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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 Ex09-24b
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rule1323.htm
      Brief Summary: MITHLAQACHATH, PULSATING FIRE, an INTERACTIVE TO AND FRO MOTION.

Most people are aware that Hebrew verbs come from three-letter roots. Each root is conjugated in the 8 dimensions of person, gender,plurality, tense, activity, modality, direct-object, and prepositional connective. For example the root Shin Mem Resh means to watch. The conjugations Shin-Mem-Resh-Tauv-Yud and Nun-Shin-Mem-Resh-Nun-Vav mean I watched and we were watched respectively.

The rules for Hebrew grammar are carefully described in many modern books and are well known. Rashi will sometimes comment when a verse is using a rare conjugation of an odd grammatical form.

When presenting grammatical Rashis my favorite reference is the appendix in volume 5 of the Ibn Shoshan dictionary. This very short appendix lists most conjugations.

Verse Ex09-24a discussing the 7th plague, hail, states So there was hail, and fire pulsating amidst the hail, very grievous, such as had not been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. Rashi translates the Biblical word Mem-Tauv-Lamed-Quph-Cheth-Tauv, MithLaQaChath, as coming from the Biblical root Lamed-Quph-Cheth which means to take, a motion of moving your hand forward and then backward. We have conveniently embedded the Rashi translation in the translation of the verse. The conjugation rule governing this Biblical word may be found by using tables 1 in the Ibn Shoshan dictionary for the interactive mode (HiTPael). In the interactive (Hitpael) mode, this root means pulsating, a to and fro motion that interacts with other forces making it move. To understand this recall there was hail coming down. The hail put out the fires. So The fires moved forward and expanded, but then were hit by the hail which put out the expanded fires, so that the fires appeared to interact with the hail and move back to their original position.

Advanced Rashi: The full understanding of this Rashi requires three Rashi rules: Rule #2, meaning teaches us that take can also mean the motion form of taking namely, a to and fro motion;Rule #3, grammar teaches us that the hitpael means interaction in this case referring to the interaction of the hail and fire; finally Rule #5, contradiction deals with the mechanics of the fact that hail and fire, elements that normally cancel each other out, co-existed to destroy Egypt. 


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