Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 17:14/אבן עזרא על בראשית י״ז:י״ד
אוערל זכר אשר לא ימול., פי' ימול יפעול, כמו "ידור נדר" (במדבר ל ג) והוא מן "ונמלתם את בשר ערלתכם" (בראשית יז יא) וטעמו אם היה בר מצוה ולא ימול את בשר ערלתו יש עליו כרת כי מצות הנער הקטן על האב, ואם אביו לא מלהו ימול את עצמו בהיותו ברשותו, וכרת בידי שמים והטועים יחשבו, כי אם מת הנער ולא נמול אין לו חלק לעולם הבא, ואין פי' הנפש כרצונם כי נפש כמו איש וטעמו גוף שיש לו נפש וכן "נפש כי תחטא" (ויקרא ד ב), וי"א כי כרת המת קודם נ"ב שנה וי"א כי כרת שיכרת שמו במות זרעו על כן אמר הכתוב "מעמיה" כי מי שיש לו בנים כאילו הוא חי ושמו לא נכרת:
1AND THE UNCIRCUMCISED MALE WHO IS NOT CIRCUMCISED. Yimmol (is circumcised) is a kal. It is like yiddor (voweth) in When a man voweth (yiddor) a vow (Num. 30:3). It comes from the same root as u-nemaltem (and ye shall be circumcised) in and ye shall be circumcised (u-nemaltem) in the flesh of your foreskin (v. 11).18 and u-nemaltem as nifals. I.E. renders them as kals, as actives whose root is nun, mem, lamed.. Our verse should thus be rendered: And the uncircumcised male who does not circumcise the flesh of his foreskin. The meaning of the verse is, a male who reaches the age when he is obligated to observe the commandments of the Torah and does not circumcise himself is subject to the penalty of karet (being cut off). The verse refers to an adult because while a person is yet a child, the obligation to circumcise him falls upon his father. However, should his father fail to do so, then upon reaching maturity he must circumcise himself. Karet (being cut off) is a penalty inflicted by God. Those who err hold that a child that dies uncircumcised does not have a share in the world to come.19 263:5. It is clear from I.E.’s refutation of the belief that an uncircumcised child does not have a share in the world to come that those who held this view based it on the verse: And the uncircumcised male…that soul (nefesh) shall be cut off from his people (v. 14). They interpreted nefesh as soul and cut off as referring to the world to come (Weiser). However, the meaning of the word nefesh is not as they think, a soul20 as soul., but a person; it means a body containing a soul. Similarly, If anyone (nefesh) shall sin (Lev. 4:2). Some say that karet refers to death before the age of fifty-two. Others say it means the eradication of one’s name via the death of one’s children. Therefore Scripture states, that soul shall be cut off from his people, for a person who leaves children is considered to live on even after his death, and his name is not cut off.