Komentarz do Rodzaju 7:14

צפור כל כנף [EVERY] BIRD OF EVERY KIND — The word צפור is in the construct state, viz.. birds of every kind of wing, thus including locusts (Chullin 139b). The word כנף means “wingfeather”, as (Leviticus 1:17) “He shall rend it by the wings thereof”, for even its feathers were offered as a sacrifice. Also here, the meaning is, birds with any kind of semblance of wing.

המה..כל צפור, כל כנף, when the Torah used the word עוף it referred to any creature that could fly, יעוף. Now the Torah became even more explicit, writing כל צפור, a generic term for all the larger birds. The expression צפור includes both the ritually pure birds as well as the ritually impure ones. כל כנף, the Torah adds more detail, writing that every creature that has wings was included in those entering the ark; alternatively, the word could be understood as an adjective, i.e. “every feathered creature.”

[The word ציפור] is in the construct state. I.e., we should not think that צפור stands on its own and כנף stands on its own. [This cannot be,] since a צפור, too, has a כנף. Alternatively, if כל כנף is a different thing, how could it come into the ark with Noach? There cannot be a wing without a bird! Thus, it must be in the construct state. Rashi then answers the questions: [If so,] why is it necessary to write כנף? Obviously, a bird has wings! Furthermore, how can it say כל כנף? A bird does not have all the wings in the world! Rashi answers: It means, “Birds of every winged species, including locusts,” since they, too, have wings. But צפור [alone] does not include locusts, as they are not birds. The Maharshal explains that if not for the construct state, we would interpret it as כל צפור כנף, thereby excluding anything without a wing. And locusts would be excluded too, since they are not called birds.