Genesis · Chapter 11

And all the earth had one language and one manner of speech.

שפה אחת ONE LANGUAGE — The Holy Tongue (Hebrew) (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 19). ודברים אחדים AND ONE SPEECH — They came with one plan, saying: “He has no right to select the heavenly regions exclusively for Himself; let us ascend to the skies and make war upon Him”. Another explanation (of דברים אחדים which is taken to mean “words referring to “One”): words regarding the Sole Being (God) in the Universe. Another explanation of ודברים אחדים is: they spoke דברים חדים “sharp” words; they said, “Once in every one thousand six hundred and fifty six years (the period that elapsed from the Creation to the Flood) there is a heaven-shaking, just as there was in the days of the Flood. Come. then, and let us make supports for it” (Genesis Rabbah 38:6).

"One language" — with a small patah [segol] under the alef when it stands independently; when it is in construct state, it comes with a large patah [patah]. In my book of grammar I explained why one dalet is missing. The Dispersion appears, by reasoned reckoning, to have occurred one hundred years after the Flood. Peleg was so named because at the time of his birth the earth was divided — as the Aramaic translation renders it, "half" — and similarly "streams of water" (Ps. 1:3), which are the divided portions of a river. Likewise "Ichabod" (I Sam. 4:21) and "Immanuel," who is the son of the prophet (Isa. 7:14). The words of Seder Olam are also correct, and on them we rely. If so, Abraham was among the builders of the Tower. Do not be surprised, for Noah and Shem were there as well — Shem did not die until Jacob our father was more than fifty years old. The meaning of "one language" is: one tongue. What seems most likely to me is that it was the Holy Tongue, and the names Adam, Eve, Cain, and also Shem and Peleg bear witness to this. The meaning of "devarim achadim" [unified words] — because in every language one finds today words that not all speakers of that language understand, but in those days the words of the wise and the fool were alike [achadim]; and they are plural, from the root of echad [one].

ויהי כל הארץ שפה אחת. The whole earth had a single language. We must give some thought to the intent of the generation that built the Tower. What exactly did they mean to achieve by means of a city and a tower? If all they had in mind was to give expression to some aspect of heresy, how was that expressed by their building plans? If indeed their heresy was of a serious nature, their punishment, i.e. scattering them over the globe, seems an inadequate punishment. How would that punishment cure them of their heresy? The words ועתה לא יבצר מהם כל אשר יזמו לעשות, "Must not everything they are planning to do be withheld from them now?," are difficult. This line poses severe problems for a believer. Why did they say: "we will build a city for ourselves?" Who else was there to build a city for? Besides, did not G'd want mankind to construct a civilised universe? Surely He did not want a bunch of cave-dwellers? If we accept the view of the sages that G'd intended one third of the earth to be under cultivation and civilisation, one third desert, and one third water, if you were to line up all the cities side by side even now several thousand years later, they would not cover one hundredth of a third of the available land mass! Most of the earth would remain desert, or at least uninhabited! It seems therefore that the roads linking one town or village to another are all considered as part of the "built up" areas that are to form approximately one third of the earth's surface. When the Torah reports that the people spoke one language and דברים אחדים, were of one mind about all important issues, the meaning is that they literally congregated together without spreading out at all. To prevent becoming scattered they built a single city. They built the tower as a landmark so that if anyone of them strayed too far from home he would be able to orient himself by seeing the tower from a distance. The "name" the Torah speaks of is the "name" of the tower, i.e. its visibility from afar, its significance. It was this very reluctance to comply with G'd's intention to populate various parts of the earth which annoyed G'd. Had they not been endowed with free choice, they never could have defied G'd's plan for an evenly populated earth in this manner. G'd therefore had to resort to some stratagem to frustrate their plan without interfering with their basic freedom of choice. G'd achieved this by confusing their uniform language. Henceforth people who had a language in common would tend to congregate together, and as a result of a common language they would choose to live together. This could only be accomplished through their migrating from what used to be a central location, or what we are fond of calling "the cradle of civilisation." G'd's whole purpose was to fill the earth with people. The sin of wanting to remain together in one location was almost as serious as outright heresy, being מקצץ הנטיעות. While it is true that there are numerous mystical angles to this episode, and our sages elaborate on many of them, none of these explanations represent the plain meaning of the text.

And the whole earth was of one language and of common purpose. It appears that the entire incident of the Dispersion follows the principle that our Sages taught (Sanhedrin 71b): When the wicked gather together, it is bad for them and bad for the world; when the wicked are scattered, it is good for them and good for the world. For the righteous, the opposite is true. This is because when the wicked gather together, they devise evil plans against others. Additionally, they breed among themselves quarrels, conflicts, and hatred. This is the nature of the jealousies that exist between factions whose actions are not for the sake of Heaven but rather to make a name for themselves on earth. The root cause of this is that each of them has an external goal that divides their hearts from one another — for this one desires wealth and honor, that one excessive food, another excessive sexual pleasures, and yet another says “let us make a name for ourselves,” wanting to be elevated above others. From this, strife inevitably follows, both because they lack a unified purpose [for evil paths are many, while the good path is only one], and because each individual desires to achieve superiority and prominence over others. This trait is indeed prevalent among our people. Therefore, the dispersal of such groups is better than their gathering, as it is written, All workers of iniquity shall be scattered (Psalms 92:10). Nothing is better than creating space between those who cleave together [inappropriately], as it is written, Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongue, for I have seen violence and strife in the city (Psalms 55:10). However, when the righteous gather together it is good because their purpose unifies them, for they have but one purpose and they become united through it, as it is written Great peace have they who love Your Torah (Psalms 119:165). But not for those who primarily love external purposes. And this explains the matter of the dispersion, for initially they all had one language and unified words and there was peace between them, and they were concerned lest as they multiply in the land they would scatter, for the land would not be able to sustain them dwelling together in one place, and they would come to wars, as war is always common between inhabitants of one country and another. Therefore they said, “Now we are one people with one language,” and there was concern lest we necessarily scatter from one another and brotherhood cease between us, therefore let us build a tower with its top in the heavens and make a name for ourselves, for it is the way of the world that every person has a desire and will to come dwell in a great city, a place gathering many people, and then we will be one people and not scatter from one another. And truly, if they had not said let us make a name for ourselves, what they said would have been good and they would have achieved the purpose of peace through this tower. However, in saying let us make a name for ourselves, they revealed all their heart’s schemes, for their intention was that their name should go out in the world and they would be called by their names upon the earth as people of stature, and it was revealed before the Blessed God that because they sought to acquire a name in the world, they would come to the opposite of what they intended. Therefore, And God said, “Behold, they are one people with one language, etc.” God is saying that in these schemes they have devised, they are mistaken, and they will fall into the very trap they are trying to escape from. For they think that by dispersing, they will divide into many nations and the thread of peace will be broken because they will come to many wars, and that by dwelling in one place they will be one people and peace will mediate between them. This would make sense if they had not said let us make a name for ourselves. However, in their saying this, God saw through to their true intentions, for everything would turn out opposite to what they thought. On the contrary, they would be “one people” precisely when they are scattered and separated, when no one has dealings with his fellow — that is when they will be one people. But if they all gather in one place to flee from war between nations, they will fall into an even greater war — an internal war, with sword against neighbor, for the gathering of wicked people is bad for them. And since they said let us make a name for ourselves, each one will want to dominate his fellow and be higher than him, for this is common among groups who do all their deeds for the sake of making their name known. Therefore, it is better to scatter them and prevent them from this building. This is what is meant by And God said, “Behold, they are one people with one language,” because now, when they are somewhat scattered, they are one people with one language, for each one says “yes” to what his fellow says “yes” to, and “no” to what his fellow says “no” to, as there is not so much jealousy and competition between them since they have not yet pursued making a name for themselves. And this is what they begin to do — this tower will be the beginning of the very thing they think to escape from, and it will be the opposite of their intention. It will be the beginning of them doing what they had not done before, for before this there was peace between them, and now there will be violence between neighbors due to the appointments and positions of authority that all inhabitants of a great city need, for without them, people would swallow each other alive. And since they want to make a name for themselves, each one will want to be a ruler and minister in this great city so that his name will spread throughout the world, and through this, disputes will multiply between them as mentioned. “And now nothing will be withheld from them which they scheme to do” (Genesis 11:6). This verse should not be interpreted as a question, but rather as a true statement, because they thought to establish a permanent state of peace, and I [God] also think similarly, albeit for the opposite reason of what they thought. They thought to establish peace through their gathering, believing that their assembly was good for them. However, I see that peace will be established through dispersion, as dispersion is better for them than gathering. Therefore, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language” (Genesis 11:7), because through this they will necessarily disperse, and then it will be good for them and for the whole world. For there can never be peace between people whose sole aim is to make a name for themselves on earth, as evidenced by our own people. And our Sages said (Tanchuma Noah 18) that they [the Generation of the Tower of Babel] declared, “He [God] has no right to choose the heavens for Himself…” Through this statement, our Sages revealed the extent to which the mindset of these “men of renown” reached — that even the Divine Presence was not considered significant in their eyes. For initially, their speech was earthbound, seeking greatness for themselves, but afterward they set their mouths against heaven itself, to challenge God’s kingship, as it were. And now, come and see how despicable this trait is — is it not the very thing that destroyed both Holy Temples and continues to delay the building of the Third Temple, until such time as He removes the arrogant ones from our midst, and there shall remain only a poor and humble people who will take refuge in the name of God and trust in the name of the Lord (Zephaniah 3:12).

And it came to pass when they journeyed at the beginning, they found a valley in the land of Babel, and they settled there.

בנסעם מקדם AS THEY JOURNEYED FROM THE EAST where they were then dwelling, as it is written above, (Genesis 10:30) “And their dwelling place was … the mountain of the East”. From there they journeyed to search out for themselves a place that would accommodate them all, but they found none except Shinar (Genesis Rabbah 38:7).

AS THEY JOURNEYED FROM THE EAST. Rashi comments: “They journeyed from where they were then dwelling, as it is written above, And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest toward Sephar, unto the mountain of the east. From there they journeyed to search out for themselves a place that would accomodate them all, but they found none except Shinar.” But this is not correct for this is the account of the children of Shem only, concerning whom it was so said [that they dwelled at “the mountain of the east”], and why should Scripture attribute the dispersion to the descendants of Shem when the children of Japheth and of Ham were more numerous than they? Besides, their habitation in their countries was from Mesha to the mountain of the east, and the dispersion of the nations took place before they settled there, for the children of Japheth surely did not come from the isles of the sea to the land of Shinar; rather, it was during the dispersion that G-d scattered them abroad upon the face of all the earth, here. and at that time they were settled in their lands, after their nations. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that the mountains of Ararat are in the east. [Thus the verse before us which states, as they journeyed from the east, means as they journeyed from the mountains of Ararat.] That which he said is correct for the mountains of Ararat are in the east near Assyria, as it is said, And they escaped into the land of Ararat. The reference there is to the sons of Sennacherib of Assyria, who slew their father and fled to the nearby land of Ararat. And when Noah came down from the mountain [upon which the ark had rested], he and his sons settled in those lands, and when they increased they journeyed from there to this valley called Shinar. According to our Rabbis, the men of the dispersion rebelled against their Creator. But those who pursue the plain meaning of Scripture say that their idea was only to be closely united, for Scripture declares their intention, lest we be scattered, here. and does not relate any other matter [motive] concerning them. But if it be as those commentators say, then the men of the dispersion were fools for how could one city and one tower suffice for all people of the world? Or perhaps they thought that they would not be fruitful and multiply, as it is written, and the seed of the wicked will be cut off. However, he who knows the meaning of the word “name” — as they said, and we will make for us a name here. — will understand their intent and will know the extent of their evil intention in constructing the tower. And then he will understand the whole subject, namely, that theirs was an evil thought, and the punishment that came over them — to be dispersed in their languages and countries — was meted out measure for measure for “they mutilated the shoots” [of faith by seeking to undermine the principle of the Unity]. Thus their sin was comparable to that of their father Adam. Perhaps on account of this the Sages expounded: “And the Eternal came down to see… which the children of men had built. here. Said Rabbi Berachyah, ‘[Whose children could they have been but the children of men?] Perhaps the children of donkeys or camels? Rather it means the children of the first man, etc.’” Contemplate further that in the entire subject of the flood, Scripture mentions Elokim (G-d), while in the entire matter of the dispersion it mentions the Tetragrammaton; the flood came on account of the corruption of the land, and the dispersion came because “they mutilated the shoots” of faith and therefore their punishment was meted out by His Great Name. This explains the “coming down” here. and also the Divine measure meted out in Sodom. The student learned [in the mystic lore of the Cabala] will understand.

