emotion
trembling
At a glance
In short
Ra'adah is trembling: for Rabbi Wertheimer it is primarily felt within the body and not seen, and for Malbim it is inner fear so full that it breaks out in tremors. Ziyah is a shudder, which Rabbi Pappenheim likens to the quiver of a harp string, felt rather than seen; Onkelos uses it for vayecherad at Sinai, and it is Targum's standard word for ra'ash. Retet is a lighter tremble than ra'adah (Rabbi Wertheimer). Ra'ash is quaking or tumult, vigorous movement of any kind, and also loud noise. Rogez is agitation: Shadal holds that it primarily means physical shaking and was then applied to any agitation; Rashbam notes that in Biblical Aramaic it means anger; and Bedersi, that though it sometimes means anger, it does not always. Chareid is trembling too, as in Yeshayahu's chareidim, those who tremble at His word. Yoma 4b strings several of these together, and Shmuel II 22:8 puts three in one pasuk.
Distinctions
Ra'adah (רעדה) and retet (רתת, רטט)
Root ר-ע-ד, nine appearances: ra'ad seizing the mighty of Moav (Shemos 15:15), the land that quivers at Hashem's glance (Tehillim 104:32), and the ra'adah of Tehillim 2:11, "rejoice in trembling," which Yoma 4b applies to the giving of the Torah, given "with dread, with fear, with retet, and with ziyah." (The second Luchos were given on Yom Kippur: Taanis 30b and Bava Basra 121a, on the Mishnah in Taanis 4:8.) In Modern Hebrew re'idat adamah, "quivering of the land," is an earthquake.
Retet, for Rabbi Wertheimer, is a lighter form of shaking than ra'adah or chil. In the Gemara retet (with a tav) splits: a kohen is disqualified once he is too old, defined as when his hands and feet shake (yirtat), no fear in it (Chullin 24a to 24b), while the halachic concept of mirtat is a person too afraid to jeopardize his credibility or standing, with no physical shaking in it (Avodah Zarah 32b, 40b, 61b). In Modern Hebrew a phone's vibrate mode is retet or retitah.
Ziyah (זיע) and its family
Rabbi Pappenheim's biliteral ז-ע, movement triggered by anxiety. He compares it to the tremor of a harp string, held tight by the instrument yet still moving so slightly that it is felt by touch and not seen. From it: za, as Mordechai neither rose nor stirred before Haman (Esther 5:9), the disturbance coming from outside and leaving him unshaken. Zeiyah, sweat (Bereishis 3:19): many misquote Yoma 4b as saying the Torah was given with zeiyah, an obvious error, though Pappenheim does connect the two words; for him sweat is the body's reaction to inner heat from exertion, anger or fear, so zeiyah is linked to internal agitation, in contrast with za/ziyah, usually the effects of an external one. Za'avah in the tochachah (Devarim 28:25), fulfilled, says Yirmiyahu, for Menashe's sins (Yirmiyahu 15:4; see also Yirmiyahu 24:9, 29:18, 34:17; Yechezkel 23:46; Divrei HaYamim II 29:8): Onkelos renders it ziyah, which is probably what led Rashi there to explain it as fear and shaking in fear, those who hear being so frightened that they hope it will not happen to them; and Rashi (Vayikra 20:18, Shmuel I 20:30, Yirmiyahu 15:4) writes that the vav of za'avah is not part of its root ז-ע. Zava'ah, an earthquake (Berachos 54a), the trembling of the earth, now understood as pressure from the interaction of tectonic plates; Pappenheim, following the science of his day, explained it as air and gases trapped underground. Pappenheim also derives two words for anger from ז-ע: za'am (with a final mem) and za'af (with the biliteral א-ף, the face, its shaking reflecting anger). Rabbi Mordechai Kohen of Safed (Siftei Kohen to Bamidbar 15:27) writes that one who sins by mistake with avodah zarah brings an eiz (ע-ז) as a sin-offering so that it should shake (ז-ע) him into thinking about the choices that led him there. In Rabbinic Hebrew mizazea is something frightening that causes ziyah; Modern Hebrew uses it for something heartrending or upsetting.
