Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 23:11

ממחרת השבת. אמרו חז״ל ממחרת יום טוב והמכחישים אמרו שהוא כמשמעו והמאמינים הביאו ראיות משנת השמטה והיובל והצום הגדול ויום תרועה שכתוב בו שבתון וכן שבתון נאמר בא׳‎ של סוכות ובשמיני ואמרו כי שבע שבתות שבועות וכמוהו באי השבת עם יוצאי השבת והם שנים פירושים בפסוק אחד והנה שלשים עיירים וראייתם תמימות וחכם ברומי הביא ראיה ממחרת הפסח מצות וקלוי ולא ידע כי בנפשו הוא כי הפסח ביום ארבעה עשר וממחרתו יום חמשה עשר וכן כתוב ויסעו מרעמסס בחדש הראשון ולאכול קלי אסור עד עבור תנופת העומר והגאון אמר ששני פסחים הם פסח ה׳‎ ופסח ישראל ופסח ה׳‎ בליל חמשה עשר והנה ממחרת הפסח ביהושע יום ט״ז ויהיה פירוש ממחרת הפסח הכתוב בתורה ממחרת זבח הפסח ולא אמר כלום כי לא נקרא החג פסח רק בעבור שפסח השם על הבתים וממחרתו הוא לבקר יום ט״ו וכן כתוב כל היום ההוא וכל הלילה וכל יום המחרת. ועוד אמר הגאון שמצות וקלוי היה מהישן וזה איננו רחוק כי הכתוב אמר על תנופת העומר שתהיה מהחל חרמש בקמה ואם תנופת העומר היתה יום חמשה עשר מתי קצרו ועשו מצות ועוד כי אין קציר כי הוא ראשית קציר שעורים גם יש כדמות ראיה על פירושו שאמר מעבור הארץ ויתכן שזה השם נקרא על התבואה שיש להשנה שעברה. וטעם מעבור הארץ ארץ סיחון ועוג והעד שאמר אחר כן מתבואת ארץ כנען ועוד כי קלוי איננו כמו קלי והכתוב אמר ולחם וקלי וכרמל לא תאכלו ואין פסוק קלוי באש טענה כי הוא תאר המעשה כי אביב קלוי באש יקרא קלוי ועוד יש להשיב מאין נדע כי הניף הכהן בעבר הירדן תנופת העומר כי הכתוב אמר אשר אני נותן לכם ועוד לא נתנה להם ולא בא הכתוב להזכיר מצות וקלוי רק בעבור ששבת המן וכן טעם כל הפסוק ועוד אמר הגאון אם השבת כמשמעו מאיזה שבת נחל לספור וישועה השיב כי שמנה עשר ימים הם שיש בהם קרבן ונקראו מועדים מלבד השבתות ואחר שיש קרבן ביום תנופת העומר לאות ולעד כי התנופה באחד מימות מועד האביב והנה שכח קרבנות ראשי חדשים שלא נזכרו ועוד כי הכתוב אמר כאלה תעשו ליום שבעת ימים והיה ראוי שיאמר מלבד תנופת העומר גם זאת איננה טענה עלינו כי אנחנו נסמוך במצות על הקבלה והנה ביום שבועות לא הזכיר בפרשת פנחס מלבד כבשי השלמים ולמעלה פר בן בקר אחד ואילים שנים ובפנחס פרים שנים ואיל אחד גם יוכל המאמין להשיב כי בדרך נבואה ידע היו׳‎ שיהיה בו תנופת העומר שיום השבת יהיה הקכיעות והעד מערך הלחם שהיה בשבת והזכיר הכתוב איך יחשבו בשנה הראשונה ואז הקריבו שלמים והעולה הנזכרת ואחר כן הנזכר׳‎ בפנחס ואחר כך אמר בשבועותיכם שבעה שבועות ולא אמר שבתות ואין ראיה כי תחלת השבוע יום ראשון וטמאה שבועים יוכיח והנה ארמוז לך סוד אחד שכל המועדים תלוים ביום ידוע מהחדש ולא נאמר בחג השבועות (מספר) (ס״א יום מועד) בעבור הספירה שהיא מצוה וחז״ל העתיקו כי בחג שבועות היה מתן תורה ועליו נאמר כי חג ה׳‎ לנו: ON THE MORROW AFTER THE SABBATH. The sages said that on the morrow after the sabbath means on the morrow after the festival.⁶⁷The day after the first day of Passover, i.e., on the 16th of Nisan. Those who contradict the sages⁶⁸The Sadducees. say that the word Sabbath is be taken literally.⁶⁹That Sabbath refers to the seventh day of the week. The Karaites claim that the omer was brought on the first Sunday following the start of Passover. Those who believe in the Rabbinic tradition offer proof from the Sabbatical year,⁷⁰Lev. 25:5. the Jubilee, the great fast,⁷¹Yom Kippur. See verse 32. and the day of shofar sounding,⁷²Verse 24. for the word shabbaton (a solemn rest) is employed with regard to them.⁷³Scripture refers to these days by the term shabbaton. Thus the word shabbat does not refer only to the Sabbath. Scripture similarly employs shabbaton with regard to Sukkot⁷⁴Verse 39. and Shemini Atzeret.⁷⁵Ibid. They also say that the meaning of sheva shabbatot (v. 15) is seven weeks.⁷⁶Not seven Sabbaths. We thus see that shabbat does not always mean the Sabbath. The same is true of ba’eh shabbat im yotze’eh shabbat (those that were to come in on the sabbath, with those that were to go out on the sabbath) (II Kings 11:9).⁷⁷They render this verse as follows: those that were to come in on the Sabbath, with those that were to go out after the week was over. The same word⁷⁸Shabbat. is employed with two meanings in one verse.⁷⁹The first time the word shabbat is used it refers to the Sabbath; the second time, to a week. We thus see that shabbat does not necessarily refer to the Sabbath. Note, we find a similarity in sheloshim ayarim (thirty ass colts) (Jud. 10:4).⁸⁰Jud. 