Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 34:29/אבן עזרא על שמות ל״ד:כ״ט
אומשה לא ידע כי קרן עור פניו בדברו אתו. הטעם בדבר אתו השם וזה בעבור שנראה הכבוד על פניו, על כן הזהירו כזהר הרקיע:
1THAT MOSES KNEW NOT THAT THE SKIN OF HIS FACE SENT FORTH BEAMS WHILE HE TALKED WITH HIM. The meaning of while He talked with him is, while God talked with him. This occurred because the glory223 was seen upon Moses’ face. Moses’ face therefore shone like the brightness of the firmament.
בומלת קרן. מגזרת קרנים מידו לו (חבקוק ג ד) כי כן כתוב בתחלת הפסוק, ונגה כאור תהיה (שם), והנה אמר אחריו קרנים מידו לו, יהיה הטעם כפול כמשפט, ישתחקו עצמות חוי הפושע שאמר כי בעבור שלא אכל לחם שבו פני משה יבשות כמו הקרן: וטעם וייראו. מפני שהיו פניו מכוערות, ואיך לא פקח זה המקולל את עיניו, כי לא יירא האדם לגשת אל האדם רק בעבור דבר פלא שנתחדש בו שלא ראה כמוהו, ואין אדם שלא ראה פני המת, ולא יירא מגשת אליו, ועוד אלו היה ככה, למה לא היה תמיד המסוה על פניו, ולמה היה מסיר אותו תמיד בדברו עם ישראל, והלא ראה כי בהיותו בן מאה ועשרים שנה לא כהתה עינו ולא נס לחה, ואף כי כאשר היה בן שמונים:
2[SENT FORTH BEAMS.] The word karan (sent forth beams) is related to the word karnayim (rays) in Rays hath He at His side (Hab. 3:4),224 means a horn. Hence the word karan. Literally, it means horned. I.E. therefore explains that karan should be understood as sent forth beams. for the opening part of the verse explicitly states, And a brightness appeareth as the light. Now since Rays hath He at His side follows,225 follows And a brightness appeareth as the light. our verse repeats the same idea in different words226 (rays) hath He at His side means the same as And a brightness appeareth as the light. Hence karnayim means rays; similarly the word karan in our verse, which is etymologically related to it, means rays. as is the custom of Scripture. May the bones of Chivi the transgressor227 be crushed, for Chivi said that Moses’ face turned dry as a horn228 (the skin of his face sent forth horns) as the skin of his face horned, i.e. turned hard as a horn. because he did not eat bread. Chivi similarly explains, and they were afraid (v. 30) as meaning they were afraid because Moses’ face was ugly. Now why did this cursed wretch not open his eyes. A person will only fear to approach someone because there is something strange in him which he has never ever seen before.229 There is no person who has never looked upon the face of a corpse that does not fear to approach a dead body. Furthermore, if this is the case,230 why was the veil not always upon the face of Moses? Why did Moses always remove the veil (v. 33) when he spoke with Israel? Did Chivi not see that when Moses was one hundred and twenty years old (Deut. 34:7) his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated? This was most certainly so231 when Moses was eighty years old.232