Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 1999
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
Volume 4 Number 4
Produced Nov, 09 1999
Topics Discussed in This Issue
------------------------------
v1-24-52
BOWING symbolizes: a) Expressions of THANKS(1-24-52;
Eliezer thanking God for Rivkah); b) Expressions of
POWER(1-37-10, Jacobs family bowing to Joseph); c)
Offering to HELP someone(1-19-1; Lot offering to help
the 2 guests);d) WORSHIP of GOD(1-24-1)
v1-21-9
TzChK/ShChK Piel occurs 10 times In 7 the meaning is
clearly MOCKERY(Samson's mockery(Jud16-25); Joseph
teasing potiperah(1-39-14:17),Lots teasing in
laws(1-19-14). In the remaining 3 Ramban says TzChk=
INTENSE LAUGHTER(eg2Sa6-21);Rashi says TzChK=MOCK.
v1c14-14
SINGULAR verbs for a nation indicate a unified manner eg
a) during war (eg Jud9-34-1st half vs 2nd half) or b) an
act of court (cf 3-25-8,3-23-15). 1-14-14 says: 'and HE
pursued them and HE divided on them-he & his
servants'--showing Eliezer was a General
v1y1-14
(a)DEFICIENT SPELLING=deficiency (eg not all
conquer(1-1-28),not all need a sign(1-9-12),or
deficient-not-nice people(1-23-16,1-25-24 vs 1-38-27)).
(b)DEFICIENT SPELLING=a combinations of 2 words (eg
common& distinguished=temporary appointment-(1-23-10))
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
***************************
*** READING TIPS ***
***************************
IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY WE RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS:
* VERSE:
* RASHI TEXT:
* BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
"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 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v1-24-52
======
v1-24-52 & When he heard their words he BOWED TO GOD
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v1-24-52 From this verse
>When he heard...he BOWED
we learn that you thank (God) on good news
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
We can understand this Rashi at 4 levels
ELEMENTARY LEVEL
----------------
At the elementary level the verse says
>When he heard ...he BOWED
Rashi is Simple and says
>From this we learn that one SHOULD thank God(bow)
>when one hears good tidings.
In other words the purpose of the verse was to teach us a moral
norm.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
------------------
At this level we see Rashi's comment that
>one should thank God when one hears good tidings
as a GENERAL comment that
>does not ONLY apply to this verse, 1-24-52
but also applies to MANY verses where
>people BOWED (Thanked God) after hearing good tidings.
Thus we have people BOWING(=Thanking God) such as Abraham when
the Chebronites allowed him burial rights and sold him a plot
(1-23-7, 1-23-12) or Eliezer when meeting Rivkah and getting
consent to marry Isaac (1-24-26, 1-24-52, 1-24-48)
ADVANCED LEVEL
--------------
At this level we see Rashis comment that
>one should thank God=Bow when hearing good tidings
not only as
>applying to many verses where one gives thanks=BOW
but as
>applying to many situations where one bows.
In fact, {LIST2} shows 4 reasons that people bow in the Bible
and {LIST1} shows about a dozen verses of bowing where one of
these 4 situations is met. So the Rashi on 1-24-52 is seen
as indicating that there are 4 reasons for bowing, one of
which is giving thanks, and in each verse where bowing occurs
one of these 4 reasons holds.
The 4 reasons for bowing are
>to give thanks to God (eg 1-24-52;Eliezer thanking
>God for providing Rivkah for Isaac
>to acknowledge Power (eg 1-37-10; Jacob asking Joseph
>if the family will come to bow to him
>to offer to help (eg 1-19-1; Lot offers hospitality
>to the 2 men who came to Sedom
>to worship God (eg 2-24-1; Moses Aaron & the elders
>bowed for receipt of the Torah)
Typical of the advanced level is that we don't ask
>What is the problem (a la Nechama Leibowitz)
>What is bothering Rashi (a la Dr Avigdor Boncheck)
For at the advanced level nothing is problematic and nothing
is bothering Rashi.
Rather, Rashi is simply aware of 4 functions of bowing and
points out that the bowing in this verse represents the
THANK YOU type of bowing. (Note that if one is unaware of
FOUR types of bowing and eg thinks all bowing is acknowledgement
of power then one could view the Rashi in terms of the "problem"
>PROBLEM: Bowing = Power (but there is no power in 1-24-52)
>SOLUTION: Bowing = Power or Thank you
Such a point of view is not necessarily wrong. Nevertheless we
prefer the point of view that
>FACT: There are 4 types of bowing (thanks, power, help...
>1-24-52: This is a THANK-YOU TYPE of bowing
Such a view does not deal with PROBLEMS and SOLUTIONS but rather
with LISTS and STYLES.
This distinction between
>PROBLEMS/WHAT IS BOTHEIRNG RASHI and SOLUTIONS
versus
>LISTS/STYLES
is typical of the approach we have taken in this email group. We
see words like BOWING as having many MEANINGS (ie STYLES)--for
THANK YOU, for POWER, for offering HELP and these MEANINGS/STYLES
are justified by LISTS. The goal of learning Rashi is to understand
these lists.)
THE PROFOUND LEVEL
------------------
At the profound level we NOT only understand the 4 types of
bowing we also understand WHY Rashi chose to comment on this
particular verse.
As we browse thru {LIST1} we see many examples where
>BOWING = THANKS
Why did Rashi pick 1-24-52 to comment that
>BOWING = THANKS?
