GET THEE OUT. God commanded Abraham while he was yet in Ur of the Chaldees to leave his country, his place of birth and also his father’s house. The reason God told Abraham to leave his father’s house is that the Lord knew that, although he set out for Canaan, Terah would settle in Haran.¹ Terah did not die until sixty years after Abraham left his father’s house in Haran.² However, the Bible does not tell us how old he was when he left Ur of the Chaldees.³ refers to Abraham (Cherez). The Bible tells us how old Abraham was when he left Haran (v. 4) but does not tell us his age when he left Ur of the Chaldees. Had the Bible told us this, we would then know how long Abraham dwelt in Haran. Weiser explains he as referring to Terah. I.E.’s point remains the same. After telling Abraham to go unto the land that I will show thee, God revealed his secret to him,⁴ for we read: and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan (v. 5). It is also possible that I will show thee refers to for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it (Gen. 13:15).⁵

footnotes: ¹ Ibn Ezra implies that had Terah gone to Canaan then God would not have commanded Abraham to separate himself from his father. ² Terah was 70 when Abraham was born (Gen. 11:26). Abraham was 75 when he left Haran (Gen. 12:4). Terah was thus 145 when Abraham left him. Terah lived 205 years (Gen. 11:32). Hence Terah lived another 60 years after Abraham left Haran. Thus the command “Get thee out” could not have come after Terah’s death, as a cursory reading of Scripture would indicate (Krinsky). ³ He ⁴ He told him which land He had in mind. ⁵ The meaning of the phrase is: the land which I will show thee will I give to thee (Cohen). Abraham went from place to place. When he came to Canaan God then told him, this is the land that I have chosen for you (Cherez). According to this interpretation God did not at this point reveal to Abraham his ultimate destination.

THEM THAT BLESS THEE. This word is in the plural.

AND HIM THAT CURSETH THEE. This word is in the singular.

THEIR SUBSTANCE. Their cattle.⁶, which includes cows, sheep, asses and camels. Rekhusham (their substance) in And the land was not able to bear them…for their (rekhusham) substance (i.e., their cattle) was great (Gen. 13:6) is similar.

footnotes: ⁶ The term used by Ibn Ezra is mikneh

AND THE SOULS THAT THEY HAD GOTTEN IN HARAN. Servants born into their household.⁷ thus means: were born to them (Weiser). It is also possible that had gotten means bought.⁸ as meaning born. He now explains it to mean bought (Weiser). Hath gotten in My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth (Deut. 8:17) is similar. Others say that the souls that they had gotten in Haran refers to the people to whom Abraham showed the truth, to worship God.⁹ 39:14. Cf. Rashi.

footnotes: ⁷ Had gotten ⁸ Previously Ibn Ezra explained gotten ⁹ Bereshit Rabbah

[AND THEY WENT FORTH TO GO.] To the place that God had told them to go.

[SHECHEM.] Shechem¹⁰ was the name used by Moses because it was the name by which the city was known in his time. Shechem was not yet born in Abraham’s day.¹¹

footnotes: ¹⁰ Like Ur of the Chaldees. ¹¹ According to Ibn Ezra, Shechem was named after Shechem son of Hamor. Cf. Gen. 34:2.

TEREBINTH. Elon (terebinth) has the same meaning as elah (terebinth).¹² is a type of elah (Krinsky). They are trees. Others say that elon means a field,¹³ as in unto El paran (Gen. 14:6).

footnotes: ¹² Cf. Is. 6:13 and Hos. 4:13. Elon ¹³ That is, the field of Paran, as seen from Gen. 14:6. See also Onkelos on this verse.

MOREH. Some identify him with Mamre, the confederate of Abraham. However, it is possible they are not to be so identified and Elon Moreh is the name of a place.

