body
wing
כנף · אבר · אגף · גף · גדפא · נוצה
Bottom line
Kanaf is the wing, and specifically its outer reach, which is why it also means the edge or corner of a garment or a land and why it is the wing that shelters. Ever is best rendered pinion, the outer wing with its flight feathers, and in Chazal's Hebrew it widens to any limb. Agaf is the wing where it joins the body, and by extension a flank; it appears only in Yechezkel. Devarim 32:11 uses kanaf and ever in one pasuk, so they cannot both be "wings" there.
At a glance
| Hebrew | translit | English | what sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| כנף | kanaf | wing; edge, corner | the outermost part of the wing (Wertheimer); hence periphery (Bedersi) |
| אבר | ever | pinion; limb | the outer wing with its flight feathers; any limb, and the strongest (Bedersi) |
| אגף | agaf | wing near the body; flank | the inner part, branching off the body (Wertheimer); only in Yechezkel |
| נוצה | notzah | feather | the feather itself, not the wing |
Where the authorities disagree
Where ever comes from, and how it relates to avir. Menachem Ibn Saruk (Machberes Menachem), Rabbeinu Yonah Ibn Janach and Radak all trace ever to the triliteral א-ב-ר and put avir, "strong," under the same root, leaving one root with two unrelated senses. Rabbi Avraham Bedersi HaPenini resolves it: ever is any limb of a living creature, and it names the wing because that limb musters the most strength. Rav Hirsch (to Bereishis 17:4) resolves it the other way, that avir is the power that lifts a man higher, matching the ever that lifts the bird. Rabbi Pappenheim rejects the triliteral reading: the aleph is not root, the root being the biliteral ב-ר, "choosing," so the ever is the choicest limb. The Bottom line follows Bedersi, which accounts for the wing and for the Rabbinic eiver alike (Makkos 23b; Pesachim 22b).
Where kanaf comes from. Rav Hirsch (to Bereishis 1:21, 7:14) compares kanaf to ganav, thief, through the interchange of kaf with gimmel and peh with beis: both hide, the wing covering part of the bird's body, or carrying it so high that it is out of sight, as the thief works unseen. Rabbi Pappenheim (Yerios Shlomo) assigns kanaf to the biliteral כ-פ but gives no thematic link, and his treatment of כ-פ as "receptacle" in Cheshek Shlomo (whence kaf, palm, and kapayim, the heavens draped like a dome) does not mention kanaf at all.
What agaf is built on. Rabbi Wertheimer and Menachem Ibn Saruk work from the biliteral ג-פ, the aleph not being root, as in the biblical Aramaic gapin (Daniel 7:4, 7:6); Menachem notes that gaf in Mishlei 9:3 means the edges of a land exactly as kanaf does. Radak instead derives agaf from the Aramaic gadfin, explaining the dagesh in the peh (the biblical forms are always agapav, agapecha, never a soft feh) as standing in for a dropped dalet. Rabbi Pappenheim gives ג-פ the core sense of outward protrusion, which fits a wing, and puts guf, negef and mageifah, and gefen in the same family.
Distinctions
kanaf (כנף)
Root כ-נ-ף. Primarily the wing of a flying creature, and by extension birds themselves (Bereishis 7:14). Bedersi: because the wing sits at the edge of the bird, kanaf came to mean whatever lies at the periphery, the corner of a garment (Devarim 22:12; Shmuel I 24:5) or the far edge of a place (Yeshayahu 11:12; Yechezkel 7:2; Iyov 37:3, 38:13). Rabbi Wertheimer adds the sun's rays, called kanaf in Malachi 3:20, since they branch off the sun as wings branch off a bird, and fixes the anatomy: kanaf is the outermost part, the part that casts shade, which is why taking someone under one's wing is the Torah's own image for protection (Devarim 23:1; Rus 2:12, 3:9).
ever (אבר)
Root א-ב-ר, or ב-ר for Rabbi Pappenheim. Many render it "pinion" rather than "wing," the whole outer section with its flight feathers, and in Rabbinic Hebrew it widened to any limb. Its appearance beside kanaf in Devarim 32:11, where Hashem spreads His kanaf and carries them on His evrah, forces them apart.
agaf (אגף)
Five appearances, all in Yechezkel (12:14, 17:21, 38:6, 38:22, 39:4). Rabbi Wertheimer: the part of the wing nearest the body, which appears to branch off it, whence agaf for a small town branching off the main city (38:6).
gadfa and notzah
The Aramaic gadfa runs across several senses: a feather, as in the one that fell on Amimar and was brushed off by a litigant, moving him to recuse himself (Kesubos 105b; Chullin 22b); the wing bone (Rashi to Yoma 84a); and the wing itself (Rashbam to Bava Basra 73b). The Targumim render misgeres and gvul as gadnaf (Shemos 25:25). Biblical Hebrew for a feather is notzah (Vayikra 1:16; Iyov 39:13).
Rendering guidance
- כנף on a bird: "wing." On a garment or a land: "corner," "edge," or "hem," and never "wing," even where a drashah plays on both; put the play in a note.
- Devarim 32:11: render the two words differently. "He spreads His wings… He bears them on His pinions"; "wings" twice loses the pasuk's distinction.
- Trap: English "wing" will absorb kanaf, ever and agaf together. Where two of them appear, give kanaf "wing," ever "pinion," and agaf "flank."
- אבר in Chazal: "limb," not "wing," unless a bird is the subject.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Yitro: Just Winging It," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 24 Shevat 5781 (2021-02-06): https://articles.ohr.edu/articles/yitro-just-winging-it; raw text in sources/whats-in-a-word/raw/9070-yitro-just-winging-it.md. Primary loci cited: Bereishis 1:21, 7:14, 17:4; Shemos 19:4, 25:25; Vayikra 1:16; Devarim 22:12, 23:1, 32:11; Shmuel I 24:5; Yeshayahu 11:12, 24:16; Yechezkel 7:2, 12:14, 17:3, 17:21, 38:6, 38:22, 39:4, 43:17; Malachi 3:20; Mishlei 9:3; Iyov 37:3, 38:13, 39:13; Rus 2:12, 3:9; Daniel 7:4, 7:6; Makkos 23b; Pesachim 22b; Kesubos 105b; Chullin 22b; Yoma 84a; Bava Basra 73b; Machberes Menachem; Yerios Shlomo and Cheshek Shlomo. Akkadian comparisons are omitted under house rule 9.