Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 33:21/אבן עזרא על דברים ל״ג:כ״א
אוירא ראשית לו. הטעם שראה לנפשו ויבקש לו נחלה קודם לישראל:
1AND HE CHOSE A FIRST PART FOR HIMSELF.146) for himself. According to I.E. he saw is short for he sought an inheritance. First means before the other Israelites, and himself means he sought it for himself. Hence I.E.’s interpretation. This means he looked out for himself and sought an inheritance before the other Israelites.147
בכי שם חלקת. כמו חלק:
2FOR THERE A PORTION OF A RULER WAS RESERVED. The word chelkat (portion of) means a portion.
גומחוקק הוא הגדול והשליט כמו לבי לחוקקי ישראל:
3[A RULER.] Mechokek (ruler) refers to someone who is great and a ruler. Compare, My heart is toward the governors (le-chokeke) of Israel (Jud. 5:9).
דוספון כמו וספון בארז (בתוכם ספונים) [צ״ל בבתיכ' ספוני'] שטעמו שהם ספונים וכן קירות הספון והטעם כי ראה ארמונים ספונים שהיו חלק גדולי האמורי:
4[RESERVED.] The word safun (reserved) is similar to safun (ceiled) in and it is ceiled148 with cedar (Jer. 22:14); and sefunim (ceiled) in be-vattekhem sefunim (Haggai 1:4), which means your houses which are ceiled. The import of ki sham chelkak mechokek safun (for there a portion of a ruler was preserved)149 is that Gad saw the paneled palaces that were the portion of the nobles of the Amorites.
הויתא. חסר אל״ף והטעם שבאו ראשי גד עם ישראל חלוצי צבא ומשה ראה זה בנבואה:
5CAME. Va-yeta (came)150. is missing an alef.151, for its root is alef, tav, alef. The meaning of our clause is that the heads of Gad came armed with the children of Israel.152 Moses prophetically saw this.
וצדקת ה' עשה. שמלא בידו את אשר דבר בפיו שנדרו בני גד שיצאו עם ישראל להלחם עם אויביהם ולא הזכיר ראובן ויתכן כי זה בעבור שהיו בני גד גבורים יותר מבני ראובן והנה דברי הימים לעד שאמר על בני גד ופני אריה פניהם ולא תמצא כן בבני ראובן:
6HE EXECUTED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LORD. Gad fulfilled with his hands153 that which he spoke with his mouth, for the children of Gad vowed that they would go out with Israel to wage battle against their enemies.154 Moses did not mention Reuben.155 It is possible that he omitted Reuben because the tribe of Gad were greater warriors than the tribe of Reuben. The words of Chronicles, which states regarding the tribe of Gad, whose faces were like the faces of lions (I Chron. 12:9), is proof of this. We do not find this stated regarding the tribe of Reuben.