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      3. RASHI METHOD: GRAMMAR
      BRIEF EXPLANATION: Rashi explains verses using grammar principles, that is, rules which relate reproducable word form to word meaning. Grammatical rules neatly fall into 3 categories
      • (a) the rules governing conjugation of individual words,Biblical roots,
      • (b) the rules governing collections of words,clauses, sentences
      • (c) miscellaneous grammatical, or form-meaning, rules.
      This examples applies to Rashis Ex18-07a,Ex18-07b,Ex18-12c
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w33n9.htm
      Brief Summary: MOSES went out to Jethro,HE bowed, HE kissed him...JETHRO took sacrifices, AARON/ELDERS came to eat with JETHRO

Todays example combines the formatting and grammar rules.

Two familiar functions of grammar in all languages are pronoun reference and plurality.

Hebrew is more flexible than English in pronoun reference. However Hebrew frequently follows the rule in all languages that a pronoun refers to the last mentioned person.

We have explained in our article Biblical Formatting located on the world wide web at http://www.Rashiyomi.com/biblicalformatting.pdf, that the Biblical Author indicates bold, italics, underline by using repetition. In other words if a modern author wanted to emphasize a word they would either underline, bold or italicize it. However when the Biblical author wishes to emphasize a word He repeats it. The effect - whether thru repetition or using underline - is the same. It is only the means of conveying this emphasis that is different.

Armed with these two rules we review the subjects in the various verselets in Ex18-07:12.

Verse Subject Brief summary of text Repetition? Who did it?
Ex18-07 Moses Went out to greet his father-in-law Moses
Ex18-07 He Bowed Moses Bowed (Pronoun refers to last mentioned person)
Ex18-07 He Kissed him Moses
Ex18-07 They Asked each other how they were Moses and Yithro
Ex18-08 Moses Told the story of the exodus Yes: See below for an explanation.. Moses alone told the stories without any further briefing from his staff(Aaron and Elders) Moses
Ex18-09 Yithro Rejoiced on Exodus Yithro
Ex18-10:11 Yithro Blessed God for saving Jews Yes: See below for an explanation. Yithro alone praised God. (Staff gave respect by allowing him to take the lead) Yithro
Ex18-12 Yithro Took/Offered sacrifices Yithro
Aaron and elders Came to eat with Yithro Yes: See below for an explanation. Rashi explains that Aaron and elders ate only with Yithro. Moses was personally serving his father-in-law! Aaron and Elders

    Advanced Rashi:We clarify further with explanatory points:
  • Notice that if a person's name is repeated explicitly instead of being referred to with a pronoun then we classify this as a repetition which indicates emphasis. For example Yithro took sacrifices...Aaron and the elders came to eat with Yithro .. could more properly be written with a use of a pronoun as follows: Yithro took sacrifices...Aaron and the elders came to eat with him ..
  • Each repetition is viewed the same way a modern reader views underline, italics, or bold: It indicates unspecified emphasis
  • Rashi typically interprets the unspecified emphasis as connoting exclusivity, only that person did the activity mentioned.
  • Hence Rashi sees an emphasis that Aaron and the elders ate only with Yithro. Consequently we have the Rashi comment Only with Yithro? Where was Moses? Moses was serving them! This Rashi comment is derived from the repetition.
  • Although Rashi does not explicitly explain the other repetitions I have interpreted them similarly connoting exclusivity:
    • Only Yithro blessed God. Presumably the others showed respect to Yithro and let him take the lead.
    • Only Moses told the story of the exodus. Presumably Aaron and the elders went out to meet Yithro (as is the custom when heads of states or religion meet). However they showed respect to Moses and let him tell the whole story.
  • Rashi interprets He bowed to refer to Moses since Moses is the last mentioned person. Technically Rashi appears to give a different explanation: How do I know that Moses bowed? Because it says each man asked how they were doing. And Moses is called man, a sign of distinction. I believe the real reason Rashi interprets he bowed as referring to Moses is because of simple grammar - Moses is the last mentioned person and pronouns refer to the last mentioned person. However Rashi wished to emphasize the ethical implications of Moses bowing: Moses was a powerful man and yet did not hesitate to bow to his idolatrous father-in-law and show him respect.
  • Finally Rashi mentions that Moses went out to greet his father-in-law and Aaron and the elders also went out. Quite simply when heads of religion or state meet they bring their staff with them. Furthermore we see that Aaron and the Elders are mentioned later on in the paragraph. Hence it is reasonable that they were there.

This Rashi is an excellent example of a variety of principles and is worth studying by those who wish to master his methods.


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