The 6 usages of the word >THE<:#4 of 35
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# 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE #
# Mar 15, 2001 #
# Rashis 645-646 Of 7800 (8.3%) #
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RULE
====
The word >THE< can be used in 4 ways
--to refer to something that immediately follows
eg Dt04-32c >Has anyone heard THIS GREAT THING-that God
saved a nation enslaved in another nation with great miracles<
Thus the phrase >THIS GREAT THING< refers to the verse that
follows >That God saved a nation enslaved in another nation<
In other words the >GREAT THING< is Gods freeing one nation
from another.
--to refer to a concept, story or thing mentioned ELSEWHERE
(but not immediately afterwards)
eg Nu13-33a >We saw there THE Nefilim<
refers to the NEFILLIM nation mentined in Gn06-04
--to refer to the best known of a class
eg Dt01-07e >THE Mount< -- This refers to The Kings Mountain
--to refer to a qualitative best
eg Dt05-18a >You will do the good and upright< -- ie compromise
GOALS:
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A person completing this module will be able to correctly
identify the specific usages of >THE< in the Bible.
TODAYS UNIT
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In the next few days unit we bring verses where
>THE< refers to a concept mentioned in some >OTHER VERSE<
The most straightforward example is the reference in
Nu28-06a that speaks about the >HOLIDAY OF BIKURIM<
A simple search shows that >BIKURIM< occurs by the
Holidays in Lv23-17 where it refers to the holiday
of Shavuoth. Hencewe interpret >THE HOLIDAY OF
BIKURIM< in Nu28-06a to refer to SHAVUOTH.
REFERENCE:
=========
This module comes from the following digest in the
Rashi-is-Simple series
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/h9n14.htm
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2001 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
EXAMPLES 6-9: (Examples 6 & 7 are repeated from yesterday)
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In the following verses >THE< refers to a known concept
that is mentioned elsewhere
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EXAMPLE 6: Nu13-33a THE Nefilim*1
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This refers to the identical phrase in
Gn06-04 where it refers to >Sons of Prophets<
EXAMPLE 7: Nu04-13a THE Altar
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This refers to the identical phrase in
Ex27-01 where it refers to the >Copper Altar<*2
EXAMPLE 8: Nu28-26a THE day of BIKURIM*3
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This refers to the identical phrase in
Lv23-17 where it refers to the >Shavuoth Holiday<
EXAMPLE 9: Nu29-11a THE sin-atonement offering
=========
This refers to the identical phrase(ATONEMENT) in
Lv16-03 where it refers to the >Yom Kippur Holiday<
-------------------------NOTES--------------------------------
*1 This footnote shows how Rashi used Agaddic material
The simple meaning of the text is that the word >THE NEFILLIM<
refers to >THE NEFILLIM< mentioned in Gn06-04. Furthermore,
the >NEFILLIM< in Gn06-04 are described as a gang of people
that came from judges grabbing women.
But the Hebrew word for JUDGES used there is E-L-O-H-I-M. So
it seems reasonable to interpret this word as referring to
prophecy. It then seems reasonable to interpret the verse
that >THE STUDENTS OF PROPHETS HAD FAILED IN THEIR SPIRITUAL
GOALS AND WERE NOW INSTEAD TAKING WOMEN<
The Legend expresses this metaphorically >The NEFILLIM
refers to the angels AZAZEL etc that FELL FROM HEAVEN<
This is simply a metaphor. >ANGELS< means >PROPHETS<
>FELL FROM HEAVEN< means >FALLEN FROM THE PROPHETIC PATH<
>AZAZEL< literally means >HELL< a fitting name for such
people.
Thus NEFILIM refers to people who defected from prophecy
(Cf the example of the Saul who later sought advice
from witches).
Thus although the Rashi is a bit fantastic nevertheless
Rashi is based on a solid simple meaning; and when
the legend is properly interpreted it seems reasonable.
To sum up Rashi has two components
---a simple component--that THE NEFILLIM references Gn06-04
---a reasonable supplement--that these NEFILLIM were
defected prophets
A person who doesnt fully believe the reasonable component
should instead focus on the simple component. In my
TRADITION article (Winter 1980) I call this the principle
of STAGES.
*2 There are 2 altars--the copper altar and the gold altar
The copper altar is referred to as >THE ALTAR< while
the gold altar is not so referred. Hence Rashi cleverly
interprets the verse as referring to the COPPER ALTAR.
(Cf Ex27-01 vs Ex30-01--notice how it is the COPPER
ALTAR that has the word >THE< while the Gold altar
does not have THE!
So Rashi bases himself on GRAMMAR not on LOGIC
As the Rav (Soloveitchick) has said >When learning
Chumash it is best to avoid the stormy waters of
philosophy and stick to the placid waters of grammar<
*3 The sole reason for believing that this holiday
mentioned in Nu28-26 is Shavuoth is because of use
of the identical word >BIKURIM< in Lv23-17.
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