artisan

לְמַעַן יַֽאֲמִינוּ (Shemos 4:5), that they may believe. All such forms are trust and acceptance, קרידינצא in his own vernacular, credence; and they come out of the sense of אמונה, since one who believes a thing gives it אמונה, credence, and holds it true.

בְּכָל־בֵּיתִי נֶֽאֱמָן הֽוּא (Bamidbar 12:7), in all My house he is faithful, and קִרְיָה נֶאֱמָנָה (Yeshayahu 1:21), a faithful city. וְאִישׁ אֱמוּנִים מִי יִמְצָֽא (Mishlei 20:6), but a man of truth, who can find, has the word as a noun; in כִּי־פַסּוּ אֱמוּנִים מִבְּנֵי אָדָֽם (Tehillim 12:2), for the true have ceased from among men, and in two pesukim like it, it is an adjective; and all of them are the sense of אמת, truth. So too אֵל אֱמוּנָה (Devarim 32:4), a God of truth, and וֶאֱמוּנָה עִנִּיתָֽנִי (Tehillim 119:75), which he explains ובאמונה עניתני, and in truth You afflicted me: their sense is truth.

In his own view אֱמֶת, truth, belongs to this root, its proper form being אֱמֶנֶת on the pattern of דְּבֶֽלֶת, the nun having fallen away for ease as it fell from בת, a daughter, whose proper form is בֶּֽנֶת; the dagesh it takes when suffixes are joined to it proves as much, and its plural is formed as בנות, daughters, is.

וְאָמַר כָּל־הָעָם אָמֵֽן (Devarim 27:17), and all the people shall say amen, is, it shall be true that whoever transgresses one of these shall be cursed, said either as a prayer or as acceptance, that they took the curse upon themselves should they transgress. So וְגַם־ אָמְנָה אֲחֹתִי בַת־אָבִי (Bereishis 20:12): and also, it is true that she is my sister, my father's daughter.

וְנֶֽאְמַן בֵּיתְךָ וּמַמְלַכְתְּךָ (Shmuel II 7:16), your house and your kingdom shall endure; יָתֵד בְּמָקוֹם נֶאֱמָן (Yeshayahu 22:23), a peg in a place strong and lasting; מַכּוֹת גְּדֹלֹת וְנֶאֱמָנוֹת (Devarim 28:59), great blows, strong and lasting; וַיְהִי יָדָיו אֱמוּנָה (Shemos 17:12), and his hands were steady, that is, they stayed raised, and they did not let them down until the sun set. אֲנַחְנוּ כֹּֽרְתִים אֲמָנָה (Nechemiah 10:1), we are making an אֲמָנָה, a thing made to stand; and וְאֶת־ הָאֹמְנוֹת אֲשֶׁר צִפָּה חִזְקִיָּה (Melachim II 18:16), and the אֹמְנוֹת that Chizkiyah had overlaid, are the pillars that held the building up. Yonasan renders it וְיַת סְקוֹפַיָא, that is, the thresholds of the gates.

כַּֽאֲשֶׁר יִשָּׂא הָֽאֹמֵן אֶת־הַיֹּנֵק (Bamidbar 11:12), as the one who rears carries the suckling; וַתִּשָּׂאֵהוּ אֹֽמַנְתּוֹ (Shmuel II 4:4), and she who reared him carried him; הָאֱמֻנִים עֲלֵי תוֹלָע (Eichah 4:5), those reared on scarlet; וְאֶל־ הָאֹֽמְנִים אַחְאָב (Melachim II 10:1), and to the rearers of Achav, are those who reared him from his youth and were the men of his counsel, in whose charge the affairs of the kingdom lay. Here his father puts בָּנִים לֹֽא־ אֵמֻן בָּֽם (Devarim 32:20), children in whom there is no אֵמֻן, and Radak explains him to mean there is no upbringing in them, a perverse generation who do evil when they are done good, as it says וַיִּשְׁמַן יְשֻׁרוּן וַיִּבְעָט (Devarim 32:15), Yeshurun grew fat and kicked. Radak's own reading, given earlier in the entry, is children who do not believe, or in whom there is no truth.

