Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 21:7/אבן עזרא על דברים כ״א:ז׳
אה״א שפכה. תחת סימן הרבים כמו שפכה אשורי ועל דרך הדרש שישוב לאחת כי היד לשון נקבה ברוב:
1[SHED.] The heh in shafekhu (shed) indicates the plural.9 is usually used to indicate the third person plural perfect. In our verse a heh is used in place of the vav. It is like the heh in shafekhu ashurai (my steps slipped) (Ps. 73:2).10 is spelled with a heh in place of a vav. However, interpreting it midrashically, the heh refers to each one of the hands, for the word yad (hand) is in most cases feminine.11 is the third person perfect feminine. In this case our verse reads: yadenu shafekhah (our hands it has spilled). According to I.E. a combination of the plural with the singular refers to each one of the plural. See I.E. on Gen. 49:22 (Vol. 1, p. 441).
בועינינו לא ראו. ויתכן שהשם צוה לעשות כן העיר הקרובה כי לולי שעשו עבירה כדומה לה לא נזדמן להם שיהרג אדם קרוב מהם ומחשבות השם עמקו וגבהו לאין קץ אצלנו:
2NEITHER HAVE OUR EYES SEEN IT. It is possible that God commanded the city closest to the slain to perform this12 because if the city had not committed a similar deed, then the murder of a person near their city would not have occurred. God’s thoughts are deep and infinitely beyond our comprehension.13
גוענו ואמרו. כמו וענית ואמרת ושם אפרשנו:
3AND THEY SHALL SPEAK AND SAY. Ve-anu ve-ameru (and they shall speak and say) is similar to ve-anita ve-amarta (and thou shalt speak and say) (Deut. 26:5). I will explain it there.14