The 6 usages of the word >THE<:#9 of 35
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# 10 YEAR Ayelet DAILY-RASHI-YOMI CYCLE #
# Mar 21, 2001 #
# Rashis 656-658 Of 7800 (8.4%) #
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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:
=====
A person completing this module will be able to correctly
identify the specific usages of >THE< in the Bible.
TODAYS UNIT
===========
In the next few days unit we bring verses where
>THE< refers to >THE BEST KNOWN IN ITS CLASS<
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
===============
About a dozen of the examples in this posting come from one
of our great Acharonim, the Malbim. Malbim in the 6th chapter
of his >MORNING STAR< presents some of the principles on >THE<.
We have built on this contribution. The details of what we have
contributed as well as some further insightful comments on the
Malbim will be made in the footnotes.
This posting is a must for those involved in advanced talmudic
study.
Our email group is named after AYELET the name of the daughter
of the moderator of Chevruta who hosts our series. AYELET, is
also the name of the Malbims famous summary of his 613
principles governing all midrash, the so called AYELET HASHACHAR
the morning start which may be found in his introduction to
his commentary on Leviticus.
REFERENCE:
=========
This module comes from the following digest in the
Rashi-is-Simple series
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/h9n14.htm
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/h9n16.htm (Up next Sunday)
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2001 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
EXAMPLES 19-21:
===============
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In the following verses >THE< refers to the best known
example of a class. We therefore translate it these
verses as meaning >THE SPECIAL ...<
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EXAMPLE 19: Lv01-02c
==========
Lv01-02c If you offer a sacrifice to God then bring the
sacrifice FROM THE SPECIAL ANIMALS
RASHI: The phrase >FROM THE SPECIAL ANIMALS< implies
that the animals must be special and e.g.
have not been used for bestiality*1 *2
EXAMPLE 20: Lv01-02d
==========
Lv01-02d if you offer a sacrifice...if you offer it
FROM THE (SPECIAL) CATTLE *1
RASHI: >FROM THE (SPECIAL) CATTLE<; but you may not offer
sacrifices from animals that were worshipped *2
EXAMPLE 21: Lv01-02f
==========
Lv01-03 If you offer an ELEVATION offering
FROM THE (SPECIAL) cattle*3
RASHI: >FROM THE SPECIAL CATTLE<; but you may not offer
a sacrifice from wounded cattle *2
--------------------------NOTES----------------------------
*1 Here are the differences between me and Malbim
in approach
* Malbim posits that >THE< refers to the species
and derives the above Rashis by playing on
the 2 words >FROM< and >THE<
* By contrast I have simply interpreted >THE<
to refer to something >SPECIAL< and >WELL KNOWN<
Hence the verse >FROM THE animals< should be
read as >FROM the SPECIAL animals< which
would indicate that eg they were special but
had not been subjected to bestiality.
Thus my approach is based on supplying intuitive keywords
(like SPECIAL) which capture the flavor of the word >THE<
as well as the midrash
*2 The Midrash does not DIRECTLY derive that
>From the SPECIAL animals< means to exclude
those animals that have had bestiality.
Rather all the Midrash does is infer that
these animals are SPECIAL in some way.
We are not told in WHAT way they are special.
MALBIM citing the Sifray and Talmud shows
that in each case the SPECIALNESS is
interpreted as consistent with the
particular item mentioned. Thus eg
CATTLE (Vs Wild beasts) are known for
their domestication and hence we exclude
bestiality.
*3 e.g The phrase >THE CATTLE< is mentioned
twice (Lv01-02, Lv01-03). Hence there are
two aspects of specialness: (a) The cattle
was not worshipped and (b) the cattle was not
wounded. It is a mistake (as Malbim notes)
to apply any particular derivation to any
particular word. Rather for each mention
of >THE< some type of SPECIALNESS is
given
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*# (C) Dr Hendel, 2001 *#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*