nature
red
At a glance
In short
Adom is plain red, and at Zecharyah 6:2-3 Radak finds it a stronger red than chamutz / amutz. Shani (tola'as shani) is crimson, the worm-dye of the Mishkan. Chamutz and amutz are red-stained in Yeshayahu and chestnut or burgundy in Zecharyah. Seruk is pink on Malbim's reading, though Radak takes it only as "colorful." Chum is a dark red near black, which in some later sources seems to mean brown. Chachlilei is a drinker's bloodshot eye, though Ramban ties the word to blue instead. In Aramaic, sumak is the everyday word for red, and zehoris is the Targum's word for shani.
Distinctions
Adom (אדום)
Root א-ד-ם. The adjective appears nine times in Tanach (Esav's lentil stew, Bereishis 25:30; the beloved's complexion, Shir HaShirim 5:10; parah adumah, Bamidbar 19:2), with admoni, "ruddy," three times, of Esav and of Dovid HaMelech (Bereishis 25:25; Shmuel I 16:12, 17:42), and adamdam, "reddish," six times of tzaraas discolorations in Vayikra 13-14. The verb forms, "to redden" or "to dye red," appear ten times, a plurality of them the red-dyed hides of the Mishkan (Shemos 25:5, 26:14, 35:7, 35:23, 36:19, 39:34), with Yeshayahu's metaphor of sins red as crimson (Yeshayahu 1:18) and Nachum's shields reddened in battle (Nachum 2:4, see also Eichah 4:7 and Mishlei 23:31). Among the nouns: odem, ruby or carnelian, the red stone of the choshen (Shemos 28:17); madim, Mars, the red planet; adamdemes, rubella in Modern Hebrew; and Edom, the second name of Esav and his descendants, on account of the red lentils (Bereishis 25:30).
Rav Hirsch (to Bereishis 1:26) turns the usual derivation around: adamah comes from adam, and not adam from adamah, since being formed of the earth is nothing peculiar to man, the animals sharing it. What sets man apart is a corporeal body joined to a supernal soul, which makes him the more like Hashem, who is wholly incorporeal. On that reading adam is tied to adom: red lies at the edge of the visible spectrum and is the colour nearest the invisible light beyond it, as man stands nearest the divine. By his theory of phonetic interchangeability Rav Hirsch further ties א-ד-ם to hadom, a footstool, on the aleph and hei interchange, man serving as Hashem's footstool in this world, and to chasam, a seal, on the aleph with ches and the dalet with tav, man's presence being Hashem's signature on creation; and he reads adam itself as the aleph, one in gematria, with dam, similar, man's free will making him similar to the One who created him.
Shani (שני) and tola'as shani (תולעת שני)
The dyed wool of the parah adumah (Bamidbar 19:6), of the metzora's taharah (Vayikra 14:4, 14:6, 14:49, 14:51-52), and of the Mishkan throughout Shemos; also tola'as hashani, bare shani (Bereishis 38:30; Yehoshua 2:18, 2:21; Shmuel II 1:24; Yeshayahu 1:18; Yirmiyahu 4:30; Shir HaShirim 4:3; Mishlei 31:21), or bare tola (Yeshayahu 1:18, and Eichah 4:5 according to Ibn Ezra and Mahari Kara). That the shade is crimson, a deep rich red with a slight bluish or purplish undertone, is made explicit by Rabbi Saadia Gaon, Ibn Ezra, and Rabbi Avraham Maimuni (in their commentaries to Shemos 25:4), Raavad and Rash M'Shantz (to Toras Kohanim, Metzora), Radak (Sefer HaShorashim), and Meiri. The dye comes from a worm, since tola'as is the Hebrew for worm (see Yerushalmi Kilayim 9:1 and Malbim to Yeshayahu 1:18). Pseudo-Rashi (Divrei HaYamim II 2:6) writes that carmil, or carmel in Ibn Janach's and Radak's Sefer HaShorashim, refers to the same crimson cloth as tola'as shani, and Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi sees that word as related to rimah, another kind of worm.
The English crimson runs on the same idea: it derives from the Proto-Indo-European root kwrmi-, "worm" or "mite," reaching English by way of Old Spanish cremesin, from Arabic qirmiz, and ultimately from Sanskrit krimija, "produced by a worm," used of a red dye made from scale insects such as kermes and cochineal. Although Arabic is Semitic and Sanskrit Indo-European, it seems that Arabic borrowed qirmiz from Farsi (gharmaz/germez), itself Indo-European. Related English words are vermilion, a bright vivid red with a slight orange tint, from Latin vermiculus, "little worm," and carmine, a purplish red. Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein adds an aside: he used to think the Ghermezian family name pointed to Ashkenazi origins in the town of Worms (Germaiza), but on this showing it more likely comes from the Iranian word for red, which is itself seemingly bound up with worms, just not the German town of that name.
Why should shani share the root of sheini, "two"?
- Rabbi Yaakov Hibbert of Manchester conjectures, from the wording of the Ohr HaChaim (to Bereishis 38:28), that perhaps crimson relates to "two" because it was a string of that color that marked Zerach as the second son born to Yehudah and Tamar.
- Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi's Otzar Nirdafim and Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim's Cheshek Shlomo both give a different explanation: cloth dyed this color was often dyed twice, so that the color would hold more strongly, and that is the link between shani and sheini.
Chamutz (חמוץ) and amutz (אמוץ)
Yeshayahu pictures Hashem taking revenge on Edom as one soiled from a bloodbath: "Who is this who comes from Edom, [the one with] soiled (chamutz) clothes from Batzrah... why are your garments red (adom), and your clothes like one who tramps in the winepress?" (Yeshayahu 63:1-2).
- Menachem Ibn Saruk (Machberes Menachem), Rabbi Yonah Ibn Janach (Sefer HaShorashim), and Radak (in his Sefer HaShorashim and to Yeshayahu 63:1) all write that chamutz means "red," Radak noting that the meaning can be gleaned from the context, since that is the color of something stained in blood or wine. In that sense the word, a hapax legomenon, seems to have nothing to do with the other words from ח-מ-ץ, which can mean "leavened," "vinegar," "anger," or "stealing."
- Probably because of that, Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi writes that chamutz is really a metathesized form of the root מ-ח-ץ, "stab," "smite," "lacerate," since what that verb describes can leave a thing reddened with blood; and Radak himself agrees that timchatz (Tehillim 68:24), with those consonants in that order, also refers to becoming reddened.
Zecharyah's amutzim horses (6:3) are the same word, since the guttural aleph and ches are often interchangeable (Ibn Janach, Radak), and since that vision also has adumim horses (6:2), Radak adds that chamutz / amutz differs from adom in not being as strong a red.
- Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi clarifies that the shade of amutz resembles the color of a chestnut, what we might call burgundy. He also suggests that the root א-מ-ץ in the sense of strength (ometz / amatz) may derive from this meaning, since in girding one's strength the red blood inside begins to boil in the red parts of the innards; Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein remarks that he is not sure what this means.
- Similarly, Rabbi Pappenheim traces amutzim to the biliteral מ-ץ, which he defines as sucking or squeezing, the root also of mitz, juice, metzitzah, sucking, and ometz, power, in the sense that using that force means squeezing out every last bit; red horses are amutzim because they exert so much effort that their blood rises to the surface of the skin as if squeezed out, which turns even their hairs red.
Zerach (זרח), shining and red
Rashbam and Chizkuni (to Bereishis 38:30) explain that the name Zerach means "red," alluding to the red string tied on his hand at birth. The root ז-ר-ח generally refers to shining or lighting and is most often associated with the sun, but it can sometimes be used of something shining red: when Uzziah offered the ketores unlawfully, Scripture reports that "tzaraas shined on his forehead" (Divrei HaYamim II 26:19), and since tzaraas often shows as a reddish skin discoloration, Rashbam holds that shining and red are connected. Rashbam and Chizkuni also cite Melachim II 3:22 to that effect.
