Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 2/אבן עזרא על בראשית ב׳

אויכלו, מהבנין שלא נקרא שם פועלו, ומשקלו ויכסו כל ההרים (בראשית ז, יט) וטעמו נשלמו, והים בכלל הארץ, כי הם כאגודה אחת

1WERE FINISHED. Va-yekhullu is a pu’al. It follows the paradigm of va-yekhussu (were covered) in and all the high mountains…were covered (Gen. 7:19). Its meaning is: were finished. The earth includes the oceans since they form one entity.¹, rather than, And the heaven, the earth and the oceans were finished.

אויכל אלהים ביום השביעי י"א כי הימים נבראים, ובבריאת יום שביעי שלמה המלאכה, וזה הפירוש תפל, וי"א כי יש בי"ת שטעמו קודם, כמו לא תחסום שור בדישו (דב"ר כ"ה ד'), "אך ביום הראשון תשביתו שאור" (שמות י"ב ט"ו) ולמה זאת הצרה וכלוי מעשה איננה מעשה כאילו אמר לא עשה מעשה, וכן פי' ויכל, גם וישבות

1AND ON THE SEVENTH DAY GOD FINISHED. Some say² implies that God created something on the seventh day. The question is what? that the days are created entities, and with the creation of the seventh day God’s work was finished. However, this interpretation is unpalatable. Others say that the bet may indicate before, as in Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out (be-disho) the corn (Deut. 25:4), and in howbeit the first day (ba-yom ha-rishon) ye shall put away leaven out of your houses (Ex. 12:15).³ is to be translated as And by the seventh day God had finished His work which He had made. They similarly translate Deut. 25:4, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox before he treadeth out the corn, and render Ex. 12:15 as howbeit before the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses. However, why go through all this trouble⁴ a novel meaning (before) when in fact “finished” does not imply that any work was done on the Sabbath. when finishing work does not constitute an act. Saying God finished is equivalent to saying God did no work. This is the meaning of God finished and of and He rested.⁵

בוטעם מלאכתו אשר עשה ביום הששי טרם יום השבת

2His work which He had made refers to the work that he had done on Friday prior to the onset of the Sabbath.

גוטעם וישבות ביום השביעי מכל מלאכתו מכל הבריאות שברא:

3And He rested on the seventh day from all His work pertains to all creations that God brought into being.⁶ and part B, all His work. Thus part B complements part A and is not redundant (Krinsky).

אויברך אלהים. פי' ברכה תוספות טובה וביום הזה תתחדש בגופות דמות כח בתולדות ובנשמות כח ההכרה והשכל

1AND GOD BLESSED. A blessing means an increase in well being. On the Sabbath the body is blessed with a renewal of its reproductive strength and the soul with an increase in its intellectual and reasoning capabilities.

בויקדש אותו. שלא נעשתה בו מלאכה כמו חבריו,

2AND HALLOWED IT. No work was done on the Sabbath, in contrast to the other six days.

גופי' אשר ברא אלהים לעשות, השרשים בכל המינים, שנתן בהם כח לעשות דמותם והמפרש לעשות תחת עשה גם עשה תחת ברא, איננו כן לפי דעתי ואמר הגאון שברכת היום וקדושו ישוב על השומרים שיהי' מבורכים קדושים:

3[WHICH GOD IN CREATING HAD MADE.] Its meaning is: God placed in the root of all the species the power to reproduce themselves.⁷ (which God in creating had made) as follows: God created (bara) his creation in such a way that they would do (la’asot), i.e., reproduce themselves in the future. That is why bara is a perfect and la’asot is an infinitive (Cherez). I disagree with the person who explains la’asot (had made) as having the same meaning as made⁸ to mean, which God created and made. They maintain that la’asot, an infinitive, is to be interpreted as asah, a perfect (Filwarg). They also do not differentiate between bara and asah, and interpret “made” in verse 2 as created (Filwarg, Krinsky). For I.E.’s interpretation of bara see Gen. 1:1; for asah see verse 4. and who, furthermore, insists that created and made are synonymous. Saadiah Gaon explains that the blessing and the holiness spoken of in this verse refer to those who observe the Sabbath.⁹ before sanctified. They will be blessed and sanctified.

אאלה תולדות, פי' אלה שהולידו:

1THESE ARE THE GENERATIONS. These are what they gave birth to.¹⁰ as “accounts of.” Cf. Gen. 6:9; 37:1. Here toledot refers to what heaven and earth produced: trees, living creatures, man.

