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Surfing the Talmudic Seas
(C) RashiYomi Incorporated, 2001
Written by Dr Russell Jay Hendel
Volume 12 Number 11
Produced December 11th, 2001
WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)
|
OVERVIEW OF HILIGHTS IN THIS ISSUE |
` Whats new and hot in this issue? |
| ITEM | WHATS NEW & HOT IN THIS ISSUE |
| NEW | NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW |
| GRAMMAR | 150 Rashis: http://www.rashiYomi.Com/grammar.htm |
| NEW | NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW |
| ' | |
| Rashi Onkelos | Several Rashi-Oonkelos dialogues reviewed |
| Double ngativ | A beautiful Peach of a Rashi:Double negatives:Yeah! |
| ALEPH=THING | Aleph at end of a verb means a THING,PLANT,ANIMAL |
| Dr Loike | After 2 years I am finally doing Rashi-Oonkelos |
|
Rashis covered in this issue |
|
| VERSE | RULE | BRIEF DESCRIPTION |
| ======== | =============== | ======================================= |
| Gn43-02b | ALIGNMENT | FINISHED can mean a)Done b)Used up |
| Gn43-02a | ALIGNMENT | FINISHED can mean a)Done b)Used up |
| Gn24-19b | ALIGNMENT | FINISHED can mean a)Done b)Used up |
| Gn43-03a | GRAMMARr | Ayin-V-Dalet is a Rare grammatical form |
| Ex21-29b | GRAMMARr | Ayin-V-Dalet is a Rare grammatical form |
| Gn47-18c | NEW MEANINGS | NOT ..EXCEPT is a double negative |
| Gn43-03b | NEW MEANINGS | NOT ..EXCEPT is a double negative |
| Gn41-02b | WORD MEANINGS | NCOTH=Wax; ACHU=Marsh:ALEPH=Thing |
| Gn43-11c | WORD MEANINGS | NCOTH=Wax; ACHU=Marsh:ALEPH=Thing |
| --------- | ---------------- | --------------------------------------- |
#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2001, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#
VERSE: Gn43-02b
RASHIS COVERED: Gn43-02b Gn43-02a Gn24-19b
|
FINISHED can mean a)Done b)Used up |
THE TEXTS
---------
Gn43-02 When they had FINISHED eating THE FOOD
OONKELS That is, when they used the food up
Gn24-22 When the CAMELS FINISHED drinking
OONKELS That is, when they quenched their thirst
RASHI
-----
Why? Why the disparity? Why does OONKELOS translate the
identical phrase FINISHED, in 2 different manners.
THE LIST
--------
By carefully ALIGNING these two verses we see that
- in one case the SUBJECT OF THE SENTENCE is given
- in the other case the OBJECT of the sentence is given
Hence Rashi is Simple: We have 2 nuances of meaning
depending on what the sentence emphasizes. This also explains
how OONKELOS arrived at his translation.Here is the LIST |
| VERSE | #1 | PHRASE 2 |
PHRASE 3 |
PHRASE 4 |
PHRASE 5 |
| Gn43-02 | WHEN | they | had FINISHED eating | the food | Food Gone |
| Gn24-22 | WHEN | the CAMELS | had FINISHED drinking | | Thirst Gon |
| Differs | | *1 | | *2 | |
| | | | | |
| COMMENTS |
*1 Gn24-22 speaks about the CAMELS FINISHING. Hence the
FINISHING refers to quenching of thirst.
In other words since the SUBJECT is GIVEN (CAMELS)
therefore it is they who have something finished(namely
their thirst)
*2 Gn43-02 speaks about FINISHING THE FOOD. Hence
the FINISHING refers to EXHAUSTION OF THE FOOD SUPPLY
In other words since the OBJECT of the sentence is
given (FOOD) therefore it is the FOOD that is
finished (namely the food was all gone)
| LONGER FOOTNOTES |
*10 Although there are officially two Rashis in our manuscripts
I believe they should be combined. Rashis main point was
the difference between Gn24-22 vs Gn43-02.
Notice how this difference comes from an ALIGNMENT of the
verses -- true, Rashi cites OONKELOOS. But the main
driving force is the comparison of the verses.
