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It was stated: Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel says, even Torah scrolls they only permitted to be written in Greek. They investigated and found that the Torah may be correctly translated only into Greek. A villager invented for them Aramaic from the Greek. Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: Akylas the proselyte translated the Torah before Rebbi Eliezer and Rebbi Joshua; they praised him [and said to him],
you are a superhuman beauty
. Rebbi Jehudah bar Pazy said, Rebbi Joshua ben Levi asked…
Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 1:9:5
§ The Gemara cites another ruling of Rabbi Yirmeya or Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba.
Rabbi Yirmeya said, and some say
that it was
Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba
who said:
The
Aramaic
translation of the Torah
used in the synagogues
was composed by Onkelos the convert based on
the teachings of
Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua. The
Aramaic
translation of the Prophets was composed by Yonatan ben Uzziel based on
a tradition going back to the last prophets,
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi…
Megillah 3a:4-6
THEN SANG MOSES. It is Hebrew style to employ an imperfect preceded by the word
az
(then) in place of a perfect. Compare,
Az yivneh shelomoh
(then did Solomon build) (I Kings 11:7);
az yedabber yehoshu’a
(then spoke Joshua) (Josh. 10:12); az
yavdil mosheh
(then Moses separated) (Deut. 4:41). The same is true in Arabic. Moses composed the song by himself. He then taught it to all of Israel, each one of whom then sang and said,
I will sing unto the Lord
.
And Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people
(Deut. 27:1) is similar…
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 15:1:1
אל האשה...הרבה, the word הרבה here is in the infinitive mode.
Radak on Genesis 3:16:1
According to Rabbi Akiva’s explanation,
what
is derived from the double language uttered by Hannah:
Im ra’o tireh
? The Torah spoke in the language of men,
meaning that this double language is not extraordinary and nothing may be derived from it. It is common biblical vernacular.
Berakhot 31b:13
נח, the name occurs three times in the same verse, when a single mention of his name would have sufficed. In Numbers 8,19 the name בני ישראל occurs 5 times in one verse. According to Tanchuma 5 on our parshah such apparently needless repetitions are an expression of special affection by the writer for the subject described. Such formulations are referred to by Rashi in Numbers 8,19), as well as by Ibn Ezra as צחות הלשון, “stylistic purity.” [repeating Noach’s name 3 times indicates his popularity with G’d at that time. Ed.]
Radak on Genesis 6:9:2
ME AND THE CHIEF BAKER. The word me is mentioned twice in this verse in keeping with Hebrew usage. Compare,
and as for me, whither shall I go
(Gen. 37:30).
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 41:10:2
In this connection,
Rabbi Ami says:
In certain instances, the
Torah spoke
employing
exaggerated [
havai
] language,
the
prophets spoke
employing
exaggerated language,
and
the Sages spoke
employing
exaggerated language.
Tamid 29a:7
Similarly,
Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi said: From where
is it derived
that the translator
who translated the public Torah reading into Aramaic
is not permitted to raise his voice louder than the reader? As it is stated: “Moses spoke, and God responded in a voice”
(Exodus 19:19). This verse requires further consideration, as
there is no need for the verse to state: In a voice.
The phrase, in a voice, adds nothing. Rather, to
what
purpose
did the verse state: In a voice? In Moses’ voice,
i.e., in a voice no louder than Moses’ voice…
Berakhot 45a:8
אשה אל אחתה ONE TO ANOTHER (lit., a woman to her sister) — This is the idiom of Biblical Hebrew — to speak thus about a thing that is of the feminine gender when it correlates it with a thing of the same kind. In the case of a thing that is masculine it uses the expression איש אל אחיו, lit., a man to his brother, as it is said, e. g. of the cherubim (Exodus 25:20) “and their faces were turned איש אל אחיו”.
Rashi on Exodus 26:3:2
BOTH WE. It is Hebrew style to add
gam
(also) even to the first of a series of items. Compare,
Rule over us, also
(gam)
thou, also
(gam)
thy son, also
(gam)
thy son’s son
(Jud. 8:22).
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 43:8:1
§
When Isi bar Hini ascended
from Babylonia to Eretz Yisrael,
Rabbi Yoḥanan found him teaching
the mishna
to his son.
