Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 43/אבן עזרא על בראשית מ״ג

אגם אנחנו. דרך לשון הקדש להוסיף גם ראשון כמו משל בנו גם אתה (שופ' ה כב):

1BOTH WE. It is Hebrew style to add gam¹ (also we), gam attah (also you), gam tappenu (also our little ones). (also) even to the first of a series of items.² means also. Hence it does not belong before the first of a series of items. Nevertheless, it is Hebrew style to place gam before the first particular in a series for purposes of emphasis (Weiser). Compare, Rule over us, also (gam) thou, also (gam) thy son, also (gam) thy son’s son (Jud. 8:22).

אזאת עשו. זאת העצה:

1DO THIS. Do according to the following counsel.³ (this) is feminine. The question thus arises, why did Jacob use the feminine zot asu (do this) rather than the masculine zeh asu? I.E.’s solution is that the word zot refers to etzah (council) which is feminine. It should be noted that etzah is not in the Biblical text (Cherez).

במזמרת הארץ. כל דבר משובח מגזרת "זמירות" (ישעי' כד טז):

2OF THE CHOICE FRUITS OF THE LAND. Zimrat (choice fruits) refers to all types of praiseworthy things. It comes from the same root as zemirot (songs) (Is. 24:16).⁴

גצרי ונכאת. כבר פירשתים:

3BALM AND…SPICERY. I have previously explained these terms.⁵

דבטנים. אין אלו ריע במקרא, וי"א אגוזים:

4NUTS. Batenim does not appear elsewhere in Scripture.⁶ Some say it means nuts.

אמשנה. שני:

1DOUBLE. Mishneh means second.⁷

במשגה. משמות בעלי הה"א

2OVERSIGHT. Mishgeh (oversight) is a noun whose third root letter is a heh.⁸.

אוטעם ואל שדי שיש לו כח לעשות כאלה:

1[AND GOD ALMIGHTY.] This phrase means the one who has the power to do all these things.

בכאשר שכלת. במות יוסף, אחשב כי שכלתי מהכל:

2IF I BE BEREAVED. As I was bereaved by the death of Joseph, I think that I will be bereaved of all my children.⁹. The literal translation of the latter is, and as for me, as I was bereaved (shakholti), I was bereaved. I.E. explains that the second shakholti although a perfect, is to be rendered as an imperfect Thus our verse reads, and as for me, as I was bereaved, so will I be (I think I will be, I fear I will be) bereaved. He explains it to mean: as I was bereaved of Joseph, I now fear that I will be bereaved of all my children. Cf. I.E.’s commentary on Es. 4:16.

אלהתגולל. מגזרת בגלל הדבר (דבר' טו י):

1THAT HE MAY SEEK OCCASION AGAINST US. Le-hitgolel (that he may seek occasion) comes from the same root as bi-gelal¹⁰ in that for (bi-gelel) this thing (Deut. 15:10).

בולהתנפל כאדם שיתנפל מעצמו על אחד, ויאמר לו אתה הפלתני:

2AND FALL UPON US. As a man falls intentionally upon another and then says you tripped me.¹¹

אבי. לשון בקשה, ולפי דעתי שהוא דרך קצרה, כמו בי אני אדני העון (ש"א כה כד), וטעם עון במקום הזה, כטעם "גדול עוני מנשוא" (בראשית ד יג) והטעם עשה בי מה שתרצה ותשמעני:

1OH. Bi adoni (Oh, my lord) is a supplicatory expression. I believe it is an abridged statement. It is like, bi ani adoni he-avon (upon me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity) (I Sam. 25:24). Avon (iniquity) here¹² (Filwarg). Or “here” refers to our verse in which the word avon is to be inserted (Weiser). has the same meaning as avon in My iniquity (avoni) is greater than I can bear (Gen. 4:13).¹³ (iniquity) means punishment. Cf. I.E. comments on Gen. 4:13. Thus bi adoni he-avon means, upon my lord be the punishment. The meaning of bi adoni he-avon is, do to me as you wish but first listen to me.

אנתן לכם מטמון. יתכן שהיה לאדם מטמון בביתו ושכחו כאשר שמו באוצר, ויצא בגורלכם כי כספיכם בא אלי:

1HATH GIVEN YOU TREASURE IN YOUR SACKS. It is possible that someone had a treasure in his house, hid it among the wheat in his storehouse and then forgot about it, and it was placed in your sacks by chance.¹⁴ This must be the case because I have your money.

אביתה יוסף. כמשפט הלשון אל בית יוסף:

1INTO JOSEPH’S HOUSE. The heh at the end of betah (into the house of) means to. The latter is Hebrew style.¹⁵ suffixed to a noun has the same meaning as the preposition el (to) placed before it. Hence betah yosef means into Joseph’s house.

אהשלום אביכם הזקן. שם תחת שם התואר והיא דרך קצרה, כאלו אמר השלום לאביכם, וכן "ואתה שלום" (ש"א כה ו):

1IS YOUR FATHER WELL, THE OLD MAN. Our verse has a noun (shalom) in place of an adjective (shalem).¹⁶ (is your father well). I.E. argues that according to the rule of Hebrew grammar the Bible should have read; ha-shalem avikhem and not ha-shalom avikhem since the former means, is your father well (shalem) while the latter means, is your father peace (shalom), an impossible statement. His solution is to suggest that ha-shalom avikhem is short for ha-shalom la avikhem. It is abridged, and should be read as if written, ha-shalom la-avikhem (is your father in peace). Ve-attah shalom (and peace be unto thee) (I Sam. 25:6) is similar.¹⁷. According to I.E. it should have read, ve-attah shalem (and thou art well) since shalem is an adjective while shalom is a noun. Hence here, too, the verse is abridged and should be read as if written ve-attah shalom lekha.

אויקדו. שמו הקדקד בארץ וכבר השתחוו:

1AND THEY BOWED THE HEAD. Va-yikkedu (and they bowed the head) means, and they placed their head to the ground. Thus va-yishtachavu (and made obeisance) means, and they had bowed.¹⁸. I.E. interprets va-yishtachavu as a pluperfect, they had bowed, since the bowing obviously preceded the placing of the head on the ground.

אאלהים יָחְנְך. אין לו משקל אולי השתנה כן בעבור אות הגרון:

1GOD BE GRACIOUS UNTO THEE. Yochnekhah (be gracious unto thee) does not fit into any paradigm.¹⁹. Had it followed the paradigm of Hebrew double ayin roots, it would have been written yechannekha; compare, yechannenu in Ps. 67:2 (Krinsky, Cherez). Perhaps it differs from the usual paradigms because of the chet which is a guttural.²⁰ was transferred from the chet to the yod and the dagesh dropped from the nun (Krinsky).

אכי נכמרו. בערו ויקדו, וכן "עורנו כתנור נכמרו" (איכה ה, י):

1YEARNED. Nikhmeru (yearned) means burned and inflamed, as does nikhmeru (hot) in our skin is hot (nikhmoru) like an oven (Lam. 5:10).

אוישא משאות. דורון:

1AND PORTIONS WERE TAKEN. Masot (portions) means gifts.²¹

בידות. חלקים:

2TIMES. Yadot (times) means portions.

גממשאות כלם. מדורון כל אחד מהם כי רחוק לתת לו חמש ידות על כל חלק וחלק:

3AS ANY OF THEIRS. Benjamin’s gifts were five times as great as the gift of any one of the brothers.²² It is far-fetched to believe that Joseph gave Benjamin five gifts for every gift that he gave to each one of his brothers.²³ (all of them) as meaning, as any of them.