nature
donkey
At a glance
In short
These are different animals, not stylistic variants. Chamor is the domesticated donkey and, in Biblical Hebrew, of either sex (Radak): donkey. Aton, Bilaam's animal throughout Bamidbar 22, is the she-donkey according to Radak: the jenny or she-ass. Shadal holds that it first meant the female of the wild pere and later took in the domestic female too, and Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim rejects the feminine reading and makes it the donkey at its full strength. Pere (Aramaic arud) is the undomesticated wild ass. Radak classes the chamor as a behemah and the pere as a chayah. Ayir is the young one, a foal, and Zecharyah 9:9 puts chamor and ayir in one pasuk. Pered is the mule.
Distinctions
The English words, before the Hebrew ones
English has many overlapping names for what is often just called the domestic donkey. The older word is ass, from Latin asinus, with cognates across Indo-European: Greek onos, and possibly the Sumerian anse; English keeps others in onager (Middle English for a wild donkey), easel (a wooden frame that looks like a donkey) and asinine. Donkey is late, first attested in the 1780s, of uncertain etymology and with no clear cognates; it displaced ass over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as ass turned pejorative. Rabbi Ernest Klein proposes that donkey comes from Old English dun/dunn (Welsh dwn), "brown," with the k and y as double diminutives, and that the spelling was influenced by monkey. By sex and age: an adult male is a jack or jackass, an adult female a jenny or jennet, a young one of either sex a foal. The two hybrids matter for the last section here: a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse, while a hinny (Latin hinnus) comes of a male horse bred to a female donkey.
Chamor (חמור)
First at Bereishis 12:16, among Pharaoh's gifts to Avraham, and roughly a hundred times after. Grammatically masculine, but Radak (Michlol, Shaar Dikduk HaPe'alim, and to Shmuel II 19:27) holds it covers a donkey of either sex. Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg (HaKsav VeHaKabbalah to Vayikra 22:28) supports him from peter chamor (Shemos 13:13, 34:20): the firstborn comes from the womb of a chamor, and the mother is necessarily female. Rabbinic Hebrew coined the explicit feminine chamorah, once in the Mishnah (Bechoros 1:2) and several times in the Gemara (Moed Katan 12a and others), never found in Tanach.
Chamor is basic enough to have cognates in all the major Semitic languages: Aramaic and Syriac chamara, Ugaritic hmr, Arabic himar, Akkadian imeru. That said, the Hebrew lexicographers all agree it derives from the triliteral ח-מ-ר, which also gives wine, brown, clay and mortar, a pile, and chomer, a unit of area.
- Rabbi Aharon Marcus takes "brown" as the core, so the word names the reddish-brown hue of many donkeys.
- As a pack animal the chamor represents the wholly material side of creation, hence the tie to "clay and material".
- others tie it to "wine," the dull donkey's intellect matching a drunkard's.
Note also the personal name Chamor, father of Shechem, thirteen times in Tanach (Bereishis 33-34; Yehoshua 24:32; Shoftim 9:28).
Aton (אתון)
Thirty-four occurrences, densest at Bilaam's she-donkey (Bamidbar 22:21-23, 22:25, 22:27-30, 22:32-33). It stands beside chamor in Pharaoh's gifts (Bereishis 12:16), and Devorah's song praises the judges who "ride on white asonos" (Shoftim 5:10). Radak: while chamor is either sex, aton is specifically female. Rabbi Ernest Klein's etymological dictionary makes aton a quintessentially Semitic word, with parallels in Aramaic and Syriac (atana), Ugaritic (atnt), Arabic (atan) and Akkadian (atanu), all meaning "jenny". It remains an open question why Semitic has two separate root-words for the male and female donkey when the male and female of other animals often take one root, as with par and parah, egel and eglah, keves and kivsah.
- Rabbi David Chaim Chelouche (Ohr Chadash to Bereishis 12:16) proposes that aton derives from es, the particle that generally carries no meaning of its own but is typically attached to another word: male donkeys being known for an elevated libido (see Yechezkel 23:20), the aton's role is to be attached to the male.
- Rav Hirsch (to Bereishis 12:16, Shemos 14:27) links א-ת-ן to א-ד-ן, tav and dalet interchanging, so the name marks her load-bearing capacity, as an eden, one of the silver sockets holding up the beams of the Mishkan, holds up what stands on it.
Two dissents, both resting on chamor itself being usable for a female.
