Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 33:12/אבן עזרא על בראשית ל״ג:י״ב
אנסעה. יש אומרים שהוא לשון צווי, כמו "שלחה הנער" (בראשית מג ח) וכן "נפלו עלינו" (הושע י, ח)
1LET US TAKE OUR JOURNEY. Some say that nisah (let us take our journey) is an imperative.20 (let us take our journey) means, take your journey. The usual form for let us take our journey is nissa with a dagesh in the samakh, not nisah which does not have a dagesh in the samekh and has a heh at the end. The usual imperative form for take your journey is sa. The commentators quoted by I.E. point out that in the elongated imperative the first letter of the root is vocalized with a chirik and the last with a kamatz, as in shilchah. Cf. Rashi. It is similar to shilchah (send) in Send (shilchah) the lad (Gen. 43:8)21. and niflu (fall) in Fall (niflu) on us (Hos. 10:8).22 as their first root letter drop the nun in the imperative, thus the imperative of nun, samekh, ayin is sa. I.E. points out that in nun, peh, lamed, the nun does not drop in the imperative. Hence while in nasa the nun normally drops out in the imperative, it does not in the elongated imperative. Hence nisah is similar to niflu.
בונלכה. כולנו ושאני אלך לנגדך לא אזוז ממך, ויתכן להיותו כמו "ונסעה מנהר אהוא" (עזרא ח לא) נסעה כולנו ואני אלך לנגדך:
2AND LET US GO. All of us.23 (and let us go) which is a plural. I.E. further points out that the meaning of and I will go before thee is: I will not move away from thee (Weiser). Compare Rashi, and I will go before thee, equally with thee. Krinky suggests that I.E.’s interpretation is: even if I perchance go before thee, I will not go far from thee but will keep up with thee. And I will go before thee; i.e., I will not move away from you. However, it is possible that nisah is similar to va-nissse’ah24 in Ezra 8:31 is an elongated first person plural imperfect meaning: we will depart, we will take our journey. The vav prefixed to it changes it to a perfect. Hence va-nisse’ah means: then we departed. I.E. now says nisah in our verse, too, is a first person plural imperfect meaning: let us take our journey. However, he does not explain why there is no dagesh in the samekh. (then we departed) in Then we departed (va-nisse’ah) from the river of Ahava (Ezra 8:31). The meaning of our verse thus is: Let us all take our journey,25 is a first person plural imperfect. According to the first interpretation our verse reads: Take your journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee; according to the second: Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. and I will go before thee.