Ra'ash (רעש), ga'ash (געש), rogez (רגז), chareid (חרד)
Chareid: root ח-ר-ד, fifty-four times in Tanach by Even-Shoshan's concordance, plus twice in the place-name Charadah (Bamidbar 33:24 to 25). Yitzchak, on realizing he had blessed the wrong son, vayecherad... charadah gedolah ad meod (Bereishis 27:33); the people and the mountain at Sinai (Shemos 19:16, 19:18); Boaz shaken at midnight by the woman at his feet (Rus 3:8). Yeshayahu 66:5 addresses "those who tremble (chareidim) at His word," whence chareidi for the community seen as especially devoted to Hashem and Torah; similar names were given to the Quakers, a seventeenth-century English Christian group said to be named for their trembling at meetings, and the Shakers, a later offshoot.
Ra'ash is absent from Chumash but appears close to fifty times after it. It refers to shaking in fear but can also refer to any vigorous movement: the earthquake in Uzziyah's day is simply "the ra'ash" (Amos 1:1, Zecharyah 14:5), and the b'ra'ash of U'Nesaneh Tokef seemingly means a deadly earthquake. Another meaning of Biblical ra'ash is loud noise, its usual Modern Hebrew sense; Rabbi Klein links noise and movement through sound as vibrating air. Targumic Aramaic renders ra'ash as a rule by ziyah: Targum Yonasan and Devarim Rabbah 11:10 explain the kol ra'ash gadol of Yechezkel 3:12 as ziyah, and that pasuk with its Targum is in U'va L'Tzion. Rogez and ra'ash stand together in the long Tachanun of Mondays and Thursdays, "from ra'ash and rogez," likely based on Iyov 39:24, which sets them side by side.
Ga'ash: root ג-ע-ש, which appears nine times in Tanach (Yirmiyahu 5:22, 25:16, 46:7 to 8; Iyov 34:20; Shmuel II 22:8; Tehillim 18:8). In Modern Hebrew harei ga'ash, literally tumultuous mountains, are volcanoes; Har Ga'ash is a Biblical place-name, south of Yehoshua's burial place (Yehoshua 24:30, Shoftim 2:9; see also Shmuel II 23:30, Divrei HaYamim I 11:32). Rabbi Klein has found no source that makes the reish of ra'ash and the gimmel of ga'ash interchangeable, though both roots end in ע-ש.
- Rogez: Shadal (to Bereishis 45:24 and Shemos 15:14) says it primarily means physical shaking, then applied to any emotional agitation, even not from fear, as in lev ragaz (Devarim 28:65), literally a trembling heart, here fear-induced anxiety.
- Rashbam (to Bereishis 45:24) notes that in Biblical Aramaic it denotes specifically anger; in rabbinic usage a ragzan is one prone to anger (Shabbos 156a, Kiddushin 40b), and in that sense we pray b'rogez racheim tizkor, from Chavakuk 3:2. Yiddish broiges comes from b'rogez and reflects only that one meaning.
- Rabbi Avraham Bedersi (Chosam Tochnis, on words for anger) clarifies that though rogez sometimes means angered, it is not always tied to anger, and sometimes means shaking out of fear.
Where the authorities disagree
Whether ra'adah is visible.
- Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer: ra'adah primarily refers to a shaking felt within the body and not discernible to an onlooker (Daniel 10:11, omadti marid), against chil, which he claims refers to tremors that can be seen, except in cases such as Tehillim 55:5, where the chil is explicitly in the heart.
- Malbim: ra'adah is quaking in fear specifically where inner fear grows so full that it becomes manifest outwardly in tremors.
Retet with a tav and retet with a tes. Each spelling appears once: with a tav in Hoshea 13:1, with a tes in Yirmiyahu 49:24.
