#*#*#*#*# (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: Gn05-22a
RASHIS COVERED: Gn05-22a Gn05-32a
========================= CHANOCH WAS GODLY =====================
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
Gn05 relates the genealogy of the 10 generations from Adam to
Noach. Almost every generation is described usig the same phrases
Rashi however aligns these descriptions & finds differences
----------------------------------------------------------------
- So & So gave birth; lived so many years; had children & died
- CHANOCH gave birth; WALKED WITH GOD----; had children;HE WASNT
----------------------------------------------------------------
The differences are detailed in the 2 lists below.The Bible seems
to be creating some emphasis.Rashi suggests 1 explanation:CHANOCH
was Godly so God prematurely took him to preserve his innocence
----------------------------------
TODAYS RASHI RULE: ALIGNMENT
TODAYS RASHI SUBRULE: TWO CASES
----------------------------------
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF RULE
-------------------------
Many Rashis do NOT focus on an internal analysis of the verse.
There may be nothing bothering Rashi in THAT verse. The words
used may all be normal.
But when the given verse is compared with another verse--that
is, when the two verses are ALIGNED together-- we see blatant
differences.
The ALIGNED verses therefore suggest that these ALIGNED
DIFFERENCES were deliberately placed there to emphasize
certain nuances.
A nifty way of explaining the ALIGNED verses is to think
of ALIGNMENT as the vehicle that the Biblical Author uses
to indicate FOOTNOTES. That is, a modern writer might use
FOOTNOTES to indicate details; the Biblical Author instead
used REPEATED ALIGNED VERSES with DIFFERENT DETAILS.
The simplest case of ALIGNMENT is when the differences
CLEARLY and EXPLICITLY show that we are dealing with
two cases each with different details. The STANDARD
example below from the 10 commandments illustrates this
STANDARD EXAMPLE
----------------
Perhaps the simplest example of an alignment revealing
two cases and two laws occurs in the 10 commandments.
Ex01-02:03 states
----------------------------------------------
Ex20-02 you shall NOT HAVE the gods of others
Ex20-03 you shall NOT MAKE idols
----------------------------------------------
STUDENT EXERCISES:
------------------
-- What is the SAME in the ALIGNED verses
-- What is DIFFERENT in the ALIGNED verses
-- State the 2 CASES you infer from the aligned differences
RASHIS SOLUTION
---------------
- Both verses begin YOU SHALL NOT. In other words
they are negative prohibitions.
- One verse prohibits HAVING idols while the 2nd verse
prohibits MAKING idols
- THere are 2 separate idolatry prohibitions: MANUFACTURE
(even if you dont keep them) and OWNERSHIP/POSSESION
(even if you dont make them)
STANDARD REFERENCES FOR THIS RULE
---------------------------------
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-58.htm
This summary may be a bit too terse. You can browse the
57 postings leading up to by going to
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-1.htm
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/align-2.htm etc.
Or you can visit the Rashi Yomi Calendar at
http://www.RashiYomi.com/calendar1.htm
This calendar presents a day by day listing of Rashis.
The ALIGNMENT series occurs between 7-28-01 and 10-10-01.
HOW TO USE THESE LISTS FOR SCHOOL PROJECTS
------------------------------------------
You can use the LISTS referenced above for
school projects. Here is how. If you are a
teacher then you can present the two aligned
verses and ask the students to perform the
3 student exercises listed above.
The students can then compare their analysis with that
of Rashis. This leads to greater appreciation of Rashi.
TODAYS EXAMPLE
--------------
We ALIGN the 10 generations mentioned in Gn05. This alignment
reveals 3 peculiarities
-- We show that Chanoch was a GODLY person
-- Chanoch died PREMATURELY to preserve his innocence
-- God made Noachs children young so they shouldnt be punished
Here are the lists. This first one shows that Chanoch was Godly
=================================================================
VERSE PHRASE1 PHRASE2
======= ======================= =================================
Gn05-07 Shayth- lived after the birth of..so many years
Gn05-10 Enosh-- lived after the birth of..so many years
Gn05-13 Kaynan- lived after the birth of..so many years
Gn05-16 Mhlalel lived after the birth of..so many years
Gn05-22 Canoch- walked with God after the birth of..so many years
Differs *1 *2
NOTES
-----
*1 There is a clear difference that while the other
humans just LIVED an ordinary physical life, Chanoch
by contrast LIVED A GODLY LIFE
*2 These phrases are the samed
=================================================================
==================== CHANOCH WAS GODLY ==========================
We continue the above list to focus on how Chanoch was different
than the other people in the Adam-Noach chain.