Seruk (שרוק) and the rouge words
Seruk: Zecharyah's other vision of red horses calls them susim adumim serukim (Zecharyah 1:8); sorek is a high-quality red grape (Bereishis 49:11, Yeshayahu 5:2, 16:8, Yirmiyahu 2:21). This word looks like zerach in another way, since it seems cognate to the Arabic sharaqa, "shining brightly," and the Persian sorkh, "red" or "scarlet," which again links shining to red. Sorek is also twice a place-name: Delilah is the woman of Nachal Sorek (Shoftim 16:4), a valley between Ashkelon and Gaza, and one of the kings of Edom is Samlah of Masreikah (Bereishis 36:36, Divrei HaYamim I 1:47), a name seemingly from sorek, which would make it semantically kin to Edom itself.
In Mishnaic Hebrew sarak is red paint or rouge, a woman's cosmetic (Kesubos 17a, Sanhedrin 14a); elsewhere the word is spelled with a samech rather than a sin (Shabbos 95a, Moed Katan 9b). Rabbi Yosef Noach Wilkover notes that sikra, the red ink or dye of the Mishnah (Shabbos 12:4, Gittin 2:3, Bechoros 9:7, Middos 3:1), is a metathesized form of sarak, the same consonants changing places, and connects both with the biblical root ש-ק-ר, "leering," a hapax legomenon occurring only of the promiscuous women of Yeshayahu 3:16; he seems to explain it of those women adorning themselves with red cosmetics to draw the eye. The same triliteral gives sikur ayin, the wandering of the eye, and the more modern sakranus, curiosity.
Chum (חום) and shachum (שחום)
Chum appears only four times in Tanach, all of the redness or brownness of the sheep when Yaakov shepherded Lavan's flock (Bereishis 30:32-33, 30:35, 30:40). Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi explains it as a shade of red closer to black, "dark red," though in some later sources it seems to mean what we now call brown or bordeaux; the name is related to chom, heat, because it is the color of an oven as it begins to heat up. Shadal (to Bereishis 30:32) writes that chum and shachum are homogeneous terms.
Tzachar (צחר)
When Yechezkel lists the commodities exported from Damascus he mentions tzachar wool (Yechezkel 27:18). Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein has elsewhere treated tzachar as a cognate of tzachor, "white," but another approach reads it as red: David J. A. Clines' A Dictionary of Classical Hebrew defines tzachar as "reddish-grey colour," and Rabbi Ernest Klein writes that the Hebrew root צ-ח-ר is related to its Arabic cognate asharu, "yellowish-reddish land," which is the etymon of the name Sahara. There is even a version of Rashi (to Berachos 31b, as printed in the Vilna Shas) that says tzachor means "red," and Marcus Jastrow's dictionary defines tzachor as "glistening" and "light reddish."
Chamar (חמר)
Tehillim 75:9 describes wine with the adjective chamar. The Aramaic for wine is chamar / chamra, but here the word must describe some property of wine rather than be a synonym for it (it would be a tautology to say "winey wine"). Ibn Janach and Radak in their respective Sefer HaShorashim, and Radak to Tehillim 75:9, explain that chamar here means "red," the word primarily naming the color characteristic of wine. In Arabic too 'ahmar means "red," and this is the origin of the Spanish place name Alhambra in Granada, originally al hamra, "the red [palace]." Rabbi Ernest Klein writes that Hebrew chemar, asphalt or bitumen, is so called for its reddish-brown color, and explains chomer, matter or material, as originally referring to clay, which has a reddish hue, a point Ibn Ezra makes similarly in his Long Commentary to Shemos 2:3. Klein further suggests that chamor, donkey, and yachmur, roebuck, derive from this word for red, in the sense of a red animal, adducing as a parallel the Spanish burro, which he holds derives ultimately from Late Latin burrus, "red," itself a corruption of Greek purros, "yellowish red" or "flame-colored." (In his English etymological dictionary, though, Klein does not link roe to the Indo-European root for red, deriving it instead from rei- or reoi-, "streaky" or "spotted.") Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein adds that a grandson of Seir the Horite was named Chamran (Divrei HaYamim I 1:41), one more red-associated name among the Edomites, and that the Torah gives him the alternate name Chemdan (Bereishis 36:26), which can be viewed as equivalent given the resemblance of reish and dalet.
Kana (קנא)
Shadal (to Shemos 20:5) notes that the Peshitta, the Syriac translation, twice uses an obscure Aramaic word for "red" spelled ק-נ-א, once to render chachlilei (Mishlei 23:29) and once to render nichmaru (Eichah 5:10). On the strength of that rare Syriac word Shadal proposes that the core meaning of the Hebrew kana is "red." In Classical Arabic, qani describes a deep crimson or dark red, often in poetic use. On this reading kana names the physiological effect of jealousy, the heart heating up and the face going ruddy with indignation that another has taken what is his. Applying the word to Hashem is obviously a linguistic borrowing and no statement of anthropomorphism; Shadal's point is that where Hashem is described as kana over avodah zarah, the more accurate sense is that He is angry. Put more colorfully, Hashem is not visited by the green-eyed monster of jealousy but is rather "seeing red."
The Aramaic words: sumak (סומק), zehoris (זהורית), gichor (גיחור)
Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur in Meturgeman gives a whole list of places where the Targumim render the Hebrew adom and chachlilei by sumak, the standard Talmudic Aramaic word for red. The famous instance is the rule that one may not save his own life by killing another: what makes you see that your blood is redder (sumak), perhaps that man's blood is redder (Pesachim 25b, Yoma 82b, Sanhedrin 74a). The sun at sunrise and sunset is samka (Bava Basra 84a). Dr. Alexander Kohut in Aruch HaShalem points out several personal names in rabbinic sources that seem to derive from this word: Sheila bar Sumki (Gittin 69a), Rabbi Abba Samuka (Yerushalmi Berachos 9:1), and Rabbi Chelbo ben Chalifei bar Simkay (Bereishis Rabbah 51:2).
For some of the other Hebrew words the Targumim prefer zehoris: it renders shani (Bereishis 38:30, Yehoshua 2:18) and tola (Yeshayahu 1:18, Eichah 4:5), and it also names the Mishnah's red string, the lashon shel zehoris tied to the head of the sa'ir hamishtaleach (Shabbos 9:3, Shekalim 4:2, Yoma 4:2, 6:6). The root ז-ה-ר refers variously to shining, illuminating, even the moon, and Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein says frankly that its specific connection to red is somewhat tenuous. Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi, in his dictionary of Rabbinic Hebrew, partially alleviates the problem by writing that zehoris is a sort of red that is especially shiny, or at least more so than other colors.
Gichor first appears in the Mishnah (Bechoros 7:6), where it is a blemish that disqualifies a kohen from serving in the Mikdash but does not disqualify an animal from being brought as a korban. The Tosefta (Berachos 7:3) rules that one who encounters a gichor recites baruch meshaneh habriyos, and when Chanah davened for a son she asked that he be neither too tall nor too short, too thin nor too fat, too white nor too reddish (gichor), too clever nor too foolish (Berachos 31b). In all of these Rashi (to Berachos 31b, 58b, 59b, Bechoros 45b) explains gichor as "very red," or perhaps deep red. Its etymology is obscure, and does not seem to be an actual Aramaic or Hebrew word: Dr. Alexander Kohut in Aruch HaShalem sees it as Indo-Iranian, connecting it with the Bactrian cukhra and the Old Persian cuhar, both apparently meaning red, while Rabbi Ernest Klein simply calls it "of unknown origin." One of the family heads who returned in the days of Zerubavel was named Gachar (Ezra 2:47, Nechemiah 7:49), though one can only speculate whether that means he was of reddish complexion.
Argaman (ארגמן), and red clothing
Shadal (to Shemos 25:4) writes that argavan is a form of al-gavan, on the interchangeability of reish and lamed, al serving as the definite article as it does in Arabic, so that the word means "the color," red sticking out more than other colors and so being the superlative color. Separately, various Yemenite exegetes (Midrash Chefetz and Meor Ha'Afeilah to Shemos 25:4) follow the approach that argaman is a shade of red and then must explain how it differs visually from tola'as shani, which is also red: argaman is a yellowish red, perhaps nearer what we would call orange, while tola'as shani is the stronger, deeper red.
Perhaps because red is so ostentatious and attention-grabbing, the Rema (Yoreh Deah 178:1) rules that a Jew should not wear red clothes; and the Gemara (Berachos 20a) records a rabbi who risked his life to stop a woman he took for Jewish from wearing a red garment called a karbalta, literally a rooster's crest, as Sefer HeAruch and Rabbeinu Chananel to Berachos 20a explain.
