Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 8:27/אבן עזרא על שמות ח׳:כ״ז
אויעש. מלת וַיָסַר זרה בדקדוק, כי הפעלים השניים לעולם האות הראשון קמוץ, כמו וַיָשִׁב וַיָקָם ואם היה האות האחרון ח' או ע' או ר' שלא ידגשו יהיה האות הראשון בפתח גדול כמו ויַנַח ביום השביעי (למטה כ יא) וַיָנַע לבבו (ישעי' ז ב) וַיָסַר אליה (שופ' ד) ואלה מהבנין הקל, כי מהבנין הכבד יהיה האות הראשון בפתח קטן אם לא היה האות האחרון אחת מהאותיות הנזכרות כמו וַיָשֶׁב את כל הרכוש (ברא' יד טז), והנה בא וַיָסַר תחת וַיָסֶר, כמו וַיָסַר את אופן מרכבותיו (למטה יד כה), ונכון הוא להיות ויסר הערוב מהבנין הקל כמו, וסר הערוב (פ' כה):
1AND THE LORD DID. The word va-yasar (and he removed) is grammatically irregular. Roots having a vav as their middle letter60 is samekh, vav, resh. are vocalized with a kamatz beneath their first stem letter, i.e., va-yashav (and he returned)61 is shin, vav, bet. and va-yakam (and he got up).62 is kof, vav, mem. However, in cases where the last letter of the root cannot receive a dagesh, i.e., if it is a chet, ayin, or resh, then the first root letter is vocalized with a pattach,63. as in va-yanach (and rested)64. in and rested on the seventh day (Ex. 20:11); va-yana (was moved)65. in and his heart was moved (Is. 7:2); va-yasar (and he turned) in And he turned in unto her (Jud. 4:18). All of the aforementioned applies to words in the kal, because in the hifil roots having a vav as their middle letter are vocalized with a segol beneath their first stem letters in cases where their roots do not end in the letters mentioned above.66, or resh. An example of the aforementioned is va-yashev (and he brought back) in And he brought back all the goods (Gen. 14:16). Now and he removed is written va-yasar rather than va-yaser.67. It is so written because its final root letter is a resh. Thus the hifil and the kal of this root are spelled in the same way, hence the grammatical irregularity of this root. It is like va-yasar (and he took off) in And he took off their chariot wheels (Ex. 14:25). However, it appears that va-yasar is a kal and that va-yasar he-arov (and He removed the swarms of flies) means: and the swarms of flies departed.68 to be a hifil its meaning is, and he removed. If we interpret it as a kal its meaning is, and he (it) departed.