#*#*#*# (C) 2000-2005, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#
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VERSE: Ex18-18c
RASHIS COVERED: Ex18-18c Ex18-26b Ex19-04d Ex19-22b
================================ Ex18-18c ===========================
SUCCINCT SUMMARY
----------------
One of Rashis 10 main goals is to give the meaning of
words the same way the dictionary gives meaning. We
call this the Rashi method of WORD MEANING.
Rashi had a variety of vehicles to present meaning.
Rashi frequently explained MULTI-WORD IDIOMS. An IDIOM
occurs when 1 or more words form a NEW MEANING not
directly equal to the meaning of the constituent words
of the IDIOM. We call this the SUBRULE of NEW MEANINGS
since the words acquire new meanings.
In acquiring NEW MEANINGS Rashi frequently used a
universal principle of all languages---METONOMY.
METONOMY refers to the capacity to name an item
by a related item (such as naming a PEOPLE, Americans,
by the LAND they live in, America)
EXAMPLE 1: Ex18-18c
-------------------
In Hebrew as in English the word HEAVY can refer to a
- physical object that is to HEAVY to carry
- workLOAD that is too much to BEAR
EXAMPLE 2: Ex18-26b
-------------------
Ex18-26 speaks about
------------------------------
BRING the lawsuit before Moses
------------------------------
Here BRING does not mean to physically BRING but rather
to PRESENT.
EXAMPLE 3: Ex19-04d
-------------------
The Biblical phrase
-------------------------
I BROUGHT THEM to ME[GOD]
-------------------------
means
-----------------------------------
I BROUGHT THEM TO THE SERVICE OF ME
-----------------------------------
Here we clearly see the METNOMY--
ME=SERVICE OF ME
just as e.g.
AMERICA=PEOPLE OF AMERICA
EXAMPLE 4: Ex19-22b
-------------------
The Biblical phrase
----------------------------
The priests who APPROACH GOD
----------------------------
means
-------------------------------------------------
The priests who approach the ALTAR/SERVICE OF GOD
-------------------------------------------------
Here we clearly see the METNOMY--
APPROACH GOD=APPROACH ALTAR OF GOD
just as e.g.
AMERICA=PEOPLE OF AMERICA
Finally LIST871d presents these and
other IDIOMS based on metonomy
==================================================================
ITEM DETAIL
======================== =========================================
RASHI RULE CLASS: WORD MEANING
RASHI SUBRULE CLASS NEW MEANINGS
RASHI WORKBOOK PRINCIPLE #7
SEE BELOW LIST871d
List of idioms using Metonomy (Meaning by relation)
=====================================================================
========================= LIST871d =============================
List of words which identify items with related items*1
================================================================
VERSE TEXT OF VERSE METONOMY(ITEM means RELATED ITEM)
======== ============== =================================
Ex19-22b APPROACH GOD APPROACH ALTAR/SERVICE OF GOD
Ex19-04d BRING to GOD BRING to SERVICE OF GOD
Ex18-26b BRING lawsuit PRESENT lawsuit (Like English)
Ex18-18c HEAVY workLOAD Too much to BEAR(like English)
Ex12-05b SON OF A YEAR One year old
Ex10-05a EYE of earth APPEARANCE of earth
Ex03-02a HEART of FIRE MIDST of FIRE*15
Ex03-22b HouseForeigner House staff are like foreigners
Ex05-08d they're LOOSE they are LAZY
Ex04-16b HeIsYour MOUTH he is your SPOKESMAN*15
Gn41-44c no lift HAND can't do ANY ACTIVITY
Gn33-14d (my) WORK My BUSINESS = My FLOCK,I work on
Gn24-64a SWAY at SIGHT Fell in Love*14
Gn24-64b SWAY at SIGHT Fell in Love*14
