Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Numbers 32:5/אבן עזרא על במדבר ל״ב:ה׳

אויאמרו יותן. אמר ויאמרו פעם אחרת בעבור שארכו הדברים י"א כי את הוא פעול יותן ולא אדע למה זה כי הנה כתוב נעתם ארץ. יחלק הארץ ולא נשא אותם הארץ אשר הוא בא שמה בקרבו:

1AND THEY SAID…LET THIS LAND BE GIVEN. Scripture repeats, and they said because they spoke at length.³). Our verse reads, va-yomeru (and they said). The latter is superfluous. Hence I.E.’s comment. Some say that the word et is the object of yuttan (be given).⁴ (let…[the] land be given). Now eretz is feminine. Thus our verse should read, tuttan et ha-aretz. Hence this opinion. I do not know why.⁵ Look, Scripture reads: netam eretz⁶ is masculine. We thus see that Scripture at times treats eretz as masculine. (the land is burnt up) (Is. 9:18); yechalek ha-aretz⁷ is masculine. (the land shall be divided) (Num. 26:55);⁸. I.E. omits the et in his quote. ve-lo nasa otom ha-aretz⁹ is masculine. (and the land was not able to bear them) (Gen. 13:6); and asher hu va shammah be-kirbo¹⁰ is masculine and refers to the land previously mentioned in the verse. See I.E. on Deut. 31:16. (whither they go to be among them) (Deut. 31:16).