Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 15:24/אבן עזרא על שמות ט״ו:כ״ד
אוילנו. מבנין נפעל, כמו וְיִכֹּנו (משלי טז ג) מן נכונו (שם יט כט) מהפעלים השניים או מעלומי העין, ואילו היה מבעלי הנו"ן היה על משקל וַיִגָשׁו:
1AND THE PEOPLE MURMURED. Va-yillonu (murmured) is a nifal. It is similar to ve-yikkonu (shall be established)174 and is similarly vocalized. in And thy thoughts shall be established (Prov. 16:3), which comes from the same root as nakhonu (prepared) (Prov. 19:29).175 Similarly, the root of va-yillonu is lamed, vav, nun. It comes from a double root176 However, the vav is usually dropped in the conjugation. Hence it appears to have only two letters (Weiser, Krinsky). or from a root in which the middle letter is missing.177 If it came from a root which begins with a nun178 I.E. makes this point because there is a dagesh in the lamed. Now one might argue that the dagesh in the lamed is not the dagesh of the nifal conjugation but rather a dagesh that compensates for a missing nun, as in va-yippelu from the root nun, peh, lamed. it would have followed the paradigm of va-yiggashu (came near) (Gen. 45:4).179 However, it is not. Hence it has to be taken as an ayin vav in the nifal.