Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Numbers 3:10/אבן עזרא על במדבר ג׳:י׳

אואת אהרן ואת בניו. ובכלל בניו בני בניו תפקדם לתת פקודה לכל אחד והם ישמרו את כהנתם שלא יבואו לידי פסולות:

1AND THOU SHALT APPOINT AARON AND HIS SONS. His sons includes the sons of his sons. The meaning of and thou shalt appoint (tifkod) is, you shall appoint each one of them.¹⁶ can meant to count. Hence I.E.’s comment. The meaning of that they may keep their priesthood is that they not do anything that will disqualify them from being priests.

בוהזר הקרב. לכהן להיות עם כהנתם ישראלי או לוי יומת ופרשת ואני הנה לקחתי גם היא דבקה כי יש בתורה פרשיות דבקות בטעם ואם הם מפורשות כמו ויהי כאשר תמו כל אנשי המלחמה כן ויהי ביום דבר ה' אל משה:

2AND THE COMMON MAN THAT DRAWETH NIGH. To the priest, to serve as a priest. [SHALL BE PUT TO DEATH.] An Israelite or a Levite who serves as a priest shall be put to death. The chapter that opens with the words And I, behold, I have taken the Levites¹⁷ is also¹⁸ connected to the chapter which preceded it,¹⁹ for the Torah contains chapters that are separated but are connected by content. Similarly, Moreover the hand of the Lord was against them, to discomfit them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed (Deut. 2:15),²⁰ and, And it came to pass on the day when the Lord spoke unto Moses in the land of Egypt (Ex. 6:28).²¹