Rashi's Old French
Rashi uses the Old French russ to render adom (Bereishis 25:25, Vayikra 13:39), gichor (Berachos 31b, 58b, 59b, Bechoros 45b), shachum (Bereishis 30:32, Avodah Zarah 33b), sumka (Bechoros 45b), and tola'as shani (Gittin 69b). That Romance word derives from the Proto-Indo-European root reudh-, "red," the ancestor of English red, rose, rouge, rosy and rust, and, through the Latin shift of the dh to a b, of ruby, rubric, rubella and the rest.
Where the authorities disagree
What seruk means.
- Radak (to Zecharyah 1:8 and Sefer HaShorashim) takes serukim as "colorful" in a generic sense, without saying which color.
- Malbim (to Zecharyah 1:8) explains it as "pink" or "light red."
Whether chachlilei is red. Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi makes it the reddened white of the eye, from kalil, "crown"; others, like Ramban (to Bereishis 49:12), connect the word instead to kachol, blue.
Also discussed in
- Borderחום / תחום chum / techum (ח-ו-ם)
- Compass directionsמזרח / זרח (ז-ר-ח)
- Grapevineשורק (ש-ר-ק)
- Prohibitionזהר / zohar, zehoris (ז-ה-ר)
- Residentז-ר-ח, shining (Zerach, ezrach)
- Strengthאמץ / ometz, amutz (א-מ-צ)
- Whiteצחר / tzochar, tzachar (צ-ח-ר)
- Wineחמר / chemer, chamar (Tehillim 75:9)
- Wormתולע / תולעת / tola, tola'as (ת-ל-ע)
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
א-ד-ם
To be red, with אָדוֹם, red, and אֲדַמְדָּם, very red or red mixed with white; אֲדָמָה, land, field or dust; and אָדָם, man, called after the ground he was taken from.
Red
אָדְמוּ עֶצֶם מִפְּנִינִים (Eichah 4:7), they were ruddier of bone than pearls, and in the passive וְעֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאָדָּמִים (Shemos 25:5), rams' skins dyed red. So אִם־יַאְדִּימוּ כַתּוֹלָע (Yeshayahu 1:18), if they redden like crimson, and אַל־תֵּרֶא יַיִן כִּי יִתְאַדָּם (Mishlei 23:31), do not look at wine when it reddens. The adjectives are דּוֹדִי צַח וְאָדוֹם (Shir HaShirim 5:10), my beloved is white and ruddy, פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה (Bamidbar 19:2), a red cow, and אַדְמוֹנִי עִם־יְפֵה עֵינַיִם (Shmuel I 16:12), ruddy with fair eyes. The stone called אֹדֶם, in אֹדֶם פִּטְדָה (Shemos 28:17), odem and pitdah, is named so because it is red.
The doubled form
Where the second and third root letters are doubled, as אוֹ אֲדַמְדָּם (Vayikra 13:49), or very red, it means much redness; and Chazal in Sifra, on parshas Metzora, said ירקרק ירוק שבירוקים, yerakrak is the greenest of the greens, and אדמדם is אדום שבאדומים, the reddest of the reds. In נֶגַע לָבָן אֲדַמְדָּם (Vayikra 13:42), a white reddish affliction, and לְבָנָה אֲדַמְדֶּמֶת (Vayikra 13:24), white and reddish, it is blended and mixed of two appearances, white and red.
אֲדָמָה and אָדָם
Man is called after the אֲדָמָה, the ground, that he was taken from, and the species is called by his name, אָדָם. אֲדָמָה comes for land, עַל־פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה (Bamidbar 12:3), on the face of the earth; for a field, עֹבֵד אַדְמָתוֹ (Mishlei 12:11), one who works his field, and אִם־עָלַי אַדְמָתִי תִזְעָק (Iyov 31:38), if my field cries out against me; and for dust, וַאֲדָמָה עַל־רֹאשׁוֹ (Shmuel I 4:12), and dust on his head. Joined to dust it is אַדְמַת־עָפָר (Daniel 12:2), the ground of dust, as טִיט הַיָּוֵן (Tehillim 40:3), miry clay.
One man, all men, and some of them
אָדָם stands for the individual, אָדָם כִּי־יַקְרִיב מִכֶּם קָרְבָּן (Vayikra 1:2), a man of you who brings an offering; for the whole, מֵאָדָם עַד־בְּהֵמָה (Bereishis 6:7), from man to beast; and for part of the whole, אֶת־הָאָדָם (Yeshayahu 6:12), the men. וְהוּא יִהְיֶה פֶּרֶא אָדָם (Bereishis 16:12), and he shall be a wild ass of a man, he glosses as a man of the wilderness, like a wild ass. In גַּם־בְּנֵי אָדָם גַּם־בְּנֵי־אִישׁ (Tehillim 49:3), both the sons of אָדָם and the sons of אִישׁ, the first are the common people and the second the great, as in גִּדְעוֹן בֶּן־יוֹאָשׁ אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל (Shoftim 7:14), Gideon son of Yoash, the אִישׁ of Israel, which means Israel's great one and its head. וּבְיִשְׂרָאֵל וּבָאָדָם (Yirmiyahu 32:20), and in Israel and among mankind, means among the rest of mankind, that is, among the nations, and Yonasan renders פְּרִישָׁן בּגוֹ בְּנֵי אֱנָשָׁא, wonders among the sons of man.
אָדָם used of women alone
אָדָם is used of women alone: וְנֶפֶשׁ אָדָם מִן־הַנָּשִׁים (Bamidbar 31:35), and persons of the women, and כְּתִפְאֶרֶת אָדָם לָשֶׁבֶת בָּיִת (Yeshayahu 44:13), like the beauty of a person, to sit in a house. His father explains כְּתִפְאֶרֶת אָדָם: and for what? לָשֶׁבֶת בָּיִת, to sit in a house and for no other use, as וְיַנִּיחֻהוּ תַחְתָּיו, and they set it in its place, and מִמְּקוֹמוֹ לֹא יָמִישׁ, from its place it does not stir. הַרְחֵק מְאֹד בֵאָדָם (Yehoshua 3:16), very far off at Adam, is the name of a city.