10:4 reads: And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts (ayarim), and they had thirty cities (ayarim). The word ayarim appears twice in this verse. The first time it means ass colts; the second time, cities. They⁸¹Those who believe in the Rabbinic tradition. offer proof from the word complete (v. 15).⁸²Verse 15 reads sheva shabbatot temimot. The latter can only mean seven complete weeks, for it makes no sense to render it seven complete Sabbaths. A wise man in Rome⁸³I.E. does not identify the wise man. He remains unknown offered proof⁸⁴That the morrow after the sabbath means on the morrow after the first day of festival, i.e., on the 16th of Nisan. from on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn (Josh. 5:11).⁸⁵Josh. 5 describes Israel’s first Passover in the Land of Israel. Josh. 5:11 relates: And they did eat of the produce of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, in the selfsame day. This scholar believed that the term “passover” in Josh. 5:11 refers to the 15th of Nisan. Hence the morrow after the passover refers to the 16th. This scholar also assumed that the unleavened cakes and parched corn came from the new produce. Now, since eating of new produce is forbidden till the omer is offered, and Scripture tells us, And they did eat of the produce of the land, we must assume that the eating of the new grain was preceded by the offering of the omer. We thus see that the omer is brought on the 16th of Nisan. Furthermore, Josh. 5:11 shows that on the morrow after the sabbath means on the morrow following the first day of the festival. He did not know that it cost him his life,⁸⁶This is metaphorical. That is, he trapped himself. See Prov. 7:23, As a bird hasteneth to the snare–And knoweth not that it is at the cost of his life. The “proof” offered by this scholar does not prove that which he intended. In fact, the Karaites or Sadducees can, as we shall see below, use his interpretation for their own purposes. for the Passover falls on the 14th⁸⁷Of Nisan. and the morrow following it is on the 15th.⁸⁸Day of Nisan. I.E.’s point is that in Scripture the term Passover is limited to the 14th of Nisan when the Passover sacrifice was offered. The seven days following are referred to as the Festival of Unleavened Bread (chag ha-matzot). Thus if we interpret Joshua 5:11 as alluding to the bringing of the omer, then we have to assume that the omer was brought on the 15th of Nisan, which we today call the first day of Passover. This is not in keeping with Rabbinic tradition. On the contrary, it supports the Karaites, for they believe that the morrow after the sabbath in Leviticus 23:16 refers to the first Sunday following the start of Passover. In other words, the Karaites say that in the year that Israel celebrated the first Passover in Canaan, the 15th of Nisan fell on a Sunday and Israel therefore offered the omer on that day. Scripture similarly reads, And they journeyed from Rameses in the first month (Num. 33:3).⁸⁹The complete clause reads: And they journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first of the first month; on the morrow after the passover. We thus clearly see that on the morrow after the passover refers to the 15th of Nisan. The eating of parched corn is prohibited until the waving of the omer.⁹⁰Hence Josh. 5:11 cannot refer to the new grain. The Gaon⁹¹Rabbi Saadiah Gaon interprets And they did eat of the produce of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn as follows: And they did eat of the produce of the land on the morrow after the Passover of the Lord, i.e., the morrow following the 15th day. says that there are two Passovers, a Passover of the Lord and a Passover of Israel. The Passover of God is on the night of the 15th.⁹²While the Passover of Israel is on the 14th. The Passover of the Lord falls on the 15th, for that is when God killed the first-born of Egypt. The Passover of Israel falls on the 14th because that is the day that Israel sacrifices the paschal lamb. Now, the day after the Passover in Joshua refers to the 16th day.⁹³Of Nisan. It follows from this that the interpretation of on the morrow after the passover (Num. 33:3), is on the morrow following the sacrifice of the Passover.