Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 1:20/אבן עזרא על בראשית א׳:כ׳
אויאמר יִשְרְצו פועל יוצא וכמוהו "ושרץ היאור צפרדעים" (שמות ז כח) וטעם ישרצו תולדות עם הגבהה, והכתוב כי העוף יעופף על פני הרקיע לעֵד על פירוש רקיע, ואמר הגאון כי על פני הוא עם פני, א"כ פני השמים למטה הם, ופ"א יעופף כנו"ן "עד יכונן" (ישעי' סב ז'):
1AND GOD SAID. Yishritzu (let it swarm) is a transitive verb, as is sharatz (swarm) in And the river shall bring forth swarms of frogs (ve-sharatz) (Ex. 7:28).125 The meaning of Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures and let fowl fly above the earth is that the waters shall produce living beings that will immediately fly.126 The verse And let fowl fly…in the open firmament of heaven proves my interpretation of the firmament.127 cannot be the domain of the spheres (Cherez). Saadiah Gaon128 explains al pene (in the open) to mean with the face of. Hence, according to the Gaon, the heavens face down.129 The feh of ye’ofef (let fly) is doubled like the nun in yekhonen (till He establish) (Is. 62:7).130 has its final letter doubled in the pi’el. The root of ye’offe f is ayin, vav, peh. The root of yekhonen is caf, vav, nun.