Rashi, on Song 3:8

“All holding swords, and most expert in war: every man’s sword upon his thigh, because of fears in the night.”

“skilled in warfare the war of Torah, and similarly, the priests who surround it, who camp around the Tabernacle, skilled in the order of their service. each one with his sword his weapons. These are the Masorah and the mnemonics, by which they preserve the correct version [of the Oral Law] and the masorah (the traditional spelling and reading of the Scriptures), lest it be forgotten. because of fear at night lest they forget it, and troubles will befall them, and so Scripture says (Ps. 2:12): “Arm yourselves with the grain [of Torah] lest He become angry and you perish on the way.””

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.