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VERSE: Gn42-08a

RASHIS COVERED: Gn42-08a Gn42-08b Dt32-27a Gn42-07a Ex22-08d
                Dt32-27a Dt31-16a Ex12-43b

================  THE 6 MEANINGS OF N-K-R =======================

BACKGROUND
----------
The root Nun-Kaph-Resh has 6 meanings, possibly 7. A rare
delicacy in learning Chumash is to review all verses containing
a word and in that light to analyze the suggestions of meaning
among the Rishonim.

THE TEXT
--------
The root Nun-Kaph-Resh is a peach of an example. Anyone who
wishes to learn how to learn tenach should study this posting
over and over again. We see everything here:
- Controversy on the meaning of individual verses
- Controversy on the number of meanings
- illustration of how to (occasionally) decide among Rishonim

THE LISTS
---------
We present two lists: In this first list we
- present the 6 meanings of NKR.
- we show how each meaning relates to the basic meaning
- give an illustrative verse with this meaning
The basic meanings of NKR are RECOGNIZE & UNRECOGNIZABLE*13

The second list below this one
- presents the 6 meanings
- gives the actual text of verses illustrating these meanings
- correlates meaning with grammatical mode: Thus
--- NKR means RECOGNIZE in the ACTIVE MODE (KAL)
--- NKR means IGNORE(Not RECOGNIZE) in the INTENSIVE MODE(PIEL)
--- NKR means DISGUISE(non-recognize the self) in HITPAEL

Throughout, footnotes show how these lists are dependent on
selecting competing translations of Rishonim. In other words
the quest for a unifying meaning leads naturally to selecting
certain meanings over others.Similarly, consistency may require
ignoring suggestions of Rishonim on individual verses. This is
covered in the footnotes which also cover possible meanings
of NKR which are not universally accepted*10. Here is the list
=================================================================
MEANING    VERSE    How meaning relates to RECOGNITION
========== ======== =============================================
Recognize  Gn42-08a Basic meaning
Ignore*1   Dt32-27a To IGNORE something = make it UNRECOGNIZABLE
Disguise*2 Gn42-07a To DISGUISE = to make yourself UNRECOGNIZABL
Other*3    Ex22-08d The OTHER one is someone not RECOGNIZED
Friend     2Kn12-06 Your FRIENDS are those you RECOGNIZE
Favoritism Isa03-09 Favoritism=RECOGNIZING undeserving people*4

NOTES
-----
*1  The verses with the intensive form of NKR which mean IGNORE
    are as follows
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    Jer19-04 They(the Jews) deserted me and TREATED THIS (TEMPLE)
    LIKE A FOREIGN PLACE (That is they IGNORED me)*11
    -------------------------------------------------------------

    -------------------------------------------------------------
    Job21-29 Its public knowledge known by all who travel the
    road of life: You cant act like the idea is FOREIGN TO YOU
    (that is YOU CANT IGNORE IT)
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    There are several other takes on this verse but the above
    seems to be mainstream.*12

    -------------------------------------------------------------
    Dt32-27a I will not destroy the Jews lest their enemies treat
    Me(God) as someone Foreign (that is LEST THEY DENY I DID IT)
    -------------------------------------------------------------

 *2 Some other verses with the reflexive mode of NKR meaning
   disguise are
   --------------------------------------------------------
   And as she came into the door the prophet said: Come!
   Why do you need to DISGUISE yourself (I know who you
   are). I have harsh words for you (1K14-06)
   --------------------------------------------------------

   --------------------------------------------------------
   Also: through his (Good) deeds a rascal can DISGUISE
   himself if his actions are pure and upright(Prv20-11)
   (There are many takes on this verse)
   --------------------------------------------------------

*3 The usual English translation is FOREIGN. Rashi suggests
   OTHER. The point being, that OTHER is softer in tone
   than FOREIGN. Examples are presented in LIST 2. We
   argue there that neither translation (FOREIGN or OTHER)
   is perfect (Because 2 languages can never fully
   translate). But OTHER fits better in many verses.

*4 Radacks father believes the root of the word in this
   verse is not NKR and means BRAZENNESS. Radack himself
   suggests that the root is NKR & the phrase
   really means,GUILT, not FAVORITISM. Literally the
   phrase means IT SHOWS IN THEIR FACE and refers to
   self-evident GUILT

-------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES -----------------------

*10 There is a suggestion the N-K-R might also mean SURROUND.

   Radack and Rashi give 1Sam23-7 as an example
   --------------------------------------------------------
   And Saul said God has SURROUNDED David to my hand
   because David went into a walled city (Which is easily
   conquerable)
   --------------------------------------------------------

   Ralbag dissents. There is no need to create a whole extra
   meaning for one verse. Ralbag uses the fact that
   N-K-R can mean IGNORE. Ralbag translates 1Sam23-7 as
   --------------------------------------------------------
   And Saul said: God has IGNORED David by letting him go
   into a walled city (Because now I can capture him)
   --------------------------------------------------------

   To complicate matters Rashi, dissenting from Radack
   brings a 2nd verse where N-K-R means SURROUND.
   ---------------------------------------------------
   Ovadia 1-11 ...You (Esauv) should not have looked on
   (Without doing anything) when your brother Israel
   was surrounded (and conquered)
   ---------------------------------------------------

   But Radack disagrees that Ovadia 1-11 is a 2nd example
   Radack translates N-K-R in Ovadia 1-11 as meaning MADE FOREIGN
   --------------------------------------------------------------
   You Esauv should not have just looked on without doing
   anything on the FOREIGN day of the Jews (When
   they went into foreign lands)
   --------------------------------------------------------------

   It emerges that if we take the Ralbags & Radacks translations
   we do not need an extra meaning to N-K-R

   A Real controversy among the Rishonim.

