speech
speech
At a glance
In short
Ne'um, "word," is used overwhelmingly for the Word of Hashem. For Rabbi Pappenheim it is a deliberate declaration that stresses the truth of what is said; for Peirush HaRokeach and Rabbeinu Efrayim it conveys an irrevocable decree or oath. It is a declaration, an utterance. Rabbi Pappenheim explains yichaveh as speech that gives an idea life by bringing it out into the open, or else as speech that joins speaker to listener as ach to ach: express, declare. Yabia is speech welling up from the depths like a spring: pour forth, utter. Siach is discursive, wandering speech that unburdens the speaker: converse, muse, pour out one's talk.
Distinctions
Ne'um (נאם)
It occurs 373 times in Tanach, and 362 of them are the word of Hashem. The only human speakers whose words are called ne'um are David HaMelech (Shmuel II 23:1), Shlomo HaMelech (Mishlei 30:1), and Bilaam (Bamidbar 24:3, 24:4, 24:15, 24:16). When Yirmiyahu attacked the false nevi'im for speaking a ne'um (Yirmiyahu 23:31) he used the verb vayinamu, which appears nowhere else in Tanach.
- Menachem, Ibn Janach and Radak take the root as נ-א-ם.
- Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740 to 1814, Yerios Shlomo) offers what Rabbi Klein calls a more thorough approach: ne'um is a poetic word used to stress the veracity of a statement, marking that what is said is no collection of random words haphazardly spewed out but deliberate and accurate declarations. He derives it from the biliteral א-ם, "if," the root that also yields emes and amen/ne'eman. One who speaks in the ne'um register speaks in absolutes, as if all he says is simply true; Yirmiyahu's charge is exactly that the false nevi'im affected that register while he knew they were lying.
- Radak in Sefer HaShorashim (under א-מ-ן and under נ-א-ם) likewise ties ne'um to truth.
- In Cheshek Shlomo Pappenheim gives a second account of א-ם, "if, on condition": ne'um stresses the gravity of the circumstance that moved the speaker to address his hearers.
Per the Oxford English Dictionary, English word in Ebonics and hip-hop slang expresses affirmation or agreement, so that "Word!" amounts to "That's the truth!" or "There's no denying it!" Rabbi Klein holds that this usage likely stems from the influence of Christian preachers reading the Bible and translating ne'um as "word."
One of the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q339) contains a list of false prophets with Bilaam on it. Against that, rabbinic tradition maintains that Bilaam was not a false prophet as such but an evil one: he tried to use his jaundiced outlook to have Hashem convey to him a malevolent nevuah against the Jews, and in the end quite the opposite happened. When all is said and done, his declarations were true in the same way the Word of Hashem elsewhere is true. In that spirit, Peirush HaRokeach and Rabbeinu Efrayim explain that ne'um conveys the content of an irrevocable decree or oath, even for Bilaam's ne'um. Rabbi Klein adds that it seems David and Shlomo could use it of themselves because as Divinely chosen kings they were able to speak assertively and decisively in a way that whatever they said was or became true.
The verb form appears only once in Tanach but is much more common in later post-biblical Hebrew: numasi/nimasi, "I said," in the Mishnah (Yevamos 16:7), in Rabbi Akiva's report of what he said to a Sage in Babylonia about a complex halachic question, and numeinu, "we said" (Gittin 6:7; also Tosefta Sanhedrin 2:1 and Nazir 4:7). The halachic Midrashim sometimes use nam lo for "he said to him" in place of amar lo (Mechilta to Shemos 12:6, 12:21, 12:43; Sifrei Beha'alosecha 65, Shelach 110, Pinchas 142), and, remarkably, only in the disputes of Rabbi Yonasan and Rabbi Yoshiyah.
- Sefer HeAruch files these rabbinic forms under נ-ם without explicitly linking them to ne'um.
- Rabbi Gershon Shaul Yom Tov Lipmann Heller (1579 to 1654) holds they are cognates even though spelled without an aleph, since the aleph often disappears from a word's morphological inflections.
