book
At a glance
In short
Sefer is the general book or written document, and in early medieval usage specifically the scroll. Megillah is the scroll meant to be rolled up, and unqualified it means Megillas Esther. Iggeret is a letter or epistle, on several accounts a short-lived document sent elsewhere, though Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer takes it as a document meant to be preserved. Gilayon is a single sheet, which later came to mean a margin and then a gloss. A shtar is a deed meant to last. Machzor was originally the codex, later the yom tov siddur, and a kuntres is a pamphlet. Esther is called by all three names, sefer, megillah and iggeret, and each name carries a halachah.
Distinctions
Sefer (ספר)
The generic term, used of the twenty-four books (though some are called a megillah), of a Sefer Torah, and of legal documents (the Mishnah, Yevamos 15:3, calls a kesubah a sefer kesubah). Moshe's plea after the eigel: erase me from Your sefer that You wrote (Shemos 32:32), where the word is a book or written document plainly.
- Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk: sefer is from sfar, a border, since as a border guards a country by making one clear it to enter, the Torah guards Klal Yisrael in their closeness to Hashem.
- Rabbi Moshe Shapiro takes the whole ס-פ-ר family as unifying disparate parts: sippur joins details into one narrative, sfar binds a territory into one polity, mispar and sofer bind numbers into one ordered system, and a sefer binds all it contains into one entity, and this holds of all books, sifrei kodesh among them.
- Professor Raymond P. Dougherty of Yale wrote to explain how sefer grows out of the core sense "to count": counting is a mental act, memory is unreliable, so one falls back on a written tally, and from there sofer comes to mean scribe and sefer a record, a letter, a book.
Avodah Zarah 24b notes that the Persian for sefer is dvir, which is how it explains the city Dvir being renamed Kiryas Sefer (Shoftim 1:11).
Megillah (מגילה)
Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim traces it to the biliteral ג-ל, round, with gal (a heap), golel (to roll), galgal (wheel), gulgoles (skull), and magal (sickle): a megillah is sheets of parchment sewn together and rolled up. He puts gilayon here too, a single sheet written on and rolled, whence the blank margins of a document and then the glosses written in them.
Rabbi Shmuel Strashun notices that when Bava Basra 14b lists the books of Tanach, it says Sefer Tehillim and Megillas Esther and uses neither word for any of the other twenty-two. He postulates that sefer of Tehillim marks its affinity to the Chumash, which is likewise divided into five and whose verse count is comparable (see Kiddushin 30a); and megillah of Esther as marking the requirement that the Esther read on Purim be written on its own scroll and not one containing other books (Radak to Yirmiyahu 36:1; Megillah 19a). Unqualified megillah in rabbinic literature means Esther, and the berachah is al mikra megillah. Rabbi Shmuel Strashun therefore finds Maseches Sofrim 14:3 difficult, since it has that berachah recited over any of the five megillos; the Vilna Gaon (Biur HaGra to Orach Chaim 490) nonetheless adopts that practice, still followed in many communities in Eretz Yisrael.
The claim that a sefer rolls on two wooden pins and a megillah on one is untraced: Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein reports that he understood the difference that way from childhood, that he later looked for a source and came up empty-handed, and that he would welcome one.
Iggeret (אגרת)
Esther calls itself an iggeret (Esther 9:26-29), and Shmuel (Megillah 7a) holds it "was said to be read, not said to be written." Iggeres and its variations appear only in the later, post-Exilic books, Esther, Ezra and Nechemiah, and Divrei HaYamim II. That distribution fits the view of Professor Avi Hurvitz: he takes iggeret and sefer as synonyms, both meaning "letter," and holds that the choice between them reflects nothing but the stage of the language, sefer the older variant and iggeret the later one.
Rabbi Dr. Jose Faur proffers a different account, from Divrei HaYamim II 30:6, where Chizkiyahu sends runners with igros calling for teshuvah: an iggeret is a government decision publicized aloud by a royal herald reciting from a written memorandum, with no copies released to the public, so that one could say of it "said to be read, not said to be written," whereas a sefer is an officially published work from which copies may be made. He notes that a herald would typically unfold the whole scroll before reading, and that an iggeret would not be read with the taamim; from which he concludes that reading Esther today, with the taamim but with the scroll first unfolded entire, is a synthesis or compromise of iggeret and sefer.
Ritva distinguishes shtar from iggeret by durability: a shtar is written to last, ostensibly so as to serve as evidence of what it records, while an iggeret is not. Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik applies the same sort of axis to sefer against iggeret (see Yirmiyahu 32:14), though without quoting Ritva directly, and uses it to explain Megillah 19a, where Rav holds that although Esther is called an iggeret, which would allow sewing its sheets with linen thread, since it is also called a sefer it must be sewn with sinews, the more lasting material. (Against this, Sotah 13a uses iggeret for a document attesting a sale, which is closer to a shtar.)