אָדְמוּ עֶצֶם מִפְּנִינִים (איכה ד, ז) והפעול מן הדגוש [פֻּעַל] מָגֵן גִּבֹּרֵיהוּ מְאָדָּם (נחום ב, ד), וְעֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאָדָּמִים (שמות כה, ה). ופועל כבד אחר [הִפְעִיל] אִם־יַאְדִּימוּ כַתּוֹלָע (ישעיה א, יח). וההתפעל אַל־תֵּרֶא יַיִן כִּי יִתְאַדָּם (משלי כג, לא). והתאר דּוֹדִי צַח וְאָדוֹם (שיר השירים ה, י), וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה (במדבר יט, ב), אֲדֻמִּים כַּדָּֽם (מלכים ב' ג, כב), והתאר עוד אַדְמוֹנִי עִם־יְפֵה עֵינַיִם (שמואל א' טז, יב). ובהכפל העי"ן והלמ"ד ר"ל בו רוב האדמימות, אוֹ אֲדַמְדָּם (ויקרא יג, מט) וכן אמרו רבותינו ז"ל (ספרא פרשת מצורע פרק יד, ב) ירקרק ירוק שבירוקים, אדמדם .... אדום שבאדומים. נֶגַע לָבָן אֲדַמְדָּם (ויקרא יג, מב), לְבָנָה אֲדַמְדֶּמֶת (ויקרא יג, כד), פתוך ומעורב בשני מראים לובן ואודם. אֹדֶם פִּטְדָה (שמות כח, יז), נקראת כן האבן לפי שהיא אדומה וענינם ידוע. וענין אדם ואדמה גם כן ידוע, ואדם נקרא על שם האדמה אשר לוקח משם, והמין נקרא על שמו אדם. ויבא אדמה בענין ארץ, עַל־פְּנֵי הָֽאֲדָמָֽה (במדבר יב, ג) ועל השדה, עֹבֵד אַדְמָתוֹ (משלי יב, יא), אִם־עָלַי אַדְמָתִי תִזְעָק (איוב לא, לח), ועל העפר, וַֽאֲדָמָה עַל־רֹאשֽׁוֹ (שמואל א' ד, יב). ונסמך לעפר אַדְמַת־עָפָר (דניאל יב, ב), כמו טִּיט הַיָּוֵן (תהלים מ, ג). ואדם יקרא על הפרט, אָדָם כִּֽי־יַקְרִיב מִכֶּם קָרְבָּן (ויקרא א, ב), ועל הכלל, מֵֽאָדָם עַד־בְּהֵמָה (בראשית ו, ז), אֶת־הָֽאָדָם אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָאתִי (בראשית ו, ז), ועל קצת הכלל, וְרִחַק י"י אֶת־הָאָדָם (ישעיה ו, יב), וְהוּא יִֽהְיֶה פֶּרֶא אָדָם (בראשית טז, יב), כלומר אדם מדברי כפרא. גַּם־בְּנֵי אָדָם גַּם־בְּנֵי־אִישׁ (תהלים מט, ג) בְּנֵי אָדָם הם המון העם, בְּנֵי־אִישׁ הם הגדולים, כמו גִּדְעוֹן בֶּן־יוֹאָשׁ אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל (שופטים ז, יד), ר"ל גדול ישראל וראשם. וּבְיִשְׂרָאֵל וּבָֽאָדָם (ירמיה לב, כ), רוצה לומר ובשאר בני אדם, כלומר באומות. ויונתן תרגם וּלְיִשְֹרָאֵל עֲבַדְתָּא פְּרִישָׁן בּגוֹ בְּנֵי אֱנָשָׁא. וקראו לנשים בלבד אדם, כְּתִפְאֶרֶת אָדָם לָשֶׁבֶת בָּֽיִת (ישעיה מד, יג), וְנֶפֶשׁ אָדָם מִן־הַנָּשִׁים (במדבר לא, לה). ואדוני אבי ז"ל פירש כְּתִפְאֶרֶת אָדָם ולמה? לשבת בית לא לצורך אחר, כמו וְיַנִּיחֻהוּ תַחְתָּיו...מִמְּקוֹמוֹ לֹא יָמִישׁ (שם). הַרְחֵק מְאֹד בֵֽאָדָם [מֵֽאָדָם] הָעִיר (יהושע ג, טז), שם עיר.
א-מ-ץ
To be strong, and to strengthen; in another sense אֲמֻצִּים, red, a second shade of red beside the reds already named.
Strength
כִּי אָֽמְצוּ מִמֶּֽנִי (Tehillim 142:6 in his edition), for they are stronger than I; חֲזַק וֶֽאֱמָץ (Yehoshua 1:6), be strong and firm; וּלְאֹם מִלְאֹם יֶֽאֱמָץ (Bereishis 25:23), one people shall be stronger than the other; וְאַמִּיץ כֹּחַ (Iyov 9:4), mighty in strength. All of these and their like, he says, are the matter of strength.
Strengthening, and taking strength
וְאִמֵּץ אֶת־לְבָבוֹ (Devarim 2:30), and He made his heart strong; וּבִרְכַּיִם כֹּֽרְעוֹת תְּאַמֵּֽץ (Iyov 4:4), and you strengthen bowing knees; וְיַֽאֲמֵץ לְבַבְכֶם (Tehillim 31:25), and He will strengthen your heart; and of a man gathering his own strength, הִתְאַמֵּץ לַֽעֲלוֹת בַּמֶּרְכָּבָה (Melachim I 12:18), he strengthened himself to go up into the chariot.
Amutzim, the other sense
בְּרֻדִּים אֲמֻצִּֽים (Zecharyah 6:3), speckled amutzim. The word is as חמוצים, from חֲמוּץ בְּגָדִים (Yeshayahu 63:1), of reddened garments; that is, amutzim are red; and although reds had been named already, there were two shades of redness, one truly red and one not strong in its redness. Some explain amutzim as the look of ashes, and so Yonasan renders קִטְמָנִין, ash-coloured.
כִּי אָֽמְצוּ מִמֶּֽנִי (תהלים קמב, ו), חֲזַק וֶֽאֱמָץ (יהושע א, ו), וּלְאֹם מִלְאֹם יֶֽאֱמָץ (בראשית כה, כג). והתאר וְאַמִּיץ כֹּחַ (איוב ט, ד). והשׁם יֹסִיף אֹֽמֶץ (איוב יז, ט). ומשקל אחר אַמְצָה לִי יֹֽשְׁבֵי יְרֽוּשָׁלַם (זכריה יב, ה), פ"א הפועל בפת"ח. והכבד [פִּעֵל] וְאִמֵּץ אֶת־לְבָבוֹ (דברים ב, ל), וּבִרְכַּיִם כֹּֽרְעוֹת תְּאַמֵּֽץ (איוב ד, ד), אֲאַמִּצְכֶם בְּמוֹ־פִי (איוב טז, ה), וְאִישׁ דַּעַת מְאַמֶּץ־כֹּֽחַ (משלי כר, ה), אַמֵּץ כֹּחַ מְאֹֽד (נחום ב, ב). וכבד אחר [הִפְעִיל] וְיַֽאֲמֵץ לְבַבְכֶם (תהלים לא, כה), וְיַֽאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ (תהלים כז, יד). והשׁם מאמין מאמצים, וְכֹל מַֽאֲמַצֵּי־כֹֽחַ (איוב לו, יט). וההתפעל הִתְאַמֵּץ לַֽעֲלוֹת בַּמֶּרְכָּבָה (מלכים א' יב, יח), וַתֵּרֶא כִּֽי־מִתְאַמֶּצֶת הִיא (רות א, יח), כלם והדומה להם ענין חוזק. וענין אחר בְּרֻדִּים אֲמֻצִּֽים (זכריה ו, ג), כמו חמוצים מן חֲמוּץ בְּגָדִים (ישעיה סג, א), כלומר אדומים, ואף על פי שזכר אדומים שני גוונים היו באדמימות אחד אדום ממש ואחד שאינו חזק באדמימות. ויש מי שפירש בו מראה הדשן וכן תרגם יונתן קִטְמָנִין.
ז-ה-ר
To warn and to take warning; and in another sense to shine, זֹהַר being brightness.
Warning
וְהִזְהִיר אֶת־הָעָֽם (Yechezkel 33:3), and he warns the people; וְהִזְהַרְתָּה אֶתְהֶם (Shemos 18:20), and you shall warn them; וְלֹא הִזְהַרְתּוֹ (Yechezkel 3:18), and you did not warn him; and in וְהִזְהִירֹה (Melachim II 6:10), and he warned him, a heh stands in place of a vav. Of the one warned: חָיוֹ יִֽחְיֶה כִּי נִזְהָר (Yechezkel 3:21), he shall surely live because he was warned; אֶת־קוֹל הַשּׁוֹפָר וְלֹא נִזְהָר (Yechezkel 33:4), the sound of the shofar, and was not warned; וְהָעָם לֹֽא־ נִזְהָר (Yechezkel 33:6), and the people were not warned; and וְהוּא נִזְהָר נַפְשׁוֹ מִלֵּֽט (Yechezkel 33:5), had he been warned he would have saved his life. All four have a kamatz and are past forms of the passive, in the sense of one who did not know to take heed. Also וְיֹתֵר מֵהֵמָּה בְּנִי הִזָּהֵר (Koheles 12:12), and more than these, my son, be warned. All of them are the sense of warning, and it is a known one.
Brightness
וְהַמַּשְׂכִּלִים יַזְהִרוּ כְּזֹהַר הָֽרָקִיעַ (Daniel 12:3), and the wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and כְּמַרְאֵה־ זֹהַר כְּעֵין הַחַשְׁמַֽלָה (Yechezkel 8:2), like the appearance of brightness, like the colour of the chashmal. The sense is נגה, shining.
