rebellion

וְגַם בַּמֶּלֶךְ נְבֽוּכַדְנֶאצַּר מָרָד (Divrei HaYamim II 36:13), and he also rebelled against king Nevuchadnetzar; and וּשְׁלשׁ־עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה מָרָֽדוּ (Bereishis 14:4), thirteen years they rebelled, which he reads as, and in the thirteenth year.

אַל־ תִּמְרֹדוּ (Bamidbar 14:9), do not rebel, said of rebelling against Hashem, and וְאֹתָנוּ אֶל־ תִּמְרֹדוּ (Yehoshua 22:19), and do not rebel against us.

הֵמָּה הָיוּ בְּֽמֹרְדֵי ־אוֹר (Iyov 24:13), they were among those who rebel against the light, that is, they rebel against the light and do not know it. He allows a second reading, that the mem is added and the root is יָרַד, to go down, so that they were in the going down of the light: they go about at evening and dig through the walls of houses in the dark.

אִם־ בְּמֶרֶד וְאִם־בְּמַעַל (Yehoshua 22:22), whether in rebellion or in treachery, which carries six points; and in another pattern בֶּֽן־נַֽעֲוַת הַמַּרְדּוּת (Shmuel I 20:30), son of a perverse rebelliousness.

מְרוּדִים תָּבִיא בָיִת (Yeshayahu 58:7), bring the lowly poor into your house; and the noun יְמֵי עָנְיָהּ וּמְרוּדֶיהָ (Eichah 1:7), the days of her affliction and her lowliness, which he reads as, in the days of her affliction; and זְכָר־עָנְיִי וּמְרוּדִי (Eichah 3:19), remember my affliction and my lowliness. Their sense, he says, is ענין דלות ושפלות, poverty and lowliness, and he will write of them again under the root רוּד.

אֲשֶׁר מָרָה אֶת־פִּי (Melachim I 13:26), who defied the mouth of Hashem; כִּי מָרוּ בָֽךְ (Tehillim 5:11), for they rebelled against You; and כִּֽי־אֹתִי מָרָתָה (Yirmiyahu 4:17), for she defied Me.

וְלֹֽא־ מָרוּ אֶת־דְּבָרֹֽיו (Tehillim 105:28), and they did not defy His words: the signs He set among them were as He commanded, and likewise the frogs and the swarm came. Or it is read that Moshe and Aharon, whom He sent over the plagues, did not defy His word.

כִּי מָרוֹ מָרִיתִי (Eichah 1:20), for I have grievously defied; סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה (Devarim 21:18), wayward and defiant; and שִׁמְעוּ־נָא הַמֹּרִים (Bamidbar 20:10), hear now, you defiant ones.

מֹרַת רוּחַ (Bereishis 26:35), a defiance of spirit: each one of them was defying their spirit, that is, altering and changing their will. Or it is a noun on the pattern of תּוֹעָה, error (Yeshayahu 32:6).

כִּי בֵּית מְרִי הֵמָּה (Yechezkel 2:5), for they are a house of defiance; גַּם־הַיּוֹם מְרִי שִׂחִי (Iyov 23:2), even today my complaint is defiance; אֶֽת־ מֶרְיְךָ (Devarim 31:27), your defiance, with a segol under the mem; and לָשׁוּב לְעַבְדֻתָם בְּמִרְיָם (Nechemiah 9:17), to return to their bondage in their defiance, with a chirik under the mem.

The describing word is on the pattern of the noun: וְאָמַרְתָּ אֶל־ מֶרִי (Yechezkel 44:6), and you shall say to the defiant. So too אַל־תְּהִי־ מֶרִי כְּבֵית הַמֶּרִי (Yechezkel 2:8), do not be defiant like the house of defiance, where the first מֶרִי describes, on the pattern of פֶּתִי, a simpleton, and the second is a noun; or the first is a noun too and is short a word, the right reading being, do not be a man of defiance. So too וַֽאֲנִי תְפִלָּֽה (Tehillim 109:4), and I am prayer, meaning I am a man of prayer; and so אַךְ־ מְרִי יְבַקֶּשׁ־רָע (Mishlei 17:11), a defiant man seeks only evil, a describing word or a noun short the word man.