- Rabbi Yechezkel Landau (1713 to 1793, Noda B'Yehudah) adds that the common Talmudic neimah, "let us say," is a cognate too, of Hebrew ne'um and Aramaic nam; and both he and Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia note that the aleph-less form is already Biblical Aramaic (Ezra 4:8, 5:4, 5:9, 6:13).
- Ibn Ezra (to Yeshayahu 1:24) seems to treat that spelling as a mistake, though it is the standard rabbinic form.
On the Yom Kippur Mussaf piyyut "zechor... namta":
- Abudraham reads namta as a cognate of ne'um.
- Pappenheim objects that it cannot possibly be read as namta, since that would mean "You who slumbered," from the noun tenumah, "sleep"; he suggests ne'umta if the poet meant to follow a biblical Hebrew style, or numisa if a rabbinic one, and he mentions and endorses an alternate version registering the word as sachta, a cognate of sichah. That alternate version is also found in the machzor edited by Ernst Daniel Goldschmidt (1895 to 1972).
- Rabbi Landau nevertheless concludes that namta as "You said" is also correct.
Dr. Shlomo Mandelkorn (1846 to 1902), in his concordance of biblical Hebrew Heichal HaKodesh (page 710), notes that an Arabic cognate of ne'um means "to whisper." Rabbi Klein says outright: "I am not sure what to make of that."
Yichaveh / achaveh (יחוה / אחוה)
- Ibn Chayyuj, Ibn Janach and Radak: root ח-ו-ה (Tehillim 19:3; Iyov 13:7, 32:10, 32:17).
- Menachem Ibn Saruk: the biliteral ח-ו.
- Pappenheim derives ח-ו from ח-י ("life") and/or א-ח ("brotherhood, unity"), both of which he traces further back to the monoliteral root ח. On the first, this speech gives an idea life by expressing it verbally instead of leaving it hidden away in the thoughts; for the vav/yud interchange he adduces the name Chavah, which the Torah itself ties to chai, spelled with a yud (Bereishis 3:20). Alternatively, he relates it to ach, "brother," because speech creates connection and comradery by linking speaker with listener.
- Peirush HaRokeach: yichaveh is speech for the purpose of explaining the reasoning behind something, though he offers no etymological account of it.
Yabia / abiah (יביע / אביעה)
- Pappenheim: from the biliteral ב-ע, revealing what lies beneath the surface. At its plainest the root gives mabua/novea, a wellspring rising out of a hidden source (Mishlei 18:4, Koheles 12:6, Yeshayahu 35:7). So yabia (Tehillim 19:3) and abiah (Tehillim 78:2) are speech flowing up from the depths of the heart and breaking out in an attention-grabbing way. A similar point had already been made by Ibn Janach and Radak in their respective Sifrei HaShorashim.
- Siddur HaRokeach and Peirush HaRokeach: yabia is speaking on and on without stopping, like a spring that never runs dry.
Siach / sichah (שיח / שיחה)
Yasiach (Tehillim 119:23), asichah (Tehillim 55:18, 77:4, 77:7 and 77:13, 119:15, 145:5; Iyov 7:11) and lasuach (Bereishis 24:63).
- Ibn Chayyuj, Ibn Janach and Radak: root ש-ו-ח.
- Menachem: the biliteral ש-ח.
- Pappenheim takes ש-ח from ס-ח ("uprooting, removing, transferring"): sichah is stream-of-thought speech, the mind wandering, meant to help the speaker forget, "uproot," his sorrows.
- Peirush HaRokeach similarly writes that sichah is speech about various topics within one conversation; Rabbi Klein notes that this can be looked at as "transferring" the discussion from one subject to another.
Also discussed in
- Moneyאמן / emes, mammon, ne'um (א-מ-נ)
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ח-ו-ה
Telling, which he says is the sense of all of it, verb and noun; חַוֹּת יָאִיר, Chavos Yair, he leaves to be explained under the root חיה.
Telling
אֲחַוֶּה דֵּעִי אַף־אָנִי (Iyov 32:10), I too will tell my opinion; אֲחַוְךָ שְׁמַע־לִי (Iyov 15:17), I will tell you, hear me, where the dagesh has dropped out; and כַּתַּר־לִי זְעֵיר וַאֲחַוֶּךָּ (Iyov 36:2), wait for me a little and I will tell you. The noun, with an added alef, is וְאַחֲוָתִי בְּאָזְנֵיכֶם (Iyov 13:17), and my telling in your ears. All of it is the sense of telling.
