First Sunday of Lent (February 18, 2018)
Verse Before the Gospel (Mat 4:4)
But he answered and said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
Exo 16:8
And Moses said, “You will know that when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and bread in the morning with which to become sated [but not meat to become sated; the Law thus teaches us a rule of conduct—that meat is not to be eaten to become sated], for the Lord hears your complaints whereby you are making [others] complain against him, but of what significance are we? Not against us are your complaints, but against the Lord.”
Rashi’s Commentary
Meat to eat—But not to be satiated; the Law thus teaches us a rule of conduct—that one should not eat meat to satiety. And what did he see (what reason had he) that he made bread fall for them in the morning and meat at evening? Because the bread they asked for was a proper thing to demand since it is impossible for a person to exist without bread; but meat they asked for improperly, for they had abundant cattle, and besides it was possible for them to exist without meat. On this account he gave it to them at evening, at a time of (when it would cause them) trouble, a manner which was not favourable to them (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 16:8; Yoma 75).
Whereby you are making others complain against him—You are making others who hear you complaining complain.
Yoma 75a:21
The verse states: “And Moses said, “You will know that when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and bread in the morning with which to become sated” (Exo 16:8). A tanna taught in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa: The meat that the Jewish people asked for inappropriately, since they had the manna and did not need meat, was given to them inappropriately, in a way that was unpleasant; they were punished afterward (Rabbeinu Elyakim).
​
Yoma 75b:1
​
However, bread, which is essential, they asked for appropriately. Therefore, it was given to them appropriately, in the morning, when there was time to prepare it. The Gemara comments: From here, the Law teaches etiquette, that it is proper to eat meat only at night, as Moses said to the children of Israel: “You will know that when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat” (Exo 16:8). The Gemara asks: But didn’t Abaye say that someone who has a meal should eat it only in the day? The Gemara answers: We mean to say: Like day. It is not necessary to eat the food in the daytime, as long as one can see what he eats. Rabbi Aḥa bar Ya’akov said: At the beginning, the Jewish people were like chickens pecking at the garbage; any time there was food they grabbed it and ate it, until Moses came and set specific times to eat, as the verse implies. He set mealtimes for them in the morning and in the evening.
Gospel (Mar 1:12-15)
12 Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness,
13 and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.
Exo 24:18
And Moses came within the cloud [God making a kind of path for him in its midst] as he went up to the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Rashi’s Commentary
Within the cloud—This cloud was thick like smoke and God made a path for Moses within it (Yoma 4b).
Jesus Announces the Gospel
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
Mat 4:12
Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he withdrew into Galilee;
Mat 9:35
Jesus was going through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Mat 11:2
Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the deeds of Christ, he sent word by his disciples
Mat 14:2
and said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
Luk 3:20
Herod also added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
Luk 4:17-19
17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. And he opened the book and found the place where it was written:
them and baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
Act 20:25
And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.
Act 28:23
When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.
Eph 2:17
And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel!”
Gen 12:3
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
and the one who curses you I will curse.
And all the peoples of the earth will be blessed in you [i.e., in your name].
Rashi’s Commentary
Will be blessed in you—There are many aggadoth concerning this but the plain sense of the text is as follows: A man says to his son, “May you be like Abraham.” This, too, is the meaning wherever the phrase “will be blessed in you” occurs in Scripture, and the following example proves this: (Gen 48:20): “By you Israel shall bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”
Deu 30:11-14
​
The Offer of Life or Death
​
11 For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.
​
12 It is not in heaven [if it were, you would have to go up after it to study it], that you should ask, “Who will go up for us to heaven and get it for us and proclaim it to us, so that we may obey it?”
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he anointed me
to proclaim the Gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
Luk 4:43-44
43 But he said to them, “I must proclaim the kingdom of God to the other towns also, for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 So he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Luk 8:1
Soon afterwards, He began going around from one town and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him,
Joh 3:22-24
22 After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he was spending time with
Eruvin 55a:1
And this idea, that one must exert great effort to retain one’s knowledge of the law, is in accordance with what Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Dosa said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “It is not in heaven . . . nor is it beyond the sea” (Deu 30:12-13)? “It is not in heaven” indicates that if it were in heaven, you would have to ascend after it, and if it were beyond the sea, you would have to cross after it, as one must expend whatever effort is necessary in order to study the law.
Rashi’s Commentary
It is not in heaven—For were it in heaven it would still be your duty to go up after it and to learn it (Eruvin 55a).
​
13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should ask, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and get it for us and proclaim it to us, so that we may obey it?”
​
14 Rather, this word is very near to you [the law having been given in writing and by word of mouth]; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it.
​
Eruvin 54a:11
​
Rabbi Yitzḥak said that this idea is derived from here: “Rather, this matter is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it” (Deu 30:14). When is it very near to you? When it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it, i.e., when you articulate your study of the law.
Rashi’s Commentary
Rather, this word is very near to you—The law has been given to you in writing and orally.
Reading 1 (Gen 9:8-15)
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying:
9 “And I, behold [I concur with you in your apprehension of begetting children (with the threat of another deluge looming over them) and] I am establishing my covenant with you [not to destroy you] and with your descendants after you
Rashi’s Commentary
And I, behold I—Agree with you, because Noah feared to fulfil the duty of propagating the species until the Holy One, blessed be he, promised him that he would not again destroy the world and this promise God made (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 11). Ultimately he said to him, “If you are still anxious I am willing to give to my promise the permanence and strength of a covenant and I will give you a sign.”
10 and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the beast, and of all the animals of the earth that are [“compatible”] with you, of all those that came out of the ark [including reptiles and creeping things]—even every living creature of the earth [including “injurers”].
Rashi’s Commentary
And of all the animals of the earth that are with you—Those which go about with human beings.
Of all those that came out of the ark—These words would include creeping things and reptiles.
​
Even every living creature of the earth—These words are intended to include dangerous animals which cannot be included in the above description, “every living creature that is with you”—for these do not go about with human beings.
​
11 I establish [through the sign of the rainbow] my covenant with you, and never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood, and there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
​
Rashi’s Commentary
I establish—I give confirmation to my covenant; and in what consists this confirmation? “The sign of the rainbow,” as it goes on explaining at the end.
​
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between me and you and every living creature that is with you for the generations [דֹרֹת “for the generations,” written defective, some generations of righteous men not requiring a sign)] forever.
13 I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it will be, when I bring clouds over the earth [i.e., when it enters my mind to bring darkness and destruction to the world], then the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,
Rashi’s Commentary
When I bring clouds—When I have it in mind to bring darkness and destruction upon the world.
15 and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again will the water become a flood to destroy all life.
would be left over (which is forbidden)], then he and his neighbor nearest to his house must share one according to the number of people in them; according to what each person should eat [excluding one who is so sick or old that he cannot eat at least an olive size], you are to [include in the] count for the lamb.
This work is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0
Rev 5:6-13
​
And I saw in the center of the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a Lamb standing, as if it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals;
for you were slain,
and purchased for God with your blood
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, I heard saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
​
Rev 13:8
All who dwell on the earth will worship him—all whose names have not been written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the creation of the world.
​
4 And if the household is too small for a lamb [so that some of it