וְהִזְהִיר אֶת־הָעָֽם (יחזקאל לג, ג), וְהִזְהִירֹה [וְהִזְהִירוֹ] וְנִשְׁמַר (מלכים ב' ו, י), בה"א במקום וי"ו, וְהִזְהַרְתָּה אֶתְהֶם (שמות יח, כ), וְלֹא הִזְהַרְתּוֹ (יחזקאל ג, יח). והנפעל חָיוֹ יִֽחְיֶה כִּי נִזְהָר (יחזקאל ג, כא), אֶת־קוֹל הַשּׁוֹפָר וְלֹא נִזְהָר (יחזקאל לג, ד), וְהָעָם לֹֽא־נִזְהָר (יחזקאל לג, ו), וְהוּא נִזְהָר נַפְשׁוֹ מִלֵּֽט (יחזקאל לג, ה), ארבעתם קמצים והם נפעל עבר בענין אשר לא ידע להזהר. וְיֹתֵר מֵהֵמָּה בְּנִי הִזָּהֵר (קהלת יב, יב), כלם ענין הזהרה וידוע הוא. וענין אחר וְהַמַּשְׂכִּלִים יַזְהִרוּ כְּזֹהַר הָֽרָקִיעַ (דניאל יב, ג), כְּמַרְאֵה־זֹהַר כְּעֵין הַחַשְׁמַֽלָה (יחזקאל ח, ב), ענין נגה.
ח-ו-ם
חוּם, said of a lamb: black. The correct view, he holds, is that the word is from the root חָמַם, and he will explain it there.
Black, and its root
וְכָל־שֶֽׂה־חוּם בַּכְּשָׂבִים (Bereishis 30:32), and every black lamb among the sheep, which he glosses שחור, black. The correct view in his own eyes is that חוּם comes from the root חָמַם, and he says he will explain it there.
וְכָל־שֶֽׂה־חוּם בַּכְּשָׂבִים (בראשית ל, לב), שחור. והנכון אצלי כי חום משרש חָמַם ושם אפרשנו.
ח-מ-ץ
To become leavened, of dough. Vinegar, חֹמֶץ, is one with it in sense, as overleavened dough tastes of it. It also means to oppress. חֲמוּץ בְּגָדִים is red of garment.
Dough that rises
כִּי לֹא חָמֵץ (Shemos 12:39), because it was not leavened, טֶרֶם יֶחְמָץ (Shemos 12:34), before it was leavened, and מִלּוּשׁ בָּצֵק עַד־חֻמְצָתוֹ (Hoshea 7:4), from the kneading of the dough until it is leavened, which he marks as an infinitive on the pattern of לְחֻמְלָה עָלָיִךְ (Yechezkel 16:5), to have pity on you. חָמֵץ תֵּאָפֶינָה (Vayikra 23:17), they shall be baked leavened, is the adjective, and כָּל־מַחְמֶצֶת (Shemos 12:20), anything leavened, the noun; though he allows that מחמצת may be an adjective describing the עריסה, the dough, and says their sense is known. חֹמֶץ יַיִן וְחֹמֶץ שֵׁכָר (Bamidbar 6:3), vinegar of wine and vinegar of strong drink, is one sense with the leavening of dough, he says, since dough leavened more than enough tastes of vinegar.
The judge who leavens his ruling
Chazal read אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ (Yeshayahu 1:17) in this sense, call fortunate the one who leavens. Radak explains: the one who leavens the judgment, not judging at once but only after much looking into it. So they said (Sanhedrin 35a), fortunate is the judge who leavens his judgment; that is, they called him fortunate.
The heart turned sour
כִּי יִתְחַמֵּץ לְבָבִי (Tehillim 73:21), when my heart was soured, he calls a borrowed use of the word, and it is anger.
The fodder
בְּלִיל חָמִיץ יֹאכֵלוּ (Yeshayahu 30:24), they shall eat fodder that is חָמִיץ: Rabbi Yonah explains חמיץ as clean and good, and likens it to the Arabic, where clean good fodder for a beast is called חמצ"ה with a dot on the tzadi. Targum Yonasan has בְּלִיל מְפַטֵם, fattening provender.
Oppressing and the oppressed
Radak himself takes אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ (Yeshayahu 1:17) as a word describing the oppressed man, set the oppressed right; and in מִכַּף מְעַוֵּל וְחוֹמֵץ (Tehillim 71:4), from the hand of the wrongdoer and the oppressor, the word is one who oppresses, and is like חוֹמֵס with a samech, as הַשְּׁבִיסִים (Yeshayahu 3:18), the ornaments, with a samech, is of the sense of ושבצת, checkered work, with a tzadi. וְקַטֵּר מֵחָמֵץ תּוֹדָה (Amos 4:5), and burn a thanks offering of what was got by oppression, can be read from this, and Targum Yonasan has וּמַגְבַן מִן אוֹנֶס תּוֹדָתָא, an offering of thanks out of what was seized; on וְרֹעֶה זוֹלְלִים יַכְלִים אָבִיו (Mishlei 28:7), he who keeps company with gluttons shames his father, the Targum has וּדְמִתְחַבֵּר לִזְלִילֵי מַחֲמֵץ אֲבוּי, whoever joins himself to gluttons oppresses his father.
Red of garment
חֲמוּץ בְּגָדִים (Yeshayahu 63:1), red of garments: the word is red, as the sense of the pasuk shows.
כִּי לֹא חָמֵץ (שמות יב, לט), פועל עבר. טֶרֶם יֶחְמָץ (שמות יב, לד), מִלּוּשׁ בָּצֵק עַד־חֻמְצָתֽוֹ (הושע ו, ד), מקור בפלס לְחֻמְלָה עָלָיִךְ (יחזקאל טז, ה). חָמֵץ תֵּֽאָפֶינָה (ויקרא כג, יז), תאר. והשם כָּל־מַחְמֶצֶת (שמות יב, כ), ואפשר שיהיה מחמצת שם תאר לעריסה וענינם ידוע. ורבותינו ז"ל פירשו מזה אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ (ישעיה א, יז), כלומר המחמיץ הדין שלא ידין מיד אלא אחר עיון הרבה. וכן אמרו (סנהדרין לה, ע"א) אשרי הדיין שמחמיץ את דינו כלומר אמרו אשריו. חֹמֶץ יַיִן וְחֹמֶץ שֵׁכָר (במדבר ו, ג), ידוע. וההתפעל ממנו בדרך ההשאלה כִּֽי־יִתְחַמֵּץ לְבָבִי (תהלים עג, כא), כענין כעס. וחומץ יין וחמץ ענין אחד הוא כי הבצק כשהוא חמוץ יותר מדאי טעמו טעם חומץ . בְּלִיל חָמִיץ יֹאכֵלוּ (ישעיה ל, כד), פירשו רבי יונה נקי וטוב ודמהו ללשון הערב שאומרים למספוא הבהמה הנקי והטוב חמצ"ה בנקודה על הצד"י. ותרגום יונתן בְּלִיל מְפַטֵם. אַשְּׁרוּ חָמוֹץ (ישעיה א, יז), תאר לעשוק, מִכַּף מְעַוֵּל וְחוֹמֵֽץ (תהלים עא, ד), עושק והוא כמו חוֹמֵס בסמ"ך. וכן הַשְּׁבִיסִים (ישעיה ג, יח) בסמ"ך מענין ושבצת בצד"י. ויש לפרש מזה וְקַטֵּר מֵֽחָמֵץ תּוֹדָה (עמוס ד, ה), ותרגם יונתן וּמַגְבַן מִן אוֹנֶס תּוֹדָתָא. וְרֹעֶה זֽוֹלְלִים יַכְלִים אָבִֽיו (משלי כח, ז) תרגם וּדְמִתְחַבֵּר לִזְלִילֵי מַחֲמֵץ אֲבוּי. חֲמוּץ בְּגָדִים (ישעיה סג, א), אדום לפי ענין הפסוק.
ש-נ-יhe files it under שׁנה
To change. A second sense: second, two, and doing a thing again; and from it שָׁנָה, the year, named for the sun's return a second time. Scarlet he treats under shen.
Change
לֹא שָׁנִיתִי (Malachi 3:6), I have not changed; עִם־ שׁוֹנִים אַל־תִּתְעָרָֽב (Mishlei 24:21), do not mix with those who change; וְדָתֵיהֶם שֹׁנוֹת מִכָּל־עָם (Esther 3:8), their laws are different from every people; וְשִׁנָּא אֵת בִּגְדֵי כִלְאוֹ (Melachim II 25:29), and he changed his prison garments; קוּמִי נָא וְהִשְׁתַּנִּית (Melachim I 14:2), rise now and change yourself. The sense of change, he says, is known.
