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Abarbanel on Torah
Abarbanel on Torah — Sefaria Community Translation
Unverified edition · NUM-1
Reading language: eng · Original language (catalog): English
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Abarbanel on Torah, Numbers 1:1:1
Here is the first book of the Torah of G-d and it is Breisheit, which explicates the family line of the Children of Israel and their families, from the beginning of Creation until the Egyptian Exile. The second book explicates their exile and physical redemption from Egyptian slavery and spiritual redemption from
Abarbanel on Torah, Numbers 1:1:5
And is this not the opposite of what the Torah commanded (Exodus 30:12), "When you take a census of the Israelite people according to their enrollment, each shall pay the Lord a ransom for himself on being enrolled?" And over there Rashi explains, "When you wish to obtain the sum total of their number, do not take their census by their heads but each of them shall give half a shekel, and you shall count these, and so ascertain their number." And if so, how did it command here to count according to their heads?
Abarbanel on Torah, Numbers 1:1:14
... And I have already explained in the Order of Kit Tissa that this commandment of the half shekel - that they should give it at the time of the counting - was not a commandment for [the future] generations, that they should always do this. Rather it was proper advice that when [they] would want to count the people from [their] own thoughts and will, they should do it like this. And they benefited by this - by the giving of silver of the coins by each head from all the people - here for the work of the Tabernacle, for the purpose of the sockets... [As opposed to] if God had commanded to count, since 'the one who keeps a commandment does not know bad' (according to Ecclesiastes 8). Hence now when the count of the people was necessary, He, may He be blessed, commanded that they do it without the coin, [that comes] from fear of the plague - as 'the agents of a commandment are not hurt'. And let him 'not be scared and not tremble' 'from the plague that stalks in the darkness, or the scourge that ravages at noon' (according to Psalms 91:6). And that which Rashi explained that they they counted this time as well (in Numbers 1) with the shekels - with all due respect - is not true in the understanding of the verses. For they testify and tell that that Israel was not counted by shekels, but by their heads...
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Recorded completeness: PARTIAL: all supplied nonempty community English leaves only; many Hebrew sections have no English counterpart.. Available reading sections are listed below.
Limited body coverage in this view · eng
39 chapter/reading unit(s) · 134 nonempty passage record(s).
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