Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 34/אבן עזרא על בראשית ל״ד

אותצא דינה. מעצמה:

1AND DINAH WENT OUT. Of her own accord.¹

אויענה. כדרכה בעבור היותה בתולה:

1AND HUMBLED HER. He had normal intercourse with her.² Scripture uses the term va-ye’anneha ( and humbled her)³ means to afflict. Thus va-ye’anneha (and he humbled her) means he afflicted her. Hence I.E.’s interpretation. because she was a virgin.⁴

אוידבר על לב. שדבר לה דברי רכים ונחומים:

1AND SPOKE COMFORTINGLY UNTO THE DAMSEL. He spoke tenderly and comfortingly to her.

אכי טמא. שכם:

1THAT HE HAD DEFILED. That Shechem had defiled.

אחרפה. לדורות וזה טעם כי נבלה עשה בישראל,

1A REPROACH. It will be a reproach for generations.⁵ This is the meaning of because he had wrought a vile deed in Israel (v. 7).⁶

בוטעם וידברו אשר טמא, וידברו את שכם אשר טמא אחותם, כי מצאנו "דברו לשלום" (בראשית לז ד) כמו דבר לו, או טעם "אשר" כי ענו במרמה בעבור אשר טמא:

2[13. AND SPOKE BECAUSE HE HAD DEFILED.] And spoke to Shechem who had (asher) defiled their sister.⁷ which literally means: and they spoke who had defiled Dinah their sister. This makes no sense. Hence I.E. points out that Shechem, who is mentioned in the first part of the verse (et shechem), is also the object here. We should thus read it as if it were written: va-yedabberu et shechem asher timme et dinah achotam, viz., and spoke to Shechem who had defiled their sister. It should be noted that according to this interpretation, asher means who. We may interpret our verse in this manner because we find Scripture stating, dabbero le-shalom (Gen. 37:4), which is to be rendered: speak peaceably unto him (Gen. 37:4).⁸ is grammatically similar to dabbero. For an explanation of their linguistic similarity see Filwarg. See also notes to Gen. 37:4. For alternate interpretations see Weiser, Cherez and Krinsky. On the other hand asher may mean because. In this case the Bible is telling us that they answered with guile because (asher) he had defiled Dinah their sister.⁹

גאשר לו עולה. ערלת בשר וטעמו דבר שיכבד וכן "ערל שפתים" (שמות ו יב), "ערלה אזנם" (ירמיה ו י) בעבור הנוסף, והאומרים שהשם אמר לאברהם "והיה תמים" (בראשית יז א) ובהמולו הנה הוא חסר, הדבר הפוך, והנה הבהמות יוכיחו, ואם אמרו למה נחתך דבר בראו השם גם הטבור יוכיח:

3TO ONE THAT IS UNCIRCUMCISED. One whose sexual member is uncircumcised.¹⁰, hence I.E.’s interpretation. The meaning of the term orlah (uncircumcised) is something which is heavy. Aral (uncircumcised), in uncircumcised (aral) lips (Ex. 6:12), and arelah (dull), in their ear is dull (arelah) (Jer. 6:10), are similar. An orlah is something which lays heavy because it is an unnecessary appendage.¹¹ Those who say that Abraham blemished himself by undergoing circumcision, and thereby violated God’s charge to him, and be thou whole (Gen. 17:1), err. The opposite is true.¹² Proof of this can be offered from the animal kingdom. ¹³ As to their query, why remove that which God created, we respond that God also created the umbilical cord.¹⁴

אאת בתנו. בעבור היותה קטנה, והם הי' מדברים בעבור אביהם:

1OUR DAUGHTER. They spoke thus because she was a minor.¹⁵. They referred to Dinah as our daughter because they spoke on behalf of Jacob.

