two Tablets of stone… and come up unto Me into the mount,⁴⁴⁹ thus these last forty days were already those of G-d’s good-will, after He had already nullified the decree that *He would destroy you!*⁴⁵⁴ does not refer to the beginning of that verse, so I fell down before the Eternal, but reverts to the very beginning of the incident of the calf, when G-d had said He would destroy them. The verse itself can still apply then to the final forty days, which culminated on the Day of Atonement.

footnotes: ⁴³⁵ Further, 34:2. ⁴³⁶ Shemoth Rabbah 45:3. ⁴³⁷ And not, as Rashi has it, that the burning of the calf and the punishing of the sinners took place on the eighteenth of Tammuz. ⁴³⁸ Above, 32:30. ⁴³⁹ Ibid. ⁴³⁹ Ibid. ⁴⁴⁰ Ibid. ⁴⁴¹ Ibid. ⁴⁴² Ibid. ⁴⁴³ Verse 1 here. ⁴⁴⁴ Verses 4-6. ⁴⁴⁵ In Verse 7 here. ⁴⁴⁶ Ramban interprets the Hebrew yeitzei ⁴⁴⁷ See Ramban further, 40:2. ⁴⁴⁸ Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 46. ⁴⁴⁹ Deuteronomy 10:1. ⁴⁵⁰ Psalm 47:6. “For by the sound of this horn Israel vowed eternally never again to be deceived by the idols” (R’dal; see my Hebrew commentary, p. 518). ⁴⁵¹ The Shofar is now sounded in the synagogue every morning during the whole month of Ellul, except on the Sabbaths and on the day before the New Year. ⁴⁵² Deuteronomy 9:18. ⁴⁵³ Ibid. ⁴⁴⁹ Deuteronomy 10:1. ⁴⁵⁴ From all this it is thus obvious that there was an intervening period of forty days [i.e. from the eighteenth of Tammuz to the twenty-ninth of Ab] when Moses was on the mountain interceeding for Israel. So how could the Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer hold that there were only two ascents of forty-day periods of Moses? — In his commentary to that Midrash, Rabbi David Luria answers Ramban’s question by suggesting that the phrase He would destroy you

AND HIS MINISTER JOSHUA, ‘BIN’ (THE SON OF) NUN, ‘NA’AR’ (A LAD). Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “Joshua lived a hundred and ten years,⁴⁵⁵ and the Sages say⁴⁵⁶ that it took him seven years to conquer the Land [of Israel] and seven years to apportion it amongst the tribes. If so, he was now fifty-six years old,⁴⁵⁷ (lad)! and how does Scripture call him na’ar (lad)? We must therefore say that this is the meaning thereof: and his minister Joshua the son of Nun rendered him such service as can be given only by a youthful attendant.” In my opinion it is the way of the Sacred Language to call any attendant [regardless of age] na’ar, for the person of high office is called ish (man),⁴⁵⁸ and [with respect to him] his attendant is called na’ar. Thus: *Gehazi ‘na’aro’ (his attendant);*⁴⁵⁹ Let ‘ha’ne’arim’ (the attendants), I pray thee, arise and play before us.⁴⁶⁰ Similarly, and ten ‘ne’arim’ (attendants) that bore Joab’s armor,⁴⁶¹, 18:15. and Joab [David’s commander-in-chief] would surely only turn over his armor to valiant men who stood near him! And it is also written, And Joshua said unto the two ‘men’ that had spied out the land,⁴⁶² and yet it is written there, and ‘ha’ne’arim’ the spies went in etc!⁴⁶³, Verse 23. [Thus we must say that the] term [ha’ne’arim] is used because they were servants of the congregation, acting for them as spies. There are many similar instances. So also, the ‘na’arei’ of the king that ministered unto him,⁴⁶⁴ [the second half of the phrase being in apposition,] explaining that they were the servants who attended the king personally, and not the attendants of the court. And if so, our verse is stating: and his minister Joshua the son of Nun was always in attendance, and never departed out of the tent.

footnotes: ⁴⁵⁵ Joshua 24:29. ⁴⁵⁶ Arakhin 13a. ⁴⁵⁷ The forty years of the wilderness plus the fourteen years in the Land of Israel, make a total of fifty-four years. Subtract these from a hundred and ten, and you are left with fifty-six. Yet Scripture calls him na’ar ⁴⁵⁸ See Ramban Genesis 9:20, Vol. I, p. 141. ⁴⁵⁹ II Kings 4:12. ⁴⁶⁰ II Samuel 2:14. ⁴⁶¹ Ibid. ⁴⁶² Joshua 6:22. ⁴⁶³ Ibid. ⁴⁶⁴ Esther 2:2.