In Mishnaic Hebrew iggeret typically means a writ issued by a beis din: a get (Gittin 6:5, and Gittin 9:3 gives sefer teiruchin, iggeres shevukin and get pitturin as synonyms), an iggeres mered issued against a wife who refuses her wifely duties (Yevamos 64a), an iggeres bikores announcing intent to sell property (Kesubos 11:5). It also covers halachic letters sent from Eretz Yisrael to Bavel by Ravin (Kesubos 49b, Bava Metzia 114a, Niddah 68a; see also Shabbos 115a, Bava Basra 41b, Sanhedrin 29a), and Shabbos 19a speaks of sending an iggeret by post.
On etymology the authorities split.
- Rabbeinu Tam (in Tosafos to Kesubos 100b): an iggeret is a document issued by one beis din to be sent to another. In line with that, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Leiter of Kiryat Sefer suggests it may derive from ג-ר, temporary residence, since a document written to be sent elsewhere has only a short-lived first home.
- Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim offers a similar understanding, a document moved about a province so as to publicize its contents thoroughly, which is closer still to Rabbi Faur.
- Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer derives it instead from agur, a collection stored long term, so an iggeret is a document meant to be preserved, which on the surface, Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein says, seems to contradict Rabbi Faur and Rabbi Soloveitchik.
Malbim's summary is the compact one: an iggeret is a document between two parties; a sefer tells (mesaper) about a subject; a megillah is written to be rolled (golel); a gilayon is written to be revealed (gilui) and not rolled or folded; ksav is anything written.
Machzor (מחזור) and kuntres (קונטרס)
In early medieval sources a Tanach codex is a machzor and sefer means the scroll. The name is from ח-ז-ר, to return, since one can return to a codex's beginning at once, unlike a scroll that must be rolled from one end to the other. The other medieval word for a codex was mitzchaf, apparently borrowed from the Arabic mishaf; it fell out of use, and machzor came to mean the yom tov siddur, now recalling the returning cycle of the year's chagim.
A kuntres, often rendered "notebook," is in current speech a short treatise not weighty enough to stand as its own sefer; the Tosafists typically call Rashi's Gemara commentary the kuntres, and though Rashi does not use the word of his own work he uses it of his rebbi's commentary (to Gittin 82a).
- Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia, Rabbi Ernest Klein and Rabbi Daniel Sperber derive it from the Greek for commentaries, κομμεντάριον, Rabbi Sperber explaining the term from the records of the public register that documented official government acts.
- Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur (Sefer HaTishbi) derives it instead from the Latin quinternus, a quire of five sheets of paper.
Also discussed in
- Borderספר / sfar, sefer (ס-פ-ר)
- Countingספר / sefer, sofer, mispar (ס-פ-ר)
- Documentשטר / shtar
- Gatheringאגרת / אגור iggeret / agur (א-ג-ר)
- Haircutספר / sfar, sippur, sapar (ס-פ-ר family)
- Names of Shlomo HaMelechאגור / agur (א-ג-ר)
- Returnמחזור / machzor (ח-ז-ר)
- Scribeסופר / sofer (ס-פ-ר)
- Tellingספר / ספור sefer / sippur (ס-פ-ר)
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
א-ג-ר
To gather; and אִגֶּרֶת, a letter, is also from gathering. But in אֲגוֹרַת כֶּסֶף, a silver coin, the alef is added, and the word is like גרה, gerah.
Gathering
אָגְרָה בַקָּצִיר מַאֲכָלָהּ (Mishlei 6:8), she gathers her food in the harvest, and וְיַיִן לֹא תִשְׁתֶּה וְלֹא תֶאֱגֹר (Devarim 28:39), and wine you shall not drink nor gather: its sense is gathering, and so is everything from this root in Tanach.
The letter
וְאִגֶּרֶת פְּתוּחָה (Nechemiah 6:5), and an open letter: its sense is known, the document that is sent, and it too is from the sense of gathering: because many matters are gathered into it, the scroll is called אגרת. The plural is וְגַם אִגְּרוֹת כָּתַב עַל אֶפְרַיִם וּמְנַשֶּׁה (Divrei HaYamim II 30:1), and he also wrote letters to Ephraim and Menasheh.
The coin
But in לַאֲגוֹרַת כֶּסֶף (Shmuel I 2:36), for a coin of silver, the alef is added, and the word is like גרה, gerah, and its sense is a silver coin; so the Targum renders it, לְמָעָה דִכְסַף, for a maah of silver.
אָֽגְרָה בַקָּצִיר מַֽאֲכָלָֽהּ (משלי ו, ח), וְיַיִן לֹֽא־תִשְׁתֶּה וְלֹא תֶֽאֱגֹר (דברים כח, לט), ענינו ענין אסיפה, וכן כל אשר תמצא במקרא מעקר זה וְאִגֶּרֶת פְּתוּחָה (נחמיה ו, ה), ענינה ידוע והוא הספר השלוח, וגם היא מלשון אסיפה, לפי שאוספין בה דברים הרבה נקראת המגילה אגרת. והקבוץ וְגַם־אִגְּרוֹת כָּתַב עַל־אֶפְרַיִם וּמְנַשֶּׁה (דברי הימים ב' ל, א) אך לַֽאֲגוֹרַת כֶּסֶף (שמואל א' ב, לו), האל"ף נוסף והוא כמו גרה וענינו מטבע כסף, וכן פירש המתרגם לְמָעָה דִכְסַף.
