writing

הוֹי הַחֹֽקְקִים חִקְקֵי־אָוֶן (Yeshayahu 10:1), woe to those who inscribe decrees of wrong; חֹֽקְקִי בַסֶּלַע מִשְׁכָּן לֽוֹ (Yeshayahu 22:16), carving himself a dwelling in the rock, where the yud is an addition, as it is in חֹֽצְבִי, hewing, in that same pasuk; חֲקֻקִים בַּשָּׁשַֽׁר (Yechezkel 23:14), engraved in vermilion; וְחַקּוֹתָ עָלֶיהָ עִיר (Yechezkel 4:1), engrave a city upon it; בְּחוּקוֹ חוּג עַל־פְּנֵי תְהֽוֹם (Mishlei 8:27), when He cut a circle on the face of the deep; בְּחוּקוֹ מוֹסְדֵי אָֽרֶץ (Mishlei 8:29), when He cut out the foundations of the earth.

עַל־לוּחַ אִתָּם וְעַל־סֵפֶר חֻקָּהּ (Yeshayahu 30:8), on a tablet with them, and on a book engrave it: the heh has a mappik, and חֻקָּהּ means engrave it. בַּסֵּפֶר וְיֻחָֽקוּ (Iyov 19:23), that they were graven in a book; וְיִשְׁכַּח מְחֻקָּק (Mishlei 31:5), and he forgets what is inscribed.

חִקְקֵי ־לֵֽב (Shoftim 5:15), engravings of the heart: the heart engraves and thinks about them, how they did not come to the war.

בִּמְחֹקֵק בְּמִשְׁעֲנֹתָם (Bamidbar 21:18), with the mechokek, with their staves; וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו (Bereishis 49:10), and a mechokek from between his feet; חֶלְקַת מְחֹקֵק (Devarim 33:21), the portion of a mechokek; יָֽרְדוּ מְחֹקְקִים (Shoftim 5:14), mechokekim came down. All of these have the sense of writing. וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו is explained by the ruler's way, which is to have a scribe sitting at his feet; and חֶלְקַת מְחֹקֵק is explained as the Targum takes it.

וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו and חֶלְקַת מְחֹקֵק may also be read from the statute: the mechokek is then the ruler, so called because he sets the laws of his land. וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו is then that a ruler shall not depart from his seed, מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו as in הַיּוֹצֵת מִבֵּין רַגְלֶיהָ (Devarim 28:57), what comes out from between her feet; and חֶלְקַת מְחֹקֵק goes with the opening of the pasuk, וירא ראשית לו, he saw first for himself: he looked and chose first to take his share across the Yarden, for he saw that the portion of kings and rulers was there, בתים ספונים וטובים, houses panelled and good. So too מְחֹֽקְקֵנוּ (Yeshayahu 33:22), Hashem our lawgiver, the one who gave us the statutes.

כִּֽי־ חָקְךָ וְחָק־בָּנֶיךָ נִתְּנוּ (Vayikra 10:14), for your due and your sons' due are given; כִּי חֹק לַכֹּֽהֲנִים מֵאֵת פַּרְעֹה (Bereishis 47:22), for the kohanim had an allowance from Pharaoh; הַטְרִיפֵנִי לֶחֶם חֻקִּֽי (Mishlei 30:8), feed me my allotted bread. In Iyov, כִּי יַשְׁלִים חֻקִּי, for He will complete my portion, is the blows and sores that pain me always, every day, as though they were my fixed portion; and מֵחֻקִּי צָפַנְתִּי אִמְרֵי־פִֽיו (Iyov 23:12) is: it was my practice to store the words of His mouth in my heart. לִבְלִי־ חֹק (Yeshayahu 5:14), without חֹק, is the opposite of rule and of custom.

חֻקָּה אַחַת לָכֶם (Bamidbar 15:15), one statute for you; זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה (Bamidbar 19:2), this is the statute of the Torah; חֻקּוֹת עוֹלָם תָּמִֽיד (Yechezkel 46:14), lasting statutes always; וְאֶת־ חֻקֹּתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ (Vayikra 18:4), and you shall keep My statutes.

וַיָּצַר אֹתוֹ בַּחֶרֶט (Shemos 32:4), he formed it with a stylus, and וּכְתֹב עָלָיו בְּחֶרֶט אֱנוֹשׁ (Yeshayahu 8:1), write upon it with a man's stylus. It is a scribes' pen. Some explain the first as done with a mould.