Dt09-08a OIL-OLIVE OLIVES known for producing OIL
Dt26-02b OIL-OLIVE OLIVES known for producing OIL
Dt11-29a BLESSINGS face THE BLESSORS face
Gn33-13d KNOCK Push/Urge on
Gn24-18a pitchr on HAND she lowered pitcher on her ARM
Ex30-13c HOLY coins Coins used in HOLY TEMPLE matters
Dt18-01c FIRES of God SACRIFICES offered on temple Fire
Gn25-22e Seek GOD Seek PROPHETIC ADVICE of God*8*10
Ex18-15b Seek GOD Seek PROPHETIC ADVICE of God*8*10
Ex14-25c EGYPT-the land Egyptians-the people*6
Gn24-32a opened MULES opened MUZZLE OF MULES
------- ------------ ------------------------------
Gn37-26b COVER blood CONCEAL murder
Gn37-26b cover BLOOD conceal MURDER
Dt29-19a SMOKING anger Anger that makes person HOT
Gn13-02a Abraham HEAVY Abraham-s assets NUMEROUS
Gn13-02a ABRAHAM heavy ABRAHAM-S ASSETS numerous
Gn06-16a The OIL WINDOW(For light);GLITTER-STONE(For lite
Gn06-16a The OIL AFTERNOON (The oil-light time)*12
Nu14-09a Our BREAD Our BREAD=Piece of CAKE(easy to comsume)
Nu01-51a LOWER Temple TAKE IT DOWN (analogy;RAISE it=BUILD it)
Nu01-16a The INVITED The DISTINGUISHED(you always invite them
Ex18-09a He SHARPED*11 Mirth at SHARP word or TWINGED from pain
Ex14-24a MORNING WATCH Guard Duty at DAWN*7
Gn49-09c ABOVE plunder REMOVED from plundering (Above it)*5
Gn49-05b VIOLENT TOOLS Criminal behavior*4
Gn45-18b FAT of land BEST of land
Gn45-08a FATHER to Phrh FRIEND/ADVISOR to Pharoh
Gn43-34a He gave LIFTS LIFTED THEIR SPIRIT-i.e. gifts
Gn41-35b HAND of Pharoh DOMAIN of Pharoh*2
Lv26-10b *9 Sign of PLENTY(have to remove old for nu
Lv26-04a *9 Sign of PLENTY-threshing seasn in HARVST
NOTES
-----
*1 Many examples in this list come from previous
list in the metonomy series (LIST871a,
LIST871b, LIST871c)
*2 See LIST871e for 6 Rashis mentioning this HAND=DOMAIN
theme
*3 See LIST871f for verses where NSA means GIFT
*4 Rashi citing the Midrash Rabbah states
-------------------------------------
Your violence is something you VIOLATED
from Esauv (You are killing like Esauv)
-------------------------------------
But I see no reason to see this Midrash
as the PRIMARY simple meaning of the
verse. The PRIMARY meaning of the verse
is that Shimon and Levi were criminals
The Midrash is simply adding a pun to this
observation.
*5 See LIST871g for some examples
*6 This is a common metonomy that occurs in English
(eg America-Americans etc).
Rashi is cute here: He EXPLAINS the metonomy
----------------------------------------------
When the soldiers die at sea their loved ones
back in Egypt also suffer and in effect are
smitten by God
----------------------------------------------
Rashi does not contradict the metonomy--he
simply shows why it is convenient to identify
the LAND and PEOPLE.
*7 The night was traditionally divided into three
times of Guard duty. The GUARD DUTY near dawn
was called the MORNING WATCH (Cf Ju07-19 for
confirmation that there was a BEGINNING WATCH, MIDDLE
WATCH and DAWN WATCH)
*8 The phrases SEEK GOD, SEEK IN GOD, occur in several
verses and denote SEEKING ADVICE OF GOD. Compare for
example (1S09-09, 1K22-08 or even 2K01-03 (Seeking
advice of idolatrous gods). For alternate meanings
see note *10.
*9 The exact verse text is
--------------------------------------------------
You will have to remove the old grain for the new
--------------------------------------------------
This means
---------------------
You will have plenty
---------------------
In other words removal of the OLD for the NEW
is simply something RELATED to PLENTY. The main
theme is plenty.