ח-ז-ר
The חֲזִיר, the pig, which he calls known and does not explain; in the Mishnah the root is much used for חזרה, going back.
The whole entry
וְאֶֽת־ הַֽחֲזִיר (Vayikra 11:7), and the pig, which he marks ידוע, known, and nothing further. He adds that in the Mishnah they used this root much in the language of חזרה, going back.
וְאֶֽת־הַֽחֲזִיר (ויקרא יא, ז), ידוע. ובמשנה נשתמשו הרבה בזה השרש בלשון חזרה.
כ-ת-ב
To write. The nouns כְּתָב and מִכְתָּב are each both the writing itself and a letter sent; and כְּתֹבֶת קַֽעֲקַע, a mark gouged into the flesh and written in.
Writing, and what is written
וְכָתַב לָהּ סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת (Devarim 24:1), and he writes her a bill of severance; וְהִיא כְתוּבָה פָּנִים וְאָחוֹר (Yechezkel 2:10), and it was written front and back; כָּל־ הַכָּתוּב לַחַיִּים (Yeshayahu 4:3), everyone written down for life; וְכָתוֹב בַּסֵּפֶר וְחָתוֹם (Yirmiyahu 32:44), writing it in the deed and sealing it. וְזֶה יִכְתֹּב יָדוֹ (Yeshayahu 44:5) is יכתוב בידו: and this one will write with his hand.
What Yehoshua wrote
וַיִּכְתֹּב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה בְּסֵפֶר תּוֹרַת אֱלֹהִים (Yehoshua 24:26), and Yehoshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God: Yonasan renders that he wrote them וְאַצְנְעִינוּן בְּסֵפֶר אוֹרַיְתָא, and laid them away in the book of the Torah. Chazal are divided over it (Makkos 11a): some say it speaks of the eight pesukim from the death of Moshe to the end of the Torah, that Yehoshua wrote them in the Torah; others say it speaks of the parsha of the cities of refuge, that Yehoshua wrote it in his own sefer as it stands in the Torah. By the plain sense of the pasuk it would seem that what Yehoshua wrote was the covenant he cut with Yisrael, and then its meaning is as Yonasan rendered, since the words of the covenant cannot have been written in the Sefer Torah.
The noun for the writing itself
הַכֹּל בִּכְתָב (Divrei HaYamim I 28:19), the whole of it in writing; מְדִינָה וּמְדִינָה כִּכְתָבָהּ (Esther 3:12), every province in its own script. With a mem added, וְהַמִּכְתָּב מִכְתַּב אֱלֹהִים הוּא (Shemos 32:16), and the writing was the writing of Hashem.
The letter sent
כְתָב אֲשֶׁר־נִכְתָּב בְּשֵׁם־הַמֶּלֶךְ (Esther 8:8), a writ written in the king's name; and with a mem, וַיָּבֹא אֵלָיו מִכְתָּב מֵאֵֽלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא (Divrei HaYamim II 21:12), and a letter came to him from Eliyahu HaNavi. In the passive, בְּשֵׁם הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרשׁ נִכְתָּב (Esther 3:12), in the name of King Achashverosh it was written.
Where the pointing is disputed
וְעַל־לִבָּם אֶכְתֲּבֶנָּה (Yirmiyahu 31:33), I will write it on their heart: Ben Naftali points the tav with a sheva and a patach, Ben Asher with a kamatz chatuf.
Cut into the flesh
וּכְתֹבֶת קַֽעֲקַע (Vayikra 19:28), an incised writing: a man gouges into his flesh and writes in the incision. In the heavy form, וּֽמְכַתְּבִים עָמָל כִּתֵּֽבוּ (Yeshayahu 10:1), and the writers who have written oppression; and it may be that the verb there reaches a third party.
