Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
Http://www.Shamash.Org/Rashi/
Volume 2 Number 8
Produced May, 19 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v0519 - Hilights: Happy Shavuoth | Exciting question on Rashi
v5q13-1 Why does Rashi use different examples on the same verse
v5a17-14 DBR=a) prophecy b) advice c) dispute d) Proclaim
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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*** READING TIPS ***
***************************
ARE YOU PRESSED FOR TIME?
DO YOU JUST WANT TO BROWSE MAIN IDEAS QUICKLY & go back later?
THEN WE RECOMMEND READING ONLY THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS
* VERSE:
* RASHI TEXT:
* BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
BUT "HOW DO I FIND QUICKLY A SPECIFIC SECTION?"
ANSWER: Use your FIND menu
For example: FIND VERSE:
takes you to the beginning of the next section.
Similarly
FIND NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
takes you to the brief explanation of Rashi.
IS THERE AN EASY WAY TO GO TO EACH VERSE AND POSTING?
Yes. Use your FIND menu.
"FIND #*#*#*#" takes you to the next posting
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
v0519
* Happy Shavuoth to everybody. There will be only one Rashi Is
Simple this week. Next week we will go back to two a week. I will
try and aim for Sunday and Wednesday morning (Eastern Coast Time)
so that those in Israel receiving it have ample time to receive it.
* We have an exciting question this week. Donald Franklin caught
Rashi using two sets of examples on the same verse. Donald belongs
to the email group Chevrutah founded by Ephraim King whose goal is
to encourage learning in an atmosphere of acceptance and tolerance
of everybody. I have posted individual postings of Rashi Is Simple
on Chevruta and Donald asked the following question.
To answer this question required reviewing all Rashis on the root
DBR. In fact this is the biggest Rashi is Simple posting to date
Nevertheless it is written clearly and divided up into sections
If you read thru you will find
a) the 6 meanings of DBR
b) how Rashi applied these 6 meanings
c) How these meanings are obvious in certain Biblical texts
d) How Rashi and RDK differed on the meaning of DBR
e) Why there are exceptions or deviations in Rashi
We encourage other such good questions from readers.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
From:
To: chevruta@vjlists.com
Cc: rjhendel@juno.com, kingfe@actcom.co.il
Date: Fri, 14 May 1999 13:27:57 +0000
Dear Dr Hendel (Rashi is Simple) (cc Chevruta)
Thank you for your work: I particularly enjoyed
your explanation of the
difference between the pshat and the drosh
regarding how we are understand
the addition of yiras hashem to the mitzvah of ribis.
I have a query regarding your emphasis
on the consistency of Rashi. Does
this mean that where Rashi is inconsistent,
where he explains the same
phrase in different ways, one can learn
from his inconsistency? I ask
because I would like to understand
the inconsistency in the Rashis on bal
tosef - don't add to the mitzvoth -
in voeschanan (4.2) and in reey (13.1);
in the former Rashi gives tefilin,
tsitsis and lulav as examples; in the
latter, tefillin, lulav and birchas cohanim.
Is this significant?
gut shabbos
Donald Franklin
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v5a17-14
v5c13-1 ..don't add to any of ..what I command you today
v5-4-2 ...don't add to ..what I command you
v1a12-17 ..God smote Pharoh account...of Sarah
v1b20-18 ..the smitings God did..account of Sarah
v2-5-13 ..continue working according to the daily needs
v2a16-4 they gathered a manna quantity..equal to daily needs
v3-23-37 ..to bring sacrifices ..according to daily needs
v4a31-16 ..these women were against Israel by ..Bilam
v4-25-18 ..for they were enemies because of..Peor
v5a23-5 ..don't help them because...they didn't give you food
[Moderator: All these verses have the word DBR which we
indicate by the dots .. As can be seen the verses translate
nicely WITHOUT translating DBR. Most English translations
translate the word as INCIDENT--e.g. "God smote Pharoh
account of the INCIDENT with Sarah". As will be seen, Rashi
translates DBR as some type of INSIGHTFUL SPEECH--e.g. "God
smote Pharoh by the PROPHETIC ORDER (DBR) of Sarah". Please
see further comments below.]