Chavos Yair, left for the root חיה
חַוֹּת יָאִיר (Bamidbar 32:41), Chavos Yair, and אֶת־חַוֹּתֵיהֶם in the same pasuk, their chavos, he says he will explain under the root חיה.
אֲחַוֶּה דֵּעִי אַף־אָֽנִי (איוב לב, י), אֲחַוְךָ שְֽׁמַֽע־לִי (איוב טו, יז) ונפל ממנו הדגש. כַּֽתַּר־לִי זְעֵיר וַֽאֲחַוֶּךָּ (איוב לו, ב). והשם באל"ף נוספת וְאַֽחֲוָתִי בְּאָזְנֵיכֶֽם (איוב יג, יז), הכל ענין הגדה. חַוֹּת יָאִֽיר (במדבר לב, מא), אֶת־חַוֹּֽתֵיהֶם (שם) נפרש בשרש חיה.
נ-א-ם
A saying (מאמר): נְאֻם is a noun, though it may be a verb; and from it the נֶאֱמָנִים, those clear of tongue and skilled in the wisdom of speech.
Noun or verb
וַיִּנְֽאֲמוּ נְאֻֽם (Yirmiyahu 23:31), and they say a saying; נְאֻֽם־פֶּשַׁע לָרָשָׁע (Tehillim 36:2), the saying of transgression to the wicked; חָרְבוּ מְאֹד נְאֻם י"י (Yirmiyahu 2:12), be utterly desolate, the saying of Hashem. Their sense is a saying. The word נְאֻם is a noun; it may be a verb in the construct, but in וַיִּנְֽאֲמוּ נְאֻֽם it is a noun, on the pattern of זְבוּל, a dwelling.
Those fluent of speech
From it comes מֵסִיר שָׂפָה לְנֶאֱמָנִים (Iyov 12:20), He removes the speech of the נֶאֱמָנִים: they are those clear of tongue, who know the wisdom of speech.
וַיִּנְֽאֲמוּ נְאֻֽם (ירמיה כג, לא), נְאֻֽם־פֶּשַׁע לָרָשָׁע (תהלים לו, ב), חָרְבוּ מְאֹד נְאֻם י"י (ירמיה ב, יב), וְנִשְּׁכוּ אֶתְכֶם נְאֻם י"י (ירמיה ח, יז), ענינם ענין מאמר. ומלת נְאֻם הוא שם. ואפשר שהוא פעל סמוך, אבל וַיִּנְֽאֲמוּ נְאֻֽם הוא שם בשקל זְבוּל. ומזה מֵסִיר שָׂפָה לְנֶאֱמָנִים (איוב יב, כ), והם הצחים בלשונם ויודעים בחכמת הדבר.
נ-ב-ע
Coming out from a source, as water wells up; and speech, called so because it comes out of the mouth as water from its source.
The spring
נַחַל נֹבֵעַ (Mishlei 18:4), a welling brook. The noun is מַבּוּעַ: וְצִמָּאוֹן לְמַבּוּעֵי מָיִם (Yeshayahu 35:7), and the thirsty ground to springs of water, and וְעַל־מַבּוּעֵי מַיִם יְנַהֲלֵם (Yeshayahu 49:10), and by springs of water He shall lead them. The welling of water is its coming out from its source.
The pitcher at the fountain
וְתִשָּׁבֶר כַּד עַל־הַמַּבּוּעַ (Koheles 12:6), and the pitcher is broken at the fountain: the כַּד, pitcher, is the gall, and the מַבּוּעַ, fountain, is the liver, on which the gall rests; that is why it says the pitcher is broken at the fountain. The liver is called מַבּוּעַ because it is the source of the blood.
Speech pouring out
Speech is called by this word because it comes out of the mouth as water from its source: יוֹם לְיוֹם יַבִּיעַ אֹמֶר (Tehillim 19:3), day to day pours out speech, אַבִּיעָה חִידוֹת (Tehillim 78:2), I will pour out riddles, and תַּבַּעְנָה שְׂפָתַי תְּהִלָּה (Tehillim 119:171), my lips shall pour out praise.
