Commento su Genesi 6:17

ואני הנני מביא AND I, BEHOLD, I DO BRING — God says, “Now I am prepared to agree with those angels who cautioned Me and long ago said to Me (when I was about to create man), (Psalms 8:5) “What is man that thou art mindful of him” (Genesis Rabbah 31:12).

AND, BEHOLD, I DO BRING THE FLOOD. “Now I agree with those angels who long ago said to Me [when I was about to create man], What is man that Thou art mindful of him.”⁴²Psalms 8:5. Thus the words of Rashi quoting Bereshith Rabbah.⁴³31:15.
But I wonder: in what way did He “agree” with them since He left man a remnant for a great deliverance through Noah and his sons and all living things to increase their seed as the sand! Perhaps this agreement with their opinion signified [His intent which was to come to fruition] when He would show them no mercy. [However, when the Divine quality of mercy was introduced, it resulted in the deliverance of mankind through Noah.]
By way of the truth [the mystic lore of the Cabala], va’ani (And I) is similar to: And I also will chastise you;⁴⁴Leviticus 26:28. The word va’ani (And I) thus intimates the attribute of judgment. so also, I am He! behold, My covenant is with thee;⁴⁵Genesis 17:4. And as for Me, this is My covenant.⁴⁶Isaiah 59:21. The verse here thus states: “I also will have My hand on them for having destroyed the earth.” This is why He said [after the flood]: This is the token of the covenant which I make.⁴⁷Genesis 9:12. — He maketh sore, and He bindeth up.⁴⁸Job 5:18. The learned student [in the mystic lore of the Cabala] will understand.

ואני הנני מביא את המבול, G’d is saying, that Noach’s task is to build the ark, whereas He, when the time expires, will bring on the deluge He had threatened as soon as the ark would be completed. The word מבול is a variant of מפלה, referring to something lost as in Deut. 14,21 כל נבלה, a carcass being a life lost. The definitive article ה in המבול refers to the destruction, the nature of which had not previously been spelled out. [my paraphrasing. Ed.]

ואני הנני מביא את המבול. As far as I am concerned, here I shall bring on a deluge. It is difficult to justify the extra word ואני. Rashi explains it to mean: "I am prepared to concur with those angels who have considered man as not worth preserving." According to my own approach it simply means that the stage had been reached for G'd to give permission to the destructive agents which had readied themselves to carry out their design. Although the verse specifies only rain, the Zohar has elaborated on the meaning of the word מבול which would not have been needed had the Torah referred only to rain. This word alludes to the deadly power of the angel of death.

ואני...המבול מים, the word מבול after the word המבול is missing, a word which should have been written since we had not heard about a concept called מבול previously. There are some other parallels to this missing construct form when we would have expected it, as in Joshua 3,15 הארון הברית. The basic root of the word מבול is נבל, in the same sense as in Job 38,37 ונבלי מים מי ישכיב? “who can tilt the water bottles from the sky?” This is a reference to rain emanating from the celestial regions. At the same time the word also contains an allusion to “falling”, מפלה, as in Isaiah 1,30 נובלת עליה, things which fall from the sky and are poured on to earth The word מבול is an adjective describing a certain type of rain. The word גשם on the other hand, is a noun. This is why it is possible to use the word מבול concerning any matter that drops out of the sky, such as snow, fire, hail, etc. Also, this is the reason why the Torah did not need to write גשם מים מתחת השמים, if the Torah had not added the words כל אשר בארץ, I would have thought that the fish had also been meant to die. The word בארץ in our verse therefore means “on the dry land.” The decree of destruction did not include the fish because since they do not share man’s habitat they did not adopt man’s corrupt ways. (compare Zevachim 113)

ואני הנני מביא את המבול, as for Me, I am ready to bring on the deluge, etc.” According to Rashi the word הנני signals that at this time G’d found Himself in agreement with the angels who had opposed the creation of man to begin with, saying מה אנוש כי תזכרנו, “what is man (the species) that You should concern Yourself with him?” (Psalms 8,5). Nachmanides queries such an interpretation, seeing that G’d went to some lengths to ensure that the species was not wiped out, but that Noach and family would survive the deluge. Perhaps Rashi meant to say that G’d agreed with the angels who argued that man was not entitled to forgiveness anymore.

Behold I am bringing. It was necessary for Hashem to state this to refute the claim that the flood was a natural phenomenon brought on by conditions of the young earth.

“I am now prepared to agree.” Rashi is answering the question: ואני implies that another being wants it, and I, too, concur. How can it be said about Hashem that another being assists Him, Heaven forbid? Thus Rashi answers that ואני refers to the angels, who agreed long ago — “And I am now prepared to agree.” Alternatively, Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written ואני הנני, a double expression?