That which the text says, "as they journeyed from the east" — is a sign that the mountains of Ararat lie to the east. The meaning of "they found a plain" — that they sought a good place to build a city, until they found this valley. The meaning of bik'ah [plain] is a level expanse, the opposite of "the hills" (Isa. 40:4), and similarly "as cattle that go down into a valley" (Isa. 63:14). It is possible that it lay between mountains, as though split open in their midst.

בנסעם מקדם, they were leading the lives of nomads, much like shepherds who move to wherever there was good grazing land for their flocks.

בנסעם מקדם, “when they journeyed from Kedem.” According to Rashi this is a reference to verse 30 in the previous chapter in which mankind had been described as being in הר הקדם. Due to their increasing numbers, they began to look for a location that could comfortably accommodate all of them. Nachmanides, on the other hand, considers Rashi’s interpretation as flawed, claiming that only the descendants of Shem had resided in the region described as הר הקדם in verse 30. To the question that if so why would the dispersal of mankind be attributed only to the descendants of Shem, this raises the point why the dispersal of mankind is described as caused and applied only to the descendants of Shem and not to those of Yephet and Cham, seeing that the latter even represented the majority of mankind? Furthermore, according to this concept the descendants of Yephet remained in their habitats, and how did they come to populate the islands in the Ionic and Aegean sea? We would have to assume that G’d scattered them all across these islands. Subsequently, they would have formed nation states like the descendants of the other sons of Noach. Ibn Ezra writes that the mountain Arrarat was located in the east, and he is correct when he states that Mount Arrarat is situated east of there, and that it makes sense that the people who had lived around there had attempted to flee to the mountains in the Arrarat range to escape the deluge. When Noach descended from the ark it is no more than natural that he should have settled in that region. When his descendants became more numerous, they looked for wider spaces and moved down to the valley. It was the people who had settled in the valley who rebelled against G’d. According to the רודפי הפשט, people who are incapable of looking beyond the literal meaning of the text, these people did not intend to rebel against G’d but wanted to insure that they would not become scattered all over the world, unable to find their way back to their homes. These people claim that the fact that the Torah describes their expressed purpose in building the tower, not mentioning anything detrimental about them, is proof that they were quite innocent. If that interpretation were correct, the people of that time must have been complete idiots that they could imagine that a single city and a single tower could be sufficient for all of mankind! Did they imagine that the proliferation of the human race had concluded in their generation?? Anyone familiar with how to interpret what the Torah reveals, understands that the intention of the people building the tower is already revealed by their declared purpose of נעשה לנו שם, “let us make a name for ourselves!” One does not need to read much between the lines to appreciate that the project was a sinful one. If one needed further proof, the very penalty which fitted their crime, i.e. that they were dispersed, proves that they had intended to use their concentration in one location to assert their power vis-à-vis their Creator. Quite possibly, our sages who seize on the expression אשר בנו בני האדם, “which the descendants of Adam had built,” (verse 5) saw in these words a hint that the sin of these people paralleled the sin of disobedience perpetrated by the first human being, Adam. Why else would the Torah have to write the line in verse 5? Who would have thought that the people building the tower were not descendants of Adam? It is worth noting that in the whole episode of the deluge G’d is referred to by His attribute אלוקים, i.e. as someone sitting in judgment, whereas here throughout G’d is referred to as the Attribute of Mercy. The deluge had been decreed because the people at that time had corrupted earth, whereas here, just as in the case of Adam’s sin, the creature-Creator relationship, described by our sages as קצצו בנטיעות, undermining basic religious tenets, was the issue.

And they said to one another: Come, let us cast bricks and fire them in a burning fire — and the brick served them as stone, and bitumen served them as mortar.

איש אל רעהו ONE TO ANOTHER — One nation to the other: Mizraim to Cush, Cush to Put. and Put to Canaan (Genesis Rabbah 38:6). הבה means, “Prepare yourselves”. Wherever the word הבה (come) occurs it has the meaning of “prepare”, meaning that they should get themselves ready and unite for some work or plan or burden (undertaking). “Come, get ready”: in old French appareiller; English to prepare. לבנים BRICKS — For there is no stone in Babel which is a plain. ונשרפה לשרפה AND BURN THEM THOROUGHLY — This is how bricks, which in old French are called Tuiles, English tiles, are made: they fire them in a furnace. לחמר FOR MORTAR to plaster the walls.

"Let us make bricks" [nilbenah] — from the root levanim [bricks]. Although they are joined with a mem, they are of feminine gender, like nashim [women] and pilagshim [concubines]. They fired the bricks until they hardened — this is the strong building material that will not melt in water or fire. "And the brick served them as stone" — in place of stone, and the mortar in place of clay. Its meaning is plain, as it is in the Arabic tongue. Now these builders of the Tower were not fools who imagined they could ascend to heaven. Nor did they fear a new flood, for Noah and his sons — to whom Hashem had sworn — were there, and all the people were subject to their authority, as they were their descendants. The text has revealed their desire and their ultimate intention: to build a great city for their dwelling, and to build a tall tower to serve as a landmark and a name and a glory — so that those going abroad, like shepherds with their flocks, would know the location of the city. Their name would also endure after them for as long as the tower stood — and this is what the text means by "let us make a name for ourselves."

הבה נלבנה לבנים, now they wanted to build permanent housing for themselves and pens for the flocks and herds. This was a common consensus, as we know from the Torah describing their speaking to each other as ויאמרו איש אלך רעהו, “they said each to his colleague.”

לאבן, “as stone.” The letter ל is vocalised with a semi vowel, sh’va, not with a kametz. והחמר היה להם לחומר, “and the bitumen served them as mortar.” They mixed it with pitch in order to make it waterproof. The pitch here is called chemor.

And they said: Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches to the height of the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of all the earth.

פן נפוץ LEST WE BE SCATTERED ABROAD — That He shall not be able by bringing some plague upon us, to scatter us from here.

The word havah [come] is like tenah [give], and its root is y.h.b, as proven by: "Cast upon Hashem your burden" [yehavkha] (Ps. 55:23). Because it is used so frequently, you find it also in the plural, "Come, let us deal wisely" (Exod. 1:10), and also with the feminine, "Come now, let me come to you" (Gen. 38:16). Do not be surprised by the phrase "its head in the heavens," for Moses himself said: "great cities fortified up to the heavens" (Deut. 1:28). And these builders saw it as their counsel not to be dispersed, whereas Hashem did not intend this — but they did not know it.

ויאמרו הבה נבנה לנו עיר, this was at the advice of their leaders who wanted to enthrone Nimrod as king over the entire human race, Thus we will make for ourselves a name. This “name” was the idol that was to be placed in the tower. They hoped that on account of the grandeur of the tower and the city this idol would come to be recognized universally as the supreme deity. In this way the king of the city would achieve dominion over the entire world.

וראשו בשמים, “with its top in the sky.” This is obviously an exaggeration, a figure of speech. The Torah uses such exaggerations when describing Canaanite cities as “fortified into the sky,” (Deuteronomy 1,28) We must not forget that the term: שמים, sometimes refers to spiritual concepts, as in “celestial spheres, whereas on other occasions it refers to the horizon, or outer space. Birds are sometimes described as flying, בשמים, obviously not “in the heavens,” but “in the air.” ונעשה לנו שם, “and let us make a name for ourselves.” They referred to establishing a reputation of grandeur vis a vis any other creatures. [I do not understand with which other creatures they wanted to compete, as man was the supreme creature on earth. Ed.] פן נפוץ, “lest we scatter.” They were afraid that war might break out among them, assuming there were competing nations or human beings in distant areas unknown to them. At any rate, they realised that strength lay in numbers and in visibility over vast distances, such as the top of a tower that can be seen from afar. Basically, they felt that if they were to obey G-d’s command “to fill the earth,” this would contribute to their becoming ineffective in competition with G-d.