- Shadal (to Bereishis 12:16): aton is a separate species, the female of the pere, and the pasuk separates chamor from aton with servants and maidservants, not how one lists a male and female of one kind. But the Shunamis rode an aton (Melachim II 4:24), and he finds it highly unlikely that a woman would ride a wild ass; so he concludes the word later widened to the domesticated female too, its young being an ayir (Bereishis 49:11).
- Pappenheim (Cheshek Shlomo) rejects the feminine reading for the same reason and offers a stage of life: from ת ("sign, boundary") comes א-ת, the joining of separate units, whence es and atah; eisan is strength from parts tightly joined, and aton is the donkey at its full strength.
Pere (פרא) and arud (ערוד)
Ten occurrences, with final aleph or hei: the undomesticated wild ass, and by transfer a man of unbridled conduct, as Yishmael was foretold to be a pere adam (Bereishis 16:12). Rav Hirsch (to Bereishis 16:11) groups פ-ר-א with פ-ר-ע, פ-ר-ח, פ-ר-ה, ב-ר-א, ב-ר-ח and ב-ר-ה, all turning on freedom and unhindered movement; the man likened to the animal lacks the boundaries a man should have. Biblical Aramaic has aradaya once (Daniel 5:21), and Targumic Aramaic always renders pere as arud. Mishnaic Hebrew uses arud, not pere: crossing a chamor with an arud is forbidden despite their likeness (Kilayim 1:6), and Rabbi Akiva sets the time for Shema by when one can tell an arud from a chamor (Berachos 9b). The Mishnah calls an arud a chayah (Kilayim 8:6), matching Radak, and arud for the wild ass runs through the Bavli as well (Berachos 9b; Rosh Hashanah 3a; Bava Kamma 37a; Chullin 59a; Menachos 103b). The arud of Berachos 33a and Chullin 127a is an unrelated homonym, a poisonous lizard taken as a cross between a snake and a turtle.
Ayir (עיר) and sayach (סיח)
Eight occurrences: Yaakov's tribute to Esav (Bereishis 32:16), the thirty sons of Yair the Giladi on thirty ayarim (Shoftim 10:4), and the forty sons and thirty grandsons who rode on seventy ayarim at Shoftim 12:14. Riding one evidently marked rank, and Zecharyah calls Mashiach "riding on a chamor and on an ayir the son of asonos" (Zecharyah 9:9). Where ayir is paired with aton (Bereishis 32:16, 49:11, Zecharyah 9:9) it is her offspring, a foal; Radak (Sefer HaShorashim) allows it for the young of a chamor or of a pere. The classical lexicographers trace ayir to the triliteral ע-י-ר, but Pappenheim treats the yud as inessential and reads ע-ר, "revealing" (so ir, a city with squares open to the public; ohr, the skin that is revealed; ervah, nakedness; taar, the razor that reveals the skin; ar, an enemy who reveals his enmity; and eir, awake, since a sleeper's abilities show only on waking): as naar is the stage at which a youth's potential suddenly reveals itself, ayir is the adolescent donkey whose strength as a pack animal is now being revealed. In rabbinic usage the value shifts: Rashi (to Rosh Hashanah 3a) takes ayir as a young horse, and Rashbam (to Bava Basra 78b) gives sayach for a young donkey, though in Modern Hebrew sayach means a young horse, a colt.
Pered (פרד) and yeimim (ימים)
Pered is the mule, feminine pirdah; root פ-ר-ד, separating.
- Rav Hai Gaon, cited by Radak in Sefer HaShorashim: the mule is separated from other animals by being unable to reproduce.
- Rabbi Yehoshua Steinberg compares it to its human counterpart the mamzer, whose name is tied to zar, often kept outside on account of his parentage; on his reading the pered, by dint of its tainted, intermixed lineage, may have been seen as something separate from other animals, a kind of pariah.
- Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein proposes an alternative of his own from the Mishnah's ruling that a pered may not be mated with a horse or a donkey (Kilayim 1:6), which is the novel case, horse-and-donkey needing no statement: the root may cover its opposite as well, joining together what ought to stay separate, which would fit the pered's parentage.
The resemblance between pered and the German and Yiddish pferd, "horse," gives rise to a common misconception of borrowing in one direction or the other; linguists trace the German word to the Proto-Indo-European root reidh-, "to ride," by way of the Latinate paraveredus, "a courier's horse."
Yeimim is a hapax: Anah found the yeimim in the desert while pasturing his father Tzivon's donkeys (Bereishis 36:24).
- Rashi: he discovered, or invented, mules by mating a male donkey with a mare, which is pointed because Anah was himself a mamzer, born of the incestuous union of Tzivon and Tzivon's own mother.
