Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 31:46/אבן עזרא על בראשית ל״א:מ״ו
אגל. שיגולו שם אבנים עד שהתחברו גם קראה מצפה:
1A HEAP. A gal (heap) is so called because it is formed by rolling stones together.75 (heap) comes from the verb galal (to roll) (Weiser). He also called it Mizpah.76 (he called it) is feminine and cannot refer to gal (heap) which is masculine. It must therefore refer to matzevah (pillar) which is feminine. Weiser claims that I.E.’s comment was transposed from verse 49 by a scribe who mistakenly thought that it referred to the heap. What I.E. is saying is that the heap was called Galeed and the pillar Mizpah. Cherez claims that it refers to the place. He called the place by two names, Galeed and Mizpah (place here being treated as feminine).