The 6 usages of the word >THE<:#11 of 35
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# 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE #
# Mar 23, 2001 #
# Rashis 662-663 Of 7800 (8.5%) #
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RULE
====
The words >THE< can be used in 4 ways
--to refer to something that immediately follows
eg Dt04-32c >Has anyone heard THE GREAT THING-that God
saved a nation enslaved in another nation with great miracles<
Thus the phrase >THE GREAT THING< refers to the verse that
follows >That God saved a nation enslaved in another nation<
In other words the >GREAT THING< is Gods freeing one nation
from another.
--to refer to a concept, story or thing mentioned ELSEWHERE
(but not immediately afterwards)
eg Nu13-33a >We saw there THE Nefilim<
refers to the NEFILLIM nation mentined in Gn06-04
--to refer to the best known of a class
eg Dt01-07e >THE Mount< -- This refers to The Kings Mountain
--to refer to a qualitative best
eg Dt05-18a >You will do the good and upright< -- ie compromise
GOALS:
=====
A person completing this module will be able to correctly
identify the specific usages of >THE< in the Bible.
TODAYS UNIT
===========
In the next few days we bring verses where
>THE< refers to >THE BEST KNOWN IN ITS CLASS<
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
===============
About a dozen of the examples in this module come from one
of our great Acharonim, the Malbim. Malbim in the 6th chapter
of his >MORNING STAR< presents some of the principles on >THE<.
We have built on this contribution. The details of what we have
contributed as well as some further insightful comments on the
Malbim will be made in the footnotes.
This posting is a must for those involved in advanced talmudic
study.
Our email group is named after AYELET the name of the daughter
of the moderator of Chevruta who hosts our series. AYELET, is
also the name of the Malbims famous summary of his 613
principles governing all midrash, the so called AYELET HASHACHAR
the morning star, which may be found in his introduction to
his commentary on Leviticus.
REFERENCE:
=========
This module comes from the following digest in the
Rashi-is-Simple series
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/h9n14.htm
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/h9n16.htm
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2001 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
EXAMPLES 25,26:
===============
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In the following verses >THE< refers to the best known
example of a class. We therefore re-translate these
verses as meaning >THE SPECIAL ...<
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EXAMPLE 25: Lv01-02e
==========
Lv01-02e If you offer a sacrifice to God...
from THE (SPECIAL) sheep ...OFFER IT
RASHI: The phrase >FROM THE SPECIAL SHEEP<
emphasizes that the >SHEEP< are special
and eg have not been set aside for idolatry*1 *2
EXAMPLE 26: Lv01-02f *3
==========
Nu15-03 And..you make a sacrifice...from ...THE SPECIAL SHEEP*4
RASHI: The phrase >FROM THE SPECIAL SHEEP<
emphasizes that the >SHEEP< are special
and eg are not wounded *5
--------------------------NOTES----------------------------
*1 Here are the differences between me and Malbim
in approach
* Malbim posits that >THE< refers to the species
and derives the above Rashis by playing on
the 2 words >FROM< and >THE<
* By contrast I have simply interpreted >THE<
to refer to something >SPECIAL< and >WELL KNOWN<
Hence the verse >FROM THE animals< should be
read as >FROM the SPECIAL animals< which
would indicate that eg they were special but
had not been subjected to bestiality.
Thus my approach is based on supplying intuitive keywords
(like SPECIAL) which capture the flavor of the word >THE<
as well as the midrash
*2 The Midrash does not DIRECTLY derive that
>From the SPECIAL animals< means to exclude
those animals that have had bestiality.
Rather all the Midrash does is infer that
these animals are SPECIAL in some way.
We are not told in WHAT way they are special.
MALBIM citing the Sifray and Talmud shows
that in each case the SPECIALNESS is
interpreted as consistent with the
particular item mentioned. Thus eg
CATTLE (Vs Wild beasts) are known for
their domestication and hence we exclude
bestiality.
This approach which emphasizes the general
idea of specialness first and then seeks to
identify which specific specialness is under
consideration is called the principle of
STAGES. This principle was first discussed
in my WINTER 1980 TRADITION ARTICLE, called
PSHAT and DERASH.
My basic idea is that we interpret Rashi to
mean that we are sure that SOMETHING SPECIAL
is being emphasized without being sure which
PARTICULAR SPECIAL ITEM is being emphasized,
this being subject to talmudic debate.
*3 Lv01-02f contains TWO COMMENTS (one on sheep
and one on cattle). Hence I think it preferable
to count these as 2 Rashis not as one.
There are only a few such Rashis in Chumash---
the total number of Rashis should be exactly 7800.
*4 Finally: Malbim brilliantly notes that the
Sifrah on which Rashi is based in not only
commenting on the words >THE< used in this
verse but is commenting on the words >THE<
that occur THROUGHOUT THE BIBLE.
For example, Malbim shows that the phrase >THE SHEEP< occurs
in Nu15-03 and here in Leviticus: Hence Rashi here
in Leviticus is commenting twice on the SPECIALNESS
of sheep--one for the the phrase >THE SHEEP< here
and one for the phrase >THE SHEEP< in Numbers.
*5 Rashi actually says that
>THE SPECIAL CATTLE< excludes a >WOUNDED CATTLE< &
>THE SPECIAL SHEEP< excludes a >GORER<
I think it clear that there is a typo here
and that the associations should be reversed
>THE SPECIAL CATTLE< excludes a >GORER< &
>THE SPECIAL SHEEP< excludes a >WOUNDED ANIMAL<
(After all it is oxen that gore not sheep).
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2001 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*