- The Yerushalmi (Berachos 8:5) cites a slightly different version of the tradition, in which the yeimim were born of a male horse and a female donkey. According to Al-HaTorah, the comment in Rashi giving a donkey father and a horse mother does not appear in all manuscript versions of Rashi; Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein finds that this makes sense, since it is the converse of the Yerushalmi.
- Shadal (to Bereishis 36:24) alludes to Rashi's explanation and rejects it because he sees no difference between yeimim and its apparent synonym pered, and follows the Yerushalmi, so that pered is a mule and yeimim are hinnies.
- Targum Onkelos renders yeimim as giants, and Ibn Ezra follows, noting that Onkelos calls the Eimim people giants too (Devarim 2:10-11).
On the name: Rashi (to Bereishis 36:24), following Chullin 7b, connects it to eimah, fear, although the word has no aleph, because the yeimim were dangerous animals people feared; Pappenheim similarly ties it to the biliterals י-ם and ה-ם, which he defines as wildness or chaos; and Rabbi Yehuda ben Simon in the Yerushalmi reads it as Greek, a form of hemionos, from hemi-, half, and onos, donkey, which gives etymological backing to the tradition that Anah discovered the mule.
Also discussed in
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
א-ת-ן
אָתוֹן, the she-donkey, in two pesukim and with no gloss; the entry breaks off as it turns to the words of four letters.
The whole of it
וַתִּרְאַנִי הָֽאָתוֹן (Bamidbar 22:33), the she-donkey saw me, and אֲתֹנוֹת צְחֹרוֹת (Shoftim 5:10), white she-donkeys. He gives nothing beyond the two pesukim, and the entry breaks off as it turns to the words of four letters.
וַתִּרְאַנִי הָֽאָתוֹן (במדבר כב, לג), אֲתֹנוֹת צְחֹרוֹת (שופטים ה, י).ואשר הם בני ארבע אותיות
ח-מ-ר
Of wine, to be red; mortar and clay, and water made turbid like clay; a heap; the measure חֹמֶר, a kor; and חֲמוֹר, the donkey.
The wine and its redness
וְיַיִן חָמַר (Tehillim 75:9), and the wine is red. The Targum of יַיִן, wine, is חַמְרָא, and the verb from it is said of the wine itself, to say that the wine is very red, that being its nature; in many places wine is likened to blood, וְדַם־עֵנָב תִּשְׁתֶּה־ חָֽמֶר (Devarim 32:14), and the blood of the grape you drank as wine. So too כֶּרֶם חֶמֶד (Yeshayahu 27:2), a vineyard of wine, said so for the great worth and redness of its wine; the word in that pasuk is חמר, pointed with six dots. In Arabic, red is אחמא"ר.
Mortar and clay
וַתַּחְמְרָה בַֽחֵמָר (Shemos 2:3), she daubed it with חֵמָר, which is a mortar made of lime and sand, to build with and to plaster with. Some say it is a kind of pitch. In וְהַחֵמָר הָיָה לָהֶם לַחֹֽמֶר (Bereishis 11:3), and the lime mortar served them for clay, the one is the opposite of the other, חֵמָר lime mortar and חֹמֶר earthen clay; that חֵמָר is the lime mortar appears from its standing against stone in the account, and this holds where both stand in one account. Earthen clay is what is meant in תִּתְהַפֵּךְ כְּחֹמֶר חוֹתָם (Iyov 38:14), it turns about like the clay of a seal, and in אֲנַחְנוּ הַחֹמֶר (Yeshayahu 64:7), we are the clay; and so בֶּֽאֱרֹת חֵמָר (Bereishis 14:10), pits of clay.
Water made turbid
The verb from it is יֶהֱמוּ יֶחְמְרוּ מֵימָיו (Tehillim 46:4), its waters roar and grow turbid, since turbid water is like clay. So too with the second and third root letters doubled, פָּנַי חֳמַרְמְרֻה (Iyov 16:16), my face has grown turbid from weeping, and מֵעַי חֳמַרְמָרוּ (Eichah 1:20), my innards have grown turbid.
A measure, and a heap
וְחֹמֶר שְׂעֹרִים (Hoshea 3:2), a chomer of barley, and לָשֵׂאת מַעְשַׂר הַחֹמֶר (Yechezkel 45:11), to hold a tenth of the chomer: the measure is a kor, ten ephahs, which are thirty se'ah. It is also a heap: חֹמֶר מַיִם רַבִּֽים (Chavakuk 3:15), a heap of many waters, and חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם (Shemos 8:10), heaps upon heaps; in another form, חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם (Shoftim 15:16), a heap, two heaps.
