Komentarz do Rodzaju 21:20

רבה קשת AN ARCHER — One who shoots arrows by a bow.

ROVEH KASHOTH (AN ARCHER). Since kashoth is an adjective, they³⁴⁰Ibn Ezra and R’dak. Their point is as follows: Since kashoth is an adjective, or more precisely, a shem hatoar, (a noun-adjective), as is also roveh, how could two adjectives appear without a noun? Therefore they said that the two words, roveh kashoth, are not in construct with one another, but they are interpreted as roveh vekashoth (a shooter of arrows and maker of bows) with the companion noun of each adjective being tacitly understood. Ramban’s opinion, however, is that since roveh may mean either “a shooter of arrows” or “a thrower of stones,” the word kashoth is used in order to explain that he was a shooter with the bow, meaning, a shooter of arrows and not a thrower of stones. have said that roveh is one who shoots arrows, the word being derived from the expressions: His archers compass me round about;³⁴¹Job 16:13. The archers have dealt bitterly with him,³⁴²Further, 49:23. — and kashoth is one who makes arrows.
A more correct interpretation is that roveh is a shooter, and it can refer to one who shoots arrows or throws stones or other objects, even as it is said, Behold this heap… which I have thrown up between me and thee.³⁴³Ibid., 31:51. Therefore, the verse describes him further by saying that he was a shooter with the bow. In a similar sense is the verse, And the shooters of arrows by the bow overtook him.³⁴⁴I Samuel 31:3.

רובה קשת. Pulling the string of a bow. We are dealing with two successive forms of an activity, as in Genesis 49,23 וימררוהו ורבו, “they shot at him and harried him.” [I am choosing this translation of the JPS seeing that in both verse 23 and 24 where the “bow” and the “arrows” are mentioned. Ed.] The expressionרובה as a variation of רבב is found in Job 16,13 as it is in Psalms 48,13, where it is derived from the root סבב. A construction שומו as a derivative of שמם is found in Jeremiah 2,12, just as the construction דומו derived from דמם is found in Isaiah 23,2. Also, the expression דממה דקה, a very low voice, in Kings I 19,12 is a similar construction. The common feature in all these constructions is that the last root letter appears twice in succession. Our example of רובה is different, seeing that there is no such repetition of the last root letter. Therefore its root is רבה, and the construction is similar to עושה from עשה, or בונה from בנה, or קונה from קנה.

ויהי אלוקים את הנער, He ensured Ishmael’s success in his undertakings.

And he became an archer, a bowman (kashat): The vocalization of kashat teaches us that it is not the name of a tool that he shoots (keshet, being a bow). Rather it is a verbal noun. It is a craftsman, like a gamal [and] a chamar, the meaning of which is a driver of camels (gamalim) [and] a driver of donkeys (chamorim). As Yishmael was a craftsmen with this like someone accustomed and trained, even though he did not have anyone who taught him. Rather it was with the help of the Heavens.

And God was with: He had God's providence over him, so that he would grow, and He saved him from the danger of the wilderness and from bad animals. "And he dwelled in the wilderness," fulfilling that which was written (Genesis 16:12), "And he will be a wild man," as he was a man of the wilderness. "And he was an archer" - so that which was written, "and his hand will be against all," was fulfilled. "He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran" (Genesis 21:21) - so that which was written, "and in the presence of all his brothers shall he reside," was fulfilled; as he would wander from one wilderness to another wilderness. And the nature of [this] root was implanted afterwards in his children. And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt: 'Every raven [sticks] to its type.'

נקם ינקם, the reason the Torah employed the term “revenge” in this context [instead of speaking of judicial execution, Ed.] is that it is clear that the master had intended to kill the slave when hitting him. He had arranged to do it in such a sly way that it would be considered as a blow out of a feeling of revenge but not one intended to be lethal. The Torah characterises the master’s execution as an act of “avenging the servant” so that everyone will be aware that he had intended to kill deliberately and the execution is the avenging of an uncalled for murder. If the killing of the master was not judicial execution, he himself will also be avenged.

