שמואל א י״ד:כ״ה-ל״ה

ויהי דבש. דבש קנים גדל בארץ ישראל:

There was honey. Cane sugar grows in Eretz Yisroel.

והנה הלך דבש. שהיה נוטף מן הקנים:

And behold there was a flow of honey. Which was flowing from the canes.

ביערת הדבש. בקנה הדבש, כמו (שמות ב ג): ותשם בסוף, דמתרגמינן: ושויתיה ביערא. ו'סוף' הם קנים של אגם, וכן (שיר השירים ה א): אכלתי יערי עם דבשי. ובלשון ישמעאל קורין לאותו דבש סוקר"א בלע"ז, מפי רבי נתן הישמעאלי:

Into the honeycomb. Into the sugar cane, as in, "and she placed it in the reeds,"¹³ Shemos 2:3. which Onkelos renders, "and she placed it in the יַעֲרָא," and סוּף are reeds which grow in the swamp. And similarly, "I ate my sugar cane [יַעְרִי] with my sugar,¹⁴ Shir Hashirim 5:1. and in Arabic, that honey is called 'sukra' in their language; from R. Nosson Ha'yishme'eili.

עכר אבי את הארץ. בלבל את דעתם ואת ישועתם, כמים עכורים:

My father has brought distress to the [inhabitants of the] land. He confused [עָכַר] their thoughts and their salvation, like unclear [עֲכוּרִים] waters.

כי עתה לא רבתה מכה. בתמיה:

Would it not now have been even greater—the blow. This is a question.

ויעש העם. כמו ויעט העם, לשון עיט (בראשית טו יא):

The people rushed. Meaning 'the people rushed,'¹⁵ According to the קְרִי; however, according to the כְּתִיב the meaning is “the people prepared.” an expression of ,¹⁶ See below 25:14.עַיִט [birds of prey [הָעַיִט] who swoop down].¹⁷Bereishis 15:11.

צאן ובקר ובני בקר. אומר אני: זה אותו ואת בנו לא תשחטו (ויקרא כב כח), ולכך קראם חוטאים. ורבותינו אמרו בשחיטת קדשים, שהיו מקדישים אותם שלמים, ואוכלים לפני זריקת דם, הוא שאמר: ויאכל העם על הדם, אוכלים קדשים ועדיין דם במזרק:

Sheep, cattle and their young. I say that this was in violation of, "It and its young you must not slaughter [on the same day],"¹⁸ Vayikra 22:28. and he, therefore, called them sinners.¹⁹ Below verse 33. But our Rabbis said in [Perek] שְׁחִיטַת קָדָשִׁים [in Maseches Zevochim]²⁰ 120a. that they sanctified them for peace-offerings, from which they were eating before the sprinkling of the blood. This is what Scripture [means when it] states, "And the people ate with the blood," i.e., they ate of the sacrifice when the blood was yet in the basin.²¹ This violates the prohibition “You shall not eat over the blood” stated in Vayikra 19:26.—Sanhedrin 63a

גלו אלי. לשון גללו:

Roll over to me. An expression of גַּלְּלוּ [roll].

היום. מבעוד יום, ולמטה (פסוק לד) נאמר: ויגישו איש שורו בידו הלילה, רבותינו נחלקו בדבר בסוף מסכת זבחים, יש מהן פירשו: כאן בחולין כאן בקדשים. ויש מהן פירשו: כאן בקדשים שהוקדשו ליקרב בבמת נוב גדולה, כאן בקדשים שהוקדשו ליקרב בבמה קטנה, למד על עולת יחיד שכשירה לישחט בלילה:

Today. While it is yet daytime, and below it stated, "and all the people brought near, each man his ox in his hand that night."²² Below, verse 34. Our Rabbis had different views at the end of Maseches Zevochim;²³ 120a. some of them explain that [Scripture is referring to] ordinary animals,²⁴ Below, verse 34. while here²⁵ Verse 33. [the Scripture is referring to] sacrificial animals. Others explained that here²⁶ Ibid. [Scripture is referring to] sacrificial animals which were sanctified to be offered at the large high place in Nov, while here²⁷ Verse 34. [Scripture is referring to] sacrificial animals which were sanctified to be offered at a small high place. Scripture thereby teaches us that a private burnt-offering may be slaughtered at night [on a small, i.e., private high place].

אבן גדולה. עשאה במה, לזרוק עליה דם והקטר חלבים:

A boulder. He made it a high place upon which to sprinkle the blood and for the burning of the fatty parts.

פוצו בעם. הכריזו במקומות הרבה, ויהיו המכריזים נפוצים בעם:

Spread out among the people. Announce in many places, and let the announcers disperse among the people.

ושחטתם בזה. כאן, במקום שחיטה דבר אחר: סכין בדק להם:

And you shall slaughter [them] here. Here in the place of slaughtering.²⁸בָּזֶה referring to the “place” of slaughtering. Another explanation is, he examined a slaughtering knife²⁹בָּזֶה referring to the “knife” used for slaughtering. He had inspected it to make sure it was fit for ritual slaughter. for them.³⁰Maseches Chulin 17b.

הלילה. בהמות של חולין נשחטו בלילה, כך מפורש בזבחים (שם):

That night. The ordinary [i.e., non-sanctified] animals were slaughtered at night. Thus it is explained in [Maseches] Zevochim.³¹ 120a.

אותו החל. אותו המזבח, ראשון למזבחות שבנה שאול:

It was the first of the altars. That altar was the first of the altars which Shaul built.³² He built this altar in honor of the victory, as Moshe did after having defeated Amoleik in Shemos 17:15.