Rashi also gives a mnemonic, as is his usually custom, by
which to remember the difference: Rashi suggests that
------------------------------------------------------
Since Jacob was reluctant to let Binyamin go the
children waited till the food supply was gone so
that they could have some leverage in bargaining with
him (Rashi on Gn43-01a)
------------------------------------------------------
Such a suggestion facilitates remembering that
FINISHED FOOD means NO MORE FOOD (versus CAMELS FINISHED
means NO MORE THIRST)
| |
RASHI RULE USED: ALIGNMENT
#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2001, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#
VERSE: Gn43-03a
RASHIS COVERED: Gn43-03a Ex21-29b
|
AYIN-VUV-DALET uses RARE CONJUGATION |
BACKGROUND
----------
It is well known that Hebrew comes from 3 letter roots. Each
root is assigned a meaning. The roots can undergo conjugation
which assigns different nuances to the meanings.
THE TEXT
--------
We deal with the root Ayin-Vuv-Dalet which is a rare grammatical
form. The root also has 2 meanings complicating matters further
REFERENCE
---------
These lists were built on lists at
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/ex21-29b.htm
THE LIST
--------
The second list gives Biblical examples of verses with
the meaning of AYD:
- The noun form means WITNESS
- the VERB form USUALLY means WARN
- A Rarer VERB form means TESTIFY or TO WITNESS
Note that in Jewish law witnesses were required to WARN a
person committing a crime. Thus WARN & TESTIFY are two
parts of the same procedure.
The First list shows that the passive, past, 3rd person,
singular male conjugation in the passive-causative mode
occurs only 4 times in the Bible with 1-Vav-3 roots(This
is the form in Ex21-29b). Similarly the past causative
mode (Gn43-03a) occurs less than 2 dozen times *1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
---------------
I used the Grammatical-Form-Konkordance recently published
by Al Silberman. Looking up Form 1729 we find the following
list of ALL verbs in the passive-causative,past,3rd person*1 |
| ROOT | VERSE | PASSIVE-CAUSATIVE MEANING |
| Yud-Caph-Cheth | Job33-19 | And he was rebuked (by someone else) |
| Yud-Resh-Dalet | Nu10-17 | And it was taken down(by someone else) |
| Caph-Vuv-Nun | Isa16-05 | And it will be founded(by grace) |
| Ayin-Vuv-Dalet | Ex21-29 | And it was warned (by someone else) |
| | |
| COMMENTS |
*1 Form #3278 has 18 examples of the first person, past,
masculine, 3rd person in the causative mode. Some Biblical
examples occur at Ex09-20, Ex35-22, Gn04-04, Nu30-06,
Gn14-16,Nu30-15,Dt11-04
--------------------------------------------------------
For example Gn04-04 And Hevel also BROUGHT sacrifices
--------------------------------------------------------
where the word brought means HE(Masculine), CAUSED(Past-
causative) to COME.
|
|
AYD means WARN|TESTIFY |
In LIST 1 above we have seen that AYD is CONJUGATION in a rare
form. In this list we see that AYD evokes further confusion in
that it has several MEANINGS.
|
| VERSE | TEXT OF VERSE-MEANING OF ayd IS capped | MEAING |
| Gn43-03 | The person WARNED us not to come without Benjy*1 | WARN |
| Jer6-10 | Who can I WARN | WARN |
| Dt04-26 | I-ve WARNED you with punishment from heaven...*2 | WARN |
| Is55-04 | I have made him a WARNING to the nations | WARN |
| Ex21-29 | And they will WARN him (about his OX) | WARN |
| 1R21-10 | And sit 2 people to WITNESS-TESTIFY against him | TESTIFY |
| J432-44 | Write it down and have WITNESSES WITNESS | TESTIFY |
| Nu35-30 | By WITNESSES with a murderer be killed | TESTIFY |
| | |
| | |
| COMMENTS |
*1 This verse was cited by Rashi as well as Radack
*2 Some commentaries interpret this using the meaning WITNESSES
rather than WARN. That is they translate
----------------------------------------------------
I have made heaven and earth WITNESSES against you
----------------------------------------------------
|
RASHI RULE USED: GRAMMARr
#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2001, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#
VERSE: Gn47-18c
RASHIS COVERED: Gn47-18c Gn43-03b
|
DOUBLE NEGATIVES |
BACKGROUND
----------
This is a peach of a Rashi. It shows how Rashi was far more
analytic than Oonkelos and could sense subtle nuances.
THE TEXT
--------
About 4 Biblical verses use the double negative: DONT EXCEPT
One of these verses uses the form: DONT EXCEPT PERHAPS
THE OONKELOS
------------
Oonkelos simply tells us that DONT EXCEPT means DO. So
DONT SEE ME EXCEPT WITH YOUR BROTHER means YOU MUST BRING
YOUR BROTHER WHEN YOU COME NEXT.
