tying

וַיֶּאְסֹר אֶת רִכְבּוֹ (Shemos 14:6), he harnessed his chariot, and וַאֲסַרְנֻהוּ לְעַנֹּתוֹ (Shoftim 16:5), and we will bind him to afflict him. All of them are the sense of binding, and מִי יֶאְסֹר הַמִּלְחָמָה (Melachim I 20:14), who shall bind the battle, is the harnessing of the chariot.

וְאָסְרָה אִסָּר (Bamidbar 30:4), and she binds a bond.

אֶנְקַת אָסִיר (Tehillim 79:11), the groaning of the prisoner, with the plural הָאֲסִירִם אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית הַסֹּהַר (Bereishis 39:22), the prisoners who were in the prison house. The prison is בֵּית הָאֵסוּר (Yirmiyahu 37:15), and מִבֵּית הָסוּרִים (Koheles 4:14), from the prison house, is the prison where the bound are put, its alef silent and left out of the writing. אֲסוּרִים יָדֶיהָ (Koheles 7:26), her hands are bonds: one caught in her hands is like a man shut up in the prison house. וַיִּמַּסּוּ אֱסוּרָיו מֵעַל יָדָֽיו (Shoftim 15:14), and his bonds melted from off his hands, may be of the same pattern as בֵּית הָאֵסוּר, אֱסוּרָיו being what he was bound with.

Rabbi Yehudah says that בְּמָסֹרֶת הַבְּרִית (Yechezkel 20:37), in the bond of the covenant, belongs to this root, the word being properly בְּמַאֲסֹרֶת.

וְחָֽבַשְׁתָּ לָהֶם מִגְבָּעֹת (Shemos 29:9), and you shall bind turbans on them; פְּאֵֽרְךָ חֲבוֹשׁ עָלֶיךָ (Yechezkel 24:17), bind your headdress upon you; סוּף חָבוּשׁ לְרֹאשִֽׁי (Yonah 2:6), weed was bound about my head; פְּנֵיהֶם חֲבֹשׁ בַּטָּמֽוּן (Iyov 40:13), bind their faces in the hidden place; and מִבְּכִי נְהָרוֹת חִבֵּשׁ (Iyov 28:11), he binds up the rivers from weeping. All of them and their like, he says, are tying and binding fast.

It is also the binding of a wound and the wrapping laid over it: וְלַנִּשְׁבֶּרֶת לֹא חֲבַשְׁתֶּם (Yechezkel 34:4), and the broken you did not bind up; כִּי הוּא יַכְאִיב וְיֶחְבָּשׁ (Iyov 5:18), for He wounds and He binds up; וּמְחַבֵּשׁ לְעַצְּבוֹתָֽם (Tehillim 147:3), binding up their sorrows; and in the passive, לֹא־זֹרוּ וְלֹא חֻבָּשׁוּ (Yeshayahu 1:6), they were not pressed out and not bound up.

Because a ruler confines and binds whoever breaks his commands, the word is used of ruling: לֹֽא־אֶהְיֶה חֹבֵשׁ (Yeshayahu 3:7), I will not be a ruler, and האף שֹונא משׁפט יַֽחֲבוֹשׁ (Iyov 34:17), shall even one who hates justice rule?

It is also tying a beast with its girth: וַֽיַּֽחֲבֹשׁ אֶת־חֲמֹרוֹ (Bereishis 22:3), and he girthed his donkey; חִבְשׁוּ ־לִי הַֽחֲמוֹר (Melachim I 13:13), girth the donkey for me; צֶמֶד חֲמוֹרִים חֲבוּשִׁים (Shoftim 19:10), a pair of girthed donkeys. All the words of this root, he says, are one sense.

וַעֲרָפֶל חֲתֻלָּתוֹ (Iyov 38:9), and thick cloud its wrapping; וְהָחְתֵּל לֹא חֻתָּלְתְּ (Yechezkel 16:4), and you were not wrapped at all; לָשׂוּם חִתּול (Yechezkel 30:21), to put on a binding. Their sense is binding up and wrapping.