Rashi however picked this verse because it explicitly says
>..When he heard the (good) news he BOWED TO GOD
Thus Rashi is simple---he chose this verse to teach us that
>One should thank God for Good things
because it EXPLICITLY says so.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
The student who reviews the above 4 levels for understanding
Rashi as well as {LIST1} and {LIST2} will gain much skill
in approaching Rashi and be able to understand the richness
that Rashi brings to a comment on one verse but illuminates
many.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
{LIST1} {Verses where BOWING occurs. As can be seen bowing
symbolizes one of 4 things
>Giving a thank you
>acknowledging someones power
>Acknowledging Gods sovereignty
>Offering to help someone
These 4 functions of bowing are further compactly
exhibited in {LIST2}}
VERSE FUNCTION TEXT
======= ======== ===================================================
1-24-48 Thanks Thanking God for meeting Rivkah
1-23-7 Thanks Chebronites allow Abraham burial rights
1-23-12 Thanks Aphron agrees to sell(give) Abraham a burial plot
1-24-26 Thanks Eliezer thanks God for meeting Rivkah
1-24-52 Thanks Eliezer thanks God for Laban releasing Rivkah
1-37-10 Power Will I(Jacob)&family come to bow before you(Joeseph
1-33-3 Power Jacob bows 7 times when meeting Esauv *1
1-43-28 Power Joesph's brothers to Joseph
1-47-31 Power Jacob to Joseph
1-48-12 Power Joseph's brother to Joseph(after Jacobs death)
1-49-8 Power Jews should acknowledge Judah's power
1-27-29 Power Nations should acknowledge Jacobs power
2-18-7 help Yithro brings Moshes family to him
1-18-2 Help Abraham offers hospitality to the 3 men
1-19-1 Help Lot offers hospitality to the 2 men
2-24-1 Worship Moses,Aaron & 70 elders upon receipt of Torah
1-22-5 Worship Abraham & Isaac to God
2-20-5 Worship Jews shouldn't worship other Gods
FOOTNOTES
*1 I think the proper interpretation here (since Jacob did
not 'work' for Esauv) was that Jacob acknowledged that Esauv
was a FORCE in the world that had to be recognized(Bowed to)
{LIST2} {The 4 symbolic meanings of BOWING. This is condensed
from {LIST1} which gives further examples. The meanings
of the 4 functions are as follows
>Thanks = To give thanks
>Power = to acknowledge someones power
>help = to offer help to someone
>worship = to worship God }
FUNCTION VERSE TEXT
======== ======= ====================================================
Thanks 1-24-52 Thanks God when he heard about Rivkah&Isaac
Power 1-37-10 Will I(Jacob)&family come to bow before you(Joeseph)
Help 1-19-1 Lot offers hospitality to the 2 men
Worship 2-24-1 Moses,Aaron & 70 elders on receipt of Torah
CROSS REFERENCES:
=================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
===============================================================
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS:
======================
HOMEWORK #1: Expand {LIST1}, the list of verses containing
-----------bowing by
> including verses from other books of the Bible
> including other words for BOWING (like KDH)
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v1-21-9
======
v1-21-9 And Sarah saw ...(Ishmael)....playing(TzChK)
v1b32-6 ...and they (at the Golden calf) got up to brawl
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v1-21-9 The Hebrew word TzChK in the PIEL mode can mean
> idolatry (1-32-6)
> sexual immorality (1-39-17)
> murder (2Sa2-14)
v1b32-6 The Hebrew word TzChk has a connotation of
>sexual immorality (1-39-17)
>murder (2Sa2-14)
In fact murder applies here also since the Jews
murdered Charan when he tried to protest the
making of the calf.
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
We have here a controversy between Rashi and Ramban which
goes back to a controversy between Rabbi Akivah and RSBI in
the Mechiltah of Sotah (6:3).
The reason Rabbi Akiva and RSBI disagree is because the Bible
does not present a big enough LIST to settle the dispute.
Although our position is that Rashi and Ramban rarely disagreed
and usually complemented each other, nevertheless in those
verses where the underlying LISTS are small we can see a real
controversy because there is no way to settle it.(NOTE that by
contrast if the LISTS are big enough we insist that there is NO
controversy between Rashi and Ramban--here however there is).
In a nutshell, Rashi holds that
>The Hebrew roots TzChK/ShChK= Mockery (Rashi)
while the Ramban holds that
>The HEbrew Roots TzChK/ShChK = intense laughter (Ramban).
To highlight the lack of statistical evidence we note that
>TzChK occurs only 15 times in Tnach
>TzChK in PIel only occurs 7 times
>ShChK occurs only 50 times in Tnach
>ShChK in Piel only occurs 17 times
>Ignoring metaphoric use TzChk & ShChK occur 10 times!!
Normally this would be enough examples to settle the controversy
However because the usage is so varied it is impossible to reach
a definite conclusion.
We will now review the examples of usage of these roots {LIST1}
and show how both the Rashi and Ramban can be defended.
The following points should be noted.
POINT 1: TzChK and ShChK have the same meaning (Rashi,Ramban)
--------------------------------------------------------------
It is clear from Ju16-25 that TzChK and ShChK have more or less
the same meaning since it says
>Call Samson and let him be a mockery (ShChK)before us
>and they called Samson who was made into a mockery (TzChK)
>show before them
Both Rashi and Ramban would agree on this.