ונעשה לנו שם, “so that we can make a name for ourselves.” According to the plain meaning of the text, all these people wanted was to settle in one single location on earth in order to stay together. However, they did not find a location other than the valley of Shinor in which to do this. This is why they wanted to build a city and a tower which could accommodate all of them. The purpose of the tower was to serve as a beacon so that people all over the earth would be able to see it and to orient themselves by means of it. They themselves would all live in a single city. This is the reason the Torah quoted them as saying פן נפוץ, “lest we will scatter.” This is why G’d punished them by scattering them to teach them that they had contravened His commandment to fill the earth with their presence (9,1). Isaiah 45,18 pointed out that G’d had made the earth in order for it to be settled by mankind. From a homiletical point of view the operative clause in our veres are the words “let us make a name for “ourselves.” This is an oblique reference to idolatry. The word שם, “name,” here and the same word in Exodus 23,13 ושם אלוהים אחרים לא תזכירו, “and you must not mention the name of any other deity,” mean the same thing. We also have a Midrashic comment in Midrash Tehillim 1, that the word הבה, introduces an evil thought, an evil intention as it does in Judges 20,7 הבו לכם דבר ועצה הלום, “come up with a plan here and now!”. Furthermore, we have a tradition that the word עיר, “city,” is a reference to a deity as we find in Daniel 4,10 that the words עיר וקדיש refer to a destructive angel (Satan or similar). I have read in a Midrash on the Ten Commandments that these people proposed to take spades planning to invade heaven to flood it and drain it in order to ensure that another deluge could not originate from that source. They wanted to take large chunks of heaven and to engage in war with the King of the heavens. The Tower had seventy steps in an easterly direction and seventy steps in a westerly direction on its opposite side. G’d descended those seventy steps accompanied by seventy angels and He confused their language and their dialects. Thus far that Midrash. We also read in Bereshit Rabbah 38,6 that these people said: “we do not agree that G’d should have an exclusive right to heaven whereas we have only been assigned earth. Let us make war against Him.” (This Midrash appears in a variety of slightly different versions). Looking at this story from a rational point of view, the words “and let us make a name for ourselves,” must be understood thus. The people of that generation were very advanced in matters of philosophy and even technology. However, they used their intelligence in a sinful manner. They constructed the city and Tower to protect themselves against a deluge of fire (seeing that G’d had promised not to again bring a deluge of water). This is what the word “war” in the Midrash refers to. They prepared to contend with heavenly forces (such as angels) against the will of the Lord. They tried to isolate and tame the power of fire in order to neutralize its deadly effect so that it could not engulf their city. The author quotes scientists in his generation as attempting similarly to “tame” the power of “fire.” [I presume he speaks about the construction of lightning rods. Ed.] There was another reason which motivated them. They had been witness to the fact that G’d had decreed death on Adam, while they perceived themselves as physically powerful and enjoying a much longer life span than the 120 years G’d appeared to have decreed. They thought that they were all powerful [G’d Himself (verse 6) questioned whether their power should not be curtailed.] They planned to scale heaven while alive and well in order to overcome the impediment to this imposed upon them by their mortality. Their principal aim was to overcome the decree issued against Adam which made all of them mortal also. All of their planning in building the Tower was designed to achieve immortality. The reason G’d had to scatter them was because they planned to nullify His world order. The Torah has worded its report in such a way that it did not spell out these people’s evil intent in detail. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 38,6 elaborate on the words דברים אחדים, saying these words should be read as דברים אחודים, “words which were kept isolated, made inaccessible.” Whereas the Torah revealed the sin of the generation of the deluge, it did not spell out the sin of the generation of the Tower. I have heard it said that there were seventy people engaged in building the Tower. No doubt there was a special reason why seventy, and only seventy people would have been actively engaged in the building of that Tower. A kabbalistic approach to the meaning of the words “let us make a name for ourselves.” Fundamentally, their sin was the same as that of their forefather Adam who had become guilty of what our sages called קצץ בנטיעות, the heresy practiced by Enosh (4,26). The word הוחל in that verse needs to be translated as “was desecrated.” Here too the words וזה החלם לעשות have to be understood in that same vein, i.e. “and now they committed a desecration.” Another way of understanding the same word is to derive it from, תחלה “beginning;” in that case the correct translation would be “and this is what they commenced to do!” However, the words must not be detached from their plain meaning. The common denominator between these two explanations is that these people undertook something which, if left unchecked, would result in the end of mankind. This is the deeper meaning of the expression קצץ בנטיעות, “cut off the saplings at their very roots” (figuratively speaking). The reason the Torah uses the word וזה “and this,” is that this word is related to שם i.e. ונעשה לנו שם, “let us make a name for ourselves.” The word שם in this instance is a reference to the highest emanation [the one known in modern kabbalistic literature as כתר. Ed.] They wanted to conquer the highest regions of heaven. They were under the mistaken impression that that emanation is the absolute highest level of “heaven,” i.e. celestial force, which exists. This very mistaken belief undermines the true faith and is equivalent to someone being מקצץ בנטיעות. Considering all this, the Torah had said previously (11,2) ויהי בנסעם מקדם, “it was when they departed from the One called Kedem, i.e. from the Creator who preceded all” (compare Bereshit Rabbah 38,7). The Torah did want us to know that basically, their sin was of the same category as that of the first man. This is why the Torah refers to the people in this paragraph as בני האדם, “Adam’s sons”, to hint that what they did paralleled what Adam had done. Rabbi Berechyah in Bereshit Rabbah 38,9 asks rhetorically: “how else was the Torah supposed to describe these people if not as בני האדם?” Should the Torah have referred to the as בני חמירא, the “sons of donkeys, or “the sons of camels?” The answer [I think, is in the extra letter ה before the word אדם i.e.] that the Torah stresses that they behaved not just like ordinary human beings but like the first human being, Adam [as opposed to 5,1 where the Torah describes זה ספר תולות אדם, “this is the Book of the generations of man,” without the letter ה in front of the word אדם Ed.] The words בני האדם are a hint that these people were like the first human being and the Torah had indicated that the people of the deluge had sinned by denying that there is something higher than the emanation כתר, which had let to their destruction in the “lower universe.” We had explained earlier that the attribute of Justice, even when in a dominant role, is always accompanied by some aspect of the attribute of Mercy as represented by שם the Ineffable Name י-ה-ו-ה. In the case of the deluge, the principle of מדה כנגד מדה operated in such a way that as punishment for that generation’s refusal to recognise anything beyond the emanation שם=כתר, they experienced the full impact of the unrelieved attribute of Justice so that even the earth they had lived on was destroyed. The earth had been the creation of the attribute of Justice, i.e. אלוקים. The attribute of Mercy, i.e. השם, had been “co-opted” only at the time when the Torah reported the creation of Adam (2,4) as a functioning human being. Basically, man had tried to separate the role of the attribute of אלוקים from the role of the attribute שם, or י-ה-ו-ה. G’d demonstrated to them that such an attempt if successful spells disaster both for them and for the earth they lived on. They had wanted only “nature,” as represented by the attribute אלוקים. It is quite possible that prior to the deluge such considerations had not had a philosophical basis, had been mostly based on an emotional resentment of authority from an extra-terrestrial force. At this time, it had been developed to a philosophy by highly intelligent people, people who had already learned of the value of co-operation, unity, working towards a common goal. This was why their newly developed approach was so dangerous. [I have taken the liberty to phrase these thoughts in my own way. Ed.] G’d scattered them (i.e. separated them from their unity) all over the globe as retaliation for their attempt to “scatter,” i.e. separate His attributes from one another. Furthermore, they had calculated the precise number of steps needed to ascend to heaven (70) [according to Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, the number reflects 70 miles, a mile per step. Ed.] The number may also allude to the 70 representatives of the 70 nations in the celestial spheres. According to tradition, Nebuchadnezzar (who was also from Babel (though it was renamed Babylon) introduced the golden image of בל into the remnants of the Holy Temple to symbolise that this philosophy had triumphed. (In Jeremiah 51,44 the prophet predicts the eventual humiliation of that idol and that of the people who worshiped it) Daniel 3,1 speaks of a huge golden image Nebuchadnezzar had put up in the valley of Dura in the land of Babylon. This valley may be identical with the valley described in our chapter where the Torah described these people as וימצאו בקעה, “they found a valley.” All of this is part of the aforementioned hints the Torah provided concerning the sins of that generation. My the Lord protect us from committing similar errors.

And Hashem was revealed to exact punishment upon the works of the city and the tower that the children of men had built.

'וירד ה לראות AND THE LORD CAME DOWN TO SEE — He really did not need to do this, but Scripture intends to teach the judges that they should not proclaim a defendant guilty before they have seen the case and thoroughly understand the matter in question. This is to be found in Midrash of R. Tanchuma. בני האדם THE CHILDREN OF MAN (ADAM) — But whose children could they have been (except the children of man, i.e. human beings) — perhaps the children of donkeys or camels? But it means the children of Adam Harishon who proved himself ungrateful when he said, (Genesis 3:12) “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, [she gave me of the tree etc.]”. These people, also, were ungrateful, rebelling against the One who had showered kindness upon them and had rescued them from the Flood (Genesis Rabbah 38:9).

The word "Hashem descended" — because all the deeds of those below depend on the power of those above, and all events are established from heaven. Therefore Hashem is called "Rider of the heavens" (Deut. 33:26), "He who sits in the heavens" (Ps. 123:1); and in the manner of human speech the text says, "descended."

וירד ה' לראות, The Torah uses the expression “G’d descended to see, etc.,” only when the sins committed by the people concerned were not yet ripe for severe punishment but would become so if left unchecked. Retribution which results from G’d “descending,” must be viewed as a kind of preventive medicine, designed to avoid the need for more drastic action at a later stage. One well known example of G’d’s preventive retribution is the בן סורר ומורה, a thirteen year old who stole a little meat and wine from his parents, and whose punishment is execution if the parents brought him to court as an unmanageable teenager (Deut. 21,18, see Rashi, and Sanhedrin 72 on this). In the case of Sodom, where G’d is also reported as “descending,” (Genesis 18,21) this also occurred at a time when their sin had not yet been greater than that of other surrounding nations, so that only these cities had to be singled out for punishment at that time. What distinguished the Sodomites was only the cruelty with which they committed the same kind of sins as those committed by other nations. This would eventually have led to such a corrupt world that the need for G’d to intervene on a global rather than a local basis, would have become unavoidable. Ezekiel 16,49 also describes the sin of the Sodomites in such terms when he wrote הנה זה היה עון סדום אחותך... ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה”This was the sin of Sodom your sister….but the hand of the poor and the needy she did not support.” Similarly, the punishment of the Israelites when they were exiled was brought forward out of concern that something worse might become their fate if G’d did not intervene at that time and exile them so that He would not eventually have to punish them even more harshly. (Deut 32,20) “I can see what would be their ultimate end.”

And Hashem said: Behold, they are one people and they all have one language, and this is what they have begun to do — and now nothing they have devised to do will be withheld from them.

הן עם אחד BEHOLD, THEY ARE ONE PEOPLE — They possess all the advantage of being one people and of having one language common to all of them, and this is what they begin to do! החלם is infinitive, like אמרם “their speaking”. עשותם “their doing” (i.e. “they speak”, “they do”) — so here: “they begin to do”) (Genesis Rabbah 38:9). לא יבצר מהם וגו' לעשות This is a question (although the ה which introduces an interrogative sentence is absent): SHALL THEY NOT BE RESTRAINED FROM DOING WHAT THEY IMAGINE TO DO? The word יבצר means “restraining”, as the Targum understands it; a similar instance is, (Psalms 76:13) “He restrains (יבצור) the spirit of princes”.

"Hashem said: Behold, they are one people" — this He said to the angels, and it was before "descended" (Gen. 11:5); the meaning of "descended" is that it came about afterward because of what follows. "One people" — meaning they have one religion, for it is the change of religions that gives rise to rivalry and hatred, as does also the change of language; therefore the king of Media and Persia commanded: "speaking the language of his own people" (Esth. 1:22). The heh of ha-hilam ["what they have begun to do"] is opened with a large patah on account of the het that follows it — similarly "hahiloti" (Deut. 2:31). The word yibatzer ["will be withheld from them"] is like yimna ["will be prevented"], and likewise "fortified cities" [arim betsurot] (Deut. 3:5). The meaning is: if I leave them alone, they will think they can accomplish whatever they wish. The word yazmu ["they intend"] is like zamemu ["they planned"] — these are two distinct roots.

הן עם אחד, the only way I can stop them from carrying out their unanimously approved plan is to sow the seeds of discord between them. The instrument of bringing this about is to confuse their language. Basically, people’s disagreements are either religious, (philosophical) in nature, or they result from misunderstanding what they mean when they speak. These people had been of one mind in matters of religion, seeing that they had all agreed with the mistaken idolatrous philosophy shared by mankind at that time. In spite of such apparently good reasons for disagreeing with one another, they did not misunderstand each other. וזה החלו לעשות, and yet they all agree to begin this project. ועתה לא יבצר מהם, in view of these circumstances, if left alone, they would complete what they have set out to do, so that this form of idolatry they have agreed on would henceforth be something embraced by all of mankind. Not a single one of them would turn to the Creator of the universe and realise that He, and He alone, is the Creator of the entire universe. On the other hand, the opposite will occur if discord will break out among them regarding the supremacy of any of the deities versus the competing ones. In such a scenario, every nation would believe that there is one deity that is superior to all the various national deities, whose concern is only with the particular nation worshipping that deity. All the minor deities would have to subordinate themselves to the power of that super-deity. The prophet Maleachi 1,11 expresses this in the following words: ”for from where the sun rises to where it sets, My name is honoured among the nations;” כי ממזרח שמש ועד מבואו גדול שמי בגוים.

וזה התלם לעשות, “and this is what they have begun to do.” The letter ה in the word hachilom has the vowel patach under it. ועתה לא יבצר, “and now that they all know seventy tongues, unless they will be scattered they cannot be prevented from translating their evil design into action.” [By dispersing them, they will forget the other tongues, and this will make unity harder for them to maintain. [This interpretation is first found in B’chor shor, one of the Tossaphists, Rabbi Yoseph. Ed.]

Come, let us be revealed and confuse their language there, so that one person will not understand the language of another.

הבה נרדה COME, LET US GO DOWN — He took counsel with His Judicial Court because of His exceeding meekness (Sanhedrin 38b) הבה COME — measure for measure: they had said “Come, let us build“; He meted out to them correspondingly saying. “Come let us go down” (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 18) ונבלה means AND LET US CONFOUND The נ is the plural prefix, and the ה at the end is additional to the root as the ה in ונרדה. ולא ישמעו — THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND — One asks for a brick and the other brings him lime: the former therefore attacks him and splits open his brains.