RASHI TEXT:
v5c13-1 DBR = PROPHETIC COMMANDMENTS
v5-4-2 DBR = PROPHETIC COMMANDMENTS
v1a12-17 DBR = PROPHECY
v1b20-18 DBR = PROPHECY
v2-5-13 DBR = DAILY NEEDS
v2a16-4 DBR = DAILY NEEDS
v3-23-37 DBR = DAILY NEEDS
v4a31-16 DBR = ADVICE
v4-25-18 DBR = ADVICE
v5a23-5 DBR = ADVICE
[Moderator: Here is a summary by Topic ]
DBR = PROPHECY: Rashi on v1a12-17 SRH smote Pharoh by prophecy
Rashi on v1b20-18
DBR = DAILY NEEDS Rashi on v2-5-13 work according to daily needs
Rashi on v2a16-4
Rashi on v3-23-37
DBR = ADVICE Rashi on v4a31-16 Bilam advised attack on Jews
Rashi on v4-25-18
Rashi on v5a23-5
Rashi on v5-4-2:"Don't change the numbers in Biblical commandments
a) e.g.Have 5 chapters in the Tefillin vs 4
b) e.g.Take up 5 species vs 4 for the lulav (SIFRAH)
c) e.g Put 5 Tzitzith on a 5 cornered garment (SIFRAH)
(By law you only place 4 Tzitzith on a 5 cornered garment)
d) (Priestly blessing example not mentioned in this Rashi)
Rashi v5c13-1: "Don't change the numbers in Biblical commandments"
a) e.g.Have 5 chapters in the Tefillin vs 4
b) e.g.Take up 5 species vs 4 for the lulav (SIFRAH)
c) (Tzitzith example not mentioned in this Rashi)
d) Give 4 Priestly blessings vs 3
[Moderator: The sifrah gives one additional example not found
in Rashi: Different sacrifices have different amounts of
sprinklings on the altar; some have 4 sprinkles on all 4 corners
while others have only one sprinkle]
The sifrah poses the question of how many spinkles to give if a
"4-sprinkle sacrificial blood" gets mixed up with "one sprinkle
sacrificial blood". The answer based on the verse 'Don't add
to numbers in Biblical commandments' is to sprinkle the mixed
blood once (not 4 times).]
[Moderator: There are two issues with these Rashis:
a) The derivation from the verse and
b) Why Rashi chose different examples (then the Sifrah & himself)
The "BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION" section will cover
the derivation while the "COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM" section will
cover why the different examples were used.]
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
The verb DBR means to SPEAK. So Rashi is Simple. Every verse that
has DBR refers to some type of INSIGHTFUL SPEECH. In fact,{LIST1},
DBR can refer in verses to
--Prophecy
--Judicial proceedings
--Advice
--Daily needs
--Proclomations/Warnings.
This seems straightforward enough.However the way to justify Rashi
is subtle. For each of the five types of INSIGHTFUL SPEECH
listed above we will bring three types of verses:
-verses where DBR obviously means what we claim(No Rashi needed)
-verses where DBR is translated by Rashi this way
-verses where DBR **should** be translated this way (but no Rashi)
This type of approach will preserve the obviousness of Rashi.
An example of our approach of bringing three types of
verses will help. Clearly 1-15-1 should be translated as "..
and a prophetic WORD (DBR) came to Abraham..". Similarly
1-15-4 should be translated as "..and a prophetic WORD came
to him." Thus DBR=PROPHECY is obvious here.
Rashi now translates both 1-12-17 and 1-20-11 as "God smote Pharoh
according to the PROPHECY (DBR) of Sarah". Notice how the
preceding verses lend credibility to this PROPHECY=DBR translation.
We are now prepared without Rashi to interpret DBR in other verses
as prophecy. For example we would translate 2-8-18 as "..& Moses
prayed to God concerning the PROPHETIC PROMISE on the plague of
frogs and asked Him to remove them"
If the reader carefully reviews the last 3 paragraphs he will see
that we start with verses where DBR obviously means prophecy and
continue to verses where Rashi suggests prophecy as the proper
translation. Having established that DBR means prophecy we are now
in a position to guess how we should translate other verses.Notice
how our knowledge of Biblical lists enables us to correctly identify
which problems Rashi was addressing and to fill in missing Drashos
This is the true art of reading Rashi.