The reason for the form ‘bin’ Nun [instead of ‘ben’ Nun] is that the vowel chirik comes sometimes in place of the segal [which would have made it “ben Nun”]. Similar cases are: *The words of Agur ‘bin’ (the son of) Jakeh;*⁴⁶⁵. *‘she’bin lailah hayah’ (which came up in a night) ‘u’bin lailah avad’ (and perished in a night);*⁴⁶⁶. ‘im bin hakoth harasha’ (if the wicked man deserve to be beaten).⁴⁶⁷ — a person deserving to be beaten, because he hit his friend.” So clearly explained in Ibn Ezra ibid. Yet despite all this I wonder! Why [of all the times that Joshua the son of Nun is cited in the Scriptures] is the name of this righteous man not once mentioned properly [i.e., ‘ben’ Nun]? Therefore I think that they used to call him in this way as a mark of honor, since he was the greatest of the disciples of Moses our teacher, and so they called him binun, meaning “the understanding one,” since there was none so discreet and wise as he.⁴⁶⁸ Or it may be that the meaning of it is: “Joshua, whom understanding begot;” they thus used the term nun as in the expression, may his name ‘yinon’ (be continued) as long as the sun.⁴⁶⁹

footnotes: ⁴⁶⁵ Proverbs 30:1. Normally it should have been ben ⁴⁶⁶ Jonah 4:10. Here too the words should have been: she’ben, u’ben ⁴⁶⁷ Deuteronomy 25:2. Here likewise the sense of the verse is: “ben hakoth ⁴⁶⁸ Genesis 41:39. ⁴⁶⁹ Psalms 72:17.

AND MOSES SAID UNTO THE ETERNAL: ‘SEE, THOU SAYEST UNTO ME: BRING UP THIS PEOPLE.’ This happened on Mount Sinai, when Moses went up there on the nineteenth of Tammuz. It was not necessary though for Scripture to say, “and Moses went up to G-d, and he said to him, ‘See, Thou sayest unto me, etc.,’” for it is known that as long as the Glory dwelled upon Mount Sinai, all communications [to Moses] took place there. Similarly Moses said, and now I will go up unto the Eternal,⁴⁷⁰ and it is also said, And Moses returned unto the Eternal,⁴⁷¹, Verse 31. meaning that he returned to the place where he had stood before the Eternal.⁴⁷²

footnotes: ⁴⁷⁰ Above, 32:30. ⁴⁷¹ Ibid. ⁴⁷² Genesis 19:27.

AND THOU HAST NOT LET ME KNOW WHOM THOU WILT SEND WITH ME. “And that which You said to me, Behold, I send an angel before thee,⁴⁷³ — that is not ‘letting me know,’ for I am not satisfied with it.” This is Rashi’s language. But it is not correct to fit this thought into the language of the verse. Besides, why should Moses have said this only now [that he was not satisfied with the angel], and when the matter was communicated to him he remained quiet? Did Moses think to gain because of the incident of the calf? Instead, the purport thereof is as follows: The Holy One, blessed be He, had told Moses here, and I will send an angel before thee,⁴⁷⁴ and Moses told Him, Thou has not let me know who is that angel whom Thou wilt send with me, and whether it is that first angel in whom is Thy Name.⁴⁷⁵, 23:21. This is the sense of the expression, Yet Thou hast said: I know thee by Name, meaning that You have known me and exalted me by [the knowledge of] Your Name. And so also did Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explain the verse here. In his opinion⁴⁷⁶ the angel he [i.e., Moses] wanted was Michael. With his good sense [Ibn Ezra] understood the verses to imply that the first angel was pleasing to Moses and to Israel. He could not, however, know the truth, since he neither heard it [from others] nor did he prophesy it [on his own].⁴⁷⁷

footnotes: ⁴⁷³ Above, 23:20. ⁴⁷⁴ Above, Verse 2 (in this chapter). ⁴⁷⁵ Ibid. ⁴⁷⁶ So explained by Ibn Ezra above 23:20 (towards the end). ⁴⁷⁷ This is a veiled criticism of Ibn Ezra who neither received the mystic traditions of the Cabala from others, nor studied them by himself. As Ramban will explain in the following verse, this whole subject can be understood only through “the way of Truth.”