"Come, let us descend" — Hashem's speech to the angels. The word venabelah sham sefatam ["let us confuse their language there"] — all the grammarians say it is in the nif'al [passive-reflexive] form, like venabkah ruah mitzrayim ["the spirit of Egypt shall be emptied out"] (Isa. 19:3), and similarly avelah navelah ["the earth mourns and withers"] (Isa. 24:4). But this is far-fetched: what would it mean that "we will descend and their language will become confused"? Their language did not become confused on account of the descent. Rather, venabelah is like ve-na'aseh ["let us make/do"]. The proof is that the text later says, "for there Hashem confused" [bilel] (Gen. 11:9). Its grammatical form is hif'il [causative], and in its full form it should be venabilelah, but with the doubling absorbed it becomes venabelah — on the pattern of venasevah et aron Hashem ["let us bring around the ark of Hashem"] (I Chron. 13:3), and with the doubling omitted, venabelah sham. The Elders translated it well as ve'avalah in place of venabelah. Now if it were as the grammarians say, why would the nun be missing? Some say that their hearts were turned to hate one another, and each one created his own language. Others say that He who teaches man knowledge caused them to forget the knowledge of their language. What seems correct to me is that they were scattered from there, and after they scattered, Nimrod ruled over Babylon and other kings arose, and over many years, when the first generation had died, the original language was forgotten. Hashem scattered them, and it was good for them — as He had said: "and fill the earth" (Gen. 9:1).

ונבלה, “let us confuse, etc.” the word is closely related to בלולה, “thoroughly mixed.” אשר לא ישמעו איש את שפת רעהו, so that they will not understand one another’s language.” They will forget any tongue other than the one they are in the habit of using. The seventy tongues will remain their collective property, but not everyone will be able to speak all these tongues. No new tongues came into existence at this time.

And Hashem scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.

ויפץ ה' אתם משם SO THE LORD SCATTERED THEM ABROAD FROM THENCE—In this world (Sanhedrin 107b). What they had said. (Genesis 11:4) “lest we be scattered abroad” really happened to them. This is what Solomon said, (Proverbs 10:24) “What the wicked fears will come upon him” (Midrash Tanchuma, Noach 18).

The meaning of "they ceased building the city" — that is, from completing it; for they had already built part of the city and part of the tower, as it is written: "which the sons of man had built." Or the meaning of "which the sons of man had built" may be: in their plan — as in "and he fought against Israel" regarding Balak (Josh. 24:9). The first interpretation seems correct to me.

Therefore its name was called Babel, for there Hashem confused the language of all the earth, and from there Hashem scattered them over the face of all the earth.

ומשם הפיצם AND FROM THENCE DID THE LORD SCATTER THEM —This teaches that they have no portion in the world to come (Sanhedrin 107b). Which sin was greater: that of the generation of the Flood or that of the generation of the Dispersion? The former did not stretch forth their hands against God; the latter did stretch forth their hands against God to war against him (surely, then, the sin of the generation of the Dispersion was greater) and yet the former (the generation of the Flood) were drowned and these did not perish from the world! But the reason is that the generation of the Flood were violent robbers and there was strife among them, and therefore they were destroyed; but these conducted themselves in love and friendship, as it is said, “They were one people and had one language”. — You may learn from this how hateful to God is strife and how great is peace (Genesis Rabbah 38:6).

"Babel" — is two words, with the alef missing, and similarly "Bagad" (Gen. 30:11) and "Bamah" (Ezek. 20:29).

כי שם בלל ה' שפת כל הארץ ומשם הפיצם ה, “for it was there that G’d confused the language of the whole earth, and from there G’d scattered them.” You should know that wherever the name of G’d (the four-lettered one, even) appears in a reverse order such as here when the respective first letters in the four words 'הארץ ומשם הפיצם ה appear, the Torah means the attribute of Justice. This is just one of the examples of this rule. In every one of the numerous instances where we encounter the use of the four-lettered name of G’d where we would not have expected it, the addition of such a reverse allusion as we have shown here makes it plain that the Torah had the attribute of Justice in mind. I will demonstrate this in detail whenever we shall encounter this phenomenon. Seeing that our passage appeared to refer to the attribute of Mercy when we read such phrases as וירא ה' “G’d saw”, (verse 5) or ויאמר ה’,”G’d said,” (verse 6), names of G’d which suggest that the attribute of Mercy was at work, the Torah had to provide us with an allusion to show that at that time the world was already under the attribute of Justice which had already been poised to strike. This attribute of Justice was now “wrapped” inside a layer of the attribute of Mercy in recognition of the unity which was a dominant feature of mankind’s lifestyle at that time. People loved one another and the Torah reflected this by writing that they spoke one language and had a common purpose.” This is the reason why G’d only scattered them instead of destroying them. The confusing of their languages was an example of the principle of the punishment fitting the crime, מדה כנגד מדה. Their sin consisted of the words they spoke, i.e. ויאמרו הבה נבנה לנו עיר, “they said: ”let us build a city for ourselves, etc.” Seeing they had put the power of speech to improper use, their power of speech now became impaired so that they no longer could understand each other. The descendants of Noach who had numbered seventy at that time, were now divided into seventy nations, each with a distinctive language. You know already that there are seventy “princes,” i.e. representatives in the celestial spheres who represent these seventy nations before the throne of G’d. They correspond to the respective kings or heads of these nations here on earth. Each one of these seventy celestial “princes” is a part of the nation he represents, unlike Yaakov (Jeremiah 10,16) of whom the prophet said לא כאלה חלק יעקב כי יוצר הכל הוא, “unlike these is the portion of Yaakov, for it is He Who forms all things.” Just as the Jewish people do not need intermediaries before G’d but have direct access to Him, so the Hebrew tongue is superior to all the other languages in the world. It is G’d’s own language and as such it is as superior to other languages as is G’d Himself to any of the agents He has appointed in this world to do His bidding. This is what our sages in Shabbat 12 alluded to when they said: “when someone asks in Aramaic (in his prayer) for whatever he needs, the angels will not assist him (add their pleading on his behalf) as the angels do not understand that language.” This poses a problem as we have already stated that the great planet is more knowledgeable than man, and the angels are certainly more knowledgeable than that great planet; if man knows Aramaic, why does not that angel understand that language? Besides, we have a tradition that both Joseph (Sotah 37) and Mordechai knew all the seventy languages (compare Megillah 13). The correct explanation of the statement in Shabbat 12 that מלאכי השרת אינן מכירין בלשון ארמי ואינן נזקקין לו is that their knowledge of the Aramaic language is of no help to the people praying in that language as just as these angels do not act as agents for Jews praying in any language other than Hebrew they also do not act as agents for Jews praying in Aramaic. There is, however, no doubt that the angels do understand that language just as they understand every language. It is the duty of the Jews to draw the help from celestial sources by means of the Holy Tongue, Hebrew. Unless they are capable of praying in Hebrew their prayer loses in effectiveness.

These are the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old and he begot Arpachshad, two years after the Flood.

שם בן מאת שנה SHEM WAS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD when he begat Arpachshad two years after the Flood.

The meaning of "two years" is explained in the verse about "the brother of Japheth the elder" (Gen. 10:21).

אלה תולדות שם, “These are the descendants of Shem;” whenever a paragraph commences with the word: אלה, this is to alert us that it is not a continuation of what had preceded it. In this instance, the Torah wishes to distinguish between the evil people featured in the previous paragraph and the good people, whose descendants followed their illustrious ancestors.

אלה תולדות שם, “these are the descendants of Shem.” You do not find the word death, or “the died,” in connection with any of the descendants of Shem who have been enumerated here [except when the Torah reports that Avram’s father Terach died in Charan (verse 32). Ed.] as you find it mentioned when the Torah enumerated the generations between Adam and Noach. It is possible that the reason is that the kingdom of David (the Messiah) will be descended from them, and in due course the Messiah will be the cause of banishing death altogether. [At this point our author once again indulges in speculation about the timing of that event. Seeing that time has passed and the Messiah did not arrive, I have omitted the rest of this passage. Ed.]

And Shem lived after he begot Arpachshad five hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters.

ויולד בנים ובנות, the Torah does not mention even once the word וימות, “he died,” something that appears with the report of each of the generations preceding the deluge. The reason why the Torah mentioned the death of those generations was because each of them died before the main subject of the entire chapter had been reached, i.e. the destruction of life on earth by the deluge. The people in the generations from Noach onward are considered as having been forerunners fo a positive development, as opposed to their predecessors who simply died before everybody else died also. In our chapter the thrust of the story is to show that eventually a towering personality such as Avraham emerged on earth, so that those who preceded him may be viewed as paving the way for Avraham’s eventual emergence on the stage of history. Avraham’s greatness is enhanced by the relatively insignificant lives of his predecessors.

ויחי שם אחרי הולידו את ארפכשד, “After having sired Arpachshad, Shem lived for another 500 years.” The formula preceding the death of the members of the earlier generations familiar to us as: ויהיו כל ימיו, “all of the years of his life were, etc.,” is absent now seeing that the life-spans of the antediluvian generations had closely approached 1000 years, something no longer the case after the deluge. (Compare Psalms 90,5 זרמתם שנה, “You let their years flow past as if they had only slept.” According to David, normal life spans in his time amounted to 70, maximum 80 years; verse 10 in the same chapter) There was therefore no need for the Torah to add the words: “all their days.” ויולד בנים ובנות, “he sired sons and daughters.” The earth filled up with human beings after the deluge, According to an opinion quoted in Bereshit Rabbah as well as in Sanhedrin 69, it was not unusual for eight year olds to be able to ejaculate semen which produced fetuses. When people who had left behind adult children died, their death is often described as שכיבה, “lying down,” whereas when they did not leave behind adult children they are described as “having died,” i.e. וימת. An example of the former is King David, (Kings I 2,10), whereas an example of the latter is his uncle Yoav, or, according to a different manuscript, Job, who did not leave behind adult sons.

ויחי שם... ויולד בנים ובנות, “Shem lived, etc., and begat sons and daughters.” No mention is made of these people dying, as the Torah invariably stated with the ten generations preceding Noach. The reason is that the earlier generations died, decomposed and no trace of them was left after the deluge. Seeing that their memory was blotted out on account of there being no visible reminder that they had ever lived, the Torah made mention of their lives and deaths. These later generations were all buried and their burial sites remained intact. Seeing that Noach was the founder of these last ten generations, and he was also partially a member of the first ten generations, his death is mentioned, as with his death a major segment of human history had been concluded. Some commentators believe that seeing the first human being brought death into the world, the Torah not only mentioned Adam’s death but also the death of those who but for his sin might never have died. Generations subsequent to Noach were born into a different kind of universe than Adam had been placed in; therefore there was no need to stress that these people died after having lived the number of years mentioned in the Torah.

And Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and he begot Shelach.

And Arpachshad lived after he begot Shelach four hundred and three years, and he begot sons and daughters.

And Shelach lived thirty years, and he begot Ever.

And Shelach lived after he begot Ever four hundred and three years, and he begot sons and daughters.

And Ever lived thirty-four years, and he begot Peleg.

It is possible that Peleg was named by this name on the day he was gathered [i.e., died], for Shem lived 500 years after the Flood; Arpachshad lived 438 years; Shelah his son 433 years; Eber his son 464 years. The total lifespan of Peleg was 239 years — which is half the years of his forebears. Also Reu his son lived after him the same number of years as Peleg, and Serug as well was close to them. This is the principle: after Peleg, no one lived 239 years as Peleg did, except his son alone. Some say there were seventy builders of the Tower, and accordingly they dispersed into seventy languages. And when you count the sons of Shem, the sons of Japheth, and the sons of Ham, you find they total seventy. But this is not correct, for the meaning of "Caphtorim and Pathrusim" (Gen. 10:14) is not two individual men; furthermore, Noah and his sons are not included in the count. According to Seder Olam, the builders of the Tower would have numbered in the thousands and tens of thousands.

And Ever lived after he begot Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and he begot sons and daughters.

And Peleg lived thirty years, and he begot Reu.

And Peleg lived after he begot Reu two hundred and nine years, and he begot sons and daughters.

And Reu lived thirty-two years, and he begot Serug.

And Reu lived after he begot Serug two hundred and seven years, and he begot sons and daughters.

And Serug lived thirty years, and he begot Nachor.

And Serug lived after he begot Nachor two hundred years, and he begot sons and daughters.

And Nachor lived twenty-nine years, and he begot Terach.

And Nachor lived after he begot Terach one hundred and nineteen years, and he begot sons and daughters.

And Terach lived seventy years, and he begot Avram, Nachor, and Haran.

And these are the generations of Terach: Terach begot Avram, Nachor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot.