Wenote in passing that the RDK in his book ROOTS brings 7 examples
and suggests that DBR means MATTER OF or INCIDENT (a popular way
of translating it). For example RDK interprets 2-8-18 as "because
of the INCIDENT of the frogs". Similarly RDK would probably
translate 1-12-17 as "..smote Pharoh because of the INCIDENT with
Sarah." Thus it would appear that there is a controversy between
Rashi and RDK on the meaning of DBR in certain verses.
But as we will show below (after we explain
Rashi) these 7 examples all have natural other interpretations
which are preferable(even according to RDK)). Let us therefore
continue and explain all the fundamental meanings of DBR by
citing verses where they obviously mean certain things and then
going to Rashis where he translates them that way. {LIST2}
compactly summarizes this in tabular form with a large collection
of verses illustrating various meanings of DBR.
The first meaning of DBR is PROPHECY and was dealt with above.
The second meaning of DBR in our list above is JUSTICE or DISPUTE.
DBR = JUSTICE or DISPUTE in verses like 2-22-8 and 1-43-18. There
are no Rashis using DBR=JUSTICE since the verses have obvious
translations.
The third meaning of DBR in our list above is ADVICE.
DBR =ADVICE in 2S14-22 or 2S14-15. According to Rashi
DBR = ADVICE in 4-31-16 and 5-23-5. This is explicitly said.
Although Rashi does not explicitly say DBR=ADVICE on 4-25-1
he mentions the advice in question. "The Moabite women were
to engage in a war effort on the Jews by getting them to sin by
making themselves loose for the men".The reason for Rashis strange
form will here will be explained below. For the moment we note
that DBR=ADVICE in these 3 verses.
The fourth meaning of DBR in our list above is DAILY NEEDS.
Rashi uniformly translates DBR YOM BYOMO as DAILY NEEDS. This
is done in 3 verses (2-5-13, 2-16-4 and 3-23-37). Apparently this
is an idiom composed of these 3 words which mean DAILY NEEDS. In
other words it is the 3 word unit which TOGETHER means daily needs
I see no connection between this and SPEECH except perhaps the
remote connection that your daily needs are things that you talk
about.
Reviewing the above 4 translations we see that in summary DBR =
INSIGHTFUL SPEECH. The obvious examples in TNACH are supplemented
by examples from Rashi where DBR means PROPHECY,
ADVICE, JUDICIAL DISPUTE. (Additionally the idiomatic phrase
DBR DAY BY DAY means "daily needs")
There is one more meaning of DBR=PROCLOMATION. However Rashi never
mentions this.This meaning is brought by the Sifrah.Thus the Sfrh
says on 5-19-4 that an accidental murderer must PROCLAIM to the
refuge city and tell them that he was an accidental murderer.
Similarly the lender must PROCLAIM in Shmitah year that it is
Shmitah (5-15-2). Similarly 5-22-24 is interpreted in terms of
the necessity of the witnesses issuing a PROCLOMATION or more
precisely a WARNING that the action is a sin.
It appears to me that Rashi did not translate DBR=PROCLAIM
because there is no list to back it up--there are no Biblical
precedents. For it appears to me that Rashi only cited things
in his commentaries that could be backed by Biblical lists.
Nevertheless the Sifrah does cite this meaning. It can be
justified by the observation that DBR means INSIGHTFUL SPEECH
in general.For this there is a list (e.g. {LIST2}) and by it
the Sifrah can justify DBR=PROCLAIM.
Now that we have explained the meanings of DBR we have to go to
verses where WE EXPECT Rashi to translate DBR according to the
above but he doesn't. We deal with 3 exceptional verses.
The first exception is the Rashi on 4-15-31.
Recall that DBR=PROPHECY. So we would translate 4-15-31 as
"(The blasphemer must die) Because he has despised the PROPHECY
(DBR) of God". This translation is indeed consistent with the
Sifray which translates this verse as applying to "someone who
maliciously misinterprets prophecies". So the verse and
DBR=PROPHECY fit perfectly. We would
expect Rashi to cite the Sifrah.
How strange therefore when Rashi totally ignores the Sifray and
instead says "..because he(the blasphemer) despised the word of
God"---RASHI: Because the prohibition of BLASPHEMY=IDOLATRY was
personally uttered by God while the other Biblical prohibitions
were uttered by Moses".
