Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 25:12/אבן עזרא על שמות כ״ה:י״ב
אפעמותיו. חפשתי בכל המקרא ולא מצאתי פעם שהוא זויות, רק מלשון רגל, רגלי עני פעמי דלים (ישעי' כו ו) וישם לדרך פעמיו (תה' פה יד) מה יפו פעמיך (ש"ה ז ב) ורבים ככה על כן הוצרכתי לפרש כי רגלים היו לארון, כי דרך בזיון הוא שישב הארון בארץ, ועוד מה טעם לומר, ושתי טבעות זהב בתוספת הוי"ו, ואלו היו הראשונות היה כתוב שתי טבעות להודיע שהם ארבע טבעות זהב שהזכיר כמשפט הלשון ויש מחכמי דורינו שהבין זה, ואמר כי הבדים היו מושמים בארון בטבעות שהיו על הפעמונים וכאשר יצטרכו לשאת את הארון יוסרו מהטבעות השפליות ויושמו בטבעות העליונות, וכן כתוב ושמו בדיו (במד' ד ו), ולפי דעתי שהבדים אחר שהושמו בטבעות העליונות לא הוסרו משם, כי כן כתוב לא יסורו ממנו (למטה פ' טו) ופירוש ושמו בדיו על הכהנים שהיו משימים בדי הארון בכתפות הקהתים וכאשר הושם הארון בדביר, הוצרך להיותו סמוך אל הקיר שיסוכו הכרובים על הארון ועל בדיו, על כן האריכו קצה כל אחד מהבדים, וזהו ויאריכו הבדים (מ"א ח ח) והנה הד' הטבעות השפלים היו ליופי ותפארת כמשפט הארונים:
1THE FOUR FEET THEREOF. I searched all of Scripture and did not find the word pa’am (foot) used in the sense of corner.101 (feet thereof) zivyateh (its corners). So do Rashi and many others. Hence I.E.’s comment. It is always employed in the sense of a foot. We thus read: Even the feet of the poor, and the steps (pa’ame) of the needy (Is. 26:6); And shall make His footsteps (pe’amav) a way (Ps. 85:14); How beautiful are thy steps (fe’amayikh) (Cant. 7:2). There are many other instances. I was therefore forced to explain that the ark had feet,102 is, its feet. for it would be disrespectful for the ark to sit on the ground.103 Furthermore, what reason is there for Scripture to place a connective vav before the word u-shete (and two) when dealing with the two rings of gold (v. 12)? If the reference was to the rings already mentioned,104 then Scripture should have read, shete taba’ot (two rings), as that is the proper syntax if the Torah wants to indicate that it is dealing with the four gold rings previously noted.105 (pa’amotov); and two rings (u-shete ta’abotav) shall be on one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. I.E. argues that and two rings shall be on one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it does not refer to the four rings mentioned in the first part of the clause. If it did, our verse would read: And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four feet thereof (pa’amotav): two rings shall be on one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. There were thus eight rings on the ark. See Nahmonides who quotes I.E.’s interpretation and strongly disagreees with him. One of the wise men of our generation understood this.106 He says that the staves were placed in the ark in the rings that were on its feet. He further says that they would remove the staves from the lower rings and place them in the upper rings when it was necessary to carry the ark. It is similarly written, and shall set the staves thereof (Num. 4:6).107 indicates that the staves were moved from time to time; i.e., they were placed in the top rings when the ark was about to be carried and were removed from the top rings and placed on the lower rings when the ark rested. However, I believe that the staves were never removed once they were placed in the upper rings, for Scripture states, they shall not be taken from it (v. 15). As to And shall set the staves thereof (Num. 4:6), it means that the priests shall place the staves upon the shoulders of the Kohathites.108 When the ark was placed in the Holy of Holies109. it was necessary to place it near the wall110 so that the cherubim111 would cover the ark and its staves.112 The end of each one of the staves therefore113 extended.114 This is what Scripture refers to when it states, And the staves were so long (I Kings 8:8).115 The four lower rings116 thus117 served, as is the case with chests,118 for beauty and elegance.119