Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Numbers 34/אבן עזרא על במדבר ל״ד

אאל הארץ כנען. כמו והנבואה עודד הנביא הנבואה נבואת עודד הנביא והטעם אל הארץ. ארץ כנען:

1INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN. Ha-aretz kena’an (the land of Canaan) is similar to ve-hanevu’ah oded ha-navi (even the prophecy of Oded the prophet) (II Chron. 15:8), the meaning of which is, the prophecy, prophecy of Oded the prophet. The meaning of our clause is, the land, land of Canaan.¹ has the definite article prefixed to it. According to the rules of Hebrew grammar, a word with the definite article cannot be in the construct. The literal meaning of ha-aretz kena’an (the land of Canaan) thus is, the land Canaan. Hence I.E.’s comment that our verse be read as if written, ha-aretz, eretz kena’an. Ve-hanevu’ah oded ha-navi (even the prophecy of Oded the prophet) (II Chron. 15:8) is, for similar reasons, to be read, ve-hanevu’ah nevu’at oded ha-navi. See I.E. on Gen. 2:9 (Vol. 1, p. 54).

אעל ידי אדום. מקום כמו על יד הירדן:

1BY THE SIDE OF EDOM. The word yede² (side of) means place of. Compare, by the side of (yad)³ the Jordan (Num. 13:29).

אנחלה מצרים. אל נחל מצרים ואיננו היאור:

1UNTO THE BROOK OF EGYPT. Nachlah mitzrayim means unto the brook of Egypt.⁴ suffixed to nachlah is in place of the preposition el (unto). It does not refer to the Nile.

אהים הגדול. הספרדי והטעם גבול מערב נחלתכם והיה הים הגדול והוא הגבול בעצמו:

1THE GREAT SEA. The Spanish sea.⁵ The meaning of our verse is: And the Great Sea shall be your western border.⁶. This should be rendered, and for the western border not, and the sea. The word yam can mean either the sea or the west. Hence I.E.’s comment. The Great Sea itself shall serve as the border.⁷

אואל"ף והתאויתם. תחת וי"ו והתוית תיו ואם הם ב' בנינים:

1AND YE SHALL MARK OUT. The alef in ve-hitavvitem (and ye shall mark out) is in place of a vav.⁸. 38 reads, in place of a tav. The root of ve-hitavvitem appears to be alef, vav, heh. This root means to desire. And you shall desire appears out of place here. Hence I.E.’s suggestion that ve-hitavvitem comes from the root tav, vav, heh, which means to mark out. And you shall mark out fits in well within the context of our verse. Compare, ve-hitvita⁹. tav (and set a mark) (Ezek. 9:4). This is so, even though the forms differ.¹⁰ is in the hitpa’el while ve-hitvita is a hif’il.

בוהתאויתם. כמו עד תאות גבעות עולם:

2AND YE SHALL MARK OUT. Ve-hitavvitem (and ye shall mark out) is similar to the word ta’avat (utmost bound) in Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills (Gen. 49:26).¹¹

אומחה. כאשר אמרו קדמונינו תבירתא מגזרת ימחאו כף:

1AND SHALL STRIKE. The word machah (strike) is to be interpreted as the ancients did. It means it shall break.¹² It is related to the word yimcha’u (clap) in Let the floods clap their hands (Ps. 98:8).

אשני המטות. פעם שנית לבאר מקום נחלתם:

1THE TWO TRIBES. Scripture mentions this a second time¹³ in order to explain the place of their inheritance.¹⁴

אינחלו. פעל יוצא לשנים פעולים וכן ונחלתנו על דעת המדקדקים:

1SHALL TAKE POSSESSION. Yinchalu (shall take possession) is a causative.¹⁵. According to I. E. the word yinchalu here should be rendered, shall cause you to take possession, rather than shall take possession. The same applies to the word u-nechaltanu (and take us for Thine inheritance) (Ex. 34:9)¹⁶ (and take us for Thine inheritance) should be rendered, you will cause us to inherit. See I.E.’s short commentary on Ex. 34:9. in the opinion of the grammarians.

באלעזר. ראשונה כי על פיו יצא יהושע גם הוא בן אהרן. ולא הזכיר נשיא לבני ראובן וגד כי כבר לקחו חלקם והמפרשים אמרו כי החל מיהודה כאשר יצא הגורל בתחלה רק יש טענה גדולה עליהם אף על פי שהפירוש נכון יהיה נראה לפי דעתינו:

2ELEAZAR. He is mentioned first¹⁷ because Joshua went out by his command. Furthermore, Eleazar was also the son of Aaron. Scripture does not mention the princes of the tribes of Reuben or Gad,¹⁸ for they¹⁹ had already taken their share. The commentaries say that Scripture starts²⁰ with Judah,²¹ for that is the way the lot came out at first.²² However, there is a great argument against them.²³ Nevertheless, the comments appear correct to us.²⁴

אפדהאל. אם נעלם הה"א הם שתי מלות שוות בטעם כי הה"א איננה מהאותיות המשך:

1PEDAHEL. If the heh in Pedahel is silent then we have two words each with its own meaning,²⁵ is silent only when it comes at the end of a word. It is not silent when it comes in the middle of a word. Since the heh in the name Pedahel is silent we must interpret it as two words, padah el (God redeemed). I.E.’s point is that while many of the Hebrew names containing God’s name are partially abbreviated, this is not the case with Pedahel. for the heh is not an implied letter.²⁶