But the strangeness in the Rashi disappears when we realize that
there are TWO problems in the verse: a) What does DBR mean (ANSWER
It means prophecy) and b) Why is the punishment of the blashphmer
the ONLY Biblical punishment where it says "He dies because he
despised God". Didn't he despise God in other commandments? (See
{LIST3} to justify the notion that Blasphemy is the only
commandment where the reason for punishment is "Because he
despised God")
Rashi elegantly answers that it says "Because he
despised the prophecy of God" by the blasphemer because idolatry/
blasphemy is the 1st two of the ten commandments and was
personally said by God while the rest of the 10 commandments was
said by Moses. Thus a person committing idolatry doesn't despise
Mosaic law, he rather despises God himself. (The proof that the
first two of the 10 commandments was said by God while the others
were said by Moses comes from the fact that the first two of the
ten commandments were said in the 1st person (**I** am the Lord ..
do not have other Gods before **me**) while the rest of the ten
commandments were given by Moses and hence said in the 2nd person
(e.g. Observe the Sabbath like **your** God commanded you). See
{LIST4}
The second exception is on 4-25-18. Again Rashi has two problems:
a) What is the meaning of DBR and b) Why was MIDYAN punished but
not MOAB. Rashi answers the first question by citing the advice
Bilam gave the women to seduce the Jews---so DBR = ADVICE.
The answer to the 2nd question is the obvious reason. It
was a Midyanite woman (not a Moabite) which flagrantly
slept publicly with a Jew and therefore they, the Midyanites were
published. Moab contributed to the sin but was not so blatant.
For an explanation of why Rashi formulated this non public sinning
the way he did see below in the "COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM" Section.
The third exception is the Rashis on 5-4-2 and 5-13-1.
First let us look at an incorrect explanation. The
Sifrah says "Dont add commandments: For example: Don't make
4 Priestly blessings vs 3." The Malbim explains this because
DBR = SPEECH and so the verse refers to a commandment
involving SPEECH (ie the priestly blessing).
But this is incorrect!! As we have just seen DBR does not mean
any speech but only PROPHECY, ADVICE, JUDICIAL DISPUTE or
PROCLOMATION. Besides, the word DBR occurs in BOTH verses---
5-4-2 and 5-13-1--while Rashi only brings down the example
of the Priestly blessing on 5-13-1. Finally, even if MALBIM
believed that BLESSINGS were an insightful speech still we
have no precedents for this in TNACH.
However the correct answer is that 5-4-2 says
"Don't add commandments" while 5-13-1 says "Don't add ANY
commandments". It is the deliberate extra word ANY in 5-13-1
which is absent in 5-4-2 which emphasizes that the "DONT ADD"
prohibition extends to ANY commandment---even those that don't
involve physical action like the priestly blessings. See
{LIST5} for a word by word alignment of the verses.
For the explanation of why Rashi changed the examples in the
Sifrah see the COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM section.
Notice how the analysis of Biblical lists helped us. We were able
to correctly NOT apply the DBR=SPEECH principle because DBR equals
not SPEECH but INSIGHTFUL SPEECH which includes prophecy, advice
and judicial dispute (and proclomation) but not ordinary speech
and blessings. By studying lists we are able to correctly apply
the DBR rule and conclude that it is not warranted here. Instead
the learning of Rashi is from "ANY".
I believe this concludes this fascinating study on Rashi and the
root DBR. We have left to deal with the controversy of the RDK
and Rashi. Briefly RDK gives 7 verses and says that DBR can mean
THING, INCIDENT or ISSUE. For example, RDK translates 2-8-8
"Moses prayed to God on the INCIDENT of the frog plague" while
we have suggested that Rashi translated it as "Moses prayed to
God concerning the PROPHECY of the frog plague (ie although the
prophecy couldn't be broken by prayer, if Pharoh repented it would
be consistent with the prophecy to stop the plague).
Let us quickly go thru the other verses. We have interpreted
1-43-18 as referring to judicial dispute. On Jos5-4 we
explicitly have a controversy: Rashi says DBR=PROPHECY while
RDK says it means incident. All this is compactly presented in
{LIST6}. We are inclinded to take Rashi's side because even the
RDK has to admit DBR=PROPHECY while there are no other verses
where we have to interpret DBR=INCIDENT. In other words, we
prefer Rashi over RDK since Rashi is simpler and accomplished
more detailed translations using fewer resources.
