Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 2:2/אבן עזרא על שמות ב׳:ב׳
אותהר. אין ספק כמו שהזכרנו כי אהרן גדול בשנים ממשה וככה קבלו אבותינו שפועה היתה מרים וכתיב "ותתצב אחותו מרחוק" (למטה פ' ד) והנה ידענו כי תחלת קץ ד' מאות שנה היו מיום שנולד יצחק, כי הוא לבדו יקרא זרע, והנה בן ששים שנה הוליד את יעקב (ברא' כה כו), ויעקב הוליד את ראובן בן שמונים וחמש, והיה ברדתו אל מצרים בן מאה ושלשים שנה (שם מז ט), חברנו עליהם ששים של יצחק עלו ק"צ והנה נשארו ר"י, נוציא מהם ע' שנה שחיה יוסף אחרי כן והנה נשארו ק"מ, ושנות לוי ברדתו אל מצרים מ"ג והנה חיה כ"ב שנה אחרי יוסף והנה נשארו קי"ח כי כתוב הוא, וימת יוסף בן מאה ועשר שנים (שם נ כו) ומתי מלך המלך החדש, וכמה שנים בנו ערי מסכנות, והנה קרוב מלדת משה נגזר על הזכרים, ובן זוטא אמר כל המספר דבר מעשה לא ישא פנים לנכבד להזכירו תחלה, וכתוב ותלד לעמרם את אהרן ואת משה ואת מרים אחותם (במד' כו נט) והנה היא קטנה, והנה זה המוכה בסנורים שכח שם חם ויפת, וכתיב "ויולד נח" (ברא' ה לב), ויפת הוא הגדול, ועוד "שמה קברו את אברהם ואת שרה אשתו (שם מט לא)", והיא נקברה במערה קודם אברהם ל"ח שנה, ודע כי הנו"ן תמצא חסירה, או מובלעת בדגשות בתחלת המפעל, כנו"ן "גש הלאה" (ברא' יט ט) "ויגש אליו" (שם מד יח), ובאמצע, כמו וגם אף עלה בישראל (תה' עח כא) או ויחר אף (שם קו מ), והנה הנו"ן מובלעת באמצע, על כן נדגש פ"א "ויחר אפו" (ברא' לט יט) ישוב אַפְךָ (ישעי' יב א), וככה נו"ן נתן, במלת תִּתִּי (ברא' כט יט) כי הוא כמו תנתי, כי תי"ו האחרון איננו שרש, רק הוא כמו שבתי (תה' קלט ב) לכתי (מ"א ב ה) לדתי, גם בסוף, תת פחדך (דבר' ב כה), טוב תתי אותה לך (ברא' כט יט), וככה בשמות, כי בת היתה ראויה להיות לשון נקבה כמו מן בֵן בָנָה, והיא תתערב עם "אשר בנה בית" (דבר' כה) והנה החליפו הה"א בתי"ו, כמו גבירה גברת, עטרה עטרת, פעם סמוך ופעם איננו סמוך, כמו עטרת תפארת (משלי ד ט), והנה חסרו הנו"ן להקל על הלשון ויאמרו בת, ומלת רחל בתו (ברא' כט ו), כמלת אמת חסדו ואמתו, והנה התי"ו לשון נקבה, והנה הנו"ן מובלעת, ולשון רבות אמונות ולא אמתות ולא אמיתיות כמו בנות, ולא בתות ולא בתים:
1AND THE WOMAN CONCEIVED. There is no doubt that Aaron was older than Moses.8 38. The printed manuscripts read, “There is no doubt that what we noted (kemo she-hizkarnu) is correct. For Aaron was older than Moses.” This sentence is obviously difficult to unravel, for what bearing does the fact that Aaron was older than Moses have upon Amram marrying his aunt? Krinsky and Netter attempt to explain it and in my opinion fail to do so. The reading of the Vatican manuscript appears to be correct, and the words kemo she-hizkarnu are most likely a gloss by a scribe who thought that “there is no doubt” refers to what I.E. said earlier namely, that Amram married his aunt. Our sages similarly received a tradition that Puah9 and Miriam are one and the same person.10 11b. It is also written, And his sister stood afar off (v. 4).11Now we know that the four hundred-year period12 which ended in Israel’s redemption started with the day that Isaac was born, for Isaac alone is considered to be Abraham’s seed.13 Now Isaac was sixty years old when he begot Jacob,14 and Jacob was eighty-five years old when he begot Reuben,15 and one hundred and thirty years old when he descended into Egypt.16 If we add the sixty years of Isaac to the one hundred and thirty of Jacob we come up with a hundred and ninety years. We are thus left with two hundred and ten years.17 We then subtract the seventy years that Joseph lived afterwards18 and we are left with one hundred and forty years. Now Levi was forty-three years old when he came down to Egypt19 and he outlived Joseph by twenty-two years.20 Thus one hundred and eighteen years are left. For the verse states, So Joseph died, being a hundred and ten years old (Gen. 50:26).21 Now when did the new king reign? For how many years did the Israelites build the store-cities? Behold close to the birth of Moses it was decreed that all male children be put to death.22Ben Zuta23 says whoever relates a story will not out of respect mention the most honored first.24 Therefore when Scripture states, and she (Jochebed) bore unto Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister (Num. 26:59), it indicates that Miriam was the youngest.25 Now the “blind one” (Ben Zuta) forgot Shem, Ham, and Japheth, concerning whom it is written, and Noah begot Shem, Ham and Japheth (Gen. 5:32). Now Japheth was the eldest of the three.26 Furthermore, Scripture states, There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife (Gen. 49:31) even though Sarah was buried in the cave of Machpelah thirty-eight years27 before Abraham was interred there. Note that the nun is often dropped or is swallowed by a dagesh when it is the first root letter of a verb, as in the case of the nun of gesh28. in gesh holah (stand back) (Gen. 19:9) and va-yiggash (came near)29. The dagesh in the gimel compensates for the missing nun. in Then Judah came near unto him (Gen. 44:18). The nun is also dropped when it serves as the middle letter of a root,30 as in the case of af (anger)31. in And anger also went up against Israel (Ps. 78:21). Observe, the middle nun is swallowed. Therefore the peh of appo (his wrath) in that his wrath was kindled (Gen. 39:19) and the peh of appekah (thine anger) in Thine anger is turned away (Is. 12:1) receive a dagesh. The same is true of the nun of the root nun, tav, nun in the word titti (that I give) (Gen. 29:19), for titti is like tinti32. If the final nun was not dropped, titti would have been written tinti. because its final tav33 comes from the root nun, tav, nun. It does not come from a root ending in a tav, for its last tav is a first person suffix. is not a root letter. It is rather like the tavs of shivti (my downsitting) (Ps. 139:2), lekhti (when I went) (I Kings 2:8), and lidti (I delivered) (I Kings 3:18).34 is a first person suffix. It is also so at the end of the word,35 of the root nun, tav, nun at times drop out but its final nun is also omitted at times. as in tet (to put) in to put the dread of thee (Deut. 2:25) and in titti (that I give) in that I give her to thee (Gen. 29:19). The same is true of nouns. The word for daughter (bat) should have been banah since the feminine of ben (son) is banah. However, in this case it would have been confused with the verb banah (hath built), as in that hath built (banah) a new house (Deut. 20:5). A tav was therefore substituted for the heh.36, not banah. I.E. will soon explain why the nun was dropped from banat, the Hebrew word for daughter being bat. It is similar to givirah (lady) and geveret (lady) as well as to atarah (crown) and ateret (crown) in which we find both the construct and the absolute forms used in the absolute.37 is usually in the absolute. However, its form is that of a word in the construct. We find the same thing with the word geveret. Givirah is in the absolute; geveret is in the construct. Nevertheless, the construct form is used in the absolute. Similarly atarah and ateret. So too, bat means both daughter and daughter of. Compare, ateret (crown of) in A crown of glory (Prov. 4:7). It should be noted that the nun was also dropped for the sake of easing the pronunciation of the word.38 of banah changed to a tav, but its nun was dropped. Thus banah became bat. Hence the word is enunciated bat (daughter). The word bitto (his daughter) in Rachel his daughter (Gen. 29:6) is similar to the word amitto (his truth) which is the word emet (truth) with the third person pronominal suffix.39 comes from the root bet, nun, heh. Emet comes from the root alef, mem, nun. In the words emet and amitto the nun is missing. Hence bitto is like amitto. Compare, chasdo va-amitto (His mercy and His truth) (Gen. 24:27). Thus the tav is the sign of the feminine and the nun is swallowed up.40 of bat takes the place of the heh of banah. Additionally, the nun is dropped, hence the word bat. The plural of truth is emunot, and not amitot or amitiyot.41 is alef, mem, nun. Similarly, the plural of daughters is banot, not batot or battim.42. The plural of banah is banot, whereas the plural of bat is batot or battim. I.E.’s intention here was to explain the form bat in verse 1.
