Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 28:11/אבן עזרא על בראשית כ״ח:י״א

אוטעם פתחות בי"ת במקום. דברי משה, והטעם במקום הידוע היום, וכן אמר הושע "ושם ידבר עמנו" (הושע יב ה) כי הוא התנבא על ירבעם בן יואש, והוא היה בבית אל ואמר לשון רבים בעדו ובעד עמוס, ובספר עמוס מבואר ועל דרך הפשט לא יתכן להיות ויפגע, כמו "אל תפגע בי" (ירמיה ז טז) כי לא מצאנו במקרא שנקרא השם מקום ואל תשים לבך לדרש ממקום אחר (אסתר ד יד) כי איננו כלל על השם ומלת אחר לעד:

1[AND HE LIGHTED UPON THE PLACE.] The reason the bet of ba-makom (the place)¹⁰ and ba-makom. The former means in a place, the latter, in the place. “The place” implies a specific, well known place. When Jacob came to Beth-el there was as yet nothing significant about the place. Why then does Scripture say that Jacob alighted upon the place? is vocalized with a pattach is that Moses in writing the Torah did so in order to indicate the place that was well known in his time.¹¹ Similarly the prophet Hosea said, And there (at Beth-el) he would speak with us (Hos. 12:5).¹² Hosea said this because he prophesied in Beth-el concerning Jeroboam the son of Joash.¹³. Hosea used the term “with us” because Amos, too, prophesied in Bethel.¹⁴ It is clear from the Book of Amos that Beth-el was a holy place. According to the plain meaning of the text, va-yifga (and he lighted) is not to be translated as, and he prayed, as in neither make intercession (tifga) to Me (Jer. 7:16),¹⁵ (and he lighted upon the place). The Talmud states that va-yifga means, and he prayed (Berakhot. 26b; Ta’anit 7b; Sotah 14a; Sanhedrin 95b). According to I.E., if va-yifga is interpreted as, and he prayed, ba-makom must be interpreted to mean God. However, this is not necessarily so. Indeed, the Talmud interprets va-yifga ba-makom to mean, he prayed in the place. because we never find in the entire Bible the word makom (place) meaning God.¹⁶. I.E. points out that this a Rabbinic not a Biblical term for God. Hence va-yifga ba-makom cannot be translated as, and he prayed to God, and va-yifga cannot be rendered, and he prayed. Do not pay any attention to the Midrashic interpretation that explains makom, in makom acher (Es. 4:14), as referring to God,¹⁷ because it most certainly does not. Proof of this is found in the word acher (another) which follows makom.¹⁸), an impossible rendition.

במאבני המקום. טעמו אחת מאבני המקום:

2OF THE STONES OF THE PLACE. Its meaning is: one of the stones of the place.¹⁹

גמראשותיו. לשון רבים כמו "מרגלותיו" (רות ג ד ויד), והתימא מרב שמואל שערב חלומות בני אדם עם חלום הנבואה:

3UNDER HIS HEAD. Me-ra’ashotav (under his head) is a plural.²⁰ It is similar to margelotav (his feet) (Ruth 3:4; 14).²¹ It is surprising that Rabbi Samuel Ben Hofni confused the dreams of common men with prophetic dreams.²²