Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 47:21/אבן עזרא על בראשית מ״ז:כ״א
אואת העם העביר. העתיק כל אחד ממקומו, וי"א כי על אנשי כרך מצרים דבר הכתוב שהעבירם מהמדינה לערים כדי לעבוד את האדמה:
1AND AS FOR THE PEOPLE, HE REMOVED THEM. He uprooted each and every Egyptian from his place.17 (And as for the people, he removed them city by city). Am (people) is a plural. Oto (him) is a singular, hence I.E.’s interpretation (Krinsky). This is the way I.E. explains the combination of singulars and plurals. Some say that Scripture speaks of the people of Egypt’s main city. Joseph removed them from the capital to villages so that they would till the soil.18 literally means: And as for the people, he removed them to the cities, hence I.E.’s second interpretation.