Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 31:9/אבן עזרא על בראשית ל״א:ט׳

אויצל אלהים. כטעם "וינצלו את מצרים", (שמות יב לו), ושניהם מגזרת "הצילני נא" (בראשית לב יב) ואם הוא מעט רחוק, וזה שאמר יעקב לנשיו גם הוא אמת שראה זה בחלום, כי השם יעזרהו לחזק הצאן ולהוליד גם בלא מקלות:

1THUS GOD HATH TAKEN AWAY. Va-yatzel (hath taken away) is similar in meaning to va-yenatzelu (and they despoiled) in And they despoiled (va-yenatzelu) the Egyptians (Ex. 12:36).¹¹ and it connotes taking what rightfully belongs to one. In Ex. 12:36 it is in the pi’el (the intensive) and it means to take highhandedly, to despoil (Weiser). Both (va-yatzel and va-yenatzelu) come from the same root as hatzileni (deliver me)¹². (Gen. 32:12), although in the latter case the meaning of the word is a bit different from the first two examples.¹³ What Jacob told his wives was also true.¹⁴ Jacob dreamed that God would aid him so that his sheep would increase and be strong even without the use of the peeled sticks.¹⁵