RASHIS COVERED: Gn33-02a -- Order in Biblical lists
Gn33-03a Nu36-11a Nu27-01b

VERY BRIEF SUMMARY

One of Rashis 6 main goals is to explain grammar One issue of
grammar is the order in which compound sentence components should
be listed. The general rules are that
- if the Bible uses different orders all items are equal
(eg Abraham Isaac Jacob vs Jacob Isaac Abraham--there all same)
- if the Bible always uses the same order it reflects importance
(eg Moses Aaron indicates Moses had higher prophecy than Aaron)
- Special cases arise: Eg Gn33-02: Jacobs favorite wives were
placed in the least vulnerable position; Jacob went first to
protect them (The same way Israeli generals go out first)

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TODAYS RASHI RULE:         GRAMMARr
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE:      COMPOUND ORDER
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STANDARD REFERENCES FOR TODAYS RULE

The RashiYomi grammar page: http://www.Rashiyomi.com/grammar.htm
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/h3n1.htm (Previous posting on order)

TODAYS LIST

Gn33-01:02 shows how Jacob arranged his wives and himself when
meeting Esauv. Jacob was clearly afraid of Esauv so those people
placed first were the most vulnerable. It is easy to see that
the wives that Jacob liked the most were placed in the least
vulnerable place (2nd part of list).

This leaves the question as to why Jacob went first vs last(after
all he should have stayed in back to protect himself). Rashi
suggests a 2 dimensional model of order: Jacob exposed himself
rather than endanger the others. (Israeli Generals act similarly
in battle).

LISTS showing that EQUALITY is reflected by LISTING
in different orders is presented below.

RULE: If a compound sentence item is listed in different orders
then the Bible thinks they are each important. Thus the
3 Patriarchs are listed in different ordres and hence are equally
important.

The DIFFERENT orders reflect the fact that all 5 daughters were
EQUALLY important. Each had their own skills.