כִּֽי־ הִמְרוּ אֶת־רוּחוֹ (Tehillim 106:33), for they defied His spirit: Moshe and Aharon defied the word of Hashem, His spirit here being His word, and it was Hashem who pronounced with His lips that they should not enter the land. So וַיַּמְרוּ ־בִי (Yechezkel 20:13), and they defied Me; מַמְרִים הֱיִתֶם (Devarim 31:27), you have been defiant; כַּמָּה יַמְרוּהוּ בַמִּדְבָּר (Tehillim 78:40), how often they defied Him in the wilderness; and וַתֶּמֶר אֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַי לְרִשְׁעָה (Yechezkel 5:6), and she changed My laws into wickedness.

לַמְרוֹת עֵנֵי כְבוֹדֽוֹ (Yeshayahu 3:8), to defy the eyes of His glory, whose proper form is לְהַמְרוֹת; and so לַמְרוֹת עֶלְיוֹן בַּצִּיָּֽה (Tehillim 78:17), to defy the Most High in the desert.

וּבְהַמְּרוֹתָם תָּלַן עֵינִֽי (Iyov 17:2), which he reads as, and in place of the mockeries my eye lodges: in truth the mockeries are not with me, but in their place my eye lodges. Radak has given another reading of it at the roots הָתַל and לוּן.

עַל־הָאָרֶץ מְרָתַיִם (Yirmiyahu 50:21), against the land of Merasayim: Targum Yonasan renders it from this sense, עַל אַרְעָא דְעַמָא סַרְבָן, against the land of a defiant people.

אֶת־עֳנִי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֹרֶה מְאֹד (Melachim II 14:26), the affliction of Yisrael, greatly altered, is from this sense too, that is, much changed and altered. And in וּמוֹרָה לֹא־יַעֲלֶה עַל־רֹאשׁוֹ (Shoftim 13:5), and no מוֹרָה shall come upon his head, the מוֹרָה is the razor.

מַר ־נֶפֶשׁ (Shmuel I 22:2), bitter of soul; כִּי מָרִים הֵם (Shemos 15:23), for they are bitter, said of the waters; צְעָקָה גְּדֹלָה וּמָרָה (Bereishis 27:34), a great and bitter cry; and מָרָה כַלַּֽעֲנָה (Mishlei 5:4), bitter as wormwood. In קְרֶאןָ לִי מָרָא (Rus 1:20), call me Mara, the alef comes in place of the hei. Further, וְהִיא מָרַת נָפֶשׁ (Shmuel I 1:10), and she was bitter of soul, and כִּי־רַע וָמָר עָזְבֵךְ (Yirmiyahu 2:19), that your forsaking is evil and bitter.

כִּֽי־ מָרָה נֶפֶשׁ כָּל־הָעָם (Shmuel I 30:6), for the soul of all the people was bitter, is a past verb, since its stress falls on the first syllable and it carries two pashta accents. כִּֽי־ מַר ־לִי מְאֹד מִכֶּם (Rus 1:13), for it is far more bitter for me than for you, may likewise be a past verb, since it has a patach; or it may be a noun rather than an adjective, for though patach is found in adjectives of doubled roots, they are few.

עַל־ מַר נַפְשִֽׁי (Yeshayahu 38:15), over the bitterness of my soul, is a noun, that is, that You saved me from the bitterness of my soul; and so Targum Yonasan renders it, דְאוֹסִיף עַל חַיַי וְשֵׁיזֵיב מִמְרִיר נַפְשִׁי, who added to my life and saved me from the bitterness of my soul. So also הִנֵּה לְשָׁלוֹם מַר ־לִי מָר (Yeshayahu 38:17), behold, for peace I had bitter bitterness; and with the feminine hei, bound to the next word, לֵב יוֹדֵעַ מָרַּת נַפְשׁוֹ (Mishlei 14:10), the heart knows the bitterness of its soul, the resh taking a dagesh.