אולא אחר. איננו בדקדוק, כמו "ואחר עד עתה" (בראשית לב ה), רק מן הבנין הכבד הדגוש, והוא פעל עבר על משקל "בֵּרַך נבות אלהים ומלך" (מ"א כא יג):

1DEFERRED NOT. Echar (deferred) is not of the same grammatical form as va-echar (and stayed) in and stayed (va-echar) until now (Gen. 32:5).¹⁶ Our word is a third person pi’el perfect following the paradigm of berakh (did curse) in Naboth did curse (berakh) God and the King (I Kings 21:13).¹⁷ in Gen. 32:5 is a first person kal imperfect (Weiser). Here the alef is a root letter. In Gen. 32:5 the root alef is missing, for the alef therein is a first person kal prefix (Filwarg).

אשלמים. הם בשלום:

1PEACEABLE. They are at peace.¹⁸ (peaceable) is an adjective (Weiser, Krinsky).

ברחבת ידים. מקומות כמו "ויד תהיה לך" (דברים כג יג):

2LARGE ENOUGH. Yadayim (enough)¹⁹ (large enough) as large places, i.e., the land is large enough for both of us. is to be rendered places, as in Thou shalt have a place (yad) (Deut. 23:13).

איאותו. מגזרת "כי לך יאתה" (ירמי' יו"ד ז) והנוח הנעלם אחר האות המשרת תחת פ"א הפעל:

1WILL THE MEN CONSENT. Ye’otu (consent) comes from the same root as ya’atah (befitteth) in For it befitteth (ya’atah) Thee (Jer. 10:7).²⁰ (Krinsky). The yod prefix is vocalized with a tzere²¹ (Cherez). to compensate for the missing first root letter.²².

בבהמול. מפורש, והנה הם חשבו רעה על יעקב ובניו שאמרו מקניהם וקנינם:

2BE CIRCUMCISED. The word be-himmol (be circumcised) has already been explained.²³ Shechem and Hamor had evil designs on Jacob and his sons for they said, Shall not their cattle and their substance and all their beasts be ours (v. 22)?²⁴

אביום השלישי. שלישי לעולם קשה שהוא חצי המרובע, וזה המעשה אשר עשו שמעון ולוי לדעת אחיהם עשו, דכתיב במרמה, ובני יעקב הם כולם, וחרה אף יעקב על שמעון ולוי, בעבור שהם הרגו אנשי שכם:

1ON THE THIRD DAY. The third day is always a difficult day because it is half of a monthly quarter.²⁵ Simeon and Levi acted with the full consent of their brothers. This is clear from And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with guile (v. 13). The “sons of Jacob”²⁶. refers to all of the brothers. Jacob spilled his anger on Simeon and Levi because they killed the men of Shechem²⁷

אואת כל אשר בבית. פי' בבית המור, או בבית שכם:

1EVEN ALL THAT WAS IN THE HOUSE. This refers either to the house of Shechem or Hamor.²⁸

אמתי מספר. מתי כמו אנשים, ודבר שיסופר הוא מעט, על כן טעה ר' אהרן הכהן ראש הישיבה שפי' "ויהי מתיו מספר" (דבר' לג ו) כמשמעו:

1FEW IN NUMBER. Mete (few) means men. Anything that can be numbered is deemed a few.²⁹ (few in number) as men of number, i.e., few men. Hence Rabbi Aaron Ha-Kohen, dean of the Yeshiva,³⁰ errs in rendering literally vi-yehi metav mispar (in that his men became few) (Deut. 33:6).³¹

בלהבאישני. שישנאו אותי כאשר ישנא איש דבר שיבאש:

2TO MAKE ME ODIOUS.³² They will hate me as one loathes something which gives off a horrible odor.

אויאמרו. שמעון ולוי:

1AND THEY SAID. Simeon and Levi.

בהכזונה יעשה. שכם את אחותינו:

2SHOULD ONE DEAL WITH OUR SISTER AS WITH A HARLOT. Should Shechem deal with our sister as with a harlot.³³