angel

וּמַלְאָךְ בָּא אֶל־אִיּוֹב (Iyov 1:14), a messenger came to Iyov; וַיָּשׁוּבוּ הַמַּלְאָכִים (Bereishis 32:7), the messengers returned; מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים (Bereishis 28:12), messengers of Elokim. The mem of מלאך is one of the added letters. Radak wrote all these words under this root because Rabbi Yonah wrote them so, his view being that the mem is added; but it may also be said that the mem is of the root and the words have four letters.

וְלֹֽא־יִשָּׁמַע עוֹד קוֹל מַלְאָכֵֽכֵה (Nachum 2:14), and the voice of your messengers will be heard no more. He takes it as מלאכיךָ, your messengers, a tzere standing under the kaf of the suffix in place of a kamatz, and the heh like the heh of אֲשֶׁר־צִוִּיתִי אֹתָכָה (Shemos 29:35), that I commanded you. Rabbi Yonah wrote that the heh stands in place of a yud, as though מלאככִי, your messengers, like שׁוּבִי נַפְשִׁי לִמְנוּחָיְכִי (Tehillim 116:7), return, my soul, to your rest. Rabbi Yehudah ben Balaam wrote that קול מלאככה is the sound of the teeth eating the prey, as the pasuk says וְהִכְרַתִּי מֵאֶרֶץ טַרְפֵּךְ (Nachum 2:14), I will cut off your prey from the earth; and in the Persian tongue the millstones are called מלאככה, being the grinders, and the teeth are called grinders.

The noun is בְּמַלְֽאֲכוּת י"י (Chaggai 1:13), in the mission of Hashem. The sense of them all is known: being sent, whether by men or by the Creator. The navi is called a מלאך because he is Hashem's messenger: וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָךְ וַיֹּֽצִאֵנוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם (Bamidbar 20:16), He sent a messenger and brought us out of Mitzrayim, is Moshe Rabbeinu; likewise וַיֹּאמֶר חַגַּי מַלְאַךְ י"י (Chaggai 1:13), Chaggai the messenger of Hashem said, and וַיִּֽהְיוּ מַלְעִיבִים בְּמַלְֽאֲכֵי הָֽאֱלֹהִים (Divrei HaYamim II 36:16), they were mocking the messengers of Elokim. So too is the explanation of וַיַּעַל מַלְאַךְ ־י"י מִן־הַגִּלְגָּל (Shoftim 2:1), the messenger of Hashem went up from the Gilgal, and וַיְהִי כְּדַבֵּר מַלְאַךְ י"י אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה (Shoftim 2:4), and it was, when the messenger of Hashem spoke these words; it is said (Vayikra Rabbah 1) that this messenger was Pinchas.

Another sense in this root: מִכָּל־ מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָֽׂה (Bereishis 2:2), from all His work which He had made. It falls on a man's doing, his money and his affairs. וְהַמְּלָאכָה הָֽיְתָה דַיָּם (Shemos 36:7), the work was enough for them, means the silver and the gold they brought and the rest of the things; לְרֶגֶל הַמְּלָאכָה (Bereishis 33:14), at the pace of the work, means the cattle; and likewise וְכָל־ הַמְּלָאכָה נְמִבְזָה וְנָמֵס (Shmuel I 15:9), and all the goods that were despised and worthless.

In the construct: לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם (Yirmiyahu 7:18), filed here as to the work of the heavens, with the aleph missing, and אִם־לֹא שָׁלַח יָדוֹ בִּמְלֶאכֶת רֵעֵהוּ (Shemos 22:7), if he has not put his hand to his fellow's goods; and likewise where it is definite, וְהַֽלְוִיִּם בַּמְלָֽאכֶת (Divrei HaYamim II 13:10), and the Leviim at the work. The plural is מְלָאכוֹת, and in the construct the aleph is sounded: כֹּל מַלְֽאֲכוֹת הַתַּבְנִֽית (Divrei HaYamim I 28:19), all the works of the pattern, and לְסַפֵּר כָּל־ מַלְֽאֲכוֹתֶֽיךָ (Tehillim 73:28), to tell all Your works. Some read לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם with the mem as a root letter, a word of kingship, that is, the great star in the heavens; and Yonasan renders it לְכוֹכְבַת שְׁמַיָא, the star of the heavens.