*11 Radack makes a pun on this verse: Since NKR refer to FOREIGN
    gods, therefore the phrase THEY FOREIGNED THIS PLACE could
    mean THEY BROUGHT FOREIGN IDOLS INTO THIS PLACE.

    But the idea that the intensive form of NKR means BRING
    IDOLS is inconsistent with the other 2 verses mentioned
    in footnote #1. So we do not treat this Radack as mainstream.

*12 The Ibn Ezra translates the intensive form of NKR in this
    verse the same way he translates NKR in the active
    ------------------------------------------------------
    This is public knowledge among all who travel the road
    of life AND YET YOU STILL DONT RECOGNIZE IT(even though
    it is well known)
    ------------------------------------------------------

    But the identification of the intensive and active form
    of NKR is inconsistent with other verses. Hence we do
    not regard this Ibn Ezra as mainstream.

*13 Many verbs have contradictory meanings. Thus
    Shin-Resh-Shin means  To ROOT  and also TO UPROOT.
    Frequently it is the grammatical mode (Such as the
    Piel Intensive mode) which transfers the negative
    meaning. Thus NKR means UNRECOGNIZABLE only in the
    the PIEL and HITPAEL modes.
=================================================================


======== NKR has 6 meanings: LIST 2 =============================

The first list above presented the 6 meanings of Nun-Kph-Resh.
We showed that NKR means RECOGNIZE or UNRECOGNIZABLE(FOREIGN)

The second list here again
- presents the 6 meanings of NKR
- gives the actual text of verses illustrating these meanings
- correlates meaning with grammatical mode: Thus
--- NKR means RECOGNIZE in the ACTIVE MODE (KAL)
--- NKR means IGNORE(Not RECOGNIZE) in the INTENSIVE MODE(PIEL)
--- NKR means DISGUISE(non-recognize the self) in HITPAEL

The footnotes discuss alternative verse translations,
controversies among Rishonim and subtleties of nuance.
Here is the list.
=================================================================
MEANING    GRAMMAR  VERSE    TEXT OF VERSE WITH Nun-Kaph-Resh
========== ======== ======== ====================================
Recognize  Active*1 Gn42-08a Joseph RECOGNIZED his brothers
Recognize  Active*1 Gn42-08b Josephs brothers didnt RECOGNIZE him
Disguise   Reflexiv Gn42-07a Joseph DISGUISED himself
Ignore     Intensiv Dt32-27a they will IGNORE Me ¬ acknowledge
Other      Noun*2   Dt31-16a theyll walk after the gods of OTHERS
Other      Noun*2   Ex12-43b an OTHER will not offer the Passover
Other      Noun*2   Ex22-08d dont sell her to OTHER families
Favoritism Noun*3   Isa03-09 Theyre punished for their FAVORITISM
Friends    Noun*3   2Kn12-06 Theyll get donations from FRIENDS

NOTES
-----
*1 Rashi makes an insightful point about recognition:
   -- if a person lost a few pounds you would still recognize him
   -- but if you saw him in a situation where you dont expect it
      than THE UNKNOWN SITUATION + HIS WEIGHT LOSS might cause
      non-recognition.

  In other words RECOGNITION is dependent on both appearance and
  social status.

  So if Josephs brothers didnt recognize him it was because
  - of appearance: e.g. he had grown a beard since he left
  - expectation: They expected to find Joseph as a slave.IN OTHER
    WORDS THEY STILL DIDNT BELIEVE IN HIS DREAMS

  By contrast Joseph did recognize his brothers
  - they hadnt changed appearance
  - Joseph did REMEMBER his own dreams. He wanted to be their
    leader In his mind all the suffering was worth it--he would
    now save them.

In this way we combine the simple meaning and derash into one.

*2 Most English translations translate N-K-R as meaning FOREIGN
   Rashi however is a bit more soft: He translates it as meaning
   OTHER (NOT IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZABLE). This softer translation
   seems to fit better in the 3 verses cited


   ----------------------------------------------------------
   if her master doesnt like her then he cannot sell her
   to ANOTHER FAMILY (Ex22-08d)
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   (the translation ANOTHER NATION would be wrong here!*10)



   Dt31-16a
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   they (the Jews) will desert Me(God) and follow FOREIGN gods
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   (Here the translation FOREIGN does fit!)


   Ex12-43b
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   OTHER people cannot offer the Passover
   -----------------------------------------------------------
   The translation FOREIGNERS CANNOT OFFER THE PASSOVER would
   not prohibit APOSTATES from offering the Passover. However
   the translation OTHERS seems to include both FOREIGNERS
   and APOSTATES.

   In summary: OTHER is not a perfect translation but fits better
   than FOREIGNER.

*3 As mentioned above some rare opinions interpret the phrase
   in Isa03-09 as either
   - coming from another root meaning BRAZENNESS (Radack)
   - meaning GUILT (ITS recognizable IN THEIR FACE)

-------------------- LONGER FOOTNOTES ---------------------------

*10 Lets get detailed here. The literal words of the verse are
    - dont sell her to a
    - NATION (AM)
    - that is NKR (OTHER or FOREIGN)

    So it is natural to translate this as dont sell her to
    a FOREIGN NATION (After all, that is what it says)

    Rashis point is that
    -- Nation can refer to family or tribe (Eg Dt33-03)
    -- NKR is better translated as OTHER vs FOREIGN

    So the Hebrew AM NKR could mean OTHER FAMILY even though
    it appears to mean FOREIGN NATION.
=================================================================

RASHI RULE USED: UNIFIED MEANING
---------------------------------------------------
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Volume 12 Number 9


#*#*#*#*#  (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 12 Number 9