society
enemy
At a glance
In short
An oyev is an enemy or foe who actively tries to harm his victim, or at least contemplates doing so. A soneh is a hater whose hatred stays inside, shown by what he refrains from doing. A tzar (tzorer) is an adversary or persecutor, who attacks openly and will spend his own reputation and resources to do it. Rabbi Yaakov Emden reverses the first two: the soneh hates openly, in speech, and the oyev buries his enmity in his heart and holds it forever, like Esav. The authorities differ, too, over which is the graver: for the Vilna Gaon it is the soneh, who aims at the soul, and for Shadal the oyev. Bamidbar 10:35 pairs oyev and soneh, and Rabbi Klein concludes that Moshe davens there that both kinds of Hashem's enemies be vanquished.
Distinctions
Oyev (אויב)
An enemy who actively tries to harm the object of his hatred, or has at least entertained doing so. Malbim: even where the oyev makes no attempt at damage, he will not hold back his gladness should misfortune strike his victim, because he has already pictured himself causing it. Malbim on the oyev of Hashem: one who actively denies His existence and opposes His Godliness. As for a soneh of Hashem, it would seem to Rabbi Klein that he does so only in his heart and not in practice.
The meforshim add that the oyev, for all his activity, still tries to hide his hatred beneath a façade of empathy. Like the soneh, he is a clandestine enemy, not an overt one.
Shadal (to Shemos 23:5): oyev is a stronger hatred than soneh. The Torah obliges one to return a soneh's lost object but exempts him from returning an oyev's, since facing an oyev one may justly fear for one's life.
Rabbi Eliyahu Benamozegh (Eim LaMikra to Bereishis 27:41-42): sitmah, from ש-ט-ם, is hatred related to satam, sealed: hatred shut up in the heart while on the surface one pretends to be appeased, as Esav did with Yaakov.
Soneh (שונא)
From sinah, hatred. The soneh is a hidden enemy: his hatred stays internal and is not expressed outwardly, remaining in the realm of the theoretical. This is the word of "lo sisna es achicha bilvavecha" (Vayikra 19:17), where mere hatred of a fellow Jew is forbidden whether or not it ever turns into action. His disposition is read from what he does not do: the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 3:5), disqualifying a soneh from testifying, defines him as one who has not spoken to his fellow out of enmity for three days.
The Vilna Gaon draws the line slightly differently, by target rather than by expression: the oyev wants to injure his victim's physical existence (his body, his money), the soneh his spiritual existence, to pull him off the path of Hashem. On that reading the soneh is the more dangerous of the two, counter to what one would assume.
Rabbi Yaakov Emden (Eim LaBinah to Shemos 23:22): the soneh hates openly, in speech (see Bereishis 37:4), while the oyev keeps his enmity buried in his heart and holds the grudge forever, like Esav (see Yechezkel 25:15).
Tzar / tzorer (צר / צורר)
The overt enemy. Where the oyev conceals his enmity, the tzar hates with such heat that he attacks openly and will spend his own reputation and his own resources to do it. Haman is called tzorer haYehudim (Esther 9:10).
Where the authorities disagree
Which of the two hides his hatred.
- The oyev acts, or has at least pictured himself causing harm (Malbim), while the soneh holds his hatred inside, read from what he refrains from doing.
- Rabbi Yaakov Emden (Eim LaBinah to Shemos 23:22): the reverse. The soneh hates openly, in speech (see Bereishis 37:4); the oyev keeps his enmity buried in his heart and holds the grudge forever, like Esav (see Yechezkel 25:15).
Which is the graver.
- The Vilna Gaon: the soneh, who aims at his victim's spiritual existence, where the oyev injures body and money.
- Shadal (to Shemos 23:5): the oyev, the stronger hatred; the Torah obliges one to return a soneh's lost object but not an oyev's, since facing him one may fear for one's life.
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
א-י-ב
To be an enemy, and the noun אֵיבָה, enmity; the sense is hatred.
Enemy and enmity
וְאָֽיַבְתִּי אֶת־אֹיְבֶיךָ (Shemos 23:22), and I will be an enemy to your enemies, and the noun וְאֵיבָה אָשִׁית (Bereishis 3:15), and I will put enmity: the sense is hatred.
וְאָֽיַבְתִּי אֶת־אֹיְבֶיךָ (שמות כג, כב). והשׁם וְאֵיבָה אָשִׁית (בראשית ג, טו)ׄ ענינו ענין שנאה.
צ-ר-ר
To harass, to be an enemy, with the noun הַמֵּצַֽר, the strait; to bind up, with צְרוֹר, a bundle; and צְרוֹר, a stone, which is like צוּר, a rock.