And Haran died in the presence of Terach his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

על פני תרח אביו IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS FATHER TERAH — meaning during his father’s lifetime (Genesis Rabbah 38:13). The Midrashic explanation is that he died through his father. For Terah accused his son Abram before Nimrod of having smashed his idols to pieces, and he cast him into a fiery furnace. Haran waited and said to himself, “If Abram proves triumphant I will be on his side; if Nimrod wins I shall be on his”. When Abram was saved they said to Haran, “Whose side are you on?” Haran replied, “I am on Abram’s side”. They therefore cast him into the fiery furnace and he was burnt to death. It is to this that the name of the place Ur-Kasdim (fire of the Chaldees) alludes (Genesis Rabbah 38:13). Menachem ben Seruk, however, explains that אור means a valley, as (Isaiah 24:15) “Glorify ye the Lord in the valleys (באורים)”, and as (Isaiah 11:8) “the den (מאורת) of the basilisk”. Every hole or deep cleft may be called אור.

AND HARAN DIED IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS FATHER TERAH IN THE LAND OF HIS BIRTH IN UR OF THE CHALDEES. In accordance with the words of our Rabbis, Rashi wrote, “Terah accused his son Abram before Nimrod of having broken his idols, and he cast him into a fiery furnace. Meanwhile Haran waited and said to himself, ‘if Abram proves triumphant I will be on his side, and if Nimrod wins I shall be on his.’ When Abram was saved, they said to Haran, ‘On whose side are you?’ He replied, ‘I am on Abram’s side.’ They therefore cast him into the fiery furnace, and he was burnt to death. It is to this event that the name Ur Kasdim (fire of the Chaldees) alludes. Menachem ben Saruk, He composed the first dictionary covering the entire field of the Biblical language. His work is called Machbereth (literally, “a joining of words”). Rashi, in his commentary on the Torah and other books of the Bible, made great use of this work. however, explained the word ur as meaning ‘valley.’ So also, Therefore glorify ye the Eternal ‘ba’urim’ (in the valleys), and also, ‘me’urath’ (the den of) the basilisk. Every hole or deep cleft may be called ur.” This matter received by our Rabbis through tradition is the truth, and I will elucidate it. Our father Abraham was not born in the land of Chaldaea. His ancestors were descendants of Shem, and Chaldaea and the whole land of Shinar were countries inhabited by the sons of Ham, and Scripture states, And he told to Abram the ‘Hebrew,’ not Abram the Chaldean. And it is further written, Your fathers dwelt in days of old beyond the river, Terah the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, the word mei’olam (of old) teaching that his origins were always from there. And again Scripture states, And I took your father Abraham from beyond the river. Proof of the matter is that we find Nahor [Abraham’s brother] in Haran. Now if Terah’s place were in Ur of the Chaldees in the land of Shinar and Scripture relates that upon Terah’s going forth from Ur of the Chaldees he took with him only his son Abram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, here. then Nahor was left in the land of Chaldaea, [and yet we find that he was in Haran, which is in the land of Mesopotamia, as explained further]. But the truth of the matter is that the country of the birth of Abraham’s ancestors was the land of Aram, which is beyond the River Euphrates; this was always the habitat of his ancestors. Thus Scripture says concerning the children of Shem, And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest toward Sephar, unto the mountain of the east, this being a generic name applicable to all their countries, as it is written there, in their land, after their nations, and again it is written, From Aram Balak bringeth me, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east, [proving that Aram is in the land of “the mountains of the east”]. Thus it is clear that Abram and his ancestors always lived in the land of Aram. Furthermore, we find in the Talmud that Abraham was imprisoned [by Nimrod because he broke the idols] in Cuthah, and that city is not in the land of Chaldaea, for it is written, And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Avva, and from Hamath, and it is further written, And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal. But it would appear that Cuthah is a city beyond the river, in the land of Mesopotamia, for Haran is the name of a city in the land of Mesopotamia, as it is written, And he went to Aram-naharaim [Mesopotamia], unto the city of Nahor, which is Haran. Furthermore, we have investigated and know it from the word of many students It was from these students, who came from the eastern countries, that he sought first-hand knowledge to illumine the problems he had in his commentary. Concerning this fascinating period in the life of Ramban, see his biography, pp. 191-206 in my Hebrew work, pp. 60-65 in the English edition. who lived in that country that Cuthah is a large city between Haran and Assyria, far from the country of Babylon. The distance between it and Haran is about that of a six-day journey. It is, however, included in the term, “beyond the river,” because it lies between Mesopotamia and the River Euphrates — which is the border of the land of Israel — and the Tigris which goeth towards the east of Assyria. Thus Terah begot his older sons, Abraham and Nahor, in the area “beyond the river,” the land of his ancestors. He then went with his son Abram to the land of Chaldaea, where his youngest son, Haran, was born. His son Nahor, however, remained “beyond the river,” in the city of Haran. It may be that he was born there or that he came to settle there from Cuthah. This is the meaning of [the verse here which says of Haran], in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees, since that was the birthplace of Haran alone [among Terah’s children]. This matter received through tradition [that Cuthah was the birthplace of Abraham] is also found in a book called The Antiquities of the Nations, as the Rabbi See Seder Bereshith, Note 139. wrote in the Moreh Nebuchim Ramban is following Al-Charizi’s translation, and not Ibn Tibbon’s. See notes in my Hebrew commentary, pp. 72-73. that in the book of Egyptian Agriculture it is mentioned that Abraham, who was born365“Born.” Ibn Tibbon has, “grew up.” in Cuthah, differed with the opinion of the people who worshipped the sun, and the king put him in prison, but he continued to argue against them for many days. At last the king was afraid that he might corrupt his land and turn the people away from their religion, and so he expelled him to the far land of Canaan, after confiscating all his wealth. Thus in any case it was in this place, the land of Chaldaea, that a miracle — or more exactly a hidden miracle — was done to our father Abraham, for G-d put it into the heart of that king to save him and not to kill him, and so he released him from prison to go where he desires. It may be that it was an overt miracle, i.e., that the king threw him into a fiery furnace, and he was saved, as our Rabbis have stated. Let not Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra mislead you with his questions, saying that Scripture has not narrated this wonder, for I will yet give you a reason for the omission and proof of the verity of this and other miracles like it. These peoples, however, did not mention it in their books because they differed with his [the Patriarch’s] opinion, and they thought his miracle was a deed of sorcery, just as was the case with our teacher Moses in his confrontation with the Egyptians at the beginning of his deeds. It is on account of this that Scripture no longer mentions this miracle [of Abraham] for it would have had to mention the words of those who differed with him, as it mentioned the words of the Egyptian magicians, and Abraham’s words were not as openly verified to them as were ultimately the words of our teacher Moses, [which were established by ten clearly revealed miracles]. Thus Scripture says, I am the Eternal that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it, for the word hotzeisicha (brought thee out) points to a miracle. It does not say, “that took thee from Ur of the Chaldees;” instead it says, that brought thee out, meaning that He brought out a prisoner from the dungeon just as in the verse: that brought thee out from the land of Egypt. And He said to Abraham, to give thee this land to inherit it, because from the time that G-d brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, it was His Will, exalted be He, to make him into a great nation and to give him this land of Canaan. From that day on which Abraham was saved, Terah — his father — and Abraham had in mind to go to the land of Canaan, a distant point far from the land of Chaldaea, out of fear of the king, since Haran, [the city of their inhabitance], was near them [the Chaldeans], and they were one people with one language since Aramaic was their common language. They [Terah and Abraham] wanted to go to a nation where their speech would not be understood by that king and his people. This is the meaning of the verse, And they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran here. where their families and ancestors ever lived, and they settled among them, staying there for many days. It was there that Abraham was commanded to do what he had intended, i.e., to go to the land of Canaan, and so he left his father, who later died there in Haran, his country, and went with his wife and Lot, his brother’s son, to the land of Canaan. Thus Scripture says, And I took your father Abraham from beyond the river, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, for Abraham was commanded concerning this when he was yet “beyond the river,” and from there G-d took him and led him throughout all the land of Canaan. Now according to the opinion of our Rabbis [that Nimrod threw Abraham into a fiery furnace, the name] Ur Kasdim will be understood as the plain meaning indicates, [namely, “Fires of the Chaldees”], from the same expression: I am warm, I have seen ‘ur’ (the fire). Scripture thus says, And they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, here. even though Terah did not go forth from the fiery furnace. However, since Abram is the main [person of interest, it mentions Ur Kasdim although the name has reference to him alone]. It may be that on account of the miracle the place came to be so called, just as we find, And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, — These places were so named because of the events that occurred there. See Numbers 11:3, 34. Exodus 17:7. and others. Scripture thus alludes that when Abram went forth from the fiery furnace, they all fled from that country. And the meaning of the verse, Glorify ye the Eternal ‘ba’urim,’ is in my opinion consonant with that which the Rabbis have said [concerning Ur Kasdim, namely, that it means “the Fire of the Chaldees”], for urim are the high mountains on which they make fires and “kindle the flares” The subject there concerns the kindling of flares on the tops of the hills to declare that the day of the New Moon had been declared. to make the new events known quickly in distant places, even as it says [in the second half of the verse]: In the isles of the sea, the name of the Eternal, the G-d of Israel. The sense of that verse is thus that for the glory of G-d they should let the whole world know the miracle and the wonder which had been done to them. So also, ‘Me’urath’ the basilisk means his [the serpent’s] hole, where his fire and great heat are, just as he is indeed called saraph [the serpent, but literally, “the burning one”]. And I have seen in the Midrash: “Arise, ‘uri’ (shine). Therefore glorify ye the Eternal ‘ba’urim.’ How do you glorify Him? Rabbi Yeivo bar Kahana said, ‘With these torches such as the lanterns which burn in synagogues See my edition of Kithvei Rabbeinu Bechaya, pp. 89-90. in all places, even in the isles of the sea, to the glory of G-d.’” Thus it is clear that the Rabbis understood the word ba’urim as an expression of fire, in accordance with its simple sense.

Abram was born in a place called Ur of the Chaldeans — and similarly "therefore glorify Hashem in the regions of light" [be-urim] (Isa. 24:15). The most likely explanation is that it had a different name originally, for "Chaldeans" descends from the sons of Nahor, Abram's brother (see below, 22:22, "and Chesed"), but Moses wrote the name known in his own day. The proof that Abram was born there is that Haran his brother died there, and it is written "in the land of his birth." It is possible that the Chaldeans made a fire [ur] in that place and it was named accordingly — like "whose fire is in Zion" [asher ur lo be-Tziyon] (Isa. 31:9). The meaning of "before" [al penei, lit. "upon the face of"] — before his father, that is, [Haran] died while his father [Terah] was still alive. Similarly "before Aaron their father" (Num. 3:4).

