nature
fish
At a glance
In short
Dag is a fish, the singular. How dagah differs from it is disputed: it is a large fish or a small one (Chazal), a female fish (Rashi and others), a dead fish (Zohar), fish as a collective, the species rather than the individual (Ibn Ezra), or one particular fish native to Egypt (Rabbi Mordechai Gimpel Yaffe). Most of the sources that deal with the difference focus on Yonah, where the fish is first a dag (2:1) and then a dagah (2:2). Rashi glosses several Aramaic words in the Gemara (avruma, munini, gildna, tzachanta) as small fish.
Distinctions
Dag (דג)
The plain singular. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim traces it to the biliteral ד-ג, fecundity and increase in number, fish being famously prolific; from the same root he takes dayag (Yeshayahu 19:8) and davag (Yirmiyahu 16:16), fisherman, and dugah (Amos 4:2), a fishing boat. Ibn Chayyuj, Ibn Janach, and Radak treat the vav in davag as root-letter. In Nechemiah 13:16 the word is written דאג though read dag: Ibn Ezra (there and in Sefer Tzachus) takes the root as triliteral ד-י-ג or ד-ו-ג with an aleph standing in for the middle letter; the commentary attributed to Rasag (Pseudo-Rasag) there reads the aleph as a derashah, that trading on Shabbos brought extra da'agah, worry, into the world.
Dagah (דגה)
- Chazal (Nedarim 51b): dag is a big fish; dagah covers big and small alike. Hence Yonah's two fish, the second smaller than the first, and hence dagah for the fish of the Nile that died in Makas Dam (Shemos 7:18), where big and small perished together. On this reading the dagah the people remembered eating in Mitzrayim (Bamidbar 11:5) could be either.
- Other sources, among them Rashi (to Yonah 2:1) and Yalkut Shimoni 550: dag is a male fish, dagah a female. The first fish's belly was roomy and Yonah was too much at ease, so Hashem had it spit him out into a pregnant female whose cavity was cramped, and only then did he daven. The difficulty, which Rabbi Klein raises, is why only female fish would be eaten in Mitzrayim or killed in the plague. (It may suit the reading in Yoma 75a that "eating dagah" in Bamidbar 11:5 is not about food at all but about the illicit intimacy the people were free to engage in there.)
- Zohar (Beshalach 47b-48a), followed by Rabbeinu Bachya (to Bamidbar 11:5 and in Kad HaKemach; cf. his comments to Bamidbar 22:33) and Rabbi Avraham bar Chiya HaNasi (Higayon HaNefesh): dag is a living fish, dagah a dead one. Hashem killed the fish around Yonah to make him uncomfortable enough to daven; and the Zohar further adduces the reading from Shemos 7:18, which uses dagah for the dead fish of the plague. On this reading it seems that the people in the midbar recalled eating dagah because they ate dead fish, since one may not eat a live fish (see Rema, Yoreh Deah 13:1).
- Ibn Ezra (to Shemos 7:18), and see Rashi to Yirmiyahu 6:6 and Malbim to Yonah 2:2: dagah is the collective, fish as a species rather than an individual fish. This explains Shemos and Bamidbar (fish of every kind) but not the switch in Yonah.
- Rabbi Mordechai Gimpel Yaffe takes the opposite line: dagah is one particular Egyptian fish, which is why both Bamidbar 11:5 and Shemos 7:18 prefix it with the definite hei. He too leaves Yonah unexplained.
The verb (ויִדגו)
Yaakov blesses Yosef's sons v'yidgu, may they multiply like fish (Bereishis 48:16). Rav Hirsch notes that this is the only verbal use of ד-ג in all of Chumash; everywhere else the cognates are nouns.
- Among the earlier grammarians, Menachem alone derives the verb from the same root as dag.
- Ibn Janach and Radak assign it a triliteral ד-ג-ה, though Radak seems the more open to connecting it to dag.
- Rabbi Yehudah Ibn Balaam lists ד-ג-ה among verbs formed from nouns.
- Rabbi Aharon Marcus reverses the direction, making fecundity primary and "fish" the borrowed sense, and uses this to account for Chumash never saying dag/dagim, only dagah, digas, and v'yidgu. (Rabbi Klein himself points out the counterexample: digei in Bereishis 9:2, apparently the construct of dag.)
- Shadal (to Bereishis 48:16): as the verb dag means to multiply and be fruitful, yinon (Tehillim 72:17) means the fruitful one.
The wider family
- Rabbi Pappenheim also attaches two further words to ד-ג that the other commentators do not necessarily see as related. Da'agah, worry: an apprehension resting on slight grounds, like the fisherman who picks his spot on faint signs with no real proof that fish are there. Dagan, grain: an especially fecund plant, one seed begetting many, as one fish fathers many.
- Menachem, Ibn Janach, and Radak each give these their own triliteral roots, ד-א-ג and ד-ג-ן.
