Numbers 11:17

I will descend. This is one of the ten descents inscribed in the Torah.

And I will speak with you. But not with them.

I will make greater. As Targum [Onkelos] renders, וַאֲרַבֵּי, ”I will make greater,” like, “But to the great men of Bnei Yisroel.”

And place it on them. To what was Moshe compared at that time? To a lamp set in a candelabra. Everyone lights from it, but none of its own brightness is diminished.

They will bear, along with you. Stipulate with them, on condition that they accept upon themselves the toil of my children, as they are troublesome and recalcitrant.

So that you need not bear it alone. Here is the reply to your statement, “I am unable, alone . . .”

And I will be revealed in the glory of My Shekinah, and will speak with thee there, and will amplify the spirit of prophecy that is upon thee, and bestow it upon them; and they shall sustain with thee the burden of the people, that thou mayest not bear it alone.

AND I WILL COME DOWN AND SPEAK WITH THEE THERE, ‘V’ATZALTI’ (AND I WILL TAKE) OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS UPON THEE, AND WILL PUT IT UPON THEM. The intention of the verse is to say that the transmission [of the spirit resting on Moses to the seventy elders] will take place at the time when G-d will speak to Moses; and it will be from that [Divine communication that the prophetic power will be transmitted to them], as is stated at the actual occurrance [of the events], And the Eternal came down in the cloud, and spoke unto him, [and took of the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders]. Now Scripture did not explain here what this communication was about, as is [usually] written in the whole Torah, where after [stating that G-d spoke to Moses] it explains what the Eternal said and what He spoke. [The reason for this is] that what happened here was that the elders, of whom Scripture states that they prophesied, did not hear any communication from the mouth of G-d, nor did He appear to them in a vision or in a dream, but G-d spoke to Moses, and from the atziluth [as is explained further on] of the spirit upon Moses, they understood that Divine communication. This is the sense of the expression, and they prophesied, but they did so no more, meaning that they did not continue receiving Divine communication on their own, for it was only the communication that G-d said to Moses in which they shared. This is also the meaning of v’atzalti [of the root eitzel — “near”], that “I will hold back with Me of the spirit which I put upon you, and I will put it upon them.” This is not the same idea as in the verse, and thou [Moses] shalt put of thy honor upon him [Joshua],, 27:20. for the term atziluth always means “holding something back,” as in the expressions: And whatsoever mine eyes desired ‘lo atzalti’ (I did not keep) from them; ‘Halo atzalta’ (Hast thou not reserved) a blessing for me? Similarly, [Now the upper chambers were shorter, for the galleries took away from these, more than from the lower and the middlemost, in the building. For they were in three stories, and they had not pillars as the pillars of the courts;] therefore ‘ne’etzal’ (room was taken away) from the lowest and the middlemost, in comparison with the ground, meaning that more [room] was left by them [i.e., the upper chambers] …

ונשאו אתך, seeing that they have now also attained the level of prophecy they are able to assist you in assuring the people get justice under your guidance because they see that the elders are with you and approve of what you are doing.

וירדתי, “and I (the Lord) will descend, etc.” from this we learn that this day was as important for G–d as the day when He gave the Jewish people the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. We know this as it is the only day that has also been described as G–d descending. Compare Exodus 19,11, where the Lord has been described as descending to Mount Sinai on the third day of the people preparing for that event. (Bamidbar Rabbah 15,25)

ואצלתי מן הרוח אשר עליך, “I will draw on the spirit that is on you, etc.;” what transpired now could be compared to a King who owned a beautiful orchard and had hired an expert to look after it all by himself. After a while this expert said to the owner that he could no longer fulfill this task all by himself, but that he wanted other guardians to share the burden with him The owner agreed with the condition that this expert would share the wages that had been paid to him thus far with his helpers as the King was not prepared to budget for additional expense for this orchard. G–d made it clear that he had equipped Moses with sufficient Holy Spirit for the task at hand, but that if he were prepared to distribute this mount of Holy Spirit also among the elders this was acceptable to Him. G–d had resented Moses’ implication that he had not been equipped with the tools necessary to lead this people successfully without additional helpers. Proof that this had been G–d’s attitude can be found by the fact that 40 years later when Moses appointed a successor, Joshua, G–d told him to appoint only one single successor, not a team of leaders. (Numbers 27,18) When Moses transferred his authority to Joshua after forty years to Joshua, as described in Numbers 27,18, this did not result in Moses “losing” any of the Holy Spirit residing within him. According to Bamidbar Rabbah,15,25, we must simply understand this as if a candle imparted its light to another candle, without thereby becoming even one iota less capable of giving of its light to its surroundings.