POINT 2 (TzChK/ShChK means MOCKERY (Rashi) or INTENSE LAUGHTER(Rmbn)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The KAL form of these verbs seems to mean
>mocking or laughter denoting incredulity
Certain verses definitely mean MOCK--for example--
> Those younger than me MOCKED AT ME (Job30-1)
> They laughed (MOCKED) at her downfall (Thr1-7)
However the following verses could EQUALLY well mean LAUGH AT
IN INCREDULITY or MOCK. Consider
> Why did Sarah MOCK at the statement she'd have a child(1-18-13)
> When we are redeemed we will MOCK(be incredulous) (Ps126-2)
As can be seen the Ramban's translation of LAUGH is reasonable and
perhaps fits in better ('When we are redeemed we will LAUGH
INTENSELY (eg is this really happening to us)'. Rashi's translation
as MOCKERY would also fit in and be consistent with other verses
where it definitely means MOCK (eg 'When we are redeeemed we will
be so incredulous that we will laugh as if we are mocking')
The problem is that besides Ps126-2 there are really no good verses
where TzChK/ShChK means good laughter and it is not clear that we
should avoid the translation MOCKERY for just one verse (Then again
we don't have that many verses so maybe we should--hence the
controversy).
POINT 3 (PIEL TzChK--CAN MEAN MOCKERY(Rashi, Ramban))
----------------------------------------------------------------
The PIEL form of TzChK can definitely mean MOCKERY according
to both the Ramban and Rashi. Thus we have Josephs alleged
(sexual) mockery of Potipherah (1-39-17); Samson's mockery
before the philistines (Ju16-25); or the fact that Lots warning
that Sedom would be destroyed looked like Lot was Mocking his
in laws.
POINT 4 (Several more verses definitely mean Mockery(Rashi/Ramban)
------------------------------------------------------------------
2Sa2-14 definitely refers to a WAR GAME in which people got hurt.
Similarly 2-32-6 referring to the Golden calf describes a BRAWL
in which people got hurt. We learn this from the explicit verse
>This (noise we hear) is not a war preparation
>nor is it noise of despair
>it is rather noise of torture (2-32-18).
In other words it is the OTHER VERSE 2-32-18 that forces us to
interpret TzChK/ShChK in 2-32-6 as a sort of BRAWL where people
were MOCKING/TEASING each other and people got hurt.
POINT 5 (In 3 verses (30%) it could mean MOCK(Rashi),Intense(Rmbn)
------------------------------------------------------------------
However there are 3 more verses (out of 10!!!!) where it is
unclear what the meaning is. Before explaining this we see why there
is controversy. After all if I had 3 exceptions to 100 verses I
would go out of my way to reconcile the 3 to the 97. But if I have
3 exceptions to 7 verses I may turn around and discard the meaning
of MOCKERY. This is exactly why there is a controversy and this
is exactly why the controversy cannot be resolved.
The 3 verses are as follows-
(2Sa6-21) King David says 'I will dance wildly before God'
The Ramban is crystal clear---this is a good dancing without
any mockery. By contrast Rashi would probably state that
the dance denotes mockery at the enemies of God (as indeed
throughout the Psalms King David emphasizes how he will
oppose God enemies with Gods help). In this verse the
controversy between interpreting ShChK as MOCKING at Gods
enemies (Rashi) vs DANCING WILDLY (Rmbn) stands out clearly.
(1-26-8) speaks about Isaac and Rivkah PLAYING with each other
According to the Ramban it means they were 'HORSING AROUND'.
According to Rashi it means a MOCKING TYPE OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR.
In fact in support of Rashi we note that the word TO SLEEP has
two forms in Hebrew (TO SLEEP WITH and TO SLEEP OF--the latter
form denotes treating a partner like a sex object). However
it is not clear that the use of the word OF with PLAY also
denotes treating someone like a sex object. It is also not
clear why we should accuse Isaac of treating his wife this
way. Thus while Rashi has weak grammatical support Ramban
also stands on solid ground
(1-21-9) Isaac and Ishamel were PLAYING with each other (or
BRAWLING WITH EACH OTHER (as children are want to do). We
understand Rashi...they were playing like any two children...
perhaps they were playing Cops and robbers and were trying
to kill each other; perhaps Ishmael was encouraging Isaac
to get involved with some girls; or perhaps they were imitating
idolatry rites. Certainly they should have been reprimanded.
Abraham probably dismissed this as normal growing up while
Sarah said prophetically (Confirmed by God) that although
they were children it is indicative of future behavior and
hence Ishamel must be banished.
By contrast the Rambans interpretation is also clear. Perhaps
the two children were just intensely playing with each other
Why inject perjorative things into this playing (why assume
it involved sex or children trying to kill each other). Maybe
Sarah saw two children growing up together and because of her
high propehtic rank realized that this had to stop.
This completes this point and our analysis. In summary
***********************SUMMARY*************************************
>TzChk/ShChk occur very rarely
>There are many verses where they definitely mean MOCK
>But in isolated verses it could mean INTENSELY LAUGH
>Because there are so few examples we have a controversy
>Rashi says it always means MOCK
>Ramban says it can mean either MOCK or INTENSE LAUGHTER
>Statistically Rashi wishes to change 3 verses because of 7
>The other verses with ShChK occur eg in Job40-20,Ps104-26
>They refer to metaphorical items;their meaning is uncertain
>We emphasize that controversy happens because of few examples
>Furthermore there is no controversy on 2-32-6 because
>2-32-18 indicates some type of torture happened there
***********************SUMMARY**************************************
I hope the above analysis helps emphasize the criteria needed
before we can admit that a legitimate controversy exists. Basically
we can only have a controversy when the LISTS needed to settle the
controversy are too small.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
Rashi did not have a word for MOCK/TEASE.
Hence he gave 3 good examples
>murder
>sex
>idolatry
We have seen many times how Rashi will use GOOD EXAMPLES rather
than give an abstract concept.
