Comentario sobre Génesis 14:6

בהררם means IN THEIR MOUNT (i. e.הרר is a form of הר — really an earlier form — with pronominal suffix ָ מ ;cf. הררי קדש etc.)

‘EIL PARAN.’ It is translated in the Targum as “Plain of Paran.” But I say that the word eil does not signify a plain. Rather, the lowland of Paran was called Eil, that of Mamre was named Eilonei, that of the Jordan was called Kikar, and that of Shittim was Abel. All these are translated in the Targum as meishra (plain), but each really had its own particular name. Thus the language of Rashi.
But if it were so,¹²¹That Eil, Eilonei and Kikar are the proper names of these places. Onkelos would have mentioned them in his Targum by their name — i.e., “Eila of Paran,” “Eilonei of Mamre,” — as is his custom with names. Besides, who told him¹²²“Him” refers both to Rashi and Onkelos. whether these many places were all plains or high mountains [if Eil, Eilonei and Kikar were but proper names of these places]? Again, Mamre is the name of a person — as it is written, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and they were confederate with Abram¹²³Verse 13 here. — and that place was his, just as it says, ‘Eilonei’ Mamre the Amorite,¹²⁴Ibid. Ramban’s intent is to argue that since Mamre is the name of an individual, the word Eilonei could not be a proper name since two names cannot be in the constructive state. as I have explained.¹²⁵Above, 12:6. Rather, Eil paran means a place of terebinths, as it is said, For they shall be ashamed ‘me’eilim’ (of the terebinths) which ye have desired;¹²⁶Isaiah 1:29. eilonei is a place of oaks, as it is said, As a terebinth, ‘veka’alon’ (and as an oak)¹²⁷Ibid., 6:13. Of the ‘alonim’ (oaks) of Bashan.¹²⁸Ezekiel 27:6. It was customary among them that these terebinths and oaks be planted in the plains before the cities which serve them as “an open land.” And so did Onkelos translate alon bachuth¹²⁹Genesis 35:8. And Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the ‘alon’ and he called its name ‘Alon Bachuth.’ as “the plain of Bechuta.” There the word alon is surely not a proper noun of the location¹³⁰As opposed to Rashi who says that the name of the place was Alon. but only the name of the species of tree planted there, as is made explicit [in the same verse: and she was buried] …under the ‘alon.’¹²⁹Genesis 35:8. And Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the ‘alon’ and he called its name ‘Alon Bachuth.’ Onkelos’ intent, however, is to convey the sense of the expression and not to merely translate the words.
Now the Targum Yerushalmi says with respect to both eil Paran and eilonei Mamre that they mean the plain of Paran and Mamre as Onkelos said, but in the case of alon bachuth,¹²⁹Genesis 35:8. And Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the ‘alon’ and he called its name ‘Alon Bachuth.’ he [Targum Yerushalmi] says it is the nut-tree of Bachut for he considers alon bachuth to be the name of a tree and not a place.¹³⁰As opposed to Rashi who says that the name of the place was Alon. Onkelos, however, thought that alon bachuth is the name of a place, so called because there were many oak trees there, just as Eilonei Mamre [is the name of a place]. It is for that reason that Scripture there uses the word ha’alon.¹³¹And she was buried below Beth-el under ‘ha’alon’ (the oak). See Note 129 above. Ramban’s intent is to say that since the word alon appears there with the definite article, (namely, ha-alon), it could not be a proper noun since the definite article is never attached to a proper noun. Hence in the end of the verse, which reads, And he called its name ‘alon bachuth,’ the word alon is also not a name designating a particular tree but a descriptive noun referring to a place containing many oaks. Hence Onkelos translates alon Bachuth as “the plain of Bechuta.” According to Targum Yerushalmi, who takes alon bachuth to be the name of a particular kind of tree, the verse should have read, “And she was buried below Beth-el under alon,” not ha-alon. Thus according to Onkelos they are all¹³²Eil Paran, Eilonei Mamre and alon bachuth. Hence in all these cases Onkelos translated “the plain of Paran… Mamre… Bechuta” as meaning a plain containing oak trees. Onkelos does this in keeping with his general method of conveying the intent of the verse rather than its strict translation since eil, eilonei and alon, strictly speaking, mean particular kinds of trees. Onkelos however felt free to say “the plain of Paran… Mamre… Bachuth” for his intent is but to convey the general meaning. Ramban continues to point that out in kikar hayarden, (13:11), where Onkelos said, “the plain of the Jordan,” that is indeed the exact translation of the word kikar. descriptive nouns.
But kikar hayarden¹³³Above, 13:10. is indeed the actual word for a plain, for kikar in the Sacred Language is the name for the place where the natural streams of rivers overflow. It is for this reason that the messenger who came to rescue Lot said, Stay not in all ‘hakikar’ (the plain; escape to the mountain.¹³⁴Further, 19:17. Of similar usage are the expressions, Kar nirchav (wide pasture);¹³⁵Isaiah 30:23. ‘Karim’ (the meadows) are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn.¹³⁶Psalms 65:14. Sometimes Scripture doubles the first letter of the word kar (meadow), making it kikar, and at other times Scripture discards the double form, as in, bath ayin (the apple of the eye).¹³⁷Ibid., 17:8. The double letter form of the word would be babath ayin, with a double beth. There are many other such cases.
Swift couriers are also called by this name kar, as in ‘lakari velaratzim;’¹³⁸II Kings 11:4. It is usually translated: of the Carites and of the guard. According to Ramban its meaning is: of the couriers and the dispatchers. The captains over hundreds and ‘hakari.’¹³⁹Ibid., Verse 19. Here too the usual translation is: the Carites. According to Ramban it means: the couriers. The word bakirkaroth¹⁴⁰Isaiah 66:20. is also of the same root. It is the name for speedy camels such as “the flying camel” mentioned in the Talmud.¹⁴¹Makkoth 5a. The word mecharkar,¹⁴²II Samuel 6:14. And David ‘mecharkar’ (danced) before the Eternal with all his strength. containing the double use of kar, is a derivative of this word.
Abel Hashittim,¹⁴³Numbers 33:49. and also Abel Mecholah,¹⁴⁴Judges 7:22. they¹⁴⁵Onkelos and Jonathan translated to mean the plain of Shittim and Mecholah. It is [called Abel, which in Hebrew means “mourning”], because it is a desolate place, without plantings or structures for the word abel is, to them, an expression of destruction and waste, as in the verses: ‘Vaya’avel’ (And He made to mourn) the rampart and the wall;¹⁴⁶Lamentations 2:8. The new wine ‘aval’ (faileth), the vine fadeth.¹⁴⁷Isaiah 24:7.