- For the tav form, Radak and Ibn Janach (each in his Sefer HaShorashim) define it as ra'adah, a definition that seemingly derives from the Targum, where retet is the Aramaic for ra'adah (Onkelos renders the ra'ad of Shemos 15:15 as reteta); Menachem Ibn Saruk (Machberes Menachem) defines it as chil and retet with a tes. All three trace it to ר-ת-ת.
- For the tes form, Ibn Saruk (biliteral ר-ט) defines it as chil and retet with a tav, and Radak (triliteral ר-ט-ט) as just retet with a tav.
- Somewhat of an outlier, Ibn Janach defines it as pain in the joints, not trembling.
- Rabbi Pappenheim (biliteral ר-ט) synthesizes the two approaches: a disease in which nerves and muscles suddenly flex and relax many times in a row, causing convulsions (Rabbi Klein wonders whether he means something like Parkinson's), or a disease causing stomach contractions like those of a woman giving birth.
It makes sense to treat the two spellings as one word, tav and tes interchanging, a point already made by rabbinic philologists such as Rabbi Avraham Bedersi (Chosam Tochnis), Rabbi Yosef Kimchi (Sefer HaGalui), Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Parchon (Machberes HeAruch), and others.
The order of intensity in Shmuel II 22:8 (Tehillim 18:8).
- Malbim, as cited in Sefer HaCarmel, reads the pasuk as ascending: ga'ash a subtler movement than ra'ash, and ra'ash less intense than rogez. In his Yair Ohr he writes that ga'ash is a little extra movement and ra'ash more than that, in line with the Sefer HaCarmel citation.
- Rabbi Reuven Landau (Degel Machaneh Reuven §61) writes just the opposite on the last two: ra'ash is more intense than rogez.
Rabbi Klein does not decide between them ("either way").
What ziyah was at Sinai. Rabbi Klein gives at least two ways of reading the ziyah of Yoma 4b. Onkelos renders vayecherad as ziyah both when the mountain trembled (Shemos 19:18) and when the people trembled (19:16), so perhaps it is the mountain's shaking, or it might be the nation's overwhelming awe. The Mechilta (D'Rabbi Yishmael, BaChodesh §9) explains vayanu'u, "and they stirred," in Shemos 20:15 as ziyah, possibly supporting the second. Baal HaTurim (to Shemos 20:15) sees in that stirring an allusion to the way Jews typically sway when they learn Torah.
Also discussed in
- Angerרוגז / rogez (ר-ג-ז)
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ג-ע-ש
Tossing and movement, which he gives as the sense of all of it: the earth that tossed, rivers whose waters toss, a people tossed, men who drink and toss about.
The earth tossed
וַתִּגְעַשׁ וַתִּרְעַשׁ הָאָרֶץ (Tehillim 18:8), "the earth tossed and quaked", and the like in the reflexive at Shmuel II 22:8.
Rivers that toss
כַּנְּהָרֹות יִתְגָּֽעֲשׁוּ מֵימָֽיו (Yirmiyahu 46:7), "his waters toss like the rivers"; וְכַנְּהָרֹות יִתְגֹּעֲשׁוּ מָיִם (Yirmiyahu 46:8), "and like the rivers the waters toss".
Drinking and tossing
וְשָׁתוּ וְהִתְגֹּֽעֲשׁוּ וְהִתְהֹלָלוּ (Yirmiyahu 25:16), "they shall drink and toss about and act madly". The sense of them all is tossing and movement.
A people tossed
In the form whose doer is not named, יְגֹֽעֲשׁוּ עָם וְיַֽעֲבֹרוּ (Iyov 34:20), "a people are tossed and pass on".
וַתִּגְעַשׁ וַתִּרְעַשׁ הָאָרֶץ (תהלים יח, ח). וההתפעל וִַתְגָּעַשׁ [וַיִּתְגָּעַשׁ] וַתִּרְעַשׁ הָאָרֶץ (שמואל ב' כב, ח), כַּנְּהָרֹות יִתְגָּֽעֲשׁוּ מֵימָֽיו (ירמיה מו, ז). ושלא נזכר פועלו [פֻּעַל] יְגֹֽעֲשׁוּ עָם וְיַֽעֲבֹרוּ (איוב לר, כ). ועם ההתפעל וְכַנְּהָרֹות יִתְגֹּעֲשׁוּ מָיִם (ירמיה מו, ח), וְשָׁתוּ וְהִתְגֹּֽעֲשׁוּ וְהִתְהֹלָלוּ (ירמיה כה, טז), ענין הכל התנודה והתנועה.
