Commentaire sur La Genèse 35:16

כברת הארץ A KIBRATH OF LAND — Menachem ben Seruk explains the word כברת to have the meaning of כביר “much” and that the phrase means a great distance. A Midrashic explanation is: at the time when the ground was full of holes and was riddled like a sieve (כברה) (cf. Rashi on Genesis 48:7) — when there was plenty of ploughed ground; the winter was passed, but the dry season had not yet come. This, however, cannot be the literal sense of the verse, for in the case of Naaman we find (2 Kings 5:19) “So he departed from him כברת ארץ” (which cannot possibly have this meaning). I think that it is a name for a measure of land, the distance of a Parsa or more, just as you say (Isaiah 5:10) “acres (צמדי) of vineyard” and (33:19) “the parcel (חלקת) of field”: In the same way in reference to a man’s journey Scripture mentions the name of a measure — viz., a כברת ארץ, a כברה of land.

A ‘KIVRATH’ OF LAND. Menachem ben Saruk²⁰⁷See Note 347, Seder Noach. explained the word as having the meaning of kabir (much), i.e., great distance. A Midrashic explanation is: “At the time when the ground is full of holes like a sieve, when there was plenty of ploughed ground. The winter was past, but the dry season had not yet come.” This, however, cannot be the literal sense of the verse, for in the case of Naaman we find, And he departed from him a ‘kivrath’ of land,²⁰⁸II Kings 5:19. [which cannot possibly have this meaning since the sense there is that he had walked away but a small distance from Naaman when Gehazi immediately ran after him] . I think that it is a name for a measure of land. This is Rashi’s language.
The correct interpretation is that which Rabbi David Kimchi²⁰⁹An elder contemporary of Ramban, Rabbi David Kimchi, wrote extensive commentaries upon most of the books of the Bible which are deemed classical to this day. He also wrote a Hebrew grammar and lexicography. Ramban was influenced by his works. has advanced, i.e., that the letter kaph in the word kivrath is the kaph of comparison and is not a root letter of the word, the basic word being as in the verses: They were their ‘levaruth’ (food);²¹⁰Lamentations 4:10. ‘Vethavreini’ (and give me to eat) bread,²¹¹II Samuel 13:5. meaning a small amount of food in the morning.²¹²R’dak’s commentary on this verse is found in his Book of Roots under the root barah, and here in his commentary. And here the meaning of kivrath is the distance a pedestrian covers from morning to the time of eating, for all travellers measure distances in this manner.
This I originally wrote when still in Spain, but now that I was worthy and came to Jerusalem²¹³Ramban arrived in Jerusalem on the ninth day of Ellul in the year five thousand twenty-seven (1267). See my biography of Ramban (Hebrew, pp. 194-5; English p. 14 and 117). See also Note 361, Seder Noach and Note 25 in Seder Lech Lecha. — praise to G-d Who is kind and deals kindly! — I saw with my eyes that there is not even a mile between Rachel’s grave and Bethlehem. This explanation of Rabbi David Kimchi has thus been refuted, as have the words of Menachem [ben Saruk, who said that there was a great distance between the grave and Bethlehem]. Rather kivrath is a name for a measure of land, as Rashi has said, and there is no adjectival part in the word but only a substantive as in most nouns, with the kaph serving a formative purpose to indicate that it was not an exact measure. And if the word be adjectival, modifying eretz, it is possible that brath is like bath, as in the expression, What ‘brie’ (my son)? and what “bar” (O son) of my womb?²¹⁴Proverbs 31:2. The word bath is thus the name for a small measure of land by which travellers measure the way, similar to the present day mile. It is called “bath of the land” for this small measure is as “a daughter” to the Persian mile or some other measure known in those days.
And I have also seen that Rachel’s grave is not in Ramah nor near it, [as the plain meaning of the verse in Jeremiah, 31:15, would seem to indicate: A voice is heard in Ramah… Rachel weeping for her children]. Instead, Ramah which is in Benjamin is about four Persian miles distant from it, and Ramah of the hill-country of Ephraim²¹⁵I Samuel 1:1. is more than two days’ travel from it. Therefore, I say that the verse stating, A voice is heard in Ramah,²¹⁶Jeremiah 31:15. is a metaphor, in the manner of rhetorical expression, meaning to say that Rachel wept so loudly and bitterly that her voice was heard from afar in Ramah, which was on top of the mountain of [the territory of] her son Benjamin. [She cried for her children who went into exile] because they were not²¹⁶Jeremiah 31:15. there, and she was desolate of them. Thus Scripture does not say, “In Ramah, Rachel weeps for her children.” but it says that the voice was heard there.
It appears to me that Jacob buried Rachel on the road and did not bring her into Bethlehem in Judah, which was near there, because he saw by the prophetic spirit that Bethlehem Ephrathah will belong to Judah,²¹⁷Micah 5:1. and he wished to bury her only within the border of her son Benjamin, and the road on which the monument over Rachel’s grave stands is near to Beth-el in the border of Benjamin. And so the Rabbis have said in the Sifre:²¹⁸Sifre, Deuteronomy 33:12. “Rachel died in the portion of Benjamin,” as it is found in the Parshath V’zoth Habrachah.²¹⁸Sifre, Deuteronomy 33:12. Now I have seen in the Targum of Yonathan ben Uziel²¹⁹The standard Targum on the books of the Prophets. See Tractate Megillah 3a. See also Note 128, Seder Vayeitzei, on the three Targumim of the Pentateuch. that he discerned this, and he translated: “A voice is heard high in the world.” [He thus interpreted Ramah, not as the name of a place, since Rachel was not buried in Ramah, as explained above, but rather on the basis of its root ram (high)], and he thus translated the whole verse²¹⁶Jeremiah 31:15. as applying to the congregation of Israel rather than Rachel.