וְכָתַב לָהּ סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת (דברים כד, א), מִֽסִּפְרְךָ אֲשֶׁר כָּתָֽבְתָּ (שמות לב, לב), קַח־לְךָ מְגִלַּת־סֵפֶר וְכָֽתַבְתָּ אֵלֶיהָ (ירמיה לו, ב), וְהִיא כְתוּבָה פָּנִים וְאָחוֹר (יחזקאל ב, י), וְזֶה יִכְתֹּב יָדוֹ לַֽי"י (ישעיה מד, ה), פירוש יכתוב בידו. וַיִּכְתֹּב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה בְּסֵפֶר תּוֹרַת אֱלֹהִים (יהושע כד, כו), תרגם יונתן וּכְתַב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ יַת פִּתְגָמַיָא הָאִלֵין וְאַצְנְעִינוּן בְּסֵפֶר אוֹרַיְתָא דַייָ. ונחלקו בו רבותינו ז"ל (מכות יא, ע"א) יש אומרים כי על שמנה פסוקים מן וימת משה עד סוף התורה אמר כי יהושע כתבם בתורה. ויש אומרים כי על פרשת ערי מקלט אמר שכתבם יהושע בספרו כמו שכתובים בתורה. ולפי פשט הפסוק יראה כי על דבר הברית שכרת עם ישראל אמר שֶׁכָּתַב ויהיה פירושו כמו שתרגם יונתן, כי לא יתכן שכתב דברי הברית בספר התורה. כָּל־הַכָּתוּב לַחַיִּים (ישעיה ד, ג), וְכָתוֹב בַּסֵּפֶר וְחָתוֹם (ירמיה לב, מד), י"י יִסְפֹּר בִּכְתוֹב עַמִּים (תהלים פז, ו). וְעַל־לִבָּם אֶכְתֲּבֶנָּה (ירמיה לא, לג), בשוא ופתח התי"ו לבן נפתלי, ולבן אשר אֶכְתֲּבֶנָּה בקמץ חטף. והשם עלה כתיבה עצמה הַכֹּל בִּכְתָב מִיַּד י"י עָלַי הִשְׂכִּיל (דברי הימים א' כח, יט) מְדִינָה וּמְדִינָה כִּכְתָבָהּ (אסתר ג, יב). ובתוספת מ"ם וְהַמִּכְתָּב מִכְתַּב אֱלֹהִים הוּא (שמות לב, טז). והשם על הספר השלוח כִּֽי־כְתָב אֲשֶׁר־נִכְתָּב בְּשֵׁם־הַמֶּלֶךְ (אסתר ח, ח). ובתוספת מ"ם וַיָּבֹא אֵלָיו מִכְתָּב מֵאֵֽלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא (דברי הימים ב' כא, יב). והנפעל בְּשֵׁם הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרשׁ נִכְתָּב (אסתר ג, יב), בָּאָרֶץ יִכָּתֵבוּ (ירמיה יו, יג). והפעל הכבד [פִּעֵל] וּֽמְכַתְּבִים עָמָל כִּתֵּֽבוּ (ישעיה י, א). ואפשר שהוא יוצא לשלישי. וּכְתֹבֶת קַֽעֲקַע (ויקרא יט, כח), פירוש שיקעקע בבשרו ויכתוב באותו החרות.
ס-פ-ר
To count; to tell; and to write, a סֵפֶר being a book and a סֹפֵר a scribe. In another sense, סַפִּיר, a stone the authorities identify differently.
Counting
סָפַר אֶת הָעָם (Shmuel II 24:10), he counted the people, and וְסָפַרְתָּ לְךָ (Vayikra 25:8), you shall count for yourself. אַיֵּה סֹפֵר אַיֵּה שֹׁקֵל (Yeshayahu 33:18), where is he who counted, where is he who weighed, he explains: you will still fear, even though Melech HaMashiach has already come, and your heart will still muse on the terror of the kings of the nations, who counted and weighed the silver they took from Yisrael as tax, or counted Yisrael by the head and took the tax from them by weight. The nouns are מִסְפַּר, a number, and הַסְּפָר, the count itself, whose plural he gives as בִּינֹתִי בַּסְּפָרִים (Daniel 9:2), I understood by the counts. His father files that pasuk under writing, and on that reading the סְפָרִים are the deed of purchase and the open deed that Yirmiyahu wrote. The adjective is in כִּי לֹא יָדַעְתִּי סְפֹרוֹת (Tehillim 71:15), for I do not know סְפֹרוֹת: it describes the righteousness and the salvation the pasuk has just named, I did not know that they could be counted; or its singular is סְפוֹרָה, and the sense is that I do not know numbers for them.
Telling
In the sense of telling and relating, ספור and הגדה, the verb always takes the heavy form: סַפְּרוּ נָא לִי (Bereishis 40:8), tell it to me. That form can still mean counting, as אֲסַפֵּר כָּל עַצְמוֹתָי (Tehillim 22:18), I count all my bones, from how lean I have grown. The difference between telling and relating he sets out under נָגַד.
Writing
The sense of all of these, he says, is writing: סֵפֶר, a book or a written document, and סֹפֵר, a scribe, as בָּרוּךְ בֶּן נֵרִיָּהוּ הַסֹּפֵר (Yirmiyahu 36:32), Baruch son of Neriyahu the scribe. לֹא יָדַעְתִּי סֵפֶר (Yeshayahu 29:12) he glosses: I do not know how to read it. Among them are נֹדִי סָפַרְתָּה אָתָּה (Tehillim 56:9), You have recorded my wandering, and יִסְפֹּר בִּכְתוֹב עַמִּים (Tehillim 87:6), Hashem shall record in the writing of the peoples. Some take those two in the second sense, telling; the two senses lie close, since writing a book is itself the telling of the matter. And זֶה סֵפֶר תּוֹלְדֹת אָדָם (Bereishis 5:1), this is the סֵפֶר of the generations of Adam, can be read as a word of telling.
