Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 7:11/אבן עזרא על בראשית ז׳:י״א
אנבקעו כל מעינות תהום רבה. מעינות סמוך "באין מעינות" (משלי ח, כד) מוכרת:
1WERE ALL THE FOUNTAINS OF THE GREAT DEEP BROKEN UP. Mayenot (fountains of) is in the construct. In When there were no fountains (mayanot) (Prov. 8:24), mayanot is in the absolute.8 in our verse has a sheva beneath the yod. Mayanot in Prov. 8:24 has a kamatz beneath the yod.
בתהום. לשון זכר ונקבה וכן תהום רוממתהו (יחז' לא ד), ולא הזכיר הנחלים כי מהמעינות יצאו, וכאשר נבקעו עלו המים, ונפתהו חלונות האוצרות בשמים, וירדו המים ונתבלבלה הארץ, ואין מבדיל בין יום ובין לילה והעד שאמר "יום ולילה לא ישבותו" (בראשית ח כב) וכאשר נפסקו מימי השמים אז ידע נח כי עברו ארבעים יום וארבעים לילה כי השם גילה לו זה הסוד:
2DEEP. The word tehom (deep) may be either masculine or feminine.9 in our verse is in the feminine (tehom rabbah). Elsewhere (Habakkuk 3:10) natan tehom kolo is in the masculine, hence I.E.’s comment. Similarly tehom in The deep (tehom) made it grow (Ezek. 31:4), is in the feminine. The Bible does not mention the streams because their waters come from the fountains. When the fountains of the deep broke up, their waters gushed upward and the windows of the heavenly storehouse of water were opened and their contents poured down upon the earth. The earth was confounded; there was no way of telling day from night. Proof of the latter is God’s promise to Noah after the flood that and day and night shall not cease (Gen. 8:22). When the rain ceased falling from the heavens, Noah knew that forty days and forty nights had passed, for God revealed to him this secret.10
גוארבות. כמו "הנה ד' עושה ארבות" (מ"ב, ז, ב) והאוצר והחלון כלשון בני אדם ומשפטם ויש אומר שהאל"ף שרש כמו כבודות וי"א שהאל"ף נוסף כמו אלף "אגורת" (ש"א ב לו) והם מפעלי הכפל, וביום י"ז שהחל המבול נכנס נח וביתו בתיבה והכניס בתוכה החיה והבהמה והרמש והעוף ומלת צפור. שם כלל לאשר יש לו כנף והפלא שבאו כולם מעצמם שנים שנים:
3AND THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN. The word arubbot (windows) has the same meaning as arubbot (window) in Behold, if the Lord should make windows (arubbot) in heaven (II Kings 7:2). The term window or storehouse (Deut. 28:12) when referring to heaven is in keeping with human language and practice.11 Some say that the alef of arubbot (windows) is a root letter12. and that arubbot is similar to kevudot (riches).13, in our case a chataf pattach because of the alef, and the second with a shuruk or a kubbutz. Others say that the alef of arubbot is not a root letter. It is similar to the alef in agorat (piece of) (I Sam. 2:36).14 (a piece) comes from the root gimel, resh, resh. The alef is added to the root. Similarly arubbot (windows) comes from the root resh, bet, bet. Both arubbot and agorat come from roots whose last two letters are the same.15 On the seventeenth day of the second month, the day the flood started, Noah and his family entered the ark. At that time Noah brought into the ark the animals, cattle and the creeping things and fowl. Bird is a general term for a winged creature.16), all wings (kol kanaf). I.E. notes that kol kanaf explains kol tzippor; i.e., a tzippor is a being with a kanaf (Weiser). The great miracle was that they all came two by two of their own volition.