Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah
Ramban on Genesis 15:9/רמב"ן על בראשית ט״ו:ט׳
אעֶגְלָה מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת וְעֵז מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת פֵּרֵשׁ רַבִּי אַבְרָהָם בַּת שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים, אֲבָל אוּנְקְלוֹס (תרגום אונקלוס על בראשית ט"ו:ט') אָמַר שָׁלֹשׁ, וְכֵן הַדָּבָר, כִּי בַּת שָׁלֹשׁ לֹא תִּקָּרֵא עֶגְלָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁשָּׁנִינוּ (פרה א א) וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים עֶגְלָה בַּת שְׁתַּיִם פָּרָה בַּת שָׁלֹשׁ. וְרָמַז כִּי שְׁלֹשָׁה קָרְבָּנוֹת מֵהֶן יַקְרִיבוּ לְפָנָיו זַרְעוֹ, הָעוֹלָה וְהַחַטָּאת וְהַשְּׁלָמִים, כִּי הָאָשָׁם כְּחַטָּאת הוּא, אֵין בֵּינֵיהֶם לְבַד הַשֵּׁם. וְיִתָּכֵן שֶׁיִּהְיֶה טַעַם "מְשֻׁלֶּשֶׁת", שֶׁיָּבִיא אוֹתָן רְצוּפוֹת וְיִהְיֶה כָּל מִין לְבַד, וְכֵן "כִּי מְשֻׁלָּשׁוֹת הֵנָּה" (יחזקאל מב ו), שֶׁהָיוּ הַלְּשָׁכוֹת הָעֶלְיוֹנוֹת וְהַתִּיכוֹנוֹת וְהַתַּחְתּוֹנוֹת:
1A HEIFER ‘MESHULESHETH’ AND A SHE-GOAT ‘MESHULESHETH.’ Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained the word meshulesheth as meaning three years old. But Onkelos said “three.”259 This is indeed correct since a three-year old cow is no longer called eglah (heifer), just as we have learned in a Mishnah:260 (heifer) it cannot therefore refer to a three-year old, as Ibn Ezra says. “But the Sages say that an eglah (heifer) is two years old; a parah (cow) is three years old.”The allusion here is to the three sacrifices261 which his seed will bring from them before Him: the Whole-offering, the Sin-offering and the Peace-offering. And as for the Guilt-offering, that is like the Sin-offering,262 the difference between them being merely in the name.It is possible that the meaning of the word meshulesheth is that he bring the three of them consecutively, each kind remaining separate. A similar use of this word is found in the verse, For they were in ‘meshulashoth’ (three) stories,263 meaning that there were upper, middle and lower chambers.