Pensamiento judío sobre Génesis 41:11

Before I will begin explaining the next passage,³⁶I.e., before beginning the interpretation of the passage from the Zohar that follows. I would like to draw a possible connection between the statement of our Sages that the moon entered the domain of the sun and the words of the prophet Chabakuk,³⁷Chabakuk 3:11. “The sun and the moon stood in their domains.” In that verse, the hei of the word zevulah, translated as “in their domains,” is written without a mapik (i.e., a “diacritic,” a mark indicating that the letter should be read as a consonant).³⁸As will shortly be stated, Tosfos Yom Tov advances the interpretation of zevulah as “its (the sun’s) domain.” He prefaces his statements by saying that were that to be the interpretation, the hei should be written with a mapik. Hence, he agrees that this is not the simple meaning of the verse. Nevertheless, according to the approach of derush, there is room for the interpretation that he will advance. Thus, Rashi comments on that word:In their domains – Whenever a word requires a lamed at its beginning, a hei may be used at its end. The verse refers to the actions of the sun and the moon during the war against Givon, as reflected by the Targum.”³⁹See Yehoshua 10:12. Similarly, Radak comments on that verse: The sun and the moon – In the war of Yehoshua…. In their domains – In the heavens, which serve them as a domain and as a home, as it is written:⁴⁰Ibid. 10:13. “And the sun stood in the center of the sky.” The word zevulah contains an extra hei, like the hei of the word lailah, for the word is accented on the penultimate syllable. Radak is saying that the hei at the end of the word zevulah is extra and does not connote the feminine, just as the word lailah is masculine, as reflected in the verse,⁴¹Bereishis 41:11. Hebrew words ending with the letter hei are often feminine. However, this does not apply when the word is accented on the penultimate syllable. In such words the hei is called “extra,” i.e. it serves no grammatical function. Thus, although the noun lailah, “night,” ends in a hei, since the word is accented on the penultimate syllable, it is quantified by echad, the masculine form of the number one. Thus, we see that lailah is masculine, not feminine. “And we dreamt… on one night.” However, the way of the Midrashim is to give explanations even to extra letters.⁴²As Tosfos Yom Tov will proceed to explain, in the mode of derush, the hei may be understood as feminine possessive. Also, the phrase, “The sun and the moon” requires explanation because the words are written without the connecting letter vav, i.e., without the word “and”. Also, the term amad, “stood,” requires explanation because seemingly, it should have been written with a plural form. True, the singular form could be interpreted as meaning, “each stood individually,” as in the verse,⁴³Ibid. 49:22. See the commentaries of Rashi and Ibn Ezra, who explain that the singular form of the verb “strode” is used with “maidens”, which is plural, for the reason Tosfos Yom Tov offers here in the main text. “Maidens strode,” where a singular verb is used for a plural noun to imply that each one strode individually. Here, too, the intent is that both the sun and the moon stood individually. Nevertheless, there is room to explain, following the mode of derush, why the plural form is not used. Therefore, I maintain that the word “sun” in this verse can be understood as an introductory phrase, as if to say, “Let me tell you what happened concerning the sun.” Now, there are places in Scripture where the word “sun” takes a masculine form, as in the verses, “the sun emerged,”⁴⁴Bereishis 19:23. and “and when the sun sets.”⁴⁵Vayikra 22:7. However, there are other verses, e.g., “If the sun shines upon him,”⁴⁶Shmos 22:2. and “And as the sun was setting,”⁴⁷Bereishis 16:17. where the word “sun” takes a feminine form. Thus, the word zevulah could be understood as meaning “the sun’s domain.” Thus, the verse could be interpreted as meaning, “The sun – the moon stood in its domain,” i.e., to borrow the wording of our Sages mentioned above, the moon entered the domain and sphere of the sun.