muzzle
At a glance
In short
Resen and meteg both name the gear that controls a beast, and what separates them is disputed. For Rabbi Avraham Bedersi the meteg is a metal bit and the resen a rope or a leather bit. Dr. David J. A. Clines takes a similar approach: the meteg is the whole bridle, and the resen the mouthpiece or the reins. Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi holds the exact opposite of Bedersi: the meteg is the leather strap and the resen the metal bit. The Aramaic zemam, which Targum uses for both, is a muzzle, the device that closes a mouth. Prumbia is the rabbinic muzzle/halter; afsar is the reins, by which one takes legal possession of an animal. The noun zemam is distinct from its homograph zomem or zimah, a plot or scheme, though Shadal, among others, ties them: the scheme stays locked in the mind as the muzzle locks the mouth.
Distinctions
Resen (רסן)
Five occurrences in Tanach, once as the place-name Resen (Bereishis 10:12) and four as the mouthpiece (Yeshayahu 30:28, Iyov 30:11, Iyov 41:5, Tehillim 32:9).
- Radak (to Yeshayahu 30:28): a resen is what steers an animal where its rider wants it to go; in Sefer HaShorashim he adds a second aspect, that it serves as a muzzle blocking the animal's mouth, presumably (so Rabbi Klein reads him) so that it will not bite people or eat from other people's fields.
- Rashi (to Yeshayahu 30:28) glosses it with the rabbinic prumbia.
- Menachem Ibn Saruk, Yonah Ibn Janach, Ibn Parchon and Radak take the root as ר-ס-ן.
- Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim treats the final nun as non-essential and derives it from biliteral ר-ס, "breaking something off into smaller pieces" (compare la'ros, to drip or sprinkle, Yechezkel 46:14): the bit makes the animal drool, and the dripping saliva is a small thing broken off a bigger one. Rabbi Klein adds that the same meaning accounts for the Modern Hebrew tarsis, spray. The nouns resisim (Amos 6:11) and resisei (Shir HaShirim 5:2) likewise refer to smaller pieces broken off something bigger.
- Rabbi Aharon Marcus applies the same root slightly differently: the bit bifurcates the space inside the mouth.
- Rav Hirsch (to Tehillim 2:2) connects resen to roznim, nobles, by the samech/zayin interchange: the roznim steer the state as the resen steers the beast.
- Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh of Carpentras (Ohalei Yehuda) reads it as a portmanteau of ratz and ein, "no running."
Meteg (מתג)
Also five occurrences (Shmuel II 8:1, Melachim II 19:28, Yeshayahu 37:29, Mishlei 26:3, Tehillim 32:9).
- Radak (Sefer HaShorashim): a long piece of metal set in the mouth to control the animal, and he notes that it is not built like a resen, without fully explaining how they differ.
- Ohalei Yehuda offers two etymologies by letter-interchange: gimmel for kuf, linking meteg to matok (sweet), since control of one's beast is desirable and enjoyable to the rider (Rabbi Klein adds his own version: just as a man wants to keep something sweet in his mouth, so does a rider want to keep the meteg in his horse's mouth); or mem for nun with gimmel for kuf, linking it to nituk (untie), since the meteg's virtue is a knot that cannot easily be undone.
- Rabbi Yehoshua Steinberg suggests tugah / yagon (distress), since the meteg leads by causing pain.
- Rabbi Amitai Ben-David notes the later Masoretic meteg, the short vertical stress mark, and the Modern Hebrew "switch" that took its name from the shape, as did certain kinds of worm.
The difference between them
- Bedersi (Chosam Tochnis, the first work on Hebrew synonyms): meteg is a metal bit; resen is either a rope at the neck or a leather bit.
- A similar approach is favored by Dr. David J. A. Clines in his dictionary of Classical Hebrew: meteg is the entire bridle by which one directs an animal, while resen is specifically the mouthpiece joining the bridle to the animal, or the reins, the long strap held by the rider and attached to the bridle.
- Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi (Otzar Nirdafim) holds the exact opposite of Bedersi, meteg the leather strap and resen the metal bit, tying meteg to metach (stretching out) via gimmel/ches.
That they are close in meaning is seen from their pairing in Tehillim 32:9, and Targum's rendering both by zemam (Yeshayahu 30:28, Iyov 30:11; Melachim II 19:28, Yeshayahu 37:29) suggests the same. In the one pasuk where both stand together, Targum to Tehillim 32:9 distinguishes them: meteg becomes zemama, resen becomes prumbia (Targum to Iyov 41:5 likewise renders resen as prumbia).
Zemam (זמם)
The Aramaic and rabbinic term for the muzzle. The Torah forbids muzzling an animal at its work (Devarim 25:4), and the Mishnah (Terumos 9:3), ruling that one threshing terumah should hang a basket of the same species from the animal's neck so that it not be restrained from eating, uses the verb zomem for muzzling. Bereishis Rabbah 41:5, Targum Yonasan and Targum Yerushalmi (to Bereishis 13:7), relating the tradition Rashi cites there, all use cognates of zemam for the muzzle Avraham was particular to put on his animals, while Lot was not as careful. The homograph zomem means to plot (Tehillim 37:12; ascribed even to Hashem, Yirmiyahu 51:12, Eichah 2:17, Zecharyah 1:6; the conspiring witnesses of Devarim 19:19 and the eidim zomemim of the Mishnah, Bava Kamma 7:3, Sanhedrin 6:2, Makkos 1:3 and 1:6), and zimah is the licentious scheme of Vayikra 18:17 and 20:14.
- Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim: the core of biliteral ז-ם is "intellectual decision," yielding zamam, yuzma, zimah (the mind's decision to do wrong), nezem (the nose-ring that entices toward zimah) and even zman, time being graspable only by the intellect; he does not connect the muzzle.
- Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg opens the way to a bridge: an intellectual decision closes off the other options, and so nezem is the ring that must form a complete circle to be affixed on the wearer. Mecklenburg himself stops there; it is Rabbi Klein who adds, in his own voice, that zemam is by that logic what closes an animal's mouth, or alternatively that the zemam is fixed on the animal's face just as the nezem is fixed on a human face.
- Shadal (to Vayikra 18:17) offers an all-inclusive explanation of the whole ז-ם family: what typifies a zamam is that it stays within the realm of the mind, so that zemamah might typically be evil thoughts though it could in theory be good ones; zimah is the secret thought a man holds in and never puts into words, and lying with a woman and her daughter or granddaughter is called zimah because society holds it so heinous that one would keep such fantasies secret. So too, Shadal writes, the muzzle locks the animal's mouth against eating and biting.
- Bereishis Rabbah 75:9 reads the zemam of Tehillim 140:9 as a muzzle over Esav's face.
- Yevamos 37b parses zimah otherwise, as a portmanteau of zu mah hi, "what is she," speaking of the after-effects of promiscuity, which leave people's lineage in question for want of clear parentage.
Prumbia (פרומביא) and afsar (אפסר)
Prumbia appears in the Mishnah (Shabbos 5:1, Keilim 11:5) and in Bava Kamma 17b, where an animal damages by means of the prumbia on its mouth; Rashi uses it to gloss resen. Dr. Alexander Kohut identifies prumbia as a permutation of the Greek phorbeia, the leather strap worn by players of the aulos, a pipe-like wind instrument, to spare their lips and cheeks the strain of continuous blowing; in Latin and English the accessory is a capistrum. Being something like a muzzle or halter, it came in rabbinic parlance to be associated with an animal's headgear. The rabbinic form carries an extra mem vowel, what linguists call epenthetic vowel insertion. Bereishis Rabbah 45:7 has the variant probi or prochi (depending on the edition), seemingly cognate with prumbia/phorbeia, in the aphorism about the donkey's ears. Afsar (from Persian) is the bit or reins; because taking hold of an animal's afsar acquires the animal, the term carries a legal sense in the Bavli for the mechanism by which anything is acquired (Kiddushin 27a-b, Bava Basra 53b, Targum Yonasan to Bamidbar 19:2).