⁹⁴The paschal lamb. What he said has no value. The festival⁹⁵The 14th of Nisan. is called Passover only because God skipped over the houses.⁹⁶Of the Israelites. Thus the term Passover cannot be applied to first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread (chag ha-matzot). Hence the term Passover in Josh. 5:11 cannot refer to the 15th of Nisan. Its morrow is the morning of the 15th.⁹⁷Not the morning of the 16th. Scripture similarly writes, all that day, and all the night, and all the next day (yom ha-mochorat)⁹⁸Literally, the day of the morning. The point is that mochorat (morrow) refers to the following morning. (Num. 11:32). The Gaon further states that the unleavened cakes and the parched corn were from the old grain.⁹⁹From the grain of the previous year. In this case Josh. 5:11 is to be interpreted literally and it presents no problem, for it merely states that Israel ate unleavened cakes and the parched corn from the old grain on the 15th of Nisan (on the morrow after the passover). This is not far-fetched, for Scripture says that the waving of the omer should begin from the time the sickle is first put to the standing corn (Deut. 16:9). If the omer was waved on the 15th¹⁰⁰Of Nisan when did they harvest and make unleavened bread?¹⁰¹If the omer was waved on the 15th of Nisan when Israel entered the Land of Israel as the Karaites maintain, when did they harvest the grain to make the unleavened bread? Harvesting is prohibited on a festival. Furthermore, there was no harvest,¹⁰²Before the festival. for the omer is brought from the first of the barley harvest.¹⁰³They could thus not harvest before the omer was waved. There is also what appears to be proof of the Gaon’s opinion,¹⁰⁴That the unleavened cakes and the parched corn were from the old grain. for Scripture states, of the produce (meavur) of the land (Josh. 5:11). It is possible that the term avur refers to the produce of the year that has passed.¹⁰⁵The verb avar means passed. Hence this interpretation. The meaning of the produce of the land is the produce of the land of Sihon and Og.¹⁰⁶Which are located in Transjordan. The Israelites brought grain from Transjordan when they entered Canaan. The fact that Scripture afterwards states, of the fruit of the land of Canaan (Josh. 5:12), is proof.¹⁰⁷Josh. 5:12 states, but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. This implies that Josh. 5:11 refers to grain that was not from the land of Canaan. Furthermore, kaluy (parched corn) (Josh. 5:11) is not the same as kali (parched com) (Lev. 23:14).¹⁰⁸Kali (Lev.23:14) refers to parched corn from the new produce. Kaluy (Josh. 5:11) refers to any parched corn. Now, Scripture says, And ye shall eat neither bread nor parched corn (kali), nor fresh ears (v. 14). The verse which reads kaluy ba-esh (parched with fire) (Lev. 2:14)¹⁰⁹Lev. 2:14 speaks of a meal offering of first-fruits (bikkurim). cannot serve as an argument to the contrary,¹¹⁰That kaluy refers to the new grain. for it describes the act¹¹¹It is an adjective. since corn in the ear parched in fire is called kaluy.¹¹²Lev. 2:14 speaks of grain parched in fire. The proper Hebrew word for parched is kaluy. Hence that word is used. However, its use does not prove that the reference is only to new grain. We can also ask:¹¹³The Karaites. From where do we know that the kohen waved the omer on the other side of the Jordan,¹¹⁴On the morrow after the passover as the Karaites maintain. for the verse states, which I give unto you (v. 10)?¹¹⁵In other words, the obligation to wave the omer applies only after Israel has taken possession of the land. Thus Josh. 5:11 cannot allude to the waving of the omer. However, the land was not yet given to them.¹¹⁶They were thus not yet obligated to bring the omer. Scripture mentions matzot and corn only because the manna ceased. This is the meaning of the entire verse.