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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 Gn13-04a
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w33n5.htm
      Brief Summary: Abraham in his return lodged at hotels he stayed by in his initial journey; THERE he built altars and called to God

    Verse Gn13-04a discussing Abraham's hotel lodging upon being expelled from Egypt states
  • And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el,
  • unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai;
  • unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first;
  • and Abram called there on the name of HaShem.

Rashi deals with the underlined pronoun, there. Does there refer to the place and time when Abraham initially journeyed? Or does it refer to the place and time when Abraham returned? Or perhaps it refers to both. Let us examine the three possibilities. They are presented below. Interestingly Rashi does not take sides but simply points out that there is ambiguity.

    Interpretation #1:
    • And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el,
    • unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai;
    • unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first; and Abram called there in the name of HaShem.
    (Rashi:) So there refers to his initial journey; Abraham had called there in the name of God when he journeyed to Egypt.

    Interpretation #2:
    • And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el,
    • unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first;
    • and Abram called there in the name of HaShem.
    (Rashi:) So there refers to his return journey; Abraham called there in the name of God when he returned from Egypt.

Finally Rashi points out The word there can be deliberately ambiguous. Abraham called in the name of God both when he journeyed to Egypt and also when he returned. 


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