Isi taught that the obligation of the first sheared wool applies only in the case of
sheep [
reḥelim
],
the masculine plural form of
raḥel
, meaning a sheep. Rabbi Yoḥanan
said to
Isi: You should
teach him
using the term
reḥelot
,
the feminine plural form. Isi
said to him
in reply: I teach the mishna in accordance with
that which is written: “Two hundred
reḥelim
”
(Genesis 32:15)…
Chullin 137b:12
AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WENT AND DID SO; AS THE ETERNAL HATH COMMANDED MOSES AND AARON, SO DID THEY. That is, they departed from before Moses and went to the sheep and slaughtered the Passover-offering at eventide [of the fourteenth day of Nisan]. Now such is Scriptural custom to repeat and say,
so did they
, in order to explain that they did not omit anything from whatever they were commanded, as I have explained in the case of Noah. A similar case is the verse,
And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Eternal had commanded, even so had they done it
…
Ramban on Exodus 12:28:1
CONCERNING WHICH I LIFTED UP MY HAND. Scripture speaks as humans do, for the sky is above.
Ibn Ezra on Numbers 14:30:1
IF HIS MASTER GIVE HIM A WIFE. We find that those who employ the holy tongue render honor with various nouns but not with verbs. They use the terms
adon
(lord) and also
adonim
(lords). They employ the latter as a singular in a
cruel lord
(adonim) (Is. 19:4). They employ the term
adonav
(his lord) in the construct. They do not use the term
adono
(his lord), for we do not find the word
adono
in Scripture. However,
Adoni
(my lord), as in
My lord asked
(Gen. 44:19), is employed in the first person…
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 21:4:1
(Exod. 20:2:)
I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD
…. R. Aha said: For twenty-six generations (between creation and the giving of Torah) the
alef
kept making a complaint before the Holy One, saying: Even though I am the first of all the letters, you did not create the world with me but with a
bet
(i.e., in Gen. 1:1):
IN THE BEGINNING
(
Bereshit
)
GOD CREATED
. The Holy One said: By your life, I will repay you with the Torah, which was created two thousand years before the world was created…
Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Yitro 16:1
AND THE LORD SAID. What reason is there for saying,
And Moses told the words of the people unto the Lord
(v. 9) after having said,
And Moses reported the words of the people unto the Lord
? Note that there are many verses in the Torah that should have come earlier. Their meaning is that such and such already took place. For example, the meaning of
va-yitzar
(formed) in,
Then the Lord God formed
(Gen. 2:7) is, He had already formed; the meaning of
va-yatzmach
(made to grow) in
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow
(Gen…
Ibn Ezra on Exodus 19:9:1
AND THE REMAINING BLOOD THEREOF SHALL HE POUR OUT AT THE BASE OF THE ALTAR OF BURNT-OFFERING. This is the same altar already mentioned [in the first part of the verse:
and he shall put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt-offering
]. But such is the linguistic expression of the [Hebrew] language to mention the subject instead of [merely] the definite article [thus repeating “of burnt-offering” rather than just saying “the altar”]. Similarly,
and he shall lay his hand upon the head of the bullock, and he shall slaughter the bullock
…
Ramban on Leviticus 4:25:1
The Torah spoke
employing
exaggerated language,
as it is written: “Hear, Israel: You are passing over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you,
cities great and fortified up to heaven”
(Deuteronomy 9:1), whereas the fortifications obviously did not actually reach up to heaven.
The Prophets spoke
employing
exaggerated language,
as it is written with regard to the coronation of King Solomon: “And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy…
Chullin 90b:12
Scripture there states,
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah
(II Sam. 6:7). The meaning of
upon the congregation of the children of Israel
is, upon anyone from the children of Israel. It is similar to
and was buried in the cities of Gilead
(Jud. 12:7) and
Even upon a colt the foal of asses
(Zech. 9:9). There are many such cases.
Ibn Ezra on Numbers 1:53:2
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Tikkun Soferim
Hermeneutical Rules through which the Torah is Interpreted
Expression
Statement
Repetition
Descriptors of God
Incorporeality of God
Grammar
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