Rashi-Is-Simple Mailing List
VISIT the RASHI DATABASE archives AT
http://www.shamash.org/rashi
(C) Dr Russell Jay Hendel, 2000
Volume 5 Number 3
Produced Jan, 27 2000
WARNING: USE FIX WIDTH FONTS (eg COURIER (NEW) 10)
Verses/Topics Discussed in This Issue with quicky explanations
--------------------------------------------------------------
v6-1-2
Dr John Loike asks for comparisons between Rashi and
Targum. He also suggests reviewing Rashis' meaning of
the Hebrew WORD YDA=TO KNOW
v2a18-11
TO KNOW=TO BE FAMILIAR / ACT LIKE A RELATIVE / ACT LIKE
FAMILY. 12 verses / rashis are reviewed(v2a18-11) . eg
v5-34-10 (Moses was LIKE FAMILY before God) v1-18-19
(For I will make Abraham like FAMILY). Also HE KNEW HIS
WIFE=HE BEHAVED LIKE FAMILY TO HER
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
RASHI IS SIMPLE
GOALS: To grammatically defend all 8000 Rashis on Chumash.
METHOD:Every Rashi will be defended with a LIST of comparable cases
INTENDED AUDIENCE: Laymen, Academicians, Rabbis, Yeshiva students
COMMENTS,QUESTIONS: EMail to address below; (minor edits may occur)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:Always given unless 'anonymous' is explicitly asked
(UN)SUBSCRIBE: Email to above with keyword "(UN)subscribe"
JOURNAL REFERECE: Pshat & Drash, TRADITION, Win 1980, R Hendel
NOTATION: eg v2b1-8 refers to Ex(Book 2) Chap 1 Verse 8 Rashi b(#2)
SPECIALS:...on Rambam,Ramban,Symbolism,Pedagogy,Daily Questions
EMAIL: RJHendel@Juno.Com,rashi-is-simple@shamash.org,
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v6-1-2
======
FROM: Dr John Loike
TO: Rashi is Simple
RE: Targum and meaning of KNOW
DATE: Jan 2, 2000
Russell
I think appreciation of Rashi can be strongly enhanced by
studying the Targum whose translations sometimes differ
markedly from Rashi.
Also I think reviewing Rashis translation of YDA=TO KNOW would
be instructive
John
[Moderator: This entire issue is devoted to Rashis translation
of YDA with additional comments on the Targum. We think the
best translation is
>YDA = FAMILIAR or LIKE FAMILY or RELATIVE
In fact we offer the new translation to the famous Biblical know
>and so and so knew his wife
as
>and so and so BEHAVED LIKE FAMILY with his wife
See below for an exciting posting]
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
VERSE: v2a18-11
======
v2a18-11 Now I KNOW that God is greater than all gods
v1-18-19 For I will KNOW Abraham in order that he may
instruct his children
v5a29-3 God didn't give you a heart to KNOW
v5-34-10 A prophet ... that God KNEW face to face
v1-12-11 & Abraham said to Sarah 'I KNOW you are beautiful'
v1a42-23 they didn't KNOW that Joseph was listnening
v2b1-8 ..a new (Egyptian King) who didn't KNOW Joseph
v2b16-6 And you will KNOW that God took you out of Egypt
v1-19-5 Send the men out and we will KNOW them
v2-2-25 God heard their screams and God KNEW them
v2-3-7 for I KNOW their suffering
v1c22-12 Now I KNOW that you are God fearing
v4b11-16 Take people you KNOW are leaders
RASHI TEXT:
===========
v2a18-11 'Now I KNOW that God is greater than all gods'
I knew of God before. Now I know him
>MORE
v1-18-19 'I will KNOW Abraham'
The word KNOW is used for relatives such as
>Ruth2-1 had a RELATIVE (A KNOWER)
>Ruth3-2 He is a RELATIVE (A KNOWER)
Thus KNOW denotes
>ENDEARMENT
We find a similar usage in 2-33-17
>And I will KNOW (endear) myself to you
But in all verses the main meaning is always
>"KNOWLEDGE"
That is, it is a KNOWLEDGE with ENDEARMENT
[Moderator: Rashi further disagrees with Oonkelos
who interprets the verse
>I know that Abraham will command his
>descendants to act justly
for such an interpretation contradicts the
preposition 'IN ORDER THAT' in the verse
>For I will KNOW Abraham IN ORDER THAT
>he teach his descendants the way of God]
v5a29-3 'God didn't give you a heart to KNOW'
The word KNOW here means
>TO RECOGNIZE / APPRECIATE
v5-34-10 'A prophet ..That God KNEW face to face'
The phrase KNEW FACE TO FACE means that Moses was
>familiar with God
since Moses could approach God at any time; eg
>2-32-30 Let me (Moses) go up to God
>4-9-8 Stand here and I will ask God
v1-12-11 & Abraham said 'I KNOW you are beautiful'
Rashi gives 3 explanations.