Rabbi Yonah brought מֹרַת רוּחַ (Bereishis 26:35), a bitterness of spirit, under this root; but then it ought to have had a dagesh, and a hurried vowel under the mem. The right view is that it belongs to the root מָרָה.

The noun in its full form is מָרוֹר, bitterness; in the plural, עַל־מַצּוֹת וּמְרֹרִים (Bamidbar 9:11), with matzos and bitter herbs, and הִשְׂבִּיעַנִי בַמְּרוֹרִים (Eichah 3:15), He has sated me with bitterness; in the feminine plural, כִּֽי־תִכְתֹּב עָלַי מְרֹרוֹת (Iyov 13:26), for You write bitter things against me, and אַשְׁכְּלֹת מְרֹרֹת (Devarim 32:32), clusters of bitterness.

בְּשִׁבְרוֹן מָתְנַיִם וּבִמְרִירוּת (Yechezkel 21:11), with breaking of loins and with bitterness; בְּכִי תַמְרוּרִים (Yirmiyahu 31:15), bitter weeping; וּמֶמֶר לְיֽוֹלַדְתּֽוֹ (Mishlei 17:25), and bitterness to her who bore him; and כִּי יַשְׂבִּעַנִי מַמְּרֹרִֽים (Iyov 9:18), for He fills me with bitterness.

The adjective is וְקֶטֶב מְרִירִי (Devarim 32:24), and a bitter ketev. כִּמְרִירֵי יֽוֹם (Iyov 3:5) he reads as, like those who are bitter of day and ill starred: may they terrify that day with their curse. Some take the kaf as added, as in כַּֽחֲצֹת הַלַּיְלָה (Shemos 11:4), at midnight, and כְּמַסִּיגֵי גְּבוּל (Hoshea 5:10), movers of a boundary. The sense of וְקֶטֶב מְרִירִי is the force of the heat, which is like a deadly poison; his text does not mark whether that is still their view or his own.

יֵמַר שֵׁכָר לְשֹׁתָֽיו (Yeshayahu 24:9), strong drink turns bitter to those who drink it; אֲמָרֵר בַּבֶּכִי (Yeshayahu 22:4), I will embitter with weeping, that is, embitter my soul, or those who hear me; וַיְמָֽרֲרוּ אֶת־חַיֵּיהֶם (Shemos 1:14), and they made their lives bitter; and כִּי־ הֵמַר שַׁדַּי לִי (Rus 1:20), for Shakai has made it bitter for me.

אַל־ תַּמֵּר בּוֹ (Shemos 23:21) is another sense in this verb; because it is joined with a beis, its sense is like תְּמָרֵר: do not embitter him. In yet another sense, וְרֵיחֹו לֹא נָמָֽר (Yirmiyahu 48:11), and its scent was not changed, is like לא נתחלף, was not exchanged. His father writes that אֶדַּדֶּה כָל־שְׁנוֹתַי עַל־ מַר נַפְשִֽׁי (Yeshayahu 38:15) is of this sense, read as: I shall take my delight all my years over what He exchanged for me, adding to my years; and עֲלֵיהֶם יִֽחְיוּ (Yeshayahu 38:16), upon them they live, as: now I know that to the years allotted to men You add, at Your will, as You added to mine.

שִׂמִי לָךְ תַּמְרוּרִים (Yirmiyahu 31:21), set up markers for yourself, are the tall markers; so too הִכְעִיס אֶפְרַיִם תַּמְרוּרִים (Hoshea 12:15), Ephraim provoked with markers, that is, with the markers he made he provoked Hashem, though it may be of the first sense, that Ephraim provoked a provocation of bitterness. Of this sense, with the mem doubled, וַיִּתְמַרְמַר אֵלָיו (Daniel 8:7), he rose up against him, that is, grew high and lifted himself up against him. And the right view is that כְּמַר מִדְּלִי (Yeshayahu 40:15), like a drop from a bucket, is from this root and this sense, the sense of height; the bucket's drop is so called because it falls from a height.

