Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ramban · Torah

Ramban on Genesis 40:16/רמב"ן על בראשית מ׳:ט״ז

אכִּי טוֹב פָּתָר אָמַר אוּנְקְלוֹס (תרגום אונקלוס על בראשית מ':ט"ז) כִּי יָפֶה פָּתָר, וְכֵן "טוּב טַעַם וָדַעַת לַמְּדֵנִי" (תהלים קיט סו), וְכֵן "כִּי טוֹבוֹת הֵנָּה" (בראשית ו':ב'), יָפוֹת. וְהַטַּעַם לֵאמֹר כֵּן, כִּי הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה מְבַזֶּה עַל יוֹסֵף, חוֹשֵׁב בּוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יֵדַע לִפְתֹּר אוֹתוֹ לְעוֹלָם, וְלֹא יַגִּיד לוֹ הַחֲלוֹם אִם לֹא בִּרְאוֹתוֹ כִּי פָּתַר לַחֲבֵרוֹ יָפֶה וְכַהֹגֶן. אוֹ יֹאמַר, וַיַּרְא שַׂר הָאֹפִים כִּי לְטוֹבָה פָּתַר לוֹ, וְשָׂמַח וְהִגִּיד חֲלוֹמוֹ שֶׁהָיָה מִצְטַעֵר בּוֹ יוֹתֵר מֵחֲבֵרוֹ:

1THAT THE INTERPRETATION WAS GOOD. Onkelos rendered it that he interpreted it well. A similar use is found in the verses: Teach me fair discernment and knowledge;²⁸¹, 119:66. That they were ‘tovoth’ (fair),²⁸² which means “pretty.” The intent of the verse is to state that this man [the lord of the bakers] had scorned Joseph, thinking of him as not ever knowing how to interpret the dream, and he would never have told him the dream had he not seen that he interpreted for his friend in a fair and proper manner. It may be that the verse is saying: “And the lord of the bakers saw that he gave a favorable interpretation to the lord of the butlers and he rejoiced. He then told him his own dream which had caused him more anguish than that of his friend.”

בסַלֵּי חֹרִי סַלִּים שֶׁל נְצָרִים קְלוּפִים עֲשׂוּיִים חוֹרִים חוֹרִים, זֶה לְשׁוֹן רַשִׁ"י (רש"י על בראשית מ':ט"ז). וְהַגָּאוֹן רַב סְעַדְיָה פֵּרֵשׁ, סַלֵּי לֶחֶם לָבָן כְּלֶחֶם הַמֶּלֶךְ, מִלְּשׁוֹן "וְלֹא עַתָּה פָּנָיו יֶחֱוָרוּ" (ישעיהו כט כב), מִן הָאֲרָמִית שֶׁתֹּאמַר לְלָבָן – חִוָּר. וְהוּא הַנָּכוֹן, כִּי הָיָה בְּכָל הַסַּלִּים מִלֶּחֶם הַמֶּלֶךְ, וּבַסַּל הָעֶלְיוֹן מִכָּל מִינֵי מַאֲכַל פַּרְעֹה שֶׁהָיָה מַעֲשֵׂה אוֹפֶה. וּלְשׁוֹן רַבּוֹתֵינוּ בַּמִּשְׁנָה (ביצה ב ו), פִּתִּין גְּרִיצִים וְחִוָּרֵי. וְאָמְרוּ בַּיְּרוּשַׁלְמִי (שם), רַבָּנִין שָׁמְעִין לָהּ מִן הָדָא, "וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה סַלֵּי חֹרִי עַל רֹאשִׁי":

2BASKETS OF ‘CHORI.’”Baskets made of peeled willows, made so that they have many holes.” This is Rashi’s language.Rav Saadia Gaon²⁸³ interpreted it as “baskets of white bread,” white as befits the king’s bread, with the word chori being derived from the Hebrew, Neither shall his face now wax white (‘yechvaru’),²⁸⁴ as well as from the Aramaic where the word chivar means “white.” This is the correct interpretation, for all the baskets in the dream contained the king’s bread, and in the uppermost basket there were all manner of baked goods for Pharaoh.You find it similarly in the language of our Rabbis in the Mishnah:²⁸⁵ “Large loaves and white cakes (v’chivri) [may be baked on a Festival Day].” And in the Jerusalem Talmud on this Mishnah: “The Rabbis [in discussing the permissibleness of baking extra fine white breads on the Festival Day even though they require more work than ordinary bread] derived the meaning of chori from this verse: And, behold, I had three baskets of ‘chori’ on my head. “²⁸⁶ in the verse and chivri in the Mishnah were considered by the Rabbis of the Talmud as identical. For just as in the case of the king’s bread it means “large and white,” as befits such bread, so does it have a similar meaning in the Mishnah. It is thus obvious that the Rabbis understood the word chori, as did Rav Saadia Gaon, to mean “white.”Mikeitz