Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (January 28, 2018)
Psa 95:6
Come, let us worship and bow down,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
Exo 20:5
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God [“jealous” to exact punishment, and not “overlooking” idolatry], visiting the sin of the parents upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me [those who perpetuate their parents’ ways],
Rashi’s Commentary
A jealous God—He is jealous to exact punishment, and does not pass over his rights by pardoning idolatry (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 20:5:1). Wherever the expression קַנָּא occurs it signifies enprenemant in Old French, zeal in English—determining to exact punishment.
Of those who hate me—This must be explained in the same sense as the Targum takes it: when they retain in their hands (follow the example of) the evil doings of their ancestors (Sanhedrin 27b); and he keeps (stores up) the mercy which a person does to give a reward for it to the thousand generations of that person’s descendants. It follows, therefore, that the measure of good (reward) is greater than the measure of punishment in the proportion of one to five hundred, for the former is threatened only to four generations whilst the latter is bestowed upon thousands (two thousands at least) (Tosefta Sotah 4:1; see Rashi on Exo 34:7).
Sanhedrin 61b:20
Abaye attempts to cite another proof for his opinion. He said: From where do I say that one who worships idols due to love or fear is liable? As it is taught in a baraita with regard to the verse: “You shall not bow to them or worship them” (Exo 20:5): “To them,” to idols, you may not bow, but you may bow to a person like yourself; bowing to a person is merely the acceptance of authority. One might have thought that it is permitted to bow even to a person who is worshiped like a god, like Haman; therefore, the verse states: “Or worship them,” i.e., any form of pagan worship is prohibited. Abaye concludes: And wasn’t Haman worshiped due to fear, and not because the people considered him a god? Evidently, one who engages in idol worship due to fear is liable.
Sanhedrin 62a:9
Rabbi Abba concludes: According to the one who says that of all the labors that are prohibited on a sabbath, kindling a fire on a sabbath was singled out to be mentioned in the law to teach that it is an ordinary prohibition, then bowing, in the category of idol worship, which is mentioned explicitly in the verse: “You shall not bow to them or worship them” (Exo 20:5), was also singled out to teach that it is an ordinary prohibition, which is not punishable by stoning.
Sanhedrin 63a:1
Rabbi Ami says: If one sacrificed an animal as an idolatrous offering and burned incense and poured a libation, all in the course of one lapse of awareness, he is obligated to bring only one sin-offering. Abaye says: What is the reason for the opinion of Rabbi Ami? The verse states: “Or worship them” (Exo 20:5). The verse renders all the various rites of worship as one rite.
Gospel (Mar 1:21-28)
Jesus Drives Out an Impure Spirit
21 They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and began to teach.
22 They were amazed at his teaching; for he was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an impure spirit; and he cried out,
24 saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
Exo 14:12
12 Is this not the thing about which we spoke to you in Egypt [5:21], saying, “Leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians?” For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!
Rashi’s Commentary
Is this not the thing about which we spoke to you in Egypt—And where had they said this? (Exo 5:21) “They said to them, ‘May the Lord look upon you and judge’ ” (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 14:11).
25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”
26 Throwing him into convulsions, the impure spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.
27 They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the impure spirits, and they obey him.”
28 Immediately the news about him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.
21 Miriam sang to them [Moses chanted to the men, and they responded after him, and Miriam chanted to the women (1)]:
“Sing to the Lord,
for he is exalted [over all the] exalted;
horse and its driver
he has hurled into the sea.”
Rashi’s Commentary
Miriam sang to them—Moses sang the song to the men—he sang it and they repeated it after him; and Miriam sang the song to the women and they repeated if after her (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 15:20:2).
Deu 32:15
And Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
you became heavy, you became thick, you were filled [with food].
Israel abandoned the God who made them
and rejected the mighty Rock of their salvation [see Eze 8:16].
Rashi’s Commentary
You became thick—Heb. עָבִיתָ, an expression stemming from the word עוֹבִי,“thickness” (stoutness).
And rejected the mighty Rock of their salvation—This means, they showed contempt for him and scorned him, as it is said, (Eze 8:16) “about twenty-five men with their backs towards the temple of the Lord”—surely, there can be no greater contempt than this (see Rashi on this verse) (Sifrei Devarim 318:9).
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving,
let us shout to him with song.
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture
and the flock of his care.
Today [in this world], if you would hear his voice,
Exo 15:2
The Lord is my strength and defense,
and he has become my salvation.
This is my God [his glory was so manifest that they pointed to it], and I will praise him,
my father’s God [not I, but my forefathers are the origin of this hallowing], and I will exalt him.
Rashi’s Commentary
This is my God—In his glory did he reveal himself to them and they pointed to him—as it were—with the finger exclaiming “This is my God!” (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:15). A maid servant perceived at the Red Sea what even the prophets never saw (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 15:2:2).
My father’s God is this One, and I will exalt him. He is not merely my God but he was my father’s God also—I am not the beginning of the sanctity (i. e. I am not the first to hallow him by proclaiming him God), this hallowing of him and the proclamation of his Godship over me is something that has been held by me and has remained mine since the days of my fathers.
Responsorial Psalm (Psa 95:1-2, 6-8)
1 O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Exo 15:1, 21
The Song of Moses and Miriam
1 Then Moses and the children of Israel sang [i.e., it entered their heart to sing] this song to the Lord, and they said:
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he is exalted [over all the] exalted:
horse and its driver [joined together]
he has hurled into the sea.