a) Because of your modesty I didn't KNOW till now
that you are beautiful (So KNOW means literally KNOW)
b) Most people deteriorate on a trip. Since however
you didn't I now see that you are beautiful
(So KNOW means PROVEN)
c) Finally Rashi gives the simple meaning.
>We are coming to a 3rd world nation where the men
>can't tolerate beautiful women (without criminal
>behavior). So now I KNOW is the time to worry about
>your beauty.
(So KNOW means APPRECIATE with CONSEQUENCES)
v1a42-23 'they didn't KNOW Joseph was listnening'
That is, they(Joseph's brothers) didn't know he
understood Hebrew
v2b1-8 'a new king who didn't KNOW Joseph'
(He obviously new of Joseph from the History books)
But he pretended he never heard of him and treated
the Jews like strangers who might attack.
v2b16-6 '& you will KNOW that God took you out of Egypt'
Since you(the Jewish people) state in 2-16-3
>Why did YOU (Moses and Aaron) take us from Egypt
which makes it sound like WE(Moses) took you out of Egypt
therefore you will know in the evening that it is
>GOD who took you out of Egypt (not us)
That is, GOD took you out, not us.
1-19-5 'We will KNOW the men' means a homosexual
knowing. cf 1-19-8 3 verses later 'girls who have
not KNOWN anybody'
v2-2-25 'and God KNEW them'
The phrase KNEW them means
>He placed His HEART on them to care for them
>and pay attention to their cries
v2-3-7 'for I KNOW their suffering'
The phrase I KNOW their suffering means
>God placed his HEART on them to care for them
>and pay attention to their cries
v1c22-12 'Now I KNOW that you are God fearing '
Now I can answer the non-jewish nations who ask
'why do you show favoritism to Abraham'---for I
can answer them 'He gave up his son(by offering
to sacrifice him)...therefore I chose him'
v4b11-16 'Pick men that you KNOW are leaders'
(For Example) The Jewish taskmasters over the
Jews in Egypt willfully took beatings for the
lack of productivity of the Jews. Therefore
these taskmasters are worthy of being leaders.
BRIEF BUT COMPLETE NARRATIVE EXPLANATION:
=========================================
Rashis goal is to translate the Hebrew Root,YDA, which means to KNOW
Rashis approach is to give a
>COMPREHENSIVE UNIFYING TRANSLATION COVERING ALL CASES
The bottom line is that Rashi translates TO KNOW as
>to KNOW in all details and all consequences
The best translation would therefore be
>BE FAMILIAR.
We will now go thru the dozen verses where Rashi comments on
the meaning of TO KNOW and show how FAMILIAR is a good translation
which clarifies Rashi's comments. We will do this in 3 stages.
