Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 5:16/אבן עזרא על דברים ה׳:ט״ז
אולמען ייטב לך. י״א רמז לעוה״ב וסוד העוה״ב ארמזנו בפסוק אני אמית ואחיה:
1AND THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH THEE. Some say that this alludes to the world to come. I will allude to the secret of the world to come in my comments on I kill, and I make alive (Deut. 32:39).
בימיך. באר שיהיו טובים. דע כי דעת כל הקדמונים כי הדבור הראשון הוא אנכי ואם יש לשאול למה הפסיק המפסיק לא יהיה לך וכבר פיר' עשרת הדברים כי סמכתי על דעתם רק הישר בעיני שמלת אנכי איננ' מהעשר' כי דבור אנכי הוא המצוה ועיקר המצות כאשר פירשתי כבר:
2THY DAYS. Scripture goes on to explain that they will be good days.38 elaborates on that thy days may be long; i.e., your long days will be good days. Know that all the early sages are of the opinion that I am (v. 6) is the first statement39 even though there is room to ask why the one who separated the statements did not separate Thou shalt have no other gods (v. 7).40. The Decalogue is divided into ten sections in the massoretic edition of the Torah. Each of these sections is devoted to a particular statement. Now, if I am is an independent statement, it should form an independent section. However, it does not. Hence I am seems to be an introduction to that which follows. We have followed Vat. Ebr. 38 which reads lo hifsik. I have already explained the Ten Statements,41 is the first of the Ten Statements. See I.E.’s comments on Ex. 20:1 in both the long and the short commentary. See Vol. 2, pp. 401-404. relying on their opinion.42 However, I believe that the statement I am is not part of the Ten Statements, for the meaning of I am is, I am the one who commands. I am is the basis of the commandments, as I have explained previously.43 includes all precepts directed at the heart, tongue, and human deeds. For one who does not believe in his heart that God exists has no reason to be obligated to observe any commandments” (I.E., Vol. 2, p. 415).