ואת החרי בהררם שעיר, they also defeated the Chori on the mountain on which these people lived. We know that the area was mountainous from Genesis 36,20.
בהררם, the name of the place without the pronoun-suffix is הרר, with a vowel pattern similar to ארץ and גפן. If the word הררם were a derivative from a root in the piel mode, itself a noun in its own right, as some commentators claim, (including Ibn Ezra), the letter ה would have had to have the vowel kametz and not patach, as it does. Onkelos, in rendering it as דבטוריא דשעיר “in the mountains of Se-ir” also understands it as did Ibn Ezra. איל פארן means, as the Targum renders it, “the plain of Paran.” The words על המדבר mean the same as if the Torah had written סמוך למדבר, adjoining the desert. A similar construction is found in Numbers 2,20 ועליו מטה מנשה, “next to him the tribe of Menashe.”

But that the plain of Paran was called איל. Rashi is answering the question: Onkelos translated אלוני (v. 13) as “the plain” of Mamrei. If אלוני means “plain,” how can איל also mean “plain”? Thus Rashi explains, “I maintain that this does not mean...”

בהררם, the ending is similar to Exodus 6,7 בדברם, so that the meaning of our phrase is: “when they were ascending Mount Seir.”

איל פארן EL-PARAN — As it is translated in the Targum: Plain of Paran. But I hold that איל does not signify a plain in general but that the lowland of Paran bore the name of El, and that of Mamre was named Elone; that of the Jordan was called Kikkar, whilst that of Shittim was called Abel — Abel-Shittim — and so, too, the lowland of [Baal] Gad was named Baal. All these are translated in the Targum by מישור, but each really had its own particular name.

עד איל פארן אשר על המדבר, the word על in this verse does not mean: “on, or above,” but: “beside,” as it does in Exodus 40,3, and in Genesis 24,30. The desert in question is the one the Israelites marched through for most of 40 years.

על המדבר BY THE WILDERNESS — next to the wilderness; a similar use of על is (Numbers 2:20) “and next unto him (עליו) shall be the tribe of Manasseh’’.