Oonkelos says nothing about the rare form DONT EXCEPT PERHAPS
THE RASHI
---------
Rashi improves vastly over Oonkelos by doing 2 things
- Rashi emphasizes the use of the DOUBLE NEGATIVE as a
vehicle of emphasis. DOUBLE NEGATIVES have legitimate
usage in language*10
- Rashi notices the RARE FORM: NO EXCEPT PERHAPS
Thus Rashi translates Gn47-18c as
----------------------------------------------
We are out of money. We have NOthing left EXCEPT
PERHAPS our bodies; we can sell ourselves to work
for you to get food
-----------------------------------------------
Note the superior nuances of this translation of Rashi.
Here is the LIST. |
| VERSE | TEXT OF VERSE WITH not AND except | MEANING |
| Gn21-26 | and I did NOT hear EXCEPT today | I heard today |
| Gn43-30b | do NOT see me EXCEPT with your brother | Come with brother |
| Gn47-18c | NOTHING left EXCEPT POSSIBLY our bodys | Maybe BUY US?*2 |
| Jos11-19 | NO city made a treaty EXCEPT the Chivi | Chivi treatied |
| | |
| COMMENTS |
*1 Gn43-30b
Rashi on Gn43-30b simply discretely says about OONKELOOS
the Aramaic translation
--------------------------------------------------------
OONKELOS ignored the LITERAL double negative in the
Biblical text and instead interpreted the verse as saying
YOU CAN COME WHEN YOUR BROTHER IS WITH YOU*10
--------------------------------------------------------
*2 Gn47-18c
How beautiful. Look at the difference between Rashi|Oonkelos
Here is the exact Biblical text of these verses
--------------------------------------------------------
VERSE PHRASE1 PHRASE2 PHRAS3 PHRASE4 PHRASE5
-------- -------- ------------ ------ ------- ----------
Gn21-36 I did NOT hear EXCEPT today
Gn43-30b do NOT see me EXCEPT with Benjy
Gn47-18c there is NOTHING left EXCEPT PERHAPS our bodies
Differs *a *b *c
--------------------------------------------------------
Notice that the word PERHAPS only occurs in Gn47-18c
This point was NOT picked up by the Targum.
Rashi correctly translates the nuances as follows
- Gn21-36 I did NOT know UNTIL today
- Gn43-30b I will NOT see you UNLESS your brother is here
By contrast we have
- Gn47-18c There is NOTHING left EXCEPT PERHAPS ourselves
The point being that they offered to sell themselves as
slaves so that they could get food--hence the language
EXCEPT PERHAPS, since it was not certain their offer
would be accepted.
(The actual Hebrew word used in Gn47-18c is EXCEPT IF.
But Rashi points out that IF can mean PERHAPS*11)
| LONGER FOOTNOTES |
*10 In grade school we were taught not to use double negatives.
OONKELOS agrees but Rashi disagrees.
The statement
---------------------------------------------
ONLY come if your brother is with you
---------------------------------------------
indicates that your brothers coming is a PREREQUISITE
However it doesnt emphasize what happens if you violate
the requirement
By contrast the statement
---------------------------------------------
do NOT come EXCEPT with your brother
---------------------------------------------
emphasizes that there will no clemency if they come
without their brother.
In summary: The double negative is an ACCEPTABLE
way to emphasize a prohibition WITHOUT exceptions
*11 Without getting overly detailed here what Rashi actually
does is the following:
- Rashi identifies 7 meanings to the word KI
- KI can mean IF, WHEN, and PERHAPS
- Verses and examples may be found on the WORDS page at
http://www.RashiYomi.Com
- Rashi EXPLICITLY identifies the interchangability of
KI and IM. Thus multiple meanings of KI and IM
transfer (See Rashis at Gn18-15a, Gn24-33a, Gn43-07d)
It follows that just as KI can mean PERHAPS so too
IM can mean PERHAPS and this meaning fits in nicely
on this verse.
| |
RASHI RULE USED: NEW MEANINGS
#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2001, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#
VERSE: Gn41-02b
RASHIS COVERED: Gn41-02b Gn43-11c
|
ALEPH means THING |
BACKGROUND
----------
Rashi on Job38-28 explains that ALEPH means thing:
---------------------------------------------------
The Hebrew word GL means ROUND. Hence the DERIVED
Hebrew word AGL(Droplet) means a ROUND(gl) THING(Aleph)
---------------------------------------------------
Rav Hirsch throughout his commentary explains that ALEPH
can mean PLANT, ANIMAL, HUMAN, THING (Any object class)
THE TEXT
--------
The word ACHU in Gn41-02b refers to a MARSH (A collection
of PLANTS (ALEPH) joined together (CHET-CHET=JOINED)
The word NECOTH in Gn43-11c refers to WAX: SomeTHING(ALEPH)
that looks SMITTEN (NC)
THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS RASHI
--------------------------
If you wish you can simply take Rashi as reporting
dictionary meaning. Rashi doesnt have much support.