Rashi mentions that CHUR was murdered. We already know from 2-32-18
that someone was tortured.Chazal assume this was CHur since we never
see him mentioned again in Tnach even though Chur is put on a par
with Aaron (2-24-14).Nevertheless I would consider this a conjecture
that it was Chur who was tortured since we have no strong list. By
contrast the idea that there was torture at the Golden calf is
clear from the explicit verse (2-32-18).
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
{LIST1} {Verses with TzChK/ShChK in the Piel*1. As can be
seen there are only 10 verses (another half dozen
or so have metaphoric meaning). Of these 10, 7
have a meaning of mockery. In the remaining 3
Rashi interprets them as MOCK/TEASE. But the
Ramban would say we have another meaning of
INTENSE LAUGHTER}
VERSE ROOT MEANS TEXT
======= ===== ===== ==============================================
1-39-17 TzChk Sex This slave came to TEASE with me(Potiphera)
1-39-14 TzChK Sex You brought a slave to TEASE with us?
Ju16-25 ShChK Mock Call SAMSON and let him be a MOCKERY before us
Ju16-25 TzChK Mock And Samson was a MOCKERY before them
1-19-14 TzChK Mock He looked like he was MOCKING them
2Sa2-14 ShChK Brawl Let the soldiers PLAY A WAR GAME *2
2-32-6 TzChK Brawl And they (at the Golden calf) made a BRAWL*3
1-21-9 TzChK Brawl Ishmael and Isaac were playing*4
1-26-8 TzChK Sex Isaac and his wife were PLAYING (sexually)*4
2Sa6-21 ShChK Brawl And I will DANCE WILDLY before God*4
FOOTNOTES
*1 For convenience we treat the PIEL tense but the KAl tense
seems to also mean mocking. For example
> Those younger than me MOCKED AT ME (Job30-1)
> Why did Sarah MOCK at the statement she'd have a child(1-18-13)
> The laughed (MOCKED) at her downfall (Thr1-7)
To be fair this Hebrew root can also mean a
>LAUGHTER because of INCREDULITY
such as
>When we are redeemed we will LAUGH (Ps126-2)
However
>LAUGHING at INCREDULITY
and
>MOCKING
are two sides of the same coin (They both refer to
>a strong emotional indication of doubt
It is simply that
>MOCKING is a pejorative laughter
while
>INCREDULITY is a laudatory behavior
Also there seems to be little difference of meaning based on
prepositions. Thus
>LAUGH IN ME (sexual teasing) (1-39-17)
>LAUGHT ON ME (mocking)(Job30-1)
seem to be more or less similar usages.
If we had to distinguish between the KAL and PIEL we would say
(based on the above lists) that the
>KAL denotes a VERBAL/LAUGHING MOCKERY/INCREDULITY
>PIEL denotes ACTIONS OF MOCKERY (dancing, war games, sex..)
The only possible exception to this suggested rule
>KAL = verbal mocking
>PIEL = action mocking
is 1-19-14 (And Lot appeared to be teasing them when he said
the city would be destroyed). But here too we can possibly
say that
>he appeared to be starting a fight when he said
>get out of the city because God is destroying it
*2 Perhaps have a BRAWL is a better translation
*3 It is clear from 2-32-18 that someone was tortured and hence
the TzChK/ShChK is perjorative
*4 The controversy between Ramban and Rashi happens principally
on these 3 verses. Rashi argues that we should extend the meaning
of mocking to these verses so that
>David mocked at Gods enemies
>Isaac and Rivkah were sexually teasing each other
>Ishmael and Isaac were Brawling with each other
Ramban could cogently argue that it is not necessary to force
3 verses to change their meaning because of 7. Hence we can
interpret these 3 verses as is
>David was dancing wildly (no mocking)
>Isaac and Rivkah were sexually playing (no teasing)
>Ishamel and Isaac were playing (like any two children)
CROSS REFERENCES:
=================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================
This verse 1-21-9 occurs in my Tradition Article Pshat & Drash
I have retracted my stronger position there that the verse
must mean mocking behavior. As indicated the small number
of verses allows controversy to be legitimate between
Rashi and Ramban. Nevertheless we still insist that in
most cases the LISTS are big enough and Rashi and Ramban
agree.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
===============================================================
UNIFIED MEANING
UNIFIED MEANING
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS:
======================
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v1c14-14
======
v1c14-14 & Abraham girded his warriors, 318 men,..
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v1c14-14 The sages explain that Abraham only
girded Eliezer whose numerological value is 318
[Numerological value (Gematria) is computed
by assigning numbers to each letter A=1, B=2..
and then assigning to each word the sum of
the numbers of its letters so for example
CAB = C(=3) + A(=1) + B(=2) = 6]
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
We first review the basic rules governing SINGULAR predicates with
PLURAL subjects.
{LIST1} presents Pairs of verses where the nation can be referred to
in either the singular or plural. When the nation acts as a unified
whole under a leadership the singular is used. For example when the
nation is unified for war or when the Court/Parliament does
something.
Thus in a war situation the nation acts unified under 1 head and
hence the singular is used. For example, in Jud9-34, it wasn't
just Avimelech who arose but rather the whole army that arose
The singular is used because they acted in unison under his
leadership. By contrast in the latter half of the verse it was
his 4 generals who arose and hence the plural is used (since
each had different orders).
A similar contrast is found between 3-25-8 and 3-23-15.
The Jubilee years (3-25-8) were counted BY the court FOR the
nation and hence a SINGULAR is used. By contrast the Omer(3-23-15)
is counted BY each person and hence the plural is used.
