Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 24:10/אבן עזרא על שמות כ״ד:י׳
אויראו. במראה נבואה, כמו ראיתי את ה' יושב על כסא (מ"א כב יט דה"ב יח יח):
1AND THEY SAW THE GOD OF ISRAEL. In a prophetic vision. It is similar to I saw the Lord sitting on His throne (I Kings 22:19; II Chron. 18:18).
באמר הגאון כי ספיר לבן, ראייתו לבנת הספיר ואיננו רק אדום, והעד כי מנהג הלשון לכפול הטעם במלות שונות, והנה כתוב זכו נזיריה משלג צחו מחלב (איכה ד ז) והנה הטעם כפול, אדמו עצם מפנינים, ספיר גזרתם (שם) והנה ספיר כמו פנינים, ועוד אם לבנת הספיר הוא לובן, מה טעם לומר כמעשה, היה ראוי לומר כמראה, והנכון כי לבנת מגזרת לבנה כמו חשכת מים (תה' יח יב) מגזרת חֲשֵכָה (ברא' טו יב). והנה לבנת הספיר, כאבן ספיר שראה יחזקאל במראות הנבואה שהוא דמות כסא:
2[A PAVED WORK OF SAPPHIRE STONE.] Saadiah Gaon says that the sappir (sapphire) is white.22 He offers the phrase livnat ha-sappir as proof.23 (paved of) means whiteness of. Compare, lavan (white). Thus according to the Gaon the meaning of livnat ha-sappir is the whiteness of sapphire. However, this is not the case. The sappir comes in no color but red.24 stone with sapphires, or he did not know what a sapphire was. The fact that it is the style of Scripture to repeat itself in different words proves this. Now it is written, Her princes were purer than snow, They were whiter than milk (Lam. 4:7). We thus see that Scripture repeats itself in different words. The verse continues, They were more ruddy in body than rubies, Their polishing was as of sapphire (sappir) (Ibid.). The term sappir thus has the same connotation as rubies.25 Furthermore, if livnat ha-sappir means like the whiteness of sapphire what reason is there for Scripture to say, like a work?26, which according to Saadiah Gaon means like a work of the whiteness of stone. It should have read, like the appearance of.27 rather than ki-ma’aseh livnat ha-sappir. Actually, the word livnat is etymologically related to the word levanah (brick). It is like the word cheshkat (darkness of)28 in Darkness of waters (Ps. 18:12), which is etymologically related to the word chashekhah (darkness) (Gen. 15:12). Now the paved work of sapphire stone (livnat ha-sappir) was similar to the vision of the sapphire stone which had the form of a throne29. seen by Ezekiel in his prophetic vision (Ezek. 1:26; 10:1).
גוטעם וכעצם השמים לטוהר, תחת לבנת הספיר והוא הרקיע שהוא כעין הקרח שהוא נטוי על ראשי החיות שראה יחזקאל והנה כתוב ויראו את אלהי ישראל, ושם כתוב היא החיה אשר ראיתי תחת אלהי ישראל (יחז' י כ) כי תפס דרך קצרה, כי היא תחת רקיע, גם הוא תחת הכסא והכל תחת השם הנכבד:
3AND THE LIKE OF THE VERY HEAVEN FOR CLEARNESS. Its meaning is, beneath the paved work of sapphire stone there was the likeness of the very heaven. The latter refers to the ice-like firmament that was stretched over the heads of the beasts Ezekiel saw in his vision (Ezek. 1:22). Now our verse reads, and they saw the God of Israel. However, in Ezekiel Scripture reads, This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel (Ezek. 10:20).30 Scripture was being brief.31 The creature was under the firmament, and the firmament was under the throne of glory. All of this was under God the revered.32