teaching

אֶלֶף לַמַּטֶּה (Bamidbar 31:4), a thousand to a tribe, הִנֵּה אַלְפִּי הַדַּל בִּמְנַשֶּׁה (Shoftim 6:15), my thousand is the poorest in Menasheh, and שָׂרֵי אֲלָפִים (Shemos 18:21), captains of thousands, of which he says ענינם ידוע, their sense is known. From the same sense, צֹאונֵנוּ מַֽאֲלִיפוֹת (Tehillim 144:13), which he glosses יולדות לאלפים, bearing by the thousands.

אַלּוּפִי וּמְיֻדָּֽעִי (Tehillim 55:14), my chief and my acquaintance, אַלּוּף נְעֻרַי אָֽתָּה (Yirmiyahu 3:4), You are the chief of my youth, and אַלּוּף תֵּימָן אַלּוּף אוֹמָר (Bereishis 36:15), the chief Teiman, the chief Omar. The sense of all of them is שר וגדול, a prince and a great man. Chazal (Sanhedrin 99b) said כל אלוף מלכותא בלא תגא, every aluf is kingship without a crown. Radak explains: he lacks nothing of being a king but the crown, for a man is called king when he is crowned and aluf when he is not.

Some read הִנֵּה אַלְפִּי הַדַּל בִּמְנַשֶּׁה (Shoftim 6:15), behold, אַלְפִּי is the poorest in Menasheh, from the sense of a chief, taking it as my father, which what follows would bear out: וְאָֽנֹכִי הַצָּעִיר בְּבֵית אָבִֽי, and I am the youngest in my father's house. They read וְצֵלַע הָאֶלֶף (Yehoshua 18:28), and Tzela Ha'elef, the same way, as the great one. Yonasan read כְּכֶבֶשׂ אַלּוּף (Yirmiyahu 11:19) from it, rendering כְּאִימֵר בְּחִיר, like a choice lamb.

פֶּן־תֶּאֱלַף (Mishlei 22:25), lest you learn his ways; and where the verb takes an object, כִּֽי־יְאַלֵּף עֲוֹֽנְךָ פִיךָ (Iyov 15:5), which he glosses כי ילמד עונך פיך, your sin teaches your mouth; וַֽאֲאַלֶּפְךָ חָכְמָֽה (Iyov 33:33), and I will teach you wisdom; and מַלְּפֵנוּ מִבַּֽהֲמוֹת אָרֶץ (Iyov 35:11), teaching us from the beasts of the earth, whose proper form is מְאַלְּפֵנוּ.

בָּנוּי לְתַלְפִּיּוֹת (Shir HaShirim 4:4), built for talpiyos: some read it from this root with the alef dropped for ease, the full form being לְתַֽאַלְפִּיּוֹת. Rabbi Yonah wrote that the tav stands in place of the alef, so that it is as אַלְפִּיּוֹת and its sense is teaching; Radak explains him to mean that the tower, being high, is something wayfarers are taught by. Radak himself will explain it at root תלל as a compound word.

In שְׁגַר־אֲלָפֶיךָ (Devarim 7:13), the offspring of your oxen, and וְהָֽאֲלָפִים וְהָֽעֲיָרִים (Yeshayahu 30:24), the oxen and the young donkeys, the word is oxen. In another form, אַלּוּפֵינוּ מְֽסֻבָּלִים (Tehillim 144:14), our oxen laden, either laden with flesh, that is, fat and full of meat, or laden with work, there being much to work with them. In כְּכֶבֶשׂ אַלּוּף יוּבַל לִטְבוֹחַ (Yirmiyahu 11:19) a kaf of comparison or an added vav is wanting: like a lamb, like an ox, or like a lamb and an ox led to the slaughter.