¹¹⁷When Israel entered the Promised Land. I.E.’s point is that Josh. 5:11 does not state, And they did eat of the produce of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, to inform us that they waved the omer and then ate matzot and grain from the new produce. It rather tells us, And they did eat of the produce of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes and parched corn, because the manna ceased. The Gaon¹¹⁸Rabbi Saadiah Gaon. further says: If the word Sabbath¹¹⁹In on the morrow after the sabbath. is to be taken literally¹²⁰As the Karaites do. then from which Sabbath shall we start to count? Joshua¹²¹A Karaite scholar. answers that there are 18 days aside from the Sabbath whereon sacrifices are offered. These days are called mo’adim (festivals). Now, since there is a sacrifice¹²²A special sacrifice. on the day that the omer is offered¹²³And Scripture does not specify that day as a separate festival. it is a sign and a witness that the waving takes place on one of the days of the spring festival.¹²⁴One of the days of Passover. In other words, the omer is waved on the first day of the Passover holiday that follows a Sabbath. Note, he¹²⁵Joshua. forgot the sacrifices that are offered on the new moon, which are not mentioned.¹²⁶The new moons are not listed among the festivals. We thus see that a day on which an additional offering is brought is not necessarily a festival. The same should apply to the day that the omer is waved. In other words, the fact that the Torah does not specify the day of the omer waving as a festival does not mean that it falls on the festival of Passover. Hence if we reject the Rabbinic tradition and take the word Sabbath literally, we do not know from which Sabbath to start the count of seven weeks. Furthermore, Scripture states, After this manner ye shall offer daily,¹²⁷On the Festival of Unleavened Bread. for seven days (Num. 28:24). Scripture should have stated, aside from the offering of the omer.¹²⁸According to Joshua, Scripture should have stated: After this manner ye shall offer daily, for seven days aside from the offering which accompanies the waving of the omer. This¹²⁹The fact that Scripture does not read, “After this manner ye shall offer daily, for seven days aside from the offering which accompanies the waving of the omer.” too¹³⁰Like the fact that Scripture employs the word Sabbath for the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. is no argument against us, for we rely on tradition when it comes to the commandments. Now, Scripture does not state “aside from the he-lambs brought for a peace offering,” when it lists in the Torah portion Pinechas the offerings to be brought on the festival of Shavu’ot.¹³¹In other words, Scripture, in listing the Shavu’ot offerings in Num. 28:27, omits the two he-lambs…for a sacrifice of peace-offerings, which according to verse 19 were to be offered on Shavu’ot. It states above,¹³²In the verse preceding verse 19. and one young bullock, and two rams (v. 18). However, Pinechas reads, two young bullocks, one ram, seven he-lambs of the first year (Num. 28:27).¹³³Our verse states that one young bullock, and two rams are to be brought as burnt offerings on Shavu’ot. However, Num. 28:27 states that two young bullocks, are to be brought as burnt offerings on Shavu’ot. See further for I.E.’s explanation of the discrepancy. The believer can also answer¹³⁴The question as to why Scripture in our verse refers to the 16th of Nisan as on the morrow after the sabbath. that Moses prophetically knew the day that the omer would be waved.¹³⁵Moses knew that when Israel entered the land of Canaan the first waving of the omer would take place on the Sabbath. Our verse alludes to that historic event. He knew that the first day of the month¹³⁶Of Nisan. would be established on the Sabbath.¹³⁷If the first day of Nisan falls on a Sabbath, then the 15th of Nisan also falls on a Sabbath. In such a year the 16th of Nisan falls on the morrow after the Sabbath. The arrangement of the bread which took place on the Sabbath is proof of this.¹³⁸According ti I.E. Moses prophesied that the show bread would be arranged for the first time on a Sabbath. Scripture notes¹³⁹In our verse. how they calculated the first year.¹⁴⁰How the Festival of Unleavened Bread fell in the first year that they entered Canaan. They then¹⁴¹On the first Festival of Unleavened Bread following their entrance into Canaan. brought the peace offerings and the burnt offerings which are mentioned [in our Torah portion] and then¹⁴²In the following years. the ones mentioned in the Torah portion Pinechas.