וימת הרן על פני תרח אביו בארץ מולדתו באור כשדים, “Haran died during the lifetime of his father Terach in the land of his birth by the fire of the Chaldeans.” From this verse we hear about the great loyalty of Avraham to His G’d and the strength of his belief in Him in that he was prepared to die a martyr’s death rather than betray his belief in G’d. If the Torah had not provided us with a hint of this here, it would have had to spell out the incident in order to explain why Avraham suddenly qualified to be spoken to by G’d directly in 12.1. and was told to move to the land of Canaan. It is just not normal that man should qualify for receiving a direct communication from G’d unless G’d had first told us something about the outstanding characteristic of such a person. We find that G’d did not communicate with Noach (6,13) until the Torah had reported (6,9) that G’d considered him a ”righteous and perfect individual” in his time. Our verse therefore lays the groundwork for G’d preparing to communicate with Avraham. It is a fact that Avraham’s birthplace was not Ur in the land of the Casdim, but that he was born on the west side of the river Euphrates. We have direct confirmation of this in Joshua 24,2 where we are told מעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם מעולם, “your ancestors have lived on the far side of the river Euphrates from time immemorial.” The word מעולם in that verse is clear proof of the fact that Avraham was not born in Ur. This is also why he was known as אברם העברי, in 14,13, “Avraham from across the river.” Had he been born in Ur Casdim he should have been known as אברם הכשדי, “Avram from the land of the Chaldaens.” Another proof for our contention is the fact that Nachor, Avraham’s brother is reported as living in Charan, a place well west of the river Euphrates. If we find in verse 31 that Terach took his son Avram and Lot the son of Haran with him as well as Sarai his daughter-in- law on his way from Ur Casdim in order to go to the land of Canaan and that they got as far as Charan, this suggests that Nachor was the only one who remained in Ur Casdim at the time. However, the truth is that Nachor had never left his birthplace in the first place. This is also the reason the Torah writes the word “in the land of his birth” in the middle of the verse instead of at its end. The word מולדתו, “his birthplace,” refers to Aram which was well to the west of the river Euphrates. We find that our sages in Baba Batra 91 mention that Avram was a prisoner for ten years, three of them in a place called Kuta, and seven years in a place called Kardo. According to some scholars the former place is identical with Ur Casdim. Others hold that it was west of the river Euphrates. You should know that Terach begat his sons Avram and Nachor on the west side of the river Euphrates, the land of his fathers, and that subsequently he migrated to Ur Casdim to join his son Avram where his younger son Haran was born. Nachor had stayed in his birthplace in Charan all that time. The words בארץ מולדתו refer to Haran, who had indeed been born in Ur Casdim. Maimonides, in his Moreh Nevuchim 3,29, writes that there is a record in Egyptian books about agriculture that Avram was born in a place called Kuta and that he disagreed with all the local people concerning their worshiping the sun. The king therefore imprisoned him where he remained for many years. Some time later the king feared that Avram would cause destruction to his country and that he would sway his subjects into changing their religion so that he decided to expel Avram to the borders of the land of Canaan. Thus far Maimonides. As to the meaning of the word אור in our verse. The word appears in three meanings. 1) valley or depression; 2) fire; 3) mountain. The reason that it may mean valley is based on Isaiah 11,8 מאורת הצפעוני, ”the den of an adder.” The prophet calls the den of that viper מאורה, and a valley is a depression in the earth. Our verse then would mean: “from the valley of the Casdim.” The reason the word may mean “mountain,” is based on Isaiah 24,15 באורים כבוד ה', “for the glory of the Lord is in the mountains,” and the reason the word was used to symbolise mountains was that the Israelites used to light flares on the mountains to inform the people that the new moon had been sighted so that the people who lived far from Jerusalem would observe the next day as New Moon. This is what is meant in Isaiah 24,15 באיי הים שם ה' אלוקי ישראל, “the name of the Lord G’d of Israel is (even) in the islands of the sea.” The prophet urges the people to proclaim the mighty miracles of G’d by honouring G’d with lights, as if the meaning of the words הר כשדים were “fire.” We encounter this word in Isaiah 44,16 חמותי ראיתי אור “I am hot, I can feel the fire (heat).“ It is the opinion of the sages in the Talmud that Nimrod threw Avram into a fiery furnace when he refused to retract his refusal to consider him a deity.” Whatever the true facts, there occurred either a public or a private miracle for Avram while he was in Ur Casdim when 1) the king who had imprisoned him took him out of prison which was situated in either a valley or on a mountain instead of killing him, or, 2) he was miraculously saved from the fiery furnace.

וימת חרן על פני תרח אביו, “Haran died during the lifetime of his father Terach.” Some commentators hold that until that time children did not die during the lifetime of their fathers except for Peleg (Genesis 11,18). Hence the Torah reported that this was an exception. A similar expression is used in Numbers 3,4 when the appointment of Elazar and Ittamar as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron is reported. [I do not think the argument is sound, as Lemech, Noach’s father died during the lifetime of his own father Methuselah. Ed. (5,31)] בארץ מולדתו באור כשדים, “in the country of his birth in Ur of the Chaldaeans.” According to Nachmanides these last words refer back only to Haran, whereas Avraham himself was not born in Ur, seeing that his forefathers were descendants of Shem, whereas the Chaldaeans were descended from the descendants of Cham. Compare Genesis 14,13 where Avraham is described as an Ivri, and not as a “Casdi.” We also have clear evidence from Joshua that the forefathers of the Israelites had originally resided on the east bank of the river Euphrates. (Joshua 24,2) If, at the time when Terach took Avraham, and Haran and family leaving Nachor behind, and settled in Charan which is hundreds of miles north east of Shinor the land of the Casdim, how could Eliezer who was bidden to seek out Avraham’s family, have looked for Rivkah in Charan rather than in Ur? The truth is that Terach and family originated in the land of Aram that is east of the Euphrates. (Ur, downstream, was immediately west of the Euphrates) When Bileam commenced his blessing in Numbers 23,7 he described how Balak had brought him all the way from Aram, which he defines as הררי קדם, the range of mountains in the east, hardly identical with the Mesopotamian valley in which Ur was situated. The Talmud (Baba Batra 91) reports that Avraham had been jailed for 10 years, 3 of them in a town called כותא. It is common knowledge that this town was in the land of the Casdim (lower Mesopotamia, near Ur) as we have a verse describing the King of Ashur as coming from Babylon and Kuta as well as from Gaza and Chamat.(Kings II 17,30) In these verses the exile of the ten tribes is described. It is clear that Kuta would not have been situated anywhere near the route described in Kings II as taken by the King of Ashur who had taken the ten tribes prisoner, and who was about to repopulate the cities of Samaria with people from elsewhere, so that the land he had captured would not become desolate. Apparently, Kuta was a town in the general region of Aram Naharayim, the town in which Nachor, grandfather of Rebeccah had made his home (compare Genesis 24,10) Kuta was a large city in those days between the land of Israel and the river Tigris. Terach had moved with his older son Avraham from there downstream to the land of the Casdim (Ur). Haran, his younger son was born in Ur. Whereas Nachor had remained in what is referred to as עבר הנהר, the Torah testifies only concerning Haran that he had been born in Ur Casdim. This information has also been recorded independently in books dating back to ancient times as pointed out by Maimonides in his Moreh. He writes that Avraham who had been born in Kuta had disagreed with the religions of his contemporaries Most of them were sun worshippers. The king incarcerated him for his refusal to toe the theological line deemed politically correct in his time. After many years when the king became afraid that the people might adopt some of the views Avraham had spread, he exiled him to an area bordering on the land of Canaan. This occurred after he had first deprived him of all his earthly belongings. At any rate, the region still belonged to that known as Ur Casdim. Avraham experienced either a manifest miracle, by being saved from the persecution of the king, or at least he experienced what is known as a נס נסתר, a “hidden miracle,” such as a sudden unaccountable change of heart by the king not to sentence him to death and to release him from jail allowing him to emigrate to a country of his choice. Alternately, he might even have thrown him into a furnace from which G’d saved him by direct intervention in his fate. The nations of the world in those days did not record this miracle in their records as it did not suit them to publicize proof which would cause people to question their beliefs. They were not as truth-loving as Pharaoh’s advisers, the magicians who openly admitted that the G’d in heaven had manifested Himself when working the ten plagues. Moreover, even assuming that they had witnessed this miracle, they would not attribute it to Divine intervention by Avraham’s G’d, but would see in this the work of magicians, or invisible forces in nature. Do not allow Ibn Ezra to confuse you with his various questions on this subject, especially the fact that the Torah failed to mention such an outstanding miracle as G’d saving Avraham from a fiery furnace. The magicians of Pharaoh, until the third plague, that of the lice and vermin, also thought that Moses was a superior magician rather than an emissary from G’d who could call on G’d to perform miracles. Had the Torah reported on the miracle of Avraham’s survival of that experience in Nmirod’s furnace, it would also have had to devote some space reporting the refusal of the onlookers and especially Nimrod’s theologians, to acknowledge that this had proven the existence of an invisible G’d who was the Creator, and therefore able to control laws of nature. It suffices for the believers that the Torah wrote (Genesis 15,7) “I am the Lord Who has taken you out from Ur Casdim to give you this land (Canaan) as an inheritance.” The very expression הוצאתיך, “I have taken you out,” alerts the reader to the fact that the Torah refers to something supernatural, to a miracle. Ever since G’d had saved Avraham miraculously, He had had in mind to commence the process that would lead ultimately to Avraham’s descendants inheriting the land of Canaan. From that day on, both Terach and his son Avraham had intended to get away as far as possible from lands under the control of Nimrod. Their arrival in Charan must be viewed as a way station (halfway house) on the way to the land of Canaan. The advantage of Charan was the fact that they had relatives there, people who spoke their language. As a result, what was intended as a brief stopover became a prolonged stay in Charan. While he was in Charan, G’d commanded Avraham to do what had been in his mind already, namely to emigrate to the land of Canaan. He therefore left his aging father behind in Charan. Whereas Terach died in his birthplace Charan, Avraham took his wife and his nephew Lot to move to Canaan with him. This is what Joshua had in mind when he reminded the people shortly before his death of their origins, and how G’d had taken their forefather Avraham from a region called עבר הנהר, “the far side of the river Euphrates.” (Joshua 24,2-7) The reference to that region was meant to tell the people that this is where Avraham was commanded to begin his pilgrimage. G’d made Avraham traverse the entire length of the land of Canaan According to our sages (who say that Nimrod had thrown Avraham into a fiery furnace for his refusal to toe the theological line of his time) the words אור כשדים are to be understood literally, i.e. “the fire of the Chaldaens.” This expression is used in a similar sense in Isaiah 44,16 חאח, חמותי, ראיתי אור, “hurrah, I am warm, I can feel the heat.” Terach had not been thrown into the furnace, so he did not need to be saved. The Torah concentrates on the principal personality in that episode, leaving out some details. The principal character was Avraham, hence it was only he to whom G’d referred to when He reminded him of the purpose for which he had been saved. Alternately, the reason why that place was named אור כשדים, was on account of the miracle which had occurred there when Avraham was saved. We have numerous occasions when locations where the Israelites stopped on their journey through the desert were given names based on what had occurred there, such as תבערה, (Numbers 11,3; or קברות התאוה, Numbers) The verse in our portion would allude to the fact that when Avraham came out of the furnace the whole family fled from that region. This would be parallel to the use of the word אורים in Isaiah 24,15 באורים כבדו ה' where it means: “therefore honour the Lord in the lands of the mountains where they light signal fires to communicate news items over long distances.” This would be a veiled reference to communicating the miracle that had happened to Avraham in the fiery furnace of Nimrod. The expression מאורות צפעוני, is a description of the lair of a serpent whose poison is as burning as hot fire. This serpent is also known as שרף, [from שרפה, “burning.” Ed.]

And Avram and Nachor took for themselves wives; the name of Avram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nachor's wife was Milkah, daughter of Haran — the father of Milkah and the father of Yiskah.

יסכה JISCAH — This was Sarah; she was also named Jiscah (from a root meaning “”to see”, “to look”) because she could see the future by holy inspiration, and because everybody looked (gazed) at her beauty (Megillah 14a). The name Jiscah also has reference to princely dignity (נסיכות) just as the name Sarah (שרה) has an allusion to “ruling’’(שררה).

The text mentions the name of Nahor's wife in order to make known the lineage of Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah. Our Sages, of blessed memory, said that Yiscah is Sarah; if it is a tradition, we accept it. Those who say it was Abraham who was barren, and not Sarah, contradict the text — the proof being Ishmael his son, and the sons of Keturah. Those who say that Sarah was Abraham's sister: this explanation does not seem right to me. For if it were so, the text would have said: "And Terah took Abram his son and Sarai his daughter, the wife of Abram his son." Moreover, if she were Lot's sister, the text would have said "and Sarai the daughter of his son," just as it did with Lot. It is possible that Nahor his son went first to Haran, or came after his father.