אֲשֶׁר דָּֽרַךְ־בָּהּ (Devarim 1:36), which he trod upon, דָּרַךְ כּוֹכָב מִֽיַּֽעֲקֹב (Bamidbar 24:17), a star has trodden forth from Yaakov, and אֲשֶׁר תִּדְרֹךְ כַּֽף־רַגְלְכֶם (Yehoshua 1:3), that the sole of your foot shall tread. The added form is intransitive in לֹֽא־הִדְרִיכֻוהוּ בְנֵי־שָׁחַץ (Iyov 28:8), that is, the proud beasts have not trodden in it, and in וְהִדְרִיךְ בַּנְּעָלִֽים (Yeshayahu 11:15), and one will tread in sandals. It is transitive in יַדְרֵךְ עֲנָוִים בַּמִּשְׁפָּט (Tehillim 25:9), He makes the humble tread in judgment, and הַדְרִיכֵנִי בַֽאֲמִתֶּךָ (Tehillim 25:5), make me tread in Your truth; and מְנוּחָה הִדְרִיכֻהוּ (Shoftim 20:43) is ממנוחה הדריכוהו, from rest they made him tread, and so Targum Yonasan renders it, מִבֵּית נְיַחֲהוֹן טְרָדוּנוּן, from the house of their rest they drove them. וְהִדְרִיךְ בַּנְּעָלִֽים may also be transitive, to make others tread in sandals. With an added mem, מִדְרַךְ כַּף־רָגֶל (Devarim 2:5), the treading of the sole of a foot; and in this sense תִּדְרְכִי נַפְשִׁי עֹֽז (Shoftim 5:21), tread, my soul, in strength, which lacks the beis of service and means you shall trample the enemies in strength.

דֶּרֶךְ הַמֶּלֶךְ נֵלֵךְ (Bamidbar 20:17), we will go by the king's way, and זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ לְכוּ בוֹ (Yeshayahu 30:21), this is the way, walk in it. לַעֲשׂוֹת דַּרְכּֽוֹ (Shoftim 17:8), to make his way, is to make his way on from them and to stay there. In פֶּן־יֶאֱנַף וְתֹאבְדוּ דֶרֶךְ (Tehillim 2:12), lest He be angry and you perish, the word דרך means that you will perish on account of the way, that is, because your way is one that perishes, as it says וְדֶרֶךְ רְשָׁעִים תֹּאבֵֽד (Tehillim 1:6), and the way of the wicked shall perish. In the same manner נֹבֶלֶת עָלֶהָ (Yeshayahu 1:30), withering of leaf, is one whose leaves wither.

אָֽנֹכִי הֹלֵךְ בְּדֶרֶךְ כָּל־הָאָרֶץ (Melachim I 2:2), I am going in the way of all the earth, is according to custom; in כִּֽי־הִשְׁחִית כָּל־בָּשָׂר אֶת־דַּרְכּוֹ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ (Bereishis 6:12), for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth, the way is its custom; and כִּי־דֶרֶךְ נָשִׁים לִי (Bereishis 31:35), for the way of women is upon me, is the custom of women, which is niddah, and so אֹרַח כַּנָּשִֽׁים (Bereishis 18:11), the way of women. וּמַטֵּהוּ יִשָּֽׂא־עָלֶיךָ בְּדֶרֶךְ מִצְרָֽיִם (Yeshayahu 10:24), and he will lift his staff over you in the way of Mitzrayim, is after the custom of Mitzrayim, as the Egyptians used to strike you. So too וּנְשָׂאוֹ בְּדֶרֶךְ מִצְרָֽיִם (Yeshayahu 10:26) is after His custom, what He did in Mitzrayim, and the great hand He showed against them. וּנְשָׂאוֹ may mean He will lift him off you and make an end of him; or it may be said of the staff, that He will raise His staff over him as He did in Mitzrayim, and so ומטהו על הים, and His staff over the sea, is that He will rouse His staff over him as He roused it over the sea when the Egyptians drowned.

וְכִבַּדְתּוֹ מֵֽעֲשׂוֹת דְּרָכֶיךָ (Yeshayahu 58:13), and you honour it by not doing your ways; דְּרָכַי סִפַּרְתִּי וַֽתַּֽעֲנֵנִי (Tehillim 119:26), I told of my ways and You answered me; and וּדְרָכֶיךָ לַמְחוֹת מְלָכִֽין (Mishlei 31:3), nor your ways to what destroys kings. These are all one sense, since a man's desires, his dealings and whatever he exerts himself in are all called דֶּרֶךְ; and so are the mitzvos and the aveiros, as אֶת־הַדֶּרֶךְ יֵלְכוּ בָהּ (Shemos 18:20), the way they shall walk in, and דֶּרֶךְ צַדִּיקִים (Tehillim 1:6), the way of the righteous. In דַּֽרְכֵי עַמִּי (Yirmiyahu 12:16), the ways of My people, the dalet is held by a ga'ya, and the Mesorah notes it as the only one with a ga'ya.