בבהבראם, בהיות הרקיע ונראתה הארץ

2WHEN THEY WERE CREATED. When the firmament came into being and the earth became visible.

גומלת ביום עשות הוא תיקון והעד "וימהר לעשות אותו" (בראשית יח ז), וכן בראתיו ואח"כ יצרתיו ואח"כ עשיתיו:

3[IN THE DAY THAT THE LORD GOD MADE.] Be-yom asot means in the day that God fixed.¹¹ (make) means “to fix in its final form.” When the firmament and the earth received their final form, God commanded them to produce offspring (toledot). Proof of this can be seen in and He hastened to dress it (la-asot oto) (Gen. 18:7), and in Whom I have created which is then followed by I have formed him, and finally by yea, I have made him (asitiv) (Is. 43:7).¹²) and last, of fixing in final form (asitiv).

אוכל שיח,, עץ וכן "בין שיחים ינהקו" (איוב ל, ז), ועל דעתי שהוא עץ פרי בעבור שנמשל האדם אל עץ והנה שיח וניב וסעיף ובד ואמיר וסרעף:

1SHRUB. Si’ach (shrub) means a tree: so, too, in Among the bushes (sichim) they bray (Job 30:7). In my opinion si’ach refers to a fruit-bearing tree, because Scripture compares man to a tree.¹³. Behold, Scripture employs such terms as tree (si’ach),¹⁴. Speech is the fruit of the mouth. Hence the tree to which it is compared, si’ach, must be a fruit-bearing tree (Filwarg). fruit,¹⁵ bough,¹⁶ limb,¹⁷ top of a tree¹⁸ and branch¹⁹ when speaking of man.

אואד, כמו עשן וכמוהו יום אידם (דב"ר לב לה) שהיום הרע יקרא יום ענן וערפל, והטעם כי עלה אד מן הארץ בכח המאורות והשקה האדמה והצמיחה, והגאון אמר כי פירושו ולא אד יעלה מן הארץ:

1A MIST. Ed (mist) means smoke.²⁰ (smoke). That is, a smoke-like substance went up from the earth. Weiser suggests reading anan (cloud) because smoke is out of place here since I.E. speaks of clouds. The day of their calamity (yom edom) is similar (Deut. 32:35). An evil day is called a cloudy day and a day of thick darkness.²¹ means a cloudy day, i.e., a dark day or day of calamity. The meaning of our verse is that via the power of the lights a mist arose from the earth and watered it and caused it to bring forth vegetation. Saadiah Gaon explains as follows: “And no mist yet went up from the earth.”²² found in verse 5 also applies to this verse.

אוייצר, בכח המאורות, וייצר מהפעלים שהפ"א שלהם יו"ד מהבנין הקל, כמו "וייקץ נח" (בראשית ט כד),

1THEN THE LORD GOD FORMED. Via the power of the lights.²³. 38. It has been suggested that a scribe mistakenly copied it from the previous note (Weiser).

בוטעם באפיו שבהם יחיה האדם כי הם יוציאו האויר החם מחום הלב, ויביאו אויר אהר

2[FORMED.] Va-yitzer (formed) is a kal. It belongs to those verbs whose first root letter is a yod.²⁴. It is like va-yiketz in And Noah awoke (va-yiketz no’ach) (Gen. 9:24).

גוטעם לנפש חיה שהלך מיד כמו החיות ולא כתינוקים:

3The meaning of and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life is that man lives through the nostrils. They remove the air heated by the heart and replace it with fresh air. Scripture says man became nefesh chayyah (a living soul)²⁵ because like the animals he was immediately able to walk, and thus differed from babies subsequently born.