AND THE CANAANITE WAS THEN IN THE LAND. It is possible that the Canaanites seized the land of Canaan from some other tribe at that time.¹⁴ Should this interpretation be incorrect, then there is a secret meaning to the text. Let the one who understands it remain silent.¹⁵

footnotes: ¹⁴ The Canaanite was then, not before this, in the land. Cf. Rashi: “The Canaanite was then engaged in conquering the land of Israel from the seed of Shem.” ¹⁵ The verse implies that the Canaanite was in the land then but not now (Krinsky). Since the Canaanite was in the land during the days of Moses, this clause would appear to be post-Mosaic.

AND THE LORD APPEARED. In a prophetic vision. Va-yera (appeared) is a nifal. It is vocalized with a tzere to make up for the dagesh which should have been placed in the resh as compensation for the missing nun of the nifal conjugation.¹⁶ of the nifal is omitted in the imperfect. Hence all imperfect nifal forms have a dagesh in the first letter of the root, i.e., yikkatev, rather than yikhatev. However, the resh of ra’ah (saw), from the root resh, alef, heh, cannot receive a dagesh. Hence it is preceded by a tzere, rather than a chirik. Va-yera is an imperfect changed into a perfect by the vav conversive.

footnotes: ¹⁶ The nun

WHO APPEARED UNTO HIM. Nireh is a participle belonging to the above-mentioned conjugation (nifal). Na’aseh (prepared) in Now that which was prepared (na’aseh) for one day (Neh. 5:18) is similar.

AND HE REMOVED. Va-yatek (and he removed) is a transitive verb, in the hifil. However, ve-yetak (removed) in Or shall the rock be removed (ve-yetak) out of its place (Job 18:4) is intransitive. The object of And he removed is his tent.¹⁷ (and he removed) is transitive, it does not mean he removed himself but he removed his tent. His tent is also the object of he pitched. The meaning (of va-yatek) is: he caused to move. Va-yet (he pitched) is vocalized with a tzere to make up for the missing nun which is the first root letter of va-yet (he pitched).¹⁸ (pitched) is nun, tet, ayin. We would have expected the word to be vocalized with a chirik. Compare, va-yitteh, hence I.E.’s comment. Ve-yez (is dashed) in And their lifeblood is dashed (ve-yez) (Is. 63:3) is similar.¹⁹ (is dashed) is nun, zayin, heh. Both are transitive verbs.²⁰ and va-yet (Krinsky) or va-yet and ve-yez (Cherez).

footnotes: ¹⁷ Since va-yatek ¹⁸ The root of va-yet ¹⁹ The root of ve-yez ²⁰ Va-yatek

[ON THE WEST.] The word mi-yam means on the west. Yam (sea) means west because the great Spanish Sea (yam, i.e., the Mediterranean) is the western border of the land of Israel. The latter sea is not the Atlantic, the Atlantic being far from the aforementioned country. Abraham journeyed from east of Beth-el westward until Ai was east of his camp.²¹

footnotes: ²¹ I.E. assumes that Abraham journeyed from east to west. He crossed over Ai but stopped before Beth-el. Thus Beth-el was on his west and Ai on his east. However, the interpretation presents a problem. Shechem lies north of Beth-el and Ai. Thus Abraham traveled south not west.

[AND CALLED UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD.] This means he prayed there. It may also mean that he called upon men to worship the Lord.

TOWARD THE SOUTH. Negev means south and it means the same in Aramaic.²² is an Aramaic word. Negev in Aramaic means dry as we see from Onkelos, who renders the waters were dried up (Gen. 8:13) as negivu mayya. The south is called Negev (dry) because it is hot there, and the heat parches the land. This is the way for that thou hast set me in the Southlands (eretz ha-negev)²³ means a dry land. give me therefore springs of water (Josh. 15:19) should be understood.

footnotes: ²² I.E.’s point is that negev ²³ That is, eretz ha-negev

AND THERE WAS A FAMINE IN THE LAND. In the land of Canaan.