כְּדֹרֵךְ בְּגַֽת (Yeshayahu 63:2), as one treading in a winepress; אַתָּה תִדְרֹֽךְ־זַיִת וְלֹֽא־תָסוּךְ שֶׁמֶן (Michah 6:15), you shall tread olives and not anoint with oil, which Ben Asher reads with a cholam and Ben Naftali with a kamatz chatuf; and דֹֽרְכִים גִּתּוֹת בַּשַּׁבָּת (Nechemiah 13:15), treading winepresses on Shabbos. כְּגֹרֶן עֵת הִדְרִיכָהּ (Yirmiyahu 51:33) is like a threshing floor at the time of its treading, and the sense of these is trampling and threshing. So too דָּרַכְתָּ בַיָּם סוּסֶיךָ (Chavakuk 3:15), You trod Your horses in the sea, means that as You trod them in the sea, so they trod in the mire of many waters; or else that You trod in the sea upon Your horses, which are the clouds.

In the sense of drawing and bending the bow, דָּרַךְ קַשְׁתּוֹ (Eichah 2:4), he drew his bow, and וְכָל־קַשְּׁתֹתָיו דְּרֻכוֹת (Yeshayahu 5:28), and all his bows are drawn. Since in drawing the bow the arrow is drawn as well, it is said of the arrow too: דָּרְכוּ חִצָּם דָּבָר מָֽר (Tehillim 64:4), they drew their arrow, a bitter word. The heavy form is וַֽיַּדְרְכוּ אֶת־לְשׁוֹנָם (Yirmiyahu 9:2), and they bend their tongue, which by rule would be וידריכו.

יָרָה בַיָּם (Shemos 15:4), He cast into the sea, הַמַּצֵּבָה אֲשֶׁר יָרִיתִי (Bereishis 31:51), the pillar that I have cast, וְיָרִיתִי לָכֶם גּוֹרָל (Yehoshua 18:6), I will cast lots for you, and לִירוֹת בְּמוֹ־אֹפֶל (Tehillim 11:2), to shoot in the dark. With an alef in place of the heh, לִירוֹא בַּחִצִּים וּבָאֲבָנִים גְּדֹלוֹת (Divrei HaYamim II 26:15), to shoot arrows and great stones. In the passive, אוֹ־יָרֹה יִיָּרֶה (Shemos 19:13), or he shall surely be shot. וַנִּירָם אָבַד חֶשְׁבּוֹן he reads as we shot at them and fought them until Cheshbon perished. הַמּוֹרִים אֶל־עֲבָדֶךָ (Shmuel II 11:24), the shooters at your servants, וַיִּמְצָאֻהוּ הַמּוֹרִים אֲנָשִׁים בַּקָּשֶׁת (Shmuel I 31:3), and the shooters, men with the bow, found him, and וַיֹּרֵם אֱלֹהִים (Tehillim 64:8), and God cast at them: all of these are casting. From this sense his father explains מִי כָמֹהוּ מוֹרֶה (Iyov 36:22), who is like Him in casting down: its meaning is one who casts down and brings low to the earth.

אֲשֶׁר הוֹרָהוּ יְהוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן (Melachim II 12:3), which Yehoyada the kohen taught him, וַיֹּרֵנִי וַיֹּאמֶר לִי (Mishlei 4:4), he taught me and said to me, הוֹרוּנִי וַאֲנִי אַחֲרִישׁ (Iyov 6:24), teach me and I will be silent, וְלֹא־שָׁמַעְתִּי בְּקוֹל מוֹרָי (Mishlei 5:13), I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, אֱלֹהָיו יוֹרֶנּוּ (Yeshayahu 28:26), his God teaches him, and וּלְהוֹרֹת נָתַן בְּלִבּוֹ (Shemos 35:34), He put it in his heart to teach: all of them are a matter of teaching. מִגִּבְעַת הַמּוֹרֶה בָּעֵמֶק (Shoftim 7:1), from the hill of the Moreh in the valley, may be from this, or else a place name; if from this, there was a lookout on the hill who would give word to those living in the valley when an army came upon them, and so Targum Yonasan, מִגִבְעֲתָא דְמִסְתַּכְיָא, from the hill of the lookout. Rabbi Yehudah said that הֹרוֹ וְהֹגוֹ מִלֵּב דִּבְרֵי־שָׁקֶר (Yeshayahu 59:13), on this reading teaching and uttering words of falsehood from the heart, may be from this root. Radak has already written it under the root הָרָה, and that is the correct one; and there he wrote as well that his father put it under this root and this sense.

