Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 27:19/אבן עזרא על בראשית כ״ז:י״ט
אאנכי. מי שאנכי ועשו בכורך, ואחרים אמרו כי בנחת אמר אנכי, ונשא קול במלת עשו בכורך ואלה דברי רוח, כי הנביאים יתחלקו לב' חלקים, החלק הא' שליח במצות, והחלק השני נביאי העתיד ואם יצטרכו לאמר דבר שאיננו כהוגן לא יזיק רק השליח לא יתכן שיכזב כלל, גם הנה דוד נכתב עליו "איש האלהים" (דה"ב ח יד) ואמר "רוח ד' דבר בי" (ש"ב כג ב) בלבל דבריו עם אחימלך ואמר "ויהיו כלי הנערים קדש" (ש"א כא ו) לצורך שעה, גם אלישע שאמר לחזאל "לך אמור לו חיה תחיה" (מ"ב ח' י) אף על פי שפירושו היה תחיה מחולי זה, הראני השם כי יהרג, וכן מיכיהו אמר תפלת שוא "עלה והצלח" (מ"א כב טו) דרך מוסר וכן אמר דניאל "מרי חלמא לשנאך" (דניאל ד' טז), ולהיותו כנגד השם דרך דרש וכן אמר אברהם "וגם אמנה" (בראשית כ יב) "ונשתחוה ונשובה" (בראשית כב ה):
1[I AM.] Some say, Heaven forbid that a prophet should lie. We must therefore interpret Jacob’s words to his father as follows: I am who I am and Esau is thy first born.15 Others say that Jacob quietly said, I am, and then loudly said, Esau is thy first-born.16 Now these interpretations are nonsence. Prophets are divided into two groups. One group consists of God’s messengers concerning commandments;17 (Heb.) Vol. 8, p. 678. An example of God’s messengers with regard to commandments are Moses and Aaron. the other, those who foretell the future. If the latter have to say something that is not quite so,18). According to Filwarg, what I.E. says is that prophets do not lie when they act as God’s messengers. At other times they may tell an untruth. there is no harm done.19 prophet. However, a prophet whose task is to reveal commandments never lies. We thus find that King David, whom Scripture calls the man of God (II Chron. 8:14) and who said, The spirit of the Lord spoke by me (II Sam. 23:2), perverted the truth out of need of the hour when he spoke to Abimelech and said, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days, when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy (I Sam. 21:6).20 Also, the prophet Elisha did not speak the truth when he said to Hazael, Go, say unto him, thou shalt surely recover (II Kings 8:10), even though what he meant was, go say unto him that thou shalt recover from this illness; however, God has shown me that he will be killed.21 spelled with an alef. Thus the verse may be read: thou shalt not recover. However, the kere spells the lo with a vav meaning: say unto him thou shalt recover. I.E. points out that the kere is the correct meaning of the verse. Thus Elisha misled the king of Aram. He told him that he would live although he knew that he would be killed (Netter). For a description of the incident see II Kings 8:7-15. Similarly the prophet Micaiah uttered a vain prayer out of deference to King Ahab when he told him, Go up and prosper; and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king (I Kings 22:15).22 Similarly Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee (Dan. 4:16).23 Those who explain that My lord refers to God are indulging in Midrash.24 35b. Similarly Abraham said unto Abimelech, And moreover she is indeed my sister (Gen. 20:12);25 and unto his young men, and I and the lad will go yonder and we will worship and come back to you (Gen. 22:5).26.
בואכלה מצידי. כמו "זכרה לי אלוהי לטובה" (נחמיה ה יט) והאל"ף שרש:
2AND EAT OF MY VENISON. Okhlah (eat)27 (eat) is an elongated imperative. The usual form is ekhol. Thus okhlah is similar to zokhrah which is also an elongated imperative. is similar to zokhrah (remember)28. in Remember (zokhrah) unto me, O my God, for good, all that I have done for this people (Neh. 5:19). The alef of okhlah is a root letter.29 prefix of the first person imperfect. I.E. makes this point because in verse 25 the alef of okhelah is the alef prefix of the first person imperfect. See I.E.’s comment on verse 25 and the note to it.