¹⁴³This explains the discrepancy in the sacrifices to be brought on Shavu’ot between our Torah portion and Num. 28:27. Scripture then goes on to say,¹⁴⁴With regard to the observance of the omer in all the other years. in your feast of weeks (Num. 28:26) and seven weeks (Deut. 16:9); it does not state Sabbaths.¹⁴⁵Deut. 16:9 speaks of weeks, not of Sabbaths, for the count does not start from the morrow after the Sabbath. There is no proof that the beginning of the week¹⁴⁶Of the seven weeks that commence with the waving of the omer and conclude with shavu’ot. starts with the first day.¹⁴⁷Sunday. In other words, there is no proof that the beginning of the seven weeks that commence with the waving of the omer and conclude with shavu’ot starts on a Sunday as the Karaites maintain. In fact, then she¹⁴⁸A woman who gives birth to a baby girl. shall be unclean two weeks (Lev. 12:5) shows that this is not the case.¹⁴⁹Lev. 12:5 shows that the term week does not apply only to a week which starts on Sunday and concludes on Saturday, for the women who deliver start counting their two weeks from the time of delivery. The same is true of the week which begins when the omer is counted. It does not start on a Sunday. Look, I will hint at a secret.¹⁵⁰Regarding the festival of Shavu’ot. The secret is what follows: All the festivals are contingent on a specific day of the month. Scripture does not give a specific date of the month for the festival of shavu’ot (so Weiser). The question arises, what sort of secret is this? This is obvious. It is possible that I.E. is hinting that the establishment of the observance of Shavu’ot 50 days from the second day of Passover is not of Pentateuchal origin. The Torah states that the counting of the seven weeks starts from the day of putting the sickle to the corn. It does not date when the counting is to begin. See Judah Ha-Levi, The Book of Kuzari 3:41, “…The Synhedrion and all the sages found that this period [of 50 days] was fixed with the intention to create an interval of fifty days between ‘the first fruits of harvest of the barley and the harvest of wheat,’ and to observe ‘seven weeks,’ which are seven complete Sabbaths.’ The first day of the week [the morrow after the Sabbath ] is only mentioned for argument’s sake in the following manner: should the day of putting ‘the sickle to the corn’ be on a Sunday, you count till Sunday…The date of putting of the sickle from which we count is left for us to fix” (The Book of Kuzari, translated by H. Hirschfeld, N.Y., 1946, p. 153). All the festivals are contingent on a specific day of the month. Scripture does not give a date for the festival of Shavu’ot¹⁵¹It does not state on which day of the month Shavu’ot falls. because of the counting, which is a commandment. The rabbis, of blessed memory, transmitted the tradition that the Torah was given on the festival of Shavu’ot and that it is concerning this day that Scripture states, for we must hold a feast unto the Lord (Ex. 10:9).

יש אומרים כי כל לרצונכם פירושו להיות לכם לרצון בעבור והניף את העומר לפני ה׳‎ לרצונכם וטעמו שתניפו ברצונכם והטעם שתתנו כבש בן שנתו כדי שתהיו נרצים: Some say that whenever the Torah uses the term li-retzonekhem it means to be accepted from you,¹⁵²That is, so that God will accept it from you. for Scripture reads, And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you (li-retzonekhem) (v. 11). The meaning of the aforementioned is that you shall wave it willingly.¹⁵³In other words, li-retzonkhem means willingly. This means you shall offer a he-lamb¹⁵⁴Along with the sheaf. This seems to contradict what came before, for up to now li-retzonkhem was interpreted as meaning to be accepted for you. Filwarg suggests emending “the meaning of the aforementioned is not that you shall wave it willingly.” Meijler suggests the following: However, the meaning of the aforementioned is that you shall wave it willingly; in other words, our sentence introduces a new interpretation. of the first year so that you will be accepted.¹⁵⁵According to Meijler it means you shall offer a he-lamb willingly so that you will be accepted.