Ramban, on Exod 20:15

“Thou shalt not steal.”

“AND ALL THE PEOPLE PERCEIVED THE THUNDERINGS… 16. AND THEY SAID UNTO MOSES. In the opinion of the commentators, this happened after the Giving of the Torah. It is with reference to this that Scripture says, And ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and ye said: Behold, the Eternal our G-d hath shown us His Glory, etc. If we hear the Voice of the Eternal our G-d any more, then we shall die. But such is not my opinion, for it says here, but let not G-d speak with us, and it does not say “any more.” Besides, Moses said here to the people, Fear not, and there it is said, They have well said all that they have spoken. Moreover, here it is told that they feared only the thunderings, the lightnings, and the smoking mountain, and there it is said that they feared the speaking of the Divine Presence, for they said, For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the Voice of the living G-d, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?, Verse 23. Again, here it is said, And Moses drew near unto the thick darkness, but it does not say that “he entered into it.” [If the events narrated in this section of the Torah happened after the Revelation, it should have said that he came “into the midst of the cloud,” as it says further on in 24:18.] The correct interpretation regarding this section of the Torah and the [entire] order of events pertaining to the Revelation appears to me to be as follows: And all the people perceived… And they said unto Moses — all this happened before the Revelation. Now at first, [in Chapter 19], Scripture mentioned in sequence all the words of G-d that were commanded to Moses regarding the setting of a boundary to Mount Sinai and the admonition given to the people. This is followed [at the beginning of Chapter 20] by the Ten Commandments, and now Scripture refers back and mentions the words of the people to Moses, relating that from the moment they had perceived the thunderings and the lightnings, they moved backwards and stood afar off, further away from the boundary of the mountain that Moses had set for them. The order of events [on the day of the Revelation] was thus as follows: In the morning, there were thunderings and lightnings and the loud voice of the horn,, Verse 16. but the Divine Presence had not yet come down on the mountain, something like it is written, And a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Eternal; but the Eternal was not in the wind. And the people that were in the camp — i.e., in their place of encampment — trembled., Verse 16. But Moses encouraged them and brought them forth towards G-d… and they stood at the nether part of the mount. While they were standing there at the nether part of the mount in anticipation, the Eternal descended upon the mount in fire and the smoke thereof ascended, Verse 18. unto the heart of heaven, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. The mountain itself trembled, Verse 18. and quivered as mountains do in an earthquake called zalzalah,. or even more than that. And so it is written, What aileth thee… ye mountains, that ye skip like rams; ye hills, like young sheep? This is not a figure of speech, just as the preceding verse — The sea saw it, and fled; the Jordan turned backwards, Verse 3. — is not a mere figure of speech. Meanwhile, the voice of the horn waxed louder and louder. Then the people saw what was happening, and they moved backwards and stood further away from the boundary [that Moses had set for them]. They all said to Moses that G-d should not speak with them at all lest they die, for by reason of the vision, their pains came upon them and they retained no strength, and if they would hear the Divine utterance, they would die. Moses, however, encouraged them, and he said to them, Fear not. And they heard him, and the people stood from afar off at their positions, for in spite of all his words, they did not want to come near the boundary [he had set for them]. And Moses drew near unto the thick darkness but did not come into it, and then G-d uttered the Ten Commandments. Now following the Ten Commandments, Scripture did not mention here what the elders said to Moses, for it wanted to explain the commandments and the ordinances in succession. But in the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses mentioned that after the Ten Commandments [were given], all the heads of the tribes and their elders approached him and said to him, “If we hear the Voice of the Eternal our G-d any more, then we shall die, for we have estimated our powers [and found] that we could not stand any more the burden of the word of the Eternal G-d.” They had thought that G-d wanted to relate to them all the commandments [of the Torah], and therefore they said, Go thou near, and hear all that the Eternal our G-d may say; and thou shalt speak unto us all that the Eternal our G-d may speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it., Verse 24. And the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed to their words, and He said, They have well said all that they have spoken,, Verse 25. for such was His desire to proclaim to them only the Ten Commandments, and their fear appeared correct to Him. VAYANU’U.’ In the opinion of our Rabbis, the term nu’a here can only denote reeling to and fro, and so it says, The earth ‘no’a tanu’a’ (reeleth to and fro) like a drunken man. If so, the verse is stating [two things]: that the people were shaken up, and that out of their fear, they retreated farther backwards and stood afar off. But in the opinion of “the masters of the plain meaning of Scripture,” vayanu’u means that “‘they moved’ backwards from their place and stood from afar,” the usage of the word being similar to: ‘na’ (a fugitive) and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth, and so also: ‘vay’ni’eim’ (and He made them wander) in the wilderness.”

Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.