The donkey
חֲמוֹר לֶחֶם (Shmuel I 16:20) may be a heap of bread; or it is a donkey, as in חֲמֹר גָּרֶם (Bereishis 49:14), and is short a word, meaning a donkey carrying bread. חֲמֹר גָּרֶם is a strong donkey, a donkey of bones. On אֶחְבְּשָׁה־לִּי הַֽחֲמוֹר וְאֶרְכַּב עָלֶיהָ (Shmuel II 19:27), let me saddle the donkey and ride upon her, the feminine עָלֶיהָ may be because it was a she-donkey, or it is said with a beast, בהמה, in mind.
A donkey's head, and the yachmur
עַד הֱיוֹת רֹֽאשׁ־ חֲמוֹר בִּשְׁמֹנִים כֶּסֶף (Melachim II 6:25), until a donkey's head was sold for eighty of silver, is meant plainly, as Targum Yonasan renders it רֵישָׁא דַחֲמְרָא, a donkey's head; some read the word there as the measure, as in מַעְשַׂר הַחֹמֶר (Yechezkel 45:11), a tenth of the chomer. Of אַיָּל וּֽצְבִי וְיַחְמוּר (Devarim 14:5), the hart and the gazelle and the יַחְמוּר, Rabbi Yonah wrote that Arabic calls it by that name, and that it is a beast like a large goat.
וְיַיִן חָמַר (תהלים עה, ט), פעל עובר. ותרגום יין חַמְרָא וכנה הפעל ממנו עליו עצמו לומר שאדום היין ביותר כי כן עלת היין. ובכמה מקומות דמה אותו לדם וְדַם־עֵנָב תִּשְׁתֶּה־חָֽמֶר (דברים לב, יד). וכן אמר כֶּרֶם חֶמֶד (ישעיה כז, ב), לרוב חשיבות ואדמימות היין ממנו. ואדום בלשון ערבי אחמא"ר. וחמר בשש נקדות. וענין אחר וַתַּחְמְרָה בַֽחֵמָר (שמות ב, ג), טיט שעושין מסיד ומחול לבנות ממנו ולטוח בו. ויש אומרים שהוא כמין זפת. וְהַחֵמָר הָיָה לָהֶם לַחֹֽמֶר (בראשית יא, ג), זה הפך זה, זה טיט סיד וזה טיט עפר. החֵמָר הוא טיט סיד מן הנראה כי לעמת אבן הוא בספור וזה כשיהיו שניהם בספור אחד. תִּתְהַפֵּךְ כְּחֹמֶר חוֹתָם (איוב לח, יד), אֲנַחְנוּ הַחֹמֶר (ישעיה סד, ז), טיט עפר, וכן בֶּֽאֱרֹת חֵמָר (בראשית יד, י). והפעל ממנו יֶהֱמוּ יֶחְמְרוּ מֵימָיו (תהלים מו, ד), יעכרו כי המים העכורים הם כטיט. וכן בהכפל העי"ן והלמ"ד פָּנַי חֳמַרְמְרֻה [חֳמַרְמְרֻו] מִנִּי־בֶכִי (איוב טז, טז), מֵעַי חֳמַרְמָרוּ (איכה א, כ), נעכרו. וְחֹמֶר שְׂעֹרִים (הושע ג, ב), לָשֵׂאת מַעְשַׂר הַחֹמֶר (יחזקאל מה, יא), כור והוא עשר אפות שהם שלשים סאה. חֹמֶר מַיִם רַבִּֽים (חבקוק ג, יד), נד וצבור. וכן חֳמָרִם חֳמָרִם (שמות ח, י). וכן במשקל אחר חֲמוֹר חֲמֹרָתָיִם (שופטים טו, טז). ואפשר שיהיה כן חֲמוֹר לֶחֶם (שמואל א' טז, כ). או יהיה חֲמוֹר לֶחֶם כמו חֲמֹר גָּרֶם (בראשית מט, יד), והוא חסר ופירושו חמור נושא לחם. ופירוש חֲמֹר גָּרֶם חמור חזק ובעל גרמים. אֶחְבְּשָׁה־לִּי הַֽחֲמוֹר וְאֶרְכַּב עָלֶיהָ (שמואל ב' יט, כ), אמר עליה אולי היתה נקבה. או אמר עליה על ענין בהמה. עַד הֱיוֹת רֹֽאשׁ־חֲמוֹר בִּשְׁמֹנִים כֶּסֶף (מלכים ב' ו, כה), כמשמעו. וכן תרגום יונתן רֵישָׁא דַחֲמְרָא. ויש מפרשים אותו כמו מַעְשַׂר הַחֹמֶר (יחזקאל מה, יא). אַיָּל וּֽצְבִי וְיַחְמוּר (דברים יד, ה), כתב רבי יונה כי כן קורין אותו בלשון ערבי והוא חיה דומה לעז גדול.