STAGE 1: Rashi makes GENERAL comments on the verb TO KNOW
---------------------------------------------------------
The clearest proof that
>TO KNOW=TO BE FAMILIAR
occurs on v5-34-10 and v1-18-9. Rashi explicitly says
>TO KNOW means to be FAMILIAR with
In fact Rashi finds support for the idea TO KNOW=FAMILIAR from
the fact that TO KNOW can also mean
>ones relatives/close associates/FAMILY (ones KNOWERS)
------------------------------------------------
| QUESTION 1: |
| ----------- |
| How would you help Rashi prove that |
| >KNOW means RELATIVES/FAMILY |
| What tools would you use? |
| {LIST1} below gives an answer. |
| What other meanings of KNOW could you also |
| bring? |
------------------------------------------------
Thus {LIST1} shows many verses where
>KNOW means FAMILY
such as
>And Naomi had a FAMILY member/RELATIVE, Boaz
or
>My relatives stopped visiting; my FAMILY has forgotten me
We would also suggest that the word KNOW which means
>INTIMACY (v1-19-5),
the so called
>BIBLICAL KNOWING,
comes from this meaning of
>RELATIVE / FAMILIARITY
Thus the sentence
>And so and so KNEW his wife
should be translated
>And so and so was FAMILIAR with his wife
This would be similar to our English word
>INTIMACY
In fact although this translation may sound novel it really is
totally consistent with the usage of the Talmudic word
>FAMILIAR--
For when the Talmud wants to classify a man and woman as being
potentially 'affair-ish' they say
>he is FAMILIAR with her
An example of this usage occurs in the Talmudic passage
>A unmarried man should not live in the same courtyard
>(apartment complex) as his unmarried former wife since
>he is FAMILIAR with her.
Rashi emphasizes on v1-18-9
>Although there is a nuance of ENDEARMENT in these verses
>where KNOW means RELATIVE nevertheless the primary meaning
>is KNOWLEDGE
It is for this reason that we have chosen the translation
>FAMILIAR.
The primary meaning of
>BIBLICAL KNOWING=BIBLICAL FAMILIARITY=BEING A GOOD RELATIVE
applies to husband wife relationships; but as Rashi shows on v1-19-5
it applies to any physical relationship (premarital or homosexual)
Notice how Rashi's approach on translation differs from the Targum.
The Targum gives
>translations that apply to THAT particular verse
while Rashi gives
>UNIFYING COMPREHENSIVE translations that apply to all verses
Two other Rashis supporting (but not proving) the idea that
>TO KNOW means TO BE FAMILIAR
occur in v2a18-11
>'Now I know God' -- Rashi:I knew him before but now I
> know him MORE
This is consistent with
>FAMILIAR = KNOW MORE
Similarly on v5a29-3 Rashi translates
>And God didn't give you a heart to KNOW=RECOGNIZE/BE FAMILIAR
STAGE 2: Rashis where we APPLY the idea that KNOW=FAMILIAR/RELATIVE
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The above completes the explanation of STAGE 1--Rashis that give
the general meaning of TO KNOW = FAMILIAR/RELATIVE. We now review
Rashis that APPLY this general idea to particular situations.
--v2b1-8 would be translated
>A new king arose on Egypt who didn't treat Joseph like FAMILY
Pharoh obviously KNEW Joseph but didn't treat him like a relative
who helped him out but instead saw him as a military threat.
--v1c22-12 means
>Now that you(Abraham) have sacrificed your son for Me(God)
>you are like a RELATIVE to me (only a relative would give
>up their life).
--v1-12-11 would be translated
>I(Abraham) don't just know that you(Sarah) are beautiful
>but I am thoroughly FAMILIAR with your beauty--I know
>you like a RELATIVE--if you go into this neighborhood
>they will try and pick you up
STAGE 3: KNOW = FAMILAR with ALL DETAILS
----------------------------------------
--v1a42-23 They COGNITIVELY KNEW that Joseph was listening but
they didn't APPRECIATE IT; they weren't FAMILIAR with his
listening ability (that he could both HEAR and UNDERSTAND Hebrew)
So we would translate the verse
>And they weren't FAMILIAR with Joseph's listening abilities
>because Joseph had been using a translator
--v4b11-16 says to pick men that you are (totally) FAMILIAR with
their leadership capabilities (Rashi gives as an example the
taskmasters in Egypt who gave up their lives for their fellow jews)
--v2b16-6 the verse simply means that
>You will be totally FAMILIAR with the fact that God took
>you out of Egypt
COMMENTS ON RASHI'S FORM:
=========================
We make 4 comments on Rashis form
#1) Rashi vs Oonkeloos gives COMPREHENSIVE UNIFYING TRANSLATIONS
----------------------------------------------------------------
Oonkelos' translations will work well for a particular verse.
