Do these laws have any connection with the Decalogue? N. Leibowitz (1976a, p. 352) writes that, “there must be some special reason why G-d chose to make these laws the subject of his first message immediately after the historic revelation at Sinai,” but what is the reason?
Amos Chacham (1991, vol. 1. p. 405) suggests that these laws complete the sayings of the Decalogue concerning the laws between man and G-d, and then afterwards parashat Mishpatim records the laws between man and man. Nahum Sarna (1991, p. 115) suggests that “these verses, together with 23:19, encase the regulations controlling interpersonal and societal behavior within a framework of prescriptions that govern the relationship of the individual to G-d.” A third idea is that after the injunction against idolatry in the Decalogue the people needed some instructions as to how to worship G-d (see Ibn Ezra on 20:21). Thus, 20:19-23 begin by elaborating on the second saying of the Decalogue that using idols to worship G-d is prohibited, and then there are three laws concerning the worship of G-d. While all these suggestions are possible, still maybe there is some particular message from these laws.
N. Leibowitz (1976a, pp. 352-360) notes two conflicting messages from 20:19,20 based on an interesting argument with regard to the connection between the verses. 20:19 records that G-d told Moshe that the people saw that G-d spoke to them from the heavens, and 20:20 records the law that the people cannot make gold and silver idols. She quotes Albo (see also Ibn Ezra, Ramban and Seforno) who explains that the connection between the verses is that since G-d could speak to the people from the heavens, there is no need for people to worship G-d through gold and silver idols. On the other hand, N. Leibowitz explains that Cassuto (1967, p. 255, see also Bekhor Shor, Hizkuni) understood the verses as saying that since G-d spoke to the people “from afar” it is “impossible to communion with G-d through” gold and silver idols. N. Leibowitz explains that the message of these verses according to Albo is the immanence of G-d, while according to Cassuto it is the transcendence of G-d.
Maybe there is another possible connection between the verses. Following Cassuto, the point of 20:19 is the great distance between G-d and mankind, but due to this distance, one might be tempted to worship G-d through intermediaries such as gold and silver idols, and hence the Torah forbids these practices in 20:20. This idea would also correspond to the conditions of the people after the Decalogue, that having been scared out of their wits, they might have thought to use idols to worship G-d.
This explanation of 20:19,20 relates to one of the crucial ideas in the Torah is that there exists a divide between man and G-d that cannot be crossed. G-d’s first instruction to Moshe after the Decalogue not to make gold and silver idols, 20:20, signals a barrier between mankind and G-d that one cannot worship G-d through these intermediaries. However, if the boundary between G-d and man is too great, then the people might doubt their ability to have a covenant with G-d. Thus, the following verse, 20:21, that one can make an altar of earth to offer sacrifices, is an attempt to minimize the boundary that the people can come close to G-d by offering sacrifices, and it is relatively easy to make an earthen altar. However, these sacrifices do not obliterate the boundary. The following verses, 20:22,23 put limits on this type of worship that stones in a stone altar cannot be hewn and that even the slight possibility of impropriety from walking up steps to the altar is prohibited.
Thus, maybe the entire section of 20:19-23 revolves around the theme of the barrier between G-d and mankind, and this compliments the section prior to the covenant, 19:21-25, which records the barrier on the mountain between G-d and the Jewish people. Prior to the Decalogue, the Torah referred to a physical barrier, while after the Decalogue the Torah was referring to spiritual barriers. These two “barrier” sections encase the Decalogue. They are the last instructions from G-d to Moshe before the Decalogue and the first instructions from G-d to Moshe after the Decalogue.
Bibliography:
Cassuto, Umberto (1883-1951), 1967, A commentary on the book of Exodus, Jerusalem: The Magnes Press.
Chacham, Amos, 1991, Da'at Mikra: Commentary on Shemot, Jerusalem: Mossad Harav Kook.
Leibowitz, Nehama (1905-1997), 1976a, Studies in Shemot, translated by Aryeh Newman, Jerusalem: The World Zionist Organization.
Sarna, Nahum (1923-2005), 1991, The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus, Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
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