For example the Hebrew word ACHU only occurs one other
time in the Bible
-----------------------------------------
Job8-11 Will a reed tower without mud;
will a marsh flourish without water
-----------------------------------------
This is a legitimate approach to Rashi
THE LIST
--------
However if we wish to go deeper we can use the ALEPH=THING
approach. I present a LIST with some examples of Hebrew roots
ending in ALEPH (There are only 40 such roots)
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
--------------
This list was first published on the email-list HebLang,
hosted by Shamash, in Sept 1999. Here is a partial list.
I have tried to include both obvious and stretched examples.
30% of all cases occur in this list. The reader should ask
him/herself: How many of these examples do I agree with? |
| ROOT | = | ALEPH = THING | OTHER TWO ROOT LETTERS MEAN | ROOT MEAN
| N V A' | = | A person(aleph) | who speaks in Poetry (N V) | Prophet |
| S V A' | = | A Person(aleph) | who rolls around (S V) | Drunkard |
| S N A' | = | a person(aleph) | is a thorn(in my side)(SNH) | Hated |
| D C A` | = | A Person(Aleph) | whose (organ) was crushed | Castrati |
| TZ V A | = | A Person(Aleph) | standing(Tz V)at attention` | Infantry |
| L T A' | = | An Animal(aleph) | that Hides (LT) | ? |
| L V A' | = | An Animal(aleph) | doing as heart feels(LV) | lion |
| P R A' | = | Plants(Aleph) | that are wild(PR) | wildgrass |
| B C A' | = | A tree(Aleph) | that appears to Weep(Bchah) | Weep wilow |
| K S A' | = | A fruit(ALEPH) | that is hard (KSH)to digest | Pickle |
| X M A' | = | A thing(Aleph) | from warming (X M) milk | Cream |
| D S A' | = | plants (Aleph) | that look threshed(D S) | MeadowGras |
| G M A' | = | A Plant(Aleph) | that has room for more(GM) | reed*1 |
| | | | |
| COMMENTS |
*1
To explain the last one note that GM=ALSO, is to a sentence,
as a GMA=Reed, is to water---the reed is perceived as taking
in more water just as the ALSO
part of a sentence takes in more thought in the sentence
| |
RASHI RULE USED: WORD MEANING
#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi Inc., 2001, Dr. Hendel, President #*#*#*#*#
THE 6 RASHI RULE CLASSES(Version 3.2 Dec 15 2001)
http://www.Rashiyomi.com/rules-01.htm
Copyright Dec 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President
========================================================
THE DICTIONARY RULE: Rashi can function as a dictionary.
