Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 5/אבן עזרא על בראשית ה׳
אזה ספר תולדות אדם. הבנים ובני בנים שהוליד, רק הוא לא הולידוהו אב ואם, רק בדמות אלהים נעשה
1THIS IS THE BOOK OF THE GENERATIONS OF ADAM. The children and grandchildren that he begot.1 (generations) comes from the root yod, lamed, dalet. In the hifil it means to give birth to. Adam and only Adam had no human parents, for he was created by God in the likeness of God.2 (Adam) indicates that in contrast to his descendants Adam had no human parents but was created directly by God.
אומה טעם להזכיר ויולד בדמותו כצלמו, שנתן בו השם כח תולדות להוציא דמותו עד שידמה מעשהו לעליון ולא הזכיר כן על קין והבל, גם לא הזכיר כמה שנים היה קין וכן כמה שנים היה כשהוליד בנו חנוך בעבור שנמחה שם הבל גם קין במבול והזכיר הריגת קין להראות צדקת השם, ואם האריך אפו הענישו בסוף כטעם ונקה לא ינקה (שמות לד ז):
1Scripture notes that Adam begat a son in his own likeness, after his image (v. 3)3 to teach us that God implanted in Adam the power to reproduce his God like image so that his work would be like that of God.4 Scripture does not say the same with regard to Cain and Abel, nor does it state how long Cain lived or how old Cain was when he begot his son Enoch. It omits the above clause because the former was murdered and the latter’s descendants perished in the deluge.5 The Torah tells the story of the murderer Cain to stress God’s righteousness. God was long-suffering with Cain but he ultimately punished him. This is in keeping with and that (God) will by no means clear the guilty (Ex. 34:7).
אחנוך בן ירד. נכתב עליו "ויתהלך חנוך את האלהים" כטעם "אחרי ד' אלהיכם תלכו" (דבר' יג ה), וכן כתוב על נח "את האלהים התהלך נח" (בראשית ו ט) וי"מ "התהלך נח" כמו הרגיל:
1ENOCH. Son of Jared. Scripture says about Enoch, And Enoch walked with God. The meaning of this is the same as the meaning of After the Lord your God shall ye walk (Deut. 13:5).6 The same thing is stated concerning Noah, namely, Noah walked with God (Gen. 6:9). Others say that Noah walked with God means he trained himself to walk with God.7) is in the hitpa’el. The latter is a reflexive; thus hithal’ekh means he made himself walk; i.e., he trained himself to walk. These commentaries say the same with regard to Enoch (I.E.’s fragmentary commentary on Genesis).
אואיננו. כי לקח אותו אלהים. מת וכן "קח נא את נפשי" (יונה ד ג) "הנני לוקח ממך את מחמד עיניך" (יחז' כד טז) ואח"כ פי' מה היה "ותמת אשתו" וזאת הלקיחה על חנוך אין שם זכר מגפה, ולא וימת, והטעם אשר כתוב בדברי אסף (תהלים עג כד) "ואחר כבוד תקחני" וכן במזמור בני קרח (שם מט טז) "אך אלהים יפדה נפשי מיד שאול כי יקחני סלה" והמשכיל יבין:
1AND HE WAS NOT; FOR GOD TOOK HIM. That is, he died. So, too, take, I beseech Thee, my life from me (Jonah 4:3). Scripture similarly states, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes (Ezek. 24:16) and then explains its meaning, namely, his wife died (Ezek. 24:18). The Bible does not state with regard to Enoch’s being taken that Enoch died, nor is there any reference to a plague causing his death. The meaning of took him in our verse is similar to take me in the psalm of Asaph, And afterward take me with glory (Ps. 73:24), and He shall take me, in the psalm of the sons of Korach, But God will redeem my soul from the power of the netherworld; For He shall take me (Ps. 49:16). The intelligent will understand this.8
אוטעם זה ינחמנו ממעשינו. שידע על ידי אדם כי נביא היה כי על יד זה הנולד תחיה האדמה או ראו זה בדרך חכמה, וכן היה כי על ידו נתקיים העולם גם הוא היה איש האדמה כי כן כתוב, גם יתכן שנקרא שמו נח כמו ירובעל אחר שעבד האדמה והצליחה ונח הפך העצבון "והטעם זה ינחמנו וננוח מעצבון ידינו", גם נחמה מנוחה מעצבון הלב, כי העברים ישמרו הטעמים ולא המלות, והעד ירבשת וירבעל, והשואלים מי היה אשת קין ושת, מה טעם לשאלה הזאת, כי כתוב באדם ויולד בנים ובנות וכן כולם:
1[THIS SAME SHALL COMFORT US.] Lamech was informed by Adam, who was a prophet, that through his newborn child the land would live. Or perhaps they learned the aforementioned through astrology. And so it was, for it was through Noah that the world was preserved. Furthermore, Noah was, as the Bible explicitly states, an expert in agriculture (Gen. 9:20).9 (a husbandman). Cf. his comments on Gen. 9:20. Krinsky explains that Noah introduced agricultural implements and other advances in working the soil. This is an additional example of Noah giving “life” to the land It is also possible that he got this name after10 his agricultural successes. We find the same with Jerubbaal.11 Noah (rest) is the opposite of toil (etzavon). The meaning of our verse is, this one will comfort us and we will rest (nanu’ach) from the toil of our hands. Moreover, comfort is a relaxation of the heart’s pain.12. However, if this was the case he should have named his son Menachem or Nahum which comes from the root nun, chet, mem, meaning to comfort. Noah comes from the root nun, vav, chet, meaning rest, hence I.E.’s comment that he was called Noah because comfort and rest are related. The Hebrews are more concerned with the idea expressed by a word than with its etymology. Proof of the above is the fact that Jerubbaal is referred to as Jerubbesheth.13 is Hebrew for shame. This was an undignified way of referring to Baal. Nevertheless, Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth express the same idea. In the same way Noah expresses the same idea as Menachem. Those who ask whom Cain and Seth married raise a worthless question. Scripture tells us that Adam begot sons and daughters. The same is true of all of them.14