(ב) בלבת אש: לַבּה במקום לֶהָבָה, ומזה במשנה בא אחר וְלִבָּה, המלבה חייב (ב"ק פרק ו') (רבנו סעדיה מהרש"ד וראז').
(2) "In the heart of the fire": libah instead of lehava, and thus in the Mishna [Bava Qama 6:4]. From the bush [sneh]: from the thorn bushes that were on that mountain, and thence it was called Sinai (cf. ibn Ezra). Now the bush was on fire, but it was not really burning, but was surrounded by flames like a burning object, since the fire was flashing between the thorns, but did not take to them, and thus at first Moses saw the fire amid the bush, and the bush flashing with fire, and then he saw that it was not burnt, and he said: 'Let me turn aside to see' why this bush is not burning. The root b.'.r. in Qal is an active verb, and its meaning is the flames of fire and also the burning of the object which is on fire, since it is customary in the world that there is no separation between the flames and the burning, but here the bush was on fire, but was not burnt.
(ג) מדוע לא יבער הסנה. פי' מדוע אינו מתבער מן העולם מלשון בערתי הקדש מן הבית ומפי מורי ז"ל שמעתי בתמיה כלומ' מדוע איננו אוכל וכי לא יבער הסנה בתמיה:
(3) מדוע לא יבער הסנה, “why the bush refused to burn up and turn into ash.” The root בער used here for burning up is used to describe the process of something being utterly destroyed, leaving no trace of having existed. Compare the confession of the farmer in Deuteronomy 26,13: בערתי הקודש מן הבית, “I have utterly destroyed anything sacred from the house;” my teacher preferred to interpret Moses’ words as being phrased as a question: “seeing that the fire has not consumed the bush, why is this so?”
We chose these commentators because they relate to our essential question: “Why did G-d choose to reveal Himself in a bush and why did He not let the bush burn?” Shadal and Da’at Zekenim are both great commentators on the Burning Bush for the first few verses. Shadal explains why the bush did not burn, and how G-d prevented the burning of the bush. Da’at Zekenim also explains the second part of our question, why did the bush not burn?
The major question we want to highlight is why did the bush did not burn, and how that happened. Shadal and Da’at Zekenim both have similar opinions on why the bush did not burn, but Shadal gives some more background about the whole story of the burning bush.
The order of our commentaries are based on which verses Shadal and Da'at Zekenim comment on. First, Shadal gives us some background information on what happened when Moses saw the burning bush. He did not really know what to do, so he looked away and waited a little until he took up the courage to look at the bush and notice it is not burning. Then, Da’at Zekenim gives a really solid explanation on why the bush did not burn. The bush did not burn, and there was no trace of the bush burning, no ashes, no nothing.
Our overall question on the Burning Bush, Exodus, 3, 1-10 is “Why did G-d choose to reveal Himself in a bush and why did He not let the bush burn?” We are able to introduce this using 2 different commentaries by Shadal, Da'at Zekenim. Both commentaries explain the reason behind the essential question. The first commentary Shadal explains why the bush is on fire. Shadal explains the bush was on the mountain (Sinai). Even though the bush appeared it was on fire it was not. The bush was surrounded by flames. The fire was flashing between the thorns. As a result, when Moshe first saw the bush it looks like it was on fire. However, after he saw the bush was not burnt. However, there was no separation between the flames and the burning. So, the bush was on fire but not burnt.
The second commentary that elaborates on the essential question “Why did G-d choose to reveal Himself in a bush and why did He not let the bush burn?” is Da’at Zekenim on Exodus 3:3:1. He says that the bush refused to burn. Burning up is reflected as the process of something being destroyed, leaving no place for existence. However, when Moshe sees the bush it is not being consumed in the fire therefore the bush refused to be destroyed.