parshat Terumah: The Identification of 'izzim

Parshat Terumah begins {Shemot 25:1-8}:

א וַיְדַבֵּר ה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר.	1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
ב דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְיִקְחוּ-לִי תְּרוּמָה: מֵאֵת כָּל-אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ, תִּקְחוּ אֶת-תְּרוּמָתִי.	2 'Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take My offering.
ג וְזֹאת, הַתְּרוּמָה, אֲשֶׁר תִּקְחוּ, מֵאִתָּם: זָהָב וָכֶסֶף, וּנְחֹשֶׁת.	3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass;
ד וּתְכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי, וְשֵׁשׁ וְעִזִּים.	4 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair;
ה וְעֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאָדָּמִים וְעֹרֹת תְּחָשִׁים, וַעֲצֵי שִׁטִּים.	5 and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia-wood;
ו שֶׁמֶן, לַמָּאֹר; בְּשָׂמִים לְשֶׁמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה, וְלִקְטֹרֶת הַסַּמִּים.	6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense;
ז אַבְנֵי-שֹׁהַם, וְאַבְנֵי מִלֻּאִים, לָאֵפֹד, וְלַחֹשֶׁן.	7 onyx stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate.
ח וְעָשׂוּ לִי, מִקְדָּשׁ; וְשָׁכַנְתִּי, בְּתוֹכָם.	8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

The JPS translation identifies עִזִּים as "goats' hair." Similarly, Onkelos and Tg. Yonatan say וּמַעְזֵי. Onkelos' translation of the full pasuk: וְתַכְלָא וְאַרְגְּוָנָא וּצְבַע זְהוֹרִי, וּבוּץ וּמַעְזֵי. And so translater Rashi and Ibn Ezrea. Yet literally, it seems to mean goats. So why not say that one of the donations was goats? Or perhaps goat skins?

The answer is that peshat is not the hyper-literal reading (for that is usually derash), but rather the simplest meaning that fits in context, and here, the context makes clear the meaning of עִזִּים.

How can עִזִּים mean goats' hair on the level of peshat? This seems to be an example of synecdoche, in which the whole stands in for the part (example: "the law" used to refer to a police officer). This is a usual feature of natural language, so we should not insist that עִזִּים refer to whole goats.

Why should it not mean goat skins? The answer is context. Consider each pasuk:

ג וְזֹאת, הַתְּרוּמָה, אֲשֶׁר תִּקְחוּ, מֵאִתָּם: זָהָב וָכֶסֶף, וּנְחֹשֶׁת.

3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them: gold, and silver, and brass;

Thus, pasuk 3 speaks of metals.

ד וּתְכֵלֶת וְאַרְגָּמָן וְתוֹלַעַת שָׁנִי, וְשֵׁשׁ וְעִזִּים.

4 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair;

Pasuk 4 seems to speak of dyes, or as many understand it, dyed cloth. Thus tekhelet is wool which is dyed blue, and similarly for argaman and tola'at shani. shesh refers to fine linen, or white linen (see e.g. Jastrow). Thus, וְעִזִּים should refer to a cloth-like substance that that could be dyed. It is unlikely that it refers to whole goats, which we should expect to be listed among sacrifices, or among cows and sheep.

ה וְעֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאָדָּמִים וְעֹרֹת תְּחָשִׁים, וַעֲצֵי שִׁטִּים.

5 and rams' skins dyed red, and sealskins, and acacia-wood;

Here in pasuk 5 we have animals skins and wood. Could עִזִּים in pasuk 4 also be goat skins? Perhaps, but we should then expect it in pasuk 5. Furthermore, when animal skins are meant, the word עֹרֹת is overt, as in the case of rams and techashim.

Thus, goats' hair makes the most sense in context.

Another possibility, which might or might not necessitate a revocalization: עז, 'az, in the context of colors, can mean bright or intense (again, see Jastrow). Given that all the other elements in the pasuk are colors, or dyes or cloths of various colors, perhaps וְעִזִּים in the pasuk means other sundry bright and intense dyes and dyed cloth.