action
approach
At a glance
In short
Gishah is to approach in the strong sense: coming right up to something (Pappenheim, Wertheimer), and usually in awe of it or across a gap of standing (Shapira-Frankfurter, Malbim). Kiruv is to draw near or bring closer, a step taken while still on the way (Pappenheim, Wertheimer), between parties on a level (Malbim). So when Yehudah vayigash to the viceroy (Bereishis 44:18), it seems to Rabbi Klein that he came up close and personal rather than merely nearer, perhaps even in a threatening way, as certain midrashic sources imply. In line with Rav Hirsch, for whom gishah is a move toward a specific goal, it also seems to Rabbi Klein that Yehudah approached very deliberately, as a further step in his campaign for Binyamin's release. In Aramaic all of this is lost: Targum typically renders both words by kiruv cognates.
Distinctions
Gishah (גישה)
Root נ-ג-ש. Avraham vayigash to argue for Sedom (Bereishis 18:23); Yehudah vayigash to Yosef (Bereishis 44:18); the litigant approaching the court (Devarim 25:1). Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim traces it to the biliteral ג-ש, closeness so complete that the parties touch, as in nigsheshah, the blind man groping for what he cannot see (Yeshayahu 59:10). Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg follows this into contact: Targum Yerushalmi renders an ox goring as yigash (Shemos 21:28), and a boat scraping the seabed in shallow water is goshesh (Bava Kamma 116b; Bava Metzia 79b). The same root gives gush, a compacted clod of earth (Iyov 7:5), which Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim suggests may lie behind the name Goshen, the one part of Egypt with packed soil rather than sand, and behind geshem: in medieval usage any solid whose particles are bound tight, hence gashmiyus, and in the sense of rain, the thick drops that fall from a dense cloud. Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Carpentras (Ohalei Yehuda) ties geshem to gishah the other way: the drops never do approach one another as they fall.
Kiruv (קירוב)
Root ק-ר-ב, with karov "near" and korban the offering. The root also gives krav, war. The classical lexicographers (Menachem Ibn Saruk, Ibn Janach, Radak) present approaching, innards and war as distinct meanings of ק-ר-ב, but Rabbi Klein finds the line blurrier: the closer one approaches something, the nearer one comes to entering its perimeter and reaching its innards, and in battle the attackers approach while the defenders guard what lies within their line. Some verbs of ק-ר-ב that literally mean approaching refer in context to potential battle (Shemos 14:10; Devarim 2:19, 20:2-3, 20:10). Its range in Tanach includes approaching food in order to eat it (Vayikra 22:3), approaching a person in order to harm him (Tehillim 32:9), and approaching a woman for intimacy (Bereishis 20:4), which Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg allows as kiruv standing in for the goal it aims at. Ramban (in his notes to the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvos, lo saaseh 353) observes that both words are used of intimacy: kiruv at Devarim 22:14 and Yeshayahu 8:3, gishah at Shemos 19:15. Malbim (to Shemos 19:15) explains why that pasuk has gishah. Chazal explain in Maseches Shabbos that the three days of separation were needed because of the women, since a woman who expels shichvas zera on the third day is tamei, and Malbim finds this evident from the wording: of approaching a woman the Torah always says kiruv, and only here gishah. Even lo sikrevu legalos ervah (Vayikra 18:6) is kiruv, because the woman is warned like the man and the two approach alike. Here the hindrance was on her side alone, not on his, for he could immerse and become tahor, while she would not be fit, a woman who expels shichvas zera within three days being tamei; so the pasuk took the word gishah. Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg reads the choice of kiruv in the arayos parashah (Vayikra 18:6) as load-bearing: the Torah forbids any coming nearer, the closest approach included, which is the Rambam's source that hugging and kissing are forbidden mid'oraisa.
Where the authorities disagree
Three accounts of the same contrast, and they do not reduce to one.
- Awe and standing. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Shapira-Frankfurter (1743-1826), Rav Hirsch's great-uncle: gishah is approaching with trepidation, as one approaches a king or a dignitary. This explains why a litigant nigash before a judge (Devarim 25:1) while Hashem coming to judge us is kiruv (Malachi 3:5): He approaches without fear. Malbim says the same in other terms, that gishah fits where there is a gap in power between the two. To Shemos 19:15 he puts it this way: kiruv is where the two are equal and drawing near is easy, gishah where there is difficulty in approaching.