WHEN HE WAS COME NEAR. When he caused his camp to come near.²⁴ (he came near) to be a transitive verb, its meaning being: when he caused to come near, i.e., when he caused his camp to come near. On the other hand, hikriv (when he came near) may be intransitive.²⁵ is to be rendered, when he came near. These two interpretations are possible because there are verbs which can be transitive and intransitive.

footnotes: ²⁴ I.E. takes hikriv ²⁵ In this case hikriv

[NOW.] Na means now. Na in Behold now (na), I am old (Gen. 27:2), and Woe (na) unto us (Lam. 5:16)²⁶ are similar. The reverse of Hebrew is the case in Arabic.²⁷, rather than malna (Weiser).

footnotes: ²⁶ According to Ibn Ezra this should be rendered: woe now unto us. ²⁷ The Arabic word for now is malan

[BEHOLD NOW, I KNOW.] There were women as beautiful as Sarah in her native country,²⁸, i.e., before I didn’t. This is so because in the country from which she came there were other beautiful women. In Egypt Sarah’s beauty stood out. but in Egypt and the southern land there was none as beautiful. The reason for this is that people’s appearance is shaped by the climate.²⁹

footnotes: ²⁸ Scripture emphasizes now I know ²⁹ According to I.E. the climate of southern countries is not conducive to the development of beautiful women.

[BUT THEE THEY WILL KEEP ALIVE.] They will provide for all of your needs. Abraham said this because those were days of famine.

[THOU ART MY SISTER.] Achoti (my sister) is penultimately accented³⁰ because the word which follows it, at (thou), is accented on the first letter. Kara laylah (he called night) (Gen. 1:5) is similar.³¹. The preceding is a general rule in Hebrew grammar.³² The tav of at (thou) receives a dagesh to make up for the missing nun, for the word at (thou) comes from the same root as ani (I).³³, in the masculine antah (Netter). The printed editions read, the word attah comes from the same root as ani. Vat. Ebr. 38 reads, the word at comes from the same root as ani. Since I.E. deals with the feminine, the reading of Vat. Ebr. 38 is to be preferred.

footnotes: ³⁰ Ordinarily the accent would be placed on the last syllable. ³¹ Ordinarily the accent would be placed on the last syllable of kara ³² When the cantillical notes connect two words and the second word is penultimately accented, so is the first word even though it is ordinarily ultimately accented. ³³ Hence thou in the feminine should be ant

BECAUSE OF THEE. Bi-glalekh (because of thee) and ba-avurekh (for thy sake) always have a bet prefixed to each.³⁴ (gelal) or avurekh (avur) are not used. The poet who omits this bet errs.³⁵. He implies that the poet who deliberately misuses language is like a fair woman who turns aside from discretion. The reference might be to Rabbi Simon ben Isaac of Mayence, an eleventh century liturgical poet who wrote, avur ki fanah yom (now that the day has declined). He should have written ba-avur fanah yom. Rabbi Simon’s composition is found in the concluding service of the Day of Atonement (Cherez). It should be noted that I.E. employs a pun. Shar is a poet. Sar means tumeth aside, hence ha-shar sar, the poet turneth aside.

footnotes: ³⁴ The forms gelalekh ³⁵ Literally, turns aside from discretion. Ibn Ezra uses a term from Prov. 11:22, As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout, So is a fair woman that turneth aside from discretion

[THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH ME.] They will give me gifts and presents. And so it is written, And he dealt well with Abram for her sake; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servant, and she-asses, and camels (v. 16).

[AND PRAISED]. The dagesh which should have been placed in the first lamed of va-yehalelu³⁶ (they praised) is a pi’el. According to the rules of Hebrew grammar a dagesh is placed in the middle letter of the root in a verb conjugated in the pi’el. (and praised) is omitted in order to simplify the word’s pronunciation.³⁷ is, as noted above, a pi’el and should thus have a dagesh in its middle root letter. However, a dagesh would double the lamed. Thus the word would read as if there were three lameds in it, viz., va-yehallelu, and complicate its pronunciation. Va-etpalelah (and I prayed) (Dan. 9:4) is identical.³⁸ is in the hitpa’el. Here, too, a dagesh is placed in the middle root letter. However, it is omitted in our word for the reasons indicated in note 37.