רבו קשת. Wir haben schon oben bei פרו ורבו (Kap.1, 28) erläutert, wie in רבה die geistige Erziehung liegt, indem nur dann sich die Eltern in den Kindern wiederholen, wenn sie ihre Kinder zu ihren geistigen Abdrücken machen. Daher auch -nicht Magister, der den Schüler "Über :רבי Zucht, ja תרבות wirklich erziehen, so רבה ragende", sondern der sich in dem Schüler Wiederholende. — קַשָת die Form des Gewerbes, wie חָרָש ,רַיָן und rabb. גַמָל ,חַמָר, also: Bogenschütze; ר֗בֶה קַשָת: Einer, der Bogenschützen heranbildet, und zwar nicht רבֵה קשת ein Schützenmeister, der immerhin noch sonstige andere Beschäftigungen haben kann, ja, dessen Hauptbeschäftigung gar nicht darin bestanden haben mag, sondern רבֶה קשת, einer, dessen stete Beschäftigung dies gewesen.

רובה קשת, “an archer.” He was hunting by shooting arrows at his prospective victims. The word רובה is used here in the same sense as Genesis 49,23, where Yaakov uses it in his blessing for Joseph, i.e. ורובו, implying that his brothers, or Potiphar and his wife, had hunted him. Some commentators understand the word as a Hebrew alternative for the Aramaic word: רביא, translation of Isaiah 9,5: כי ילד יולד, “for a child has been born;” We find in the Talmud, tractate Chulin folio 20, the expression: יקבלו הרובים את תשובתן, “let the children (of Rabbi Chiyah) receive their reply.”

Archer (lit., One who draws [roveh] the bow): One who draws is one who pulls. It is as [in], "They made him bitter and they shot (robu)" (Genesis 49:23); and as [in], "His archers (rabav) surrounded me." A bow: [This means] with a bow. And some say roveh is like, a youth. It is like, "The youths rovim will get their answer" (Chullin 20a); and like "the youth," is ravia in the Targum (Aramaic translation of the Bible). Meaning, a youth that is a master of the bow.

וישב במדבר, “he settled in the desert.” This is why he had been described as פרא אדם, (Genesis 16,12, where the angel predicted his birth) He was a loner, shunning civilized society.

(This is the explanation of רבה קַשָּׁת he is so designated after his occupation, that of a bow-man — just as חַמָּר denotes one who is an ass driver, גַּמָּל a camel driver, צַיָּד a huntsman; consequently the ש has a Dagesh (which distinguishes all these forms). — He used to live in the wilderness and rob travelers. It is to this the statement refers, (15:12) ידו בכל “his hand shall be against everyone, etc.”

ויגדל, he amassed wealth. We encounter a similar meaning of the word ויגדל in Genesis 26,13 describing Yitzchok’s economic success in the land of the Philistines.

ויהי רבה קשת, “he became a professional hunter with bow and arrow.”

וישב במדבר, first he settled in the desert nearby, moving further afield to the desert of Paran later on.

ויהי רובה קשת, the word רבה may be understood as נער, lad. Onkelos translates it as רביא. The word קשת is an adjective mode of the word keshet, bow. The mode is similar to that of ganav, someone practicing thievery, or salach, someone apt to forgive. An alternative way of understanding the word רובה is that it means the same as יורה, someone shooting. He developed the technique of shooting arrows by means of a bow. [a far less dangerous mode of hunting than bodily facing the adversary. At this point Kimchi draws on the points made already by Rash’bam on our verse. Ed.] He adds that the ability to hit distant targets enables archers to practice what the Torah called ידו בכל, attacking all and sundry, even distant targets. He quotes examples of ancient peoples who became known for this skill, apparently distant descendants of Ishmael, especially the בני קדר. Reference is made to these people, (in that capacity?) in Isaiah 21,17 Our sages suggest that it is appropriate for the sons to perfect themselves in the trade, vocation or skills in which their father excels. (Erchin 16) They also base this on Kings I 7,14 where Chirom is described as having mastered the art of being a coppersmith just like his father. Yaakov’s sons, when presented to Pharaoh in Genesis 47,3, also were described as continuing the tradition of their father as shepherds.