Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Va`era: "And In You and In Your People" -- Hyper-literalism and Anagram

Another interesting Rashi is the one on Shemot 7:29:
כח וְשָׁרַץ הַיְאֹר, צְפַרְדְּעִים, וְעָלוּ וּבָאוּ בְּבֵיתֶךָ, וּבַחֲדַר מִשְׁכָּבְךָ וְעַל-מִטָּתֶךָ; וּבְבֵית עֲבָדֶיךָ וּבְעַמֶּךָ, וּבְתַנּוּרֶיךָ וּבְמִשְׁאֲרוֹתֶיךָ. 28 And the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.
כט וּבְכָה וּבְעַמְּךָ, וּבְכָל-עֲבָדֶיךָ--יַעֲלוּ, הַצְפַרְדְּעִים. 29 And the frogs shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.'

Rashi comments:

ובכה ובעמך - בתוך מעיהם נכנסין ומקרקרין
and into you and into your people and into all your servants They [the frogs] would go into their intestines and croak. — [from Tanna d’vei Eliyahu, Seder Eliyahu Rabbah, ch. 7]

A related source:
אליהו רבה (איש שלום) פרשה ח ד"ה צפרדעים, מפני מה
צפרדעים, מפני מה באו עליהן, אמרו להן לישראל, צאו והביאו לנו שקצים ורמשים ונשחוק עמהן כמה שאנו רוצים, לפיכך הביא הקב"ה עליהן צפרדעים עד שנשמע קולן מתוך כריסן של מצריים שהיו אומרים קו לקו, ולא עוד אלא כשהיו הולכין לבית הכסא היו יוצאין מהן ונושכים אותם בנקביו ואין לו בושה כיוצא בה, שנאמר ושרץ היאר צפרדעים [וגו'] ובכה ובעמך וגו' (שמות ז' כ"ח וכ"ט). אמר לו פרעה למשה, בכשפים אתה בא עלי, קראו תינוקות מבית רבן ויעשו כיוצא בזה, שנאמר ויקרא גם פרעה לחכמים ולמכשפים וגו' (שם שם /שמות ז'/ י"א), ומשה ואהרן עשו את הדם ומכשפין עשו את הדם, משה ואהרן עשו צפרדעים ומצריים עשו צפרדעים, מיכן ואילך אין העולם יכול לבראות פחות מכעדשה

What is the textual basis for this Rashi? Part of it is fairly straightforward. In the previous pasuk, we had וְעָלוּ וּבָאוּ בְּבֵיתֶךָ, וּבַחֲדַר מִשְׁכָּבְךָ וְעַל-מִטָּתֶךָ, with many ב's, which meant in. This is thus also interpreted to mean "in." Thus, "in you and in your people and in your servants" is taken, hyper-literally, to mean inside.

Judaica Press tries to translate in accordance with Rashi. Thus, while the JPS translation had:
"And the frogs shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants."

Judaica Press had:
"and into you and into your people and into all your servants"

But there is more textual basis. Note Rashi says בתוך מעיהם נכנסין ומקרקרין. I believe that there is derasha via anagram at play here. ובכה ובעמך becomes ובכה ובמעך. Perhaps we can make something of the fact that this is the only portion of the verse cited in the dibbur hamatchil (but most likely not.)

This all takes a hyper-literal, midrashic approach to the Chumash text. If I wanted to take a more peshat-oriented approach, I could note how the previous pasuk, pasuk 28, mentioned all the locations the frogs would go - houses, ovens, kneading troughs, etc., and interspersed within this which it would apply to. Thus, locations:

כח וְשָׁרַץ הַיְאֹר, צְפַרְדְּעִים, וְעָלוּ וּבָאוּ בְּבֵיתֶךָ, וּבַחֲדַר מִשְׁכָּבְךָ וְעַל-מִטָּתֶךָ; וּבְבֵית עֲבָדֶיךָ וּבְעַמֶּךָ, וּבְתַנּוּרֶיךָ וּבְמִשְׁאֲרוֹתֶיךָ. 28 And the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.
and to whom it would apply:

כח וְשָׁרַץ הַיְאֹר, צְפַרְדְּעִים, וְעָלוּ וּבָאוּ בְּבֵיתֶךָ, וּבַחֲדַר מִשְׁכָּבְךָ וְעַל-מִטָּתֶךָ; וּבְבֵית עֲבָדֶיךָ וּבְעַמֶּךָ, וּבְתַנּוּרֶיךָ וּבְמִשְׁאֲרוֹתֶיךָ. 28 And the river shall swarm with frogs, which shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneading-troughs.
After all this, it might be confusing, or necessary to underscore, all the people to whom this would apply (or according to other interpretations, the order). Thus, the next pasuk is really simple repetition:
כט וּבְכָה וּבְעַמְּךָ, וּבְכָל-עֲבָדֶיךָ--יַעֲלוּ, הַצְפַרְדְּעִים. 29 And the frogs shall come up both upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.'
Shadal has a different approach to this. Related to my earlier post about the meaning of ascend, he focuses on the word ascend in pasuk 29, and takes this somewhat more literally than I did above. Thus:

ובכה ובעמך : יעלו גם על בני אדם, כלומר במלבושיהם ובחיקם

They will also ascend on people {and not just houses, ovens and kneading troughs} -- that is to say, in their clothes and on their laps. This would also serve to account for the repetition of what was after all mentioned in the previous pasuk.

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