Daily Chumash & Rashi – Parshas Mishpatim Shevi’i: Details of Matan Torah (Shabbos, 27th Shevat)

Rashi Q&A — Shemot 23:26–24:18

23:26 — Blessings of Fertility and Long Life

Q1: What does “לֹא תִהְיֶה מְשַׁכֵּלָה” mean?

A: No woman will miscarry; none will bury their children during their lifetime.

Q2: What is the condition for this blessing?

A: “If you carry out My will”—i.e., keep the commandments.

Q3: What does “וַהֲשִׁמֹתִי אֶת מִסְפַּר יָמֶיךָ” (I will grant you the full count of your days) imply?

A: You will live out your natural lifespan without premature death.

23:27 — Terror and Confusion Upon Israel’s Enemies

Q4: What does “וְהַמֹּתִי” mean?

A: It means “I will terrify/confuse them.”
Rashi shows it is from the root where the last letter repeats and is dropped (הָמַם → הַמֹּתִי).

Q5: What does “עֹרֶף” (back of the head) mean here?

A: Enemies will turn their backs and flee from Israel.

23:28 — The Hornet

Q6: What is “הַצִּרְעָה”?

A: A hornet/wasp that shoots venom into the eyes of Israel’s enemies.

Q7: Did the hornet cross the Jordan River?

A: No — it did not cross westward.
It affected the Hittites and Canaanites east of the Jordan.

Q8: Why is the Hivite mentioned even though they lived west of the Jordan?

A: The hornet stayed on the east bank and shot poison across to the Hivites.

23:29–30 — Gradual Conquest

Q9: Why didn’t Hashem drive out the nations in one year?

A: To prevent the land from becoming desolate and overrun by wild animals.

Q10: What does “וְרַבָּה עָלֶיךָ” mean?

A: Wild beasts would outnumber Israel if the land were empty.

Q11: What does “עַד אֲשֶׁר תִּפְרֶה” mean?

A: Until you increase — related to “be fruitful” (פְּרוּ וּרְבוּ).

23:31 — Borders of the Land

Q12: What are the borders described?

From:

• Sea of Reeds,
  to
• Philistine Sea (Mediterranean),
  from
• the desert,
  to
• the Euphrates River.

Q13: What does “וְשַׁתִּי” mean?

A: “I will set/establish.”
The ת has a dagesh because it replaces two ת’s — one from the root, one from the suffix.

Q14: What does “וְגֵרַשְׁתָּמוֹ” mean?

A: “You will drive them out.”

23:32–33 — No Covenants With Idols or Idolaters

Q15: What does “לֹא תִכְרֹת לָהֶם בְּרִית” mean?

A: Do not make a treaty or covenant with the Canaanite nations.

Q16: Why can’t they dwell in the land?

A: They will cause Israel to sin by leading them to worship idols.

Q17: What does “כִּי תַעֲבֹד אֶת אֱלֹהֵיהֶם” mean according to Rashi?

A: Here “כִּי” means “that” (not “if”).
Meaning: “because that would cause you to serve their gods.”

Chapter 24 — Covenant at Sinai

24:1 — God’s Call Before Matan Torah

Q18: When was this command (“Go up to Hashem”) said?

A: Before the Ten Commandments — on 4 Sivan.

Q19: Who was told to ascend?

A: Moses, Aaron, Nadav, Avihu, and 70 elders—yet they must bow from afar.

24:2 — Moses Alone Approaches

Q20: What does “וְנִגַּשׁ משֶׁה לְבַדּוֹ” mean?

A: Only Moses may enter the thick cloud; others must remain back.

24:3 — Moses Relates the Laws

Q21: When did Moses tell the people?

A: That same day.

Q22: What are “דִּבְרֵי ה’”?

A: The commands to separate and to create a boundary around Sinai.

Q23: What are “הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים”?

A: Laws already taught at Marah:

• Noahide laws,
• Shabbos,
• honoring parents,
• Red Heifer,
• civil laws.

24:4 — Moses Writes the Torah

Q24: What did Moses write?

A: Torah from Genesis until Matan Torah, plus laws given at Marah.

Q25: When did he build the altar and 12 monuments?

A: The morning of 5 Sivan.

24:5 — Firstborn Offering Sacrifices

Q26: Who are “נַעֲרֵי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל”?

A: The firstborn, who served as priests before the Levi’im were chosen.

24:6 — Dividing the Blood

Q27: Who divided the blood into two halves?

A: An angel divided it.

Q28: Why two bowls?

A: One for olah blood, one for shelamim blood—to symbolize a covenant through passing between halves.

24:7 — Reading the Book of the Covenant

Q29: What is “סֵפֶר הַבְּרִית”?

A: The section from Genesis → Sinai events, plus the Marah laws.

Q30: What did the people say?

A: “We will do and we will learn” — נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע (the classic acceptance formula).

24:8 — Dashing the Blood

Q31: Where was the blood thrown?

A: Rashi (based on Onkelos): onto the altar to atone for the people (symbolically representing them).

24:9–11 — Vision of the Divine

Q32: What did Nadav, Avihu, and the elders see?

A: A vision of the God of Israel—a prophetic glimpse.

Q33: Why were they deserving of death?

A: They gazed too familiarly, “as if eating and drinking.”

Q34: Why weren’t they punished immediately?

A: Hashem did not want to mar the joy of Matan Torah.
Nadav and Avihu died later at the dedication of the Mishkan; the elders died at “the complainers” episode.

Q35: What does the sapphire brick represent?

A: Hashem’s awareness of Israel’s suffering in the brick labor of Egypt.

Q36: What does “appearance like the heavens” represent?

A: Joy, clarity, and redemption after leaving Egypt.

24:12 — Moses Called for 40 Days

Q37: What did God give Moses?

A:

• The Tablets,
• The Torah,
• The commandments (all 613 embedded in the Aseres HaDibros).

24:13 — Moses and Joshua

Q38: Why did Joshua accompany Moses?

A: As his disciple, he accompanied him up to the boundary—waiting there for 40 days.

24:14 — Aaron and Hur in Charge

Q39: Who were left in charge?

A: Aaron and Hur (Miriam’s son).
Anyone with disputes must approach them.

24:15–16 — The Cloud on the Mountain

Q40: What did the cloud cover?

Two views:

• The mountain for six days (from Rosh Chodesh until Matan Torah), or
• Moses, teaching that one entering the Divine Presence needs six days of separation.

24:17 — Appearance of the Shechinah

Q41: How did the glory appear to the people?

A: Like a consuming fire on the mountaintop.

24:18 — Moses Enters the Cloud

Q42: What was special about this cloud?

A: It was a mixture of normal cloud and smoke generated by the Divine fire that consumed the mountain’s rock.
Hashem made a path for Moses so his clothing would not be blackened.