Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 6:3/אבן עזרא על בראשית ו׳:ג׳

אלא ידון רוחי. יש אומר שהוא כמו וישב חרבו אל נדנה (דה"א כא כז) כי הגוף לרוח כנדן והעד איתכרית רוחי (דניאל ז טו), רק יהיה ידון שרש אחר כמו "אם יעלה לשמים שיאו" (איוב כ ו) שהוא מנחי העץ וכמוהו נשא ורבים אחרים, וי"א שמשקלו כמו "וישב העפר" (קהלת יב ז) והוא מגזרת דין כי הרוח דיין בגוף:

1MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT ABIDE. Some say that yadon (shall abide) is like the word nedanah (sheath thereof), as in and he put up his sword back into the sheath thereof (nedanah) (I Chron. 21:27), for the body serves as a sheath for the spirit.⁵ Proof of this is found in my spirit was pained in the midst of my body (nidneh) (Dan. 7:15). Nevertheless, nadan and yadon come from different roots.⁶ (shall abide) comes from the root dalet, vav, nun. Nadan comes from the root nun, dalet, nun. We find the same with the words nasah (lifted) and si’o (his excellency). We read, Though his excellency (si’o) mount up to the heavens (Job 20:6). The root of si’o is sin, vav, alef. Nevertheless, a word derived from nasah (lifted) (whose root is nun, sin, alef) would have a similar meaning. There are many examples of this. Others say that yadon follows the paradigm of ve-yashov (returneth), as in And the dust returneth (ve-yashov) to the earth as it was (Eccles. 12:7).⁷ is usually vocalized with a shuruk, as in yakum (he will arise). Yadon is vocalized with a cholam. I.E. points out that the same is true with returneth. It, too, is vocalized ve-yashov, rather than ve-yashuv. Ve-yashov comes from the root shin, vav, bet. It, too, is an ayin, vav. They say that yadon comes from the same root as din (to judge) because the spirit judges the body.⁸) ultimately determines how man will act. God said that this “judge” will not remain united with the body; i.e., man would die. Krinsky explains it differently. He says the meaning of the verse is: my spirit (the spirit which I placed in man) will not judge man; i.e., man follows his evil inclinations. He acts without discernment. He follows the way of the flesh rather than that of the spirit. It appears that he will continually do so, therefore… Cherez explains, God’s spirit judges man. The meaning of the verse is: my spirit will not judge men forever; i.e., I have decided on their punishment.

בבשגם. השי"ן כמו שככה ויהיה טעמו לא יעמד רוחי, שמאתו היתה וכן קהלת אמר "והרוח תשוב אל האלהים אשר נתנה" (קהלת יב ז), רק רוח האדם לבדו בעבור זה החמס ועוד בעבור שהאדם בשר והוא יגיע עד עת ויחסר כאשר ינצח העשוי לעושה,

2FOR THAT HE IS ALSO. In the word be-shaggam (for that also) the shin placed before gam (also) has the same meaning as the shin placed before kakhah (thus).⁹ of be-shaggam is a particle of relation, short for asher. In other words, there is no such word as shaggam. I.E. makes this point because the shin which means that is usually vocalized with a segol, while the shin of shaggam is vocalized with a pattach. The term My spirit refers to God’s spirit, for man’s spirit comes from God. Similarly, And the spirit returneth unto God who gave it (Eccles. 12:7). The spirit spoken of by Ecclesiastes refers only to the spirit in man. The meaning of the verse is: My spirit shall not abide in man because of his violent ways and because he is (be-shaggem) made of flesh, grows until he achieves maturity, and then due to his sexual activity begins his decline.¹⁰

גוהיו ימיו י"א שזה קצב כל האדם ואם מצאנו יותר כן, מצאנו מעט, רק על הרוב ידבר, ואין זה אמת, כי הנה שם חיה שש מאות, וכל הדורות אחריו חיו שנים רבות ובימי פלג חסרו השנים ומימות דוד עד היום שבעים או שמונים שנה והאמת מה שאמר המתרגם ארמית שנתן קץ לאדם כטעם עוד ארבעים יום (יונה ג ד) ואם ישובו ימלטו, ואם לא ישובו וימותו, ואל תשים לבך אל מספר "ויהי נח בן חמש מאות שנה" (בראשית ה לב) כי אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה והנח כתוב "וימת תרח בחרן" (בראשית יא לב) ואחריו ויאמר ד' אל אברם לך לך מארצך (שם יב א) ואנחנו נדע כי לא מת תרח עד שהי' יצחק בן ל"ה שנה ורבים כמוהו:

3THEREFORE SHALL HIS DAYS BE A HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS. Some explain that this refers to man’s life span.¹¹ If we find some living longer than this,¹² they are but a few. Our verse speaks of most people. However, this interpretation is not correct. Behold, Shem lived for six hundred years. Also, the generations that followed him lived many, many years beyond a hundred and twenty. It was only in the days of Peleg (Gen. 10:25) that the life span was shortened. From the days of King David onward it has been limited to seventy or eighty years. The correct meaning of therefore shall his days be a hundred and twenty years is as Onkelos explained, namely, that God set a time for mankind to repent. We see the same idea in Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown (Jonah 3:4). God gave them one hundred and twenty years in which to repent and save themselves, or to remain unrepentant and perish. Scripture’s statement, And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham and Japheth (Gen. 5:32), should not disturb you,¹³ because the Bible is not in chronological sequence.¹⁴ Note, the Torah states, and Terah died in Haran (Gen. 11:32), then goes on to say, Now the Lord said unto Abram: Get thee out of thy country (Gen. 12:1). However, we know that Terah did not die until Isaac was thirty-five years old.¹⁵ There are many other similar instances in Scripture.