However they will not always transfer to other verses. Rashi by
contrast gives translations that work well for all verses
#2) Regarding v4b11-16 as a FOR EXAMPLE
---------------------------------------
The verse says
>Take people whom you are FAMILIAR with their leadership capability
Rashi simply wanted to emphasize that
>KNOW = FAMILIAR
So he took a GOOD example
>The taskmasters in Egypt gave up their lives for their
>fellow Jews and hence are good leaders
In other words we don't see this example as
>Exhausting or Equalling the meaning of the verse
but rather we see this example as
>a GOOD EXAMPLE on this verse.
This approach of regarding rashis as giving PARADIGMATIC EXAMPLES
was first introduced by me in my Tradition Winter 1980 article,
Pshat and Drash. It is a powerful technique which makes many Rashis
much more punchy.
#3) v1c22-12 God and Abraham are like RELATIVES/FAMILY
-------------------------------------------------------
Rashi actually says
>Now that you have sacrificed your son I can answer
>the satan and non jewish nations who ask 'WHY HAVE
>YOU CHOSEN ABRAHAM'--I can answer 'HE SACRIFICED
>HIS SON'
But...since Rashi in other places clearly identifies
>KNOW = RELATIVE / FAMILIARITY
therefore we have taken this as the primary meaning of
the verse. The capability of responding to Satan is simply
a GOOD EXAMPLE of God's new familiarity with Abraham
#4 v2b16-6 Rashi is not playing a word game but focusing on FAMILIAR
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Rashi actually appears to be making an emphasis on
>2-16-6 You will know that GOD took you out of Egypt
vs
>2-16-3 Why have YOU (MOSES AARON) taken us out of Egypt
This is a valid point but it is NOT the main point. Rashi's main
point is that the Hebrew root
>KNOW = FAMILIAR
covers ALL ASPECTS OF KNOWING/FAMILIARITY. AMong these aspects is
the point that there will no longer be any doubt that it was God
not Moses/Aaron who took us out of Egypt. In my TRADITION WINTER
1980 article I refer to the emphasis on words (GOD TOOK US vs
MOSES AARON TOOK US) as a
>SUPPORTIVE POINT
It is a true point but not the main point.
LISTS {For ADVANCED students and for those with more time}:
===========================================================
{LIST1} {Verses where
>TO KNOW
means
>To be a RELATIVE / FAMILY / CLOSE ASSOCIATE
Notice that we have included the verses meaning
>Biblical knowing of husband and wife
We translate
>so and so KNEW his wife
as
>so and so RELATIVED his wife
>so and so behaved like a relative with his wife}
VERSE TEXT
===== ====
Ruth2-1 And Naomi had a FAMILY member named Boaz
Ps55-14 And you are my teacher, like FAMILY
Ps88-9 My FAMILY has separated themselves from me
Job19-24 My relatives have stopped coming;my FAMILY has forgotten me
2R10-11 Yayhu killed Achav's house, his priests and FAMILY
1-4-1 And Adam had FAMILY RELATIONS with his wife
CROSS REFERENCES:
=================
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
=================
To Dr John Loike for asking the question (about Rashis approach
to KNOW)
RULE CLASSIFICATION {See the web site for comparable examples}:
===============================================================
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
WORD MEANINGS
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
End of Rashi-Is-Simple Digest
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 1999 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*