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Genesis 25:30 says:

... הַלְעִיטֵנִי נָא מִן הָאָדֹם הָאָדֹם הַזֶּה ...

... "Pour into [me] some of this red, red [pottage] ..."

Why did Eisav feel the need to say "red" twice?

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Perhaps add a source/link to make it easier for others to find an answer. This could help on all of your recent questions. – HodofHod Nov 20 '11 at 6:22
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You could just write breishis 6:14 or whatever the pasuk actually is. A link helps a lot, but a source is close to mandatory. :-) – HodofHod Nov 20 '11 at 6:41
for the next ones I did it. if you could help by adding it would be appreciated I will get back to it – simchastorah Nov 20 '11 at 6:59
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even linking to the perek on chabad.org helps. – Menachem Nov 20 '11 at 17:47

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

In a midrash: Why did he repeat? Esav found Yaakov preparing lentils for his father in a dish, and told him "feed me" [=hal'iteni na min haadom]. He said, "wait, I'll prepare you another dish. I prepared this one for my father and don't want to cancel my mitzva. But if you're willing to sell your birthright, I'll give you my father's dish, which I'm allowed to do in order to purchase a mitzva. Otherwise, wait". And Esav replied, "I want only this dish [=haadom haze], for it's fat and good". And that's why he said hal'iteni na min haadom haadom haze: "I want this one, as it's fat, and will sell you the birthright".

— Tol'dos Yitzchak, by Rav Yitzchak Karo (uncle of the Bes Yosef), in my own free translation

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In this case, a phrase break occurs between the two ha'adom_s. is that license _midrashi or is it also the grammatical parsing? – WAF Nov 20 '11 at 15:44
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@WAF, the cantillation mark on the first haadom is a continuing one, not a pause. – msh210♦ Nov 20 '11 at 18:36
can you provide a source or link to the original midrash? – Mark Nov 21 '11 at 9:10
@Mark, nope: I saw it only in the Tol'dos Yitzchak. – msh210♦ Nov 21 '11 at 15:39
up vote 2 down vote

I think it just shows Eisav's infatuation with the food. The redness is was draws him to it. So the pasuk is describing his words in a way for us to understand his thoughts, i.e. "The red, red stuff," all I care about is how appetizing and juicy it looks.

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Good answer, but I think that the pasuk is recording what Eisav actually said. He himself doubled the word, not the Torah on his behalf. But you're right that the reason for his double language was his intense desire for the "red stuff". See Radak. – jake Nov 21 '11 at 7:40
Yea, the Radak says it nicely. But I would beg to differ about the Torah's quotations. I take the approach that the Torah is written in a literary way and not a historical way. Therefore it chooses to tell stories and recount episodes in a way fitting for its purposes, and not necessarily in historically accurate ways. There are many literary devices employed by the Torah on a regular basis, within quotations as well as narratives. At least that's my opinion. How else do you understand personification of God in instances like "etzba elohim" and the like? Metaphorically and not literally. – Mark Nov 21 '11 at 8:53
From last week's parsha, Chazal comment on Eliezer's repetition of his story to Lot, and how he says אולי without the ו, the second time, indicating that he was feeling אלי, about himself, and that he had a daughter, etc. There it's not a question of accurately quoting him but rather how the Torah writes something. It intentionally left out the ו to teach something. – Mark Nov 21 '11 at 9:07
Yes, the Torah uses literary devices. There are metaphorical references, idiomatic expressions, etc. But, this in no way compromises its historical accuracy. Just because it says "God took them out of Egypt with a mighty hand" and God does not physically have a hand, does not mean that that account is historically false. The same if I would say, "Stuffed-crust pizza rocks my world," I would not be considered lying on any account even though the pizza does not literally rock the world... – jake Nov 21 '11 at 16:22
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...R' Yaakov Kaminetzky goes so far as to say that the Torah quotes people's exact expressions with the grammar they used, even if the cantillation setup of the verse would usually require changing the grammar. (Of course, the Torah can feel free to spell things however it likes to teach whatever moral lessons it needs to.) – jake Nov 21 '11 at 16:24
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