However the last 4 entries on {LIST6} DO have to be translated
by a new meaning of DBR. RDK suggests that DBR=INCIDENT or THING.
If it did mean it in these 4 entries then Rashi would have to
concede to RDK that it could mean it elsewhere.
Fortunately the BAAL METZUDOTH on Jud19-19 explicitly says that
DBR does not mean THING but ANYthing. In other words the emphasis
is not on a THING but on the MINUTEST possible thing. Thus 5-23-15
doesn't mean "God will not be with you in war if he sees a sexual
THING" but rather "God will not be with you in war if he sees ANY
sexual thing". Similarly 2-9-4 does not mean "...but noTHING
from the Jewish quarters died in the plague" but rather it means
that "...from the Jewish quarters not even the smallest thing
died".
In summary Rashi and Chazal would hold that DBR can mean PROPHECY,
ADVICE, DISPUTE, PROCLOMATION, DAILY NEEDS, or ANYTHING.
According to RDK DBR would mean PROPHECY, DAILY NEEDS, THING.
This is summarized in {LIST7}. Although there are no clear
ways to defend Rashi over RDk we point out that Rashi's methods
are more specific and focused and fit the verses better. In any
event the reader is invited to peruse the various lists and
come to his/her own conclusion.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
Regarding the Rashi on 4-25-18. Why doesn't Rashi give the reason
for Midyan being punished and not Moab in terms of the fact that
it was a Midyanite who had public sex with the Jews and not a
Moabite.
Rashi as is his usual custom expresses a cause not by the cause
itself but by some future consequence of it. Thus he says "Moav
wasn't punished because Ruth was destined to come from him."
What this really means is that "since moav didn't publicly have
sex with Jews" therefore "it was Moav not Midyan that merited
to have Ruth (and ultimately King David)".
In a similar manner
when in 1-45-14 it says that Binyamin cried because of Joseph's
steadfastness (that is his refusal to give in to Potipherah's
seductions) Rashi translates this as "Because of the Temple
that was built (and later destroyed) on Joseph's property".
Just as Rashi expresses Joseph's steadfastness
not by the steadfastness itself but by a future consequence of
it (Joseph merited to have a temple because of his great
steadfastness) so too does Rashi express Moav's abstention
from public sex not by that abstention itself but rather by
their worthiness to have Ruth come down from him.
Finally we come to the question which started this whole posting:
Why does Rashi on 5-13-1 and 5-4-2 avoid the examples of the
Sifrah and substitute his own. To explain this we not only
explain Rashi but we explain the Sifrah.
Why did the Sifrah pick the examples it did. Or more generally
what is the GOAL when picking examples.
The answer is as follows: The GOAL when picking examples is
to COVER AS WIDE A RANGE OF POSSIBLE PROPERTIES AS POSSIBLE
so as to prevent improper generalization by the student.
Let us apply this here. The Torah says "Don't add Mitzvoth".
So the Sifrah gives the example of Tzitzith where it explicitly
says MAKE 4. So even if we didn't have a verse DON"T ADD TO
MITZVOTH I would still know in Tzitzith not to make them 3 or
5.
The second example of the Sifrah is LULAV. Although the Torah
did not say take FOUR species it does LIST the four species
in one verse. So by picking this example the Sifrah teaches us
that the DON"T ADD COMMANDMENTS applies even to situations like
LULAV where unlike Tzitzith the Torah did not give an explicit
number.
The third example of the Sifrah is "4-sprinkle sacrificial blood"
which got mixed up with the "1 sprinkle sacrificial blood". The
point here is that unlike Tzitzith we don't have an explicit
number and unlike Lulav we don't have an explicit list. Rather
we infer the number of sprinklings from subtle nuances. So
the point of the Sifrah is that even when numbers in Biblical
commandments are learned from nuances nevertheless the DONT
ADD prohibition applies.
In summary the Sifrah had 3 objectives with the examples: To
show that DON"T ADD applies even in commandments with NUMBERS,
even in commandments whose number is determined by a LIST,
and even in commandments whose number is determined by NUANCES.