ח-ר-ד
Trembling: fear with movement of the body, for when sudden fear comes a man's whole body moves; and in some pesukim, movement with no fear in it.
Fear that moves the body
וְחָרַד וּפָחַד (Yeshayahu 19:16), "he shall tremble and fear"; וַיֶּֽחֱרַד יִצְחָק (Bereishis 27:33), "Yitzchak trembled". Their sense is fear together with movement of the body: when sudden fear comes upon a man, his whole body moves.
The one who trembles
מִֽי־יָרֵא וְחָרֵד (Shoftim 7:3), "who is afraid and trembling"; לִבּוֹ חָרֵד עַל אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים (Shmuel I 4:13), "his heart trembled for the Aron of Hashem"; הַֽחֲרֵדִים אֶל־דְּבָרוֹ (Yeshayahu 66:5), "those who tremble at His word".
The noun
חֲרָדָה גְּדֹלָה (Bereishis 27:33), "a great trembling"; וַתְּהִי לְחֶרְדַּת אֱלֹהִֽים (Shmuel I 14:15), "and it became a trembling of God", which he takes to mean a great trembling, having set out the like of it at the root אפל; חֶרְדַּת אָדָם יִתֵּן מוֹקֵשׁ (Mishlei 29:25), "the fear of man lays a snare"; and the plural, חֲרָדוֹת יִלְבָּשׁוּ (Yechezkel 26:16), "they will clothe themselves in tremblings".
Making others tremble
וְכָל־הַֽמַּֽחֲנֶה הֶֽחֱרִֽיד (Shoftim 8:12), "he made all the camp tremble"; לְהַֽחֲרִיד אֶת־כּוּשׁ בֶּטַח (Yechezkel 30:9), "to make Kush tremble", Kush that had been secure.
Movement without fear
חָרַדְתְּ אֵלֵינוּ אֶת־כָּל־הַֽחֲרָדָה הַזֹּאת (Melachim II 4:13), you have moved for us with all this movement: that is, you bestirred yourself on our account, moved your vessels from place to place and cleared a place for us. So too וַיֶּֽחֶרְדוּ זִקְנֵי הָעִיר לִקְרָאתוֹ (Shmuel I 16:4), "the elders of the city moved to meet him", and יֶֽחֶרְדוּ כְצִפּוֹר מִמִּצְרַיִם (Hoshea 11:11), "they will move like a bird from Mitzrayim"; he glosses these ינועו, they move. So too וְכָל־הָעָם חָֽרְדוּ אַֽחֲרָֽיו (Shmuel I 13:7), "and all the people moved after him", is of movement.
Segol and sheva
The forms יֶחֶרְדוּ of the movement sense all carry a segol under the ches, but יֶֽחְרְדוּ הָֽאִיִּן (Yechezkel 26:18), "the isles tremble", has a sheva.