For בְּחֶרֶט אֱנוֹשׁ, with a man's stylus, Targum Yonasan renders כְּתַב מְפָרַשׁ, plain script, that any man can read. Radak holds the correct reading to be that it says a man's stylus to show that the navi was to do the deed in fact, and not think this writing he was commanded to write would be in the vision of prophecy alone, as most of the acts shown to the nevi'im are: עָרוֹם וְיָחֵֽף (Yeshayahu 20:2), naked and barefoot, commanded to Yeshayahu; אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים (Hoshea 1:2), a wife of harlotry, to Hoshea; the shaving of head and beard to Yechezkel (Yechezkel 5:1); and the like, for all these acts were only in the vision of prophecy.

בִּשְׁנֵי חֲרִטִים (Melachim II 5:23) is in two purses, and so וְהַמִּטְפָּחוֹת וְהָֽחֲרִיטִֽים (Yeshayahu 3:22), the cloaks and the purses. So too a purse is called in Arabic כרט"ה, the ches standing in for the Arabic kaf, as it does in many places.

כְּלִי חֶרֶשׂ (Vayikra 6:21), an earthen vessel, and יָבֵשׁ כַּחֶרֶשׂ כֹּחִי (Tehillim 22:16), my strength is dried up like a potsherd. עַד־הִשְׁאִיר אֲבָנֶיהָ בַּקִּיר חֲרָשֶׂת (Melachim II 3:25), until only its stones were left in the wall, broken like sherds: that is, he explains, they broke the stones of the wall like an earthen vessel. In תַּחְתָּיו חַדּוּדֵי חָרֶשׂ (Iyov 41:22), beneath him, the last two words are pearls shining like the sun, the word from הָאֹמֵר לַחֶרֶס וְלֹא יִזְרָח (Iyov 9:7), who says to the sun and it does not shine.

וַיִּקַּח לוֹ חֶרֶשׂ לְהִתְגָּרֵד בּוֹ (Iyov 2:8), and he took himself a sherd to scratch himself with, he reads plainly: the Satan had struck him with a dry boil, so he needed a potsherd to scratch himself with. Some read חֶרֶשׂ there as the illness of dry scab, as in וּבַגָּרָב וּבֶחָרֶס (Devarim 28:27), with the scab and with the חֶרֶס: Iyov chose this illness called חֶרֶשׂ for himself out of all illnesses, because scratching gives some relief in it, the Satan having told him beforehand that he might choose whichever illness of suffering he wished. Radak calls that reading far-fetched. The illness may be called so, he says, because it is dry like a sherd, or because one needs a sherd to scratch with.

The words for keeping silent are all from the sense of חֶרֶשׁ, deafness, since one who keeps silent is as though he does not hear what others say, and makes himself like a deaf man. בַּדֶּיךָ מְתִים יַֽחֲרִישׁו (Iyov 11:3) is at your lies men keep silent, making themselves as deaf when they hear your falsehoods; it may also be read as taking an object, your lies silence men. The noun is חֶרֶשׁ לֵאמֹר (Yehoshua 2:1), in silence, saying: they went quietly, making themselves as deaf so that none would notice them.

יַחֲֽרִישׁ בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ (Tzefaniah 3:17), He will be silent in His love: He will keep silent over the transgressions you have already done, in His love for you. רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית (Yonah 4:8), an east wind, חרישית, may be read from this sense: a wind so strong that people became as though deaf while it blew; and so Targum Yonasan renders it, שְׁתִיקָא, silent.

A second sense: עַל־גַּבִּי חָרְשׁוּ חֹרְשִׁים (Tehillim 129:3), plowmen plowed upon my back; לֹא־תַֽחֲרֹשׁ בְּשׁוֹר־וּבַֽחֲמֹר יַחְדָּֽו, you shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together; לוּלֵא חֲרַשְׁתֶּם בְּעֶגְלָתִי (Shoftim 14:18), had you not plowed with my heifer; and אִם־יַֽחֲרוֹשׁ בַּבְּקָרִים (Amos 6:12), does one plow with oxen. The words על דרך משל, by way of a figure, stand between these last two and may belong to either. The noun is בֶּֽחָרִישׁ וּבַקָּצִיר (Shemos 34:21), in plowing and in harvest; the tool one plows with is מַֽחֲרַשְׁתּוֹ (Shmuel I 13:20), his plowing tool; and the passive is צִיּוֹן שָׂדֶה תֵֽחָרֵשׁ (Yirmiyahu 26:18), Tzion shall be plowed as a field.

