Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 10/אבן עזרא על בראשית י׳
אכתים. שם והוא בן יון על כן אמרתי בפי' ס' דניאל כי מלכות יון ורומי אחת היא:
1KITTIM. Kittim is the name of one of Javan’s sons.1 I therefore explain in my comments on the Book of Daniel that Greeks and Romans2 constitute one kingdom.3
אנמרוד. אל תבקש טעם לכל השמות, אם לא נכתב
1NIMROD. Do not attempt to ascertain the meaning of any names encountered in the Bible if Scripture itself does not explain them.4 (to rebel). They tell us that Nimrod was so called because he caused people to rebel against God. See Erubin 53a.
בוהוא החל להראות גבורות בני אדם על החיות, כי היה גבור ציד,
2Nimrod was the first to display man’s power over the wild beasts for he was a mighty hunter.
אוטעם לפני ד' שהיה בונה מזבחות ומעלה אותם החיות עולה לשם וזו דרך הפשט, והדרש דרך אחרת:
1The meaning of before the Lord (v. 9) is that Nimrod built altars and offered the animals he hunted as whole offerings to God. This is the literal meaning of the verse. However, its Midrashic interpretation is totally different.5
בעל כן יאמר. משל היה גם בימי משה:
2WHEREFORE IT IS SAID. This proverb was also used in the days of Moses.6, that is, we say today, today being the age in which the Torah was written.
אוטעם מן הארץ ההיא יצא אשור. הוא בן יפת, וזה היה אחר הפלגה, והמלך אשר מלך על בבל בתחלה היה נמרוד, ובעל סדר עולם פירש, כי בימיו נפלגה הארץ שהוא היה מלך על השבעים:
1[OUT OF THAT LAND WENT FORTH ASSHUR.] Asshur was the son of Japheth.7 The events related in this verse took place after the dispersion following the building of the Tower of Babel. Nimrod was the first king over Babel.8 According to Seder Olam, Nimrod was king over the seventy who built the tower, and it was in his time that the dispersion took place.9. Krinsky points out that there are many citations quoted in the early sources from this work that are missing in our edition of the Seder Olam. From the fact that Nimrod was king during the time of the dispersion we see that what Asshur did happened later.
אהיא העיר הגדולה. הקרוב אלי שהוא דבק עם "ויבן את ננוה" ולהיותו דבק עם רסן או עם כלח איננו רחוק:
1THE SAME IS THE GREAT CITY. It appears to me that this is connected to and builded Nineveh. However, it is also possible that it is connected to Resen or Calah.10 may be taken to refer to any one of them.
אומצרים ילד את לודים. על דעתי שאלה שמות מדינות בכל מדינה משפחה על כן הם כולם לשון רבים גם פתרוסים לעד והראיה הגמורה אשר יצאו משם ושם רמז למקום
1AND MIZRAIM BEGOT LUDIM. In my opinion, these are the names of countries, each of which was populated by a particular family. This is why all the names (in verses 13 and 14) are in the plural. Proof of this is the name Pathrusim.11 Additional and definite proof that this interpretation is correct is the phrase whence went forth (v. 14), for the word whence12 indicates a place. alludes to a place.
אגם כפתורים ילדם מצרים ובעבור שהבן מאון האב ומכחו בצלמו בדמותו יאמר לו ילד:
1[AND CAPHTORIM.] Mizraim also begat the Caphtorim.13 is not to be connected to whence went forth the Philistines, but to And Mizraim begot. The term begat is used in Scripture when referring to the father because the child comes from the strength and power of the father14 (begot) actually means to give birth and it is used when referring to the father (yalad) as well as the mother (yaledah) for the reason noted by I.E. (Netter). and is in his likeness and image.
אבאכה גררה. אל גרר:
1AS THOU GOEST TOWARD GERAR. The word gerarah means to Gerar.15 at the end of the name of a place is in place of an el (to) before it. Hence gerarah means el Gerar, to Gerar (Krinsky).
