וְשִׁבְעִ֣ים אִ֣ישׁ מִזִּקְנֵ֣י בֵֽית־יִ֠שְׂרָאֵל וְיַאֲזַנְיָ֨הוּ בֶן־שָׁפָ֜ן עֹמֵ֤ד בְּתוֹכָם֙ עֹמְדִ֣ים לִפְנֵיהֶ֔ם וְאִ֥ישׁ מִקְטַרְתּ֖וֹ בְּיָד֑וֹ וַעֲתַ֥ר עֲנַֽן־הַקְּטֹ֖רֶת עֹלֶֽה׃
Tujuh puluh orang dari para tua-tua kaum Israel berdiri di hadapan berhala-berhala itu, dan Yaazanya bin Safan berdiri di tengah-tengah mereka. Masing-masing memegang pedupaannya di tangannya, dan kepulan tebal awan dupa membubung ke atas.
Rashi
and you have multiplied your words [Heb. וְהַעְתַּרְתֶּם,] you have increased. Similarly (above 8: 11): “and a thick (וַעֲתַר) cloud of incense,” an expression of increase.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויעתר יצחק לנכח אשתו כי עקרה היא, “Yitzchak prayed in the presence of his wife seeing she was barren.” Actually, the Torah should have commenced this verse with the statement ותהי רבקה עקרה וגו', “seeing that Rivkah was barren, Yitzchak prayed, etc.” The reason the Torah first mentioned the prayer was to tell us that this was Yitzchak’s main concern. If the prayer had been evoked only by Rivkah’s being barren, this would make the barrenness the major element in this verse. The Torah wanted to be certain that we appreciate that the major element of what the verse tells us is that Yitzchak prayed and that the prayer was effective. In other words, the only reason G’d had allowed Rivkah to be barren until that time was to get Yitzchak (and Rivkah) to pray. Her barrenness was merely a detail in bringing about Yitzchak’s prayer. A major reason why Rivkah had been barren in the first place is explained by our sages in Shir Hashirim Rabbah 2,32: “Why were the matriarchs barren? Because G’d longs for the prayers of the righteous.” This teaches the powerful effect prayer has. It is so powerful that it can bring about changes in the laws of nature. This is also the reason the Torah uses the unusual word עתר to describe Yitzchak’s prayer. We would have expected either ויתפלל, or ויצעק, or other expressions associated with the offering of a prayer. Why did the Torah write ויעתר?. Our sages explain this in the first chapter of Tractate Sukkah. The question is asked why the prayer of the righteous is compared to an Attar, “a shovel, a pitchfork?” The answer given is that just as a pitchfork turns the floor of a threshing ground upside down (after its use), so the prayers of the righteous succeed in changing the mind of G’d from an intention to employ the attribute of Justice (which implies sorrow for the person at whom it is directed) to the decision to use instead the attribute of Mercy.
Technically speaking, the (use of) the pitchfork brings the grain which is on the floor to the top of the heap while placing the grain which was on the top to the bottom. In a similar manner the prayer of the righteous raises certain matters which had been at the bottom of G’d’s priorities to the fore, while submerging other considerations of G’d which had been in the forefront of His thinking until the righteous offered a prayer. As a result, G’d’s bounty which had been held back in an inaccessible region is moved to a region from which it is released for man’s benefit forthwith. The word ויעתר is also related to מחתרת, i.e. from the verb חתר, “dig under,” “subvert,” and is similar to עתר. This would be similar to Sanhedrin 103 where Chronicles II 33,13 dealing with G’d’s efforts to accept King Menashe’s repentance is described. We read in that verse ויתפלל אליו ויעתר לו וישמע תחנתו, “He (Menashe) prayed to Him, and He (G’d) allowed Himself to have His priorities changed, He listened to his prayer, etc.” The fact that before the words: “He listened to him,” we find the words ויעתר לו, indicates that some transformation had to occur in G’d’s thinking before He decided to listen to this prayer.
Technically speaking, the (use of) the pitchfork brings the grain which is on the floor to the top of the heap while placing the grain which was on the top to the bottom. In a similar manner the prayer of the righteous raises certain matters which had been at the bottom of G’d’s priorities to the fore, while submerging other considerations of G’d which had been in the forefront of His thinking until the righteous offered a prayer. As a result, G’d’s bounty which had been held back in an inaccessible region is moved to a region from which it is released for man’s benefit forthwith. The word ויעתר is also related to מחתרת, i.e. from the verb חתר, “dig under,” “subvert,” and is similar to עתר. This would be similar to Sanhedrin 103 where Chronicles II 33,13 dealing with G’d’s efforts to accept King Menashe’s repentance is described. We read in that verse ויתפלל אליו ויעתר לו וישמע תחנתו, “He (Menashe) prayed to Him, and He (G’d) allowed Himself to have His priorities changed, He listened to his prayer, etc.” The fact that before the words: “He listened to him,” we find the words ויעתר לו, indicates that some transformation had to occur in G’d’s thinking before He decided to listen to this prayer.
Rav Hirsch
חתר ,ויעתר יצחק verwandt mit חתר: einbohren, מחתרת: Einbruch. Das gewaltsame Andringen eines Schiffes gegen Wind und Wellen ebenfalls: חתר (Jona 1, 13). עתר daher ein dringendes Bitten und Beten. Ahnlich עתר ,פגע ב־ noch stärker. Die gerade aufwirbelnde Rauchsäule heißt auch: עתר ענן הקטורת ,עתר (Ezech. 8, 11). נעתרות נשיקות שונא (Prob. 27, 6): Wenn ein Feind uns küsst, so merkt man, daß die Küsse ihm "abgerungen und abgedrungen sind" daß sie nicht vom Herzen kommen. Pharao spricht: העתירו בעדי, im Hiphil, "lasset etwas zu Gott für mich dringen", sendet einen mächtigen, einflussreichen Fürsprecher für mich zu Gott. Er weiß nicht, daß man zu Gott leichter kommt, als zu dem Unterschreiber des Sekretärs eines Amtmannes.
Rashi
וַיֵּעָתֶר לו WAS ENTREATED OF HIM — He let himself be urged, conciliated and influenced by him. I say that wherever this root עתר occurs it has the meaning of heaping up and increasing. E. g., (Ezekiel 8:11) “And a thick (עתר) cloud of incense” which means an abundance of ascending smoke; (Ezekiel 35:13) “You have multiplied (העתרתם) your words against me”; (Proverbs 27:6) “The kisses of an enemy are importunate (נעתרות)”—they appear to be too many and therefore they are burdensome. old French encresser; English to increase.