The fly in the perfumer's oil
יַבְאִישׁ יַבִּיעַ שֶׁמֶן רוֹקֵחַ (Koheles 10:1) says that the fly makes the perfumer's oil stink, and the stench does not stop, since at every moment the fly makes the stench well up and brings it out. Rabbi Yonah explained it in the sense of speech; on that reading, from the strength of its stench it is as though it spoke and proclaimed its stench abroad, in the manner of וְשֶׁמֶן יְמִינוֹ יִקְרָא (Mishlei 27:16), and the oil of his right hand proclaims. Rabbi Yitzchak ibn Giat explained it from אבעבועות, bubbles, and its root, for he wrote that it is a doubled verb in the heavy form, since oil that goes bad makes bubbles.
נַחַל נֹבֵעַ (משלי יח, ד). והשם מבוע וְצִמָּאוֹן לְמַבּוּעֵי מָיִם (ישעיה לה, ז), וְעַל־מַבּוּעֵי מַיִם יְנַֽהֲלֵֽם (ישעיה מט, י), נביעת המים היא יציאתם מהמקור. וְתִשָּׁבֶר כַּד עַל־הַמַּבּוּעַ (קהלת יב, ו), הכד הוא המרה, והמבוע הוא הכבד שהמרה סמוכה עליו לפיכך אמר וְתִשָּׁבֶר כַּד עַל־הַמַּבּוּעַ, והכבד הוא מקור הדם לפיכך קראו מַבּוּעַ. וכן נקרא הדבור בלשון הזה לפי שהוא יוצא מהפה כמים מהמקור. יוֹם לְיוֹם יַבִּיעַ אֹמֶר (תהלים יט, ג), הִנֵּה יַבִּיעוּן בְּפִיהֶם (תהלים נט, ח), אַבִּיעָה חִידוֹת (תהלים עח, ב), תַּבַּעְנָה שְׂפָתַי תְּהִלָּה (תהלים קיט, קעא). וכן יַבְאִישׁ יַבִּיעַ שֶׁמֶן רוֹקֵחַ (קהלת י, א), אומר כי הזבוב יבאיש שמן רוקח ולא יפסוק הבאוש כי בכל עת יביע הזבוב הבאוש ויוציאו. ורבי יונה פירשו בענין הדבור כלומר מרוב באושו כאילו ידבר ויכריז על באשו בחוץ ובא על דרך וְשֶׁמֶן יְמִינוֹ יִקְרָֽא (משלי כז, טז). והרב רבי יצחק אבן גיאת פירשו מענין אבעבועות ומשרשו, כי כתב כי הוא מבנין הכבד מפעלי הכפל, כי כאשר יבאיש השמן יעשה אבעבועות.
ש-ו-חhis headword שׂוח
Speech, which he gives as its sense: the speech of prayer, and the telling of troubles and hardships; but at times שִׂיחַ is a man's affair and his doings.
Prayer, and telling one's troubles
Its sense is speech, like לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה (Bereishis 24:63), to speak in the field, which is the speech of prayer, and like אָרִיד בְּשִׂיחִי (Tehillim 55:3), I am restless in my speech, and those like it, which are the speech of troubles and the telling of hardships; so too אֶשְׁפֹּךְ לְפָנָיו שִׂיחִי (Tehillim 142:3), I pour out my speech before Him, and מֵרֹב שִׂיחִי (Shmuel I 1:16), out of the greatness of my speech.
Speaking with, and speaking of
בְּפִקֻּדֶיךָ אָשִׂיחָה, I will speak of Your precepts; יָשִׂיחוּ בִי ישְׁבֵי שָׁעַר (Tehillim 69:13), those who sit in the gate speak of me; עַל־דֶּרֶךְ שִֽׂיחוּ (Shoftim 5:10), on the way, speak. וַֽהֲקִיצוֹתָ הִיא תְשִׂיחֶֽךָ (Mishlei 6:22), and when you awake it shall speak with you, he explains: it will be to you like a companion speaking with you.