וּמַלְאָךְ בָּא אֶל־אִיּוֹב (Iyov 1:14), a messenger came to Iyov; וַיָּשׁוּבוּ הַמַּלְאָכִים (Bereishis 32:7), the messengers returned; מַלְאֲכֵי אֱלֹהִים (Bereishis 28:12), messengers of Elokim. The mem of מלאך is one of the added letters. Radak wrote all these words under this root because Rabbi Yonah wrote them so, his view being that the mem is added; but it may also be said that the mem is of the root and the words have four letters.

וְלֹֽא־יִשָּׁמַע עוֹד קוֹל מַלְאָכֵֽכֵה (Nachum 2:14), and the voice of your messengers will be heard no more. He takes it as מלאכיךָ, your messengers, a tzere standing under the kaf of the suffix in place of a kamatz, and the heh like the heh of אֲשֶׁר־צִוִּיתִי אֹתָכָה (Shemos 29:35), that I commanded you. Rabbi Yonah wrote that the heh stands in place of a yud, as though מלאככִי, your messengers, like שׁוּבִי נַפְשִׁי לִמְנוּחָיְכִי (Tehillim 116:7), return, my soul, to your rest. Rabbi Yehudah ben Balaam wrote that קול מלאככה is the sound of the teeth eating the prey, as the pasuk says וְהִכְרַתִּי מֵאֶרֶץ טַרְפֵּךְ (Nachum 2:14), I will cut off your prey from the earth; and in the Persian tongue the millstones are called מלאככה, being the grinders, and the teeth are called grinders.

The noun is בְּמַלְֽאֲכוּת י"י (Chaggai 1:13), in the mission of Hashem. The sense of them all is known: being sent, whether by men or by the Creator. The navi is called a מלאך because he is Hashem's messenger: וַיִּשְׁלַח מַלְאָךְ וַיֹּֽצִאֵנוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם (Bamidbar 20:16), He sent a messenger and brought us out of Mitzrayim, is Moshe Rabbeinu; likewise וַיֹּאמֶר חַגַּי מַלְאַךְ י"י (Chaggai 1:13), Chaggai the messenger of Hashem said, and וַיִּֽהְיוּ מַלְעִיבִים בְּמַלְֽאֲכֵי הָֽאֱלֹהִים (Divrei HaYamim II 36:16), they were mocking the messengers of Elokim. So too is the explanation of וַיַּעַל מַלְאַךְ ־י"י מִן־הַגִּלְגָּל (Shoftim 2:1), the messenger of Hashem went up from the Gilgal, and וַיְהִי כְּדַבֵּר מַלְאַךְ י"י אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה (Shoftim 2:4), and it was, when the messenger of Hashem spoke these words; it is said (Vayikra Rabbah 1) that this messenger was Pinchas.

Another sense in this root: מִכָּל־ מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר עָשָֽׂה (Bereishis 2:2), from all His work which He had made. It falls on a man's doing, his money and his affairs. וְהַמְּלָאכָה הָֽיְתָה דַיָּם (Shemos 36:7), the work was enough for them, means the silver and the gold they brought and the rest of the things; לְרֶגֶל הַמְּלָאכָה (Bereishis 33:14), at the pace of the work, means the cattle; and likewise וְכָל־ הַמְּלָאכָה נְמִבְזָה וְנָמֵס (Shmuel I 15:9), and all the goods that were despised and worthless.

