Commentaire de citation sur Ézéchiel 21:20

A jar of oil. Enough oil for anointment [=אָסוּךְ], and the ‘א’ is part of the root,³Alternatively, the root is סוך, and the ‘א’ is an added prefix.—Radak like the ‘א’ of, “and my speech [=וְאַחְוָתִי] in your ears,”⁴Iyov 13:17. and the ‘א’ of, “the dread [=אִבְחַת] of those struck down by the sword.”⁵Yechezkeil 21:20.

TEN PLAGUES. This is the text in other versions, and is the text that Rav had. [*He writes that they correspond to דצ"ך עד"ש באח"ב, which is the mnemonic that R. Yehudah gives in the Passover Haggadah. This year, in the sermon that I gave in the synagogue over Shabbat HaGadol here in Krakow in the year 1644¹⁹⁷There is a clever use of Hebrew here. The Tosafot Yom Tov writes פה בקראק"א לפ"ק, “here, in Krakow, not counting thousands.” The meaning of this is that “in Krakow” is both where he delivered the sermon and, if one takes the sum of its alphanumeric values, the year in which he delivered it. So the phrase reads “here, in Krakow = 404, not counting thousands (i.e., in the year 5404).” Tosafot Yom Tov had actually just recently been appointed chief rabbi and judge over Krakow. I brought up that the acronym doesn’t seem to have any meaning. In answer I said that the words should be vocalized and read as ditzach `adush be’ichav, and the meaning is as follows: it is as if G-d says, “your joy [ditzach] will be when I trample [’adush with initial ’alef, in the mnemonic `adush with initial `ayin] with the dread [be’ivchat, in the mnemonic be’ichav] of the sword.” For `ayin and ’alef are frequently interchanged in Hebrew, and two letters can switch places in a single word,¹⁹⁸This is called metathesis. as in the words simla and keves, which are often written salma and kesev.¹⁹⁹Be’ichav can therefore be derived from be’ivchat of Ezekiel. `adush is based on the verse in Habakkuk 3:12, “you trampled [Heb. tadush] the nations with wrath”. Be’ichav is based on the verse in Ezekiel 21:20, “dread of the sword” [Heb. ’ivchat cherev], where Rashi explains that the tav is only there because the words is in the construct state and is not part of the root.]

shall melt Shall melt - so explained Menachem, similar to (Exod. 15:15), “all the inhabitants of Canaan melted (נמוגו),” and to (Ezek. 21: 12), “every heart will melt (למוג).” But Dunash explained it as an expression of movement, as in (I Sam. 14:16), “the multitude was wandering (נמוג), and it was coming closer,” and so in every instance.

ולו יקהת עמים means AND UNTO HIM [SHALL BE] AN ASSEMBLAGE OF PEOPLES. יקהת is a noun from the root יקה and is not a verbal form although it has the appearance of one, for the י is one of the root-letters as it is in the word יפעתך (Ezekiel 21:20) “thy brightness” from root יפע, only that it is sometimes omitted. There are many root-letters that are subject to this rule and are known as עיקר נופל (root-letters that may be omitted) as, for example, the נ of נוגף and of נושך and the א of אחותי in (Job 13:17) ואחותי באזניכם (where the root is חוה) “and let my declaration be in your ears”, and the אבחת of א in the phrase (Ezekiel 21:20) אבחת חרב “the point of the sword”, or the א in אסוך in the phrase (2 Kings 4:2) (אסוך שמן) (root סוך) “a pot of oil”. So, too, here, ויקהת a noun (from a root יָקַה to assemble, as שמחה the construct of which is שמחת from שמח) — an assembly of nations. And so it is actually said with reference to the Messiah, (Isaiah 11:10) “Unto him shall the nations seek”. Of similar meaning is the word יקהת in (Proverbs 30:17) “the eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth ליקהת אם i.e. despiseth “the gathering of wrinkles in the mother’s face” (due to old age). In the Talmud we find a similar meaning of the root .יקה: “they sat and gathered assemblies (ומקהו אקהתא) in the streets of Nehardea” (Tr. Yevamot 110b). It could have also said קהיית instead of יקהת.

For though he flourish among the marshes Heb. כִּי הוּא בֵּין אַחִים יַפְרִיא. Jonathan renders: For they are called sons, but they increased corrupt deeds. אַחִים An expression of an evil thing. Comp. (Ezekiel 21:20) “Woe! (אָח) It is made for a blade.” Also (ibid. 6:11) “And say, ‘Woe!’ (אָח) to all the... abominations.” יַפְרִיא An expression similar to (Deut. 29:17) פֹּרֶה רֹאשׁ וְלַעֲנָה, that hears (פֹּרַה) hemlock and wormwood.” But I say that אַחִים is an expression similar to (Gen. 41:2) “And they grazed in the marsh (בָּאָחוּ).”

and they have become entangled by the thickening smoke. They shall become entangled and hemmed in by the strength of the conflagration. Every expression of entanglement has only בך as its radical. Comp. (Job 28:11) “From the recesses (מִבְּכִי) of the rivers”; (Psalms 84:7) “The valley of entanglement (הַבָּכָא).” And the ‘nun’ appears in it sometimes, and here an ‘aleph’ appears in place of the ‘nun,’ like the ‘aleph’ of אִבְחַת, “the howling of the sword” (Ezekiel 21:20), and the ‘aleph’ of וְאַחְוָתִי, “And my speech in your ears” (Job 13:17).

waves of dew Heb. אגלי, waves of גלי, dew, and the “aleph” is superfluous, as in (above 13: 17), “and to my speech (ואחותי) in your ears.” The “aleph” is superfluous at the beginning of the word because it is a noun, and similarly (Ezek. 21:20), “the scream of (אבחת) the sword,” like נבוח, barking, the scream of the sword. Another explanation: is like אַגְנֵי, basins of dew. A type of basins, divisions in which the dew is deposited. The “lammed” is interchangeable with a “nun,” and so in the Book of Ezra (Neh. 13:7), chamber (נִשְׁכָּה) like לִשְׁכָּה.