Are there unnecessary words in torah?

Question

I've been taught, often enough that I thought it was universal, that there are no unnecessary words in torah (chumash) — every word is there to teach us something. I've seen plenty of discussions in the g'mara that seem to follow this principle, too, understanding that two similar-seeming verses (or words) are there to teach two different principles because they can't be serving the same purpose.

For example, Sanhedrin 64b (summarized in point 3 of this outline, h/t @ba) asks why the torah says three times that one is chayav karet for idolatry and then finds three interpretations. It doesn't say explicitly there that each of the torah's three statements must be "consumed" by a different halacha, but this lesson from the Virtual Beit Midrash (Yeshivat Har Etzion) states the rule explicitly but without citation in a discussion of Kiddushin 72b, discussing a baraita:

The gemara begins its analysis of the beraita by questioning the reasoning behind Rabbi Yossi's position. The gemara explains that, in the context of those who are genealogically unfit to marry into the broad Jewish community, the Torah (Devarim 23:3-9) employs the term "congregation" (for example, a mamzer may not "enter the congregation of God") five times. Since the Torah could have simply listed all the different categories (mamzerim and converts of Amonite, Moabite or Egyptian descent) and stated once that they may not enter the congregation, the gemara assumes that the word "congregation" must have been used extra times in order to teach further details about these prohibitions. This is quite characteristic of Talmudic methodology. Since there are no unnecessary words in the Torah, words that appear extra must be there in order to teach some detail that we would not have known otherwise.

I have also heard, but don't know where, that a perfect torah would not need to include superfluous words (along the idea of @WAF's comment below), and of course God's torah is perfect. I'm not sure how much weight to give a human interpretation of divine intent.

Today I read that this "rule" about unnecessary words is not universally held.

What sources are there for each position? Who holds that there are no unnecessary words, and who does not, and on what bases?

Answer 1

There are 32 times in Bavli where the Gemara notes (for at least one person in the local discussion) that a certain word was included because:

דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם‏
The Torah spoke using the language of man

(The next one in Daf Yomi is this week on Brachot 31a.)

So I'm not entirely sure what you mean by unnecessary because I assume God actively chose to include the word, but the word is specifically not expounded to learn a certain legal rule, at least in the Bavli.

Answer 2

I personally, do not understand the premise of those who say that every word is necessary. It's application before the Achronim is truly very limited. I believe the times when every letter is measured is less than 200 out of 304,805.

The most famous example of the Torah using extra words, when less words could have been used to give the same message is in Parshat Naso, when the gifts given by the prince of each tribe is spelled out. For example, if the Torah wanted to teach us that each gift was essentially different, even though the physical gift was the same, it could have said, "The prince of Yehuda gave his own gift, like that which the Prince of Benyamin gave." And gone down the list as such. Or other similar techniques to reduce the number of words.

Similarly when counting the Jewish people, an extended formula is used to describe the numbers.

You will not find any attempt to explain the extra words used to describe these events until the Rishonim, and even then, not all Rishonim address this "problem."

It can be easily concluded then, that not all Rishonim, and certainly chazal felt that extra words had to "explained". Rather it is the fact that the Torah writes in the language of man, sometimes the people are just more impacted by certain areas of the text being explained in great detail with extra words and flourishes, and other parts being spoken of briefly.

In fact, if you look at the Gemora closely, you will find that actually the exact opposite is happening. Rather than looking at extra words and finding meaning, the Gemora uses known halachot, and tries to find extra words or phrases in the Torah to attach them. The desire is to show how the Oral Torah can be hinted to in the Written Torah.