וְחָרַד וּפָחַד (ישעיה יט, טז), וְכָל־הָעָם חָֽרְדוּ אַֽחֲרָֽיו (שמואל א' יג, ז), וְחָֽרְדוּ לִרְגָעִים (יחזקאל כו, טו), וַיֶּֽחֱרַד יִצְחָק (בראשית כז, לג). והתאר מִֽי־יָרֵא וְחָרֵד (שופטים ז, ג), כִּֽי־הָיָה לִבּוֹ חָרֵד עַל אֲרוֹן הָאֱלֹהִים (שמואל א' ד, יג), הַֽחֲרֵדִים אֶל־דְּבָרוֹ (ישעיה סו, ה). והשם חֲרָדָה גְּדֹלָה (בראשית כז, לג), וַתְּהִי לְחֶרְדַּת אֱלֹהִֽים (שמואל א' יד, טו), רצונו לומר חרדה גדולה. וכבר כתבנו הדומים לו בשרש אפל. חֶרְדַּת אָדָם יִתֵּן מוֹקֵשׁ (משלי כט, כה). והקבוץ חֲרָדוֹת יִלְבָּשׁוּ (יחזקאל כו, טז). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] וְכָל־הַֽמַּֽחֲנֶה הֶֽחֱרִֽיד (שופטים ח, יב), לְהַֽחֲרִיד אֶת־כּוּשׁ בֶּטַח (יחזקאל ל, ט), רוצה לומר שהיה בטח. ענינם ענין הפחד בתנועת הגוף כשיבא לאדם פחד פתאום יתנועע כל גופו. ובענין התנועה מבלי פחד הנה חָרַדְתְּ אֵלֵינוּ אֶת־כָּל־הַֽחֲרָדָה הַזֹּאת (מלכים ב' ד, יג), כלומר התנועעה בעבורינו והסעת כליך ממקום למקום ופנית לנו מקום. וכן וְיֶֽחֶרְדוּ בָנִים מִיָּֽם (הושע יא, י), וַיֶּֽחֶרְדוּ זִקְנֵי הָעִיר לִקְרָאתוֹ (שמואל א' טז, ד), יֶֽחֶרְדוּ כְצִפּוֹר מִמִּצְרַיִם (הושע יא, יא), פירוש ינועו. וכלם בסגול החי"ת, אבל יֶֽחְרְדוּ הָֽאִיִּן (יחזקאל כו, יח) בשוא. וכן וְכָל־הָעָם חָֽרְדוּ אַֽחֲרָֽיו (שמואל א' יג, ז), ענין תנועה.
ר-ג-ז
To tremble and move, out of fear or out of anger; and, where the verb takes an object, to set another trembling.
Trembling
וְרָגַז וְשָׂחַק וְאֵין נָֽחַת (Mishlei 29:9), he is agitated and laughs, and there is no rest; וְרָֽגְזוּ וְחָלוּ (Devarim 2:25), they will tremble and be in anguish; וַתִּרְגַּז בִּטְנִי (Chavakuk 3:16), my belly trembled, and וְתַחְתַּי אֶרְגָּז (Chavakuk 3:16), and I tremble where I stand; מֽוֹסְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם יִרְגָּזוּ (Shmuel II 22:8), the foundations of the heavens tremble; and אַֽל־ תִּרְגְּזוּ בַּדָּֽרֶךְ (Bereishis 45:24), do not be agitated on the way. The sense he gives is trembling and movement, out of fear or out of anger.
The nouns
חָדְלוּ רֹגֶז (Iyov 3:17), they have ceased from trembling; מֵֽעָצְבְּךָ וּמְֽרָגְזֶךָ (Yeshayahu 14:3), from your sorrow and from your trembling, where the serving mem takes a chirik; and with the feminine heh, וּמֵימֶיךָ בְּרָגְזָה וּבִדְאָגָה תִּשְׁתֶּֽה (Yechezkel 12:18), you will drink your water in trembling and in worry.
Setting another trembling
וַתִּרְגְּזִי ־לִי בְּכָל־אֵלֶּה (Yechezkel 16:43), and you set Me trembling with all these, is the verb taking an object. Likewise וְהִרְגִּיז לְיֹֽשְׁבֵי בָבֶֽל (Yirmiyahu 50:34), and he will set the dwellers of Bavel trembling; הַמַּרְגִּיז אֶרֶץ מִמְּקוֹמָהּ (Iyov 9:6), who shakes the earth out of her place; and לָמָּה הִרְגַּזְתַּנִי לְהַֽעֲלוֹת אֹתִי (Shmuel I 28:15), why have you stirred me, to bring me up. The reflexive: יַעַן הִתְרַגֶּזְךָ אֵלַי (Yeshayahu 37:29), because you stirred yourself against Me.
