## Chizkuni, Genesis

###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:1:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:1:1)

**ושרי אשת אברם לא ילדה** מקרא זה בא להודיענו שהברית קדמה לזרע שלא תאמר אין מוקדם ומאוחר והזרע קדם לברית לכך נאמר ושרי אשת אברם לא ילדה. **ולה שפחה מצרית.** שפחת מלוג היתה והוא חייב במזונותיה ולא היה רשאי למכרה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ושרי אשת אברם לא ילדה, “meanwhile, Sarai, Avram’s wife had failed to give birth;” this verse is intended to inform us that the covenant just concluded between G-d and Avram preceded the time when Avram was blessed with biological offspring. We should not assume that here too the principle that the Torah need not report events in their chronological sequence could be applied. As a reminder of this, the Torah reports that up until now Sarai had not conceived or given birth. “ולה שפחה מצרית,” and she had an Egyptian maidservant; she was a usufruct maidservant which he was obligated to provide her sustenance and could not sell her.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:1:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:1:2)

**ושמה הגר** כשמסר פרעה את בתו לשרה אמר לה בתי היא אגרך, לכך נקראת הגר.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ושמה הגר, “whose name was Hagar;” when Pharaoh handed over his daughter to Sarai (when the latter was a captive in his Palace) he had said to her: “my daughter is your compensation for my having wronged you. ”Here is your reward.” (Based on Matnot kehunah in Br’eshit Rabbah) As a result she was renamed: Hagar.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:5:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:5:1)

**חמסי.** שעושה לי שפחתי שאינה רוצה לשמשני.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
חמסי, “look at what reward I get that my own maidservant refuses to obey my commands, and acts rebelliously.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:5:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:5:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:5:2)

**עליך.** על ידך הוא שאינך מוחה על כבודי ואין אני רוצה לענותה הואיל ונזדווגה לך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
עליך, “this is all on your account;” if you had protested her disrespecting me it would not have happened. I do not feel like punishing her as she has becoming your concubine.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:5:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:5:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:5:3)

**ישפט ה׳‎ ביני וביניך.** שאני חוששת לכבודך ואינך חושש לכבודי.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ישפוט ה' ביני וביניך, “may the Lord judge which one of us is right.” I am concerned with your dignity, whereas you have not respected my dignity.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:5:4
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:5:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:5:4)

**וביניך.** נקוד פרש״‎י כל ובינך שבמקרא חסר וזה מלא קרי ביה ובניך כלומר כל וביניך חסרים יו״‎ד בין הנו״‎ן ובין הכ״‎ף וזה מלא **וביניך,** כל תיבות נקודות שבתורה מסופקות היו בידיו של עזרא הסופר אמר אם יבא משה רבינו ואומר לי מפני מה כתבת את אלו אומר לו כבר נקדתי עליהם. ואם אומר לי למה נקדת עליהם אומר לו הרי מחקתים ואעביר את הנקודות מעליהם. **אמרינן במסכת ר״‎ה** כל המוסר דין על חברו נענש תחלה כמו שפרש״‎י הכא שהכניסה עין הרע בעבורה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וביניך, Rashi claims there is an extra “dot” on this word. What he means is that everywhere else the word ביניך is spelled with only one letter י, whereas here it is also spelled with a י before the last letter. It therefore ought to be read as ובניך. The Talmud reports that words which have dots placed there by Ezra who after the return of the exiled Jews had to decide from differing Torah scrolls which had the correct spelling, used these dots to remind readers that some doubt had existed concerning this spelling. (Avot וביניך, Rashi de Rabbi Nathan, chapter 34.) If he had found such dots in some scrolls he did not want to take the responsibility for removing them, (according to a Tossaphot in Rosh Hashanah 15.) At any rate, we have a rule that if someone calls upon G-d to determine if concerning an accusation leveled against a fellow human being he or she had been correct, the first thing the heavenly tribunal does is to examine if the accuser has led a blameless life himself or herself. If faults are found in the accuser’s life, he is judged, i.e. punished first, before the accusation is examined in greater detail. In the event, Avraham had to bury Sarah, i.e. on the one hand she died earlier than he, though younger than he, and on the other hand he lost her. According to Rashi, the substance of Sarai’s complaint was that if Avram had prayed not only to have children himself but had included her in his prayer, the whole subject of offering Hagar to him as a concubine would never have arisen. Her accusation is considered as “an evil eye” (Compare Mizrachi, super commentary on Rashi) concerning the fetus in Hagar’s womb.)


