Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 32:14/אבן עזרא על דברים ל״ב:י״ד
אחמאת בקר. רוב הבשר:
1CURD OF KINE. An abundance of meat.148 (curd) is not to be taken literally.
בוחלב צאן. לולי הקבלה היה זה הכתוב חוזק לדבר החלב שהזכרתי במקומו או טעם חלב כרים החלב השמן והטוב כמו כל חלב יצהר:
2AND MILK OF SHEEP, WITH FAT OF LAMBS. Were it not for tradition149 then this verse150 would serve to support my opinion regarding the fat151 which I mentioned in its place.152 On the other hand, fat in with fat of lambs means the fleshy and the good.153 Compare, All the best (chelev)154 of the oil (Num. 18:12).155
גבני בשן. שגדל בהר הבשן:
3OF THE BREED OF BASHAN. Who were raised in the mountain of the Bashan.
דחלב כליות חטה. דרך משל כי החלב על הכליות גם גרגיר החטה דומה לאחת הכליו':
4WITH THE KIDNEY-FAT OF WHEAT. This156 is metaphorical,157 for the fat lies on the kidneys.158 The kernel of wheat also159 looks like a kidney.
הודם ענב. היין והנה היא רבת דבש ושמן ובשר ולחם ויין וכל פרי וזהו תנובות שדי וי״א כי דבש דבש תמרים:
5AND OF THE BLOOD OF THE GRAPE. The wine. The Land of Israel thus contains an abundance of honey, oil, meat, bread, wine, and all sorts of fruit. This is the meaning of the fruitage of the field (v. 13). Some say that honey refers to date honey.160
וחמר. כמו יין וכן כרם חמר:
6FOAMING WINE. The word chamer (foaming wine) means wine. Compare, kerem chemed (a vineyard of foaming wine) (Is. 27:2).
זותי״ו תשתה לנכח והטעם כמדבר לחבירו כל כך הוא רב שתשת' חמר בכל עת. וי״א כי ענב לשון נקבה ואיננו כלום כי היה ראוי להיות התי״ו פתח עד שיצא לאחרים וי״א על לשון קהלה כי ישראל לשון זכר ולשון נקב' וזה קרוב מעט:
7[THOU DRANKEST FOAMING WINE.]161. The tav of the word tishteh (thou drinkest) is a second person162 means you will drink. The word tishteh can also mean she will drink. Hence I.E.’s comment. prefix. Our verse, as it were, speaks like a person who tells his friend the land has so much wine that you will drink it at all times. Some say that enav (grape) is in the feminine.163 is in the third person feminine. According to this interpretation our verse reads, the blood of the grape will give you wine to drink. However, what they say is worthless, for the tav164. should have been vocalized with a pattach165, not tishteh. Tishteh means she will drink; tashteh, she will cause you to drink. so that it would be a causative. Some say that tishteh166 to be a third person feminine, meaning she will drink. speaks of the community,167, she (Israel) will drink wine. for the word Israel is sometimes in the masculine and sometimes in the feminine. This interpretation is a bit closer to the correct meaning.