In a similar manner the receipt of the Torah was done by Moses
acting as the deputized head of the people. Hence the singular
is used -- THEY CAMPED (2-19-2).
Using these principles we can now review the PLURALITY of the verbs
in 3-14-14:15.
--And he (Abraham) girded his 318 servants
--And HE (Singular) pursued till Dan
--And HE (Singular) divided--he and his servants--on them at night
--And THEY (PLURAL) smote them
--And THEY (PLURAL) pursued them till Dan
This was a war effort and hence the singular means they acted
in a unified manner. In other words the
>pursueing and
>the division
happened in an organized military manner.
So...this means that both Abraham and Eliezer were Generals in
the Abrahamitic army; the other 318 soldiers acted in unison
having been trained by them.
When the Gmarrah says that
>The '318 soldiers' refers to Eliezer
it means that
>Eliezer trained them and they acted under his leadership
This is why the Torah uses the two singular verbs
>And HE pursued them till Dan
>And HE divided---he and his servants--on them at night
Thus Rashi Is Simple and is consistent with use of singular-plural
in military matters.
We might add to support this thesis that
>Eliezer(but no other slave of Abraham) was a general
the rich number of verses where Eliezer is singled out as
Abraham's 'prize slave'{LIST2}. Thus we have
>(1-15-2) ..God, what will you give me & Eliezer runs my house
>(1-15-3) I have no children & my son(Eliezer) will inherit
>(1-24-2) & Abraham said to the senior slave running his house
>(1-24-59) & they sent the slave(Eliezer) and his retinue *1
>(1-14-14) he girded his staff, 318..and HE DIVIDED-he & staff
This is the point...although Abraham had many slaves they
all worked under Eliezer. Hence we understand Chazal's statement
>he girded his staff 318 men
>318 men = Eliezer
It is not a play on words or Gematria it is rather a management
statement that Eliezer was senior staff(cf 1-24-2) and ran the
rest of the household.
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
We have many times seen Rashi express an abstract grammatical
idea using Gematrias. In each such case Rashi really said what
he did because of a Grammatical principle and expressed himself
using a gematria. 1-32-5 in v1n1 is a good example of this.
(Rashi inferred from the verse
>I have SOJOURNED with Laban
versus
>I have RESIDED with Laban
that Jacob felt uncomfortable (Because of religious differences
while residing with Laban). However although Rashi derived this
from the
>distinction between the verb SOJOURN vs RESIDE
Rashi nevertheless expressed this using a Gematria
>SOJOUN is NUMEROLOGICALLY 613
hinting that Jacob observed all 613 commandments in Laban's house
and hence felt uncomfortable. In other words Rashi really makes
his derivation from the GRAMMAR but PHRASES the derivation from
a GEMATRIA)
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
{LIST1} {Pairs of verses where the nation can be referred to
in either the singular or plural. When the nation
acts as a unified whole under a leadership the singular
is used. Examples are when the nation is unified for
war or when the Court/Parliament does something. This
is further elaborated in the footnotes}
VERSE PLURAL/SINGULAR CONTEXT WHY SING
======== =============== ================== ==========
4-33-5 Plural Israelite Journeys
4-21-10 Plural Israelite Journeys
2-17-1 Plural Camp in Refidim
2-19-2 Singular *1 Mount Sinai Parliament
1Sam11-1 Singular *2 Saul and Yavesh Gilad War
3-23-15 Plural Count the Omer
3-25-8 Singular *1 Count the Jubilee years Court
Jud9-34 Singular *2 The General (Avimelech) arose War
Jud9-34 Plural His 4 CaptainS arise
FOOTNOTES
*1 The Jubilee years (3-25-8) were counted BY the court FOR the
nation and hence a SINGULAR is used. By contrast the Omer(3-23-15)
is counted BY each person and hence the plural is used. In
a similar manner the receipt of the Torah was done by Moses
acting as the deputized head of the people.
*2 In a war situation the nation acts unified under 1 head and
hence the singular is used. For example, in Jud9-34, it wasn't
just Avimelech who arose but rather the whole army that arose
The singular is used because they acted in unison under his
leadership. By contrast in the latter half of the verse it was
his 4 generals who arose and hence the plural is used (since
it each had different orders).
{LIST2} {Verses showing that Eliezer was Abraham's preferred slave}
VERSE TEXT
===== ====
1-15-2 ..God, what will you give me & Eliezer runs my house
1-15-3 .I have no children & my son(Eliezer) will inherit
1-24-2 & Abraham said to the senior slave running his house
1-24-59 & they sent the slave(Eliezer) and his retinue *1
1-14-14 *2 he girded his staff, 318..and HE DIVIDED-he & staff
FOOTNOTES
*1 So the retinue (Abrahams other slaves) worked under Eliezer
*2 This is the point...although Abraham had many slaves they
all worked under Eliezer. Hence we understand Chazal's statement
>he girded his staff 318 men
>318 men = Eliezer
It is not a play on words or Gematria it is rather a management
statement that Eliezer was senior staff(cf 1-24-2) and ran the
rest of the household.
CROSS REFERENCES:
=================
v1n11, v2b19-2 Discusses plural singular
v1-32-5, v1n1 Rashi uses Gematria vs Grammar
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================
To Dr John Loike for asking this question.
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
===============================================================
GRAMMAR
QUESTIONS FOR STUDENTS:
=======================
HW 1: Find other pairs of verses where the nation is
referred to as both Singular and plural.
