Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 6:18/אבן עזרא על בראשית ו׳:י״ח
אוהקימותי את בריתי לאות שהשם נשבע לו שלא ימות הוא ובניו במבול ואם לא נמצא בתחלה מפורש כאשר מצאנו במשנה התורה "נשלחה אנשים לפנינו" (דברים א כב), ומלת והקמותי שאקיים את שבועתי והקרוב אלי שזאת הברית רמז לקשת וטעם ברית הסכמה ודבר שבחרו שנים, והוא מגזרת ברו לכם איש (ש"א י"ז ח) והמלה בסמוך ובמוכרת שוה וכן שְבִת יעקב (תהלים פ"ה, ב) ובנותיו בשבית (במדבר כא כט), וי"א שברית גבול כרות
1BUT I WILL ESTABLISH MY COVENANT. This indicates, although not previously mentioned, that God had sworn earlier to Noah that he and his children would not die in the flood.65 means I will keep my promise. Hence a promise was already made. We find a similar instance in Deuteronomy, viz., Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us (Deut. 1:22).66 But I will establish means I will keep my oath. However, it appears to me that the covenant alludes to the covenant that would be made at the time God set the rainbow in the sky.67 Covenant means an agreement and a thing which two sides choose. It comes from the same root as beru (choose) in choose (beru) you a man for you (I Sam. 17:8).68 (covenant) comes from the root bet, resh, resh, meaning to choose. The word for covenant (brit) has this form and vocalization both in the absolute and in the construct. We find the same thing with the word shevit (captivity). We thus read, Thou hast turned the captivity of Jacob (shevit Yaakov) (Ps. 85:2), and And his daughters into captivity (ba-shevit) (Num. 21:29). Others say that a brit (covenant) is a cut boundary.69 is an agreement with conditions (boundaries) which cannot be violated. Brit has the letters bet, resh, tav. These letters can be rearranged bet, tav, resh, meaning to cut (see Gen. 15:10) (Weiser). Others say it comes from bara (to cut), the tav taking the place of the ale f (Cherez). According to this opinion brit comes from the word cut and not from choose.