אויטע, וכבר נטע גן במקום שנקרא עדן, מפאת מזרח, ועתה שם בו האדם, ופי' גן בעדן גן אלהים, הבי"ת משרת עצמו ואחר עמו בעדן בגן אלהים, וכמוהו מאל אביך ויעזרך (בראשית מט כה) ורבים אחרים,

1AND THE LORD GOD PLANTED. God had previously planted a garden in the eastern section of the world in a place called Eden. He now placed the man there.²⁶ (planted) is a pluperfect. The bet of be-eden (in Eden) in in Eden the garden of God (Ezek. 28:13) governs not only Eden but also garden.²⁷). However, in Ezek. 28:13 the Bible states, in Eden the garden of God. The former implies that the garden is located in Eden, the latter that Eden is located in the garden, hence I.E.’s comment (Filwarg). Its meaning thus is, in Eden, in the garden of God. Even by the God (me’el) of thy father, who shall help thee and by (ve-et) the Almighty, who shall bless thee²⁸ of me’el is also to be placed before ve’et and it is to be read as if written u-me’et. Thus this verse is to be rendered: Even by the God (me’el) of thy father who shall help thee, and even by (u-me’et) the Almighty who shall bless thee. (Gen. 49:25) is similar. There are many other such instances in Scripture.²⁹ (or moshekh) atzmo ve-acher immo. Friedlander explains this phrase as follows: “one word which stands for two” (literally, the word draws itself and another with it).

בוה"א "האדם" יש לו סוד", גם נמצא "שבט המנשה" (דבר' ג יג), "הארוני, היבוסי", (ש"ב כד טז) וגם יתכן להיותו כן, בעבור שהוא שם נחצב מהאדמה והוא יהיה שם עצם ושם תואר:

2[THE MAN.] There is a secret meaning as to why the definite article has been placed in front of Adam.³⁰ The definite article is also found prefixed to Menasheh in the half tribe of Manasseh (shevet ha-menasheh)³¹ (Deut. 3:13) and before the word Araunah in of Araunah the Jebusite (II Sam. 24:16).³² is a collective noun. It is also possible that the definite article is placed before Adam because the word adam is derived from the word used for ground (adamah). Hence the name Adam may be a proper name or an adjective.³³

אויצמח, ובעת שהצמיח כל עץ מהאדמה כן צמח בגן, ועוד בתוכו שנים עצים:

1AND OUT OF THE GROUND MADE THE LORD TO GROW. When God made the trees grow from the ground throughout the world he did the same in the Garden of Eden, but there he placed two trees not found anywhere else in the world.

בועץ הדעת, לפי דעתי צריך להוסיף דעת להיות כן ועץ הדעת דעת טוב ורע, כי איך יהיה סמוך, והוא נודע בתחלה, וכן הארון הברית (יהושע ג יד) "והנבואה עודד הנביא" (דה"ב טו ח) ורבים כאלה:

2AND THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE. In my opinion the phrase and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is to be understood as if written, “And the tree of the knowledge, knowledge of good and evil,” because the word knowledge has a definite article prefixed to it and thus cannot be in the construct.³⁴ The ark of the covenant³⁵ (Josh. 3:14) and even the prophecy of Oded the prophet (II Chronicles 15:8)³⁶ are similar. There are many other similar instances in Scripture.

אונהר, וטרם שיברא האדם היה הנהר משקה הגן לכל צד,

1AND A RIVER. Before man was created the river watered the garden on all sides.

בואל"ף מלת ראשים שרש ונראה במלת מַרְאֲשוֹתֵיכֶם וטעמו מכבד (נ"א מכבר) הראש:

2[HEADS.] The alef in the word roshim (heads) is a root letter.³⁷ is not a root letter, e.g., the tillage of the poor (rashim) (Prov. 13:23). The alef of rashim (the poor) is not part of the word’s stem (Filwarg). In marashotekhem (headtires)³⁸ (Jer. 13:18) the alef is enunciated. The meaning of marashotekhem is your headtires.

אשם האחד, אמר הגאון כי פישון יאור מצרים וידוע כי גיחון קרוב מא"י כי כן כתוב "והורדתם אותו אל גיחון" (מ"א א לג), והוא בא מפאת מזרחית דרומית גם פרת כן והוא אחרית גבול הארץ מפאת מזרח ומפרשים אמרו כי חדקל הוא הנהר השני העובד על בגדאד עם נהר פרת, אם כן הנה שלשתם מזרחים, ויאור מצרים יוצא מהר הלבונה, רחוק מקו השוה בצד נגב, והראיה גדולה בקיץ וידענו כי גן עדן תהת הקו השוה, שלא יוסיף היום ולא יחסר כל ימות השנה, וריקי מוה תמהו איך יתכן זה והראיות גמורות בלי ספק יש עליהם א"כ ירד פישון לפאת דרומית מערבית ואח"כ ישוב דרך צפונית ואין ראיה על פישון שהוא היאור, רק שתרגם החוילה כפי צרכו כי אין לו קבלה, וכן עשה במשפחות, ובמדינות ובחיות ובעופות ובאבנים, אולי בחלום ראם, וכבר טעה במקצתם כאשר אפרש במקומו, א"כ לא נשען על חלומותיו, אולי עשה כן לכבוד השם, בעבור שתרגם התורה בלשון ישמעאל ובכתיבתם, שלא יאמרו כי יש בתורה מצות לא ידענום, והזכיר הזהב בעבור כבוד הנהר היוצא מהגן:

1THE NAME OF THE FIRST. Saadiah Gaon identifies Pishon with the Nile. But it is known that the Gihon³⁹ is close to the land of Israel, for Scripture states, And bring him (Solomon)…down to Gihon…and…anoint him there king over Israel (I Kings 1:33,34). It (the Gihon) flows from southeast of the land of Israel.⁴⁰ The same is true of the Euphrates (Perat), which marks the furthermost eastern boundary of the land of Israel. The commentaries also tell us that the Tigris (Chiddekel) is another river, in addition to the Euphrates, that flows through Baghdad. Thus these three rivers (the Gihon, the Euphrates and the Tigris) lie east of the land of Israel.⁴¹ Furthermore, the source of the Nile is in the mountain of Frankincense far south of the equator. Proof of this can be seen by the fact that its waters swell in the summer.⁴², Vol. I, p. 86, note 414. We know that the Garden of Eden is below the equator where day and night are always equal. Fools question this and ask, how is this possible?⁴³ However, there is positive proof that this is so. Thus according to Saadiah one must believe that the Pishon (the Nile) flows from the Garden of Eden, which is in the east, toward the mountain of Frankincense, which is in the southwest, and then flows north.⁴⁴ There is, in fact, no proof that the Pishon is the Nile. Indeed, Saadiah translates the land of Havilah which the Pishon compasses to fit in with his translation of the Pishon as being the Nile. The fact of the matter is that he had no tradition concerning these things. He did the same with families, states, animals, fowl and precious stones.⁴⁵ Perhaps these things were revealed to him in a dream. He definitely erred in a number of them as I will point out in their proper place.⁴⁶ So we will not rely on his dreams. Perhaps he did so out of respect for the honor of God, for he translated the Torah into Arabic language and script and he did not want the Arabs to think that there are parts of Scripture⁴⁷ (commandments) instead of millot (words). which we do not understand. Scripture mentions that there is gold in the land of Havilah in order to glorify the river coming out of the Garden of Eden.

אוזהב , אמר הגאון כי הבדולח הם האבנים הקטנים עגולים היוצאים מהמים שהם דקים ודמה המן אליהם, והכתוב אמר על עין המן לבדו יאמר כי השהם אבן יקרה לבנה והיא צחה ואנחנו לא נדע,

1AND THE GOLD. Saadiah Gaon renders bedolach (bedellium) as pearls. He compares manna to them. However, Scripture merely says that manna had the color of bedolach⁴⁸ resembles manna. As manna is round, so are bedolach round. This strengthens his interpretation that bedolach means pearls, for the Bible says that the appearance of the manna was like bedolach (Cherez). (Num. 11:7). The Gaon also says that shoham (onyx) is a precious clear white stone. The fact of the matter is that we do not know the precise meaning of either of these two items.

אופי' קדמת אשור התי"ו קדמת תחת ה"א וההפרש בינו ובין קדם, כי ה"א קדמה תחת אֶל הפתוח בפתח קטן וכן וירד אברם מצרימה (בראשית יב י) כמו אל מצרים, והנה קדמת אשור, אל מזרח אשור, ודע כי מהפסוק הראשון עד לעשות הזכיר הכתוב אלהים, ואח"כ הזכיר השם הנכבד והנורא עמו ומה יקרו דברי קדמונינו ז"ל שאמרו נקרא שם מלא על עולם מלא כי לא היה שם כח מקבל זה השם, ובפרשת ואלה שמות אפרש סוד השם ואם הוא סמוך אם יעזרני ד', ודע כי מקום האדמה שנברא ממנה אדם קרוב אל גן עדן, כי יש אומרים, כי האדמה היא ארץ ישראל והנח שכחו ויהי בנסעם מקדם (בראשית יא ב):

