Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 23:6/אבן עזרא על בראשית כ״ג:ו׳
אאדני. ולא אדונינו, לשון המדבר, ואין מדרך מוסר לשום אחרים שותפים עמו:
1MY LORD. Not our lord.10. Since they apparently all spoke we would expect the use of the term our lord. One man spoke. He employed the term my lord because it is impolite to include others when one is speaking as a subordinate.11 does not mean they all spoke in unison. One man spoke on behalf of all. Had they all spoken, Scripture would have read adonenu. It should be noted that the entire verse, with the exception of adoni, is in the plural.
בנשיא אלהים. דרך גדולה בעבור כי אתה נביא:
2A MIGHTY PRINCE. Because thou art a prophet. The term elohim (mighty) is used in the sense of great.12 (translated by J.P.S. as mighty) usually means God.
גיכלה. ימנע, כי ימצא בה"א גם באל"ף באחרונה,
3SHALL WITHHOLD. Yikhleh means shall withhold.13 means to finish (see Gen. 2:1). The root caf, lamed, alef means to withhold (see Gen. 8:2; Ps. 40:12). Yikhleh is spelled with a heh in our verse. Hence I.E. points out that caf, lamed, heh can also mean to withhold. It can be spelled either with a heh or an alef.14