PANAI’ (MY PRESENCE) SHALL GO. In the opinion of all commentators this means, “I myself will go.” And they brought a parallel expression to this from the verse, ‘upanecha’ (and thine own person) shalt go to battle.⁴⁷⁸

footnotes: ⁴⁷⁸ II Samuel 17:11.

AND HE [Moses] SAID UNTO HIM: IF ‘PANECHA’ (THY PRESENCE) GO NOT WITH ME, CARRY US NOT UP HENCE. The meaning thereof according to Rashi is as follows: “This is what I desired, for if it be by an angel, rather do not carry us up from here.” But G-d forbid! that Moses should say, If Thy presence go not, after he had already been promised, My presence shall go! And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that G-d said to Moses: “I Myself will go, and only you will I give rest, for only with you will I go [but I will not dwell in the midst of the people].” But Moses replied: “If Your presence does not go with the whole nation, carry us not up hence.” This is why Moses used the plural, “carry us up.” But this interpretation too, does not fit the verses properly. For Moses said at first, Thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send with me⁴⁷⁹ — in the singular. Now even at the time of G-d’s good-will, before the sin [with the golden calf occurred], He also said, Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee by the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared,⁴⁷³ [and yet this promise too is expressed in the singular — to Moses]! And if you will say that the singular there [before ‘thee’, to keep ‘thee’ etc.] refers to Israel [as one unit], then here also it could be explained to refer to all Israel! Besides, if it is so [as Ibn Ezra interpreted], that Moses requested of G-d that He inform him who is the angel He would send with him, then we see that Moses was satisfied with the angel, concerning whom it is said, for My Name is in him,⁴⁷⁵, 23:21. and G-d answered him with a double, and redoubled, beneficence, over and above that which he had asked for — that He Himself would go! But this section of Scripture cannot possibly be grasped by one who has not heard the secrets of the Torah. The following is its meaning by way of the Truth. Moses said, and Thou hast not let me know who is the angel Thou wilt send with me, and he requested that He fulfill two things He had said to him: firstly, that I know thee by Name, meaning [G-d said to Moses] that “I will be known to you by My [Great] Name, for your sake” [and this was now Moses’ request, that he be not divested of this highest degree of prophecy on account of the incident of the calf]. It is possible that the phrase, yet Thou hast said, [I know thee by Name], is based upon what He had said to Moses [with reference to the patriarchs], but by My Name the Eternal I made Me not known to them,⁴⁸⁰ as I have explained [there]. And secondly Moses had been told: and thou hast also found grace in My sight, meaning that he will find grace, which is the cleaving of knowledge.⁴⁸¹ (Abusaula). And Moses continued, Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in Thy sight,⁴⁸² in the attribute of justice, show me now the paths of the ways⁴⁸³ even as Thou art known by Thy Name, that I may know Thee to declare Thy Unity, to the end that I may find the great grace; and consider that this nation is Thy people — Thou art their Father, and they are Thy children. It is this that Onkelos intended in translating the verse thus: “make me then know the path of Thy goodness to the end that I may know Thy mercy.” Then the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him, My presence shall go — the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in,⁴⁸⁴ for in him My presence will be seen, since it is with reference to him that it is said, *in an acceptable time have I answered thee;*⁴⁸⁵ for My Name is in him.⁴⁷⁵, 23:21. ‘Vahanichothi lach’ (and I will give thee rest) through him, that he should not conduct himself towards you with the stringent attribute of justice but with the measure which is inclusive of the attribute of mercy, the usage [of the word vahanichothi] being associated with the expression, Therefore it shall be ‘b’haniyach’ (when) the Eternal thy G-d (hath given thee rest) from all thine enemies.⁴⁸⁶ This is similar to that which is said, Thus shall Mine anger spend itself, ‘vahanichothi’ (and I will satisfy) My fury upon them.⁴⁸⁷ Then Moses answered, If Thy presence — Thou Thyself and in Thy Glory — go not, carry us not up hence, for Thou art to be with us face to face,⁴⁸⁸ for such were the conditions [as mentioned] in the section of Va’eira.⁴⁸⁹ Likewise Moses mentioned above, with great power and with a mighty hand,⁴⁹⁰, 32:11. and so now too he asked that He bring them to the Land with great power and with a mighty hand, just as He took them out with them from Egypt.