Dugmah, specimen (Shabbos 10:1, Eduyos 5:6, and often in the Gemara), is said to be a loanword from the Greek deigma; but given Rabbi Pappenheim's biliteral, Rabbi Klein conjectures that it may derive from ד-ג too, an example being a mere sampling of a quantitatively larger pool, with the mem extraneous to the root.
As an aside, Menachem does agree that the name of the Philistine god Dagon derives from the same root as dag, the idol that represented that deity having been fish-shaped; Rabbi Klein treats the deity at length in the encyclopedic section of his God versus Gods: Judaism in the Age of Idolatry (Mosaica Press, 2018).
The Aramaic small fish
Rashi glosses several Aramaic words as "small fish": avruma (Succah 18a; avdumah in Sefer HeAruch); munini (Sanhedrin 49a, Avodah Zarah 29a, Kesubos 60b), which also names fish brine (Rashi to Shabbos 105b, Gittin 69b) and by extension brine as such (Shabbos 110b, "munini of grasshoppers"); gildna, elsewhere a particular fish (Rashi to Sanhedrin 100b, Rabbeinu Gershom and Rashbam to Bava Basra 73b) and elsewhere small fish (Rashi to Horayos 12a, Berachos 44b, Kesubos 105b); and tzachanta (Rashi to Succah 18a, Sanhedrin 49a), which Yerushalmi Nedarim 6:3 gives as the Bavel name for the tarit. On munini: Rabbi David Golumb parses it as a diminutive mem plus the Aramaic nun, fish; Rabbi Moshe Batzri as a contraction of mei nuna, fish water. Rashi identifies tarit as tuna (Megillah 6a, Berachos 44a), and likewise sultanit and the Spanish kulyis (Shabbos 39a, Chullin 66a). On the species: ichthyologists, mentioned by Dr. Moshe Raanan, identify gildna with the flathead grey mullet (Mugil cephalus) or with gilt-head bream (Sparus aurata), and modern scholars, also cited by Dr. Raanan, identify tzachanta with either sardines or anchovies.
Also discussed in
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ד-א-ג
Fear and sorrow over what is yet to come.
Being anxious
וְדָאַג לָֽנוּ (Shmuel I 9:5), and he will be anxious for us; עֲוֹנִי אַגִּיד אֶדְאַג מֵֽחַטָּאתִֽי (Tehillim 38:19), I declare my sin, I am anxious over my transgression; וְהָֽרָעָב אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּם דֹּֽאֲגִים מִמֶּנּוּ (Yirmiyahu 42:16), and the famine that you are anxious about; אֲנִי דֹאֵג אֶת־הַיְּהוּדִים (Yirmiyahu 38:19), I am anxious about the Yehudim; וְאֶת־מִי דָּאַגְתְּ וַתִּֽירְאִי (Yeshayahu 57:11), and of whom were you anxious and afraid.
A borrowed use
וּבִשְׁנַת בַּצֹּרֶת לֹ֣א יִדְאָ֔ג (Yirmiyahu 17:8), and in a year of drought it will not be anxious, takes a kamatz with the zakef, and is said by way of borrowing.
The noun
וְאִם־לֹא מִדְּאָגָה (Yehoshua 22:24), and if it was not out of anxiety. The sense of them all is fear and sorrow over what is to come.
וְדָאַג לָֽנוּ (שמואל א' ט, ה), עֲוֹנִי אַגִּיד אֶדְאַג מֵֽחַטָּאתִֽי (תהלים לח, יט), וְהָֽרָעָב אֲשֶׁר־אַתֶּם דֹּֽאֲגִים מִמֶּנּוּ (ירמיה מב, טז), וּבִשְׁנַת בַּצֹּרֶת לֹ֣א יִדְאָ֔ג (ירמיה יז, ח), קמץ בזקף והוא על דרך ההשאלה אֲנִי דֹאֵג אֶת־הַיְּהוּדִים (ירמיה לח, יט), וְאֶת־מִי דָּאַגְתְּ וַתִּֽירְאִי (ישעיה נז, יא). והשם וְאִם־לֹא מִדְּאָגָה (יהושע כב, כד), ענינם הפחד והעצבון על העתיד.
ד-ג-ה
To increase as fish do. דָּג, a fish, may come from this root, but other forms point to דוג, and he holds the word was used in both roots.
Increasing like fish
וְיִדְגּוּ לָרֹב בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ (Bereishis 48:16), and let them multiply abundantly in the midst of the land: its sense is let them increase as the fish do.