- How far along the approach is. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim and Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer: kiruv is coming closer, gishah is arriving as close as possible. Rabbi Pappenheim's illustration is Vayikra 2:8, where the owner hikrivah the minchah to the kohen and the kohen higishah it to the mizbeiach: since the donor's goal is the mizbeiach, the first step brings it nearer the goal with a way still to go, and the second reaches it. Rabbi Wertheimer takes up the same approach and offers various proof-texts of his own from Tanach.
- Physical against abstract, and who can do it. Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg: gishah is bodily closeness and kiruv a meeting of minds, so a litigant "brought near" to the court (Shemos 22:7) is composing himself to stand there, and a korban brings a man's will into line with Hashem's, since He is incorporeal and no physical approach to Him is possible. Rav Hirsch (to Vayikra 21:17) takes the opposite line: kiruv is absolute nearness, the antonym of richuk, absolute farness, so that karov names the mathematical difference between one location's coordinates and another's and kiruv is simply bridging that distance, which is why the verb is used of animals as well as people; gishah, by contrast, appears in Tanach only of human beings, because it is a step forward toward a specific goal, which only a being able to think and decide for itself can take (see also Abarbanel to Moreh Nevuchim 1:18).
Rav Hirsch's point about purpose is what, as it seems to Rabbi Klein, explains the deliberateness of Yehudah's vayigash. Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg's abstract/physical axis runs against Rav Hirsch.
Also discussed in
- Warקרב / kiruv, krav, korban (ק-ר-ב)
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
נ-ג-שhis headword נגשׂ
To press: pressing out silver and gold, pressing one's fellow, the נֹגֵשׂ who presses, and being pressed; all of them, he says, the sense of pressure.
Pressing, and the one who presses
נָגַשׂ אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף וְאֶת־הַזָּהָב (Melachim II 23:35), he pressed out the silver and the gold; לֹֽא־ יִגֹּשׂ אֶת־רֵעֵהוּ וְאֶת־אָחִיו (Devarim 15:2), he shall not press his fellow or his brother; וְכָל־עַצְּבֵיכֶם תִּנְגֹּֽשׂוּ (Yeshayahu 58:3), and all your laborers you press hard; אֵיךְ שָׁבַת נֹגֵשׂ (Yeshayahu 14:4), how he who pressed has ceased; and וְהַנֹּֽגְשִׂים אָצִים (Shemos 5:13), and those pressing them were urging them on.
Pressed
In the passive, וְנִגַּשׂ הָעָם אִישׁ בְּאִישׁ וְאִישׁ בְּרֵעֵהוּ (Yeshayahu 3:5), the people shall be pressed, one man by another and each by his fellow; כִּי נִגַּשׂ הָעָם (Shmuel I 13:6), for the people were pressed; נִגַּשׂ וְהוּא נַֽעֲנֶה (Yeshayahu 53:7), he was pressed and he was afflicted; and יַעַן כִּי נִגַּשׁ הָעָם (Yeshayahu 29:13), because the people were pressed, a word whose spelling he weighs at the other root. כלם ענין לחץ, all of them a sense of pressure.
Radak’s root נגשׂ
נָגַשׂ אֶת־הַכֶּסֶף וְאֶת־הַזָּהָב (מלכים ב' כג, לה), לֹֽא־יִגֹּשׂ אֶת־רֵעֵהוּ וְאֶת־אָחִיו (דברים טו, ב), וְכָל־עַצְּבֵיכֶם תִּנְגֹּֽשׂוּ (ישעיה נח, ג), אֵיךְ שָׁבַת נֹגֵשׂ (ישעיה יד, ד) וְהַנֹּֽגְשִׂים אָצִים (שמות ה, יג). והנפעל וְנִגַּשׂ הָעָם אִישׁ בְּאִישׁ וְאִישׁ בְּרֵעֵהוּ (ישעיה ג, ה), וְאִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל רָאוּ כִּי צַר־לוֹ כִּי נִגַּשׂ הָעָם (שמואל א' יג, ו), נִגַּשׂ וְהוּא נַֽעֲנֶה (ישעיה נג, ז), יַעַן כִּי נִגַּשׁ הָעָם (ישעיה כט, יג), כלם ענין לחץ.
To draw near, and to bring near. Even moving off is said with it, since one who is far from the speaker's place is near to the other place.
