Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 21:4/אבן עזרא על דברים כ״א:ד׳
אאיתן. תקיף:
1ROUGH. The word etan (rough) means mighty.
בוערפו שם. יסירו עורף העגלה:
2AND SHALL BREAK…THE NECK. Ve-arefu (and they shall break) means they shall remove the back of the neck of the heifer.6 means back of the neck. Ve-arefu literally means they shall neck it. Hence I.E.’s interpretation.