י-מ-םhe files it under ים
The sea; and the west, called so because the Great Sea lies west of Eretz Yisrael. Another sense of the root: הַיֵּמִם, the mules.
The sea, and the west
כַּמַּיִם לַיָּם מְכַסִּים (Yeshayahu 11:9), as the waters cover the sea, with the plural יַמִּים, seas (Bereishis 1:10). Because the Great Sea lies to the west of Eretz Yisrael, the west itself is called by the word: יָם וְדָרוֹם יְרָשָׁה (Devarim 33:23), possess the west and the south.
Spoken of as a feminine
The word is sometimes referred to in the feminine: וְאֶת־הַיָּם הוֹרִד מֵעַל הַבָּקָר הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר תַּחְתֶּיהָ (Melachim II 16:17), he took the sea down off the brazen oxen that were beneath it, where the word for beneath it is a feminine one.
Where the word comes from
The root may be יָמַם, the doubled letter in the suffixed and plural forms proving it; or it may be יוֹם, the doubling standing in place of the quiescent letter, the proof there being the kamatz, since every one of them has a kamatz save יַם סוּף, the Yam Suf. He does not decide between them.
The mules found in the wilderness
אֲשֶׁר מָצָא אֶת־ הַיֵּמִם בַּמִּדְבָּר (Bereishis 36:24), who found the yemim in the wilderness: these are the mules, bred of two kinds, the horse and the donkey. אֲשֶׁר מָצָא, who found, means he found it while herding: he was herding the donkeys, and it came into his mind to breed the horse on the she-donkey, and he brought this kind into the world. Chazal (Pesachim 54a) say Anah was himself of invalid birth and brought invalid creatures into the world; the reason given is that he was the son of Tzivon, his own brother, who came upon his mother and fathered Anah by her.
כַּמַּיִם לַיָּם מְכַסִּֽים (ישעיה יא, ט), כְּהַֽעֲלוֹת הַיָּם לְגַלָּֽיו (יחזקאל כו, ג), וְיָם אָמַר אֵין עִמָּדִֽי (איוב כח, יד), הַיָּם רָאָה וַיָּנֹס (תהלים קיד, ג), הֲיָם־אָנִי אִם־תַּנִּין (איוב ז, יב), וְהַֽחֲרַבְתִּי אֶת־יַמָּהּ (ירמיה נא, לז). ובא ים מכונה בלשון נקבה וְאֶת־הַיָּם הוֹרִד מֵעַל הַבָּקָר הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר תַּחְתֶּיהָ (מלכים ב' טז, יז). והקבוץ וּלְמִקְוֵה הַמַּיִם קָרָא יַמִּים (בראשית א, י), עַל־יַמִּים יְסָדָהּ (תהלים כד, ב), עֵת נִשְׁבֶּרֶת מִיַּמִּים (יחזקאל כז, לד), ידוע. ולפי שהים הגדול לפאת מערב ארץ ישראל קראו לפאת מערב ים יָם וְדָרוֹם יְרָֽשָׁה (דברים לג, כג), יָמָּה וָקֵדְמָה (בראשית כה, יד). ואפשר ששרש ים יָמַם ודגש הכינוי והקבוץ יוכיח. או יהיה שרשו יוֹם ויהיה הדגש תמורת הנח והראיה קמצותו כי כלם קמוץ זולתי יַם סוּף. וענין אחר מזה השרש אֲשֶׁר מָצָא אֶת־הַיֵּמִם בַּמִּדְבָּר (בראשית לו, כד), והם הפרדים כי הם מהרכבת שני מינים הסוס והחמור. ובאמרו אֲשֶׁר מָצָא פירושו ברעהו מצא, כי היה רועה החמורים וחשב בדעתו שירכיב הסוס על החמורה והוא הוציא זה המין בעולם. ואמרו רבותינו ז"ל (פסחים נד, ע"א) עֲנָה פסול היה והביא פסולין בעולם, כי בן צבעון אחיו היה שבא על אמו והוליד ממנה ענה.
ע-י-ר
A city; and a second sense, עַיִר, the donkey while it is still young, a word that fell on the wild ass as well.