Drawing near
וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלָיו יְהוּדָה (Bereishis 44:18), and Yehudah drew near to him, וַתִּגַּשְׁןָ הַשְּׁפָחוֹת (Bereishis 33:6), the maidservants drew near, גְּשׁוּ ־נָא אֵלַי וַיִּגָּשׁוּ (Bereishis 45:4), draw near to me now, and they drew near, גּשִֽׁי הֲלֹם (Rus 2:14), come near here, עַד־ גִּשְׁתּוֹ עַד־אָחִֽיו (Bereishis 33:3), until he drew near to his brother, and with the pathach גַּשׁ פְּגַע־בּוֹ (Shmuel II 1:15), come near, strike him down.
Why it can mean move away
גְּשָׁה לִּי וְאֵשֵׁבָה (Yeshayahu 49:20) is גש שמה בעבורי שאשב בריוח, draw near over there for my sake so that I may sit with room, since the place is too narrow for me. So too גֶּשׁ הָלְאָה (Bereishis 19:9), draw near yonder: though the man is far from where the speaker stands, he is near to the other place, and the word is said of that nearness.
Whether one word has a sin or a shin
יַעַן כִּי נִגַּשׁ הָעָם הַזֶּה (Yeshayahu 29:13), because this people draws near: so Rabbi Yonah wrote it, and so it stands in some of the sefarim, and the Mesorah marks it unique in the book. Another note of the Mesorah counts four places with a sin and gives their catchwords: וְאִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל, and the men of Yisrael (Shmuel I 13:6), with its fellow (Shmuel I 14:24), יִרְֽהֲבוּ, they shall be insolent (Yeshayahu 3:5), and נַֽעֲנֶה, afflicted (Yeshayahu 53:7). By the Mesorah, then, this word has a shin, since those four alone have a sin. In some sefarim it is found with a sin, and the Targum's view is so, since he renders it חֲלַף דְאִיתְרַבְרַב עַמָא הָדֵין, because this people has grown haughty.
Coming near, and bringing near
וְנִגַּשׁ מֹשֶׁה לְבַדּוֹ (Shemos 24:2), Moshe alone shall come near, וְנִגְּשָׁה יְבִמְתּוֹ (Devarim 25:9), his brother's widow shall come near, and וְגַם הַכֹּהֲנִים הַנִּגָּשִׁים (Shemos 19:22), the kohanim too who come near. Where the verb takes an object, וְהִגִּישׁוֹ אֲדֹנָיו (Shemos 21:6), his master shall bring him near, and וַיַּגֶּשׁ ־לוֹ וַיֹּאכַל (Bereishis 27:25), he brought it to him and he ate. Rabbi Yonah wrote that לֹא תַגִּישׁ וְתַקְדִּים בַּעֲדֵינוּ הָרָעָה (Amos 9:10), the evil shall not draw near or come upon us, is a verb that takes no object. Radak allows that it may be read as taking one, like its fellows: bring the enemies near and set them before us. In the passive, לֹא לִנְחֻשְׁתַּיִם הֻגָּשׁוּ (Shmuel II 3:34), they were not brought near to fetters.
Radak’s root נגשׁ
וַיִּגַּשׁ אֵלָיו יְהוּדָה (בראשית מד, יח), וַתִּגַּשְׁןָ הַשְּׁפָחוֹת (בראשית לג, ו), גֶּשׁ־הָלְאָה (בראשית יט, ט), ובפתח גַּשׁ פְּגַע־בּוֹ (שמואל ב' א, טו). גְּשָׁה־לִּי וְאֵשֵֽׁבָה (ישעיה מט, כ), גש שמה בעבורי שאשב בריוח כי צר לי המקום. וכן גֶּשׁ הלאה כי אף על פי שהוא רחוק ממקום המדבר הוא קרוב אל המקום האחר. גְּשׁוּ־נָא אֵלַי וַיִּגָּשׁוּ (בראשית מה, ד), גּשִֽׁי הֲלֹם (רות ב, יד), לָגֶשֶׁת אֵלַי (ירמיה ל, כא), עַד־גִּשְׁתּוֹ עַד־אָחִֽיו (בראשית לג, ג), אַל־תִּגַּשׁ־בִּי כִּי קְדַשְׁתִּיךָ (ישעיה סח, ה). והנפעל יַעַן כִּי נִגַּשׁ הָעָם הַזֶּה (ישעיה כט, יג). כן כתבו רבי יונה. וכן במקצת הספרים. והמסורת