Harassing an enemy
וְצָֽרְרוּ אֶתְכֶם (Bamidbar 33:55), they shall harass you; צָרוֹר אֶת־הַמִּדְיָנִים (Bamidbar 25:17), harass the Midianites; כי צֹֽרֲרִים הֵם לָכֶם (Bamidbar 25:18), for they harass you; and וְצַרְתִּי אֶת־ צֹֽרְרֶֽיךָ (Shemos 23:22), I will harass those who harass you. It may be that וִֽיהוּדָה לֹֽא־ יָצֹר אֶת־אֶפְרָֽיִם (Yeshayahu 11:13), Yehudah shall not harass Efraim, is from this root.
Straits
מִן־ הַמֵּצַֽר (Tehillim 118:5), out of the strait, and בֵּין הַמְּצָרִֽים (Eichah 1:3), between the straits. Rabbi Yehudah put וְהֵצַר לְךָ (Devarim 28:52), it shall press you, and וַֽהֲצֵרֹתִי לָֽאָדָם (Tzefaniah 1:17), I will press men hard, under this root; Radak has already written them at צוּר, along with צַר וְאוֹיֵב (Esther 7:6), an adversary and an enemy, and צַר ־לִי מְאֹד (Shmuel II 24:14), I am in great straits, and it may be that the root of them all is צָרַר.
The rival wife
Rabbi Yehudah set in another sense וְכִֽעֲסַתָּה צָֽרָתָהּ (Shmuel I 1:6), her rival vexed her, and לִצְרֹר לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ (Vayikra 18:18), to take a rival and uncover her nakedness, the second of which Radak lists with the harassing; he has explained צרתה, her rival, at צוּר.
Binding up
מִי צָֽרַר ־מַיִם בַּשִּׂמְלָה (Mishlei 30:4), who has bound up water in a garment; צֹֽרֵר ־מַיִם בְּעָבָיו (Iyov 26:8), He binds up water in His clouds; כִּצְרוֹר אֶבֶן (Mishlei 26:8), like binding a stone; and in the passive, וּמְבֻקָּעִים וּמְצֹֽרָרִֽים (Yehoshua 9:4), split and bound up. The noun is צְֽרוֹר ־הַכֶּסֶף לָקַח בְּיָדוֹ (Mishlei 7:20), he took the bundle of silver in his hand, and צְרוֹר הַמֹּר דּוֹדִי לִי (Shir HaShirim 1:13), my beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me: their sense is binding. It may be that צוֹר תְּעוּדָה (Yeshayahu 8:16), bind up the testimony, is of this root and of this sense; he has also written it at צוּר and at נָצַר.
Bound, and a stone
וַתִּֽהְיֶינָה צְרֻרוֹת (Shmuel II 20:3), and they were bound, he first lists with the harassing, but holds that it is rightly from this sense of binding: as though they were bound until the day of their death and not loosed to marry a man. And וְלֹֽא־יִפּוֹל צְרוֹר אָֽרֶץ (Amos 9:9), not a stone shall fall to the ground, and אֲשֶֽׁר־לֹֽא־נִמְצָא שָׁם גַּם־ צְרֽוֹר (Shmuel II 17:13), where not even a stone was found: צְרוֹר there means a stone, and it is like צוּר, a rock, צוּר and צָרַר being of one sense.
וְצָֽרְרוּ אֶתְכֶם (במדבר לג, נה), צָרוֹר אֶת־הַמִּדְיָנִים (במדבר כה, יז), כי צֹֽרֲרִים הֵם לָכֶם (במדבר כה, יח). וְצַרְתִּי אֶת־צֹֽרְרֶֽיךָ (שמות כג, כב), רוצה לומר צוררים לך. ואפשר להיות מזה השרש וִֽיהוּדָה לֹֽא־יָצֹר אֶת־אֶפְרָֽיִם (ישעיה יא, יג). וכבר כתבנוהו בשרש צוּר. וַתִּֽהְיֶינָה צְרֻרוֹת (שמואל ב' כ, ג), לִצְרֹר לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ (ויקרא יח, יח). והשם מִן־הַמֵּצַֽר (תהלים קיח, ה), בֵּין הַמְּצָרִֽים (איכה א, ג), וּמְצָרֵי שְׁאוֹל מְצָאוּנִי (תהלים קטו, ג). והחכם רבי יהודה שם ענין אחר וְכִֽעֲסַתָּה צָֽרָתָהּ (שמואל א' א, ו), לִצְרֹר לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ (ויקרא יח, יג). וכבר ביארנו עני צרתה בשרש צוּר. וכתב רבי יהודה בעקר זה וְהֵצַר לְךָ (דברים