וְאֵת יֶתֶר הָֽאָמֹון הֶגְלָה נְבֽוּזַרְאֲדָן רַב־טַבָּחִֽים (Yirmiyahu 52:15), and the rest of the הָאָמוֹן Nevuzaradan the chief of the guard exiled: the word here is as ההמון, the multitude.

Another sense: מַֽעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי אָמָּֽן (Shir HaShirim 7:2), the work of the hands of a master craftsman: one who excels at a craft is called אומן. The Targum of חָרָשׁ וְחֹשֵׁב (Shemos 38:23), a craftsman and a designer, is נַגָּר וְאֳמָּן, a carpenter and a master craftsman.

Rabbi Yonah brought מֵסִיר שָׂפָה לְנֶאֱמָנִים (Iyov 12:20), He takes away the speech of the נֶאֱמָנִים, into this root. Radak holds it is from נאם and of its sense, as וַיִּנְֽאֲמוּ נְאֻֽם (Yirmiyahu 23:31), and they speak a speech, which is a term for speaking; the closing nun is added as the mark of an adjective, as in רחמן and נעמן, and men clear in their tongue who know the wisdom of speech are called נאמנים.

כְּלִי חֶרֶשׂ (Vayikra 6:21), an earthen vessel, and יָבֵשׁ כַּחֶרֶשׂ כֹּחִי (Tehillim 22:16), my strength is dried up like a potsherd. עַד־הִשְׁאִיר אֲבָנֶיהָ בַּקִּיר חֲרָשֶׂת (Melachim II 3:25), until only its stones were left in the wall, broken like sherds: that is, he explains, they broke the stones of the wall like an earthen vessel. In תַּחְתָּיו חַדּוּדֵי חָרֶשׂ (Iyov 41:22), beneath him, the last two words are pearls shining like the sun, the word from הָאֹמֵר לַחֶרֶס וְלֹא יִזְרָח (Iyov 9:7), who says to the sun and it does not shine.

וַיִּקַּח לוֹ חֶרֶשׂ לְהִתְגָּרֵד בּוֹ (Iyov 2:8), and he took himself a sherd to scratch himself with, he reads plainly: the Satan had struck him with a dry boil, so he needed a potsherd to scratch himself with. Some read חֶרֶשׂ there as the illness of dry scab, as in וּבַגָּרָב וּבֶחָרֶס (Devarim 28:27), with the scab and with the חֶרֶס: Iyov chose this illness called חֶרֶשׂ for himself out of all illnesses, because scratching gives some relief in it, the Satan having told him beforehand that he might choose whichever illness of suffering he wished. Radak calls that reading far-fetched. The illness may be called so, he says, because it is dry like a sherd, or because one needs a sherd to scratch with.

The words for keeping silent are all from the sense of חֶרֶשׁ, deafness, since one who keeps silent is as though he does not hear what others say, and makes himself like a deaf man. בַּדֶּיךָ מְתִים יַֽחֲרִישׁו (Iyov 11:3) is at your lies men keep silent, making themselves as deaf when they hear your falsehoods; it may also be read as taking an object, your lies silence men. The noun is חֶרֶשׁ לֵאמֹר (Yehoshua 2:1), in silence, saying: they went quietly, making themselves as deaf so that none would notice them.

יַחֲֽרִישׁ בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ (Tzefaniah 3:17), He will be silent in His love: He will keep silent over the transgressions you have already done, in His love for you. רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית (Yonah 4:8), an east wind, חרישית, may be read from this sense: a wind so strong that people became as though deaf while it blew; and so Targum Yonasan renders it, שְׁתִיקָא, silent.