Rabbi Yonah explained רוּחַ קָדִים חֲרִישִׁית (Yonah 4:8), an east wind, חרישית, from this sense, plowing; on that reading it is the wind of the plowing season, which is cold and dry.

חֲרוּשָׁה עַל־לוּחַ לִבָּם (Yirmiyahu 17:1), חרושה on the tablet of their heart, is חרותה, engraved.

A third sense is the craftsman: וְאָבִיו אִֽישׁ־צֹרִי חֹרֵשׁ נְחֹשֶׁת (Melachim I 7:14), and his father was a man of Tzor, a worker in copper; וְחָרָשׁ לֹא יִמָּצֵא בְּכֹל אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל (Shmuel I 13:19), and no craftsman was to be found in all Eretz Yisrael; הַפֶּסֶל נָסַךְ חָרָשׁ (Yeshayahu 40:19), a craftsman cast the image; and חָֽרָשֵׁי מַשְׁחִֽית (Yechezkel 21:36), craftsmen of destruction. In construct it is חָרַשׁ, with patach under the resh: חָרַשׁ בַּרְזֶל מַֽעֲצָד (Yeshayahu 44:12), the ironworker with the axe; חָרַשׁ עֵצִים נָטָה קָו (Yeshayahu 44:13), the woodworker stretched a line; and מַֽעֲשֵׂה חָרַשׁ אֶבֶן (Shemos 28:11), the work of a stoneworker. In לֹטֵשׁ כָּל־חֹרֵשׁ נְחשֶׁת וּבַרְזֶל (Bereishis 4:22) the word may be a noun: sharpening every tool of the crafts of copper and iron.

A fourth sense is thought: אַל־תַּֽחֲרֹשׁ עַל־רֵֽעֲךָ (Mishlei 3:29), do not think against your fellow; חֹרְשֵׁי אָוֶן (Iyov 4:8), those who think out iniquity; and וְיוֹעֵץ וַֽחֲכַם חֲרָשִׁים (Yeshayahu 3:3), the counsellor and the one wise in thoughts. The sense of all of them is thought. From this sense too, in the heavy form, עָלָיו שָׁאוּל מַֽחֲרִישׁ הָֽרָעָה (Shmuel I 23:9), that Shaul was thinking out the evil against him.

וְהֶֽחָרָשׁ וְהַמַּסְגֵּר (Melachim II 24:16) may be from this sense: the wise men of standing, masters of wisdom and counsel. Or it may be from the first sense: the great ones before whom the people kept silent and made themselves as deaf when they spoke. Targum Yonasan renders it אוּמָנַיָא וְתַרְעַיָא, craftsmen and gatekeepers.

A last sense: וְחֹרֶשׁ מֵצַל (Yechezkel 31:3), whose sense is a bough, called מֵצַל, shading, because its shade is broad. So too כַּֽעֲזוּבַת הַחֹרֶשׁ וְהָאָמִיר (Yeshayahu 17:9), like the forsaken bough and treetop; וְהוּא יוֹשֵׁב בַּֽחֲרֹשֶׁת הַגּוֹיִֽם (Shoftim 4:2), and he dwelt among the boughs of the nations; וַיֵּשֶׁב דָּוִד בַּחֹרְשָׁה (Shmuel I 23:18), and David stayed among the boughs; and וּבֶֽחֳרָשִׁים בָּנָה בִּֽירָנִיּוֹת וּמִגְדָּלִֽים (Divrei HaYamim II 27:4), and among the boughs he built fortresses and towers. The Targum renders בַיַּעַר (Devarim 19:5), in the forest, as בְּחֻרְשָׁא.

חָרוּת עַל־הַלֻּחֹת (Shemos 32:16), engraved upon the tablets, has the sense of חקוק, cut in, as Radak explained חֲרוּשָׁה עַל־לוּחַ לִבָּם (Yirmiyahu 17:1), engraved upon the tablet of their heart.

וְכָתַב לָהּ סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻת (Devarim 24:1), and he writes her a bill of severance; וְהִיא כְתוּבָה פָּנִים וְאָחוֹר (Yechezkel 2:10), and it was written front and back; כָּל־ הַכָּתוּב לַחַיִּים (Yeshayahu 4:3), everyone written down for life; וְכָתוֹב בַּסֵּפֶר וְחָתוֹם (Yirmiyahu 32:44), writing it in the deed and sealing it. וְזֶה יִכְתֹּב יָדוֹ (Yeshayahu 44:5) is יכתוב בידו: and this one will write with his hand.

