Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 24:21/אבן עזרא על בראשית כ״ד:כ״א
אוהאיש מִשְתָּאֵה. כמו משתומם מגזרת "שאו ערים" (ישעי' ו יא), תשאה שממה (שם שם),
1AND THE MAN LOOKED STEADFASTLY ON HER. Mishta’eh (looked steadfastly) means the same as mishtomem 31 and mishtomem come from roots meaning wasted and themselves mean astonished, perplexed or awe-struck. (astonished, awe-struck). It comes from the same root as sha’u and tisha’eh (waste) in Until cities be waste (sha’u) (Is. 6:11),32 and sha’u come from the root shin, alef, heh. and And the land become utterly waste (tisha’eh shemamah) (Is. 6:11).
בוטעם לה כמו בשבילה וכן אשתומם כשעה חדא (דניאל ד טז) והתי"ו מבנין התפעל כמו נתראה פנים (מ"ב יד ח), ולא יתכן היותו מן שתה:
2The meaning of lah (on her) is because of her.33 usually means to her. However, it cannot be so translated in our verse. The servant was not astonished to her; he was astonished because of her. Then Daniel…was appalled (eshtomam) for a while (Dan. 4:16) is similar.34) from a root meaning waste (shin, mem, mem) is used to describe one who is awe-struck or astonished. See note 31. The tav of mishta’eh is not part of the root of the word but is the sign of the hitpa’el conjugation. It is like the tav of nitra’eh 35 is resh, alef, heh. The tav of nitra’eh is the tav of the hitpa’el. in let us look (nitra’eh) one another in the face (II Kings 14:8). Mishta’eh definitely does not come from the root shin, tav, heh (drink).36. See Krinsky. According to this interpretation the man acted as if he was drinking, but he was really looking at Rebekah (Cherez).