Three readings of Iyov 38:37
מִי יְסַפֵּר שְׁחָקִים בְּחָכְמָה (Iyov 38:37), who in wisdom יְסַפֵּר the skies, is read three ways, and he does not choose. Some take it from the sense he has just named, telling. Rabbi Yonah takes it from writing. Radak's father takes it from סַפִּיר: on that reading He made them like sapphire, as in וְתַחַת רַגְלָיו כְּמַעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר (Shemos 24:10), and under His feet like the work of a sapphire brick.
What a sapphire is
Which stone it is he leaves open. Some say the precious stone called zafir in the vernacular, and if so, the comparison in סַפִּיר גִּזְרָתָם (Eichah 4:7), their form was sapphire, is one of worth and greatness and not of appearance, since a man is praised for his appearance only by redness or whiteness. Ibn Ezra says it is a precious red stone. The Gaon says it is white, the one called crystal. And the Midrash in Eichah Rabbah tells of a man who went to sell a sapphire in Rome: the buyer set it on an anvil and struck it with a hammer, and the anvil split and the hammer broke while the stone stood where it was. By that midrash, he says, it is the diamond, white and clear.
אַֽחֲרֵי־כֵן סָפַר אֶת־הָעָם (שמואל ב' כד, י), וְסָֽפְרָה־לָּהּ שִׁבְעַת יָמִים (ויקרא טו, כח), וְסָֽפַרְתָּ לְךָ (ויקרא כה, ח), שִׁבְעָה שָֽׁבֻעֹת תִּסְפָּר־לָךְ (דברים טז, ט). אַיֵּה סֹפֵר אַיֵּה שֹׁקֵל אַיֵּה סֹפֵר אֶת־הַמִּגְדָּלִֽים (ישעיה לג, יח), כלומר שתירא ותפחד עדיין אף על פי שכבר בא מלך המשיח עדיין יהגה לבך אימה ממלכי האומות שהם סופרים ושוקלים הכסף שהיו לוקחים מס מישראל או שהיו סופרים לישראל לגלגלת ולוקחים המס מהם במשקל. סִפְרוּ מִגְדָּלֶֽיהָ (תהלים מח, יג). והנפעל אֲשֶׁר לֹֽא־יִסָּֽפְרוּ וְלֹא יִמָּנוּ מֵרֹֽב (מלכים א' ח, ה). והשם בתוספת מ"ם אֶת־מִסְפַּר יָמֶיךָ אֲמַלֵּֽא (שמות כג, כו). ובלא תוספת אַֽחֲרֵי הַסְּפָר אֲשֶׁר סְפָרָם דָּוִיד (דברי הימים ב' ב, טז). והקבוץ ממנו בִּינֹתִי בַּסְּפָרִים (דניאל ט, ב). והשם בענין המקור וּמִסְפָּר אֶת־רֹבַע יִשְׂרָאֵל (במדבר כג, י), כלומר ולספור רובע ישראל, כי הוא קמוץ ואיננו סמוך, ועוד מלת אֶת מורה על שאיננו סמוך, אם כן הנכון בו שיהיה שם במקום מקור כמו וּלְמַסַּע אֶת־הַֽמַּֽחֲנֽוֹת (במדבר י, ב). והתאר כִּי לֹא יָדַעְתִּי סְפֹרֽוֹת (תהלים עא, טו), והוא תאר לצדקתך ותשועתך שהזכיר אמר לא ידעתי שיוכלו להיות ספורות. או יהיה יחידה סְפוֹרָה בשקל בְּשֹוֹרָה, כלומר לא ידעתי להם מספרים. ענין הכל והדומה להם מנין. ובא פעל הכבד [פִּעֵל] מזה הענין אֲסַפֵּר כָּל־עַצְמוֹתָי (תהלים כב, יח), פירוש אמנה כל עצמותי מרוב כחשותי. סִפַּרְתִּי כֹּל מִשְׁפְּטֵי־פִֽיךָ (תהלים קיט, יג), סַפֵּר אַתָּה לְמַעַן תִּצְדָּֽק (ישעיה מג, כו), סַפְּרוּ־נָא לִֽי (בראשית מ, ח). ושלא נזכר פעלו [פֻּעַל] אֲשֶׁר לֹֽא־סֻפַּר לָהֶם (ישעיה נב, טו). והשם אֶת־מִסְפַּר הַֽחֲלוֹם וְאֶת־שִׁבְרוֹ (שופטים ז, טו), כלם והדומה להם ענין ספור והגדה [וכבר כתבנו בשרש נָגַד ההפרש שיש בין ספור להגדה]. וזה הענין לעולם מהבנין הכבד הדגוש. ויש מפרשים מזה הענין מִֽי־יְסַפֵּר שְׁחָקִים בְּחָכְמָה (איוב לח, לז). והחכם רבי יונה פירשו מענין כתיבה. ואדוני אבי ז"ל פירשו מענין סַפִּיר רוצה לומר שעשאם כעין ספיר כמו שאמר וְתַחַת רַגְלָיו כְּמַֽעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר (שמות כד, י). וכן פירש מזה אָז רָאָהּ וַיְסַפְּרָהּ (איוב כח, כז). וָֽאֶכְתֹּב בַּסֵּפֶר (ירמיה לב, י), בחמש