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v1y1-14
[NEW] [Added to v1z1-14, v3n23]
v1-24-39 And I(Eliezer) said to Abraham, Maybe she won't go
RASHI: The Hebrew word
===== >Maybe (OOhLay)
is spelled deficiently.
The deficiently spelled word OOhLAY thus ambiguously
looks like the Hebrew word
>to me (AyLay)
Thus the verse which is meant to read
>Maybe she (Rivkah) won't follow me
could also be read
>To me (Eliezer) will the not going benefit
In other words, Eliezer had a daughter and was hoping
that Abraham would have Isaac marry her instead of
Rivkah.
BRIEF EXPLANATION:
=================
We have explained that deficient spellings are
grammatical vehicles to which two approaches apply.
According to approach 2, the deficiently spelled word
allows the verse to be read in two ways thus giving
richer nuances to the sentence. In this case Eliezer
was saying
>if the woman I find does not want to marry your son
>maybe your son will come TO ME(EYLAY)
[END OF NEW]
v1-23-16 And Ephron was a common person of the Chitites
v1b25-24 And behold she (Rivkah) had twins
v1b38-27 And behold she (Tamar) had twins
v1-9-12 I will give my rainbow as a "sign"
v1-1-28 ...and you (the humans) will conquer the land
v1-25-6 and to the sons of the concubines he(Abraham)
gave presents
v1z1-14 Let there be lights in the skys (Sun and moon)
v1z6-2 And the Judges saw the women when they were good
looking and took them (for themselves)
v1b16-5 May God judge between me and you
v1c18-1 And Abraham was sitting..
v1a23-10 And Ephron was sitting...
RASHI TEXT:
v1-23-16 The word Ephron is spelled DEFICIENTLY because
he was a deficient person (not nice)
v1b25-24 The word Twins by Rivkah is spelled deficiently
since Esauv came from her who was a deficient-
wicked person. By contrast the word Twins by Tamar
is spelled full because both children were nice
v1b38-27 The word Twins by Rivkah is spelled deficiently
since Esauv came from her who was a deficient-
wicked person. By contrast the word Twins by Tamar
is spelled full because both children were nice
v1-9-12 The word GENERATIONS is spelled deficiently--since
not ALL generations need a sign (to protect them
from a flood) since some generations are totally
righteous
v1-1-28 The word AND YOU WILL CONQUER HER is spelled
deficiently because not all people CONQUER land.
Usually men do and not women.
v1-25-6 The word CONCUBINES is spelled deficiently. There
was a deficiency in the CONCUBINES--there were 2
marriages but only 1 woman since Abraham remarried
Hagar.
v1z1-14 The word LIGHTS is spelled deficiently. It can be
consequently be read as both LIGHTS and CURSE. This
is because change of weather (sun-moon) can be both
a BLESSING and CURSE.
v1z6-2 The word GOOD LOOKING is spelled deficiently. The
deficient spelling looks like a verb form (To put
on Makeup(2R9-30)). This shows the ugliness of
their practice that even at those times in a woman's
life when they were trying to make an impression by
putting on makeup (eg by their weddings) the Judges
would go in and take them
v1b16-5 The Hebrew word BETWEEN YOU AND ME is spelled
FULL. This is the ONLY time in the whole Bible when
this word is spelled FULL. The FULL form looks like
it is saying BETWEEN ME AND YOU(HAGAR) rather than
BETWEEN ME AND YOU (ABRAHAM). This shows that Sarah
was fighting with everybody and had picked on Hagar
a great deal. In fact we see from the Angels promise
of another conception and birth 1-16-11 that she
apparently had miscarried (apparently from Sarahs
mistreatment of her).
v1c18-1 The word SITTING is spelled DEFICIENTLY so that it
appears to say HE HAD SAT (but was no longer sitting
eg he STOOD UP). Thus when God came to Abraham he
began to get up but God told him to sit (because
Abraham was sick). God also promised that His
standing vs Abrahams sitting would be a symbol to
future Jewish generations since according to Ps82
when Judges sit in judgement God stands there.
v1a23-10 The word WAS A COMMON PERSON is spelled deficiently
appearing to read HAD BEEN A COMMON PERSON. Thus
since EPHRON was making deals with Abraham the
community appointed Ephron with a temporary
appointment (So that he was both a COMMON person
that was (temporarily) DISTINGUISHED).
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
We have gathered all 11 Rashis in Genesis dealing with FULL and
DEFICIENT spellings. Recall that every Hebrew word has Vowel
sounds like OH and EE. If for example, corresponding to the EE
sound there is a YUD then we say that the word is spelled FULLY.
If however there is an EE sound but no YUD then we say that the
word is spelled DEFICIENTLY.
Reviewing the 11 Rashis on DEFICIENT/FULL spellings {LISt1}
we see TWO CLEAR APPROACHES to them.
--APPROACH 1---The spelling DEFICIENCY indicates a DEFICIENCY
-------------------------------------------------------------
For example the person EPRHON has his named spelled DEFICIENTLY.
This indicates that he was a DEFICIENT-NOT NICE person. In fact
1-23 shows that EPHRON bragged alot on how he would sell burial
plots to Abraham for nothing and then turned around and charged
him in the finest currency. So Rashi Is Simple--Ephron was
a DEFICIENT person.
Similarly by using the ALIGNMENT method {LIST3} on the births
of RIVKAH and TAMAR we see that
>v1b25-24 & behold there were TW NS in her belly
>v1b38-27 & behold there were TWINS in her belly
by Rivkah(1-25-24)(who had the wicked Esauv and Jacob) the
word TWINS is spelled DEFICIENTLY (Which we have mimicked
in English with the missing I). By contrast by Tamar who had
two righteous children the word TWINS is spelled FULL.
