What are the connotations of "Va'ya'apilu"?
Rashi #1 and Seforno: It is an expression of Chutzpah (they acted defiantly). 1
Rashi: #2 (citing the Tanchuma): It means 'They went in darkness' - without permission.
Targum Onkelos: It means 'They went with wickedness'.
Targum Yonasan: It means 'They went when it was still dark' 2 (in orer to catch the enemy by surprise - Oznayim la'Torah). 3
Oznayim la'Torah #2: They went when it was still dark - like Zerizim (with alacrity) to perform a Mitzvah - but this was the Satan's Mitzvah, since had Hashem had ordered them not to go.
Rashi: As in Chavakuk, 2:4 and in Michah, 4:8.
But after dawn-break (See Targum Yonasan, Pasuk 40). See answer #5. When one acts in haste, it is the work of the Yeitzer ha'Ra.
Oznayim la?Torah: This translation is based on the fact that 'Ayin' (the ?Ayin? in Va?aya?apilu)and 'Alef' are interchangeble,
Why does the Torah insert the (otherwise superfluous) words "va'Aron B'ris Hashem"?
Yerushalmi Shekalim, 6:1: Because it refers to the Aron that contained the two Luchos ha'Beris, which never moved from the camp; and the Aron that traveled ahead of the camp in the desert was the one that contained the broken Luchos. 1
See Torah Temimah, note 28.
What are the onnotations of ?va?Aron ? Lo Mashu mi?Kerev ha?Machaneh??
Rashi (in Sh?mos, 2:10) and Rashbam: It means ?they did not move away (depart)?. 1
Targum Onkelos and Targum Yonasan: It means ?they did not move?.
Rashi: As in Sh?mos (ibid.), and Beshalach, Sh?mos, 13:22 (Rashbam).
Why here does the Pasuk mention the Aron before Moshe, as did Uriyah ha'Chiti in Shmuel, 2:11:11), whereas the Pasuk in Shmuel 1:4:14 states "B'nei Eli? Meisu ve'Aron B'ris Hashem Nilkach" - mentoning the Aron last?
Moshav Zekenim: Because, although [one generally begins with the greatest], when it comes to something negative, one begins with the smallest.
