Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 28:1/אבן עזרא על שמות כ״ח:א׳
אואתה. בעבור היות משה כהן הכהנים בתחלה על כן טעם הקרב אליך, וכבר רמזתי לך למה נבחר אהרן להקדישו לשם בעבור כבוד משפחת נחשון שיהיו הכהנים מכפרים על בני ישראל, ואין לדבר על משה אדונינו כי בורח היה, ומי יתן לו עברית, ועוד כי טורח כל ישראל על משה ללמדם המצות, ולדון כל דבר קשה.
1AND BRING THOU. Scripture says, And bring thou near unto thee [Aaron thy brother, and his sons…that they may minister unto me] because at first Moses was the high priest.1 I have already hinted2 at why Aaron3 was chosen to be sanctified to the Lord so that the priests4 would make atonement for Israel. Aaron was chosen because of the importance of Nahshon’s family.5 We cannot find fault with Moses,6 our master, as Moses was a fugitive.7 Who would have given him a Hebrew woman?8 Furthermore, the burden of all of Israel was upon Moses.9 Moses had to teach Israel the commandments. He also had to judge all difficult cases.10
בוי"ו לכהנו לי. נוסף כוי"ו חיתו שדי (תה' קד יא) בנו בעור (במד' כד ג), ופי' שמות בני אהרן אולי בנים אחרים היו לו חוץ מאלה, ואין ספק כי רבתה למעלה במדבר משפחת אהרן, על כן נתנו להם ישראל ערים רבות הכתוב בס' יהושע:
2[THAT THEY MAY MINISTER UNTO ME.] The vav in lekhahano (that they minister) in that they may minister unto me is superfluous.11 in le-khahano is not a pronominal suffix, and le-khahano has the same meaning as le-khahen. It is like the vav in chayeto (beast)12 has the same meaning as chayat. The vav in chayeto is not a pronominal suffix. in every beast of the field (Ps. 104:11) and beno (son of)13 has the same meaning as ben, for the vav in beno is not a pronominal suffix. in the son of Beor (Num. 24:3). Our verse lists the sons of Aaron. It is possible that Aaron had other sons besides these.14 There is no doubt that Aaron’s family increased greatly in the wilderness. Hence they were given the many cities enumerated in the Book of Joshua.15