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Ramban on Exodus 12:2/רמב"ן על שמות י״ב:ב׳

אהַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים זוֹ מִצְוָה רִאשׁוֹנָה שֶׁצִּוָּה הקב"ה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל יְדֵי מֹשֶׁה, וְלָכֵן אָמַר "בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם", כִּי שְׁאָר מִצְוֹת שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה הָיוּ בְּהַר סִינַי. אוֹ שֶׁבָּא לוֹמַר "בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם", לֹא בְּעִיר מִצְרַיִם, כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ (מכילתא כאן) חוּץ לַכְּרַךְ. וְהָיָה רָאוּי שֶׁיֹּאמַר תְּחִלָּה דַּבְּרוּ אֶל כָּל עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם וּגְמַר הַפָּרָשָׁה, אֲבָל מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן הֵם בִּמְקוֹם יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְאָמַר לָכֶם כְּנֶגֶד יִשְׂרָאֵל לְדֹרֹתָם, וְחָזַר וְאָמַר "דַּבְּרוּ אֶל כָּל עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל", שֶׁיְּצַוֵּם בְּמִצְוַת שָׁעָה לָקַחַת פֶּסַח מִצְרַיִם מִבֶּעָשׂוֹר:
וּלְפִי מִדְרָשׁוֹ לָכֶם לוֹמַר שֶׁקִּדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ צָרִיךְ בֵּית דִּין מֻמְחִין (ר"ה כה:) וּלְכָךְ לֹא נֶאֱמַר בַּתְּחִלָּה "דַּבְּרוּ אֶל כָּל עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל", שֶׁאֵין בְּקִדּוּשׁ הַחֹדֶשׁ אֶלָּא מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶם. וְטַעַם הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים, שֶׁיִּמְנוּ אוֹתוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל חֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן, וּמִמֶּנּוּ יִמְנוּ כָּל הֶחֳדָשִׁים שֵׁנִי וּשְׁלִישִׁי עַד תַּשְׁלוּם הַשָּׁנָה בִּשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר חֹדֶשׁ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיֶה זֶה זִכָּרוֹן בַּנֵּס הַגָּדוֹל, כִּי בְּכָל עֵת שֶׁנַּזְכִּיר הֶחֳדָשִׁים יִהְיֶה הַנֵּס נִזְכָּר, וְעַל כֵּן אֵין לֶחֳדָשִׁים שֵׁם בַּתּוֹרָה, אֶלָּא יֹאמַר "בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁלִישִׁי" (שמות י"ט:א'), וְאוֹמֵר "וַיְהִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי נַעֲלָה הֶעָנָן" (במדבר י יא), "וּבַחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ" וְגוֹ' (שם כט א), וְכֵן כֻּלָּם:
וּכְמוֹ שֶׁתִּהְיֶה הַזְּכִירָה בְּיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת בִּמְנוֹתֵנוּ מִמֶּנּוּ אֶחָד בְּשַׁבָּת וְשֵׁנִי בְּשַׁבָּת, כַּאֲשֶׁר אֲפָרֵשׁ (רמב"ן על שמות כ':ח'), כָּךְ הַזְּכִירָה בִּיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם בִּמְנוֹתֵנוּ הַחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן וְהַחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי וְהַשְּׁלִישִׁי לִגְאֻלָּתֵנוּ, שֶׁאֵין הַמִּנְיָן הַזֶּה לַשָּׁנָה, שֶׁהֲרֵי תְּחִלַּת שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ מִתִּשְׁרֵי, דִּכְתִיב (שמות ל"ד:כ"ב) "וְחַג הָאָסִיף תְּקוּפַת הַשָּׁנָה", וּכְתִיב (שם כג טז) "בְּצֵאת הַשָּׁנָה", אִם כֵּן כְּשֶׁנִּקְרָא לְחֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן רִאשׁוֹן וּלְתִשְׁרֵי שְׁבִיעִי, פִּתְרוֹנוֹ רִאשׁוֹן לַגְּאוּלָּה וּשְׁבִיעִי אֵלֶיהָ, וְזֶה טַעַם רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם, שֶׁאֵינֶנּוּ רִאשׁוֹן בַּשָּׁנָה, אֲבָל הוּא רִאשׁוֹן לְשֵׁם שֶׁנִּקְרָא לוֹ לְזִכְרוֹן גְּאֻלָּתֵנוּ:
וּכְבָר הִזְכִּירוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זֶה הָעִנְיָן, וְאָמְרוּ, שְׁמוֹת חֳדָשִׁים עָלוּ עִמָּנוּ מִבָּבֶל (ירושלמי ר"ה א ב, ב"ר מח ט), כִּי מִתְּחִלָּה לֹא הָיוּ לָהֶם שֵׁמוֹת אֶצְלֵנוּ, וְהַסִּבָּה בָּזֶה, כִּי מִתְּחִלָּה הָיָה מִנְיָנָם זֵכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרַיִם, אֲבָל כַּאֲשֶׁר עָלִינוּ מִבָּבֶל וְנִתְקַיֵּם מָה שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב (ירמיה טז יד-טו) "וְלֹא יֵאָמֵר עוֹד חַי ה' אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָה אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם כִּי אִם חַי ה' אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָה וַאֲשֶׁר הֵבִיא אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ צָפוֹן", חָזַרְנוּ לִקְרֹא הֶחֳדָשִׁים בַּשֵּׁם שֶׁנִּקְרָאִים בְּאֶרֶץ בָּבֶל, לְהַזְכִּיר כִּי שָׁם עָמַדְנוּ וּמִשָּׁם הֶעֱלָנוּ הש"י, כִּי אֵלֶּה הַשֵּׁמוֹת נִיסָן אִיָּר וְזוּלָתָם שְׁמוֹת פַּרְסִיִּים, וְלֹא יִמָּצֵא רַק בְּסִפְרֵי נְבִיאֵי בָּבֶל (זכריה א ז, עזרא ו טו, נחמיה א א) וּבִמְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר (ג ז). וְלָכֵן אָמַר הַכָּתוּב "בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן הוּא חֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן", כְּמוֹ "הִפִּיל פּוּר הוּא הַגּוֹרָל" (שם). וְעוֹד הַיּוֹם הַגּוֹיִם בְּאַרְצוֹת פָּרַס וּמָדַי כָּךְ הֵם קוֹרְאִים אוֹתָם נִיסָן וְתִשְׁרֵי וְכֻלָּם כָּמוֹנוּ. וְהִנֵּה נַזְכִּיר בֶּחֳדָשִׁים הַגְּאֻלָּה הַשֵּׁנִית כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂינוּ עַד הֵנָּה בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה:

1THIS MONTH SHALL BE UNTO YOU THE BEGINNING OF MONTHS. This is the first commandment which the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded Israel through Moses. Therefore it says here [that the Eternal spoke unto Moses and Aaron] in the land of Egypt,⁹⁷ for the rest of the commandments of the Torah were given to him on Mount Sinai. It may be that the intent of the expression, in the land of Egypt, is to exclude the city of Egypt, just as our Rabbis have said:⁹⁸ “In the land of Egypt. This means outside the city.”Now Scripture should have first said, Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying:⁹⁹ This month shall be unto you the beginning of months, and so on to the end of the chapter. [Why then is the verse, Speak ye, etc., mentioned after the verse, This month, etc.?] It is because Moses and Aaron — [as mentioned in Verse 1: And the Eternal spoke unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying: This month, etc.] — are in the place of Israel. Saying it to them is equivalent to saying it to Israel in all their generations. In the following verse, however, He repeats by saying, Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, in order to command them something which is not binding for all time, namely, the buying of the paschal offering in Egypt on the tenth day of Nisan.¹⁰⁰, etc., applying as it does for all time, it is sufficient for Scripture to mention only Moses and Aaron in connection with it, since they are in place of Israel for all times. But since the command mentioned in Verse 3, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, applied only to the paschal offering in Egypt, He therefore preceded it again by saying, Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, the Israel of that time.According to the Midrashic interpretation,¹⁰¹ lachem (unto you) [in the verse, This month shall be unto you], means that “the Sanctification of the New Moon”¹⁰¹ is to be performed only by a Court of experts [as Moses and Aaron were]. And this is the reason it does not say at the beginning [of Verse 2], Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, since “the Sanctification of the New Moon” can be performed only by Moses and Aaron and their like.Now the purport of the expression, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months, is that Israel is to count this as the first of the months, and from it they are to count all months — second, third, etc., until a year of twelve months is completed — in order that there be through this enumeration a remembrance of the great miracle, [i.e., the exodus from Egypt, which occurred in the first month]. Whenever we will mention the months, the miracle will be remembered.