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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 Lv13-08c Lv13-08d
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1214.htm
      Brief Summary: The word TZARATH is FEMININE. The word NEGAH is MASCULINE and FEMININE.

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 word for leprosy is feminine while the Hebrew word for wound is masculine. Based on the examples listed below I would amend this Rashi text as follows: The Hebrew word for leprosy is feminine while the Hebrew word for wound is also masculine. Note that consistent with this textual emendation of Rashi we in fact have many words in Hebrew which are bi-genderal, masculine and feminine. Examples are presented in the next paragraph.

To appreciate Rashi we need to review the verses in the Chapter and check that the pronoun she is exclusively coupled with Leprosy while both pronouns she,he are coupled with wound.

  • Some verses with leprosy coupled with a feminine pronoun are Lv13-08,11,25.
  • Some verses with wound coupled with a masculine pronoun are Lv13-03,5,13,17.
  • Some verses with wound coupled with a feminine pronoun are Lv13-06, Lv13-09. 


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