יִשְׁפֹּךְ לָאָרֶץ מְרֵֽרָֽתִי (Iyov 16:13), He pours out my gall on the ground; מְרוֹרַת פְּתָנִים בְּקִרְבּֽוֹ (Iyov 20:14), the gall of asps within him; and וּבָרָק מִמְּרֹֽרָתוֹ יַֽהֲלֹךְ (Iyov 20:25), and a glittering point comes out of his gall. This is the gall bladder, and some read אַשְׁכְּלֹת מְרֹרֹת (Devarim 32:32) the same way, clusters of gall. In the heavy form, וַֽיְמָֽרֲרֻהוּ וָרֹבּוּ (Bereishis 49:23), they struck him to the gall and shot, that is, they shot their arrows as far as the gall.

אֶפְשֳׂעָה בָהּ (Yeshayahu 27:4) he glosses as I will stride in it, and כִּי כְפֶשַׂע בֵּינִי וּבֵין הַמָּֽוֶת (Shmuel I 20:3), for there is but a step between me and death, he takes as a pace, meaning a small thing. The usage is common in the words of Chazal (Shabbos 113b and Taanis 10b), who say that פסיעה גסה, a wide stride, takes away one five-hundredth of a man's eyesight.

The private parts are called by a covered name using this word: עַד־ הַמִּפְשָׂעָה (Divrei HaYamim I 19:4), up to the stride, as the pesukim also cover the same with רגלים, feet: וְלֹֽא־עָשָׂה רַגְלָיו (Shmuel II 19:25), and he had not dressed his feet, and אַךְ מֵסִיךְ הוּא אֶת־רַגְלָיו (Shoftim 3:24), he is only covering his feet.

מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב פָּשַׁע בִּי (Melachim II 3:7), the king of Moav has rebelled against me, and אָז תִּפְשַׁע לִבְנָה בָּעֵת הַהִֽיא (Melachim II 8:22), then Livnah rebelled at that time; so too וְהֵם פָּשְׁעוּ בִֽי (Yeshayahu 1:2), and they have rebelled against Me. אָח נִפְשָׁע מִקִּרְיַת־עֹז (Mishlei 18:19) means a brother rebelled against is harder than a strong city.

So too the Chachamim taught (Yoma 36b): עונות are the wilful sins, as it says הִכָּרֵת תִּכָּרֵת הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא עֲוֹנָה בָֽהּ (Bamidbar 15:31), that soul shall surely be cut off, its iniquity upon it; פשעים are the rebellions, as it says מֶלֶךְ מוֹאָב פָּשַׁע בִּי, the king of Moav rebelled against me; and חטאים are the errors, as it says נֶפֶשׁ כִּי־תֶֽחֱטָא בִשְׁגָגָה (Vayikra 4:2), a soul that sins in error.

עַֽל־כָּל־דְּבַר־ פֶּשַׁע (Shemos 22:8), for every matter of rebellion, said of a deposit, means a bailee careless with the deposit, who did not guard it as guardians do. There is no rebellion here and he does not destroy it with his own hands, and still he is called a פושע, a rebel: once he does not put his eyes and his heart and his watching upon what was left with him, it is as though he rebels against the man who deposited it and goes out from under the command of the one who charged him to guard it, which he took upon himself and did not keep.

כְּהָתֵם הַפּֽשְׁעִים (Daniel 8:23), when the פשעים are complete: Rabbi Yonah wrote that the word is a noun, meaning, as Radak takes him, the punishments that had passed over them. Ibn Ezra reads it plainly, as those who do the deed, the rebels; on that reading the sense is that because the rebels of Yisrael were many, they were sold into the hand of the Greeks.