Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Judges 4:20

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלֶ֔יהָ עֲמֹ֖ד פֶּ֣תַח הָאֹ֑הֶל וְהָיָה֩ אִם־אִ֨ישׁ יָב֜וֹא וּשְׁאֵלֵ֗ךְ וְאָמַ֛ר הֲיֵֽשׁ־פֹּ֥ה אִ֖ישׁ וְאָמַ֥רְתְּ אָֽיִן׃

And he said unto her: ‘Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say: Is there any man here? that thou shalt say: No.’

Rashi on Judges

Stand at the entrance to the tent. Be zealous about it. Some interpret עֲמֹד [lit. "stand"] as לַעֲמוֹד, "to stand".11This interpretation adds the ל, which does not actually appear in the text, so that the reading is “He told her to stand at the entrance.” According to the literal textual interpretation, the reading is, “He told her, stand at the entrance.” This is problematic, as the masculine עֲמוֹד, rather than עִמֽדִי, is inappropriate in addressing a woman. The additional ל solves this difficulty by transforming the command, עֲמוֹד, “stand”, into the infinitive לַעֲמוֹד, “to stand.”
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Metzudat Zion on Judges

from the language of asking something
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Radak on Judges

Stand: It is an infinitive: And he said to her to stand at the entrance of the tent.
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Metzudat Zion on Judges

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Radak on Judges

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Radak on Judges

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Radak on Judges

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