JTS MS 2367, fol. 82a

Notes

1. The opening completes 81b:52. The end of line 1 has במ followed by “upper” in line 2; “waters” is a contextual expansion of the abbreviated or unfinished word and remains an editorial interpretation. Tiferet is now legible in Main_02_R. The names and spatial relations are translated as the commentary gives them; the comparison does not establish a one-to-one map of every object in the diagram. Continuation and abbreviation note. ↩
2. Genesis 8:12 supplies the second seven-day wait and the dove’s failure to return. The commentary contrasts this downward count with the upward sequence at 81b:45. “Made peace in his heights” recalls Job 25:2. “Built and destroyed” describes successive worlds; it is not presented here as a calculation of their duration. Biblical and interpretive note. ↩
3. The Hebrew’s “emanation of the souls the righteous” is grammatically compressed; “[of]” labels the supplied relation. Seven “fathers” are stated in the text, so the English does not reduce them to the usual three patriarchs. The sun’s not seeing the moon’s concavity recalls Rosh Hashanah 23b. The opening ויהי in line 10 remains uncertain and is not reconstructed into a longer lemma. Syntactic and rabbinic note. ↩
4. The image correction replaces an erroneous numerical lemma with Noah’s name, allowing the wordplay נח / נצח, Noah / Netzach, to remain visible. The “seventh” designation is retained without silently adjusting the count. The uncertain לנס may mean “as a banner” or “as a marvel”; “banner” is provisional. Oxford’s portal wording ויבא לא לנס is not treated as a secure correction of JTS. Image review, wordplay, and witness note. ↩
5. Genesis 8:13 supplies the first month, first day, and removal of the ark’s covering. The commentary separately interprets “first,” “one,” and “seventh”; they should not be collapsed into ordinary chronology. Six hundred is explicit in line 15, unlike the former misreading in line 11. מצו[?] is left uncertain; the translation “were found” is provisional. The first three hypostases continue into line 17. No gematria is asserted. Biblical and numerical note. ↩
6. The opening continues the identification of the ark’s covering with the first three hypostases at line 16. Genesis 8:20–21 supplies Noah’s altar and the pleasing fragrance. The source’s מתעברים[?] may suggest pregnancy or impregnation; this tentative literal rendering is retained rather than silently reading “are stirred.” The movement from inclusion to revealed desire is the commentary’s own sequence. Biblical and textual note. ↩
7. Genesis 22:1 and 22:13 supply the testing and the ram; Proverbs 25:11 supplies “apples of gold in settings.” The medieval lemma deliberately interleaves these phrases. Its word order, confirmed in Main_21_R/L, is retained instead of restoring the familiar biblical order “caught … by its horns.” אחר is rendered “another” provisionally; it can also locate the ram “behind.” The reference to merit is not part of the Genesis verse. Biblical and witness note. ↩
8. The identification of איל, “ram,” with strength exploits the same consonants in expressions of might. מ״ה is provisionally expanded as Malkhut, consistent with its ascent in the Righteous One; the abbreviated Hebrew is preserved. Netzachim, literally “victories/eternities,” is the text’s plural label for the paired Netzach and Hod. The counterintuitive sequence “above the last five … to Netzach … to Chesed” is retained without redrawing it into a standard sefirotic order. “Corresponding [term] and recipient” renders מקביל ומקבל; the precise relation is not further specified. Lexical, abbreviation, and interpretive note. ↩
9. The equation of the Binding and the ark is explicit in JTS. The curse is assigned here to Ham, although Genesis 9:25 names Canaan; the translation preserves the commentary’s claim. Likewise, Esau’s curse is retained without supplying an unstated verse. The author is the author of the Great Parchment, distinct from Tzarfati, who expounds it. “Isaac took Rebekah” recalls Genesis 24:67 and is developed in the next lines. Biblical and witness note. ↩
10. Genesis 24:15 supplies Rebekah’s jar on her shoulder; the inexhaustible jar of flour recalls 1 Kings 17:14–16. The text identifies the jar with the Righteous One and connects it to blessing. The deleted fragment before “birthright” at line 34 is retained, with its uncertain reading, rather than allowed to form part of the running argument. The feminine Shekhinah and masculine title “Firstborn” follow the source; they are not normalized. Biblical and scribal note. ↩
11. Genesis 25:29–34 supplies the sale of the birthright and the lentil stew. “It is a wheel that turns in the world” occurs in Shabbat 151b, where it describes recurring poverty; here the commentary applies the circular image to successive circuits. The short sequence in line 36 remains unread, so no claim about the exact mechanism or duration of the cycles is added. The rubric at line 37, directly read in Main_37_F, establishes the second narrative’s end on this folio. Biblical, rabbinic, and boundary note. ↩
12. The base text combines the golden altar with the innermost sanctuary and the once-yearly entry in white garments. The translation preserves that combination; it does not relocate the altar to harmonize it with Exodus 30:6, where it stands before the curtain. Leviticus 16 supplies the annual inner service and linen garments. “One is my dove, my perfect one” quotes Song of Songs 6:9; “through Chesed … iniquity is atoned for” adapts Proverbs 16:6. The terminal “the LORD is there” recalls Ezekiel 48:35 and is the announced end of a longer lemma range, developed further on 82b. Biblical and ritual-text note. ↩
13. The lemma explicitly denies increased apprehension after the soul’s separation. Tzarfati’s explanation identifies “soul” with the Shekhinah and relates plurality to her partner, the line. It therefore should not be expanded into an unqualified philosophical assertion about all individual human souls. השגתה, “her apprehension,” is legible in Main_42_L and differs from the Oxford portal’s השגגה. The uncertain citation at 43–44 is left unresolved. The final sentence continues at 82b:1, “things, for there is nothing new under the sun.” The marginalia have not been fully transcribed and may eventually help with the citation. Witness, interpretive, and continuation note. ↩