וַֽיַּֽעֲקֹד אֶת־יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ (Bereishis 22:9), and he bound Yitzchak his son: ויקשור, and he tied.

וַיִּתֵּן פְּנֵי הַצֹּאן אֶל־ עָקֹד (Bereishis 30:40), and he set the faces of the flock toward the akod, and עֲקֻדִּים נְקֻדִּים (Bereishis 30:39), the akudim and the speckled: their spots were at the place where the foreleg and the leg are tied, for the foreleg is bent onto the leg and tied, and at that very place their spots were; and so they are called akudim.

בֵּֽית־ עֵקֶד הָֽרֹעִים (Melachim II 10:12), Beis Eked of the shepherds: Targum Yonasan renders בֵּית כְּנִישַׁת רַעֲיָא, the shepherds' gathering house. Radak's father explains it as the house where the shepherds sheared their flocks, and at the shearing they tie them by their legs, at the place of binding.

וְצָֽרְרוּ אֶתְכֶם (Bamidbar 33:55), they shall harass you; צָרוֹר אֶת־הַמִּדְיָנִים (Bamidbar 25:17), harass the Midianites; כי צֹֽרֲרִים הֵם לָכֶם (Bamidbar 25:18), for they harass you; and וְצַרְתִּי אֶת־ צֹֽרְרֶֽיךָ (Shemos 23:22), I will harass those who harass you. It may be that וִֽיהוּדָה לֹֽא־ יָצֹר אֶת־אֶפְרָֽיִם (Yeshayahu 11:13), Yehudah shall not harass Efraim, is from this root.

מִן־ הַמֵּצַֽר (Tehillim 118:5), out of the strait, and בֵּין הַמְּצָרִֽים (Eichah 1:3), between the straits. Rabbi Yehudah put וְהֵצַר לְךָ (Devarim 28:52), it shall press you, and וַֽהֲצֵרֹתִי לָֽאָדָם (Tzefaniah 1:17), I will press men hard, under this root; Radak has already written them at צוּר, along with צַר וְאוֹיֵב (Esther 7:6), an adversary and an enemy, and צַר ־לִי מְאֹד (Shmuel II 24:14), I am in great straits, and it may be that the root of them all is צָרַר.

Rabbi Yehudah set in another sense וְכִֽעֲסַתָּה צָֽרָתָהּ (Shmuel I 1:6), her rival vexed her, and לִצְרֹר לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָתָהּ (Vayikra 18:18), to take a rival and uncover her nakedness, the second of which Radak lists with the harassing; he has explained צרתה, her rival, at צוּר.

מִי צָֽרַר ־מַיִם בַּשִּׂמְלָה (Mishlei 30:4), who has bound up water in a garment; צֹֽרֵר ־מַיִם בְּעָבָיו (Iyov 26:8), He binds up water in His clouds; כִּצְרוֹר אֶבֶן (Mishlei 26:8), like binding a stone; and in the passive, וּמְבֻקָּעִים וּמְצֹֽרָרִֽים (Yehoshua 9:4), split and bound up. The noun is צְֽרוֹר ־הַכֶּסֶף לָקַח בְּיָדוֹ (Mishlei 7:20), he took the bundle of silver in his hand, and צְרוֹר הַמֹּר דּוֹדִי לִי (Shir HaShirim 1:13), my beloved is a bundle of myrrh to me: their sense is binding. It may be that צוֹר תְּעוּדָה (Yeshayahu 8:16), bind up the testimony, is of this root and of this sense; he has also written it at צוּר and at נָצַר.

וַתִּֽהְיֶינָה צְרֻרוֹת (Shmuel II 20:3), and they were bound, he first lists with the harassing, but holds that it is rightly from this sense of binding: as though they were bound until the day of their death and not loosed to marry a man. And וְלֹֽא־יִפּוֹל צְרוֹר אָֽרֶץ (Amos 9:9), not a stone shall fall to the ground, and אֲשֶֽׁר־לֹֽא־נִמְצָא שָׁם גַּם־ צְרֽוֹר (Shmuel II 17:13), where not even a stone was found: צְרוֹר there means a stone, and it is like צוּר, a rock, צוּר and צָרַר being of one sense.