1[TOWARD THE EAST OF ASSHUR.] The tav of kidmat (toward the east of) is in place of a heh.⁴⁹ is kedemah in the construct. The difference between kedem and kedemah is that the heh suffixed to kedemah is in place of the preposition “to” (el), which is vocalized with a segol.⁵⁰ means to the east, kedem, east. Similarly in and Abram went down into Egypt (mitzraymah) (Gen. 12:10), mitzraymah means “to Egypt.” Kidmat asshur thus means toward the east of Asshur. Note that from the first verse of the Torah until the word made (Gen. 2:3), Scripture refers to the Deity as Elohim. Afterward, the honored and revered name (the Tetragrammaton) is coupled with it. How precious are the words of the ancients of blessed memory who said that the complete name of God is used over a complete world. Prior to the completion of creation there was no power to receive this name.⁵¹ If God grants me life I will explain the secret of the Tetragrammaton when I comment upon the first Torah portion of the book of Exodus. I will then explain its meaning in the absolute and in the construct. Note that the location of the ground from which Adam was created was close to the Garden of Eden.⁵² I note this because some say that Adam was created out of the ground of the land of Israel.⁵³, 2:14. They have overlooked And it came to pass, as they journeyed east (Gen. 11:2).⁵⁴. The garden was located in the east (v. 8). The tower of Babel was built after the survivors of the flood journeyed from the east (Gen. 11:2). We know that the ark rested on Mt. Ararat (Gen. 8:4); thus Mt. Ararat lies in the east (See I.E. on Gen. 11:2). Mt. Ararat (in the east) is far from the borders of Israel. Hence the Garden of Eden (in the east), too, must be far from the land of Israel.

אבגן, לשון זכר ונקבה וכן חבורו גנים גנות, והאומרים כי לעבדה ולשמרה שב אל האדמה, איך יתכן לעבוד ולשמור מקום גדול ממקום קטן, ואחר שחטא והוציאו לעבוד את האדמה, וכבר היה עובד האדמה, רק פי' לעבדה על הגן שמפריו יאכל, ואחר שחטא שב לאכול את עשב השדה, והוא הלחם,

1INTO THE GARDEN OF EDEN. Gan (garden) can be both masculine and feminine,⁵⁵ and to keep are in the feminine. hence the plurals gannim and gannot.⁵⁶ is masculine plural; gannot, feminine plural. We ask those who maintain that the words to till (dress) it⁵⁷ is to till it. Till fits in better with I.E.’s comment. and to keep it (le-ovdah u-le-shomrah) refer to the ground (adamah), how it is possible to till and keep a large area from a small one.⁵⁸ and of le-shomrah are in the feminine. Those who say that these words refer to the ground do so because they believe gan to be masculine while ground is feminine. However, I.E. maintains that gan can be either masculine or feminine. Thus le-ovdah u-le-shomrah can refer to gan. Furthermore, after Adam sinned God expelled him from the garden and commanded him to till the soil. But according to their interpretation he was already tilling the soil while he was living in the Garden of Eden.

בוטעם לעבדה, להשקות הגן ולשמרה מכל החיות שלא יכנסו שם ויטנפוהו וי"א כי כן פי' לעבוד מצותו והמצוה לא תעבוד:

2To till it (le-ovdah) therefore refers to the garden of whose fruit he ate. It was only after he sinned that he had to eat the grass of the ground, i.e., bread. To till it means to water it. To keep it means to guard the garden so that no animals enter therein and befoul it. Some say that le-ovdah means to serve God’s commandment.⁵⁹ on this verse. The root of the word till, ayin, bet, dalet, is also used in reference to worship (Deut. 6:13; 10:20). However, a commandment is not served.⁶⁰ is used in referring to worship, it is not used in Scripture as a technical term for the practice of a precept. The term used for the latter is lishmor (to keep) (Deut. 8:1; 10:13). One serves (oved) God and observes (shomer) the commandments. One cannot be said to serve the commandments, hence I.E.’s objection to this interpretation.

אויצו, מלת צווי עם על, מצות לא תעשה, וכן על העבים אצוה (ישעי, ה ו) אעפ"י שהתרתי לך פרי עץ הגן, לא תאכל מפרי עץ הדעת,

1AND THE LORD GOD COMMANDED THE MAN. The verb tzivvah (command) with the preposition al (upon) implies a prohibition. We similarly read, I will also command (atzavveh) the clouds (al he-avim) That they rain no rain upon it (Is. 5:6).