Where it is not speech
But אַתֶּם יְדַעְתֶּם אֶת־הָאִישׁ וְאֶת־ שִׂיחֽוֹ (Melachim II 9:11), you know the man and his siach, means his affair and his doings; so too וּמַגִּיד לְאָדָם מַה־ שֵּׂחוֹ (Amos 4:13), and tells a man what his doing is, which has a tzeirei. And כִּֽי־ שִׂיחַ וְכִי־שִׂיג לוֹ (Melachim I 18:27), for he has a siach and he has a sig, means he has an affair and a dealing with another, or the overtaking of his enemies in war.
Radak’s root שׂוח
לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה (בראשית כד, מג). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] בְּפִקֻּדֶיךָ אָשִׂיחָה (תהלים קיט, מג), יָשִׂיחוּ בִי ישְׁבֵי שָׁעַר (תהלים סט, יג), אוֹ שִׂיחַ לָאָרֶץ (איוב יב, ח), עַל־דֶּרֶךְ שִֽׂיחוּ (שופטים ה, י). וַֽהֲקִיצוֹתָ הִיא תְשִׂיחֶֽךָ (משלי ו, כב), פירוש השיח עמך כלומר תהיה ילך כחבר מדבר עמך. והשם אָרִיד בְּשִׂיחִי (תהלים נה, ג), יִשָּׂא בְשִׂיחִי מִשְׁכָּבִֽי (איוב ז, יג). וכבד אחר [פִּעֵל] בְּֽמַֽעֲשֵׂה יָדֶיךָ אֲשׂוֹחֵֽחַ (תהלים קמג, ה), וְאֶת־דּוֹרוֹ מִי יְשׂוֹחֵחַ (ישעיה נג, ח), ענינם ענין דבור והוא כמו לָשׂוּחַ בַּשָּׂדֶה שהוא דבור התפלה, וכמו אָרִיד בְּשִׂיחִי והדומים לו שהוא דבור הצרות וספור התלאות. וכן אֶשְׁפֹּךְ לְפָנָיו שִׂיחִי (תהלים קמב, ג), וְלִפְנֵי י"י יִשְׁפֹּךְ שִׂיחֽוֹ (תהלים קב, א), וכן מֵרֹב שִׂיחִי (שמואל א' א, טז), אבל אַתֶּם יְדַעְתֶּם אֶת־הָאִישׁ וְאֶת־שִׂיחֽוֹ (מלכים ב' ט, יא), פירוש ענינו ואת מעשיו. וכן וּמַגִּיד לְאָדָם מַה־שֵּׂחוֹ (עמוס ד, יג), והוא בצרי. וכן כִּֽי־שִׂיחַ וְכִי־שִׂיג לוֹ (מלכים א' יח, כז), כלומר ענין יש לו ומעשה עם אחר, או השגת אויביו במלחמה.
A pit, שׁוּחָה, and שַׁחַת, whose sense is like that of a grave. Of a land, as in עֲרָבָה וְשׁוּחָה, desert and waste, שׁוּחָה means desolation and ruin.
The pit
שׁוּחָה עֲמֻקָּה (Mishlei 22:14), a deep pit, and כִּי־כָרוּ שׁוּחָה לְנַפְשִׁי (Yirmiyahu 18:20), for they have dug a pit for my soul. Another form takes a chirik: כָּרוּ לְפָנַי שִׁיחָה (Tehillim 57:7), they dug a pit before me, and כָּרוּ־לִי זֵדִים שִׁיחוֹת (Tehillim 119:85), the insolent have dug pits for me. These too may be from the root שָׁחַח.
שַׁחַת, like a grave
לַשַּׁחַת יוֹרִדוּךָ (Yechezkel 28:8), they will bring you down to the pit, וְלֹא־יָמוּת לַשַּׁחַת (Yeshayahu 51:14), he shall not die to the pit, לִבְאֵר שַׁחַת (Tehillim 55:24), to the well of the pit, and בְּשַׁחְתָּם נִתְפַּשׂ (Yechezkel 19:4), he was caught in their pit. They may be from the root יָשַׁח, as דַּעַת is from יָדַע. Their sense is like that of a grave.