Second
יוֹם שֵׁנִֽי (Bereishis 1:8), a second day. On וּפַר הַשֵּׁנִי שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים (Shoftim 6:25), and the second bull of seven years, some explain second to the womb, while Radak holds the right reading is second to the bull just named, קַח אֶת־פַּר־הַשּׁוֹר אֲשֶׁר לְאָבִיךָ, take the bullock of the ox that is your father's. The seven years Targum Yonasan renders דְאִתְפַּטִים שְׁבַע שְׁנִין, that had been fattened seven years. Chazal (Temurah 28b) take them as years it had been set aside for idolatry: Reish Lakish said nothing counts as muktzeh, set aside, for idolatry unless it was set aside for seven years, as the pasuk says; some of them said it had been worshipped seven years; and they said eight things were permitted that night. אֶל־בֵּית הַנָּשִׁים שֵׁנִי (Esther 2:14) Radak explains as to the house of the women a second time. מִדָּה שֵׁנִי (Nechemiah 3:30), a second measure, Rabbi Yonah said is like שֵׁנִית, second in the feminine; Radak sees no need for that, since many nouns come both masculine and feminine.
Mishneh, a second of a thing
וְכֶסֶף מִשְׁנֶה (Bereishis 43:12), and second money, מִשְׁנֶה being like שני, second. וְהַבָּקָר וְהַמִּשְׁנִים (Shmuel I 15:9), the cattle and the mishnim: the mishnim are lambs second to the womb, perhaps choice ones, or two years old; Rabbi Yaakov ben Elazar explained it from שָׁנָה, a year, an adjective for lambs a year old. וּמִֽשְׁנֶה ־כֶּסֶף (Bereishis 43:15), and a second sum of money, Radak holds is rightly an adjective like וְכֶסֶף מִשְׁנֶה and not a noun, the proof being its segol: a noun there would be in construct and pointed with a tzeirei, though the language does not usually set the adjective before the word it describes. So too וּמִשְׁנֶה שִׁבָּרוֹן שָׁבְרֵֽם (Yirmiyahu 17:18), and break them with a second breaking, pointed with a segol as well, means a second breaking. כִּי מִשְׁנֶה שְׂכַר שָׂכִיר (Devarim 15:18) means a second hired man's wage that you owe him, since he served you six full years by day and by night, while a hired man who works by day does not work by night, and one who works by night does not work by day. אֶת־ מִשְׁנֵה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (Devarim 17:18), the mishneh of this Torah, written with a tzeirei, Radak reads as writing it a second time, so that the king has two, and Chazal learned from here (Sanhedrin 21b) that a king needs two, one that goes out and comes in with him and one laid up in his treasury. Some explain it instead as repetition, from וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ (Devarim 6:7), and you shall repeat them to your children. They take in the same sense וְהִיא יֹשֶׁבֶת בִּירֽוּשָׁלַם בַּמִּשְׁנֶה (Melachim II 22:14), and she dwelt in Yerushalayim in the mishneh, which Radak explains as in the house of study, as Yonasan rendered it, בְּבֵית אוּלְפָנָא, in the house of teaching. כֹּֽהֲנֵי הַמִּשְׁנֶה (Melachim II 23:4) are the deputies of the kohanim, second to the kohanim gedolim.
The year
From the sense of second, שָׁנָה תְמִימָה (Vayikra 25:30), a full year, is called so because the sun has returned a second time to the point from which it began. שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים (Bereishis 41:1) he explains as two full years. On וַֽיְהִי דָּֽנִיֵּאל עַד־ שְׁנַת אַחַת לְכוֹרֶשׁ הַמֶּֽלֶךְ (Daniel 1:21), and Daniel was until the first year of Koresh the king, Ibn Ezra wrote that the construct is used because it was not a full year, the sense being within the year; Radak answers that this reason will not serve for the other constructs on a number, as בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתַּיִם (Melachim I 15:25), in the second year.
Doing again, and shonim
The verb of the same sense, a second time, is doing a thing again: וְלֹֽא־ שָׁנָה לוֹ (Shmuel II 20:10), and he did not do it to him again; פַּעַם אַחַת וְלֹא אֶשְׁנֶה לֽוֹ (Shmuel I 26:8), once, and I will not do it to him a second time; שְׁנוּ וַיִּשְׁנוּ (Melachim I 18:34), do it a second time, and they did it a second time. From it Rav Saadiah Gaon explained עִם־ שׁוֹנִים אַל־תִּתְעָרָֽב (Mishlei 24:21) of those who say there are שְׁנַיִם אלהים, two gods, in the world; and he gave a second explanation, better than that one, that the shonim are men who go back a second time to their wickedness after they have done teshuvah. On וְעַל הִשָּׁנוֹת הַֽחֲלוֹם (Bereishis 41:32), and for the dream's being repeated, Radak takes the פַּֽעֲמָיִם, twice, that follows as added explanation; or else it is there because הִשָּׁנוֹת can mean more than two times, since the word can mean many times, as כְּסִיל שׁוֹנֶה בְאִוַּלְתּֽוֹ (Mishlei 26:11), a fool repeating his folly, means time after time, many times. Radak counts the shonim of Mishlei 24:21 with it, and so too וְשׁוּב מֹל אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל שֵׁנִֽית (Yehoshua 5:2), and circumcise Bnei Yisrael again a second time, meaning time after time until the thing is complete.
Lavush shanim, his father's reading
כִּי כָל־בֵּיתָהּ לָבֻשׁ שָׁנִֽים (Mishlei 31:21), for all her household is clothed in shanim. His father explained it from this root, which Radak spells out: בגדים שונים, garments of different kinds, and so she does not fear the snow for her household.
Tolaas shani, treated elsewhere
וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי (Shemos 25:4), scarlet worm, and אִם־יִֽהְיוּ חֲטָֽאֵיכֶם כַּשָּׁנִים (Yeshayahu 1:18), though your sins be as scarlet, come from this root, and he says he has already written of them under the root shen.
