But we still need clarification as to why in the narrative of ‘Matan Torah’ in Parshas Yisro the Possuk only says that Hashem descended in ‘Fire’ without mentioning that it was a consuming fire. Yet in Parshas Mishpotim the Torah talks about a ‘Consuming Fire’?
We also need to clarify, for what reason does our Parsha not explicitly state that it was smoke and it is only from Rashi that we learn that: “It was a kind of smoke” whereas in Parshas Yisro the Torah states: “The entire Mount Sinai was engulfed in smoke”?
The General Concept of Smoke
All of this will be better understood by prefacing an examination of the general concept of smoke: that is produced by something being incinerated.
When fire which is delicate and fine in nature attaches to a combustible substance which is neither as refined nor as delicate as fire, then that coarse substance will produce smoke, and that results from the diminution of the material particles of the item being incinerated.
Therefore, material objects which are less coarse, burn quicker and produce a finer smoke. Whereas by contrast, more coarse materials, even though the fire attaches itself to them too so that ultimately, they are also combustible, the smoke that they produce whilst burning and diminishing is a much ‘thicker’ and coarse smoke, due to the material being burned being much thicker and more coarse material.
So ultimately from the smoke one can perceive how coarse the material that is burning really is, and this is revealed in its expiration.
