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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 Nu25-04c
      URL Reference: (c) http://www.Rashiyomi.com/w34n1.htm
      Brief Summary: Brief Summary: The root KUPH-AYIN-AYIN means DISLODGE; The root YUD-KUPH-AYIN means HANG. The YUD indicates POTENTIAL since HANGING has the potential to DISLODGE.

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 Nu25-04c discussing Moses order to execute the adulterers states And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. Rashi translates the Biblical word Hey-Vav-Kuph-Ayin as coming from the Biblical root Yud-Kuph-Ayin which means to hang . 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 2, 10 in the Ibn Shoshan dictionary for the causative mode (Hifil).

Advanced Rashi: Several points should be made here. First: The root Yud-Kuph-Ayin has 2 weak letters - the first letter is a Yud and the last letter is an Ayin. Hence the conjugation of this root may be truly said to be rare. Second: We note that the cousin commentator, the Radak, classifies this root similarly in his definitive work, Roots. Finally we note the contrast that Yud-Kuph-Ayin means to hang while Kuph-Ayin-Ayin means to dislodge. Many Yud-2-3 roots indicate potential of the 2-3 root. In this case hanging would indicate an activity that is potentially dislodging. Indeed, every hanging does have the potential to dislodge. By reviewing a series of Yud-2-3 roots we could show many other examples where the prefix Yud in a root indicates potential. E.g. Yud-Kuph-Mem = to fulfill = the potential to rise up; Yud-Cheth-Mem = arousal = potential to become hot; Yud- Ayin-Tzade = advice = potential to become fruitful (Literally: potential to become tree-like.. There are many more. 


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