Also discussed in
- Secretרוזנים / roznim
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ז-מ-ם
To think, and the nouns are thought; in another sense, filth, abomination and evil deed. Some say it is all one sense, thought for good or for evil.
Thinking
אֲשֶׁר זָמָם (Eichah 2:17), what He had thought, and כַּֽאֲשֶׁר זָמַם לַֽעֲשׂוֹת לְאָחִיו (Devarim 19:19), as he thought to do to his brother. עַל כִּֽי־דִבַּרְתִּי זַמֹּתִי (Yirmiyahu 4:28), because I have spoken, I have thought it, is accented on the syllable before the last, while זַמֹּתִי בַּל־יַֽעֲבָר־פִּֽי (Tehillim 17:3), my thought shall not pass my mouth, is accented on the last.
The nouns of thought
זְמָמוֹ אַל־תָּפֵק (Tehillim 140:9), do not let his thought come about; the plural, זִמֹּתַי נִתְּקוּ (Iyov 17:11), my thoughts are torn away; and with an added mem, מְזִמָּה תִּשְׁמֹר עָלֶיךָ, thought shall guard over you. All of these and their like are the matter of thinking.
The thought of folly
זִמַּת אִוֶּלֶת חַטָּאת (Mishlei 24:9), the thought of folly is sin: whoever thinks upon matters of folly, it brings him to sin. וְתֽוֹעֲבַת לְאָדָם לֵֽץ (Mishlei 24:9), and the scorner is an abomination to man: one who thinks upon the words of the scorner, who is no fool but mocks people and whose dealings are evil, and who runs after him, is brought to be an abomination to man, so that people loathe him.
Not setting your heart to it
Where the pasuk says you did not do אֶת־ הַזִּמָּה עַל כָּל־תּֽוֹעֲבֹתָֽיִךְ (Yechezkel 16:43), the thought upon all your abominations, the sense is: you did not set your heart to it and did not think what you had done, upon all your abominations.
Filth and abomination
In another sense: כִּי זִמָּה עָשֽׂוּ (Hoshea 6:9), for they have done foulness, and זִמָּה הִֽוא (Vayikra 18:17), it is foulness. The plural is הוּא זִמּוֹת יָעָץ (Yeshayahu 32:7), he counsels foul things, and with an added mem, אֲשֶׁר יֹאמְרֻךָ לִמְזִמָּה (Tehillim 139:20), who speak of You for foulness, and עֲשׂוֹתָהּ הַֽמְזִמָּתָה הָֽרַבִּים (Yirmiyahu 11:15), her working foulness with the many. Their sense is filth and abomination and evil deed.
Some say it is all one sense
Some say that they are all one sense, since every זמה is a thought, whether for good or for evil, and each is explained according to its place.