There is even an English phrase about not-nice people
>he is missing something
In Hebrew we express this with a DEFICIENT spelling indicating
>a missing letter.
Some other examples of
>DEFICIENT spelling = some type of DEFICIENCY
are
>1-28-1 Adam is told to CONQUER the world but
the word conquer is spelled deficiently--not all people
conquer (eg men usually conquer not women)
>1-9-12 God gives Noach a sign for all GENERATIONS but
the word generation is spelled deficiently--not all
generations need a sign (Since some are totally righteous
and not in need of a sign)
>1-25-6 The word concubines is spelled deficiently;
The suggestion given is that although there were
TWO concubines there was only ONE woman.
Rashi suggests that Abraham
remarried Hagar after Sarahs death.
This completes the review of the approach where
>a deficient spelling = some indication of deficiency
---APPROACH 2---the 2 word approach
-----------------------------------
By using a deficient spelling we sometimes make the word appear
to spell something else. In such a case we have 2 words in one.
Very often this is taken to enhance the meaning of the verse
with extra nuances.
Perhaps the simplest example is 1-16-5
>May God Judge between me(Sarah) and you (Abraham)
said when Hagar gave birth but Sarah could not.
As {LIST2} shows the Hebrew word
>BETWEEN ME(Sarah) AND YOU(Abraham)
is always spelled deficiently with one exception---(1-16-5)
when it is spelled full. The fully spelled word looks like
it has a feminine suffix
>BETWEEN ME (Sarah) and YOU (Hagar)
Thus Rashi Is Simple. Sarah was angry and taking it out on
everybody---she first fought with Hagar and then blamed Abraham
for letting the situation go on. Further comments on this Rashi
are made in the COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM SECTION.
Some other examples of this TWO WORD approach are v1z1-14
>Let there be lights (Sun and moon)
The deficiently spelled word LIGHTS looks like the word to
curse. This also makes alot of sense. The changing climate--
sun and moon---can bring both good and bad. Both health and
sickness can be attribued to the sun and moon.
Verse 1-6-2 reads
>When the Judges saw the pretty women they took
>whomever they wanted
But the word for PRETTY is spelled deficiently making it
look like the VERB meaning to put on makeup (2R4-13).
So Rashi hilights the vulgarity of the judges
>Even when the women were putting on makeup (eg
>because they were going seriously with someone)
>even then the judges would take them (knowing
>full well that the women in question were
>interested in someone else)
The remaining examples in {LIST1} deal with the word TO SIT
which when spelled deficiently looks like it is saying TO HAVE
BEEN SITTING. This occurs by Abraham and Ephron.
The explanation of this SITTING-WAS SITTING by Abraham is as follows
A person who stands, WAS SITTING but is NOT NOW SITTING.
A person who IS SITTING is obviously not standing. So a
person who BOTH SIT and SAT could be a person who started
to get up and then sat down. So we assume that Abraham
started to get up (out of respect to God) but God told
him to remain sitting and He (God) would stand. The profound
philosophical implications of this are discussed in the
COMMENTS ON RASHIS FORM SECTION.
Similarly by Ephron we analyze as follows--
YSHAV can mean in Hebrew a COMMON PERSON (eg 2R4-13).
A distinguished person is NOT COMMON NOW but WAS COMMON. By
contrast a NON DISTINGUISHED person IS COMMON NOW. Since Ephron
is called both we conclude that he received a temporary
appointment---he was a common person who LOOKED distinguished
but really wasn't (So the LOOKED and ACTUAL cause the WRITTEN
and SPOKEN forms of SIT-SAT).
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
We make 3 comments
1) Hagars miscarriage
----------------------
The MAIN point of Rashi is that
>Sarah and Hagar had a fight
This can be derived from the double word appearance of
>BETWEEN ME AND YOU
It can also be derived from te explicit verse
>return to your mistress and suffer under her(1-16-9)
Rashi simply goes a step further--what he says is probably
true but is not needed for our analysis. Rashi points out
that it says
>behold you WILL become pregnant and give birth(1-16-11)
Since her becoming pregnant had started the whole fight
between Sarah and her (1-16) it follows that if she became
pregnant again then she must have miscarried (apparently due
to stress from her fight with Sarah).
At any rate the interpretation of the DEFICIENT/FULL spelling
is supported by 1-16-9 that shows that Sarah and Hagar had
a fight.
2) God Stands while Abraham sits
--------------------------------
Rashi cites Judicial process--the judges sit and God stands.
This is supported by the verses in Ps82.
But Rashi obtained this verse from Genesis Rabbah which gives
the example of Kriath Shma (The people are sitting reciting
the shma and God is standing). Such a concept reflects
the Biblical verse
>and you shall study the law in YOUR sleeping and
>WAKING ( 5-6-6)
In other words, the Torah should be studied under ordinary
life circumstances.
So too..if Abraham was sick then it would be unnatural to stand
and therefore Abraham was serving God in HIS circumstances.
3) Need for creativity
-----------------------
Note the element of creativity needed to discover a concept like
>Temporary appointment
which combines features of both the PAST and PRESENT tense.
