Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 16/אבן עזרא על בראשית ט״ז

אאולי אבנה. מגזרת בן, ועוד יתכן שהבן הוא כדמות בניין, והאב כמו היסוד. ובן חסר ה"א וכן כל חי תאר, או פעל עבר:

1IT MAY BE THAT I SHALL BE BUILDED UP. Ibbaneh (I shall be builded up) comes from the same root as ben (son).¹ (I shall be builded up) means I shall have a son. It is possible that the word for son (ben) comes from the root bet, nun, heh (to build), with the heh dropped because, metaphorically speaking, the father serves as the foundation and the son as the building.² is obviously bet, nun, heh. Chai (life) in the third person perfect and in the adjectival form is similar.³.

בוישמע אברם. אמר לה כן:

2AND ABRAM HEARKENED. Abraham said yes to her.

אמקץ עשר שנים. העתיקו קדמונינו ז"ל שלא ישהא אדם עם אשתו יותר מעשר שנים אם לא תלד וזה הפסוק הוא כדמות אסמכתא וטוב הוא:

1AFTER ABRAM HAD DWELT TEN YEARS IN THE LAND OF CANAAN. Our sages, of blessed memory, transmitted a law that a man shall not remain married more that ten years to a woman who has not borne him a child. They used this verse as sort of a support for this law. It is a good support.

אותקל. הנה הנעלם אשר בין האות המשרת ואות השרש תחת הדגש הנתון להתבלע אות הכפל והוא מבנין נפעל:

1WAS DESPISED. The tzere⁴ in the nifal. I.E. literally reads, the missing yod between the prefix and the root letter. He is referring to the tzere which has a yod sound. in va-tekal (was despised) is in place of the dagesh which should be placed in the kof to make up for one of the missing root letters.⁵. The root of va-tekal (was despised) being kof, lamed, lamed. This comment is difficult. The tav of va-tekal is in reality vocalized with a tzere to make up for the dagesh that should have been placed in the kof to make up for the missing nun of the nifal form. Filwarg amends I.E. to read so. Va-tekal is a nifal.

אוַיִמְצָאָה. מלה זרה כי המשפט כמו וַיִשְׁנָאֶהָ (דברים כב, טז):

1FOUND HER. Va-yimtza’ah (found her) is irregular.⁶. It should have been vocalized like va-yisna’eha (and he hateth her) (Deut. 22:16).

אאי מזה. כמו איה וכן אי הבל (בראשית ד ט) וטעם מזה מקום כאלו אמר אי מזה מקום באת:

1WHENCE. Ay (whence) means where. Ay (where) in Where is (ay) Abel thy brother (Gen. 4:9) is similar. Mi-zeh (from this)⁷ as whence. It literally reads, where (ay) from this (mi-zeh), hence I.E.’s comments. is short for mi-zeh makom (from this place).⁸ The meaning of ai mi-zeh vat is: where is the place thou camest from?

בבורחת. נפתח הרי"ש בעבור אות הגרון שהוא אחריו וכן "בורַחַת כל העיר" (ירמי' ד' כט), "והיא כפורַחַת" (בראשית מ י) "ברַחַת ובמזרה" (ישעי' ל כד) וכן "יודַעַת איש" (במדבר לא יז) בעבור אותיות הגרון שדם אחה"ע וכן משפט הלשון אין זר אתנו:

2I FLEE. The resh of borachat (I flee) is vocalized with a pattach because it is followed by a guttural.⁹. Compare, shomeret, kotevet. These are similar: borachat (fleeth) in The whole city fleeth (borachat) (Jer. 4:29); porachat (budding) in and as it was budding (khe-forachat) (Gen. 40:10); rachat (shovel) in with the shovel (va-rachat) and with the fan (Is. 30:24); and yoda’at (known) in that hath known man (yoda’at ish) (Num. 31:17). The reason the middle letter of the root of the above words is vocalized with a pattach is that it precedes gutturals. They are: alef, chet, heh, ayin. This is the rule. There is no exception.

אהנך. לנקבה, כי הן מלת ענין כמו עם, ומשקלו עמך:

1BEHOLD THOU. Hinnakh (behold thou) is the form used when a female is being addressed, because it is a preposition. It is like the word im (with); it follows the paradigm of immakh (with you).¹⁰. Compare, sifrech (your book) or lekhtekh (your going). Thus I.E. points out that prepositional words such as immakh (with you), lakh (to you) and bakh (in you) are vocalized with a kamatz in place of a tzere.