In the construct: לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם (Yirmiyahu 7:18), filed here as to the work of the heavens, with the aleph missing, and אִם־לֹא שָׁלַח יָדוֹ בִּמְלֶאכֶת רֵעֵהוּ (Shemos 22:7), if he has not put his hand to his fellow's goods; and likewise where it is definite, וְהַֽלְוִיִּם בַּמְלָֽאכֶת (Divrei HaYamim II 13:10), and the Leviim at the work. The plural is מְלָאכוֹת, and in the construct the aleph is sounded: כֹּל מַלְֽאֲכוֹת הַתַּבְנִֽית (Divrei HaYamim I 28:19), all the works of the pattern, and לְסַפֵּר כָּל־ מַלְֽאֲכוֹתֶֽיךָ (Tehillim 73:28), to tell all Your works. Some read לִמְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם with the mem as a root letter, a word of kingship, that is, the great star in the heavens; and Yonasan renders it לְכוֹכְבַת שְׁמַיָא, the star of the heavens.

שְׁגַר־אֲלָפֶיךָ (Devarim 7:13), the sending forth of your cattle; and in another pattern, pointed with the six dots, וְכָל־פֶּטֶר שֶׁגֶר בְּהֵמָה (Shemos 13:12), every firstling, a beast's sending forth. ענינם ענין שלוח, their sense is sending, as in יְשַׁלְּחוּ כַצֹּאן עֲוִֽילֵיהֶם (Iyov 21:11), they send out their little ones like a flock.

In this sense Chazal say (Bava Basra 23a) מלא שגר היונה, the full sending of a dove, which he explains as שלוח היונה והליכתה, the dove's being sent out and her going. Chazal made the word usual for sending, as they say (Bava Basra 146a) שגר אחריו, he sent after him, and much else besides.

Two clauses and no more: the phrase וּשְׂדֵרֹת בָּֽאֲרָזִֽים (Melachim I 6:9), and s'deros with cedars, and his word that he has already explained it in the section of the letter samech. The sense itself is not set down here at all, which is why s'deros stands untranslated.

שָׁלַח לִפְנֵיהֶם אִישׁ (Tehillim 105:17), He sent a man before them. His father reads יָדָהּ לַיָּתֵד תִּשְׁלַחְנָה (Shoftim 5:26) not as stretching out but as sending: Yael's hands sent for the peg and for the workmen's hammer, and the sending is ascribed to the hands, though Yael is the one who sends, because the hands are the chief part of the deed.

Close to sending is the loosing of a thing with nothing to hold it back. מְשַׁלְּחֵי רֶגֶל הַשּׁוֹר וְהַחֲמוֹר (Yeshayahu 32:20), who let loose the feet of the ox and the donkey: out of the abundance of grain they send the ox and the donkey to graze in the fields of grain and let them go where they will, and do not mind it. נָוֶה מְשֻׁלָּח (Yeshayahu 27:10), a dwelling let loose, is one that stands open and free to whoever wishes to bring anything into it, and וְנַעַר מְשֻׁלָּח מֵבִישׁ אִמּוֹ (Mishlei 29:15), a boy let loose shames his mother, is a boy free to go after his own desire.

Reaching out: שָׁלַח יָדָיו בִּשְׁלֹמָיו (Tehillim 55:21), he put out his hands against those at peace with him, and וְיָד אַל תִּשְׁלְחוּ בוֹ (Bereishis 37:22), do not put out a hand against him. The nouns are מִשְׁלוֹחַ יָדָם (Yeshayahu 11:14), the putting out of their hand, and בְּכֹל מִשְׁלַח יֶדְכֶם (Devarim 12:7), in all that you put your hand to.

Close to stretching out: שְׁלֻחוֹתֶיהָ נִטְּשׁוּ (Yeshayahu 16:8), the spreading of boughs and branches. A garden of fruit trees is called so as well, because its boughs and branches spread out this way and that, as בְּרֵכַת הַשֶּׁלַח לְגַן הַמֶּלֶךְ (Nechemiah 3:15), the pool of the Shelach at the king's garden, and שְׁלָחַיִךְ פַּרְדֵּס רִמּוֹנִים (Shir HaShirim 4:13), your gardens are an orchard of pomegranates. So too בְּשַׁלְחָהּ תְּרִיבֶנָּה (Yeshayahu 27:8), in her spreading out You contend with her; תְּשַׁלַּח קְצִירֶהָ עַד־יָם (Tehillim 80:12), she sent out her boughs to the sea; and יְשַׁלַּח שָׁרָשָׁיו (Yirmiyahu 17:8), it sends out its roots. The river beside Yerushalayim may be called Shiloach for the same reason, אֵת מֵי הַשִּׁלֹחַ (Yeshayahu 8:6), the waters of the Shiloach, because it spreads out to the gardens to water them.

