Commentaire de citation sur Chroniques 1 4:17

DID I ‘HARITHI’ ALL THIS PEOPLE? In the opinion of Onkelos [who rendered it: “Am I ‘the father’ of all this people?” the word harithi] is like [the expression] beyond the blessing of ‘horai’ (my progenitors),¹⁷⁰Genesis 49:26. for a father is called horeh [of the root haroh, “to conceive” or “become pregnant”] because it is he who causes conception and brings about the pregnancy [of the mother]. Thus Moses is saying: “Am I their father [who has caused their conception], or am I their mother who has given birth to them?”¹⁷¹The double question in the verse — Did I ‘harithi’ all this people? … Have I born them? — is thus explained as referring to the separate functions of father and mother. But the masters of the plain meaning of Scripture¹⁷²Ibn Ezra here. See also in Sefer Hashorashim of the R’dak, under the root haroh. interpreted the verse in the opposite manner: “Am I their mother who was pregnant with them and gave birth to them?” Similarly, ‘Vatahar’ eth Miriam v’eth Shammai¹⁷³I Chronicles 4:17. means “she was pregnant with them and gave birth to them.” “Or am I their father who begot them?” [the word y’lidetihu being] like: ‘vayoled Noach’ (and Noah begot);¹⁷⁴Genesis 6:10. thy father that ‘y’ladecha’ (begot thee),¹⁷⁵Proverbs 23:22. and other similar expressions. And Moses said, as ‘ha’omein’ carrieth the sucking child, [the word ha’omein] being a reference to the [nursing-] father or mother. In my opinion the whole verse is a figurative reference to the mother, and the meaning thereof is as follows: “Have I conceived all this people and have I given birth to them?”¹⁷⁶Ramban thus interprets the two questions (see above Note 171) as one, both referring to the mother. Moses mentioned it in this way [speaking as the mother] because it is the woman who suffers the pain of raising children, remembering what she suffered for them from birth, pregnancy, and conception.¹⁷⁷See Hosea 9:11. But Moses said omein [in the masculine] since he is speaking of himself as a nursing-father, since he is not an omeneth (a nursing-mother).

אם אנכי ילידיתיהו, “did I perhaps give birth to them?” Am I their mother the one who has given birth to them? The scholars who concentrate primarily on the plain meaning, פשט, take the opposite approach, saying that the word הריתי should be understood as referring to a mother, Moses asking if he, a man, should really be expected to relate to the Jewish people as a mother is expected to relate to them, i.e. to carry them in his bosom as a mother carries her baby, etc. The verb ילד is used by Moses to describe a father’s part in producing a child, as in ויולד את נח, (Genesis 5,28) whereas the verb הרה is used by Moses to describe the mother’s input, as in ותהר את מרים “she became pregnant with Miriam.” (Chronicles I 4,17) This is why Moses illustrates further כאשר ישא האומן את היונק, “as the nurse carries a suckling.” I believe that Moses spoke in terms of what mothers have to go through before they have a baby, followed by the possibly far greater difficulties in raising their children. A mother is constantly reminded of her pre-natal pains, etc. whenever the children do not act in a manner that compensates her for the pains endured before they came into this world.

הורו Conceiving it,^11aA.V., Conceiving, Uttering. that is, forming it; comp. הורי my progenitors (Gen. 49:26); ותהר and she conceived (1 Chr. 4:17).¹²The instances quoted are intended to prove that the verb הרה to conceive, which is mostly used as a neuter verb, expressing a certain state and condition, is sometimes used as a transitive verb, and governs in that case the accusative. Its form is the same as that of the succeeding והגו and uttering it; the possessive pronoun (וֹ) refers to שקר falsehood. Some say that הֹרוֹ and הֹגוֹ are irregular forms of the infinitive; the regular infinitive would be הׇגֹה ,הׇרֹה, comp. בׇּנֹה to build (1 Kings 8:13.)