Das hast du zu tun, und ich, — siehe ich usw.; in dem הנני liegt, dass das Schauerlich-Ernste, welches Gott zu tun im Begriffe war, durch die Umstände selbst erheischt ward. — מַבול, offenbar von der Wurzel נבל, welche das Schwinden der Lebenskräfte in der organischen, animalischen oder sittlichen Welt bedeutet. Daher נָבל: das Welken der Blätter, נָבל: das Entschwinden der Kräfte, ermüden, נְבָלָה ,נָבָל: die sittliche Nichtswürdigkeit, und endlich נְבֵלה: den entseelten Körper, den Leichnam bedeutet. Es ist nur eine schwächere Form von נפל, also das allmäliche Abwelken und Absterben, sei es der vegetabilischen, animalischen, oder geistigen und sittlichen Kräfte. מבול also: die Entseelung, und indem das herbeizuführende Verhängnis mit diesem Worte bezeichnet wird, ist damit der Katastrophe der mildeste Charakter aufgedrückt. Alles, was irdisch ist, ist ohnehin zuletzt dem "נבול" bestimmt; alle die dem Untergange verfallenden Wesen würden so nicht ewig gelebt haben; es tritt für sie nur ein verfrühtes Abwelken und Sterben ein. Es wird überhaupt mit großer unterscheidender Sorgfalt gesagt, was getötet werden soll: לשחת כל בשר אשר בו רוח חיים, nur die Hüllen, in welchen Lebensgeist ist, die ohnehin dereinst נְבֵלות werden, nicht aber das Leben, auch nicht der Geist des Lebens, (רוח ist das unsichtbar Bewegende), am allerwenigsten נפש, die im Menschen unsterbliche Persönlichkeit. "Die Entseelung kommt, um den Hüllen, in welchen Lebensgeist ist, den Weg zu hemmen, ihnen frühzeitig das Grab zu bereiten." —

ואני הנני, Rashi interprets these two words as: “and I have agreed,” i.e. “against the pleas of the attribute of Mercy which acted as advocate for sinful mankind.”

מבול A FLOOD — so called because it ruined (בלה) everything; because it cast everything into confusion (בלל), and because it brought (הוביל from root יבל) everything down from the heights to a lower level. And this last explanation underlies the translation of Onkelos who translates it by טופנא (Ar. טוף = Heb. צוף) because the Flood caused everything to float about and brought it (the Ark) to Babel which is a low-lying district. That is the reason why it (Babylon) is called, also, Shinar (שנער): because all those who died through the Flood were shaken out (ננערו) into it (Shabbat 113b).

With those... Meaning: I consulted the angels whether to create man, and they answered, “What is man that You should consider him.” Now, I agree with them.

יגוע rad. גוע. Schon von den Weisen bemerkt, dass dieser Ausdruck vorzugsweise das Sterben der Gerechten begleitet, so bei Abraham, Jizchak, Jakob: ויגוע וימת ויאסף אל עמיו, und hier steht derselbe zur Bezeichnung des Unterganges dieses Geschlechtes! Nichts ist so bezeichnend, wie die Wahl dieses Ausdruckes! Es ist ja nicht ein Mensch, dessen Phantasie sich hier das Schreckliche des Untergangs des ganzen Menschengeschlechtes mit allem möglichen Graus ausmalt, desgleichen die verschiedenen Sündflutgemälde in Wort und Pinsel sich ergangen; es ist der milde, barmherzige Schöpfer und Herr der Welt, der uns über seine Taten Aufschluss gibt. Wie מבול, so ist auch dies גוע in dieser Richtung höchst bedeutsam. גוע verwandt mit גוה, der Wurzel von גֵוָה, die Körper- lichkeit, גֵו Leib, Rücken, גְוִיָה, der hingeschiedene Leib, גוי, der Volkskörper als Ganzes nach außen im Unterschied von עם, der Gesellschaft nach innen. Ferner mit גֵבֶא: An- sammlung von Flüssigkeiten, Grube, davon später גבאי, der Sammler; mit גבה Ansammlung fester Stoffe, daher: hoch; dann גבעה ,גבע Hügel, גֵבֶה, Höcker. Aus allem diesen ergibt sich die Grundbedeutung: Massensammlung, Stoffsammlung, und גוע wird den Moment bezeichnen, in welchem der bis dahin bewusste, fühlende, empfindende Leib, bloß "Stoff" wird, d. h. bewusstlos, empfindungslos wird, ein Zustand, der, wenn er dem Tode vorangeht, ihn für den Sterbenden schmerzlos macht. So wird auch in יגוע ב"ר einfach: יצמוק, erstarren, starr werden erläutert. Wie kann — menschlich gesprochen — der barmherzige Gott milder handeln, wie kann er dem Manne, der dies alles mit durchleben soll, und der das Phantasiebild des Röchelns, der Angst und Verzweiflung so vieler Millionen Wesen kaum hätte überleben können, wie kann er ihm das kommende Verhängnis mild-beruhigender ankündigen als: alles בשר, alles Empfindende wird in einem Moment erstarren, wird "Materie" werden, יגוע! Materie fühlt nicht; das übrige, was dann mit ihnen vorgeht, ist nichts als elementare Auflösung. Bewußtlos werden, sterben und aufgelöst werden, — וימח ,מתו ,ויגוע, — diese drei Stadien werden auch nachher bei der historischen Erzählung des Vorganges, VII. 21, 22, 23 deutlich auseinander gehalten.

Flood waters. It ruined... It confused... You might ask: How does Rashi know that it means these three things? The answer is: The ב of מבּול has a dagesh, and such a dagesh implies that the first letter of the root is a י or a נ, or, the dagesh represents a double letter. According to the first meaning, “it ruined everything,” it is as if it had written נבול, as in נבול תבול (Shemos 18:18), meaning “wear out.” According to the second meaning, “it confused everything,” it is as if it had written מבול twice, i.e., בלבל, meaning “confusion.” According to the third meaning, “it brought everything,” it is as if it had written יובל, as in (Tehillim 76:12) יובילו שי למורא, meaning “will bring.”