כברת, a word which is similar to Job 34,24ירוע כבירים, “He breaks the mighty ones.” In our context it means something similar to הרבה, a considerable amount. The reason why Rachel was buried at that spot was because it was still a considerable distance from Efrat, and it would not have been dignified to transport her without a coffin for such a distance.

ויסעו...כברת, the meaning of the word כברת הארץ is equivalent to approximately 1200 meters. I believe that the letter כ here is a preposition, the name of the word describing the distance being ברת. We find a similar construction in Samuel II 12,17 ולא ברה אתם לחם “he did not even eat a little amount with them. [I do not understand the relevance of this verse to the word כברת in our verse. Ed.] The letter כ may be a כף הדמיון a letter introducing an estimate, such as כעשרים איש, about 20 men, or כאלפים אמה, approximately 2000 cubits.

ויסעו מבית אל ויהי עוד כברת דרך לבא אפרתה, “they journeyed from Bet-El, and there still remained a tract of land before their arrival at Efrat, etc.” Efrat is another name for Bethlehem. The Torah spells this out in verse 19 where Rachel’s being buried is being described. Nachmanides explains that he personally had measured that the distance between the tomb of Rachel and Bethlehem is less than a mile. He concludes therefore that the commentators who want to derive the word כברת as stemming from כביר, “something major,” are in error. Yaakov could not have excused his burying Rachel there because the distance to Bethlehem was too great. The word כברת describes a certain land measure just as Rashi has said. The three letters ברת are root letters, the letter כ is not. The measure was one which was well known in those days.

Plowing is prevalent the winter has passed — and the hot weather has not yet arrived... [Rashi is saying that] even though the time was good [for traveling], so Yaakov should not have buried her on the road but rather he should have brought her to Ephros, nonetheless he did not do so. This is as Rashi explains in Parshas Vayechi (48:7). However, Rashi explains there that “it was the dry season,” implying it was the middle of summer. Therefore, perhaps Yaakov did not bring her for burial in [the settled part of] Eretz Yisrael because it was too hot [to travel]? The answer is: When Rashi said there that “it was the dry season when the earth is riddled with holes...” he did not mean that it was in the middle of summer. Rather, he meant the beginning of summer when the earth is riddled with holes from the blade of the plow, because plowing is prevalent.

כברת, das כ scheint Konjunktion zu sein, und ברת, verwandt mit ,פרת פרט ,פרד ,ברד, itrennen, teilen zu bedeuten, wie wir diese Wurzel auch in ברית wieder zu finden glauben. ברת הארץ hieße demnach: ein Stück Land, eine Strecke.

ויהי עוד כברת ארץ לבא אפרתה, “it was still a short distance from Efrat;” the prefix ב is missing here before the word: עוד, the meaning of the phrase is as if it had been present.

ותקש, this means the same as if it had said vatekashe. We have similar constructions such as ותצו as alternative for vatetzaveh, or ותכס, vatechasseh.

ותקש בלדתה, she endured great pain during her birthing. The word ותקש may be an intransitive mode of the verb in spite of the dagesh in the letter ת, or it may be in the transitive mode meaning that the pains caused her body to become rigid, interfering with the birthing process. At any rate, she suffered extreme pain.

However, this is not the plain meaning of the verse, for concerning Na’aman we find... I.e., what would Scripture gain there by teaching that the earth was like a sieve and the winter had passed and the hot weather had not yet arrived? What difference would it make? Perforce, כברת ארץ means it was a short distance, and Geichazi immediately ran after Na’aman [and caught up with him].

כברת ארץ, according to Rash’bam, the word is similar to Job 34,24 הביריה, and means “a considerable amount.” It is also compared to Isaiah 10,13, ואוריד כביר יושבים, “I have deposed those who have ruled for many years.” [The prophet quotes the boast of the King of Ashur. Ed.] In our verse the line means that Yaakov was still a considerable distance from the nearest human settlement where he could bury Rachel. ותלד רחל, She did not have enough time to travel to Efrat because it was a long distance away.

Just as you say צמד of vineyards, חלקה of a field... In other words, when one sells a vineyard to another, he says to him, “I am selling you a צמד of vineyards.” And when he sells him a field he says to him, “[ I am selling you] a חלקה of a field.” I.e., this was the known measurement for them.