לית בספרא. ועוד מסורה אחרת נִגַּשֹ וְנִגַּשֹ ד' וסימנם (1) וְאִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל [רָאוּ כִּי צַר־לוֹ כִּי נִגַּשׂ (שמואל א' יג, ו)], (2) וחברו [וְאִֽישׁ־יִשְׂרָאֵל נִגַּשׂ (שמואל א' יד, כד)], (3) יִרְֽהֲבוּ [וְנִגַּשׂ הָעָם אִישׁ בְּאִישׁ וְאִישׁ בְּרֵעֵהוּ יִרְֽהֲבוּ (ישעיה ג, ה)], (4) נַֽעֲנֶה [נִגַּשׂ וְהוּא נַֽעֲנֶה (ישעיה נג, ז)]. אם כן לפי המסורת יַעַן כִּי נִגַּשׁ בשׁי"ן כי אלה הארבעה לבד הם בשֹי"ן. ובמקצת הספרים ימצא יַעַן כִּי נִגַּשׁ בשֹי"ן. ודעת המתרגם כן שתרגם חֲלַף דְאִיתְרַבְרַב עַמָא הָדֵין. וְנִגַּשׁ מֹשֶׁה לְבַדּוֹ (שמות כד, ב), וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵן נִגְּשׁוּ כָּל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (שמות לד, לב), וְנִגְּשָׁה יְבִמְתּוֹ (דברים כה, ט), וְגַם הַכֹּֽהֲנִים הַנִּגָּשִׁים אֶל־י"י (שמות יט, כב). וההתפעל הִתְנַגְּשׁוּ יַחְדָּו פְּלִיטֵי הַגּוֹיִם (ישעיה מה, כ), והכבד [הִפְעִיל] וְהִגִּישׁוֹ אֲדֹנָיו (שמות כא, ו), וַיַּגֶּשׁ־לוֹ וַיֹּאכַל (בראשית כז, כה). ורבי יונה כתב לֹֽא־תַגִּישׁ וְתַקְדִּים בַּֽעֲדֵינוּ הָֽרָעָֽה (עמוס ט, י), פעל עומד ויתכן לפרשו יוצא כחבריו רצונו לומר תגישׁ האויבים ותקדימם בעדינו. ושלא נזכר פעלו [הָפְעַל] לֹֽא־לִנְחֻשְׁתַּיִם הֻגָּשׁוּ (שמואל ב' ג, לד).
ק-ר-ב
To draw near, and to bring near; קָרוֹב, near; קָרְבָּן, the thing brought near on the mizbeach. Close to it, קֶרֶב, the inward part. In another sense, קְרָב, war.
Drawing near
וְלֹֽא־ קָרַב זֶה אֶל־זֶה כָּל־הַלָּֽיְלָה (Shemos 14:20), and the one did not come near the other all night, and קָֽרְבָה שְׁנַת־הַשֶּׁבַע (Devarim 15:9), the seventh year has drawn near.
Near, and nearness
The adjective is קָרוֹב, near: וְאִישׁ אֶת־ קְרֹבֽוֹ (Shemos 32:27), and each man his kinsman, and בִּקְרֹבַי אֶקָּדֵשׁ (Vayikra 10:3), through those near Me I will be sanctified. The noun is in קִֽרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טוֹב (Tehillim 73:28), the nearness of Hashem is good for me.
Bringing near, and the offering
Where the verb takes an object it is to bring near or to offer: וְהִקְרִיב הַכֹּהֵן אֶת־הַכֹּל (Vayikra 1:13), and the kohen shall offer it all, and וּפַרְעֹה הִקְרִיב (Shemos 14:10), and Pharaoh brought near, which he reads as Pharaoh bringing his camp near. וַיִּקְרַב הַמֶּלֶךְ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ (Melachim II 16:12) he reads as the king offering his offering on the mizbeach; or else עַל stands for אֶל, and the king drew near to the mizbeach. What is brought near upon the mizbeach is called a קָרְבָּן (Vayikra 1:2).
The inward part
A sense close to this: קֶרֶב is what is within. וַתִּצְחַק שָׂרָה בְּקִרְבָּהּ (Bereishis 18:12), and Sarah laughed within her, that is, within her heart. קִרְבָּם בָּֽתֵּימוֹ לְֽעוֹלָם (Tehillim 49:12), their inward thought, their houses for ever: that is, in their thought they will dwell in their houses for ever. Some read it as קברם, their grave, with the letters turned about. כִּֽי־יָקוּם בְּקִרְבְּךָ נָבִיא (Devarim 13:2), if a navi arises in your midst. The entrails are called so because they are within: וְהַקֶּרֶב וְהַכְּרָעַיִם (Vayikra 1:13), and the entrails and the legs.