A second sense: עַל־גַּבִּי חָרְשׁוּ חֹרְשִׁים (Tehillim 129:3), plowmen plowed upon my back; לֹא־תַֽחֲרֹשׁ בְּשׁוֹר־וּבַֽחֲמֹר יַחְדָּֽו, you shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together; לוּלֵא חֲרַשְׁתֶּם בְּעֶגְלָתִי (Shoftim 14:18), had you not plowed with my heifer; and אִם־יַֽחֲרוֹשׁ בַּבְּקָרִים (Amos 6:12), does one plow with oxen. The words על דרך משל, by way of a figure, stand between these last two and may belong to either. The noun is בֶּֽחָרִישׁ וּבַקָּצִיר (Shemos 34:21), in plowing and in harvest; the tool one plows with is מַֽחֲרַשְׁתּוֹ (Shmuel I 13:20), his plowing tool; and the passive is צִיּוֹן שָׂדֶה תֵֽחָרֵשׁ (Yirmiyahu 26:18), Tzion shall be plowed as a field.

Rabbi Yonah explained רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית (Yonah 4:8), an east wind, חרישית, from this sense, plowing; on that reading it is the wind of the plowing season, which is cold and dry.

חֲרוּשָׁה עַל־לוּחַ לִבָּם (Yirmiyahu 17:1), חרושה on the tablet of their heart, is חרותה, engraved.

A third sense is the craftsman: וְאָבִיו אִֽישׁ־צֹרִי חֹרֵשׁ נְחֹשֶׁת (Melachim I 7:14), and his father was a man of Tzor, a worker in copper; וְחָרָשׁ לֹא יִמָּצֵא בְּכֹל אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל (Shmuel I 13:19), and no craftsman was to be found in all Eretz Yisrael; הַפֶּסֶל נָסַךְ חָרָשׁ (Yeshayahu 40:19), a craftsman cast the image; and חָֽרָשֵׁי מַשְׁחִֽית (Yechezkel 21:36), craftsmen of destruction. In construct it is חָרַשׁ, with patach under the resh: חָרַשׁ בַּרְזֶל מַֽעֲצָד (Yeshayahu 44:12), the ironworker with the axe; חָרַשׁ עֵצִים נָטָה קָו (Yeshayahu 44:13), the woodworker stretched a line; and מַֽעֲשֵׂה חָרַשׁ אֶבֶן (Shemos 28:11), the work of a stoneworker. In לֹטֵשׁ כָּל־חֹרֵשׁ נְחשֶׁת וּבַרְזֶל (Bereishis 4:22) the word may be a noun: sharpening every tool of the crafts of copper and iron.

A fourth sense is thought: אַל־תַּֽחֲרֹשׁ עַל־רֵֽעֲךָ (Mishlei 3:29), do not think against your fellow; חֹרְשֵׁי אָוֶן (Iyov 4:8), those who think out iniquity; and וְיוֹעֵץ וַֽחֲכַם חֲרָשִׁים (Yeshayahu 3:3), the counsellor and the one wise in thoughts. The sense of all of them is thought. From this sense too, in the heavy form, עָלָיו שָׁאוּל מַֽחֲרִישׁ הָֽרָעָה (Shmuel I 23:9), that Shaul was thinking out the evil against him.

וְהֶֽחָרָשׁ וְהַמַּסְגֵּר (Melachim II 24:16) may be from this sense: the wise men of standing, masters of wisdom and counsel. Or it may be from the first sense: the great ones before whom the people kept silent and made themselves as deaf when they spoke. Targum Yonasan renders it אוּמָנַיָא וְתַרְעַיָא, craftsmen and gatekeepers.

A last sense: וְחֹרֶשׁ מֵצַל (Yechezkel 31:3), whose sense is a bough, called מֵצַל, shading, because its shade is broad. So too כַּֽעֲזוּבַת הַחֹרֶשׁ וְהָאָמִיר (Yeshayahu 17:9), like the forsaken bough and treetop; וְהוּא יוֹשֵׁב בַּֽחֲרֹשֶׁת הַגּוֹיִֽם (Shoftim 4:2), and he dwelt among the boughs of the nations; וַיֵּשֶׁב דָּוִד בַּחֹרְשָׁה (Shmuel I 23:18), and David stayed among the boughs; and וּבֶֽחֳרָשִׁים בָּנָה בִּֽירָנִיּוֹת וּמִגְדָּלִֽים (Divrei HaYamim II 27:4), and among the boughs he built fortresses and towers. The Targum renders בַיַּעַר (Devarim 19:5), in the forest, as בְּחֻרְשָׁא.