יסכה, according to Rash, i this is another name for Sarah. If So, Haran must have sired her when he was only 6 years old, according to the list of the names of Terach’s children. Avraham was supposed to have been a year older than Nachor, whereas Nachor was a year older than Haran, which means that Avraham was two years older than Haran. When we allow a year until Milkah and her sister Yiskah each were born, and we know that Avraham was 10 years older than Sarah from the Torah’s own report, it follows that Haran could not have been older than 8 years when Sarah was born. Allowing for the pregnancies preceding the birth of Milkah and Yiskah, Haran could not have been older than 6 years when he slept with his wife. (Bereshit Rabbah 38,14) Other examples of products of such early unions are Betzalel and Bat Sheva, as well as Er and Onan, sons of Yehudah, son of Yaakov. (Compare Sanhedrin 69)

And Sarai was barren; she had no child.

ותהי שרי עקרה אין לה ולד. Sarai remained barren, she had no child. Why did the Torah have to add "she had no child?" Our sages (Yevamot 64) comment that she had no womb. The Talmud there elaborates that both Abraham and Sarah were congenital טומטמאים, people with undeveloped genitals. The Talmud bases this on Isaiah 51,1: "Look to the rock you were hewn from, to the quarry you were dug from. Look back to Abraham your father and to Sarah who brought you forth." Rashi comments there that "hewn from" and "dug from" refer to G'd having supplied male and female genitals to Abraham and Sarah (after they were adults). The Talmud also states there that when someone marries a woman and lives with her for ten years and she bears no children during that time, he should divorce her and pay her כתובה, her marriage settlement. This is based on Genesis 16,3 where Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham to have children with after she had failed to bear children after ten years in the land of Israel. The Talmud questions why we do not rather take Isaac as an example. He lived with Rebeccah for at least twenty years and did not take another wife but prayed and as a result had children from Rebeccah. The Talmud answers that actually the reason the Torah mentions the number of years Abraham lived in the land of Israel before he married Hagar was to enable us to compute Ishmael's age in comparison to Isaac's. This also enables us to calculate Jacob's age during different periods of his life. Tossaphot comment that actually Isaac too waited only for ten years before he prayed, seeing that Rebeccah was three years old when he married her and her normal child-bearing years did not commence until after Isaac was married to her for ten years. Tossaphot concludes that a) not all Midrashim agree on the subject; b) in those days girls were able to bear children at a much younger age than nowadays. They also say that even assuming that Abraham had been born without visible genitals, by the time he married he had obviously developed in this respect. However, we must accept the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah who holds that once a טומטום, such a person is unable to sire children even after his genitals have become visible. Of course, one must assume that Sarai's genitals too, had become visible by the time Abraham married her. [there is no good reason that Abraham a) would have married while suffering such a crucial physical blemish; b) that Sarah would have been given in marriage to anyone while she was similarly afflicted. Ed.] Even according to the view that once the genitals of a טומטום have become visible he is no longer totally sterile, it is unlikely that such people will be capable of siring or bearing children. The Torah therefore adds the words אין לה ולד in the case of Sarah to tell us that though she was no longer a טומטום, her condition had not changed materially, and she still did not conceive. Furthermore, Rabbi Yehudah is of the opinion that the rule that a טומטום remains sterile even after his genitals become visible, applies only to the male. A female is quite likely to conceive once her genitals have been laid bare. According to this view our verse means that a) first Sarah was barren, i.e. her inability to conceive was not due to her genitals not being visible, a defect suffered by her husband but not by her. In her case it was simple barrenness that prevented her from giving birth. The Torah had to add the words אין לה ולד, to teach us that this was not due to a visible deformity. According to the view that she did not have a womb, we must understand the verse as follows: It turned out she was barren due to an invisible deformity, i.e. the lack of a womb. This deformity only came to light after her genitals had become visible, i.e. after her visible deformity had been cured. The expression ותהי is not appropriate except for a new development, not for a condition which existed already, [many commentators do not share that view of the meaning of ותהי. Ed.] The words אין לה ולד therefore are meant to draw attention to her not having a womb to carry an embryo in.

עקרה, אין לה ולד, whereas originally she had not even had a womb, by the time she became pregnant with Yitzchok she had grown a womb.

ותהי שרי עקרה, אין לה ולד, “Sarah remained barren, she had no child.” Some women remain childless for many years, appearing to be barren; at the end of a number of years they become pregnant and have children. Our verse informs us that in addition to Sarai being עקרה, “barren,” she was unable to conceive any children by nature, i.e. אין לה ולד. This is why both Avram and Sarai decided to leave their home and to move to the land of Canaan hoping that due to the additional merit of the Holy Land they would be able to have children. Although the words “Terach took his son Avram, etc.” convey the impression that Terach was the prime cause of that move, this is not true. The fact is that the family undertook the whole journey only on account of Avram. We find later on that after Terach died, his grandson Lot joined Avram (12,4; 13,1) who was the enterprising member of the family.

And Terach took Avram his son and Lot son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Avram his son, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to travel to the land of Canaan; and they came as far as Haran and settled there.

ויצאו אתם AND THEY WENT FORTH WITH THEM — ויצאו אתם Terah and Abram went forth with Lot and Sarai.

AND THEY WENT FORTH WITH THEM FROM UR OF THE CHALDEES. Because Abram was more important than his father and those that followed his counsel and for whose sake they went, Scripture says, And they went forth, [rather than “he went forth”] even though it says at the beginning of the verse, And Terah took. Lot and Sarai, however, went with them to the land of Canaan on account of Abram, for even after Abram separated from his father they went along with him. But out of respect to his father, Scripture ascribes it to both of them.”

What seems correct to me is that the passage of "Go forth" [Lech Lecha] (Gen. 12:1) — the command Hashem spoke to Abram — preceded this verse, which is "and Terah took"; and similarly in the Torah: "on the first of the second month in the second year" (Num. 1:1) comes before "in the first month of the second year" (Num. 9:1). The proof is that the text says "to go to the land of Canaan." When Terah arrived in Haran, the place seemed good to him and he settled there and died. There is no strict chronological order in the Torah.

ללכת ארצה כנען, this land is prepared for enabling its residents to acquire all intellectual advantages, and, as far as G’d is concerned, it is the most preferred of all the countries on earth. We have this on the authority of the Torah itself which says of that land (Deuteronomy 11,12) ארץ אשר ה' אלוקיך דורש אותה תמיד עיני ה' אלוקיך בה מרשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה, “and concerning which G’d enquires constantly, His eyes being trained on it from the beginning of the year until the year’s end.” The climate of the land of Canaan had not been negatively affected by the rains of the deluge, as had the climate of all other parts of the globe. We have this on the authority of Ezekiel 22,24 ארץ לא גשמה ביום זעם, “a land which did not experience rain on the day of the fury.” This may well be the reason why the sages (Baba Batra 58) said that the climate of the land of Israel makes people smarter.

ויקח תרח את אברם בנו. Terach took his son Abram, etc. We must understand this verse as an extension of a popular proverb quoted by Baba Metzia 75, that if someone experiences bad luck in one location and he does not move to another location he only has himself to blame if his bad luck continues. When Terach realised that his son Abram did not beget children in Ur Casdim he left in the direction of the land of Canaan to see if his luck would improve. The Torah shows us that Abraham was so important in the eyes of the other members of his father's household that they all joined in the migration in order to stay close to him. This is why the Torah adds the words ויצאו אתם, "they emigrated with them (Abraham and Sarah)."

ויקח תרח את אברם בנו, Terach took his son Avram, etc;” he intended to take him all the way to the land of Canaan, seeing that he was descended from Shem and that land had been given by G-d to the descendants of Shem as we know from Genesis 9,27. Lot and Sarai went with Terach, seeing they were the survivors of Haran’s family. ויצאו אתם מאור כשדים, “they emigrated with them from Ur of the Chaldeans at the command of G-d.” The basis for this interpretation is found in Genesis 15,7, where G-d is quoted as telling Avraham: “I am the Lord Who has taken you out of Ur Casdim;” (not Terach). According to this interpretation, we do not know precisely where G-d had told Avram to leave Ur Casdim. The author of this interpretation is Ibn Ezra. ויבאו עד הרן, “they came as far as Charan.” Terach was not able to complete the journey all the way to the land of Canaan, and died in Charan.

“And Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son.” The verse needed to say wife of Abram even though it had already mentioned his daughter-in-law because he was called Abram as he was the father of Ram, meaning Aram, or Abraham meaning the father of many nations. And she too was called Sarai because of authority/leadership. And regarding authority, certainly Abraham was primary and Sarah was secondary to him. Therefore it says Sarai wife of Abram in the way that every wife is secondary to her husband, so too in matters of authority she was secondary to him. However, regarding divine inspiration, our Sages said (Exodus Rabbah 1:1) that Abraham was secondary to Sarah in prophecy. Therefore when she was called by the name Yiskah, which indicates that she was “filled with” divine inspiration, it did not mention “wife of Abram.” Even though Rashi explains Yiskah as referring to authority, from the word princes of men (Micah 5:4), nevertheless the meaning of being filled with divine inspiration is also implied.

ויצאו אתם מאור כשדים, “they departed from there with them.” Rashi explains that the plural mode ויצאו, refers to Terach and Avraham, Lot and Sarai, Avraham’s wife. I find his commentary difficult to accept as he represents the major personality in the story, i.e. Avraham, as secondary to the minor player, Terach. This is something most unusual. Furthermore, according to Rashi’s interpretation why would Avraham be paired with Terach, for according to Rashi Terach was the principal in the verse, seeing that he had taken Avraham and Lot with him as well as Sarai, and the correct reading should have been: ויצא תרח אתם, “Terach departed with them.” Nachmanides writes that seeing that Avraham was a more distinguished person than his father and the other people journeying with them, the Torah employs the plural mode: “they went with them,” seeing that, as the Torah writes, Terach had taken the initiative in emigrating. To the onlookers it appeared as if Avraham had gone along with his father’s decision in the matter. The other members of the entourage continued to travel with Avraham as their leader also after Avraham had left his father behind in Charan. (Genesis 12,4)

And the days of Terach were two hundred and five years, and Terach died in Haran.

וימת תרח בחרן AND TERAH DIED IN HARAN after Abram had left Haran (as related in the next chapter) and had come to the land of Canaan and had been there more than sixty years. For it is written, (Genesis 12:4) “And Abram was seventy five years old when he left Haran”, and Terah was seventy years old when Abram was born (Genesis 11:26), making Terah 145 years old when Abram left Haran, so that there were then many years of his life left (i. e. he lived many years after that — as a matter of fact, 60 years, as he was 205 years old when he died). Why, then, does Scripture mention the death of Terah before the departure of Abram? In order that this matter (his leaving home during his father’s lifetime) might not become known to all, lest people should say that Abram did not show a son’s respect to his father, for he left him in his old age and went his way. That is why Scripture speaks of him as dead (Genesis Rabbah 39:7). For indeed the wicked even while alive are called dead and the righteous even when dead are called living, as it is said, (2 Samuel 23:20) “And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada the son of a living man”. בחרן IN HARAN — The נ is inverted to tell you that until the time of Abraham, the fierce anger (חרון) of the Omnipotent was kindled against the world.