אואחר שאמר מעץ הדעת לא תאכל, מה צורך למלת ממנו רק הוסיף לבאר, וכן "ותפתח ותראהו את הילד" (שמות ב ו), או טעמו אפילו מעט ממנו, ודקדוק "ממנו" בס' היסוד תמצאנו, ודע כי אדם מלא דעת היה כי השם לא יצוה לאשר אין לו דעת רק דעת טוב ורע בדבר אחד לבדו לא ידע הלא תראה שקרא שמות לכל הבהמה והעוף כפי תולדת כל אחד ואחד והנה חכם גדול היה, ולולי שהיה כן לא הביא השם את בריאותיו אליו לראות מה יקראם, והוא יודע ממנו שהוא בער, גם השם הראה לו עץ הדעת, כי הנה אשתו ידעה שהוא בתוך הגן:

1[THOU SHALT NOT EAT OF IT.] Even though I (God) permitted you to eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, do not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge.⁶¹ One might ask, What need is there for the term of it after having stated but of the tree of the knowledge…thou shalt not eat?⁶². It would have sufficed to state, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. The answer is that the Bible elaborates. We find a similar case in And she opened it, and saw it, even the child (Ex. 2:6).⁶³. The elaboration is there for emphasis (Weiser). It is also possible that the term of it means even a part of it. You will find the exact grammatical explanation of the term mi-mennu (of it) in the Sefer ha-yisod.⁶⁴ Note that Adam was an intelligent being, for God would not direct commands to one who was unintelligent. He was deficient in the knowledge of good and evil of only one thing.⁶⁵ Don’t you see that Adam named every animal and fowl according to the nature of each of their respective species? Thus he was extremely intelligent. If Adam was unintelligent, God, knowing this, would not have brought His creatures to him to see what name he would give to each one of them. God also showed Adam the tree of knowledge, for his wife knew that it was in the midst of the garden.⁶⁶

אויאמר טעם לא טוב, לאדם,

1AND THE LORD GOD SAID. It is not good means it is not good for the man.⁶⁷, hence I.E.’s comment. Cherez suggests that I.E. is negating an interpretation which holds it is not good for creation that man be alone lest it be said that he is a god on earth. Cf. Rashi.

בועזר, כטעם "טובים השנים מן האחד" (קהלת ד ט),,

2A HELP MEET. Help meet should be understood in the light of Two are better than one (Eccles. 4:9).

אולמ"ד אשר יקרא לו האדם, מושך עצמו ואחר עמו, וכן הוא אשר יקרא לו האדם לנפש חיה כי יש בו תוספת כיאור, כמו "ותפתח ותראהו" (שמות ב ו) ורבים כמוהו,

1[WHATSOEVER THE MAN WOULD CALL.] The lamed (to) in the clause and whatsoever the man would call also applies⁶⁸) every living creature. to the phrase living creature. Our clause is to be read as follows: and whatsoever the man would call to it, to every living creature, that was to be the name thereof. The verse elaborates,⁶⁹ (Shadal). See note 62. as in And she opened it, and saw it, even the child (Ex. 2:6).⁷⁰ There are many other such instances.

אומלת לכל הבהמה, גם היא מושכת עצמה ואחרת עמה, כי טעמו ולכל עוף השמים, וכן "ויהי מתיו ממפר" (דבר' לג ו), וכן "ולא למדתי חכמה" (משלי ל, ג),, ורבים כאלה,

1[TO ALL CATTLE.] Le-khol (to all) also governs two words,⁷¹ (to all), which is prefaced to cattle, also governs fowl. for the meaning of our verse is: And the man gave names to all cattle, and to all the fowl of the air.⁷². In that his men become few (Deut. 33:6)⁷³ in the first part of the verse also governs yehi (let). and And I have not learned wisdom (Prov. 30:3)⁷⁴. The not of the first part also applies to the second part. Thus the above should read: And I do not have knowledge of the Holy One. Thus not governs two words. are similar. There are many other such instances.