Similarly the Biblical text
------------------------------------------------------
The threshing season will bump into the harvest season
------------------------------------------------------
means
--------------------
you will have plenty
--------------------
Again the fact that we are STILL threshing when the
harvest comes is something RELATED to having plenty.
The main point is that there is PLENTY.
------------------------ LONGER FOOTNOTES -------------------
*10 On Gn25-22e there is a delightful Ramban Rashi controversy
Ramban points out that SEEK GOD can mean PRAYER. Rashi
holds it means PROPHETIC ADVICE. I brought about a dozen
verses which clearly show that
- SEEK GOD can and does refer to PRAYER
- SEEK GOD can and does refer to PROPHETIC ADVICE
- SEEK GOD can and does refer to BOTH Prayer/Prophecy
Hence I regard Ramban not as disagreeing with Rashi but
rather as complementing him. For further details see
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/gn25-22d.htm
*11 Clearly the Hebrew YeeChad comes from the root CHAD
which means SHARP. Rashi brings two opinions
- It means HE SHARPED (Mirthed at a SHARP WORD)
- It means HE TWINGED (Upset at PAINFUL news)
But Radack brings STRONG support that CHAD means
mirth. Indeed, in other verses, CHAD does mean
MIRTH (As in eg Neh08-10 or P021-07).
This controversy between Rashi and Radack
can be resolved Grammatically. The grammatical
form of VaYeeChad (Chirik, Patach) could come from
either
- INTENSE MODE of 1-2-Hey roots(Cheth-Daleth-Hey) or
- PASSIVE MODE of 1-2-2 roots(Cheth-Daleth-Daleth)
In the intense mode CHAD means MIRTH(Radack)
But in the PASSIVE MODE it would correspond to
RECEIVING (PASSIVE!) a SHARP twinge at hearing
bad news.
Hence the controversy is on the root and mode
of the word.
This explanation makes both viewpoints respectable
since Rashi would concede that CHEDVAH which
definitely comes from Cheth-Daleth-Hey means
MIRTH; Rashi could still maintain that Yee-Chad
means TWINGED since it comes from a different root
Rashi also points out that the translation
TWINGED would show that despite Jethros
happiness he still felt sorry for the Egyptians
thus showing the conflict between his past(non-jew)
and future (friend of Jews)
*12 AFTERNOON-LIGHT-OIL is an example of DOUBLE METONOMY
See LIST871c for other examples.
*13 Although Rashi comments on the phrase OIL-OLIVES the
phrase does not occur in Dt28-02b. This is obviously
a scribal error. (See sifsay Chachamim who "explains"
why the Rashi comments differ in the two verses. My
point of view is that Rashi is stating the same thing
and through a scribal error the Rashi was erroneously
repeated in Dt28-02b.
*14 The Hebrew root used is Nun-Pay-Lamed.
One naiive translation is FALL.
But EVEN if we translate this way we have Rashi reading
-------------------------------------------------
RASHI: She FELL AT SIGHT OF HIM--this means
----- She Fell in love with him at first sight
-------------------------------------------------
But Rashi goes deeper. Most people falling in love
do not fall down. Rather they feel dizzy and perhaps
sway. Rashi (as does the Radack) points out that
--------------------------------------------------
Nun-Pay-Lamed has a basic meaning of FALL. However
it can mean ANY RELATED meaning (METONOMY!).
Radack brings as examples
- sway
- being secondary
- military swoop on a camp
- to barge in on guests
--------------------------------------------------
Many other examples are given. For this reason we
have simply translated the Rashi as saying that
SWAY AT SIGHT = LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.
*15 Certain IDIOMS represent NEW MEANING by
- FORM (e.g. HEART of FIRE=MIDST of FIRE)
- or FUNCTION (e.g. your MOUTH=your SPOKESMAN)
See
- LIST810b
- LIST810c
- LIST813a
- LIST815a
===============================================================
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Volume 28 Number 23
#*#*#*# (C) 2000-2005, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#
Volume 28 Number 23