footnotes: ³⁶ Va-yehalelu ³⁷ Va-yehalelu ³⁸ Va-etpalelah

AND THE WOMAN WAS TAKEN. Va-tukkach (and she was taken) is a hofal. This is so even though it is not found in the hifil.³⁹ is the passive form of hifil. If a word is found in the passive voice we would expect it to be found in the active voice as well. However, this is not the case with the root lamed, kof, chet, which is found in the hofal and not in the hifil. Va-tushlekhi (but thou wast cast out) (Ezek. 16:5) is an example of a hofal wherein the entire root is present.⁴⁰ (take) the lamed drops out in the imperfect. In shin, lamed, caf (cast) no letter drops out. It belongs to those verbs classified as shelemim, whole roots.

footnotes: ³⁹ Hofal ⁴⁰ In the root lamed, kof, chet

AND THE LORD PLAGUED PHARAOH…BECAUSE OF SARAI. The term al devar means because. Al devar’s meaning is al zeh ha-davar (on account of this thing).⁴¹ means because. According to the Midrash al devar Sarai means according to Sarah’s word. (Cf. Rashi.) Hence I.E.’s comment.

footnotes: ⁴¹ Hence al devar

[THOU TELL ME.] The root of higgadta (thou tell) is nun, gimel, dalet.

[SO I TOOK HER TO BE MY WIFE.] This indicates that Pharaoh took her to be his wife, to sleep with her. God brought plagues upon him to prevent him from touching her. The Lord sent these plagues to protect the wife of the one whom he loved. The plagues were so severe that Pharaoh was unable to touch Sarah. The following is analogous: When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies…and seest among the captives a woman of goodly form, and thou hast a desire unto her, and takest her to thee to wife. The Bible then says, then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head. It then concludes, and after that thou mayest go in unto her (Deut. 21:10-13).⁴² which implies that Pharaoh had intercourse with Sarah. Hence I.E. points out that Scripture is merely relating Pharaoh’s intentions; i.e., he took her to be his wife but God intervened before he had a chance to sleep with her. I.E. quotes Deut 21:10 where “and thou takest her to wife” similarly does not mean “and sleeps with her” because one cannot have intercourse with a captive woman until certain procedures described in Deut. 21 are first undergone.

footnotes: ⁴² Ibn Ezra argues that wife here has the meaning of a sexual partner as it does in Deuteronomy. For it first says, “and takest her to thee to wife” and concludes with “thou mayest go into her” (Weiser). Krinsky and Cherez argue that I.E. was disturbed by the term took her

[AND GO THY WAY.] The vav of va-lekh (and go thy way) is vocalized with a kamatz⁴³ would ordinarily be vocalized with a sheva. because it is prefixed to a word with a cantillical note that ends a phrase. The vav of va-yayin (and wine) in bread and wine (Gen. 14:18) is similar.

footnotes: ⁴³ The vav

AND THEY BROUGHT HIM ON THE WAY. They honorably escorted him.⁴⁴ (and they brought him on the way) might conceivably be translated as they sent him away; i.e., they expelled him, hence I.E.’s comment. And Abraham went with them⁴⁵ to bring them on the way (Gen. 18:16) is similar.

footnotes: ⁴⁴ Va-yeshallechu oto ⁴⁵ Abraham obviously did not expel the angels, he accompanied them out of respect.

[AND PHARAOH GAVE MEN CHARGE CONCERNING HIM.] It appears to me that this clause indicates that Pharaoh issued a command to his people concerning Abraham. He warned and charged that it be announced that no one harm Abraham and his wife.⁴⁶ is not to be connected to and they brought him on the way. Gave men charge, etc., means he issued commands that Abraham not be molested; and they brought him on the way means they escorted him. I.E. interprets this verse thus because he believes that the word tzivvah (commanded, charged) with the preposition al (on) involves a prohibition. Cf. I.E.’s comments on Gen. 2:16 (Filwarg).

footnotes: ⁴⁶ In other words, gave men charge concerning him