¹⁰² It is for this reason that the months have no individual names in the Torah. Instead, Scripture says: In the third month;¹⁰³ And it came to pass in the second year, in the second month … that the cloud was taken up from over the Tabernacle of the Testimony;¹⁰⁴ And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, etc.,¹⁰⁵, 29:1. and so in all cases. Just as in counting the weekdays we always remember the Sabbath-day since the weekdays have no specific name of their own, but instead are called “one day in the Sabbath,” “the second day in the Sabbath,” as I will explain,¹⁰⁶ so we remember the exodus from Egypt in our counting “the first month,” “the second month,” “the third month,” etc., to our redemption.This order of the counting of the months is not in regard to the years, for the beginning of our years is from Tishri, [the seventh month], as it is written, And the feast of ingathering at the turn of the year,¹⁰⁷, 34:22. Now the feast of ingathering is in the seventh month (Leviticus 23:39) and yet Scripture calls it here at the turn of the year, which means the beginning of the new year. Thus we learn that Tishri is the beginning of the year, although in the order of the counting of the months it is the seventh month. and it is further written, And the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year.¹⁰⁸, 23:16. If so, when we call the month of Nisan the first of the months and Tishri the seventh, the meaning thereof is “the first [month] to the redemption” and “the seventh month” thereto. This then is the intent of the expression, it shall be the first month to you, meaning that it is not the first in regard to the year but it is the first “to you,” i.e., that it be called “the first” for the purpose of remembering our redemption.Our Rabbis have already mentioned this matter when saying,¹⁰⁹ “The names of the months came up with us from Babylon,” since at first we had no names for the months. The reason for this [adoption of the names of the months when our ancestors returned from Babylon to build the Second Temple], was that at first their reckoning was a memorial to the exodus from Egypt, but when we came up from Babylon, and the words of Scripture were fulfilled — And it shall no more be said: As the Eternal liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but: As the Eternal liveth that brought up and that led the children of Israel from the land of the north¹¹⁰ is found ibid., 23:8. — from then on we began to call the months by the names they were called in the land of Babylon. We are thus reminded that there we stayed [during our exile] and from there, blessed G-d brought us up [to our Land].¹¹¹ These names — Nisan, Iyar, and the others — are Persian names and are to be found only in the books of the prophets of the Babylonian era¹¹² and in the Scroll of Esther.¹¹³ It is for this reason that Scripture says, In the first month, which is the month of Nisan,¹¹⁴ Thus both memorials are mentioned simultaneously: the first month to our redemption from Egypt, which is the month of Nisan, a name which is reminiscent of our Babylonian exile from which we have also been redeemed. just as it says, they cast ‘pur,’ that is, the lot.¹¹⁵ In this case too Scripture explains the Persian word pur as meaning lot, just as it explained the name Nisan as being “the first month.” To this day, people of Persia and Media use these names of the months — Nisan, Tishri, and the others — as we do. Thus through the names of the months we remember our second redemption even as we had done until then with regard to the first one.