כִּי אֲנִי י"י לֹא שָׁנִיתִי (מלאכי ג, ו). יִשְׁנֶא הַכֶּתֶם הַטּוֹב (איכה ד, א), באל"ף ובסגול. עִם־ שׁוֹנִים אַל־תִּתְעָרָֽב (משלי כד, כא), וְדָתֵיהֶם שֹׁנוֹת מִכָּל־עָם (אסתר ג, ח), וְשֹׁנֶה בְדָבָר (משלי יז, ט). והפעל הכבד [פִּעֵל] וְשִׁנָּא אֵת בִּגְדֵי כִלְאוֹ (מלכים ב' כה, כט), כתוב באל"ף במלכים, ובה"א בירמיה (נב, לג). וַיְשַׁנּוֹ אֶת־טַעְמוֹ (שמואל א' כא, יד), באה הידיעה אחר הכינוי. וכן וַתִּרְאֵהוּ אֶת־הַיֶּלֶד (שמות ב, ו) ודומיהם שזכרנו בחלק הדקדוק. ושלא נזכר פעלו ממנו [פֻּעַל] וְעֹז פָּנָיו יְשֻׁנֶּֽא (קהלת ח, א), באל"ף ובסגול. וההתפעל קוּמִי נָא וְהִשְׁתַּנִּית (מלכים א' יד, ב), ענין השינוי ידוע. וענין אחר יוֹם שֵׁנִֽי (בראשית א, ח). וּפַר הַשֵּׁנִי שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים (שופטים ו, כה), יש מפרשים כי ענינו שני לבטן. והנכון כי ענינו שני לפר אשר זכר (שם) קַח אֶת־פַּר־הַשּׁוֹר אֲשֶׁר לְאָבִיךָ. וענין שבע שנים תרגם יונתן דְאִתְפַּטִים שְׁבַע שְׁנִין. ובדברי רבותינו ז"ל (תמורה כח, סוף ע"ב) שהוקצה לעבודה זרה שבע שנים, אמר ריש לקיש אין מוקצה לעבודה זרה אלא אם כן הוקצה לשבע שנים שנאמר וּפַר הַשֵּׁנִי שֶׁבַע שָׁנִים. ומהם אמרו (שם) כי נעבד היה שבע שנים. ואמרו (שם) שמנה דברים הותרו באותה הלילה חוץ, וזרות, וכלי שרת, וכלי אשרה, ועצי אשרה, ולילה, ומוקצה ונעבד. אֶל־בֵּית הַנָּשִׁים שֵׁנִי (אסתר ב, יד), פירוש פעם שני. מִדָּה שֵׁנִי (נחמיה ג, ל), אמר רבי יונה שהוא כמו שֵׁנִית. ואין צורך, כי יש שמות רבים יבואו זכר ונקבה. שְׁנִיִּם וּשְׁלִשִׁים (בראשית ו, טז), מִשְׁנֶה לַמֶּלֶךְ (אסתר י, ג), וְכֶסֶף מִשְׁנֶה (בראשית מג, יב) כמו שני. וְהַבָּקָר וְהַמִּשְׁנִים (שמואל א' טו, ט), כבשים שניים לבטן. אולי הם מובחרים או בני שתי שנים. והחכם רבי יעקב בן אלעזר פירשו מענין שָׁנָה והוא תאר לכבשים בני שנה ויונתן תרגם וכמו הפיך והשְׁמֵנים. ויש מפרשים מזה השרש והענין אַלְפֵי שִׁנְאָן (תהלים סח, יח), והאל"ף למ"ד הפעל כיו"ד בִּנְיָן, קִנְיָן ופירושו אלפים שניים. והשם וּמִֽשְׁנֶה־כֶּסֶף (בראשית מג, טו). והנכון שהוא תאר כמו וְכֶסֶף מִשְׁנֶה והראיה שהוא בסגול, ואילו היה שם היה ענינו סמוך והיה נקוד צרי, אבל לפי שהוא סגול איננו סמוך ואם כן הוא תאר כמו וְכֶסֶף מִשְׁנֶה, ואף על פי שאין מנהג הלשון ברוב לבוא התאר לפני המתואר. וכן וּמִשְׁנֶה שִׁבָּרוֹן שָׁבְרֵֽם (ירמיה יז, יח), כי הוא נקוד גם כן בסגול רצונו לומר שברון שני. וכן כִּי מִשְׁנֶה שְׂכַר שָׂכִיר (דברים טו, יח), רצונו לומר שכר שכיר שני יש לך לתת לו שהרי עבדך שש שנים שלמים ביום ובלילה. והשכיר אם הוא עובד ביום אינו עובד בלילה ואם הוא עובד בלילה אינו עובד ביום. אֶת־מִשְׁנֵה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (דברים יז, יח), כתוב בצרי רצונו לומר שיכתבנה פעם שניה שיהיה לו שתי תורות. וכן למדו רבותינו ז"ל מזה (סנהדרין כא, ע"ב) כי המלך צריך שיהיו לו שתי תורות אחת שיוצאת ונכנסת עמו ואחת שמונחת לו בבית גנזיו. ויש מפרשים את משנה התורה ענין שינון מן וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ (דברים ו, ז). וכן וְהִיא יֹשֶׁבֶת בִּירֽוּשָׁלַם בַּמִּשְׁנֶה (מלכים ב' כב, יד), רוצה לומר בבית המדרש. וכן תרגם יונתן בְּבֵית אוּלְפָנָא. כֹּֽהֲנֵי הַמִּשְׁנֶה (מלכים ב' כג, ד), פירוש סגני כהונה שהם שניים לכהנים גדולים. שְׁנַיִם שְׁנַיִם (בראשית ו, ט), אֶת־שְׁנֵי יְלָדַי (מלכים ב' ד, א), וַיִּֽהְיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם (בראשית ב, כה), שְׁתֵּי נָשִׁים (שמואל א' א, ב), וְאֶת־שְׁתֵּי שִׁפְחֹתָיו (בראשית לב, כג), הראוי במלת שתים שנתים, ונפלה הנו"ן כמו שנפלה דלי"ת אֶחָד מן אַחַת, ונו"ן בֵּן מן בַּת. וכל שתים ושתי התי"ו דגושה דגש קל לבד מִשְּׁתֵי עֵינַי (שופטים טז, כח), שהתי"ו רפה והוא בא על משפטו כמו שכתבנו בחלק הדקדוק. ופירש אדוני אבי ז"ל מזה כִּי כָל־בֵּיתָהּ לָבֻשׁ שָׁנִֽים (משלי לא, כא), כלומר בגדים שונים לפיכך לא תירא לביתה משלג. ומזה הענין שָׁנָה תְמִימָה (ויקרא כה, ל), נקראת כן לפי ששבה השמש שנית אל הנקודה שהחלה ממנה. וַֽיְהִי דָּֽנִיֵּאל עַד־שְׁנַת אַחַת לְכוֹרֶשׁ הַמֶּֽלֶךְ (דניאל א, כא), כתב החכם רבי אברהם אבן עזרא כי טעם הסמיכות כי לא היתה שנה שלימה, והטעם בתוך השנה. והנה לא יספיק זה הטעם בשאר הסמוכים על המספר כמו בִּשְׁנַת שְׁתַּיִם (מלכים א' טו, כה), בִּשְׁנַת שָׁלוֹשׁ לְמָלְכוֹ (אסתר א, ג), וְשֶׁבַע שָׁנִים שְׁנֵי חַיֵּי שָׂרָֽה (בראשית כג, א), וּשְׁנֵיהֶם בַּנְּעִימִֽים (איוב לו, יא). ובלשון נקבות שְׁנוֹת יְמִין עֶלְיֽוֹן (תהלים עז, יא), יְמֵי שְׁנוֹתֵינוּ בָּהֶם (תהלים צ, י). והקבוץ שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים (בראשית מא, א), פירוש שנתים ימים שלמים. ונקראת כן לפי שהשמש תשנה אחר זמן אל הנקודה אשר החלה ממנה. והפעל מזה הענין וְלֹֽא־שָׁנָה לוֹ (שמואל ב' כ, י), פַּעַם אַחַת וְלֹא אֶשְׁנֶה לֽוֹ (שמואל א, כו, ח), אִם־תִּשְׁנוּ יָד אֶשְׁלַח בָּכֶם (נחמיה יג, כא), שְׁנוּ וַיִּשְׁנוּ (מלכים א' יח, לד). ופירש הגאון רב סעדיה מזה עִם־שׁוֹנִים אַל־תִּתְעָרָֽב (משלי כד, כא), והם שאומרים שְׁנַיִם אלהים לעולם. ועוד פירש בו פירוש אחר טוב מזה שונים הם האנשים שחוזרין פעם שניה לרשעתם אחר שעשו חשובה. והמקור מהנפעל וְעַל הִשָּׁנוֹת הַֽחֲלוֹם (בראשית מא, לב), ובאמרו פַּֽעֲמָיִם הוא תוספת ביאור. או לפי שלשון הִשָּׁנוֹת אפשר יותר משני פעמים לפיכך פירש פעמים, כי יש בזה הלשון שרצונו לומר פעמַים רבות כמו כְּסִיל שׁוֹנֶה בְאִוַּלְתּֽוֹ (משלי כו, יא), רצונו לומר פעם אחר פעם כמה פעמים. וכן עִם־ שׁוֹנִים אַל־תִּתְעָרָֽב. וכן וְשׁוּב מֹל אֶת־בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל שֵׁנִֽית (יהושע ה, ב), רצונו לומר פעם אחר פעם עד שיגמר הדבר. ומזה השרש וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי (שמות כה, ד), אִם־יִֽהְיוּ חֲטָֽאֵיכֶם כַּשָּׁנִים (ישעיה א, יח), וככר כתבנום בשרש שׁן.
ש-ר-קhis headword שׂרק
שׂוֹרֵק, the choicest of the kinds of vine; and שְׂרֻקִּים, patterned in colours, or, as some explain, groomed with a comb.
The vine
נְטַעְתִּיךְ שׂוֹרֵק (Yirmiyahu 2:21), I planted you a choice vine, and וְלַשֹּׂרֵקָה בְּנִי אֲתֹנוֹ (Bereishis 49:11), and to the choice vine his donkey's foal. It is the choicest of the kinds of vine. Rav Ibn Giat writes that it is the good kind whose grapes have no stone in them, and Targum Yonasan (Yeshayahu 5:2) renders it כְּמַצַב גֶפֶן בְּחִירָא, like the planting of a choice vine. Some explain עֹבְדֵי פִשְׁתִּים שְׂרִיקוֹת (Yeshayahu 19:9) the same way, workers of flax of the choicest kind, and so, it is said, in Arabic א"ל שר"ק is the name for the fine sort in silk.
