Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Numbers 11:1/אבן עזרא על במדבר י״א:א׳
אויהי העם. נסמכה זו הפרשה כי אחר שנסע הארון מהר סיני חנו בקברות התאוה והנה ספר מה שאירע שם:
1AND THE PEOPLE. This chapter is connected to the one before,1 because the Israelites camped in kibroth-hatta’avah2, the name of the place as quoted in verse 3. See I.E. on Num. 10:31. after the ark journeyed from Sinai. Scripture now tells what happened there.3.
בכמתאוננים. מגזרת און וכן מחשבות אונך:
2AS MURMURERS. Mitonenim (murmurers) is related to the word aven (evil).4. Onekh (evil) in thy evil (onekh) thoughts (Jer. 4:14) is similar.5 (and the people were as murmurers) as: and the people uttered evil words.
גוטעם וישמע ה'. שדברו דברי און:
3[AND WHEN THE LORD HEARD.] The meaning of when the Lord heard is, and when the Lord heard that they spoke evil.
דותאכל. מלעיל כמו ויאמר ובמוכרח מלרע הפך הלשון רק כן מצאנו:
4AND DEVOURED. Va-tokhal (and devoured) is penultimately accented. Compare, va-yomer (and he said) (Gen. 14:19).6 However, when it ends a clause,7) or at the end of a verse (sof pasuk). then it is ultimately accented. The latter is contrary to the laws of Hebrew grammar,8 but we find it to be so.