וְשָׁאוּל חָשַׁב לְהַפִּיל אֶת־דָּוִד, Shaul planned to bring David down; וְאַתֶּם חֲשַׁבְתֶּם עָלַי רָעָה אֱלֹהִים חֲשָׁבָהּ לְטֹבָה (Bereishis 50:20), you thought evil against me, Elokim thought it for good; and וְלֹֽא־יָדַעְתִּי כִּֽי־עָלַי חָֽשְׁבוּ מַֽחֲשָׁבוֹת (Yirmiyahu 11:19), I did not know they had laid plans against me. In the heavy form, חִשַּׁבְתִּי יָמִים מִקֶּדֶם (Tehillim 77:6), I thought over days of old; וַֽאֲחַשְּׁבָה לָדַעַת זֹאת (Tehillim 73:16), I thought, so as to know this; מַה־ תְּחַשְּׁבוּן (Nachum 1:9), what do you plot against Hashem; לֵב אָדָם יְחַשֵּׁב דַּרְכּוֹ (Mishlei 16:9), a man's heart plans his way; and וְאֵלַי יְחַשְּׁבוּ (Hoshea 7:15), and against Me they plan. In וְהָאֳנִיָּה חִשְּׁבָה לְהִשָּׁבֵֽר (Yonah 1:4), and the ship thought to be broken, it is the men of the ship who thought she would break, in the way of וְכָל־ הָאָרֶץ בָּאוּ מִצְרַיְמָה (Bereishis 41:57), and all the land came to Egypt, which means all the men of the land, and וַתִּרְעַב כָּל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם (Bereishis 41:55), and all the land of Egypt hungered, and those like them. The sense of thought, he says, is known.

וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ עֵלִי לְשִׁכֹּרָֽה (Shmuel I 1:13), Eli took her for a drunken woman; and יַחְשֹׁב תְּהוֹם לְשֵׂיבָֽה (Iyov 41:24), one would take the deep for grey hair, which he explains: one who sees the deep white would take it for grey hair.

Since a craft goes by thought, the word is used of craftsmanship: לַחְשֹׁב מַֽחֲשָׁבֹת (Shemos 31:4), to devise designs, and מַֽעֲשֵׂה חֹשֵׁב תַּֽעֲשֶׂה אֹתָֽם (Shemos 26:1), you shall make them the work of a designer. The noun is וְחֵשֶׁב אפדתו (Shemos 28:8), the band of its efod, with five vowel points, and וַיַּעַשׂ בִּירֽוּשָׁלַם חִשְּׁבֹנוֹת (Divrei HaYamim II 26:15), he made devices in Yerushalayim, with the shin doubled for ornament. On מעשה רוקם כמעשה חושב, the embroiderer's work like the designer's work, the Chachamim in Yoma 72b ask what it means, and Rabbi Elazar answers שרוקמין במקום שחושבים, that they embroider at the place where they do the designer's work; a braisa there teaches רוקם מעשה מחט ולפיכך פרצוף אחד, embroidery is needlework and so has one face, חושב מעשה אורג, לפיכך שני פרצופין, the designer's work is weaving and so has two faces.

