Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 26:26/אבן עזרא על ויקרא כ״ו:כ״ו
אבשברי. שם הפעל ובא שבור כמו בשכבה ובקומה וטעם השבר בעבור מטה לחם והוא דרך משל ובישעיה משען לחם כי הלחם לבב אנוש יסעד:
1WHEN I BREAK. Shivri (I break) is an infinitive. It is vocalized with a chirik.94. Compare, shikhvah (she lay down) in when she lay down, nor when she arose (Gen. 19:33).95 rather than with a small kamatz. The Torah employs the term break because it speaks of the staff of bread.96 The latter is a metaphor. We find that Isaiah employs the phrase stay97 (a staff). of bread (Is.3:1), for bread stays man’s heart (Ps. 104:15).
בעשר נשים. כי הוא סך חשבון כי מנהג ישראל היה לאפות כל בית תנור לעצמו שיאכלו כל השבוע ומערכ׳ השבת תוכיח:
2TEN WOMEN. Scripture says ten women, for ten is the last of the numbers.98. It is the last of the single numbers. See I.E. on verse 6. It was the custom of Israel for each family to bake99 one oven full of bread for them to eat for the entire week.100 The arrangement of the Sabbath bread101. is proof of this.102
גוהשיבו לחמכם במשקל. בעבור שהיא מעט:
3AND THEY SHALL DELIVER YOUR BREAD AGAIN BY WEIGHT. For it will consist of a small amount.103
דואכלתם ולא תשבעו. יש רעב וישבע האוכל ממעט ואתם מאוכל הרבה לא ישבעו:
4AND YE SHALL EAT, AND NOT BE SATISFIED. There are hungry people who are satisfied by eating a little amount of food. However, you will not be satisfied from eating much food.104