The plurals
וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר־ בָּעִיר (Bereishis 34:28), and what was in the city. The plural hides the yud in וַיִּתֶּן־אֹכֶל בֶּֽעָרִים (Bereishis 41:48), he put food in the cities, and עָרִים לָשָׁבֶת (Bamidbar 35:2), cities to dwell in; and shows it in וּשְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים לָהֶם (Shoftim 10:4), and they had thirty cities.
וְלֹא אָבוֹא בְּעִיר
וְלֹא אָבוֹא בְּעִֽיר (Hoshea 11:9), and I will not come into a city, he reads as a phrase whose sense is left unsaid: I will not come into another city, but into Yerushalayim. Rabbi Yonah wrote in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak ben Rabbi Shaul that its sense is ואם לא אבא בעיר, and if I do not come into a city. That is, Radak explains, no place can contain Me; and the need for this is that the pasuk says בְּקִרְבֵּךְ קְדוֹשׁ (Hoshea 11:9), the Holy One is in your midst.
עיר in the masculine
וְעָרֶיהָ עָלָה (Yirmiyahu 48:15) comes in the masculine, and he explains it as each and every one of her cities being cut off. It may also be that the masculine is said of the people in the city.
עָר מוֹאָב, and the root עור
עָר מוֹאָב (Bamidbar 21:28), Ar of Moav, can be read like עִיר, a city, or it is the name of the city. וּמָֽלְאוּ פְנֵֽי־תֵבֵל עָרִֽים (Yeshayahu 14:21), and they fill the face of the world with עָרִים, and וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּי עָרֶֽיךָ (Michah 5:13), and I will destroy your עָרִים, he has already explained, in two ways, under the root עור.
עַיִר, the young donkey
וְעַיִר פֶּרֶא אָדָם יִוָּלֵֽד (Iyov 11:12) he reads as וכעיר פרא: and like the colt of a wild ass a man is born. וְעַל־ עַיִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנֽוֹת (Zecharyah 9:9), and on a colt, the foal of she-asses; רֹֽכְבִים עַל־שְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים (Shoftim 10:4), riding on thirty colts; and with the middle root letter hidden, אֹֽסְרִי לַגֶּפֶן עִירֹה [ עִירוֹ ] (Bereishis 49:11), binding his colt to the vine. Its sense is the donkey while it is still small. The word fell on the פרא, the wild ass, as well, because the wild ass is like the donkey; but the wild ass is of the kind called chayah and the donkey of the kind called behemah, as Chazal said (Berachos 9b), כדי שיכיר בין חמור לערוד, that he may tell a donkey from an ערוד. The ערוד is the פרא.
וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר־בָּעִיר (בראשית לד, כח). וקבוצו בהסתר היו"ד עי"ן הפעל וַיִּתֶּן־אֹכֶל בֶּֽעָרִים (בראשית מא, מח), עָרִים לָשָׁבֶת (במדבר לה, ב). ובהראות היו"ד וּשְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים לָהֶם (שופטים י, ד). וְלֹא אָבוֹא בְּעִֽיר (הושע יא, ט), בהסתתר ענינו מן הפסוק וענינו לא אבא בעיר אחרת כי אם בירושלם. ורבי יונה כתב בשם רבי יצחק בן רבי שאול ענינו ואם לא אבא בעיר כלומר שלא יכלכלני מקום. והצורך לזה בעבור שאמר בְּקִרְבֵּךְ קְדוֹשׁ (שם). ובא עיר בלשון זכר וְעָרֶיהָ עָלָה (ירמיה מח, טו), כי פירוש ועריה עלה נפסק כל אחר ואחר מעריה. ויתכן כי אמר לשון זכר על העם אשר בעיר. ויש לפרש עָר מוֹאָב (במדבר כא, כח), כמו עִיר. או הוא שם העיר כך. וכבר פירשתי וּמָֽלְאוּ פְנֵֽי־תֵבֵל עָרִֽים (ישעיה יד, כא), וְהִשְׁמַדְתִּי עָרֶֽיךָ (מיכה ה, יג), בשרש עור בשני פנים. וענין אחר וְעַיִר פֶּרֶא אָדָם יִוָּלֵֽד (איוב יא, יב), פירושו וכעיר פרא. וְעַל־עַיִר בֶּן־אֲתֹנֽוֹת (זכריה ט, ט). רֹֽכְבִים עַל־שְׁלֹשִׁים עֲיָרִים (שופטים י, ד). ובהסתר עי"ן הפעל אֹֽסְרִי לַגֶּפֶן עִירֹה [עִירוֹ] (בראשית מט, יא), וענינו החמור בעודו קטן. ונפל זה הלשון גם על הפרא שהפרא דומה לחמור. אך הפרא ממין חיה והחמור ממין הבהמה כמו שאמרו רבותינו ז"ל (ברכות ט, ע"ב) כדי שיכיר בין חמור לערוד, והערוד הוא הפרא.
