Kommentar zu Jeschijahu 36:12
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר רַב־שָׁקֵ֗ה הַאֶ֨ל אֲדֹנֶ֤יךָ וְאֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ שְׁלָחַ֣נִי אֲדֹנִ֔י לְדַבֵּ֖ר אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֑לֶּה הֲלֹ֣א עַל־הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים הַיֹּֽשְׁבִים֙ עַל־הַ֣חוֹמָ֔ה לֶאֱכֹ֣ל אֶת־חראיהם [צוֹאָתָ֗ם] וְלִשְׁתּ֛וֹת אֶת־שיניהם [מֵימֵ֥י] [רַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם] עִמָּכֶֽם׃
Aber Rabsake sprach: [Glaubt ihr], dass nur zu eurem Herrn und zu euch mich mein Herr gesandt hat, diese Worte zu reden? Nicht vielmehr zu den Männern, die auf der Mauer sitzen, ihren Auswurf zu essen und ihren Harn zu trinken mit euch?
Rashi on Isaiah
Did...to your master (הַאֶל) This is the interrogative form. It is therefore vowelized with a ‘hataf pattah’ (not so in our editions). Did my master send me to you two alone? Indeed, he sent me to all of them, and for that reason I have come, so that all the people hear and see, and let not Hezekiah persuade them to rebel.
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Rashi on Isaiah
to eat their dung They too (sic) would eat in the hunger of the siege.
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Rashi on Isaiah
their dung The kethib reads חֹרָאֵיהֶם, the dung that is excreted through their orifice. Our Sages instituted to euphemize and read it צוֹאָתָם, i.e., their dung. Thus did our Rabbis teach: Verses written in uncomplimentary words are to be read in a complimentary manner, e.g., (Deut. 28:27) עֲפֹלִים (is read) טְחֹרִים. (Both mean hemorrhoids. The former means ‘that which is in the dark holes,’ being more explicit than the latter. (ibid. v. 30) יִשְׁגָּלֶנָּה (is to be read) יִשְׁכָּבֶנָּה. (Both denoting intimacy, the former related as well to a dog.) חֹרָאֵיהֶם (is to be read) צוֹאָתָם, שִׁינֵיהֶם (is to be read) מֵימֵי רַגְלֵיהֶם.
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