Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 36:24/אבן עזרא על בראשית ל״ו:כ״ד

אואיה ענה. פי' הוי"ו כפ"א רפה בלשון ישמעאל ובר"ה איננו:

1AIAH AND ANAH. The vav prefixed to Aiah has the same meaning as the Arabic fa.²² before Aiah. If this vav is a connective vav we should translate: And these are the children of Zibeon and Aiah and Anah. I.E. points out that the vav before Aiah is not to be translated. It is superfluous and is placed for emphasis (Weiser). We have a similar clause without a vav prefixed to Aiah²³. in Chronicles (I Chron. 1:40).

בהימים., כמו "האימים לפנים" (דבר' ב יוד), כי ימצא האל"ף שיתחלף ביו"ד כמו יתימרו, ויאמר הגאון שהם פרדים ופי' מצא הרכיב ויתכן להיות מצא שהוא מצא בתחלה זאת החכמה, כי מין אחד עם מין אחר לא יולידו, ויחזיק זה הפירוש שאמר הכתוב ברעותו את החמורים, ואילו היו הימים צמחים כאשר פי' רבים מה טעם להזכיר החמורים:

2THE HOT SPRINGS. Onkelos renders yemim (hot springs) mighty men as in The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall (Deut. 2:10).²⁴ with them. It is possible to compare the two because we find the yod and alef interchanging²⁵ equals emim. Nachmanides explains that Onkelos held that Anah was attacked by Emem, who wanted to rob his father’s asses, and overcame them. Thus he found the Emim in the wilderness as he fed the asses of Zibeon, his father. as with the word yityammeru (bear themselves loftily) (Ps. 94:4).²⁶ (shall ye revel) (Is. 61:6). Either we have a scribal error (Krinsky) and what I.E. is saying is that tityammaru could have been written titammeru since Ps. 94:4 employs the term yitammeru (bear themselves loftily), or I.E. is saying that Ps. 94:4 could have read yityammeru since Is. 61:6 reads tityammaru (Weiser). Spelled with a yod or an alef it means to exalt. However, Saadiah Gaon translates yemim as mules. He interprets who found to mean who crossbred.²⁷ 8:5. It is also possible that who found means who first discovered the technique of crossbreeding, since two different species cannot produce offspring.²⁸ The latter interpretation is substantiated by Scripture’s stating, as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father.²⁹ If the meaning of yemim is plants, as is maintained by many commentators, why should Scripture mention as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father?³⁰) in the desert, what need is there to tell us that he did this as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father?