פ-ר-א
פֶּרֶא, the wild donkey, and פֶּרֶא אָדָם, a man of the wilderness like one; and יַפְרִיא, he will increase and be fruitful, which Rabbi Yonah takes from פֶּרֶא.
The wild donkey, and a man like it
פֶּרֶא אָדָם (Bereishis 16:12), a wild donkey of a man, means a man of the wilderness like the wild donkey. It is written with a heh at פֶּרֶה לִמֻּד מִדְבָּר (Yirmiyahu 2:24), a wild donkey used to the wilderness, and the plural is הֵן פְּרָאִים בַּֽמִּדְבָּר (Iyov 24:5), behold, wild donkeys in the desert. The animal is the wild donkey.
A verb of increase
כִּי הוּא בֵּן אַחִים יַפְרִיא (Hoshea 13:15), though he be fruitful among brothers: יַפְרִיא, he says, is he will increase and be fruitful. Rabbi Yonah explained it instead as the word פֶּרֶא, the wild donkey.
כִּי הוּא בֵּן אַחִים יַפְרִיא (הושע יג, טו), ירבה ויפרה... ורבי יונה פירשו לשון פֶּרֶא. פֶּרֶא אָדָם (בראשית טז, יב), בשש נקודות. ופירושו אדם מִדְבּרי כפרא. ונכתב בה"א פֶּרֶה לִמֻּד מִדְבָּר (ירמיה ב, כד). והקבוץ הֵן פְּרָאִים בַּֽמִּדְבָּר (איוב כד, ה) הוא חמור הבר.
פ-ר-ד
פֶּרֶד, the mule, so named, Rav Hai Gaon wrote, because it does not beget and is apart; and to part, to be parted, and to separate others.
Why the mule is so named
וַיָּבֹא הַפֶּרֶד (Shmuel II 18:9), and the mule came; עַל־ הַפִּרְדָּה אֲשֶֽׁר־לִי (Melachim I 1:33), upon my own she-mule; וּבַצַּבִּים וּבַפְּרָדִים (Yeshayahu 66:20), in wagons and on mules. Rav Hai Gaon wrote that it is called פֶּרֶד because it does not breed and stands apart.
Parting
הִפָּרֶד נָא מֵֽעָלָי (Bereishis 13:9), part from me, please; מִמֵּעַיִךְ יִפָּרֵדוּ (Bereishis 25:23), from your womb they shall be parted; יַפְרִיד בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵֽךְ (Rus 1:17), it shall part between me and you; וְהִתְפָּֽרְדוּ כָּל־עַצְמוֹתָי (Tehillim 22:15), and all my bones came apart. וְכַנְפֵיהֶם פְּרֻדוֹת (Yechezkel 1:11), and their wings were parted, means spread out; and in עָֽבְשׁוּ פְרֻדוֹת תַּחַת מֶגְרְפֹתֵיהֶם (Yoel 1:17), the פְרֻדוֹת have rotted under their clods, the פְרֻדוֹת are the grains of seed lying separated and scattered under the earth.
The man who keeps apart
לְֽתַֽאֲוָה יְבַקֵּשׁ נִפְרָד (Mishlei 18:1), the one who keeps apart seeks desire: he explains it of a man apart in his opinion and his counsel, who will not trust the counsel of his fellows and seeks his desires; and בְּכָל־תּֽוּשִׁיָּה יִתְגַּלָּֽע, into all wisdom he thrusts himself, meaning he shows himself mixing into every wisdom when he only follows the desires of his heart. Rav Saadiah Gaon explained the נִפְרָד as the traitor who separates from the mass of the people and abandons their faith: such a man follows desire and so separates from the mind of his community and from their faith, and with every argument you bring him he will quarrel with you and give you the lie; and so the pasuk after it says that the fool takes no delight in understanding.
With the harlots
כִּי־הֵם עִם־הַזֹּנוֹת יְפָרֵדוּ (Hoshea 4:14), for they part off with the harlots: he explains it as their parting the women from their husbands to commit harlotry with them. His father wrote it in the sense of the mule, meaning that they are as steeped in lewdness as the mule, no beast being so steeped in it as the mule. Some read that they do with the harlots the deed of the mule, which bears no fruit: so they lie with the harlots in a way that begets nothing.
