Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 12:7/אבן עזרא על בראשית י״ב:ז׳

אוַיֵרָא ד'. בדרך נבואה והמלה מבניין נפעל והנוח הנעלם בין היו"ד והרי"ש תחת הדגש, הראוי להיות ברי"ש להתבלע נו"ן נפעל:

1AND THE LORD APPEARED. In a prophetic vision. Va-yera (appeared) is a nifal. It is vocalized with a tzere to make up for the dagesh which should have been placed in the resh as compensation for the missing nun of the nifal conjugation.¹⁶ of the nifal is omitted in the imperfect. Hence all imperfect nifal forms have a dagesh in the first letter of the root, i.e., yikkatev, rather than yikhatev. However, the resh of ra’ah (saw), from the root resh, alef, heh, cannot receive a dagesh. Hence it is preceded by a tzere, rather than a chirik. Va-yera is an imperfect changed into a perfect by the vav conversive.

בהנראה אליו. שם התואר מהבנין הנזכר וכמוהו "ואשר היה נעשה" (נחמיה ה יח):

2WHO APPEARED UNTO HIM. Nireh is a participle belonging to the above-mentioned conjugation (nifal). Na’aseh (prepared) in Now that which was prepared (na’aseh) for one day (Neh. 5:18) is similar.