The noun from this sense, the teaching of the Torah and the mitzvah, is תּוֹרָה: אֶת־הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת־הַתּוֹרֹת (Shemos 18:20), the statutes and the teachings, and מִצְוֹתַי חֻקּוֹתַי וְתוֹרֹתָי (Bereishis 26:5), My mitzvos, My statutes and My teachings; and possibly וְזֹאת תּוֹרַת הָאָדָם (Shmuel II 7:19), and this is the teaching of man. Four words each have their own sense: הַתּוֹרָה is the manner of the mitzvah, how it is to be done; הַמִּשְׁפָּט is the law between one man and his fellow; הַחֹק is the thing decreed upon a man to do, whether as a mitzvah or as a custom; and הַמִּשְׁמֶרֶת is the guarding against transgressing a mitzvah and the fence made about it. Each is a sense of its own, but in places one comes in place of another, as each one's own root will explain.

יוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ (Devarim 11:14) is the early and the late rain, and with an alef for the heh, וּמַרְוֶה גם הוא יוֹרֶא (Mishlei 11:25), and one who gives drink is himself rain: one who gives the poor drink is himself called a יוֹרֶה, like the rain that waters the earth. So too אֶת־הַמּוֹרֶה לִצְדָקָה (Yoel 2:23), the rain for righteousness, and וְהָיוּ עֵינֶיךָ רֹאוֹת אֶת־מוֹרֶיךָ (Yeshayahu 30:20), your eyes shall see your rain. וְלֹא־יִכָּנֵף עוֹד מוֹרֶיךָ is that your rain shall no longer be gathered in, for they were in a time of drought, as it says לֶחֶם צָר וּמַיִם לָחַץ, bread of distress and water of oppression; the tidings are of plenty, that the rain will no longer be held back and they will see with their own eyes that it is near. Some read מוֹרֶיךָ from the second sense, teaching: that is, those who teach you the straight way will not be far off at the corner of the earth, and they are Chizkiyahu and his officers. His father writes אֱלֹהָיו יוֹרֶנּוּ from the third sense, that He will give him rain.

בַּל־ לָמַד צֶדֶק (Yeshayahu 26:10), he has not learned righteousness, which he marks מלרע, stressed on the last syllable; יִשְׁמְעוּ וְלָמְדוּ (Devarim 31:13), they will hear and learn; לְמַעַן יִלְמַד לְיִרְאָה (Devarim 17:19), so that he may learn to fear; וַיִּלְמַד לִטְרָף־טֶרֶף (Yechezkel 19:3), he learned to tear prey; and אִם־ לָמֹד יִלְמְדוּ אֶת־דַּֽרְכֵי עַמִּי (Yirmiyahu 12:16), if they will indeed learn the ways of My people.

לִמַּד ־דַּעַת (Koheles 12:9), he taught knowledge; רְאֵה לִמַּדְתִּי אֶתְכֶם (Devarim 4:5), see, I have taught you; אֲשֶׁר אָֽנֹכִי מְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם (Devarim 4:1), which I teach you; עֶגְלָה מְלֻמָּדָה (Hoshea 10:11), a trained heifer; מְלֻמְּדֵי מִלְחָמָה (Shir HaShirim 3:8), trained in war; and where the doer is not named, כְּעֵגֶל לֹא לֻמָּד (Yirmiyahu 31:18), like a calf untrained.

וּלְמוּדֵי מִלְחָמָה, those trained for war; פֶּרֶה לִמֻּד מִדְבָּר (Yirmiyahu 2:24), a wild donkey used to the wilderness; לְשׁוֹן לִמּוּדִים (Yeshayahu 50:4), the tongue of the taught; לִמֻּדֵי הָרֵֽעַ (Yirmiyahu 13:23), trained to do evil; and וְכָל־בָּנַיִךְ לִמּוּדֵי י"י (Yeshayahu 54:13), all your children taught of Hashem. The sense of the last four is learning and habit, and it is well known. In another pattern, כַּקָּטֹן כַּגָּדוֹל מֵבִין עִם־ תַּלְמִֽיד (Divrei HaYamim I 25:8), the small as the great, the one who understands with the learner.