עָשָׂה י"י אֲשֶׁר זָמָם (איכה ב, יז), כַּֽאֲשֶׁר זָמַם לַֽעֲשׂוֹת לְאָחִיו (דברים יט, יט). עַל כִּֽי־דִבַּרְתִּי זַמֹּתִי (ירמיה ד, כח), מלעיל, זַמֹּתִי בַּל־יַֽעֲבָר־פִּֽי (תהלים יז, ג), מלרע. והשם זְמָמוֹ אַל־תָּפֵק (תהלים קט, ט). ומשקל אחר זִמַּת אִוֶּלֶת חַטָּאת (משלי כד, ט). ופירוש הפסוק אומר כל החושב בדברי אולת יביאהו לידי חטאת וְתֽוֹעֲבַת לְאָדָם לֵֽץ (שם) והחושב בדברי הלץ והוא אינו אויל אבל מתלוצץ בבני ארם ועסקיו רעים ומי שהוא חושב בדבריו ורודף אחריו יביאהו לידי תועבת אדם שיתעבוהו בני אדם. וְלֹא עָשִׂיתי [עָשִׂית] אֶת־הַזִּמָּה עַל כָּל־תּֽוֹעֲבֹתָֽיִךְ (יחזקאל טז, מג), לא נתת את לבך ולא חשבת מה עשית על כל תועבותיך. והקבוץ זִמֹּתַי נִתְּקוּ (איוב יז, יב), ובתוספת מ"ם מְזִמָּה תִּשְׁמֹר עָלֶיךָ (משלי כ, יא). כלם והדומים להם ענין מחשבה. וענין אחר כִּי זִמָּה עָשֽׂוּ (הושע ו, ט), זִמָּה הִֽוא (ויקרא יח, יז). והקבוץ הוּא זִמּוֹת יָעָץ (ישעיה לב, ז), ובתוספת מ"ם אֲשֶׁר יֹאמְרֻךָ לִמְזִמָּה (תהלים קלט, כ), עֲשׂוֹתָהּ הַֽמְזִמָּתָה הָֽרַבִּים (ירמיה יא, טו), ענינם ענין טנוף ותועבה ומעשה רע. ויש אומרים כלם ענין אחד כי כל זמה מחשבה בין טוב ובין רע ולפי מקומו יתפרש כל אחד.
מ-ת-ג
The מֶתֶג: the iron goad that pricks a donkey, and the long iron put in a beast's mouth to lead it, all one sense, he says. Also Meseg HaAmah, taken from the Pelishtim.
Bit and goad
בְּמֶתֶג וָרֶסֶן עֶדְיוֹ לִבְלוֹם (Tehillim 32:9), with bit and bridle to curb his trappings; מֶתֶג לַֽחֲמוֹר (Mishlei 26:3), a goad for the donkey, pointed with six dots; וּמִתְגִּי בִּשְׂפָתֶיךָ (Yeshayahu 37:29), my bit in your lips: all three are one sense. מֶתֶג לַֽחֲמוֹר is the iron goad fixed in the end of a stick, with which the donkey is pricked to hurry him. In the other two it is the long iron put in the beast's mouth to lead it, called in the vernacular פְּרֵי"ן, and it is like the bridle except that it is not made in its fashion.
Meseg HaAmah
וַיִּקַּח דָּוִד אֶת־ מֶתֶג הָֽאַמָּה מִיַּד פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים (Shmuel II 8:1), David took Meseg HaAmah from the hand of the Pelishtim, which Targum Yonasan renders תִּקוּן אַמְתָא, the setting in order of the amah. In Divrei HaYamim, in its place, the pasuk runs וַיִּקַּח אֶת־גַּת וּבְנֹתֶיהָ מִיַּד פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים (Divrei HaYamim I 18:1), he took Gat and her daughter towns from the hand of the Pelishtim; Radak offers that Meseg HaAmah may be a name covering Gat and her daughter towns together.
בְּמֶתֶג וָרֶסֶן עֶדְיוֹ לִבְלוֹם (תהלים לב, ט), מֶתֶג לַֽחֲמוֹר (משלי כו, ג), בשש נקודות. וּמִתְגִּי בִּשְׂפָתֶיךָ (ישעיה לז, כט), שלשתם ענין אחד. ומֶתֶג לַֽחֲמוֹר הוא דרבן הברזל התחוב בקצה העץ שדוקרין בו החמור למהרו. בְּמֶתֶג וָרֶסֶן, וּמִתְגִּי בִּשְׂפָתֶיךָ הוא הברזל הארוך שמשימין בפי הבהמה להנהיגה, והוא שקורין לו בלע"ז פְּרֵי"ן, והוא כמו הרסן אלא שאינו עשוי בתכונתו. וַיִּקַּח דָּוִד אֶת־מֶתֶג הָֽאַמָּה מִיַּד פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים (שמואל ב' ח, א), תרגום יונתן תִּקוּן אַמְתָא. ובדברי הימים במקומו וַיִּקַּח אֶת־גַּת וּבְנֹתֶיהָ מִיַּד פְּלִשְׁתִּֽים (דברי הימים א' יח, א), אולי מתג האמה היא כלל לגת ובנותיה.