וַיָּבֹא הַפֶּרֶד (שמואל ב' יח, ט), בשש נקדות. אִישׁ עַל־פִּרְדּוֹ (שמואל ב' ב' יג,. עַל־הַפִּרְדָּה אֲשֶֽׁר־לִי (מלכים א' א, לג), וּבַצַּבִּים וּבַפְּרָדִים (ישעיה סו, כ), ידוע. וכתב רבינו האיי גאון כי נקרא פֶּרֶד בעבור שלא יוליד והוא נפרד וְכַנְפֵיהֶם פְּרֻדוֹת (יחזקאל א, יא), נפרשות. עָֽבְשׁוּ פְרֻדוֹת תַּחַת מֶגְרְפֹתֵיהֶם (יואל א, יז), פירוש גרגרי הזרע שהם נפרדות ונפורות תחת הארץ. והנפעל נִפְרָד מִקַּיִן (שופטים ד, יא), קמוץ ואף על פי שענינו ידמה נפעל עבר. נִפְרְדוּ אִיֵּי הַגּוֹיִם (בראשית י, ה), הִפָּרֶד נָא מֵֽעָלָי (בראשית יג, ט), מִמֵּעַיִךְ יִפָּרֵדוּ (בראשית כה, כג). לְֽתַֽאֲוָה יְבַקֵּשׁ נִפְרָד (משלי יח, א), פירוש מי שנפרד בדעתו ובעצתו ולא יאמין לעצת חבריו יבקש התאוות ובְּכָל־תּֽוּשִׁיָּה יִתְגַּלָּֽע (שם), כלומר מראה עצמו מתערב בכל חכמה ואינו כי אם הולך אחר תאוות לבו, והגאון רב סעדיה ז"ל פירש כי הוא הבוגד והנפרד מהמון העם ועוזב אמונתם אמר כי הוא הולך אחר תאוה ועל כן נפרד מדעת קהלו ומאמונתם ובכל תושיה יתגלע בכל טענה שתביא לו יריב עמך ויכובך, על כן אמר אחריו לא יחפוץ כסיל בתבונה, כלומר לא יחפוץ בתבונה כי אם במריבתו לגלות רוע לבבו. וההתפעל וְהִתְפָּֽרְדוּ כָּל־עַצְמוֹתָי (תהלים כב, ט) יִתְפָּרְדוּ כָּל־פֹּֽעֲלֵי אָֽוֶן (תהלים צב, י), וּבְנֵי לָבִיא יִתְפָּרָֽדוּ (איוב ד, יא). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] הִפְרִיד יַֽעֲקֹב (בראשית ל, מ), יַפְרִיד בֵּינִי וּבֵינֵֽךְ (רות א, יז), בְּהַפְרִידוֹ בְּנֵי אָדָם (דברים לב, ח). וכבד אחר [פִּעֵל] כִּי־הֵם עִם־הַזֹּנוֹת יְפָרֵדוּ (הושע ד, יד), כלומר שמפרישים הנשים מבעליהן לזנות עמהן. ואדוני אבי ז"ל כתבו כעני פֶּרֶד ורצונו לומר כי הם שטופים בזנות כמו הפרד, כי אין בבהמות שטוף בזנות כמו הפרד. ויש מפרשים יעשו עם הזונות מעשה פרד שאינו עושה פירות כן הם ישכבו עם הזונות בדרך שלא יולידו.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Balak: An Asinine Essay (Part 1/2)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 12 July 2025.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Pinchas: An Asinine Essay (Part 2/2)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 19 July 2025.
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 12:16, 16:12, 32:16, 33-34, 36:24, 49:11; Shemos 13:13, 14:27, 34:20; Vayikra 22:28; Bamidbar 22:21-23, 22:25, 22:27-30, 22:32-33; Devarim 2:10-11; Yehoshua 24:32; Shoftim 5:10, 9:28, 10:4, 12:14; Shmuel II 19:27; Melachim II 4:24; Yechezkel 23:20; Zecharyah 9:9; Daniel 5:21; Mishnah Kilayim 1:6 and 8:6, Bechoros 1:2; Berachos 9b and 33a; Rosh Hashanah 3a with Rashi; Bava Kamma 37a; Chullin 59a, 127a; Menachos 103b; Bava Basra 78b with Rashbam; Chullin 7b; Yerushalmi Berachos 8:5; Radak, Michlol and Sefer HaShorashim; Rav Hirsch to Bereishis 12:16 and 16:11; HaKsav VeHaKabbalah; Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo; Shadal; Rabbi David Chaim Chelouche, Ohr Chadash; Rabbi Ernest Klein's etymological dictionaries of Hebrew and English.