Rabbi Yonah: perhaps words multiplied
On וְאֵת הִֽתְרַגֶּזְךָ אֵלָֽי (Yeshayahu 37:28), and your stirring against Me, Rabbi Yonah wrote that the word may be said of the sound of thunder and of quaking, and then what is meant here would be your multiplying words against Me and making your tongue great against Me. Brought in support of this reading is וְשַֽׁאֲנַנְךָ עָלָה בְאָזְנָי (Yeshayahu 37:29), read as, and the abundance of your words has come up into My ears; and like it is וַתִּרְגְּזִי־לִי בְּכָל־אֵלֶּה, read as, you have done much in all these deeds.
אַרְגַּז
תָּשִׂימוּ בָֽאַרְגַּז מִצִּדּוֹ (Shmuel I 6:8), you shall put in the chest at its side. He does not treat the word here, having written it in the section of aleph among the words of four letters.
וְרָגַז וְשָׂחַק וְאֵין נָֽחַת (משלי כט, ט), וְרָֽגְזוּ וְחָלוּ (דברים ב, כה), וַתִּרְגַּז בִּטְנִי (חבקוק ג, טז), וְתַחְתַּי אֶרְגָּז (שם), מֽוֹסְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם יִרְגָּזוּ (שמואל ב' כב, ח), אַֽל־תִּרְגְּזוּ בַּדָּֽרֶךְ (בראשית מה, כד). ואשר הוא פעל יוצא וַתִּרְגְּזִי־לִי בְּכָל־אֵלֶּה (יחזקאל טז, מג). והשם חָדְלוּ רֹגֶז (איוב ג, יז), מֵֽעָצְבְּךָ וּמְֽרָגְזֶךָ (ישעיה יד, ג). ומ"ם השמוש בחרק. וכבר כתבנו והדומים לו בחלק הדקדוק. ובה"א הנקבה וּמֵימֶיךָ בְּרָגְזָה וּבִדְאָגָה תִּשְׁתֶּֽה (יחזקאל יב, יח). וההתפעל יַעַן הִתְרַגֶּזְךָ אֵלַי (ישעיה לז, כט). והפעל הכבד [הִפְעִיל] וְהִרְגִּיז לְיֹֽשְׁבֵי בָבֶֽל (ירמיה נ, לד), הַמַּרְגִּיז אֶרֶץ מִמְּקוֹמָהּ (איוב ט, ו), לָמָּה הִרְגַּזְתַּנִי לְהַֽעֲלוֹת אֹתִי (שמואל א' כח, טו) ענין הרעדה והתנועה מן הפחד או מן הכעס. וכתב החכם רבי יונה על וְאֵת הִֽתְרַגֶּזְךָ אֵלָֽי (ישעיה לז, כח), ואפשר שיהיה נופל זה הלשון על קול הרעם והרעש ויהיה החפץ בהתרגזך העתרתך עלי בדברים והגברתך לשונך עלי. וממה שמחזיק זה אמרו וְשַֽׁאֲנַנְךָ עָלָה בְאָזְנָי (שם) רוצה לומר רבוי דבריך. ודומה לענין הזה אמרו וַתִּרְגְּזִי־לִי בְּכָל־אֵלֶּה, כלומר הרבית בכל המעשים האלה. תָּשִׂימוּ בָֽאַרְגַּז מִצִּדּוֹ (שמואל א' ו, ח), כתבנו אותו בשער האל"ף בן ארבע אותיות.
ר-ע-ד
To tremble, and the noun, trembling; the sense, he says, is known.
The earth trembles
הַמַּבִּיט לָאָרֶץ וַתִּרְעָד (Tehillim 104:32), "He looks at the earth and it trembles".
The noun
יֹֽאחֲזֵמוֹ רָעַד (Shemos 15:15), "trembling seizes them"; and with the feminine heh, רְעָדָה אֲחָזָתַם שָׁם (Tehillim 48:7), "trembling took hold of them there".
