other
sign
אות · מופת · עד
Bottom line
Oht is a sign or token, the general word, and it can be entirely natural: the luminaries are an oht for the seasons, tefillin are an oht, the tribal flags were an oht, a letter of the alef-beis is an oht. Mofet is the narrower word, a wonder or portent, on most readings one that bends nature. Malbim's formula is the one to keep: every mofet is an oht, not every oht a mofet. Do not render both "sign"; where they stand together (the makkos are called both, Shemos 10:1-2 and 11:9-10) the pairing is doing work.
At a glance
| Hebrew | translit | English | what sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| אות | oht | sign, token | any sign, natural included (Abarbanel); a reminder (Malbim) |
| מופת | mofet | wonder, portent | supernatural, from pele (Ramban); points to Hashem (Malbim) |
| עד | eid | witness | reminds and moves to action, where an oht only reminds (Pappenheim) |
Where the authorities disagree
Whether mofet is supernatural at all.
- Yes. Ramban (to Devarim 13:2): mofet is shorthand for muflah/niflah/pele, wondrous, the lamed dropped for brevity, so it is a sign that overturns the apparent order of nature; an oht is a sign that a prophecy will be fulfilled, from asa, "come." Malbim: a mofet is a supernatural sign whose purpose is to recall Hashem.
- No. Abarbanel: neither word refers to a supernatural wonder. An oht is a sign within nature; a mofet is not physical at all but an abstract, logical proof. He relates mofet to yofi, beauty, since the truth of an argument lies in the beauty of its honesty, and notes Radak's root י-פ-ת. Rabbi Shmuel Ibn Tibbon, whom Abarbanel follows, was the first to use mofet so: a mofet establishes a claim conclusively, an oht is evidence pointing toward it without proving it.
The Bottom line follows Ramban and Malbim, since that is the sense the word carries in Tanach, where the makkos and the staff before Pharaoh are mofsim. Abarbanel's and Ibn Tibbon's mofet is the philosophical term of art, right in a philosophical sefer, where it means "demonstration."
Which word points to the sender and which to the message. Sforno (to Shemos 7:9): when the purpose of the miracle is to say something about Hashem, the word is mofet; when its purpose is to say something about the messenger, oht. Malbim reads the staff-and-snake so: before Klal Yisrael it is an oht, a sign that Moshe was truly sent; before Pharaoh a mofet, since to a man who denied Hashem it was a supernatural trick and nothing more.
Which is the stronger inducement to belief. Radak (Sefer HaShorashim): an oht is any sign, a mofet specifically a sign meant to bring one to believe in something future. Rabbi Avraham Menachem HaKohen Rappaport (Minchah Belulah), the reverse: an oht brings a person directly to belief, a mofet only pushes him toward it, and he relates mofet to mefateh, to persuade (Devarim Rabbah 7:9); alternatively an oht is a sign of the heavenly realm and a mofet of the earthly. He then concludes that the two are simply synonyms.
Whether they are synonyms. The Sifrei (the article cites it to Bamidbar 6:3) states outright that oht and mofet are the same thing. Ramban: this does not make them true synonyms, only names of the same class of phenomenon. Midrash Lekach Tov (Pesikta Zutrasa) cites the Sifrei and adds that an oht signifies something future and a mofet something imminent. Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer harmonizes: the Sifrei means only that both words mean "a sign," and the midrash distinguishes when what is signified arrives.
Distinctions
oht (אות)
Ramban derives it from א-ת-ה, "come" (in Aramaic with an alef for the hei), since it signals what is to come. Malbim: any sign or symbol that reminds a person of what it stands for. Abarbanel's examples make the natural range clear: the sun and moon are an oht for times and seasons (Bereishis 1:14), tefillin an oht of the Exodus (Shemos 13:9, 13:16), the tribal flags an oht for each tribe (Bamidbar 2:2), and each letter of the alef-beis an oht for a sound. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim contrasts oht with eid: an oht reminds, an eid reminds and spurs to action.
mofet (מופת)
Ramban: from pele, a wonder. Radak: the root is י-פ-ת. Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer reports another view, the root י-פ-ע with the ayin dropped and the yud becoming a mem, making mofet a relative of mofia, "appears," a sign being how one presents an idea; his alternative is that a mofet presents a phenomenon never seen before.
Rendering guidance
- אות: "sign," or "token" where the thing is a symbol worn or displayed (tefillin, the blood on the doorpost, a tribal flag). "Letter" for the alef-beis sense, but keep the pun in view if a derashah uses it.
- מופת: "wonder" or "portent." In a philosophical text following Ibn Tibbon, "demonstration" or "proof," never "wonder."
- עד: "witness" or "testimony," and note that Pappenheim's contrast with oht is about what the thing does to the one who sees it.
- Trap: English "sign" absorbs both, and in Parshas Bo it must not. The makkos are called an oht (Shemos 10:1-2) and a mofet (11:9-10) within a few pesukim, and Sforno and Malbim read a different purpose into each. Render the first "sign" and the second "wonder," so the shift stays visible.
- For the fixed phrase osos umofsim, "signs and wonders" is long settled; do not invert it.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "The Sign is Coming," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 6 Shevat 5779 (2019-01-12): https://articles.ohr.edu/articles/the-sign-is-coming; raw text in sources/whats-in-a-word/raw/8085-the-sign-is-coming.md. Primary loci cited: Bereishis 1:14; Shemos 7:9, 10:1-2, 11:9-10, 12:13, 13:9, 13:16 (the article prints 12:9 and 12:16 for the tefillin pesukim; they are 13:9 and 13:16); Bamidbar 2:2; Devarim 13:2 with Ramban; Sifrei; Midrash Lekach Tov (Pesikta Zutrasa); Devarim Rabbah 7:9; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim; Sforno to Shemos 7:9; Rabbi Avraham Menachem HaKohen Rappaport, Minchah Belulah.