This is summarized in {LIST8}.
The fourth examples of the Sifrah---Bircath Cohanim comes not
to illustrate but because of the word ANY in 5-13-1: "DONT
ADD **anyTHING** to the commandments I give you". The word
ANY includes even non-physical, verbal commandments like the
Priestly blessing.
Now we can understand Rashi. Rashi's goal was to capture the
spirit of the Sifrah. Most layman aren't familiar with the
sacrificial commandments. So citing them the '4-sprinkle example'
would not help them understand the Sifrah's spirit. Rashis
challenging problem was to find an example that had the following
three properties:
a) was familiar to the layman
b) involved numbers
c) the numbers did not come explicitly or from lists in the text.
And Rashi found it: TEFILLIN. Tefillin is something that
a) every layman knows
b) involves 4 chapters
c) the numbers came from an oral tradition to Moses at Sinai.
We see Rashi's genious. He didn't really deviate from the Sifrah.
He rather found a comparable example that accomplished the same
goals!!! But only someone who KNEW WHY the Sifrah picked examples
could do this.
Now we understand Rashi on 5-4-2: The sifrah gives the examples
of LULAV, TZITZITH and '4-sprinkle' and Rashi gives the same
examples except that he substitutes TEFILLIN for the '4-sprinkle'
example for the reason we just gave.
On 5-13-1 Rashi has to add the PRIESTLY BLESSING example because
of the word ANY. I am not 100% sure why Rashi deleted the
TZITZITH example--perhaps he had a rule of not giving more than
3 examples on any one Biblical text since Rashi did not want to
overburden the student. (If anyone knows a Rashi with more than
3 examples (which would prove my conjecture wrong) please tell us
At any rate if Rashi had to delete an example he would delete
the most obvious example--Tzitzith.
I believe the above partially accounts for why Rashi and the
Sifrah selected certain examples. It also illuminates the
function of examples in the Sifrah, Mishnah and Talmud.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {List of meanings of DBR with Biblical examples.
According to Rashi DBR means INSIGHTFUL SPEECH}
MEANING VERSE TEXT
======= ===== ====
PROPHECY 1-15-4 & behold a prophecy came to him
DISPUTE 2-22-8 ..to the judge the dispute comes
ADVICE 4-31-16 ..these women followed Bilams advice
DAILY NEEDS 2-16-4 ..Manna was taken by daily needs
PROCLAIM *1 5-15-2 ..This is the proclomation of Shmtah
ANYthing 5-23-15 ..& God will not see ANY sexual
thing in you and withdraw from you
FOOTNOTES:
*1 There is no good Biblical verse where DBR= PROCLAIM
{LIST2} {List of Biblical verses illustrating the 6 meanings of
DBR presented in {LIST1}. For each meaning we cite verses
where it OBVIOUSLY has this meaning as well as verses where
the Sifrah or Rashi holds this meaning. Such an approach
gives credibility to Rashi}
MEANING Rashi/Obvious VERSE TEXT
======= ============= ===== ====
Prophecy Obvious 1-15-1 ..a prophecy of God came to
Prophecy Rashi 1-12-17 ..Sarah's prophecies smote..