וַיִּכְתֹּב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אֶת־הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה בְּסֵפֶר תּוֹרַת אֱלֹהִים (Yehoshua 24:26), and Yehoshua wrote these words in the book of the Torah of God: Yonasan renders that he wrote them וְאַצְנְעִינוּן בְּסֵפֶר אוֹרַיְתָא, and laid them away in the book of the Torah. Chazal are divided over it (Makkos 11a): some say it speaks of the eight pesukim from the death of Moshe to the end of the Torah, that Yehoshua wrote them in the Torah; others say it speaks of the parsha of the cities of refuge, that Yehoshua wrote it in his own sefer as it stands in the Torah. By the plain sense of the pasuk it would seem that what Yehoshua wrote was the covenant he cut with Yisrael, and then its meaning is as Yonasan rendered, since the words of the covenant cannot have been written in the Sefer Torah.

הַכֹּל בִּכְתָב (Divrei HaYamim I 28:19), the whole of it in writing; מְדִינָה וּמְדִינָה כִּכְתָבָהּ (Esther 3:12), every province in its own script. With a mem added, וְהַמִּכְתָּב מִכְתַּב אֱלֹהִים הוּא (Shemos 32:16), and the writing was the writing of Hashem.

כְתָב אֲשֶׁר־נִכְתָּב בְּשֵׁם־הַמֶּלֶךְ (Esther 8:8), a writ written in the king's name; and with a mem, וַיָּבֹא אֵלָיו מִכְתָּב מֵאֵֽלִיָּהוּ הַנָּבִיא (Divrei HaYamim II 21:12), and a letter came to him from Eliyahu HaNavi. In the passive, בְּשֵׁם הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרשׁ נִכְתָּב (Esther 3:12), in the name of King Achashverosh it was written.

וְעַל־לִבָּם אֶכְתֲּבֶנָּה (Yirmiyahu 31:33), I will write it on their heart: Ben Naftali points the tav with a sheva and a patach, Ben Asher with a kamatz chatuf.

וּכְתֹבֶת קַֽעֲקַע (Vayikra 19:28), an incised writing: a man gouges into his flesh and writes in the incision. In the heavy form, וּֽמְכַתְּבִים עָמָל כִּתֵּֽבוּ (Yeshayahu 10:1), and the writers who have written oppression; and it may be that the verb there reaches a third party.

פְּסָל ־לְךָ שְׁנֵֽי־לֻחֹת אֲבָנִים (Shemos 34:1), hew for yourself two tablets of stone, and וַיִּפְסֹל שְׁנֵֽי־לֻחֹת (Shemos 34:4), and he hewed two tablets. The noun is פְּסִילֵי אֱלֹֽהֵיהֶם (Devarim 7:25), the carved images of their gods, and in another pattern פֶסֶל וּמַסֵּכָה (Devarim 27:15), a carved and a molten image.

The term falls for the most part on the hewing of stones, and likewise on wood: הַנֹּֽשְׂאִים אֶת־עֵץ פִּסְלָם (Yeshayahu 45:20), who carry the wood of their carved image, and וּשְׁאֵרִיתוֹ לְאֵל עָשָׂה לְפִסְלוֹ (Yeshayahu 44:17), and the rest of it he made into a god, into his carved image. וְהוּא עָבַר אֶת־ הַפְּסִילִים (Shoftim 3:26), and he passed the pesilim, is a place where they used to hew stones.

וְדַלְתֵי שָׁמַיִם פָּתָח (Tehillim 78:23), He opened the doors of heaven; פּוֹתֵחַ אֶת יָדֶךָ (Tehillim 145:16), You open Your hand; וְאִגֶּרֶת פְּתוּחָה בְּיָדוֹ (Nechemiah 6:5), an open letter in his hand; and וּכְפִתְחוֹ עָמְדוּ כָל הָעָם (Nechemiah 8:5), and when he opened, all the people stood, that is, when he opened his mouth to read in the Torah.