אֲשֶׁר קִטְּרוּ־שָׁמָּה הַכֹּהֲנִים (Melachim II 23:8), where the kohanim made their burnings, וְקַטֵּר מֵחָמֵץ תּוֹדָה (Amos 4:5), and burn a thanksgiving offering of what is leavened, וְהִקְטִירָם הַכֹּהֵן (Vayikra 3:16), and the kohen shall burn them in smoke, and כָּלִיל תָּקְטָר (Vayikra 6:15), it shall be wholly burned. The noun is in הֲלוֹא אֶת־הַקִּטֵּר אֲשֶׁר קִטַּרְתֶּם (Yirmiyahu 44:21), is it not the burning that you burned.

מְקֻטֶּרֶת מוֹר וּלְבוֹנָה (Shir HaShirim 3:6), perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, that is, her garments are smoked with spices. The nouns for the incense itself are קְטוֹרָה, as in יָשִׂימוּ קְטוֹרָה בְּאַפֶּךָ (Devarim 33:10), they shall set incense before You, and, with a tav, וְשַׁמְנִי וּקְטָרְתִּי (Yechezkel 16:18), my oil and my incense.

וּקְטָרְתִּי (Yechezkel 16:18), and my incense, carries a kamatz chatuf by the reading of Ben Asher, which is the rule, and by the reading of Ben Naftali it is וּקְטַרְתִּי with a patach; and at וּקְטָרְתִּי וְשַׁמְנִי (Yechezkel 23:41), my incense and my oil, the two differ likewise.

מֻקְטָר מֻגָּשׁ לִשְׁמִי (Malachi 1:11), incense offered to My name: מֻקְטָר is a noun, on the pattern of מָשְׁחָתָם in כִּי מָשְׁחָתָם בָּהֶם (Vayikra 22:25), for their corruption is in them. That is, in every place incense would be offered to My name, and a pure mincha, had He commanded them so. Ibn Ezra reads גָּדוֹל שְׁמִי בַּגּוֹיִם (Malachi 1:11), My name is great among the nations, as: from the rising of the sun to its setting they magnify My name, and He reckons it to them as though they were bringing a pure mincha and burning incense before Him, not as you do, who offer defiled bread and profane My name; and that is what the pasuk says after it, ואתם מחללים אתו, and you profane it. Radak's father explains that though they serve idols there, it is Hashem's name that they serve, and their intent is to Heaven. מֻקְטָר can also be read as a passive participle, and then in מֻקְטָר מֻגָּשׁ the burning is said of the spice incense, the offering is said of the korbanos, and the mincha is the one of fine flour.

קִיטֹר הָאָרֶץ (Bereishis 19:28), the smoke of the land, כְּקִיטֹר הַכִּבְשָׁן (Bereishis 19:28), like the smoke of a furnace, and שֶׁלֶג וְקִיטוֹר (Tehillim 148:8), snow and vapour, which is the vapour rising off the earth that looks like smoke. In כִּי־הָיִיתִי כְּנֹאד בְּקִיטוֹר (Tehillim 119:83), for I am become like a skin bottle in smoke, the speaker likens the skin of his flesh to a skin bottle in smoke, since it is dry.

The pan in which the ketores is put: וּבְיָדוֹ מִקְטֶרֶת לְהַקְטִיר (Divrei HaYamim II 26:19), and in his hand a pan to burn incense, and וְאִישׁ מִקְטַרְתּוֹ בְּיָדוֹ (Yechezkel 8:11), each man his pan in his hand. And the altar they burn upon is מִקְטַר קְטֹרֶת (Shemos 30:1), an altar for burning incense.