What שְׂרֻקִּים means
שְׂרֻקִּים וּלְבָנִים (Zecharyah 1:8), שְׂרֻקִּים and white, Radak explains as patterned: their colour red and white and black, as though they were speckled or patched. So עֹבְדֵי פִשְׁתִּים שְׂרִיקוֹת (Yeshayahu 19:9), on this reading, is workers of flax dotted with colours, and Chazal speak of לובשי סריקין של זהב (Kiddushin 31a), wearers of סריקין of gold, which Radak explains as a garment figured with gold. Some explain שְׂרֻקִּים as groomed with a comb, and so Chazal (Moed Katan 10b), רבא שרא לסרוקי סוסיא, Rava permitted combing a horse, which Radak explains as combing it with a comb of iron. And so Chazal (Keilim 12:2) say קנה מאזנים של שריקות טמא, the beam of the scales of the שריקות is tamei, where the שריקות, Radak explains, are מוכרי פשתן שרוק, sellers of combed flax.
Radak’s root שׂרק
נְטַעְתִּיךְ שׂוֹרֵק (ירמיה ב, כא), וַיִּטָּעֵהוּ שֹׂרֵק (ישעיה ה, ב), וְלַשּֽׂרֵקָה בְּנִי אֲתֹנוֹ (בראשית מט, יא). הָלְמוּ שְׂרוּקֶּיהָ (ישעיה טז, ח), נכתב בו הנח עם הדגש. והוא המשובח ממיני הגפן. וכתב הרב אבן גיאת שהוא מין הטוב מן הגפנים שהענבים לא ימצא בהם חרצן. ותרגום יונתן(ישעיה ה, ב) כְּמַצַב גֶפֶן בְּחִירָא. ויש מפרשים כן עֹֽבְדֵי פִשְׁתִּים שְׂרִיקוֹת (ישעיה יט, ט), המשובח ממין הפשתן וכן יקרא בלשון ערבי א"ל שר"ק הטור שבמשי. שְׂרֻקִּים וּלְבָנִֽים (זכריה א, ח), מצויירים כלומר שעינם אדום ולבן ושחור כאילו הם נקודים או טלואים. וכן עובדי פשתים שריקות, כלומר מנקדים בצבעים. וכן בדברי רבותינו ז"ל (קידושין לא, סוף ע"א) לובשי סריקין של זהב, כלומר מלבוש מצוייר של זהב. ויש מפרשים שְֹרֻקִּים מתוקנים במסרק. וכן בדברי רבותינו ז"ל (מועד קטן י, ע"ב) רבא שרא לסרוקי סוסיא, כלומר להסריק הסוס במסרק של ברזל. וכן בדברי רבותינו (כלים פרק שנים עשר. משנה ב, דף כא, ע"א) קנה מאזנים של שריקות טמא פירוש מוכרי פשתן שרוק.
To whistle or hiss: the moving of the lips with a sound.
Whistling
וְשָׁרַק לוֹ מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ (Yeshayahu 5:26), He will whistle to him from the end of the earth, and אֶשְׁרְקָה לָהֶם וַאֲקַבְּצֵם (Zecharyah 10:8), I will whistle to them and gather them.
Hissing, and the nouns
שָׁרְקוּ וַיָּנִעוּ רֹאשָׁם (Eichah 2:15), they hissed and wagged their head. The nouns are שְׁרִקוֹת עֲדָרִים (Shoftim 5:16), the whistlings of the flocks, and וְיֹשְׁבֶיהָ לִשְׁרֵקָה (Michah 6:16), and her inhabitants for a hissing.
Radak’s root שׁרק
וְשָׁרַק לוֹ מִקְצֵה הָאָרֶץ (ישעיה ה, כו), שָֽׁרְקוּ וַיָּנִעוּ רֹאשָׁם (איכה ב, טו), יִשְׁרֹק י"י לַזְּבוּב (ישעיה ז, יח), יִשֹּׁם וְיִשְׁרֹק (ירמיה יט, ח), אֶשְׁרְקָה לָהֶם וַֽאֲקַבְּצֵם (זכריה י, ח). שְׁרִקוֹת עֲדָרִים (שופטים ה, טז), וְיֹֽשְׁבֶיהָ לִשְׁרֵקָה (מיכה ו, טז). ענין השריקה הנעות השפתים בקול.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Vayakhel/Parah: Seeing Red (Part 1/2)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 22 March 2025.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Pekudai: Seeing Red (Part 2/3)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 29 March 2025.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Vayikra: Seeing Red (Part 3/3)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 5 April 2025.
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 25:25, 25:30, 30:32-33, 30:35, 30:40, 36:26, 36:36, 38:30, 49:11; Shemos 25:5, 26:14, 28:17, 35:7, 35:23, 36:19, 39:34; Vayikra 13-14, 14:4, 14:6, 14:49, 14:51-52; Bamidbar 19:2, 19:6; Yehoshua 2:18, 2:21; Shoftim 16:4; Shmuel I 16:12, 17:42; Shmuel II 1:24; Melachim II 3:22; Yeshayahu 1:18, 3:16, 5:2, 16:8, 63:1-2; Yirmiyahu 2:21, 4:30; Yechezkel 27:18; Nachum 2:4; Zecharyah 1:8, 6:2-3; Tehillim 68:24, 75:9; Mishlei 23:29, 23:31, 31:21; Shir HaShirim 4:3, 5:10; Eichah 4:5, 4:7, 5:10; Ezra 2:47; Nechemiah 7:49; Divrei HaYamim I 1:41, 1:47; Divrei HaYamim II 2:6, 26:19; Mishnah Shabbos 9:3, 12:4, Shekalim 4:2, Yoma 4:2, 6:6, Gittin 2:3, Bechoros 7:6, 9:7, Middos 3:1; Tosefta Berachos 7:3; Berachos 20a, 31b, 58b, 59b; Shabbos 95a; Pesachim 25b; Yoma 82b; Moed Katan 9b; Kesubos 17a; Gittin 69a, 69b; Bava Basra 84a; Sanhedrin 14a, 74a; Avodah Zarah 33b; Bechoros 45b; Yerushalmi Kilayim 9:1 and Berachos 9:1; Bereishis Rabbah 51:2; Toras Kohanim, Metzora, with Raavad and Rash M'Shantz; Rashi to Bereishis 25:25, 30:32, Vayikra 13:39, Berachos 31b, 58b, 59b, Bechoros 45b, Avodah Zarah 33b and Gittin 69b; pseudo-Rashi to Divrei HaYamim II 2:6; Rabbi Saadia Gaon, Ibn Ezra and Rabbi Avraham Maimuni to Shemos 25:4; Ibn Ezra, Long Commentary to Shemos 2:3; Ibn Ezra and Mahari Kara to Eichah 4:5; Meiri; Rashbam and Chizkuni to Bereishis 38:30; Ramban to Bereishis 49:12; the Ohr HaChaim to Bereishis 38:28; Radak to Yeshayahu 63:1, Tehillim 75:9 and Zecharyah 1:8, 6:2-3; Malbim to Yeshayahu 1:18 and Zecharyah 1:8; Shadal to Bereishis 30:32, Shemos 20:5 and 25:4; Midrash Chefetz and Meor Ha'Afeilah to Shemos 25:4; Rema, Yoreh Deah 178:1; Sefer HeAruch and Rabbeinu Chananel to Berachos 20a; Menachem Ibn Saruk, Machberes Menachem; Ibn Janach and Radak, Sefer HaShorashim; Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur, Meturgeman; Rabbi Tanchum HaYerushalmi; Rabbi Moshe Tedeschi-Ashkenazi, Otzar Nirdafim; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo; Rabbi Yaakov Hibbert; Rabbi Yosef Noach Wilkover; the Peshitta; Dr. Alexander Kohut, Aruch HaShalem; Rabbi Ernest Klein; Marcus Jastrow; David J. A. Clines, A Dictionary of Classical Hebrew.