פֵּתַח דְּבָרֶיךָ יָאִיר (Tehillim 119:130), the opening of Your words gives light; שְׁמֹר פִּתְחֵי פִיךָ (Michah 7:5), guard the openings of your mouth; and וּמִפְתַּח שְׂפָתַי מֵישָׁרִים (Mishlei 8:6), and the opening of my lips is uprightness. וְהֵם עַל־הַמַּפְתֵּחַ וְלַבֹּקֶר לַבֹּקֶר (Divrei HaYamim I 9:27), and they were over the מַפְתֵּחַ, morning by morning, means that they were appointed to open the gates each morning. וּלְךָ אֶתֵּן פִּתְחוֹן פֶּה בְּתוֹכָם (Yechezkel 29:21), and to you I will give an opening of the mouth among them: among Yisrael, for they will see your prophecies fulfilled.

From this the doorway is called פֶּתַח: לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ (Bereishis 4:7), sin crouches at the doorway. The פֶּתַח is what lies outside the doors of the gate, and it carries the name because it is always open, staying open even when the doors are shut. So too the tool one opens with: וַיִּקְחוּ אֶת הַמַּפְתֵּחַ וַיִּפְתָּחוּ (Shoftim 3:25), they took the key and opened; and, unchanged in construct, מַפְתֵּחַ בֵּית דָּוִד (Yeshayahu 22:22), the key of the house of David, which Targum Yonasan renders the key of the Beis HaMikdash and the rule of the house of David.

Some explain מַגְבִּיהַּ פִּתְחוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ שָׁבֶר (Mishlei 17:19), one who raises his פֶּתַח seeks ruin, from the mouth's opening: that is, one who speaks lofty things over people; and so it is explained in the words of Chazal, in Esther Rabbah. Taken of the doorway, it is one who busies himself with great buildings, in the way Chazal said (Sotah 11a), whoever busies himself with building grows poor.

The sense of loosing is close to the sense of opening: וַיְפַתַּח הַגְּמַלִּים (Bereishis 24:32), he loosed the camels; פַּתֵּחַ חַרְצֻבּוֹת רֶשַׁע (Yeshayahu 58:6), loose the bonds of wickedness; אַל יִתְהַלֵּל חֹגֵר כִּמְפַתֵּחַ (Melachim I 20:11), let one girding himself not boast like one loosing; and אֲסִירָיו לֹא פָתַח בָּיְתָה (Yeshayahu 14:17), he did not release his prisoners homeward. הִנְנִי מְפַתֵּחַ פִּתֻּחָהּ (Zecharyah 3:9), behold, I loose its loosing, is as though the stone had been in confinement all the days the work stood idle, and now He will release it and it will be set into the building.

Digging and engraving are also close to these: וּפִתַּחְתָּ עֲלֵיהֶם (Shemos 28:9), and you shall engrave upon them; פִּתּוּחֵי חֹתָם תְּפַתַּח אֶת שְׁתֵּי הָאֲבָנִים (Shemos 28:11), with the engravings of a seal you shall engrave the two stones. הִנְנִי מְפַתֵּחַ פִּתֻּחָהּ may also be read in this sense, behold, I engrave its engraving: since what completes the form of a fine stone is the figures and flowers and knobs engraved and drawn on it, the pasuk says so by way of a figure, meaning, I am completing it for the building in all its form.

From this sense of engraving swords are called פְתִחוֹת: וְהֵמָּה פְתִחוֹת (Tehillim 55:22), and they are swords, and וְאֶת אֶרֶץ נִמְרֹד בִּפְתָחֶיהָ (Michah 5:5), and the land of Nimrod with her swords. Rabbi Yonah explained וְיָבֹאוּ פִּתְחֵי נְדִיבִים (Yeshayahu 13:2), and let the פִּתְחֵי of nobles come, as swords like these; and in one of his ways he explained חֶרֶב חֶרֶב פְּתוּחָה (Yechezkel 21:33), a sword, a sword, פתוחה, and חֶרֶב פָּתְחוּ רְשָׁעִים (Tehillim 37:14), the wicked פתחו a sword, as polishing and sharpening. Radak says there is no need: their sense is only drawing the sword from its sheath, as פתוח is said of bringing a prisoner out of confinement and loosing him.

אֶת־ הָֽרָשׁוּם בִּכְתָב אֱמֶת (Daniel 10:21), what is marked down in the writing of truth, is from the Aramaic tongue, as כְתָבָא דִּי רְשִׁים (Daniel 5:25), the writing that was inscribed; and the word is of the sense of רושם, a mark, which is like the sense of a sign and a token.