בוטעם ולאדם לא מצא, ולנפשו לא מצא, כי כן מנהג לה"ק, כמו "וישלח ד' את ירבעל ואת בדן ואת יפתח ואת שמואל" (ש"א יב יא),, ורחוק הוא בעיני שישוב אל השם, ופה אמר כי העוף נוצר מהאדמה, ולמעלה מהמים כי משניהם נוצר:

2[BUT FOR ADAM.] The meaning of but for Adam he did not find a help meet is that Adam did not find a helpmeet for himself.⁷⁵. However, the literal reading of the verse is: but for Adam he did not find a help meet. The question is, to whom does “he” refer? I.E. suggests it refers to Adam, not God. I.E. points out that the Bible occasionally uses a proper noun in instances where a reflexive pronoun is expected. Cf. David Kimchi’s commentary on this verse. This is the way of the Hebrew language. Thus we find Samuel saying, And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel (I Sam. 12:11).⁷⁶. It appears farfetched to me that he did not find a help meet refers to God. Scripture says here that the fowl were created out of the ground.⁷⁷ However, it states above that they were created out of the water.⁷⁸ This is so because the fowl were created out of both earth and water.

אויפל. מהבנין הכבד הנוסף,, וכן "וישב אותם אברם" (בראשית טו יא),

1AND THE LORD GOD CAUSED A DEEP SLEEP TO FALL. Va-yappel (caused to fall) is a hifil, as is va-yashev (drove away) in and Abram drove them away (Gen. 15:11).⁷⁹ and va-yappel are hifils whose first root letter is a nun. The root of the former is nun, shin, bet and of the latter, nun, peh, lamed.

בתרדמה, יותר משינה, ושינה יותד מתנומה, והתי"ו נוסף,

2A DEEP SLEEP. Tardemah is a deeper sleep than shenah, and shenah is a deeper sleep than tenumah.⁸⁰ and tenumah. The tav of tardemah (deep sleep) is not part of its root.⁸¹.

גאחת מצלעותיו, שתי צלעות היו כענין ולצלע המשכן השנית (שמות כו ו), ומלת צלע לשון נקבה, והטעם צד,

3ONE OF HIS RIBS. Adam had two sides.⁸² as rib, I.E. as side. Tzela here is like tzela (side) in and for the second side (tzela) of the tabernacle (Ex. 26:20).⁸³ 18a) that man was originally created male and female. God then separated the one female side from the male side (Krinsky). Tzela is a feminine noun. It means a side.

דתחתנה, מקומה והוא לשון יחיד הנו"ן נוסף ותחתיה לשון רבים, וכן תחתני גם תחתי:

4INSTEAD THEREOF. Tachtennah means in its place. Tachtennah (instead thereof) spelled with a superfluous nun is in the singular. Tachtehah is its plural form. Tachteni (under me) and tachtai (under me)⁸⁴ are similar.⁸⁵, the singular form, has the superfluous nun; tachtai, its plural form, does not (Weiser).

אויבן. מהבנין הכבד, גם מהבנין הקל, כמו "ויפן" (שמות ז כג) "ויקן" (בראשית לג יט):

1MADE HE. Va-yiven (made me) is a hifil conjugation.⁸⁶ is a kal conjugation. Krinsky and Weiser suggest deleting it. Indeed, some versions do. If it is retained then it must be explained as follows: Va-yiven (from the root bet, nun, heh) is short for va-yivneh. I.E. notes that this type of short form of a lamed heh root is found in the hifil and in the kal (Weiser). Vat. Ebr. 38 reads, va-yiven is a kal, as is va-yifen. This appears to be the correct reading. We find similar instances with the kal conjugation in va-yifen (and he turned) (Ex. 7:23) and va-yiken (and he bought) (Gen. 33:19).

בויביאה. חשב בהקיצו בראותו אותה כי הובאה אליו כאשר הובאו הבהמות והכתוב דבר על מחשבתו וכן "והאנשים רדפו אחריהם" (יהושע ב ז) או נבנתה חוץ לגן ואחרי כן הובאה אליו וכאשר הסתכל ידע שנגזרה ממנו, כי צלעו האחת עם בשרה איננה והרגיש שבשר אחר הובא בו:

2AND BROUGHT HER. When Adam awoke from his sleep he thought that the woman was brought⁸⁷ before him as the animals were brought before him. Scripture speaks of Adam’s thoughts. Similarly, And the men pursued after them (Josh. 2:7).⁸⁸ It is also possible that the woman was created outside of the garden and then was brought to Adam. When he looked around he knew that she had been cut from him, for one of his sides with its flesh was missing and he felt that it had been closed with other flesh.