נקדות. בְּסֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (דברים כח, סא), אֶל־יוֹדֵעַ הסֵפֶר [סֵפֶר] (ישעיה כט, יא), כְּבֹא הַסֵּפֶר הַזֶּה אֲלֵיכֶם (מלכים ב' י, ב), לֹא יָדַעְתִּי סֵֽפֶר (ישעיה כט, יב), לא ידעתי לקראו. מִֽסִּפְרְךָ אֲשֶׁר כָּתָֽבְתָּ (שמות לב, לב). וכתב אדוני אבי ז"ל מזה בִּינֹתִי בַּסְּפָרִים (דניאל ט, ב), והם ספר המקנה וספר הגלוי שכתב ירמיהו. ובה"א הנקבה סִפְרָה, ועם הכנוי הֲלֹא בְּסִפְרָתֶֽךָ (תהלים נו, ט). בָּרוּךְ בֶּן־נֵֽרִיָּהוּ הַסֹּפֵר (ירמיה לו, לב), וַיִּקָּרְאוּ סֹפְרֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ (אסתר ג, יב), נֹדִי סָפַרְתָּה אָתָּה (תהלים נו, ט), י"י יִסְפֹּר בִּכְתוֹב עַמִּים (תהלים פז, ו). ענין הכל והדומה להם ענין כתיבה. וּֽלֲלְמְּדָם סֵפֶר וּלְשׁוֹן כַּשְׂדִּֽים (דניאל א, ד), פירוש כתיבת כשדים ולשון כשדים. ויש מפרשים נֹדִי סָפַרְתָּה אָתָּה, י"י יִסְפּוֹר מענין השני. ושני הענינים קרובים כי כתיבת הספר הוא סיפור הדברים. ויש לפרש זֶה סֵפֶר תּֽוֹלְדֹת אָדָם (בראשית ה, א), לשון ספור. וענין אחר נֹפֶךְ סַפִּיר וְיָֽהֲלֹֽם (שמות לט, יא), כְּמַֽעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר (שמות כד, י), סַפִּיר גִּזְרָתָֽם (איכה ד, ז), יש מפרשים האבן היקרה שקורין לו בלע"ז צפי"ר, ואם כן הוא אין והערך אליו במראה אלא ביקר וגדולה כמו המסולאים בפז כי לא יערכו האדם לשבח במראה אלא באודם או בלובן. והחכם רבי אברהם אבן עזרא פירש כי היא אבן אדומה יקרה כמו שכתבנו בשרש לָבֵן. והגאון פירש כי הספיר לבן. ואמר שהוא שקורין בלע"ז קרישֹט"ל. ובמדרש (איכה רבתי א"ב רביעאה) מעשה באדם אחד שהלך למכור ספיר ברומי אמר לו הלוקח על מנת לבדקו אקחנו נתנו על גבי הסדין והתחיל מכה עליו בפטיש נבקע הסדן ונחלק הפטיש והספיר עמד במקומו ולפי זה המדרש היא האבן שקורין לה דיאמנט"י והיא לבנה וזכה.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Rav Pappenheim on this root
Cheshek Shlomo
ג-ר
In English, our account of his entry
Dragging (גרירה): a thing drawn along from place to place, not rolled; of the living, one with no fixed home who moves from place to place, a גר, sojourner.
Flowing slowly
Of things without life, dragging is slow flowing: וכמים הנגרים (Shmuel II 14:14), "like water that runs off"; ויגר מזה (Tehillim 75:9), "and He poured out of this"; עיני נגרה (Eichah 3:49), "my eye runs". What moves slowly is נוזל, flowing; what comes down drop by drop is נוטף, dripping; and what comes down slowly, neither fast nor drop by drop, is said to יגר, run down. So פרץ נחל מעם גר (Iyov 28:4), "a torrent broke out from where it trickled": from a place where the water only ran gently, a rushing stream burst out.
גרם, the bone with marrow
With a mem added, a bone that holds marrow is גרם, named for the marrow and the fatty juice that runs into it; a bone with no marrow is עץ, wood, since it has dried out like wood, as he explains at the root עץ. יששכר חמר גרם (Bereishis 49:14), "Yissachar is a donkey of bone", is a donkey whose bones have marrow in them. The verb, ועצמתיהם יגרם (Bamidbar 24:8), "and their bones he will drain", is doing something to their bones so as to suck out the marrow in them; and ואת חרשיה תגרמי (Yechezkel 23:34), "and you will suck its shards dry", is sucking out the juice that has run into them. אל גרם המעלות (Melachim II 9:13), "onto the gerem of the steps": the gerem is, as it seems, a kind of gutter into which the water off the roof runs.