כח, נב), וַֽהֲצֵרֹתִי לָֽאָדָם (צפניה א, יז). וכבר כתבנום בשרש צוּר. וכן כתבנו שם צַר וְאוֹיֵב (אסתר ז, ו), צָרָה כְּמַבְכִּירָה (ירמיה ד, לא), בְּשֵׁשׁ צָרוֹת (איוב ה, יט), צַר־לִי מְאֹד (שמואל ב' כד, יד), והדומים להם. ויתכן היות שרש כולם צָרַר. וענין אחר מִי צָֽרַר־מַיִם בַּשִּׂמְלָה (משלי ל, ד), צֹֽרֵר־מַיִם בְּעָבָיו (איוב כו, ח), כִּצְרוֹר אֶבֶן בְּמַרְגֵּמָה (משלי כו, ח). והכבד [פֻּעַל] וּמְבֻקָּעִים וּמְצֹֽרָרִֽים (יהושע ט, ד). והשם צְֽרוֹר־הַכֶּסֶף לָקַח בְּיָדוֹ (משלי ז, כ), מִשְׂתַּכֵּר אֶל־צְרוֹר נָקֽוּב (חגי א, ו)ׄ וְהִנֵּה־אִישׁ צְרוֹר־כַּסְפּוֹ (בראשית מב, לה), אֶת־צְרֹרוֹת כַּסְפֵּיהֶם (שם), צְרוֹר הַמֹּר דּוֹדִי לִי (שיר השירים א, יג), ענינם ענין קשירה. ואפשר להיות מעקר זה ומענין זה צוֹר תְּעוּדָה (ישעיה ח, טז). וכבר כתבנוהו בשרש צוּר ובשרש נָצַר. והנכון שיהיה מן הענין הזה ותהיינה צררוה עד יום מתן כלומר כאילו היו קשורות שלא הותרו להנשא לאדם. וְלֹֽא־יִפּוֹל צְרוֹר אָֽרֶץ (עמוס ט, ט), אֲשֶֽׁר־לֹֽא־נִמְצָא שָׁם גַּם־צְרֽוֹר (שמואל ב' יז, יג), פירוש אבן והוא כמו צוּר, וצוּר וצָרַר בענין אחד.
ש-נ-א
To hate, a sense he calls known; some uses are not real hatred but loving another more, as Leah was called hated.
Hate that is not hate
כִּֽי־ שְׂנוּאָה לֵאָה (Bereishis 29:31), that Leah was hated: her husband did not hate her, but because he loved Rachel more, Leah was called hated. So too הָֽאַחַת אֲהוּבָה וְהָֽאַחַת שְׂנוּאָה (Devarim 21:15), the one beloved and the one hated.
The forms
The one who hates, וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ (Bamidbar 10:35), and let those who hate You flee from before You; the one hated, גַּם־לְרֵעֵהוּ יִשָּׂנֵא רָשׁ (Mishlei 14:20), the poor man is hated even by his neighbour; and the adjective, הַבֵּן הַבְּכֹר לַשְּׂנִיאָה (Devarim 21:15), the firstborn son is the hated one's, built like נְבִיאָה, a prophetess.
אֲשֶׁר שָׂנֵא י"י אֱלֹהֶֽיךָ (דברים טז, כב), שְׂנֵאתֶם אֹתִי (בראשית כו, כז), שֹׂנֵא לְרֵעֵהוּ (דברים יט, יא), שֹׂנְאֵי בָצַע (שמות יח, כא), כִּֽי־שְׂנוּאָה לֵאָה (בראשית כט, לא). והתאר הַבֵּן הַבְּכֹר לַשְּׂנִיאָֽה (דברים כא, טו), בפלס נְבִיאָה. וַיּוֹסִפוּ עוֹד שְׂנֹא אֹתֽוֹ (בראשית לז, ח). כִּי גְדוֹלָה הַשִּׂנְאָה אֲשֶׁר שְׂנֵאָהּ (שמואל ב' יג, טו), בְּשִׂנְאַת י"י אֹתָנוּ (דברים א, כז), מקור או שם סמוך משנאה. ומקור אחר יִרְאַת י"י שְֽׂנֹאת רָע (משלי ח, יג). והנפעל גַּם־לְרֵעֵהוּ יִשָּׂנֵא רָשׁ (משלי יד, כ). והכבד [פִּעֵל] הֲלֽוֹא־מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ י"י אֶשְׂנָא (תהלים קלט, כא) וְיָנֻסוּ מְשַׂנְאֶיךָ מִפָּנֶֽיךָ (במדבר י, לה), ענינם ידוע. ויש בהם שאינה שנאה ממש כמו כִּֽי־שְׂנוּאָה לֵאָה (בראשית כט, לא), לא היה שונא אותה, אלא לפי שהיה אוהב רחל יותר קרא לאה שנואה. וכן הָֽאַחַת אֲהוּבָה וְהָֽאַחַת שְׂנוּאָה (דברים כא, טו).
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "A Variety of Enemies," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 2 July 2016.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "A Variety of Enemies," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: Bamidbar 10:35; Vayikra 19:17; Mishnah Sanhedrin 3:5; Esther 9:10; Malbim and the Vilna Gaon on oyev and soneh; Rabbi Yaakov Emden, Eim LaBinah to Shemos 23:22; Bereishis 37:4; Yechezkel 25:15; Shadal to Shemos 23:5; Benamozegh, Eim LaMikra to Bereishis 27:41-42.