בותהר. לא הזכיר הכתוב לידת מרים ואהרן, כי לא התחדש דבר בלדתם, ומלת טוב כאשר תמצא באיש מלא דעת יתכן היותו בנשמה כמו "טוב עם ד'" וטוב עם אנשים או טוב עין (משלי כב ט) או בגוף או בצורה טוב תואר או מראה בעבור שמצאנו בילד כי טוב הוא, אין לפרשו, כי אם בצורתו טוב מכל הילודים:
2AND THE WOMAN CONCEIVED. Scripture does not mention the birth of Miriam and Aaron because there was nothing special about their birth.43When the word tov (good)44) child,” hence I.E.’s comment. is used with reference to a mature man it probably refers to the soul, as in “good with the Lord and good with man.”45 (tov) both with the Lord and also with men. Or it may refer to the eye, as in a bountiful (tov) eye (Prov. 22:9).46 It may also refer to the body or its form, as in “of good form,47 and good to look upon.”48 However, because we find it used with regard to a child, viz., that he was a goodly (tov) child, we can only explain it as referring to the child’s form, that he was better than all who are born.49
גשלשה ירחים. י"א כי בחודש השביעי מתחלת ההריון נולד גם זה דרש כי לא יוכלו המצרים לדעת מתי הרתה האשה, ולפי דעתי כי הכתוב ספר החדשים שיכלה להצפינו, כי אין כח באדם לראות באשה מתי תלד, כי רחוק הוא שהוא נולד בחודש השביעי מתחלת ההריון כי הנולדים ככה הם קצרי קומה ויותר חיים ונכבדים הם הנולדים באחד עשר, כי רובי הנולדים הם סמוכים לתשעה חדשים, והיודע עת ההריון יכול לדעת עת הלידה, והיודע עת הלידה יכול לדעת עת ההריון, כי דבר מנוסה הוא לקדמונים, וחמשה פעמים נסיתיו גם אני, כי מקום מזל הלבנה ומעלתה ברגע ההריון, היא מעלת מזל הצומח ברגע הלידה גם מעלה הצומחת רגע ההריון, שם תהיה הלבנה רגע המולד והנה המעמד הקוצב הם רנ"ט ימים ושליש יום והאמצעי רע"ג והגדול שהוא הארוך רפ"ז, וחכמי המולדות יודו כן, ואין טענה מהשבטים, כי להיותם על הסדר איננה ראיה, כי הרבה כאלה בתורה, על כן יתכן שרחל נתנה שפחתה ליעקב בלדת שמעון, גם נולד יששכר קודם אשר, ודינה בבטן אחת נולדה עם זבלון, על כן מלת "ואחר ילדה בת" (ברא' ל כא) כמו ואחרי כן יצא אחיו (שם כה), שלא זכר ותהר לכל אחד, גם לתקפות הימים (ש"א א כ) שלש הי':
3THREE MONTHS. Some say that Moses was born in the seventh month following his conception.50 However, this interpretation like so many others is Midrashic,51 for the Egyptians had no way of determining when the woman52 conceived. In my opinion Scripture relates the months that she was able to hide the child53 since it is impossible for anyone to predict when a women will give birth.54 It is also far-fetched to say that Moses was born in the seventh month following conception because those so born are undersized.55 Those born in the eleventh month are healthier and live longer, as most children are born close to the ninth month.56 One who knows the time of conception is able to ascertain the time of birth, and one who knows the time of birth can ascertain the time of conception. This was established by the ancients. I myself have tried it five times.57 For the degree and place of the moon and its constellation at the moment of conception is also the degree of the constellation that flowers at the moment of begetting The degree which flowers at the moment of impregnation will also be the degree at which the moon will be found at the time of birth.58 Now the time set aside59, (the time set aside). However, since I.E. gives three time periods, what he must mean is the minimum time. Filwarg suggests reading ha-katan (the minimum) in place of ha-kotzev. for carrying a child is two hundred and fifty nine and a third days.60 The median time for pregnancy is two hundred and seventy-three days.61 The maximum time for being with child is two hundred and eighty-seven days.62 Those learned in astrology will admit this.63 rather than yodu. The birth of the tribes64 does not refute this,65 because the order of their listing is no proof that they were born prematurely.66 We find many such instances in the Torah.67 It is therefore possible that Rachel gave her handmaid to Jacob when Simeon was born, that Issachar was born before Asher,68 and that Dinah was Zebulun’s twin.69 (Gen. 30:21). Prima facie, it appears that Dinah was born some time after the birth of Zebulun. I.E. argues that this is not so. He suggests that afterwards means a few moments later, as it does in Gen. 30:21. Hence the phrase and afterwards in and afterwards she bore a daughter (Gen. 30:21) is similar to And after that came forth his brother (Gen. 25:26). For and she conceived is not mentioned for each one. Also, And it came to pass, when the seasons were come about (I Sam. 1:20) refers to three seasons.70 (tekufat) of days came to pass, and Hannah conceived and bore a son (I Sam. 20). Mar Zutra explains that tekufot (seasons) refers to six months (a tekufah, a season is three months) and days, to two days. Cf. Rosh Ha-Shanah 11a. I.E. disagrees. According to him, seasons refers to three seasons (nine months). Hence Samuel was not born prematurely.