חֲצֵרוֹת קְטֻרוֹת (Yechezkel 46:22), tied courts, means קשורות, tied: the Targum of וַתִּקְשֹׁר (Bereishis 38:28), and she tied, is וּקְטָרַת, and in Aramaic again וּמְשָׁרֵא קִטְרִין (Daniel 5:12) is one who unties knots, and וְקִטְרֵי חַרְצֵהּ מִשְׁתָּרַיִן (Daniel 5:6) is the knots of his loins coming loose. The courts are joined and tied at the corners of the court, one at this corner and one at that, in the way of וַתִּקָּשֵׁר כָּל־הַחוֹמָה עַד־חֶצְיָהּ (Nechemiah 3:38), and all the wall was joined together to half its height. Targum Yonasan renders it likewise, דָרָתָא מְקַטְרָן, tied courts. In Middos (2:5) Chazal say that קטורות means only that they were not roofed.

וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת (Devarim 6:8), you shall bind them for a sign, and וַתִּקְשֹׁר עַל־יָדוֹ שָׁנִי (Bereishis 38:28), she tied a scarlet thread on his hand. Of love, וְנַפְשׁוֹ קְשׁוּרָה בְנַפְשׁוֹ (Bereishis 44:30), his soul is bound up with his soul, which he explains of the greatness of his love, as though the one soul were tied to the other and joined to it; so וְנֶפֶשׁ יְהוֹנָתָן נִקְשְׁרָה בְּנֶפֶשׁ דָּוִד (Shmuel I 18:1), the soul of Yehonasan was bound up with the soul of David.

וַתִּקָּשֵׁר כָּל־הַחוֹמָה עַד־חֶצְיָהּ (Nechemiah 3:38), the whole wall was joined together to half its height, which he explains: the whole building of the wall was knit together and complete, with no breach left in it.

כַּלָּה קִשֻּׁרֶיהָ (Yirmiyahu 2:32), a bride her ornaments, and וְהַקִּשֻּׁרִים (Yeshayahu 3:20), and the tied ornaments, which he explains of the ornaments and necklaces a woman ties on her head or about her throat; so וּתְקַשְּׁרִים כַּכַּלָּה (Yeshayahu 49:18), you shall bind them on as a bride does.

Likewise of matters joined together and gathered into one agreement: כִּי קְשַׁרְתֶּם כֻּלְּכֶם עָלַי (Shmuel I 22:8), you have all conspired against me, אֲחִיתֹפֶל בַּקֹּשְׁרִים עִם־אַבְשָׁלוֹם (Shmuel II 15:31), Achitofel is among the conspirators with Avshalom, and קָשַׁר עָלֶיךָ עָמוֹס (Amos 7:10), Amos has conspired against you. The noun is לֹא־תֹאמְרוּן קֶשֶׁר (Yeshayahu 8:12), you shall not say, a conspiracy, and וַיְהִי הַקֶּשֶׁר אַמִּץ (Shmuel II 15:12), the conspiracy was strong; and וַיִּתְקַשֵּׁר יֵהוּא (Melachim II 9:14), Yehu conspired.

וְהַקְּשֻׁרִים לְיַעֲקֹב (Bereishis 30:42), and the tied ones were Yaakov's, and הַצֹּאן הַמְקֻשָּׁרוֹת (Bereishis 30:41), the tied flock, the Targum renders בַכִּירַיָּא, the early ones. They are the ones born in the days of Nisan, stronger and healthier than the rest, and they are called by a word of tying because a knot is strong.

הַתְקַשֵּׁר מַעֲדַנּוֹת כִּימָה (Iyov 38:31), can you bind the chains of כִּימָה, he has already explained at the root כִּימָה. His father wrote that כִּימָה ripens the fruit early, תקשור being from וְהַקְּשֻׁרִים לְיַעֲקֹב, which the Targum renders בַכִּירַיָּא, the early ones; and ומֽשְׁכוֹת כְּסִיל תְּפַתֵּֽחַ (Iyov 38:31), or loosen the cords of כְּסִיל: it is כְּסִיל that ripens the fruit last.