AND TERAH DIED IN HARAN. After Abram had left [Haran, as related in the next chapter, and had come to the land of Canaan], Terah remained alive for many years after that. Terah thus lived for sixty more years as he died at the age of 205 (11:32). Why then does Scripture mention the death of Terah before the departure of Abram? [The answer is that Scripture does so] in order that this matter [of leaving his home during his father’s lifetime] might not become publicized to all, lest people say that Abram did not show a son’s respect to his father and mother384“And mother.” Not in our text of Rashi. as he left his father in his old age and went his way. That is why Scripture speaks of Terah as dead. Moreover,385“Moreover.” Not in our text of Rashi. for the wicked, even while alive, are called dead. Thus the words of Rashi which are found in Bereshith Rabbah 9:7. But I wonder about their words for this is the customary way for Scripture to relate the life of a father, his begetting a son, and his death, and afterwards to begin the narration of the son in all generations. This is the usual manner of Scripture. Noah himself lived yet in the days of Abraham, Thus Noah was still alive in the time of Abraham. and his son Shem lived thoughout Abraham’s life span. See also Baba Bathra 121 b: “Jacob saw Shem.” Now it is possible that the Rabbis came to conclusion of this Midrash because with respect to Terah, Scripture departed from the format of the entire chapter. Regarding Shem and his descendants, Scripture did not mention their death at all, nor did it total the sum of their years. But here with Terah it again follows the first order it used concerning the longevity of the people from Adam to Noah -31. and totals up all the days of Terah and mentions his death. In addition, it mentions the place of death as having been in Haran, the same place it had mentioned concerning Abraham, [i.e., that he had gone there, in Verse 31]. That is why the Rabbis expounded that all this was to make it easily apparent that Abraham was there with Terah when he died. Moreover, because Scripture had already begun the subject of Abraham and told how he had gone forth with his father from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan, here. the Rabbis found it difficult to understand why Scripture did not systematically arrange Terah’s life and death, and write it chronologically. [That is why they made the aforementioned interpretation.]And as for that which the Rabbis also said in Bereshith Rabbah 9:7. — “First you interpret here. that the wicked, even while alive, are called dead” — this too I find surprising, for the Sages have already deduced from the verse, “And thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace. [His father was an idolater, and yet G-d informed Abraham that after death he would go to him! Clearly the verse teaches you] that He announced to Abraham that his father would have a portion in the World to Come.” Perhaps the intent of the Rabbis was that Terah repented at the time of death, but he lived all his days in wickedness and therefore was called “dead.” In the words of Rashi: “Scripture teaches you that Terah did repentance at the time of death.” Perhaps it may be that our Sages, of blessed memory, say that Terah has a portion in the World to Come by virtue of his son. And that was the announcement, for Abraham did not know it until he was informed of it at the time G-d told him, And thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace. And so I found in a Midrash: “All kinds of wood were valid for use in the altar fire save only the wood of the olive and the vine, One of the reasons stated for this law is that it maintains the cultivation of Eretz Yisrael. for since oil and wine were offered upon the altar, the fruits save the trees. And so we find in the case of Abraham that he saved Terah, as it is said, And thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace.” Lech Lecha.

וימת תרח בחרן, he had not made an effort to realise his intention of moving all the way to the land of Canaan as he had set out to do in verse 31. He never even visited his son Avraham in the land of Canaan, never observing with his own eyes what a great name Avraham had made for himself and G’d there. Lot, on the other hand, did the opposite for a while at least, having joined Avraham, kept him company and this is why both he and his offspring benefited from this both immediately, such as when Lot became rich in Egypt, as well as much later when Israel was not allowed to conquer the lands belonging to Lot’s descendants, i.e. Ammon and Moav. (compare Nachmanides on Pinchas 25,18)

ויהיו ימי תרח חמש שנים ומאתים שנה. Terach lived to be 205 years. The reason the decription of Terach's age differs from the description of the other people listed in this chapter, i.e. "all the days of so and so were, etc." is twofold. It can either mean that Terach lived longer than the years originally allocated to him, or it can mean that he did not live all the years that had originally been allocated to him. Here the absence of the words "all the days of his life" most likely mean that he lived longer than the years originally allocated to him. He accumulated merit because of his extraordinary concern for the welfare of his son Abraham. One proof may be seen when we compare Terach's lifespan with that of his father Nachor. The latter had only lived for a total of 148 years (11,24-25). Terach lived 57 years longer than his father. Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 65,12) have said that when a man approaches to within 5 years (either side) of the age at which his parents died he should begin to be concerned about his own death approaching. Inasmuch as Terach lived many years longer than his father, the Torah reports his death in conjunction with his migration to Charan to indicate which merit added the extra years to his life. Had the Torah merely stated the usual "ויהיו כל ימי תרח, all the years of Terach were, etc., we would have assumed that G'd had originally allocated to him a lifespan of 205 years although this would have been quite wrong. There is also support from the text for the view that Terach lived fewer years than had been allocated to him originally. The Torah reports that he set out on his way to Canaan. However, the Torah also reports that he died in Charan which is on the way. Terach had failed to make good on his vow to move to Canaan and settled in Charan. G'd shortened Terach's lifespan because he did not make good on his vow. I have had an inspiration which enables me to explain why Abraham left his father in Charan though the latter had migrated for his sake all the way from Ur Casdim. When Abraham moved to Canaan Terach was 143 years old. He was 68 years old when Abraham was born and Abraham was 75 when he moved to the land of Canaan. [I presume that verse 26 which describes Terach as 70 years old when his three sons were born must refer to his age when the youngest was born. Ed.] It seems difficult to understand that Abraham abandoned his father for so many (62) years, even though G'd had told him לך לך. I believe the answer is simply that Abraham had good reason to expect that his father would die soon after his departure for Canaan, seeing that he was within 5 years of the age at which his grandfather Nachor had died. G'd may even have given Abraham a subtle hint when He told him לך לך, go on "your acccount." The words "on your account," were to indicate that even if Abraham's father were to live additional years he had only Abraham's merit to thank for those years. Abraham therefore did not have to blame himself for "abandoning" his aged father.

וימת תרח בחרן, “Terach died in Charan.” Up until this verse the whole chapter had listed all the descendants of Shem without once mentioning the word “death.” Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 39,7) were very conscious of the fact that the Torah wanted to protect Avram’s image in the eyes of the readers. If Avram had left Charan for the land of Canaan without the Torah revealing that his father had died, the readers would have accused him of abandoning an elderly father in his old age. This is why the Torah reported Terach’s death before telling us that Avram moved to the land of Canaan at the command of G’d although at the time Terach had not died yet, as we know from the age at which Terach died. If the Torah reported Terach’s “death” as if it had occurred prior to Avram’s departure for the land of Canaan, this is only because our sages consider sinners as “dead” even while they walk around on earth (compare Rashi). [The Torah reports Avram as 75 years old (12,4) when he settled in the land of Canaan, whereas his father was seventy years old (11,26) when he fathered him. Seeing that Terach lived to be 205 years old at his death, (11,32), Avram left him when his father still had 60 years left to live. Ed.]. If our sages nonetheless interpret 15,15 ואתה תבא אל אבותיך בשלום, “and you will join your fathers in peace,” as referring to the hereafter, and this seems to include his father Terach among the people whom he would encounter there, this can be explained only by the fact that Avraham’s merits acquired on earth benefited his father posthumously so that G’d awarded Terach a share in the hereafter. While Terach had lived on earth, however, he had been an idolater all his life and had died without repenting. Perhaps this is the reason why the letter ן in the last word of the chapter, i.e. וימת תרח בחרן is reversed, pointing backwards. [both according to Rashi and Rabbi David Kimchi this appears to have been the spelling in their time, although nowadays there is no such inverted letter ן in any of our versions of the Torah. Ed.] The inverted letter ן is seen as an indication of G-d’s anger at Terach and as a message that his share in the hereafter is due entirely to the merit of his son Avraham. It was a case of the fruit “saving” the tree. Our sages (Vayikra Rabbah 7) may have derived the ruling that the wood from all kinds of trees barring that of the olive tree and the grapevine is fit for feeding the fire on the altar, from the principle that the fruit can save the tree. Another reason for the inverted letter ן in the word חרן may be that the very inversion symbolises Tohu, chaos. [We have a tradition that the 6.000 years allocated to life on this terrestrial globe is divided into 3 periods each of 2.000 years.] The first 2.000 years are described as Tohu, the next as Torah, the last as the period during which the Messiah prepares to come. A review of the numbers given in the Torah will show that Terach’s death in the year 2083 coincided (roughly) with the period at which Tohu ended. The second period, the one of Torah, began with Avraham’s beneficial activities on earth and especially in the Holy Land. The Torah contains a number of inverted letters all of which contain a message to us. Similarly, there are good reasons why sometimes a letter is written in larger or smaller than regular script. All such hints are part of the 50 gates of בינה, superior insights, which were revealed to Moses while he was on Mount Sinai. Our sages in Sanhedrin 104 have stated that “whereas a son may confer some of his merit on his father, the reverse is not the case.” They base this on Deut. 32,39 ואין מידי מציל, “there is no rescuer from My hand.” Whereas Avraham’s merits were not able to save his son Ishmael, they were able to confer merit on his father. Yitzchak could not confer of his merit on his son Esau either. Concerning this state of affairs, Solomon said in Proverbs 17,6 עטרת זקנים בני בנים, ותפארת בנים אבותם, “Grandchildren are the crown of their elders, the glory of children are their fathers.” Seeing that it is within the province of the children to confer merit on their fathers, Solomon applied the complimentary “crown,” to them. This is a greater compliment than the term תפארת, “glory,” which he applied to their fathers. When the elders can point to righteous grandchildren they can wear this knowledge with the same pride as a king wears his crown. The parents who are unable to transfer of their merits to the children, are תפארת, a glory in their own right only if their children do measure up to the standards set for them by their fathers. We find a reference to such parents in Esther 9,28 וזכרם לא יסוף מזרעם, “and their remembrance will not perish from their descendants.” The various generations who have been loyal to G’d will ascend hand in hand spiritually. This is what Job 14,7-8 referred to when he said: “there is hope for a tree; if it is cut down it will renew itself, its shoots will not cease, if its roots are old in the earth” As long as the “saplings” are similar to those who have planted them we can apply the blessing of Isaiah 61,3 וקורא להם אילי הצדק מטע ה' להתפאר, “they shall be called ‘the terebinths of victory, planted by the Lord for His glory.’”

וימת תרח בחרן, “Terach died in Charan.” According to Rashi, Terach still lived for many years, so that we must wonder why the Torah appeared anxious to report his death already at this juncture. Rashi answers that this was so that people would not accuse Avraham of having abandoned his father in his old age. Therefore, the Torah treats Terach in its report as if he had already died. Nachmanides is dissatisfied with this explanation, although it follows the opinions handed down in Bereshit Rabbahwriting that it is perfectly normal for scripture to report on the life of the father, followed by the birth of his son, followed by the report of the father’s death. Having reported the death of the father, scripture resumes the thread by informing us about important aspects of the son’s life. We know that Noach’s life overlapped with the early years of Avraham, and still the Torah had reported his death already in Genesis It is possible that the reason why the Midrash wrote in the vein quoted by Rashi, was that scripture here departed somewhat from its normal syntax when reporting on Terach. Normally, since Shem, Noach’s son, we have not heard about any of the generations’ leaders dying; the Torah had only reported the fact that they were born and for how many years they had lived, leaving the reader to conclude that at the end of the respective number of years, the person referred to had died. Terach is the first person after Noach whose death the Torah had seen fit to devote a line to. (except the premature death of Haran which was reported in Genesis 11,28) In our verse the Torah resumes speaking about Terach, although this had been interrupted with the report of the premature death of his son Haran. Not only does the Torah report on his death at the age of 205 years, but it even stresses the fact of where he died. In view of this, the sages of the Midrash looked for the reason why the Torah had changed its style here. It is also possible that seeing that the Torah had already given us some details about Avraham’s life including the fact that he emigrated from Ur Casdim with his father, intending to proceed to the land of Canaan. The Torah felt constrained to point out that as opposed to Avraham, the son, the father never did reach the land of Canaan but died in Charan. As to the comment of the sages in the Midrash that wicked people are already described as dead even while they are physically still alive, the Torah later on informed Avraham the son, that his father had a share in the world to come, seeing that G’d phrased Avraham’s own arrival in that region as “you will join your fathers in peace in a ripe old Age.” (Genesis 15,15) Perhaps G’d hinted to Avraham that his father had become a penitent shortly before his death and that therefore he had not forfeited his share in the world to come. Apparently, this is the way Rashi understood our verse. Alternatively, in accordance with a view expressed in Sanhedrin 104, Terach was rewarded with a share in the hereafter as a gift by G’d to his son Avraham. [according to that view and the view that the events in chapter 15 took place 5 years before Avraham settled in the land of Canaan (according to Rashi’s own calculations), G’d would have informed Avraham at the age of 70 that his father would have a share in the hereafter! Ed.]