ר-ס-ן
The bridle, set in a beast's mouth to lead it as the rider wishes; to send the bridle away before a man is to have no fear or shame of him.
The bridle
וְרֶסֶן מַתְעֶה (Yeshayahu 30:28), a bridle that leads astray, and וְרֶסֶן מִפָּנַי שִׁלֵּֽחוּ (Iyov 30:11), they have cast off the bridle before me, pointed with segols.
Cast off before him
Radak explains וְרֶסֶן מִפָּנַי שִׁלֵּֽחוּ to mean that they had no fear and no shame before the speaker, as though until then he had kept their mouths shut with a bridle, as is done to beasts, as the pasuk says בְּמֶתֶג וָרֶסֶן עֶדְיוֹ לִבְלוֹם (Tehillim 32:9), with bit and bridle, his trappings, to hold him in, the bridle being set in the mouths of beasts to lead them as the rider wishes; and now they have sent the bridle away from before him, meaning that they do not fear him.
By way of likeness
בְּכֶפֶל רִסְנוֹ מִי יָבֽוֹא (Iyov 41:5), who can come within his double bridle, is said by way of likeness.
וְרֶסֶן מַתְעֶה (ישעיה ל, כח), וְרֶסֶן מִפָּנַי שִׁלֵּֽחוּ (איוב ל, יא), בשש נקודות. ופירוש הפסוק כלומר שלא יראו ולא בושו מפני, וכאילו טרם זה היה חוסם פיהם ברסן כמו שעושים לבהמות, כמו שאומר בפסוק בְּמֶתֶג וָרֶסֶן עֶדְיוֹ לִבְלוֹם (תהלים לב, ט), שמשימין אותו בפי הבהמות להנהיגם כרצון הרוכב, ואומר כי עתה שלחו הרסן מפניו כלומר שלא ייראו אותו. ועל דרך הדמיון בְּכֶפֶל רִסְנוֹ מִי יָבֽוֹא (איוב מא, ה).
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Balak: Muzzled Up," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 1 July 2023.
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 10:12, 13:7; Bamidbar 23:16 with Rashi and Bamidbar Rabbah 20:20; Vayikra 18:17, 20:14; Devarim 19:19, 25:4; Yeshayahu 30:28, 37:29; Yirmiyahu 51:12; Yechezkel 46:14; Amos 6:11; Zecharyah 1:6; Melachim II 19:28; Shmuel II 8:1; Mishlei 26:3; Tehillim 2:2, 32:9, 37:12, 140:9; Iyov 30:11, 41:5; Shir HaShirim 5:2; Eichah 2:17; Radak to Yeshayahu 30:28 and Sefer HaShorashim s.v. רסן and s.v. מתג; Bedersi, Chosam Tochnis; Dr. David J. A. Clines, Dictionary of Classical Hebrew; Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi, Otzar Nirdafim; Ohalei Yehuda; Rav Hirsch to Tehillim 2:2; Mecklenburg and Shadal to Vayikra 18:17; Mishnah Terumos 9:3, Shabbos 5:1, Keilim 11:5, Bava Kamma 7:3, Sanhedrin 6:2, Makkos 1:3 and 1:6; Bava Kamma 17b; Kiddushin 27a-b; Bava Basra 53b; Yevamos 37b; Bereishis Rabbah 41:5, 45:7, 75:9; Targum Yonasan to Bamidbar 19:2; Dr. Alexander Kohut on the Greek phorbeia.