Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 50/אבן עזרא על בראשית נ׳

אויחנטו. כדמות אבק, ויתכן רק על דרך רחוקה מעט להיות כמוה "התאנה חנטה פגיה" (שה"ש ב, יג):

1AND THE PHYSICIANS EMBALMED ISRAEL. They powdered his body with a preservative.¹ It is possible, though a bit far fetched, that chanetah (putteth forth) in The fig-tree putteth forth (chanetah) her green figs (Cant. 2:13) is analogous to va-yechantu (embalmed).² means sweetened. Others say it means powdered, from the word va-yechantu.”

אאשר כריתי. חפרתי כמו "כי יכרה איש" (שמות כא לג):

1WHICH I HAVE DIGGED. Kariti means I have digged. Kariti is similar to yikhreh in if a man shall dig (yikhreh) a pit (Ex. 21:33).³

אויעלו אתו כל עבדי פרעה. כל אנשי מצרים לבד מיוסף עבדי פרעה יקראו:

1AND WITH HIM WENT UP ALL THE SERVANTS OF PHARAOH. All of Egypt with the exception of Joseph are called servants of Pharaoh.⁴. If the aforementioned are elders, why does the Bible refer to them as servants? Hence I.E.’s comment. According to Cherez and Krinsky, I.E. was troubled by the clause all the servants of Pharaoh. If all the servants went along with Joseph to bury Jacob then no servants remained in Egypt to serve Pharaoh. This appears highly unlikely. Hence I.E. points out that all the servants refers to the Egyptians who accompanied Jacob’s body, for all the Egyptians are called Pharaoh’s servants.

ארכב כמו מרכבת:

1[CHARIOTS. The word rechev (chariot) is similar in meaning to mirkevet (chariot).⁵ (the second chariot). This comment is omitted in some editions of the Mikraot Gedolot.

בפרשים. ידועים:

2HORSEMEN. The meaning of parashim (horsemen) is well-known.]

אויעש לאביו אבל. אחר שקברוהו כאשר אמרו קדמונינו ז"ל:

1AND HE MADE A MOURNING FOR HIS FATHER SEVEN DAYS. This, as our sages of blessed memory say, took place after they interred Jacob.⁶. This is so because the sages of the talmud say that mourning commences after the burial of the deceased. Cf. Sanhedrin. 47b.

אויעשו בניו. פי', והנה עשו בניו כאשר צום שנשאוהו וקברוהו במקום שצום:

1AND HIS SONS DID UNTO HIM. That is: And behold his sons did as he commanded them, namely, carried him and buried him in the place that he commanded them to inter him.⁷, etc., as a report of what happened after the mourning for Jacob. It is rather a report of what Jacob’s sons did for their father.

אלו ישטמנו. שמא יטור לנו איבה, כמו "וישטום עשו" (בראשית כז מא) ויש לו במקרא על דרכים רבים:

1IT MAY BE THAT JOSEPH WILL HATE US. Perhaps Joseph will harbor a hatred for us. Yistemenu (will hate us) is analogous to va-yistom in And Esau hated (va-yistom) Jacob (Gen. 27:41).⁸ The word lu (it may be) is used in Scripture in many ways.⁹ is sometimes used to denote a request, or to denote, would that…lu is also used to denote if and perhaps…and lu is also sometimes used to denote it may be.”

אאנא. לשון פיוס

1I PRAY THEE. Anna (I pray thee) is a conciliatory expression.

אויאמר הגאון כי התחת אלהים אני, כאילו אני במקום אלהים שנפלתם לפני ותאמרו אנחנו עבדיך:

1[FOR AM I IN THE PLACE OF GOD.] Saadiah Gaon explains this as meaning: am I in the place of God that you fall before my face and say, Behold, we are thy bondmen?

אלמען עשה. שם הפועל:

1TO PASS. Aso (to pass) is an infinitive.¹⁰, hence I.E.’s comment.

אבני שלשים. בעבור היות מלת בני סמוכה הנה יהי' הבנים רבעים:

1CHILDREN OF THE THIRD GENERATION. In view of the fact that bene (children of) is in the construct with shilleshim (third), the children referred to are the fourth generation.¹¹

בילדו. גדלו:

2WERE BORN. Yulledu (were born) means grew up.¹²

אויחנטו אותו. הרופאים:

1AND THEY EMBALMED HIM. The physicians.¹³

בויישם בארון. שם אותו אחד, והנה השרש "ישם", על משקל "וייצר" (בראשית ב ז), ויאמר ר' יונה המדקדק כי החירק תחת שורק והוא רחוק בעיני

2AND HE WAS PUT IN A COFFIN. Someone put him in a coffin.¹⁴ is a kal which means, and he put However, the subject has been omitted. Hence we must interpret it as, and someone put. Similarly the word oto (him) is to be added to the text Hence va-yisem ba-aron should be rendered, and someone put him in a coffin. The root of va-yisem is yod, sin, mem and follows the paradigm of va-yitzer (formed) (Gen. 2:7).¹⁵ is a peh yod, kal. So is va-yisem. However, Rabbi Jonah, the grammarian, says that va-yisem is vocalized with a chirik in place of a shuruk.¹⁶ is a hofal from the root yod, sin, mem meaning, and he was put. However, if va-yisem was a hofal it would have been vocalized va-yusam. Hence Rabbi Jonah says that va-yisem has been vocalized with a chirik in place of a shuruk. According to Rabbi Jonah va-yisem ba-aron is to be rendered: and he was put in a coffin. The advantage of this interpretation is that one does not have to add the pronoun oto (him) to the text and the subject is not omitted from the verse. However, I consider this interpretation to be far-fetched.¹⁷, it would have vocalized va-yisem like a hofal. In his Sefer Ha-Tzachot I.E. sharply criticizes Ibn Janach for suggesting that Biblical words be read other than as written. I.E. writes, “Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul not to believe the words of the grammarian (Ibn Janach) who noted in his book (Sefer Ha-Rikmah) more than a hundred (Biblical) words that require change…Heaven forbid such a notion…his book is fit to be burned.”

גוטעם בארון בקמצות הבי"ת הוא שהכין לנפשו:

3[IN A COFFIN.] The reason why ba-aron (in a coffin) is vocalized with a kamatz is that it signifies the coffin which he had prepared for himself. ¹⁸ means in a coffin. Ba-aron on the other hand means in the coffin. Hence our verse must be referring to a specific coffin, i.e., to the coffin that Joseph prepared for himself.