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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 Lv17-14a Lv17-14b
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1608.htm
      Brief Summary: For the SOUL of LIVING ANIAMALS? The BLOOD OF THE ANIMALS is for its SOUL AND I SAID ....BLOOD OF ALL ANIMALS SHOULD NOT BE EATEN because the BLOOD OF THE ANIAMAL is ITS SOUL....

Today, students of the Bible learn grammar from Biblical Hebrew grammar textbooks. These textbooks organize material by topics. Grammatical topics include a) verb mood and conjugation, b) plurality and gender agreement, c) pronoun reference, d) subject-verb-object sequencing, e) sentence structure and type, f) the possessive and g) connective words, and many other topics.

However in Rashi's time gramamr was just beginning. There were no official grammatical textbooks and tables. One of Rashi's functions was to teach grammar. Rashi did not write a grammar textbook but instead left grammatical explanations appended to each verse.

In today's example Rashi explains rules about gender. In English nouns do not have gender. We rather use the non-gender word, it. By contrast in Hebrew, nouns have gender. Instead of using the word it Hebrew will use the words he, she to refer to nouns.

    Rashi explains that
  • The Hebrew words for animal,blood are masculine
  • The Hebrew word for soul is feminine

Using this Rashi we translate Lv17-14 as follows (the referents of the pronouns his, her are indicated in brackets and follow the Rashi rules above): For the soul of animals? His [the animal's] blood is for his [the animal's] soul; and I have said to the Jews: 'Don't eat the blood of animals' because the animal's soul is [is represented by] her [the soul's] blood; all who eat him [the blood] shall be cut off [from their nation.] 


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