#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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| Rashi is Simple Version 2.0 |
| (C) RashiYomi Inc., Dr Hendel President |
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VERSE: Dt32-22b
RASHIS COVERED: Dt32-22b Dt32-22c Dt32-23d Dt32-23a Dt32-23b
Dt32-25a Dt32-25b Dt32-25c
============ USE OF ALIGNMENT TO FILL IN MISSING WORDS ==========
BACKGROUND
----------
Dt32-20:30 discusses the punishments that God will bring on
the Jewish people for worshiping idols and deserting him.
THE TEXT
--------
Some texts use the word THEM to explicitly identify the Jews
as the recipients of the punishments while other texts omit it
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Dt32-21 I will anger THEM with a filthy nation
Dt32-22b A fire burns -*1- to the deeps
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THE RASHI
---------
Rashi-is-Simple and fills in the missing words. The
justification for such fill-ins comes from the ALIGNMENT of
the verses.
THE LIST
--------
Continuing with the above example the text, Dt32-22b, reads
--------------------------------
A FIRE BURNS -*1- TO THE DEEPS
--------------------------------
Rashi adds the words AMONG THEM so that the text reads
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A FIRE BURNS AMONG THEM TO THE DEEPS
-----------------------------------------
The justification of this insertion is the fact that the other
verses in the list all mention a RECIPIENT of the punishment.
The following LIST contains similar examples. In each case Rashi
fills in a missing word explaining who was punished.
=================================================================
VERSE PHRASE1 WHOM? PHRASE2
======== ======================== ======= =======================
Dt32-21 I will anger THEM with a no-nation
Dt32-21 I will anger THEM with a filthy nation
Dt32-22b A fire burns -*1- to the deeps
Dt32-22c it burns -*2- land & produce
Dt32-22d it burns -*3- FOUNDATION of mountains
Dt32-23a I will add troubles ON THEM
Dt32-23b My arrows will be dumped ON THEM
Dt32-24 carnivores will be sent ON THEM
Dt32-25a outside --*4--- a sword will kill
Dt32-25b there will be fear in --*5--- rooms
Dt32-26 I thought to destroy THEM
Dt32-26 to erase THEIR memory
NOTES
=====
*1 AMONG THEM (A fire burns AMONG THEM to the deeps)
*2 THEIR (the fire burns THEIR land & produce)
*3 THEIR (the fire burns THEIR foundation on mountains)
The reference here seems to be to the Capital city, the
FOUNDATION of the nation, which was situated high on
mountains *10
*4 THEIR PLACE(outside their place a sword will kill children)*11
*5 THEIR (there will be fear in their rooms)*12
---------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES -------------------------------
*10 Several supports can be made for the assertion that the
capital,Jerusalem, is called the FOUNDATION AMONG MOUNTAINS
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-- Ps125-2 JERUSALEM, MOUNTAINS SURROUND YOU
-- Capitals were typically made in mountains
(For pride & security)
-- The CLIMACTIC structure of the sentence alludes to this
--- the fire burns their DEPTHS
--- the fire burns their BREADTH (Land and produce)
--- the fire burns their HEIGHTS (Mountains cities)
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*11 The astute reader may notice that Rashi has done more than
add the word THEIR. Rashi has added the phrase THEIR PLACE.
But such an insertion can be justified by the ALIGNMENT with
the 2nd verse half as follows
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outside ---------- there will be swords killing children
in their rooms there will be fear
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Thus OUTSIDE is ALIGNED with IN THEIR ROOMS. As such it
can mean OUTSIDE THEIR HOUSES or OUTSIDE THEIR CITY etc. I
have therefore translated this as OUTSIDE THEIR PLACE.
Finally Rashi bolsters these translations by a similar idiom
in Jeremiah 9:2 DEATH HAS CREPT UP OUR WINDOWS (This is
similar to FEAR LURKING IN ROOMS!)
*12 The interpretation of Dt32-25 that we presented above in the
name of Rashi was based on the ALIGNMENT METHOD.Dt32-25 reads
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OUTSIDE their places there will be swords killing children
INSIDE their rooms there will be fear
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Rashi however brings two other interpretations. We present
each one and then discuss if it is natural
INTERPRETATION #2
-----------------
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INSIDE THE ROOMS OF THEIR HEART CHAMBERS there will be fear
which will result in heart attacks
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DISCUSSION: This interpretation should be rejected since
there are NO OTHER EXAMPLES IN THE BIBLE where the word
ROOMS refers to CHAMBERS OF THE HEART.
Of course the metaphor is REASONABLE (compare the English
phrase HEART CHAMBERS) but as pointed out there are no
further precedents in the Bible.
I therefore think that Rashi brought this, not because
he believed it, but rather as an exercise in the study
of individual words and phrases. Since the other
interpretation brought above is based on ALIGNMENT and
SUPPORTING verses this other interpretation should be
considered superior.
Rashi frequently cites ATTEMPTS AT INTERPRETATION side by
side with SERIOUS INTERPRETATIONS in order to expose the
reader to a wide variety of methods.
INTERPRETATION #3 (Rashi on Dt32-25c)
-------------------------------------
In the 3rd interpretation Rashi is actually dealing with
a grammatical issue: namely the preposition used in the verse
It does not say
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ON the outsides there will be swords and
IN the rooms there will be fear
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Rather it says
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FROM the outsides there will be swords and
FROM the rooms there will be fear
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If one looks at the main list one sees that the preposition
FROM is not used (Typically ON or IN is used) If we look at
the translation with the word FROM it almost sounds as if the
verse was talking about the CAUSE of punishment(FROM DOING
SUCH AND SUCH) rather than on WHOM the punishment was dealt.
Rashi therefore suggests an interpretation based on CAUSE
(And again this is based on the preposition FROM vs ON)
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FROM the sins (of idolatry) that you did in the streets
there will be a punishment of swords killing children; and
FROM the sins (of idolatry) done in your ROOMS there will
be fear among you
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DISCUSSION: Is this interpretation reasonable or even
superior to the first interpretation?
First: The above interpretation is also based on an alignment
of prepositions. Rashi is focusing on the preposition FROM
vs ON/IN.
Second there is Biblical support for talking about the SINS
OF THE STREETS and the SINS OF THE ROOMS. Here are two
verses with such phrases
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(Jer11:13) For, the Jews, had as many gods as they had cities
and as many altars to the Boseth god as they have STREETS
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(NOTE The Hebrew word for STREET is OUTSIDE, the same word
as occurs in Dt32-25
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(Ez08-12) Have you seen, son of Man (Ezekiel) what the Jewish
elders do in the dark, each person in the PRIVATE ROOMS
because they think that God doesnt see, because they think
that God left the land
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True, we cannot bring a LIST of verses associating SIN with
STREET and ROOM. THerefore this interpretation is not as
strong as we would like it. Nevertheless since it is based
on GRAMMATICAL ALIGNMENT (From vs ON) and on similar idioms
in other verses, we consider it a reasonable interpretation
that can compete with the first interpretation.
In my opinion the reason Rashi gave both interpretations is
that he really prefers this last one but it is easier to
defend the 1st one.
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RASHI RULE USED: DOUBLE PARSHAS
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Volume 11 Number 18
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 11 Number 18