בישמעאל. בהעלם האל"ף להקל על הלשון:

2ISHMAEL. The alef of Ishmael is not pronounced to simplify enunciation.

אפרא אדם. חפשי בין האדם, כטעם "מי שלח פרא חפשי" (איוב לט ה) והטעם שלא ימשול בו זר ממשפחתו, ויש אומר פרא ואדם כמו שמש ירח עמד זבולה (חבקוק ג יא) בעבור שהוא פרא ידו בכל, ובעבור שהוא אדם ויד כל בו, והנכון בעיני שיהיה בין האדם כפרא שינצח הכל בכחו ואחר כן ויד כל בו וכן מפורש בדניאל, כי הוא החיה הרביעית:

1A WILD ASS OF A MAN. He will be free among men.¹¹, literally, wild ass-man, hence the different interpretations which follow. Compare, Who hath sent out the wild ass free (Job 39:5). The meaning of our clause is that no stranger will rule over him.¹² Others say that we should render perah adam (a wild ass of a man) by a wild ass and a man.¹³ should be placed before adam (man). He will have the qualities of a wild ass and of a man. It is like The sun and moon stand still in their habitation ((Hab. 3:11).¹⁴ has to be prefixed to yare’ach (moon). The verse literally reads: the sun moon stand still in their habitation. The meaning of our verse is: because he will be a wild ass his hand shall be against every man, but because he is a man every man’s hand (shall be) against him. In my opinion its interpretation is: he will be as a wild ass among men;¹⁵ as wild ass among men, but it explains it differently. i.e., he will overcome men. However, ultimately every man’s hand (shall be) against him. This is clearly stated in the book of Daniel, for the fourth beast described therein refers to the kingdom of Ishmael.¹⁶

בועל פני כל אחיו. שהם בני קטורה וכן כתוב על פני כל אחיו נפל (בראשית כה יח) וכן בני מדינים מבני קטורה ונקראו ישמעאלים בתורה ובספר שופטים:

2AND HE SHALL DWELL IN THE FACE OF ALL HIS BRETHREN. The latter being the children of Keturah.¹⁷ It is similarly written, over against all his brethren did he settle (Gen. 25:18). Also, the Midianites are of the children of Keturah. However, they are referred to as Ishmaelites in the Pentateuch¹⁸ and in the Book of Judges.¹⁹

אאל ראי. על משקל רָאָה עָני (איכה ג א) כטעם אל מראה:

1A GOD OF SEEING. Ro’ i (seeing) follows the paradigm of oni (affliction).²⁰ i, like oni, is a noun (Krinsky) and both are vocalized with a chataf kamatz beneath the first letter. Compare, I am the man that hath seen affliction (oni) (Lam. 3:1). The meaning of a God of seeing is a God who appears in visions.

בהגם הלום. כמו עתה והנכון שהוא כמו פה, וכן "הבא עוד הלום איש" (ש"א י כב) והטעם הגם פה ראיתי מלאך השם אחר שראה השם בעניי, כי הוא ראי תמיד:

2HAVE I EVEN HERE. The commentaries translate halom as now.²¹ However, its correct meaning is here. Halom (hither) in Is there yet a man come hither (halom) (I Sam. 10:22) is similar. The meaning ha-gam halom ra’iti achare ro’ i (have I even here seen Him that seeth me) is: have I even here seen an angel of God after God saw my affliction, because God constantly seeth me (ro’i).²²’i) really see my affliction and send an angel to me in the dessert. The clause literally reads: Have I even here seen after He seeth me. I.E. apparently views our verse as abridged or perhaps in her excitement Hagar did not complete her thoughts.

אבאר לחי לאשר יהיה חי לשנה האחרת, כטעם "כה לחי" (ש"א כה ו), כי בבל שנה הי' חוגגים הישמעאלים אל הבאר הזאת, גם היום יקרא באר זמום:

1BEER-LAHAI. Beer lahai means the well of him who will be alive next year.²³ as meaning the well (be’er) that he who is alive next year (la-chai) shall see me there (ro’i). Since the Ishmaelites met yearly at this well, they referred to it by this name. Compare, ko le-chai (so to life next year) (I Sam. 25:6).²⁴ (Netter). The well was so called because the Ishmaelites held annual festivities at this well. It is still in existence and is called the well of zamum.