גרגר, a berry
So too the berry: שלשה גרגרים בראש אמיר (Yeshayahu 17:6), "three berries at the top of the bough". Each single berry of a fruit, into which the juice runs, is a גרגר.
Stones dragged about
כאבני גר מנפצות (Yeshayahu 27:9), "like stones of gir, smashed", are stones dragged about over the face of the field with no one to gather them. The verb is והגרתי לגי אבניה (Michah 1:6), "and I will drag her stones down into the valley"; and from the same sense, והגרם על ידי חרב (Yirmiyahu 18:21), "and drag them off by the power of the sword", and וכסאו לארץ מגרתה (Tehillim 89:45), "and his throne You dragged down to the ground", where מגרתה is like הגרת, You dragged, the mem standing in place of a heh.
גרון and גרגרת, the throat
גרון, the throat, is from dragging: קרא בגרון (Yeshayahu 58:1), "call out with the throat", so named because food and drink are dragged down from there into the belly. The windpipe, called גרגרת, bears the name too, because it is joined to the גרון: וענקים לגרגרתך (Mishlei 1:9), "and necklaces for your neck", since the גרגרת shows more on the outside than the גרון, which is the gullet.
גרה, the cud
The food dragged to the throat is גרה, the cud: מעלה גרה (Vayikra 11:4), "brings up the cud".
Small coins, גרה and אגורת
A small coin is also גרה: עשרים גרה השקל (Shemos 30:13), "the shekel is twenty gerah". It is named for dragging, because it is dragged constantly from hand to hand and never stays fixed in its place, unlike the heavy coins that are stored away in a treasury. The same is לאגורת כסף (Shmuel I 2:36), "for a piece of silver", a small coin of whatever kind.
אגרת, a letter
אגרת, as את אגרת הפורים (Esther 9:29), "this letter of Purim", is a writing passed through the whole country from man to man to make its matter known in public. In parentheses he adds צירקולער, a circular.
The saw and the carpenter
The saw is מגרה, as מגררות במגרה (Melachim I 7:9), "sawn with a saw", named for the way it is used: not lifted like other tools but dragged over the wood, which splits apart. After this tool the language of the Talmud calls the חרש, the craftsman, נגר: נגר ולא בר נגר (Avodah Zarah 50b), "a carpenter and not a carpenter's son", the craftsman who works with the saw. A craftsman is always called after the tool he does most of his work with: the tailor is חייט after the חוט, the thread he sews with, and the shoemaker רצען after the מרצע, the awl; so the חרש is נגר because most of his work is with the saw.
אגר, gathering
Also from גרר is the verb אגר, gathering: a gathering that comes by dragging, collecting different things from different places, a little at a time. אגרה בקציר מאכלה (Mishlei 6:8), "she gathers her food in the harvest"; אגר בקיץ (Mishlei 10:5), "he gathers in summer"; ויין לא תשתה ולא תאגר (Devarim 28:39), "and wine you shall neither drink nor gather". The noun is מגרה: נהרסו ממגרות (Yoel 1:17), "the granaries are torn down", and העוד הזרע במגורה (Chaggai 2:19), "is the seed still in the granary?", a store gathered by dragging. Sometimes the alef drops: יגרהו בחרמו (Chavakuk 1:15), "he gathers him in his net", that is, יאגרהו ויאספנו, he gathers and collects him; יגורו עלי עזים (Tehillim 59:4), "the mighty gather against me", gathered against me from every side; and על דגן ותירוש יתגוררו (Hoshea 7:14), "over grain and wine they gather". The noun from it is מגור, as מגור מסביב (Tehillim 31:14), "dread on every side", formed like מקום, place, and מרום, height.
גרן against מגורה
With a nun added, גרן, the threshing floor: גרן ויקב (Hoshea 9:2), "threshing floor and winepress"; כתבואת גרן (Bamidbar 18:30), "as the produce of the threshing floor". It is the place where grain not yet threshed is gathered. That is how it differs from the מגורה: the מגורה is the store of threshed grain, the גרן the store of unthreshed grain and of the sheaves.
גור, to fear
From גר in its sense of gathering, the verb גור was borrowed for fear and dread: ויגר מואב (Bamidbar 22:3), "and Moav was in dread"; לא תגורו מפני איש (Devarim 1:17), "do not fear any man". Either it is gathering in to oneself, for fear of being exposed and spreading outward; or it is the gathering and collecting of all one's thoughts so as not to come to harm, as with יראה and מורא, fear, which, as he will explain in their place, come from seeing and watching.