אויאמר. אז אמר זאת הפעם מצאתי עזר כנגדי כמוני כי ממני היה ודבר לילית דרש:

1AND THE MAN SAID. Then Adam said, “This time I have found a help meet like me for me, for this being came out of me.” The tradition concerning Lilith is a homily.⁸⁹, Vol. I., p. 65.

בולזאת. בעבור זאת, וכן "אמרי לי אחי הוא" (בראשית כ יג)

2Le-zot (she) means because of this.⁹⁰ in front of a word usually means to. Zot means this. Thus le-zot should be rendered to this. However, I.E. points out that the lamed may also mean because. The meaning of our verse then is: because of this; i.e., because she is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman, Say of me: (li)⁹¹. Here, too, li does not mean to me but about me or of me. He is my brother (Gen. 20:13) is similar.

גודגשות שי"ן "אשה" תמורת היו"ד הנח הנעלם שהוא באיש, ויתכן שסבת דבור אשה דגוש ולא רפה, שלא יתערב עם "אישה" שהוא בעלה כי פעם יהסרו הראות הה"א, ונשים מן אנוש ואנשים,

3[WOMAN.] The shin in the word ishah (woman) receives a dagesh in place of the inaudible yod which is found in the word ish (man).⁹² makes up for the yod which is missing in ishah (woman). However, it is possible that ishah (woman) receives a dagesh to distinguish it from ishah (her husband) for at times the dagesh in the suffixed pronominal heh in ishah (her husband)⁹³ is sounded there is no doubt that the speaker intends to say her husband. is not pronounced. The plural nashim (women) is derived from the words enosh (man) and anashim (men).⁹⁴ and a tav to the singular. However, the word for women (nashim) is not formed in this manner. It is not the word for woman (ishah) plus the plural ending, hence I.E.’s comment.

דוטעם יקרא על שֵם.

4[SHALL BE CALLED.] This refers to the name of the woman.⁹⁵. Yikkare (shall be called) is masculine and cannot refer to the woman. It refers to shem (name) which is masculine.

הולא נדגש קו"ף "לֻקָחָה זאת" להקל על הלשון והוא מהבנין הכבד, ואם לא נמצא

5[SHE WAS TAKEN.] The dagesh is omitted in the kof of lukachah (she was taken) in order to simplify its enunciation. This word is a pu’al conjugation even though we do not find it conjugated in the pi’el.⁹⁶ is the passive of pi’el. Thus if we find a word in the pu’al we would expect to find it in the pi’el. However, the root lamed, kof, chet is not found in the pi’el, hence I.E.’s comment. According to Hebrew grammer a dagesh is placed in the second radical of a pu’al.

ווטעם והיו לבשר אחד כאלו הם, או שידמו כאשר היו וי"א שיולידו אחר (צ"ל אחד) והוא רחוק:

6[AND THEY SHALL BE ONE FLESH.] This means they shall live together as if they were one flesh, or let them once again be one flesh.⁹⁷ Some say they will be one flesh through the child they will produce. However, this interpretation is farfetched.⁹⁸

אערומים. שם התואר וכן ובגדי ערומים תפשיט (איוב כב ו), וי"א כי גם "ערום ראה רעה ויסתר (משלי כב ג) כמוהו, וטעמו שהרוח ערום בלי מכסה כדמות העי"ן:

1NAKED. Arummim (naked) is an adjective. And stripped the naked (arummim) of their clothing (Job 22:6) is similar. Some say that arum (prudent) in A prudent man (arum) seeth the evil and hideth himself (Prov. 22:3) has essentially the same meaning. What the verse means is that the mind of the wise is uncovered (arum) and open to everything like the eye.⁹⁹ because his mind is open (naked) to everything (Weiser).

ביתבששו. מבושת והוא מהשנים שיש נח נעלם ביניהם והאות האחרון כפול כמו "יתבונן" (איוב יא יא), ונקמץ השי"ן בעבור שהוא סוף פסוק:

2AND WERE NOT ASHAMED. Yitboshashu (ashamed) is related to the word boshet (shame). It is an ayin, vav.¹⁰⁰. The last letter of the root is doubled.¹⁰¹ root is doubled when conjugated in the hitpa’el. It is like the verb yitbonen (he will consider) (Job 11:11).¹⁰². The nun is doubled. A kamatz is placed beneath the first shin because the word ends a verse.¹⁰³ is usually vocalized with a sheva, viz., yitbosheshu.