The heavy form, intransitive
The heavy form here is intransitive: עָמַדְתִּי מַרְעִֽיד (Daniel 10:11), "I stood trembling"; מַרְעִידִים עַל־הַדָּבָר (Ezra 10:9), "trembling over the matter".
הַמַּבִּיט לָאָרֶץ וַתִּרְעָד (תהלים קד, לב). והשם יֹֽאחֲזֵמוֹ רָעַד (שמות טו, טו). ובה"א הנקבה רְעָדָה אֲחָזָתַם שָׁם (תהלים מח, ז). והכבד [הִפְעִיל] והוא פעל עומד עָמַדְתִּי מַרְעִֽיד (דניאל י, יא), מַרְעִידִים עַל־הַדָּבָר (עזרא י, ט), ידוע.
ר-ע-ש
Movement and trembling: earth, the fish of the sea, and walls quake, nations are made to quake, and רַעַשׁ is a quaking; יִרְעַשׁ in Tehillim 72:16 is read three ways.
Earth, the fish of the sea, and walls
וְרָֽעֲשׁוּ מִפָּנַי דְּגֵי הַיָּם (Yechezkel 38:20), "the fish of the sea quake before Me"; תִּרְעַשְׁנָה חֽוֹמוֹתַיִךְ (Yechezkel 26:10), "your walls shall shake"; וַתִּרְעַשׁ הָאָרֶץ (Yirmiyahu 51:29), "and the earth quaked".
Making others quake
הִרְעַשְׁתִּי גוֹיִם (Yechezkel 31:16), "I made nations quake"; מַרְעִישׁ מַמְלָכֽוֹת (Yeshayahu 14:16), "who shook kingdoms".
The noun
רַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל (Yechezkel 3:12), "a great quaking"; לַחְמְךָ בְּרַעַשׁ תֹּאכֵל (Yechezkel 12:18), "you shall eat your bread in trembling". Their sense is movement and trembling, and he gives a word for it in the foreign tongue.
Fruit shaking like Levanon
יִרְעַשׁ כַּלְּבָנוֹן פִּרְיוֹ (Tehillim 72:16), "his fruit shall shake like Levanon". They said it is as though יעשר reversed, that it grow rich.
Rabbi Yonah: it will multiply
Rabbi Yonah explained יִרְעַשׁ as "it will be fruitful and multiply", likening it to the Arabic word said of blessing and fruitfulness. On this reading פִּרְיוֹ, "his fruit", is his sons; that is, his sons will multiply as the trees of Levanon are many.
Ibn Ezra reads it plainly
Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra explained it as it stands: this fruit, which is the grain, shall shake; the sense being that it will grow so great that it shakes the trees of Levanon.
וְרָֽעֲשׁוּ מִפָּנַי דְּגֵי הַיָּם (יחזקאל לח, כ), אֶרֶץ רָעָשָׁה (שופטים ה, ד), יִרְֽעֲשׁוּ הָאִיִּֽים (יחזקאל כו, טו), תִּרְעַשְׁנָה חֽוֹמוֹתַיִךְ (יחזקאל כו, י), וַתִּרְעַשׁ הָאָרֶץ (ירמיה נא, כט). והנפעל נִרְעֲשָׁה הָאָרֶץ (ירמיה נ, מו). והכבד [הִפְעִיל] הִרְעַשְׁתִּי גוֹיִם (יחזקאל לא, טז), הִרְעַשְׁתָּה אֶרֶץ פְּצַמְתָּהּ (תהלים ס, ד), הֲתַרְעִישֶׁנּוּ כָּֽאַרְבֶּה (איוב לט, כ), מַרְעִישׁ מַמְלָכֽוֹת (ישעיה יד, טז). והשם רַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל (יחזקאל ג, יב), לַחְמְךָ בְּרַעַשׁ תֹּאכֵל (יחזקאל יב, יח), ענינם התנועה והרעדה טרמל"ו [טרימ"ר] בלע"ז. אבל יִרְעַשׁ כַּלְּבָנוֹן פִּרְיוֹ (תהלים עב, טז), אמרו שהוא כמו הפוך יעשר. ורבי יונה פירשו יפרה וירבה, ודמהו ללשון הערב האומר לברכה ולפריה רג"ש. וענין פִּרְיוֹ בניו, כלומר שירבו בניו כרבות עצי הלבנון. ורבי אברהם אבן עזרא ז"ל פירשו כפשוטו יִרְעַשׁ זה הפרי שהוא הבר. והטעם שיהיה גדול שירעש עצי הלבנון.