Rashi’s Commentary
Horse and its driver—Both of them attached one to the other; and the waters lifted them up and then they descended into the depths and yet they did not become separated (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 15:1:6).
8 Do not harden your hearts as [you did] in Meribah,
as [you did in] on the day of Massah in the wilderness,
Exo 8:11
But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said [7:4].
Rashi’s Commentary
As the Lord had said—And where had he said this? When he said, (Exo 7:4) “And Pharaoh will not listen to you.”
Exo 17:2
And the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water and let us drink.”
And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord [to see if he can give water in a dry land]?”
Rashi’s Commentary
Man With an Evil Spirit by Sweet Publishing/Free Bible Images is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Egyptian Horse and Its Driver by Sweet Publishing/Free Bible Images is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Why do you test the Lord by saying, “Will he be able to give us water in an arid land?”
Num 14:11
The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people provoke me? How long will they not believe in me, despite all the signs I have performed in their midst?”
Rashi’s Commentary
How long—Until when.—Onkelos
Provoke me—Heb. יְנַאֲצֻנִי, anger me.—Onkelos
Despite all the signs—This means: Despite all the signs which I have performed for them they ought to have believed that I possess the ability to fulfill my promise.
Num 14:22
that all the people who saw my glory and the signs that I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet they have tested me these ten times and not listened to my voice—
Rashi’s Commentary
Have tested me—This is to be understood literally.
These ten times—Twice at the Red Sea, twice in the case of the “manna,” twice in the case of the “quails” etc., as is to be found in the Treatise Arakhin 15a.
Num 14:27
How much longer will this wicked community [the spies (from here we learn that a “community” is ten)] who are causing to grumble against me exist? The complaints of the children of Israel, whom they [the spies] stir up against me, I have heard.
Rashi’s Commentary
This wicked community—This refers to the spies (not to the whole community); from here we learn that a community is technically a gathering of at least ten persons (Megillah 23b).
Who are causing—The Israelites.
To grumble against me. The complaints of the children of Israel, whom they, the spies, stir up against me, I have heard.
Moses’ birth, Pharaoh’s astrologers told him that the Jewish savior had been born and that he would suffer misfortune through water, for which reason he decreed that all males be cast into the Nile—not knowing that Moses was destined to suffer misfortune through the waters of Meribah (Num 20:13).
Exo 5:21
They said to them, “May the Lord look upon you and judge you, for you have made us obnoxious in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his officials, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Exo 7:4
And Pharaoh will not listen to you and I will lay my hand on Egypt [to strike them] and I will bring out my divisions, my people the children of Israel, from the land of Egypt with great judgments.
Eze 8:16
Then he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun.
Num 20:13
These are the waters of Meribah [intimated elsewhere (Exo 1:22), Pharaoh’s astrologers foreseeing the Jewish savior’s undoing by water (and erroneously “positing” the Nile as the water)], where the children of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and he proved himself holy among them [Moses and Aaron dying thereby (and the people being struck with awe of the Lord)].
Rashi’s Commentary
These are the waters of Meribah—These are they that were alluded to, though unwittingly, on another occasion: these it was that Pharaoh’s astrologers foresaw, saying that Israel’s deliverer would be punished through water. On that account they decreed (Exo 1:22) “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile” (Sanhedrin 101b).
Exo 1:22
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, and every daughter you must keep alive [on the day of
Massah and Meribah by Sweet Publishing/Free Bible Images is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
him by the Lord. Likewise, (Lev 11:29) “Now these are unclean for you among all the creeping animals that move upon the ground.” (Likewise,) (Num 8:4) “And this is the work of the lampstand.” Others say: He was likewise perplexed as to slaughtering, viz. (Num 29:38) “And this is what you shall do upon the altar.” R. Shimon b. Yochai says: Were not all of the commands spoken to Moses in the daytime? How, then, could he have pointed out the moon? R. Elazar says: He spoke with him just before it got dark and showed it to him when it got dark.
This work is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0
1 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron [Aaron being accorded honor in this first command for having participated and exerted himself along with Moses in the embassy of the signs] in the land of Egypt [outside the city],
Rashi’s Commentary
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron—Because Aaron had worked and toiled in performing the wonders just the same as Moses he paid him this honour at the first command by including him with Moses in the communication (Tanchuma Yahshan 2:3:8).
In the land of Egypt—This must have been outside the city! Or perhaps this is not so, but it was inside the city? Scripture however states, (Exo 9:29) “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands to the Lord.” Now how was it in regard to prayer which is of light importance in comparison with a communication from God? He did not recite the prayer inside the city! Then, in the case of a divine communication which is of so weighty importance does it not follow all the more that this was also so!—And why, indeed, did he not converse with him inside the city? Because it was full of idols (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:1:4).
2 “This month [this stage of the moon (the Lord “pointing it out” to Moses)] [Nissan] shall be for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you.
Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:2:1
This month shall be for you the beginning of months—R. Yishmael says: Moses pointed out the new moon to Israel and said to them: Thus shall it (the moon) look and the new month be designated thereby for all generations. R. Akiva says: This is one of the three things which Moses could not visualize until they were pointed out to
The Waters of Meribah by Sweet Publishing/Free Bible Images is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