The same word serves for reckoning and for the philosopher's inquiry: וּבַקֵּשׁ חָכְמָה וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן (Koheles 7:25), to seek wisdom and reckoning; כִּי אֵין מַֽעֲשֶׂה וְחֶשְׁבּוֹן (Koheles 9:10), for there is no deed and no reckoning; and וְהֵמָּה בִקְשׁוּ חִשְּׁבֹנוֹת רַבִּֽים (Koheles 7:29), but they sought many reckonings, with the shin doubled for ornament, which he takes as the devices and matters men raise over the Creator's work, why He made this so and why that was so, when He made man upright and all His work is in faithfulness. Of number likewise, since number rests on thought: Hashem does not reckon iniquity to a man (Tehillim 32:2). In the passive, אַךְ לֹֽא־ יֵֽחָשֵׁב אִתָּם הַכֶּסֶף הַנִּתָּן עַל־יָדָם (Melachim II 22:7), no reckoning was made with them of the money given into their hand; in the heavy form, וְחִשַּׁב אֶת־שְׁנֵי מִמְכָּרוֹ (Vayikra 25:27), he shall count the years of his sale, and וְלֹא יְחַשְּׁבוּ אֶת־הָֽאֲנָשִׁים (Melachim II 12:16), and they made no reckoning with the men; and turned back on itself, וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּֽׁב (Bamidbar 23:9), and among the nations it shall not reckon itself.

Near to this is לֹא חָשַׁב אֱנֽוֹשׁ (Yeshayahu 33:8), he took no account of man, which he glosses as he took no notice of them and counted them for nothing; and like it נִבְזֶה וְלֹא חֲשַׁבְנֻֽהוּ (Yeshayahu 53:3), despised, and we did not account him; אֲשֶׁר־כֶּסֶף לֹא יַחְשֹׁבוּ (Yeshayahu 13:17), who set no store by silver; and וּלְחֹֽשְׁבֵי שְׁמֽוֹ (Malachi 3:16), those who give heed to His name. יַֽחֲשָׁב לִי (Tehillim 40:18), Hashem will take account of me, means: may my prayers and pleas be reckoned before Him, and may He take notice of the poverty and want I am in; and from this the Chachamim in Avodah Zarah 25b call an honoured man אדם חשוב, a man of account. In the passive, אֵין כֶּסֶף לֹא נֶחְשָׁב בִּימֵי שְׁלֹמֹה לִמְאֽוּמָה (Melachim I 10:21), there was no silver, it was not reckoned as anything in Shlomo's days, which Radak explains as there being no silver in any of the vessels, since they were all gold, because silver counted for nothing in Shlomo's days; and וְנֶחְשַׁב לָכֶם תְּרֽוּמַתְכֶם (Bamidbar 18:27), your terumah shall be reckoned to you; מַדּוּעַ נֶחְשַׁבְנוּ כַבְּהֵמָה (Iyov 18:3), why are we counted as beasts; כִּֽי־בַמֶּה נֶחְשָׁב הֽוּא (Yeshayahu 2:22), for of what account is he; הֲלוֹא נָכְרִיּוֹת נֶחְשַׁבְנוּ לוֹ (Bereishis 31:15), are we not accounted strangers by him; לֹא יֵֽחָשֵׁב לוֹ פִּגּוּל יִֽהְיֶה (Vayikra 7:18), it shall not be reckoned to him, it shall be piggul; and רְפָאִים יֵחָֽשְׁבוּ אַף־הֵם כַּֽעֲנָקִים (Devarim 2:11), the Refaim too were accounted Anakim.

מַֽעֲשֵׂה רֹקֵֽם (Shemos 26:36), the work of an embroiderer; the noun is שְׁלַל צְבָעִים רִקְמָה (Shoftim 5:30), spoil of dyed stuffs, embroidered; and the plural לִרְקָמוֹת תּוּבַל (Tehillim 45:15), she is led in embroidered robes. Work of garments made of many colours, in the weaving or with the needle, is what is called רִקְמָה, embroidery.

צֶבַע רִקְמָתַיִם (Shoftim 5:30), dyed stuff of double embroidery, stands in the form of two because it is embroidered on two faces, this side and that alike, or in two manners after the way of embroidery. So too the pasuk speaks of the colours of the plumage, הַנּוֹצָה אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ הָֽרִקְמָה (Yechezkel 17:3), the plumage that had the embroidery.

רֻקַּמְתִּי בְּֽתַחְתִּיּוֹת אָֽרֶץ (Tehillim 139:15), I was embroidered in the lowest parts of the earth: the pasuk likens the forming of a man, in sinews and bones and flesh and skin, to the work of embroidery, and likens his mother's womb to the lowest parts of the earth, a place hidden and dark.