ר-ת-ת
Trembling: the Targum renders רָעַד, trembling, with רְתֵיתָא. At Hoshea 13:1, when Yeravam of Efrayim spoke of the calves, a great trembling was raised in Israel.
The Targum's word for רעד
The Targum renders יֹֽאחֲזֵמוֹ רָעַד (Shemos 15:15), trembling seizes them, with אַחֲדָתְנוּן רְתֵיתָא, trembling seized them.
When Efrayim spoke
כְּדַבֵּר אֶפְרַיִם רְתֵת (Hoshea 13:1), when Efrayim spoke, trembling: he explains it as, when Yeravam, who was of Efrayim, spoke the matter of the calves, a great trembling was raised in Israel.
כְּדַבֵּר אֶפְרַיִם רְתֵת (הושע יג, א), תרגום יֹֽאחֲזֵמוֹ רָעַד (שמות טו, טו) אַחֲדָתְנוּן רְתֵיתָא, ופירושו כדבר ירבעם שהוא מאפרים דבר העגלים רעד גדול נשא בישראל.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Yom Kippur: Shake & Quake (Pt. 2/3)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 12 October 2024.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Sukkot: Shake & Quake (Pt. 3/3)," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 19 October 2024.
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 3:19, 27:33, 45:24 (Shadal, Rashbam); Shemos 15:14 (Shadal), 15:15 (Onkelos), 19:16, 19:18 (Onkelos), 20:15 (Mechilta, Baal HaTurim); Vayikra 20:18 (Rashi); Bamidbar 15:27 (Siftei Kohen), 33:24 to 25; Devarim 28:25 (Onkelos, Rashi), 28:65; Yehoshua 24:30; Shoftim 2:9; Shmuel I 20:30 (Rashi); Shmuel II 22:8, 23:30; Yeshayahu 66:5; Yirmiyahu 5:22, 15:4 (Rashi), 24:9, 25:16, 29:18, 34:17, 46:7 to 8, 49:24; Yechezkel 3:12 (Targum Yonasan), 23:46; Hoshea 13:1; Amos 1:1; Chavakuk 3:2; Zecharyah 14:5; Tehillim 2:11, 18:8, 55:5, 104:32; Iyov 34:20, 39:24; Rus 3:8; Esther 5:9; Daniel 10:11; Divrei HaYamim I 11:32; Divrei HaYamim II 29:8; Taanis 4:8, 30b; Bava Basra 121a; Yoma 4b; Berachos 54a; Chullin 24a to 24b; Avodah Zarah 32b, 40b, 61b; Shabbos 156a; Kiddushin 40b; Mechilta D'Rabbi Yishmael, BaChodesh §9; Devarim Rabbah 11:10; Rabbi Shlomo Aharon Wertheimer; Malbim, Yair Ohr, and as cited in Sefer HaCarmel; Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim; Radak and Rabbi Yonah Ibn Janach, Sefer HaShorashim; Menachem Ibn Saruk, Machberes Menachem; Rabbi Avraham Bedersi, Chosam Tochnis; Rabbi Yosef Kimchi, Sefer HaGalui; Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Parchon, Machberes HeAruch; Rabbi Reuven Landau, Degel Machaneh Reuven §61; Rabbi Mordechai Kohen of Safed, Siftei Kohen; Even-Shoshan's concordance; the liturgy (U'Nesaneh Tokef, U'va L'Tzion, the long Tachanun).