It is this creativity element which lends a midrashic flavor
to the analysis. Nevertheless, the idea that
>DEFICIENT spelling = 2 words at once
is a clear rule of grammar and style that is used in all
cases.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
{LIST1} {All 11 Rashis in Genesis dealing with DEFICIENT/FULL
spellings. As can be seen 2 methods are used to
deal with this deficiency. Either (a) the deficiency
in spelling indicates some deficiency (like not being
a nice person) or (b) the deficiently spelled word can
be read differently suggesting that 2 words apply to
the same situation (So Eg Ephron's temporary appointment
showed a combination of his being a COMMON PERSON and
a DiSTINGUISHED person at the same time). Further
details are given in the footnotes}
VERSE METHOD WORD-1 WORD-2 Nature of DEFICIENCY
======== ========= ======= ============ =========================
1-23-16 Deficient not a nice person *1
1b25-24 Deficient not a nice person *1 *2
1b38-27 Deficient both were nice people*1*2
1-9-12 Deficient Not all need a sign
1-1-28 Deficient Not everyone conquers
1-25-6 Deficient 2 marriages but 1 woman
1z1-14 2 words Sunlight Curse Weather can help/hurt *3
1z6-2 2 words Good Put makeup Pretty at time of makeup*6
1b16-5 2 words me-you me-her Sarah had hurt Hagar *4
1c18-1 2 words sitting sat Began to get up&sat down*5
1a23-10 2 words common distinguished temporary appointment *5
1-24-39 2 words Maybe To me Isc & Elizer's daughter*0
FOOTNOTES
*0 In other words
>Maybe(OOLAY)this woman (Rivkah) will not come to Isaac
>and Isaac will come to ME (AYLAY)
*1 In these 3 examples the DEFICIENCY is in the PERSON--
they weren't nice people The deficiency of Rivkahs son
ESAUV is well known in Tnach. The deficiency of Ephron can
be seen by his bragging--do--nothing nature---he keeps on
saying how he will give the field for nothing and then
takes the field for its full value in the best currency (1-23)
*2 Note that Rashi uses the ALIGNMENT method here{LIST3}.
Both verses speak about the birth of twins yet one uses
a deficient spelling and one uses a full spelling. In
one case both twins were righteous while in the other case
one of the twins was wicked (or deficient). In this case
the explantion of the deficiency PRECEDED the actual deficiency.
*3 In other words the changing climate (sun & moon) can
lead to colds. On the other hand the sun also aids in growth.
So the sun aids both growth and destruction.
*4 That Sarah seriously hurt Hagar is clear from the
explicit statement
> return to your mistress and SUFFER under her(1-16-9)
Rashi simply points out the likely possibility that the stress
caused by Sarah towards Hagar (the "evil eye") caused a
miscarriage (which is the reason for the promise of another
conception and birth(1-16-11)). However the main point of the
verses is that Sarah was angry at BOTH Hagar and
Abraham and Hagar suffered under her. Note how Rashi uses the
alignment method here---every other BETWEEN ME AND YOU in the
Bible is spelled deficiently {LIST2}
*5 A person who stands, WAS SITTING but is NOT NOW SITTING.
A person who IS SITTING is obviously not standing. So a
person who BOTH SIT and SAT could be a person who started
to get up and then sat down. Similarly by Ephron we analyze
as follows: YSHAV can mean in Hebrew a COMMON PERSON (eg 2R4-13).
A distinguished person is NOT COMMON NOW but WAS COMMON. By
contrast a NON DISTINGUISHED person IS COMMON NOW. Since Ephron
is called both we conclude that he received a temporary
appointment---he was a common person who LOOKED distinguished
but really wasn't (So the LOOKED and ACTUAL cause the WRITTEN
and SPOKEN forms of SIT-SAT).
Note the element of creativity needed to discover a concept like
>Temporary appointment
which combines features of both the PAST and PRESENT tense.
*6 In other words the Judges waited till the women would "dress
themselves up" and then took them. Rashi hilights the vulgarity of
the practice by emphasizing that most woman "dress themselves up"
when they are going seriously with somebody (eg when they are about
to get married).
{LIST2} {Of verses containing the words BETWEEN ME AND YOU. The
Hebrew word BETWEEN ME AND YOU is always spelled
DEFICIENTLY except in one instance. We therefore interpret
1-16-5 as indicating that Sarah fought with 2 people--with
both Abraham and Hagar}
VERSE SPELLING
================
1-16-5 FULL
Ruth1-27DEFICIENT
1-13-8 DEFICIENT
1-17-7 DEFICIENT
1-23-15 DEFICIENT
1-31-44 DEFICIENT
1-31-48 DEFICIENT
1-31-49 DEFICIENT
1-31-50 DEFICIENT
1-31-51 DEFICIENT
1S20-23 DEFICIENT
1S20-42 DEFICIENT
1S24-13 DEFICIENT
1S24-16 DEFICIENT
1R15-19 DEFICIENT
2C16-3 DEFICIENT
{LIST3} {Of the two verses, both written in the same language, that
indicate that Rivkah and Tamar had twins. One of Rivkahs
children, Esauv, was wicked and hence the deficiently
spelled TWIN which we mimic in English with a missing "I"
--TW NS.However both of Tamars children were righteous so
the spelling is full}
VERSE TEXT TWIN-1 TWIN-2
======== ========================================== ====== ======
v1b25-24 & behold there were TW NS in her belly *1 Esauv Yaakov
v1b38-27 & behold there were TWINS in her belly *1 Peretz Zarach
FOOTNOTES
*1 To mimic the Hebrew we spell TWIN without the letter "I" to
indicate a deficient spelling.
CROSS REFERENCES:
v1b1-14 These 3 verses were discussed last issue
v1-1-28 We now bring all Rashis on Deficient spelling
v1b6-2 in Genesis
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
USAGE
SQL {Database query comments for those who know Database theory}:
SELECT Word FROM Bible WHERE Word.Spelling.Deficient = True
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
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Seir)
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