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:7:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:7:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:7:1)

**במדבר על העין בדרך שור** הוא המדבר שנא׳‎ בו בפרשת בשלח ויצאו אל מדבר שור.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
במדבר, על העין בדרך שור, “in the desert, by a well, on the way to Shur.” This location is one that the Israelites traversed as mentioned in Exodus 15,22.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:8:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:8:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:8:1)

**הגר שפחת שרי** לא כשאת סבורה להיות גבירתה כי עדיין את שפחה והיא הודית לו מפני שרי גברתי אנכי ברחת.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
הגר שפחת שרי, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant maid!” The angel reminds her that her status as Sarai’s servant maid had not changed. She acknowledged this when she replied that she was fleeing from her mistress Sarai.


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:12:1
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:12:1)

**פרא אדם.** תגר הולך עם סחורתו עד למרחוק במקום שאין מכירים אותו כענין שנאמר ארחת ישמעאלים באה מגלעד, ויהא שם איש פרא שלווי״‎א בלע״‎ז אדם נכרי נקרא פרא כמה דאת אמר ״‎ועיר פרא אדם יולד״‎ (איוב יא,יב).

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
פרא אדם, an anonymous trader who travels to distant places where he is not known; compare Genesis 37,25 where the Torah describes such a caravan of Ishmael’s descendants to whom Joseph was sold. The word פרא also occurs as the definition of a person in Job 11,12. ועיר פרא יולד, i.e. an infant born and not yet named is a פרא. A person who lacks the intelligence and senses of ordinary people is called there: עיר פרא, “a wild ass;”[I am not sure about the difference between פרא אדם and אדם פרא. What seems clear is that the adjective פרא appears to diminish the degree of צלם אלוקים, Divine image that ordinary people have been equipped with from birth. It may be noteworthy that both Kayin and Hevel when born, the first human beings to have been born by woman, were not described as possessing this Divine image as opposed to Sheth, Chavah’s third son. This may explain a great deal about both of these sons experiencing either premature death, or ongoing tragedy in their lives. Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:12:2
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:12:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:12:2)

**ידו בכל.** בכל מיני סחורה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ידו בכל, “involved in all manner of wheeling and dealing;”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:12:3
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:12:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:12:3)

**ויד כל בו.** ע״‎י משא ומתן של סחורה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויד כל בו, “through interacting socially and commercially with all kinds of people;”


###### Chizkuni, Genesis 16:12:4
[Chizkuni, Genesis 16:12:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Genesis/r/16:12:4)

**ועל פני כל אחיו ישכן.** נחלותיו יתפשטו בין כל אחיו מרוב עושר. ד״‎א והוא יהיה פרא אדם כמו פרא זה שקורין גרא״‎ז בלע״‎ז. **ידו בכל.** שינצח הכל, ואחר כך ויד כל בו שינצחוהו לבסוף.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ועל פני כל אחיו ישכון, “and his wealth will extend so far that he will be in contact with all kinds of people. A totally different exegesis: the expression פרא אדם describes an uncouth person, someone devoid of culture and what we call: דרך ארץ; initially, as a result of this, he will be victorious in all his violent encounters, ידו בכל, whereas eventually, when groups of people will make common cause against him, ויד כל בו, “he will be subdued and killed.”