Are You Really ‘With Me’?
If G-d told Balaam not to go with Balak’s men, why did He seemingly “change His mind” and later allow him to go?
Yisro: Murder He Wrote
While both retzicha and harigah refer to the act of taking another’s life, Rashi’s grandson Rashbam lays down a general rule to distinguish retzicha from harigah. According to Rashbam, retzicha always refers to killing somebody for no legitimate reason.
Revealing The Secret
...the word sod expanded in Rabbinic Hebrew to refer to any sort of restricted or confidential information to which only a select few are privy. Hence, the word sod came to mean secret.
In The Middle
It seems that the principle meaning of the root reish-kaf-samech is “to tie together.” When things are tied together, the nexus of the knot is the point where their connection is strongest and most-highly concentrated.
Purim: Words For Wine (Part I)
Although some Bible scholars claim that tirosh is an archaic Hebrew word for wine that was later replaced with the more modern word yayin in the Bible, this explanation does not really account for the difference between the two terms and why the newer term did not just completely replace the older term.
Through The Looking Window
We now turn our attention to “eshnav.” This rather obscure word only appears twice in the entire Bible.
Speedy Horsepower
Many commentators explain that achashtranim refer to mules that were born from the union of male donkeys and female horses (as opposed to hinnies, which are born to male horses and female donkeys and are typically weaker beasts).
Just Stop!
The way Rabbi Grayever explains it, chadal connotes the inability to perform a certain action, or sustain a reality, that leads to something being stopped – whether this inability stems from nature or from legal considerations.
Cold And Colder
Shoresh Yesha connects the tzinah as coldness to the tzanuah/tzniut (modesty), explaining that like a modest person is not ostentatious or flamboyant but prefers to remain reserved or reticent, so is the cold winter a time for retreating into one’s abode and not venturing outside.
The Trick Of Magi
In his commentary to Sanhedrin 67b, however, Rashi says the Talmud holds that lahat is something performed by the practitioner himself, while lat adjures sheidim to act on one’s behalf.
Spoils Of War
Rabbi Pappenheim traces the etymology of “baz” and “bizah” to the biliteral root bet-zayin, which refers to something unimportant.
To Be A Wise Guy (Part II)
The Talmud (Chagigah 12a) teaches that G-d created the world using 10 different qualities, the first three of which are chachmah, tevunah, and daat.
Chair of Thrones
Maimonides (Guide for the Perplexed 1:9) writes that the idea of a kisseh implies importance and power, presumably because in ancient times ordinary people did not have chairs but merely sat on whatever flat surfaces were available.
Single Guys
In this article, we explore the etymologies of ravak and two other Hebrew terms for an unmarried or single man – panui and bachur – try to zone in on the nuances they express.
And Before Creation, Nothing
Both of these words are commonly translated as “nothingness,” but understanding the nuances expressed by these ostensible synonyms will help us better understand what exactly the Torah means to teach us about the state of the world before Creation.
Boys And Girls (Part II)
A whole slew of other words also come from ayin-lammed, including “elyon” (high), “l’maaleh” (up), “oleh” (elevate), “aleh” (leaf, which grows on a branch), “ohl” (yoke, which placed on an animal), “meil (tunic, which is worn on top of other clothing), “na'al” (shoe, which is worn on top of the foot), etc.
Pick Your Wax
More scholarly-oriented etymologists are at a loss to explain the origins of “donag.”
Bovine Words: Cows And Cowboys
In Hebrew, an egel is a male calf, while an eglah is a female calf. Calves are immature bovines that rely on their mother’s milk to survive and grow.
Forget About It
Rabbi Hirsch writes that “shachach” implies forgetting as a result of focusing on something else while “nashah” is forgetfulness that results from a weakened memory.
Flowering Chicklings
Academy of the Hebrew Language and another article by Dr. Moshe Raanan of Herzog College explain that even though in earlier times the terms efroach and gozal were indeed synonymous, in Modern Hebrew there is a difference between these terms based on a zoological distinction.
Empty Exaggerations
In explaining what a guzma is, Rashi writes that they are “simply words,” meaning they do not reflect the actual reality ... Similarly, Rashi explains that "words of havai" refers to speech spoken by common people, who often speak in vulgar ways that exaggerate the matter at hand.
Getting Stoned (Part I)
The term sekilah appears in two instances of men who were stoned to death: Achan, who illegally took the spoils of war from Jericho (Joshua 7:25); and Naboth, against whom Jezebel and Ahab conspired to take his vineyard (I Kings 23:10-15).
Getting Clean
The Torah stipulates that a metal receptacle used for cooking the meat of a sin-offering must be thoroughly cleaned before being used for another purpose; it must undergo merikah and shetifah in water (Lev. 6:21).
Jumping For Passover
What does “Pesach” mean? Rashi (to Exodus 12:11 and 12:13 and Isaiah 31:5) explains that it is an expression of dilug and kefitzah (types...
The Year Of Slipping Away (Part I)
How does the literal meaning of “slipping away” relate back to laws of the sabbatical year?
Drawing Water
As we explained earlier, “drawing water” and “lifting up” can actually be seen as one act.
The Old Man And The See
“Sav” is related to the Hebrew word “seivah,” and both these words form the basis of “saba,” which means “old man” or “grandfather.”
Brilliant Prohibitions
In the same way that rays of light spread out to illuminate as much as possible, an enlightened person must spread his intellectual purview…in order to not violate what is expected of him.
Seasoning the Land (Part I)
The Radak in Sefer Shorashim also connects eretz to the idea of running – in this case because of the planet’s non-stop astronomical motions.
Saving Survivors
In Modern Hebrew, the term miklat came to refer to a bomb shelter, which likewise receives those fleeing air raids and protects them.
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