And we find many times that the Torah uses the noun through which an action is done not to be precise, but for example. (like והכה את רעהו באבן או באגרוף (and one smite the other with a stone, or with his fist)¹⁷⁶, כי יכה את עין עבדו בשבט (And if a man smite his bondman, or his bondwoman, with a rod)¹⁷⁷, לא תשחית את עצה לנדוח עליו גרזן (you shall not destroy the trees thereof by wielding an axe against them)¹⁷⁸) and sometimes the noun comes precisely (like והרים בקומצו (And he shall take up therefrom his handful)¹⁷⁹ and והזה באצבעו (and sprinkle it with his finger)¹⁸⁰).

footnotes: ¹⁷⁶ Exodus 21:18. ¹⁷⁷ Exodus 21:20. ¹⁷⁸ Deuteronomy 20:19. ¹⁷⁹ Leviticus 6:8. ¹⁸⁰ Leviticus 16:14.

And thus, when Rabbi Ishmael says that in three places, the law supersedes the Scriptureוכסהו בעפר (cover it with dust)¹⁸¹, תער (there shall no razor come upon his head)¹⁸²,ספר (bill of divorce)¹⁸³, מרצע (leper)¹⁸⁴, he means to say that the law is impossible to determine from the Scripture but only from the tradition, and the sages focus on these matters from the context of the Scripture.

footnotes: ¹⁸¹ Leviticus 17:13. ¹⁸² Numbers 6:5. ¹⁸³ Deuteronomy 24:1. ¹⁸⁴ Leviticus 14:9.

And there is in this a difference between whether the noun precedes the verb – then it comes precisely, for instance, בעפר יכסהו, בתער יגלח, במרצע ירצע ,ספר יכתב - and when the verb comes first - then we are unable to determine if the noun comes precisely or for example.

Babylonian Talmud Sotah 16a says that Rabbi Ishmael says that in three places, the tradition supersedes the Scripture. The Malbim interprets Rabbi Ishmael as meaning that in each of these verses, the verb precedes the noun, so it is impossible to determine from the Scripture whether the noun comes precisely or for example. And the tradition is that in each of these verses, the noun comes for example¹⁸⁵.

footnotes: ¹⁸⁵ Malbim, HaTorah v’HaMitzvah Acharei Mot 120.