Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah
Ramban on Numbers 31:54/רמב"ן על במדבר ל״א:נ״ד
אוַיָּבִיאוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד זִכָּרוֹן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל – יֵרָאֶה מִזֶּה שֶׁעָשׂוּ מֵהֶם כְּלֵי שָׁרֵת וּמְסָרוּם לַצִּבּוּר לְזִכָּרוֹן לְכָל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁיַּעֲשׂוּ בָּהֶם עֲבוֹדַת ה' לְדוֹרוֹת. שֶׁאִם בָּאוּ הַכֵּלִים הָאֵלֶּה לְאוֹצַר בֵּית הַשֵּׁם, הָיָה רָאוּי שֶׁיֹּאמַר "זִכָּרוֹן לָהֶם לִפְנֵי ה'", כִּי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יִכְלוֹל כָּל הָעָם וְהַזִּכָּרוֹן בְּדָבָר קַיָּם הוּא:
1AND THEY BROUGHT IT INTO THE TENT OF MEETING, FOR A MEMORIAL FOR THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BEFORE THE ETERNAL. It would appear from this verse that they made them [the ornaments they had captured] into vessels to be used for the Service [in the Sanctuary], and handed them over to the public for a memorial for all the children of Israel with which to perform the Service of G-d throughout their generations. For had these vessels [merely] gone to the treasury of the House of G-d [rather than actually being used for the Divine Service], the verse should rather have said, “a memorial ‘for them’ before the Eternal,” but [the phrase] the children of Israel [a memorial for ‘the children of Israel’] includes all the people, and [it means] that the memorial consists of something permanent.117 to the donors, whereas now that they themselves were used as vessels in the Divine Service, they served as a memorial for all the children of Israel for all times, as the Service in the Sanctuary is designated for all generations (see e.g. Exodus 29:42).