Whether שָׁחָה belongs here
כִּי שָׁחָה אֶל־מָוֶת בֵּיתָהּ (Mishlei 2:18), for her house sinks down to death, Rabbi Yonah wrote under this root. The word may be from שָׁחַח, and that would be why Rabbi Yehudah did not mention it; except that most books have it with a kamatz, and were it a doubled verb it would take a patach, as is the rule with a ches, which cannot take the doubling.
A land of waste
בְּאֶרֶץ עֲרָבָה וְשׁוּחָה (Yirmiyahu 2:6), in a land of desert and waste: the sense of שׁוּחָה here is desolation and ruin, and so Targum Yonasan renders it בַּאֲרַע מֵישַׁר וְחָרוֹב, in a land of plain and ruin.
Radak’s root שׁוח
כִּי שָׁחָה אֶל־מָוֶת בֵּיתָהּ (משלי ב, יח), כתבו רבי יונה בזה השרש. ואפשר שהמלה משרש שָׁחַח לפיכך לא זכרו רבי יהודה, אלא שנמצא ברוב הספרים קמץ ואילו היה מפעלי הכפל היה פתוח כמשפט החי"ת שלא יבא עמה התשלום כמו שכתבנו בחלק הדקדוק. שׁוּחָה עֲמֻקָּה (משלי כב, יד), כִּֽי־כָרוּ שׁוּחָה לְנַפְשִׁי (ירמיה יח, כ). ומשקל אחר בחרק כָּרוּ לְפָנַי שִׁיחָה (תהלים נז, ז), כָּֽרוּ־לִי זֵדִים שִׁיחוֹת (תהלים קיט, פה). ואפשר שיהיו גם אלו משרש שָׁחַח והיה ראוי להדגש שׁוּחָה בפלס גּוּלָּה. ומשקל אחר לַשַּׁחַת יֽוֹרִדוּךָ (יחזקאל כח, ח), וְלֹֽא־יָמוּת לַשַּׁחַת (ישעיה נא, יד), לִבְאֵר שַׁחַת (תהלים נה, כד), עַד יִכָּרֶה לָרָשָׁע שָֽׁחַת (תהלים צד, יג), בְּשַׁחְתָּם נִתְפַּשׂ (יחזקאל יט, ד), בפלס אֲשֶׁר־זֹרֶה בָרַחַת (ישעיה ל, כד), טוֹב מְלֹא כַף נָחַת (קהלת ד, ו). ואפשר שיהיו משרש יָשַׁח בפלס דַּעַת מן יָדַע. וענינם כענין קבר. בְּאֶרֶץ עֲרָבָה וְשׁוּחָה (ירמיה ב, ו), ענינו שממה וחרבה. וכן תרגם יונתן בַּאֲרַע מֵישַׁר וְחָרוֹב.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Balaam's Numa," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 26 June 2021.
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 3:20, 24:63; Bamidbar 24:3, 24:4, 24:15, 24:16; Shmuel II 23:1; Yeshayahu 1:24, 35:7; Yirmiyahu 23:31; Tehillim 19:3, 55:18, 77:4, 77:7, 77:13, 78:2, 119:15, 119:23, 145:5; Mishlei 18:4, 30:1; Iyov 7:11, 13:7, 32:10, 32:17; Koheles 12:6; Ezra 4:8, 5:4, 5:9, 6:13; Mishnah Yevamos 16:7 and Gittin 6:7; Tosefta Sanhedrin 2:1 and Nazir 4:7; Mechilta to Shemos 12:6, 12:21, 12:43; Sifrei Beha'alosecha 65, Shelach 110, Pinchas 142; Menachem Ibn Saruk; Ibn Chayyuj; Ibn Janach; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim (א-מ-ן and נ-א-ם); Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim, Yerios Shlomo and Cheshek Shlomo; Peirush HaRokeach and Siddur HaRokeach; Rabbeinu Efrayim; Sefer HeAruch; Rabbi Gershon Shaul Yom Tov Lipmann Heller; Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, Noda B'Yehudah; Rabbi Binyamin Mussafia; Ibn Ezra to Yeshayahu 1:24; Abudraham; the machzor edited by Ernst Daniel Goldschmidt; Dr. Shlomo Mandelkorn, Heichal HaKodesh, p. 710; the Oxford English Dictionary; Dead Sea Scroll 4Q339.