מורא against מגור
מורא applies when the one afraid knows the one way he could be harmed and need only watch that way alone. מגור applies when the ways of harm are many, and he must gather all his thoughts and consider every way harm could possibly reach him. How the words of fear, מורא, מגור, חיל, אימתה ופחד (fear, dread, trembling, terror and fright), differ from each other is left to their own places.
גרה, provoking; and חרחור
Also from dragging is the verb גרה, provoking and quarrel: אל תתגרו בם (Devarim 2:5), "do not provoke them"; ואל תתגר בם מלחמה (Devarim 2:9), "and do not provoke them to war"; מתגרת ידך (Tehillim 39:11), "by the strife of Your hand"; איש חמה יגרה מדון (Mishlei 15:18), "a hot-tempered man stirs up strife", an act that drags quarrel and strife after it. It is close to חרחור, as אל תתחר במרעים (Tehillim 37:1), "do not grow heated over evildoers". But חרחור is from חרון, burning anger: the intent to do something that brings on burning wrath. גירוי, provoking, is the intent to do things that will draw one's fellow into dispute, and so it is a cause that drags the quarrel after it as its result. In the language of the Talmud a cause is גורם: זה וזה גורם (Pesachim 26b), "this and that both cause it"; דבר הגורם לממון (Pesachim 5b), "a thing that brings about money".
גר against תושב and אזרח
Of the living, dragging gives the noun גר: כי גר יהיה זרעך (Bereishis 15:13), "your seed will be strangers"; גר ותושב (Bereishis 23:4), "a stranger and a settler"; האזרח והגר (Vayikra 16:29), "the native and the stranger". גר describes one who sojourns in a land not his own, the opposite of the אזרח, who was born in the land where he is. A תושב is one not born here who has taken up his dwelling like one of the land's native-born; a גר is one not born here who also has no fixed home to settle in for all the days of his life.
אזרח, from rising
אזרח is from זריחה, rising. The verb זרח marks the first appearing of anything, as והצרעת זרחה במצחו (Divrei HaYamim II 26:19), "and the tzaraas broke out on his forehead"; so the sun's first appearing on the horizon is called מזרח, as מזרח השמש (Yehoshua 1:15), "the rising of the sun". זריחה is not said once the sun already shines on the land, only of its first coming out and appearing on the horizon. So one who lives in the land of his birth is called אזרח, one found in the place where he rose and first appeared in the world. ומתערה כאזרח רענן (Tehillim 37:35), "spreading out like a fresh native", means like the rising, the first appearing, of a fresh tree, which right from the start of its growth is thick and stout and full of branches; there אזרח is a word that describes, not a noun.
גור, to sojourn and to dwell
The verb from גר: ויגר אברהם (Bereishis 21:34), "and Avraham sojourned"; האחד בא לגור (Bereishis 19:9), "this one came to sojourn"; לגור בארץ באנו (Bereishis 47:4), "we have come to sojourn in the land"; ארץ מגריהם (Shemos 6:4), "the land of their sojournings". It means dwelling that is not fixed. Sometimes it is said of fixed dwelling as well: אגורה באהלך עולמים (Tehillim 61:5), "I will dwell in Your tent forever"; לא יוסיפו לגור (Eichah 4:15), "they will dwell there no more".
גור, a cub
From dwelling, the young of wild beasts is גור: גור אריה יהודה (Bereishis 49:9), "Yehudah is a lion's cub"; רבתה גוריה (Yechezkel 19:2), "she reared her cubs"; היניקו גוריהן (Eichah 4:3), "they suckled their young". It is called גור because it dwells in its den and its hole and does not yet go out to roam the land for prey, the grown beasts bringing it food. So ותעל אחד מגריה כפיר היה וילמד לטרף טרף (Yechezkel 19:3), "she brought up one of her cubs, he became a young lion and learned to tear prey": she brought one of her cubs up out of the hole, and it grew and became a כפיר, the lion that roams the villages, the כפרים, for food, and only afterwards learned to prey. Since the young lion preys more fiercely than the old, the tribes are likened, where preying is meant, to a lion's cub, a young lion, even though as long as it is a cub it does not prey.
Rav Shlomo Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo (Shorashim), first printed from his manuscript by Moshe Tzuriel, Bnei Brak 5777. The English is our account of his entry.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Between Books and Scrolls," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 19 February 2022.
Cited in the essay: Shemos 32:32; Shoftim 1:11; Yirmiyahu 32:14 and 36:1 with Radak; Esther 9:26-29; Divrei HaYamim II 30:6; Mishnah Yevamos 15:3, Gittin 6:5 and 9:3, Kesubos 11:5; Bava Basra 14b and 41b; Kiddushin 30a; Megillah 7a and 19a; Yevamos 64a; Kesubos 49b and 100b with Tosafos; Bava Metzia 114a; Niddah 68a; Shabbos 19a, 115a; Sanhedrin 29a; Sotah 13a; Avodah Zarah 24b; Gittin 82a with Rashi; Maseches Sofrim 14:3 with Biur HaGra to Orach Chaim 490; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim; Sefer HaTishbi; Raymond P. Dougherty.