Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 10:1/אבן עזרא על שמות י׳:א׳
אזרע איש תם אל הושיעו, וביד עבדו חק הידיעו הנה מצות החדש, היא סוד פרשת בא אל פרעה:
בא אל פרעה. בא אליו זאת הפעם, ואל תשתומם בעבור שחזק לבו עד עתה, כי אני הכבדתי את לבו ואת לב עבדיו, הזכיר לב עבדיו בעבור שירך לבם בבוא מכת הארבה:
בא אל פרעה. בא אליו זאת הפעם, ואל תשתומם בעבור שחזק לבו עד עתה, כי אני הכבדתי את לבו ואת לב עבדיו, הזכיר לב עבדיו בעבור שירך לבם בבוא מכת הארבה:
1GO IN UNTO PHARAOH. Go in unto him this time4 and do not be astonished that he has hardened his heart until now,5 For I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants. God mentioned the heart of his servants because their hearts6 would mellow with the coming of the plague of the locusts.7
בוטעם שהכבדתי את לבו, למען שתי אותותי אלה בקרבו ואין דעת חכמי ספרד שוה, כי י"א כי שיתו, כמו בינו, שימו, והדומה להם, וככה ישית, ישים, יבין, והדומה להם בכל הסימנים, וי"א שהוא מבנין הפעיל, והוא הבנין חסר, בעבור שמצאו, או מי ישום אלם (למעלה ד יא), לשוש עליך לטוב כאשר שש על אבותיך (דבר' ל ט) שהוא מבנין הקל, וי"א ישיש כמו ישוש, ושיתי כמו שומי והכל מבנין הקל:
2[FOR I HAVE HARDENED HIS HEART.] Its meaning is: I have hardened his heart that I might show these My signs in the midst of them. The Spanish scholars differ with regard to the word shiti (I might show).8 Some say that shiti is similar to binu9 (consider) (Deut. 32:7), simu (set)10 (Gen. 43:21), and other such words.11 as their middle root letter. In other words, shiti is a kal from the root shin, yod, tav. The same is the case12 having a yod as their middle root letter. with yashit (he will put), yasim (he will place), yavin (he will understand), and comparable words13 in all of their14 forms. Others hold that shiti is a hifil minus the sign of the form,15 Because it is a hifil the word should read hashiti. because they found the words yasum16 is a kal from the root sin, vav, mem. Now if shiti was a kal it should read yashut (like yasum), rather than yashit, in the third person imperfect form. Hence the form yashit must be a hifil. Similarly, if shiti were a kal it would read shuti. It should be noted that these grammarians assume that the root of shiti is shin, vav, tav (Weiser). (maketh) and la-sus (rejoice)17 is a kal infinitive from the root sin, vav, sin. Here too we see that such roots are vocalized in the kal with a shuruk, not with a chirik as shiti is. Hence shiti cannot be a kal. The point of these grammarians is that when we come across forms such as yasis, yashit and the like, we are dealing with hifils having a vav as a middle root letter. When we come across forms such as yasus, yashut, we are dealing with kals having a vav as a middle root letter. Hence the word shiti must be a hifil (Weiser). in who maketh a man dumb (Ex. 4:11) and for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers (Deut. 30:9), all of which are kals. Others say that yasis is similar to yasus (he will rejoice)18 is not a hifil; it is a kal. The reason it is pronounced yasis and not yasus is that yasis comes from the root sin, yod, sin, and yasus comes from the root yod, vav, sin (Weiser). and shiti to sumi (set).19, and one from the root sin, vav, mem. Compare, som tasim (thou shalt in any wise set) (Deut. 17:15). Som comes from the root sin, vav, mem, and tasim from the root sin, yod, mem. Both som and tasim are kals. It is the same with the words for put/set. One word comes from the root shin, vav, vav, and the other from the root shin, yod, tav. Shiti comes from the latter root, hence its vocalization. They are all kals. In Ex. 12:9 we find: “Behold, I the writer add to the words of this sage as I heard from his mouth.”