=================================================================
VERSE PHRASE1 PHRASE2 PHRASE3
======= ======== ============================= ==================
Gn05-05 Adams--- total life was so many years. and he died
Gn05-08 Shayths- total life was so many years. and he died
Gn05-11 Enoshs-- total life was so many years. and he died
Gn05-14 Kaynans- total life was so many years. and he died
Gn05-23 Chanochs total life was so many years. and ..God took him
Differ *1 *2 *3
NOTES
-----
*1 There is a clear difference: The other humans simply DIED
while Chanoch was TAKEN BY GOD. There seems to be an emphasis
here.
Rashi suggests one simply approach: Chanoch was vulnerable to
the temptations of his generation so GOD TOOK HIM prematurely
at a young age to preserve his innocence.
Can you suggest other approaches to this difference?
*2 This phrase is the same
=========================================================================
========================== AGE AT BIRTH =================================
VERY BRIEF SUMMARY
------------------
In Gn05-32a Rashi aligns the age at which the 10 generations between
Adam and Noach had children. As can be seen from the list below
the average person had his first child when he was between 60
and 180 years of age; but NOACH had his first child when he was
500. It is clear that this 500 number is peculiar---furthermore
several statistical tests show that indeed this 500 years for
the first birth is an outlier. Rashi suggests a possible reason: God
delayed Noachs first birth so that his children would be young and not
held fully accountable for possible sins due to the corruption of the
generation.
=========================================================================
VERSE PERSON AGE AT FIRST BIRTH
======== ========== ================================
Gn05-03 Adam 130
Gn05-06 Shayth 105
Gn05-09 Enosh 90
Gn05-12 Kaynan 70
Gn05-15 Mahallalel 65
Gn05-18 Yered 62
Gn05-21 Chanoch 65
Gn05-21 Methuselah 187
Gn05-24 Lemech 182
Gn05-32 Noach 500*1
NOTES
-----
*1 Of course the 500 APPEARS odd. *10
Rashi suggests one possible reason:
-- If Noach was 500 when he started having children
-- and was 600 when the flood started Gn07-06
-- Then his children were at most 100 at time of the flood
-- Hence because of their young age God would not have to
punish them for their sins.
-- We find precedent for God not punishing young people
for their sins(eg Nu14-29 -- those who sinned by
accepting the slander of the spies were ONLY PUNISHED
if they were above 20 years of age)
-- To clinch this argument Rashi cites verses that in
Noachs time, a 100 year old had the status of a young
person like a person of 20 in our days (Isa65-20)
We can make Rashi appear more palatable if we dont go
into details and simply suggest that by making Noachs
children young God exempted them from any possible
punishment that might happen from the corruption of the
generations
-------------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------
*10 We might add statistically
that
- the AVERAGE age of first birth is 145.60
- the MEDIAN age of firth birth is 105
- the STANDARD DEVIATION for first birth is 126.22
- The 1st QUARTILE is about 65
- The 3rd QUARTILE is about 150
Therefore by two well known statistical tests the 500
age is an outlier
- The 500 has a standardized value of 2.8, very unlikely
- The 500 is way above the UPPER OUTLIER RANGE
which is about 190+1.5*(150-65) or about 350
Thus the alignment shows the 500 years of age peculiar
===================================================================
RASHI RULE USED: ALIGNMENT
---------------------------------------------------
WARNING: The following additional references may be too wordy
However they frequently contain additional information & lists
The hyperlinks only work on the main website
Volume 15 Number 14
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 15 Number 14