Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 50:26/אבן עזרא על בראשית נ׳:כ״ו
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.