אאלה בני חם ללשונותם. וכן אמר על בני יפת ועל בני שם:
1THESE ARE THE SONS OF HAM, AFTER THEIR FAMILIES, AFTER THEIR TONGUES. Scripture says the same concerning the children of Japheth16 and the children of Shem.17
אוטעם אבי כל בני עבר. להודיע אבי העברים כי אין למעלה ממנו והשם אלהיו, וכן כתב "כה אמר ד' אלהי העברים" (שמות יו"ד, ג) וכנען אבי הם שאין למטה ממנו, ואין ראוי להתערב קדש בחול,
1[THE FATHER OF ALL THE CHILDREN OF EBER.] Scripture informs us that Shem was the father of the Hebrews for no one was greater than he, and the Lord was his God. Similarly it is written, Thus saith the Lord, the God of the Hebrews (ivrim) (Ex. 10:3).18) with the Hebrews (ivrim). On the other hand, the Bible tells us that Ham was the father of Canaan19. 38 reads, u-khena’an aviv cham. The vav of aviv was dropped in transmission. Thus aviv (his father) became avi (father of). for no one was baser that he. It is unfitting for the holy and profane to intermingle.
בוטעם אחי יפת הגדול, שהיה יפת טוב והכתוב הקדים להזכיר שם שהוא קטן קודם יפת שהוא הגדול בעבור כבודו, והעד שאמר הכתוב כי נח היה בן חמש מאות שנה כשהחל להוליד, ואין בזה מקום לטעון כי אין פחות מת"ק שנה ובשנת ת"ר שנה בא המבול ובצאת נח מהמבול היה שם בן מאת שנה ושנה אחת (י"ג בן מאה ואחד שנה) והכתוב אמר (בראשית יא י) שנתים אחר המבול ויש מפרשים כי אחי יפת הגדול ממנו הוא שם, על כן הזכירו הכתוב בתחלה, ואמר כי כאשר נולד שם לא נכנסו משנת ת"ק לנח כי אם ימים מועטים כי יום אחד בשנה חשוב שנה, ונח נולד באייר ושם בסיון וכשבא המבול הי' לנח תקצ"ט שנים וימים והנה אין לשם צ"ט שנה שלימות לשנת המבול ויהיה שם כשנולר ארפכשד בן מאה ושנה וחדשים ופי' שנתים שנכנסה השנה השנית מחשבון ראשית המבול גם יש אומרים כי אחר חמשה חדשים מיום המבול שחסרו המים הרתה אשת שם והנה היה שם בן מאה שנה וכחשבון הזה ימצא בספר מלכים בעשרה מקומות:
2Scripture notes that Shem was the brother of Japheth the elder20. From the text it is not clear whether Japheth or Shem was the elder; the grammatical construction is such that elder may apply to either. I.E. is trying to explain why Scripture tells us that Shem was Japheth’s brother, but does not say the same about Ham. to teach us that Japheth, too, was a worthy person. The Bible lists Shem, who was the youngest, before Japheth,21 who was the elder,22 out of respect to Shem. Proof that Japheth was the elder lies in Scripture’s stating that Noah was five hundred years old when he begat his first son.23 There is no room for argument, for it is clear that Noah had no children prior to reaching the age of five hundred. The flood came when Noah was six hundred years old.24 Therefore if Shem was the eldest he would be one hundred and one years old when Noah and his sons came out of the ark.25 However, Scripture tells us Shem was a hundred years old, and begot Arpachshad two years after the flood (Gen. 11:10).26 Others say that Shem was the elder brother of Japheth,27 to mean the elder brother of Japheth. According to this interpretation Shem is the eldest. and it is for this reason that Shem is mentioned first. They explain that Shem was born a few days after Noah entered his five hundredth year, for even a day in a year is considered a year.28 They say that Noah was born in Iyyar29 and Shem in Sivan.30 When the flood came Noah was five hundred and ninety-nine plus a number of days old.31 Hence Shem was not a full ninety-nine years old when the flood started and was a hundred and one years plus a number of months old when his son Arpachshad was born. The meaning of two years after the flood (Gen. 11:10) therefore is to be interpreted as meaning that Arpachshad was born in the second year following the beginning of the flood. There are also those who maintain that the wife of Shem conceived five months after the start of the flood when the waters started decreasing.32 Shem was thus one hundred years old when Arpachshad was born.33 There are ten similar instances in the Book of Kings.34