Another sense: war
כְּיוֹם הִלָּֽחֲמוֹ בְּיוֹם קְרָֽב (Zecharyah 14:3), as on the day He fought, on a day of war, and טוֹבָה חָכְמָה מִכְּלֵי קְרָב (Koheles 9:18), wisdom is better than implements of war. וּֽקֲרָב ־לִבּוֹ (Tehillim 55:22), and his heart is war, he explains: his mouth is smooth and his heart is war. The sense of all of them, he says, is war, and the Targum of מִלְחָמָה (Bereishis 14:2), war, is קְרָבָא.
וְלֹֽא־קָרַב זֶה אֶל־זֶה כָּל־הַלָּֽיְלָה (שמות יד, כ), וְקָֽרַבְתָּ מוּל בְּנֵי עַמּוֹן (דברים ב, יט), וְקָֽרְבוּ אֶל־אֲשֶׁר לָעָֽם (יחזקאל מב, יד), גם הוא פעל עומד. וכן תרגם יונתן וְיִתְעַרְבוּן עִם עַמָא. קָֽרְבָה שְׁנַת־הַשֶּׁבַע (דברים טו, ט). אֶל־אֱלֹהֶיהָ לֹא קָרֵֽבָה (צפניה ג, ב), הצרי לגזרת פעל. וַֽאֲבִימֶלֶךְ לֹא קָרַב אֵלֶיהָ (בראשית כ, ד), וָֽאֶקְרַב אֶל־הַנְּבִיאָה (ישעיה ח, ג), וְאָז יִקְרַב לַֽעֲשֹׂתוֹ (שמות יב, מה), אַל־תִּקְרַב הֲלֹם (שמות ג, ה). וְהָיָה בִּֽקְרָב־אִישׁ לְהִשְׁתַּֽחֲוֹת לוֹ (שמואל ב' טו, ה), נקרא בקמץ חטף. לְקָרְבָה אֶל־הַמְּלָאכָה (שמות לו, ב), בְּקָרְבָתָם לִפְנֵֽי־י"י (ויקרא טז, א), קְרַב אַתָּה וּֽשֲׁמָע (דברים ה, כד), קָרְבָה אֶל־נַפְשִׁי גְאָלָהּ (תהלים סט, יט), כולם פעלים עומדים. וַיַּרְא הַמֶּלֶךְ אֶת־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ וַיִּקְרַב הַמֶּלֶךְ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּחַ (מלכים ב' טז, יב), פעל יוצא כלומר שהקריב קרבנו על המזבח. או יהיה עַל המזבח כמו אֶל המזבח וגם הוא פעל עומד. והתאר קָרוֹב י"י (תהלים לד, יט), קְרֹבִים אֵלָיו (דברים ד, ז), וְאִישׁ אֶת־קְרֹבֽוֹ (שמות לב, כז), בִּקְרֹבַי אֶקָּדֵשׁ (ויקרא י, ג). ומשקל אחר וְאֵת כָּל־הַקָּרֵב אֶל־שֻׁלְחַן הַמֶּֽלֶךְ־שְׁלֹמֹה (מלכים א' ה, ז), הֹלֵךְ וְקָרֵב (שמאל א' יז, מא), הֵמָּה בְנֵֽי־צָדוֹק הַקְּרֵבִים (יחזקאל מ, מו). והשם קִרְבַת אֱלֹהִים יֶחְפָּצֽוּן (ישעיה נח, ב), קִֽרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טוֹב (תהלים עג, כח), חטף. ויש ספרים קִרְבַת אֱלֹהִים יֶחְפָּצֽוּן, מלעיל, וקִֽרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טוֹב, חטף. ויש ספרים קִרְבַת אֱלֹהִים יֶחְפָּצֽוּן, חטף. וקִֽרֲבַת אֱלֹהִים לִי־טוֹב, מלעיל. אבל בספר אכלה ואכלה כתוב שניהם טעמם מלעיל. והנפעל וְנִקְרַב בַּֽעַל־הַבַּיִת (שמות כב, ז), וְנִקְרַבְתֶּם בַּבֹּקֶר לְשִׁבְטֵיכֶם (יהושע ז, יד). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] וְהִקְרִיב הַכֹּהֵן אֶת־הַכֹּל (ויקרא א, יג), וְאֶת־בָּנָיו תַּקְרִיב (שמות כט, ד), הַקְרֵב אֹתָהּ בְּנֵי־אַֽהֲרֹן (ויקרא ו, ז), הֵם מַקְרִיבִם (ויקרא כא, ו), תַּקְרִבוּן אֵלַי (דברים א, יז). וּפַרְעֹה הִקְרִיב (שמות יד, י), ופירושו הקריב מחנהו כי הוא פעל יוצא. וכן כַּֽאֲשֶׁר הִקְרִיב לָבוֹא מִצְרָיְמָה (בראשית יב, יא), ואפשר שהוא פעל עומד. וכבד אחר [פִּעֵל] כִּי־קֵֽרְבוּ כַתַּנּוּר (הושע ז, ו), קָרְבוּ רִֽיבְכֶם (ישעיה מא, כא), וְקָרַב אֹתָם (יחזקאל לו, יז), בפלס פַּלַּג לְשׁוֹנָם (תהלים נה, י), אלו יוצאים. והעומד כִּי קֵרְבוּ לָבֽוֹא (תהלים לו, ח). ושם לדבר הקרב על המזבח קָרְבָּן לַֽי"י (ויקרא א, ב). ובהעמדת הקמץ וברפיון הבי"ת בְּשַׂר הַקָּרְבָֽן (יחזקאל מ, מג), בפלס הַדָּֽרְבָֽן (שמואל א' יג, כא). ורבי יונה כתבו בחטפות הקו"ף וברפיות הבי"ת. ובשרק הקו"ף וּלְקֻרְבַּן הָֽעֵצִים (נחמיה יג, לא). וענין קרוב לזה וְקֶרֶב אִישׁ וְלֵב עָמֹֽק (תהלים סד, ז), בשש נקודות. וַתִּצְחַק שָׂרָה בְּקִרְבָּהּ (בראשית יח, יב), כלומר בתוך לבה. קִרְבָּם בָּֽתֵּימוֹ לְֽעוֹלָם (תהלים מט, יב) כלומר במחשבתם שיהיו שוכנים בבתיהם לעולם. ויש מפרשים כמו הפוך קברם. בְּקֶרֶב בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל (עמוס ז, י), בשש נקודות. כִּֽי־יָקוּם בְּקִרְבְּךָ נָבִיא (דברים יג, ב), בתוכך. וכן נקראו המעים לפי שהם בתוך. וְהַקֶּרֶב וְהַכְּרָעַיִם (ויקרא א, יג), וְקִרְבּוֹ וּכְרָעָיו (ויקרא א, ט). וענין אחר כְּיוֹם הִלָּֽחֲמוֹ בְּיוֹם קְרָֽב (זכריה יד, ג), טוֹבָה חָכְמָה מִכְּלֵי קְרָב (קהלת ט, יח), פָּדָה בְשָׁלוֹם נַפְשִׁי מִקֲּרָב־לִי (תהלים נה, יט), וּפָנֶיךָ הֹֽלְכִים בַּקְרָֽב (שמואל ב' יז, יא). וּֽקֲרָב־לִבּוֹ (תהלים נה, כב), כלומר פיו חלק ולבו מלחמה. הקבוץ בלשון נקבות קְרָבוֹת יֶחְפָּֽצוּ (תהלים סח, לא). ענין כולם מלחמה. ותרגום מִלְחָמָה (בראשית יד, ב) קְרָבָא. ובאו מקרב לי, וּֽקֲרָב־לִבּוֹ בקמץ חטף תחת הקמץ הרחב לתפארת. או יהיה עקרו בחלם ומפני סמיכות המקף הושבו לקמץ חטף אף על פי שאין להם סמיכות אחר.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Vayigash: Coming Close," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 26 December 2020.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Chukas: Words for War," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 5 July 2025.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Coming Closer," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 18:23, 20:4, 44:18; Shemos 14:10, 19:15, 21:28, 22:7; Vayikra 1:2, 2:8, 18:6, 22:3; Devarim 2:19, 20:2-3, 20:10, 22:14, 25:1; Yeshayahu 8:3, 59:10; Malachi 3:5; Tehillim 32:9; Iyov 7:5; Bava Kamma 116b; Bava Metzia 79b; Rav Hirsch to Vayikra 21:17; Ramban to Sefer HaMitzvos, lo saaseh 353; Malbim to Shemos 19:15; Abarbanel to Moreh Nevuchim 1:18; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo; Ohalei Yehuda.