Whether דג belongs here
דָּג and דָּגִים, fish, may be from this root. The plural in smichus shows it, being pointed with a sheva: דְּגֵי הַיָּם (Bamidbar 11:22), the fish of the sea, as בָּנִים, sons, gives בְּנֵי, sons of, and שְׁנַים, two, gives שְׁנֵי, two of. So too the smichus of דָּגָה: דְגַת־יְאֹרֶיךָ (Yechezkel 29:4), the fish of your rivers, and תִּבְאַשׁ דְּגָתָם (Yeshayahu 50:2), their fish shall stink, with a sheva. Had דגה been from the roots whose middle letter is weak, it would not change in smichus, as קָמָה, standing grain, does not in בְּקָמַת רֵעֶךָ (Devarim 23:26), your fellow's standing grain.
Written under דוג as well
But מְבִיאִים דָּאג (Nechemiah 13:16), bringing fish, is written with an alef as the middle root letter; there is a verb from it too, דִיגוּם (Yirmiyahu 16:16), and they shall fish them; and the fishermen, with the middle root letter showing, דַּוָּגִים (Yechezkel 47:10) and דַיָּגִים (Yirmiyahu 16:16). Since these are found, Radak will write them again under דוג. The truth, he says, is that the word was used in both roots, as many are.
וְיִדְגּוּ לָרֹב בְּקֶרֶב הָאָֽרֶץ (בראשית מח, טז), ענינו וירבו כמו הדגים. ויתכן להיות דָּג, דָּגִים מזה השרש. וסמיכות הרבים יוכיח שהוא בשוא דְּגֵי הַיָּם (במדבר יא, כב), כמו מן בָּנִים בְּנֵי, מן שְׁנַים שְׁנֵי. וכן סמיכות דָּגָה דְגַת־יְאֹרֶיךָ (יחזקאל כט, ד), תִּבְאַשׁ דְּגָתָם (ישעיה נ, ב), בשוא ואילו היה דגה מנחי העי"ן לא היה משתנה בסמיכות, כמו מן קָמָה בְּקָמַת רֵעֶךָ (דברים כג, כו). אבל לפי שמצאנו מְבִיאִים דָּאג (נחמיה יג, טז), כתוב באל"ף שהוא עי"ן הפעל וכן מצאנו הפעלה ממנו דִיגוּם (ירמיה טז, טז), והתאר בהראות עי"ן הפעל דַּוָּגִים (יחזקאל מז, י), דַיָּגִים (ירמיה טז, טז), ונכתבם עוד בשרש דּוּג. והאמת כי נשתמשו בו בשני השרשים ורבים כמהו.
ד-ג-ן
Grain: the name of wheat, barley, or another of the five kinds, once its heap has been smoothed.
Wheat, barley, or another of the five
דָּגָן תִּירוֹשׁ וְיִצְהָר (Devarim 28:51), grain, wine and oil, and וְאָֽסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ (Devarim 11:14), and you shall gather in your grain. It is the name of the wheat or the barley or another of the five kinds, after its heap has been smoothed.
דָּגָן תִּירוֹשׁ וְיִצְהָר (דברים כח, נא), וְאָֽסַפְתָּ דְגָנֶךָ (דברים יא, יד). הוא שם החטה או שעורה או אחד משאר חמשת המינים אחר שנמרח.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Fishy Words (Part 1/2)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 29 May 2021.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Fishy Words," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 9:2, 48:16; Shemos 7:18 with Ibn Ezra; Bamidbar 11:5 and 22:33 with Rabbeinu Bachya; Yeshayahu 19:8; Yirmiyahu 6:6 with Rashi, 16:16; Yonah 2:1-2 with Rashi and Malbim; Amos 4:2; Nechemiah 13:16 with Ibn Ezra and the commentary attributed to Rasag; Nedarim 51b; Yoma 75a; Succah 18a; Sanhedrin 49a, 100b; Avodah Zarah 29a; Kesubos 60b, 105b; Shabbos 39a, 105b, 110b; Gittin 69b; Horayos 12a; Berachos 44a, 44b; Megillah 6a; Chullin 66a; Bava Basra 73b with Rabbeinu Gershom and Rashbam; Shabbos 10:1 and Eduyos 5:6 (Mishnah); Yerushalmi Nedarim 6:3; Zohar, Beshalach 47b-48a; Yalkut Shimoni 550; Rema, Yoreh Deah 13:1; Ibn Ezra, Sefer Tzachus; Rabbeinu Bachya, Kad HaKemach; Rabbi Avraham bar Chiya HaNasi, Higayon HaNefesh; Sefer HeAruch s.v. אברומא; Menachem Ibn Saruk; Ibn Chayyuj; Ibn Janach; Radak; Rabbi Yehudah Ibn Balaam; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim; Rav Hirsch; Rabbi Aharon Marcus, Keses HaSofer (עמ' עד), and Barzilai (עמ' 44, 95-96); Rabbi Mordechai Gimpel Yaffe; Rabbi David Golumb, Targumna to Bereishis 1:26; Rabbi Moshe Batzri; Dr. Moshe Raanan on the species identifications; Shadal to Bereishis 48:16; Tehillim 72:17.