He presents 2-6 meanings of words
REFERENCE: http://www.RashiYomi.Com/words.htm
========================================================
* EXAMPLE 1: AL means ON. AL can also mean
- WITH (Eat Passover WITH matzoh Ex12-09e)
- IN (Place the Matzoh IN the basket Ex29-03)
- TO (The boards shall be even from bottom TO top Ex26-24c)
- NEAR (His borders will be NEAR Tzison Gn49-13b)
- AFTER(Offer Peace offerings AFTER the daily Lv03-05a)
* EXAMPLE 2: KI means IF,PERHAPS,RATHER,BECAUSE,WHEN,THAT
Gn18-15a Gn24-33a
* EXAMPLE 3: YDA means FAMILIAR, not KNOW (eg Dt34-10a)
eg Gn04-01 Adam was FAMILIAR with his wife
* EXAMPLE 4: ON THE FACE OF means DURING THE LIFETIME
Nu03-04a Gn11-28a Ex20-03c Dt05-07a
===========================================================
THE GRAMMAR RULE: Rashi comments on RARE or SIMILAR usages
REFERENCE:http://www.RashiYomi.Com/grammar.htm
===========================================================
* EXAMPLE 1: BA-ah means CAME;ba-AH means COMING(Gn46-26a)
* EXAMPLE 2:THE SENTENCE: 0.2% of Biblical sentences are 2verses
-(Dt11-07:08) It was not your fathers who saw this;rather you
* EXAMPLE 3: Hitpael has different rules if 1st root letter is
Tzade (USE: Ni-Tz-Ta-Dack not Ni-Th-Tza-Dack--Gn44-16a)
================================================================
THE CITATION RULE: Rashi enriches meaning by citing OTHER verses
REFERENCE:http://www.RashiYomi.Com/other-20.htm
================================================================
* EXAMPLE 1: Dt26-05d We went down to Egypt with A FEW PEOPLE
ENRICHED by Gn46-27: We went down with 70 people
* EXAMPLE 2: Lv01-05a Non-priests may SLAUGHTER offerings
This law DERIVED from explicit statement in 2Chr30-17
* EXAMPLE 3:Why does Rashi say that Chur is Miriams son(Ex17-10b)
DERIVED from possible interpretation of 1-Chr18-19
* EXAMPLE 4: Gn35-22a Reuven Slept with Bilhah(Fathers concubine)
Gn49-04 Reuven PLAYED with fathers BEDS
CONCLUSION: Reuven inteferred with fathers personal
life(ruffled bedspreads); Bible condemns Reuven by
exaggeration; he is accused of incest which he didnt do
=================================================================
THE 3 RABBI ISHMAEL RULES: They govern style(broad vs literal)
REFERENCE:http://www.RashiYomi.com/example1.htm thru example9.htm
=================================================================
* EXAMPLE 1: Simple sentences are always GENERALIZED
---------------------------------------
Dt25-04a Dont MUZZLE an OX while it is THRESHING
Rabbi Ishmael: Dont STOP any ANIMAL from eating
while DOING ITS WORK
* EXAMPLE 2: GENERAL-EXAMPLE style always interpreted LITERALLY
--------------------------------------------------
Nu05-12d (GENERAL) If a women DESECRATES her marriage
(EXAMPLE) and commits ADULTERY
Rabbi Ishmael: Nu05 only applies to ADULTERY.
It does not apply to other marriage DESECRATIONS
* EXAMPLE 3: GENERAL-EXAMPLE-GENERAL style intepreted SIMILARLY
--------------------------------------------------
Lv05-21b (GENERAL) If a man DENIES under oath
(EXAMPLE) ..denies a deposit,loan,theft,wages,lost item
(GENERAL) or ANY DENIAL which he denies
RABBI ISHMAEL: These laws apply to any SIMILAR Example
* The law applies to partnerships, movables and monetary objects
* The law does not apply to real-estate or slander
=================================================================
THE CLIMAX RULE: The Bible should be interpreted in such a manner
that it reflects CLIMACTIC development to a goal
REFERENCE: http://www.RashiYomi.Com/example9.htm
=================================================================
EXAMPLE 1: Dt19-11a If a man HATES, SPIES, CONFRONTS & KILLS
RASHI: Bible identifies 4 stages to murder(Capped)
==============================================================
THE FORMATTING PRINCIPLE: Bible had its own method to mimic
bold, bullets, footnotes, paragraphs
==============================================================
* BOLD: Bible REPEATS words to obtain BOLD emphasis effect
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/doubl-14.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------
EXAMPLE 1:(Ex12-09c) COOK COOK it in water (So COOKED is bold)
INFERENCE: Prefered to COOK it in water;
But COOK It at all costs(Even if you dont have water)
* BULLETS: Bible indicates bullets by REPEATING KEYWORDS
--------------------------------------------------------
Who am I
- THAT I should go to Pharaoh
- THAT I should take the Jews out of Egypt (Ex03-11a)
--------------------------------------------------------
RASHI: Repeated word THAT creates BULLET effect
- Pharoh was a difficult king (Bullet one)
- Jews were not yet ready for freedom (Bullet two)
* FOOTNOTES: The Bible indicates FOOTNOTES by ALMOST DUPLICATING
verses but making small minor changes
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/align-58.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------
EXAMPLE: Ex20-03a
VERSE PHRASE #1 PHRASE #2 PHRASE #3
------- --------- --------- ------------------
Ex20-03 Dont POSSESS the gods of others
Ex20-04 Dont MAKE idols
RASHI: So both POSSESSion & MAKING of idols are prohibited
---------------------------------------------------------------
End of Rashi is Simple Digest
|
#*#*#*#*# (C) RashiYomi, 2001 Inc. Dr. Hendel President #*#*#*#*#