To drive out: וַיְשַׁלְּחֵהוּ (Bereishis 3:23), Hashem sent him out of Gan Eden, and אֶל מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה תְּשַׁלְּחוּם (Bamidbar 5:3), you shall send them outside the camp; all of these, he says, are close in sense. In another sense שֶׁלַח is a sword, as וַיַּעַשׂ שֶׁלַח לָרֹב וּמָגִנִּים (Divrei HaYamim II 32:5), and he made swords in abundance, and shields. And from this root is the שֻׁלְחָן, the table, as הַשֻּׁלְחָן אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי י"י (Yechezkel 41:22), the table that is before Hashem.

הֹלֵךְ עִמָּם לְשַׁלְּחָם (Bereishis 18:16), going with them to see them off, וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם יִצְחָק (Bereishis 26:31), and Yitzchak saw them off, and וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ אֶת רִבְקָה אֲחֹתָם (Bereishis 24:59), and they saw off Rivkah their sister. This accompanying, he says, is all one sense with the first.

וְהִשְׁלַחְתִּי בָכֶם (Vayikra 26:22) and הִנְנִי מַשְׁלִיחַ בְּךָ (Shemos 8:17), with the noun מִשְׁלַחַת מַלְאֲכֵי רָעִים (Tehillim 78:49), suit the sense of letting loose, he says: I will let loose among you, I am letting loose upon you, and a letting loose of evil messengers. Chazal speak the same way of משלחת זאבים, a letting loose of wolves, in Bava Metzia 93b.

לָכֵן תִּתְּנִי שִׁלּוּחִים (Michah 1:14), therefore you shall give gifts, and אַחַר שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ (Shemos 18:2), after her gifts: he takes שִׁלּוּחִים as gifts. The second can also be read as after he had sent her and she returned to her father's house.

שֻׁלַּח בְּרַגְלָיו (Shoftim 5:15), sent on his feet: he asked for no beast to ride on, and the pasuk says sent although nobody sent him, because out of his great desire to go he is as one sent. In כִּי שֻׁלַּח בְּרֶשֶׁת בְּרַגְלָיו (Iyov 18:8) Radak says the words may be read either way, a net for his feet or his feet in a net.

Some take וַיְשַׁלְּחוּ אֶת כְּתֹנֶת הַפַּסִּים (Bereishis 37:32) from the sword: they tore the striped coat so that their father would believe the beasts had torn him. His own reading is that they sent the coat by the hand of some of them, who went to their father and brought it to him. Some take וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם בְּיַד פִּשְׁעָם (Iyov 8:4), which he lists under driving out, He sent them away by the hand of their transgression, from the sword as well. מִשְׁלַחַת מַלְאֲכֵי רָעִים can be read this way too, their sense being a sword; and רַגְלַי שִׁלֵּחוּ (Iyov 30:12) is put here too: they set thorns and briars where I walk, to cut my feet. אִישׁ שִׁלְחוֹ הַמָּיִם (Nechemiah 4:17) is of this sense: as they went to the water, each man had his sword in his hand. It can also be read from the Targum, which renders וְהִפְשִׁיט (Vayikra 1:6), and he shall strip, by וְיַשְׁלַח: none of them put off his clothes by day or by night, and no man put off his clothes to wash them in the water.

His father reads בְּשַׁלְחָהּ תְּרִיבֶנָּה (Yeshayahu 27:8) from the sword too: by her sword You wished to contend with her, that is, by the measure she measured, as the pasuk says בְּסַאסְּאָה, in measure. On his father's reading, You wished to kill her, judging her by fire as Sodom was judged, since her deeds were theirs, as it says of her קְצִינֵי סְדֹם, rulers of Sodom (Yeshayahu 1:10); and so You would have judged her, had Hashem not had pity on them and turned the fire aside with the strong east wind after it had been cast upon the city, as Yechezkel sets out.