אַשּׁוּר כִּלֽמַד רֹֽכַלְתֵּֽךְ (Yechezkel 27:23), Ashur, as one accustomed, was your trader: לָמֵד is of the pattern of כָּבֵד, heavy, and in the construct לְמַד, as כְבַד ־פֶּה (Shemos 4:10), heavy of mouth. His father writes that the men of Ashur were as those accustomed to come to you always in trade. Radak adds that he will write of it further at the root רָכַל.

From this the staff with the needle fixed in its head, the one called a דָּֽרְבָן, a goad, is named מלמד: בְּמַלְמַד הַבָּקָר (Shoftim 3:31), the goad of the oxen, לפי שמלמד ומורה הבקר לחרישה, because it teaches and directs the oxen to plough.

תַּרְתִּי בְלִבִּי (Koheles 2:3), I searched in my heart; אֲשֶׁר תָּרוּ אֹתָהּ (Bamidbar 13:32), which they searched out; וְלֹא תָתוּרוּ אַֽחֲרֵי לְבַבְכֶם (Bamidbar 15:39), do not go searching after your heart. וַיָּתִירוּ בֵֽית־יוֹסֵף (Shoftim 1:23), the house of Yosef searched out, means חקירה וחפוש, examining and searching; and from it is יְתוּר הָרִים מִרְעֵהוּ (Iyov 39:8), the searching of the mountains is his pasture, יְתוּר being a noun on the pattern of יְקוּם, living substance, and יְבוּל, produce.

לְבַד מֵֽאַנְשֵׁי הַתָּרִים וְהַסֹּֽחֲרִים (Divrei HaYamim II 9:14), besides the men who were searchers and traders: the התרים are the lesser traders, few in goods and dealings, who search hard over what they buy and sell because their business is small, while the סוחרים are the great merchants.

By the Targum's reading, דֶּרֶךְ הָֽאֲתָרִים (Bamidbar 21:1), the way of the searchers, is from this root, the alef being added.

וְתֹר וְגוֹזָֽל (Bereishis 15:9), a turtledove and a young pigeon; וְהִקְרִיב מִן־ הַתֹּרִים (Vayikra 1:14), and he shall offer of the turtledoves; and שְׁתֵּי תֹרִים (Vayikra 5:7), two turtledoves; the bird is well known. The Torah says הָאֶחָד, the one, in the masculine, at וְעָשָׂה אֶת־הָֽאֶחָד מִן־ הַתֹּרִים (Vayikra 14:30), and he shall offer the one of the turtledoves, and שְׁתֵּי, two, in the feminine, to teach that male and female are alike fit. From this, אַל־תִּתֵּן לְחַיַּת נֶפֶשׁ תּוֹרֶךָ (Tehillim 74:19), do not give the soul of Your turtledove to the wild beast, where Knesses Yisrael is likened to a turtledove, as she is likened also to a dove.

תֹּר נַֽעֲרָה וְנַֽעֲרָה (Esther 2:12), the time of each girl, means a time. וּרְאִיתַנִי כְּתוֹר הָֽאָדָם הַמַּֽעֲלָה (Divrei HaYamim I 17:17), and You have seen me as the measure of the man of high degree, is כתכונת האדם, after the measure of a man: this height and greatness You have spoken of me is the measure of a great man, but what am I and what is my house? That is why the pasuk says הַמַּֽעֲלָה, of high degree: You saw me in a great measure, the measure of a great man, though I am small and lowly. So too וְזֹאת תּוֹרַת הָֽאָדָם (Shmuel II 7:19), and this is the measure of a man.

It may be that וְזֹאת הַתּוֹרָה (Devarim 4:44), and this is the Torah, is of this root, and with it the pasuk the Torah of Hashem is perfect (Tehillim 19:8), all of them alike in this sense, since they mean תכונה, a set measure, as he explained at the root יָרָה. Near to it is נָאווּ לְחָיַיִךְ בַּתֹּרִים (Shir HaShirim 1:10), your cheeks are comely in the rows, which are the pearls joined together and set in a fixed order.