#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
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| (C) RashiYomi Inc., Dr Hendel President |
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VERSE: Nu34-17a
RASHIS COVERED: Nu25-13c Nu11-29b Nu34-17a Ex04-16a
Dt32-08c Gn24-07d Gn28-15c Ex14-14a
Dt01-30a Gn30-30a
=========== THE WORD to CAN MEAN for ====================
This is one of those Rashis that teach Grammar.
The Hebrew letter LAMED when suffixed to a word
means TO.
Rashi simply points out it can be more meaningfully
translated as FOR. The LIST below gives many
examples. Rashis strongest proof comes from Gn28-15c
Rashi uses this verse as a proof that TO must sometimes
mean FOR.Indeed you cant interpret this verse
---------------------------------------
I (God) wont desert you (Jacob)
Until I fulfill what I promised TO you
---------------------------------------
because God had not yet spoken to Jacob!
Therefore we must interpret this verse as
--------------------------------------------------
I (God) wont desert you (Jacob)
Until I fulfill what I promised(to Abraham)FOR you
--------------------------------------------------
A sister principle is enunciated at
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/ex14-03b
which the interested reader is invited to peruse
The Hebrew letter LAMED which means TO can also
mean ACCOUNT OF (The word FOR speaks about a FUTURE
effect while ACCOUNT OF speaks about a PAST effect)
Here is the LIST
=======================================================
VERSE Text of verse with TO translated as FOR
======== ==============================================
Nu25-13c Pinchas who was possessive FOR his God*1
Nu11-29b Are you possessive FOR ME
Zac08-02 I, God, am POSSESSIVE for Zion(& returning it)
Nu34-17a Inherit FOR you(ie be an executor) *2
Ex04-16a Aaron will speak FOR YOU to the nation*3
Gn24-07d God, who spoke FOR my sake*3
Gn28-15c ....till I give what I promised FOR you*4
Ex14-14a God will fight FOR YOU
Dt01-30a God will fight FOR YOU
Job13-08 Will you (Job) fight FOR God
Ju06-31 Will you fight FOR this idol-god
Gn30-30a God blessed you FOR my coming to you
Dt32-08c God preserved them FOR increasing the Jews*5
NOTES
=====
*1 Rashi makes two points on this verse
---He explains that the preposition TO means FOR
---He explains that the root KNA does not mean JEALOUS
but rather means POSSESSIVE. Rashi here uses the
technique of UNIFIED MEANING. We will go into this
next issue: The interested reader can find it at
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/nu05-14b.htm in about
2 weeks.
*2 Rashi points out that we cannot interpret the verse
as follows
--------------------------------------------------------
These are the people who will DIVIDE INHERITANCE to you
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Such an interpretation would require a CAUSATIVE MODE
(HIFIL) while the actual verse uses an ACTIVE (KAL) mode.
Hence we must translate the verse as follows
-------------------------------------------------------
These are the people who will INHERIT FOR YOU
-------------------------------------------------------
Rashi further elaborates that the concept INHERIT
FOR YOU corresponds to the concept of an EXECUTOR
So we our old friend ROOT+PREPOSITION here
----------------------------------------------
NCHOL = to inherit
NCHOL L = be an executor
HANCHIL = divide to(to give in inheritance)
----------------------------------------------
*3 Rashi explicitly gives the general principle that
---------
TO = FOR
---------
on this verse. On other verses he just tersely
translates without giving general principles.
*4 Rashi uses this as a proof that TO must sometimes
mean FOR.Indeed you cant interpret this verse
---------------------------------------
For I (God) will not desert you (Jacob)
Until I fulfill what I promised TO you
---------------------------------------
because God had not yet spoken to Jacob
Therefore we must interpret this verse as
--------------------------------------------------
For I (God) will not desert you (Jacob)
Until I fulfill what I promised to Abraham FOR you
--------------------------------------------------
*5 A full translation of this verse Dt32-08 is as follows
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Whether God was FLOODING the world (ie Noahs flood)
Whether God was BREAKING world unity(Tower of Babel)
He always established national borders(Let some live)
FOR the sake of the numbers of the Jews
-----------------------------------------------------
Rashi explains that God always let certain nations
live for the sake of those non-Jews who would help
the Jewish nation grow (A simple illustration of this
principle could be that God preserved the sea fearing
nations in order that the tribe of Zevulun could
become a sea-fearer---Rashis point is that each nation
contributed something to Jewish culture--this contribution
is in fact reflected in the numerical coincidence that
there are 70 nations corresponding to 70 Jews that went
down to Egypt)
In this posting we are only concerned in showing that
TO can mean FOR. A more detailed explanation of this
verse will be presented in
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/dt32-08a.htm which the
interested reader can find in about 2 weaks.
===============================================================
RASHI RULE USED: GRAMMAR
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WARNING: The following additional references may be too wordy
However they frequently contain additional information & lists
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Volume 10 Number 24
#*#*#*#*# (C) 2001, RashiYomi Inc. Dr Hendel President #*#*#*#*#
Volume 10 Number 24