footnotes: ⁴⁷⁹ Verse 12. ⁴⁷³ Above, 23:20. ⁴⁷⁵ Ibid. ⁴⁸⁰ Above, 6:3. But to Moses He did reveal Himself by His Great Name, as explained there. ⁴⁸¹ That G-d always be with them in the wilderness face to face ⁴⁸² Verse 13. ⁴⁸³ “The paths of goodness with which You conduct Your world, and by which You are known” (Bachya). ⁴⁸⁴ Malachi 3:1. ⁴⁸⁵ Isaiah 49:8. ⁴⁷⁵ Ibid. ⁴⁸⁶ Deuteronomy 25:19. ⁴⁸⁷ Ezekiel 5:13. ⁴⁸⁸ Deuteronomy 5:4. ⁴⁸⁹ Above, 6:6-8. ⁴⁹⁰ Ibid.

V’NIPHLINU’ (SO THAT WE BE DISTINGUISHED) I AND THY PEOPLE. This means that our portion be that which is unique, something which is not to be found amongst all the people that are upon the face of the earth.

I WILL DO THIS THING ALSO THAT THOU HAST SPOKEN. Perhaps this manifestation of G-d’s good-will was at the end of the second [period of] forty days, in accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis,⁴⁹¹ forty days according to the opinion of our Rabbis.” Rashi, quoted there, holds that there were three such periods. when the Holy One, blessed be He, became completely appeased with him, and He said to him, Hew thee two Tablets of stone like unto the first.⁴⁹²

footnotes: ⁴⁹¹ See above in Verse 7 where Ramban quotes the Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, that Moses went up to the mountain for forty days only twice, the second time culminating on the Day of Atonement. This is Ramban’s intent in writing here “at the end of the second ⁴⁹² Further, 34:1.

AND HE [Moses] SAID: ‘SHOW ME, I PRAY THEE, THY GLORY.’ Moses desired that he should actually see in clear sight the Glory of G-d. It is possible that Thy Glory here means the Great Glory — the clear vision.⁴⁹³ And G-d answered him, I will make the measure of all My goodness pass before thee,⁴⁹⁴ that you will comprehend and understand all My goodness more than all men, but the vision of the Presence that you have asked for, you will not be able to see.

footnotes: ⁴⁹³ See Vol. I, p. 229. ⁴⁹⁴ Verse 19.

AND I WILL PROCLAIM THE NAME OF THE ETERNAL BEFORE THEE. I will proclaim before you the Great Name, for you will not be able to see Him. AND I WILL BE GRACIOUS [through it] TO WHOM I WILL BE GRACIOUS, AND WILL SHOW MERCY [through it] TO WHOM I WILL SHOW MERCY. This means that by this proclamation you will know the attributes of graciousness and mercy, by which people are shown grace and mercy through My name and through My goodness. It is with reference to this [knowledge received by Moses] that G-d said of him, he is trusted in all My house,⁴⁹⁵ for a man’s goodness is in his house.

footnotes: ⁴⁹⁵ Numbers 12:7.

FOR MAN SHALL NOT SEE ME AND LIVE. This does not mean that man could see Him, but must immediately die; it means that before he could grasp the sight, his soul would depart from him, for even of the vision of the angels it is said, by reason of the vision my pains are come upon me, [and I retained no strength].⁴⁹⁶

footnotes: ⁴⁹⁶ Daniel 10:16.

BEHOLD, THERE IS A PLACE BY ME — on this mountain, where My Glory resides.

AND THOU SHALT STAND UPON THE ROCK — which was upon the mountain, as it is said, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb.⁴⁹⁷

footnotes: ⁴⁹⁷ Above, 17:6.

BUT MY FACE SHALL NOT BE SEEN — meaning the clear countenance, as I have explained.⁴⁹⁸ It is possible that the word achorai (My back — and thou shalt see ‘My back’) is of similar usage as in the verse, Thou hast hemmed me in behind and before,⁴⁹⁹ in accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis.⁵⁰⁰

footnotes: ⁴⁹⁸ Above, Verse 18. ⁴⁹⁹ Psalms 139:5. ⁵⁰⁰ Based on this verse in Psalms the Rabbis have said (Berachoth 61 a) that Adam was originally created with two faces (see Vol. I, p. 76). Ramban’s application here of this saying of the Sages is Cabalistic.