Pharoh
DISPUTE Obvious *1 2-22-8 ..the dispute..to the Judges
ADVICE Obvious 2S14-22 ..You followed my advice
ADVICE Rashi 4-31-16 Women seduced Jews based
on Bilams advice
DAILY NEEDS Obvious/Rashi 2-16-4 Gather daily needs of Manna
PROCLAIM *2 SIFRAH 5-15-2 This is when you proclaim
Shmth
ANYTHING Obvious 5-23-15 & God wont see in you
any sexual thing & withdraw
FOOTNOTES
*1 Rashi never uses this meaning (Perhaps because it is obvious)
*2 Rashi does not cite this meaning though the sifrah cites it
3 times. I conjecture that Rashi did not cite the sifrah
because there are no other Biblical precedents for it
(i.e. you could not produce a LIST for it)
{LIST3} {Blasphemy is the only sinner who dies because
"He despised God"}
SIN VERSE TEXT
=== ===== ====
Witchcraft 2-22-17 Don't let them live
Curse parents 2-21-17 He shall surely die
Adultery 3-20-10 They both shall surely die
Blashphemer 4-15-31 Because he despised God
Seduce Idoltry 5-13-10 Kill him
{LIST4} {Of verbs used in 10 commandments. God said first
two and Moses said the rest. The proof of this
is that the first few commandments are said in
the first person while the remaining commandments
are said in the 3rd person}
WORD PERSON WHO SAID IT WHICH COMMANDMENT IN 10
==== ====== =========== =======================
I 1ST God 1st
Took you 1st God 1st
On my face 1st God 2nd
I 1st God 2nd
My enemies 1st God 2nd
He wont ovrlook 3rd Moses 3rd
He made world 3rd Moses 4th
{LIST5} {Comparison (alignment of 5-4-2 and 5-13-1)}
5-4-2 5-13-1
===== ======
Don't add (Plural) *2 *3
on the--AL
ANY of *1
prophetic orders prophetic orders
that I command you that I command you
Don't add (Singular) * 3
ONTO IT
FOOTNOTES
*1 As can be seen the word ANY is blatantly added in 5-13-1
apparently to include ANY commandments--even verbal
*2 There is a reversal of order here. In 5-4-2 the DONT ADD phrase
is FIRST while in 5-13-1 it is LAST. Poet analysts call this a
CHIASTIC order (Because if you aligned the verses horizontally
and draw a line connecting similar phrases the lines would look
like the ENGLISH X or the Greek CHI.
*3 Note the PLURAL - SINGULAR difference between these two verses
As I write this posting I don't off hand know the reason.
{LIST6} {List of 7 verses that RDK uses to prove DBR means INCIDENT
or THING}
VERSE TEXT
===== ====
2-8-18 Moses prayed to God concerning the frog INCIDENT
1-43-18 We were brought here because of the money INCIDENT
Jos5-4 And this is the INCIDENT that Joshua circumcised
2-9-4 And no THING from the Jewish quarters died
5-23-15 And God will see no sexual THING in you & withdraw
Jud18-7 ..a land not missing anything
Jud19-19 ..not missing anything *1
FOOTNOTES
*1 See the Mtzudoth and Rashi on these two verses..they suggest
translating it as ANYTHING (vs thing). I use this to explain
the Rashi Radack controversy in the next LIST.
{LIST7} {How Rashi and Radack interpret the 7 verses that
Radack uses to prove that there is a meaning of THING.
According to RADACK DBR = THING or INCIDENT. According
to Rashi DBR can mean PROPHECY, DISPUTE, ANY THING.
Radack however would also have to agree that DBR
can mean PROPHECY and DISPUTE. So the controversy
between them boils down to whether DBR means THING
or ANYTHING. As can be seen ANYTHING is more precise
in the following verses. Therefore RASHI is to be
preferred. However every reader can judge for him
or her self}
VERSE RASHI=ANYTHING RADACK=THING
==== ============== ============
1-43-18 *1 ..the money dispute the money incident
2-8-8 *1 ..the frog prophecy the frog incident
Jos5-4 *1 ..these are the these are the things that
prophecies Joshua told Joshua told when
when circumcizing circumcizing
FOOTNOTES:
=========
*1 In these last 3 examples Rashi would use the other meanings
we developed above {LIST2}. See the Rashi on Jos5-4. Although
RDK translates it as THING this is obviously a sort of "cop out"
since you can always say THING. As can be seen Rashi's explanations
are more focused and detailed. At any rate every reader can judge
for him/herself.
{LIST8} {The 3 examples from the Sifrah on 5-13-1 & what they
illustrate. We use the theory that every example illustrates
some attribute. Together the examples prevent
misgeneralizations}
EXAMPLE HOW NUMBER IS INIDICATED IN THIS COMMANDMENT
======= ============================================
Tzitzith Explicitly mentioned in the Biblical verse
Lulav A list of 4 items is mentioned (no number)
4-sprinkle
sacrifice Thru nuances of verses *1
FOOTNOTES
*1 Thus the Sifrah should be read "Don't add commandments whether
a) it says the number explicitly, such as in Tzitzith
b) it says the number implicitly thru a list
c) it says the number thru nuances.
CROSS REFERENCES:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
SPECIAL WORDS | ALL/ANY
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
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