Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Exodus 4:31/אבן עזרא על שמות ד׳:ל״א

אויאמן. אחר ששמעו כי פקד ד' עמו, כי הגיע הקץ האמור לאברהם:

1AND THE PEOPLE BELIEVED. After they heard that the Lord had remembered his people. The end of the time period that had been told to Abraham had come.¹⁶² (Gen. 15:13).

בענים. מגזרת עינוי:

2THEIR AFFLICTION. Onyam comes from the same root as inuy (affliction).¹⁶³.

גויקדו. מבעלי הכפל כמו קדקד, על משקל "ויתמו ימי בכי אבל משה" (דבר' לד ח) ידמו כאבן (למטה ט טז) והאומרים כי הם מבעלי הנו"ן מי יתן וידמו כאבן, כי יוסיפו שרשים שאינם בלשון הקדש בעבור המשקל, והלא יראו כי "רדו" (ברא' מב ב) על משקל "בנו לכם בתים" (ירמי' כט ה) והם שרשים, כי כל מה שנוכל שלא נעשה שרשים רבים בעבור המשקל הוא הנכון:

3THEN THEY BOWED. Va-yikkedu (then they bowed) comes from a double root.¹⁶⁴. It is like the word kodkod (skull).¹⁶⁵. Va-yikkedu follows the paradigm of va-yittemu (were ended)¹⁶⁶. in so the days of weeping in the mourning of Moses were ended (Deut. 34:8) and yiddemu (they are still)¹⁶⁷. in they are as still as stone (Ex. 16:16). If only those who say that these words¹⁶⁸, and yiddemu. come from roots that begin with a nun¹⁶⁹ is nun, kof, dalet; of yittemu, nun, tav, mem; and of yiddemu, nun, dalet, mem. would be as still as stone. In order to explain the paradigm¹⁷⁰ follow the paradigm of roots that begin with a nun. Compare, yippelu from the root nun, peh, lamed, and yittenu from the root nun, tet, nun. Hence they conclude that the former come from similar roots. See note 168. they add roots that are nonexistent in the holy tongue.¹⁷¹ out of double roots. See note 168. Can they not see that the word redu (get you down)¹⁷². (Gen. 42:2) follows the paradigm of benu (build ye)¹⁷³. in Build ye (lakhem) houses (Jer. 29:5)¹⁷⁴ (ye) is not in Jeremiah. The reference might be Num. 32:24, which reads, Build you (lakhem) cities. In any case, if this is not a scribal error then I.E. quoted from memory and erred. although they are two different¹⁷⁵ 38. In any case, it has to be inserted in order to make sense. roots.¹⁷⁶, and yiddemu must be peh nuns because they follow a peh nun paradigm. The correct thing is to do everything in our power not to multiply roots because of paradigms.