6

There are those who translate בראשית (from Gen 1:1) as "In the beginning of...", saying that ראשית must be in construct form (smikhut). Perhaps most famously, Rashi writes:

שֶׁאֵין לְךָ רֵאשִׁית בַּמִּקְרָא שֶׁאֵינוֹ דָבוּק לַתֵּבָה שֶׁלְּאַחֲרָיו

Because, wherever the word ראשית occurs in Scripture, it is in the construct state

However, this seems not to be true. Ibn Ezra points out:

ויש אומרים כי בראשית לעולם סמוך והטעם בראשית הערב או הלילה או החשך והנה שכחו וירא ראשית לו

Other scholars maintain that the word bereshit is always in the construct and its meaning in our verse is: “In the beginning of the evening, or of the night, or of the darkness.” However, they have overlooked And he chose a first part (reshit) for himself (Deuteronomy 33:21).

I can add Lev 2:12 (קרבן ראשית תקריבו אתם לה׳), Is 46:10 (מגיד מראשית אחרית), Ps 105:36 (ראשית לכל־אונם), and Neh 12:44 (על־הנשכות לאוצרות לתרומות לראשית ולמעשרות), all of which (apparently) have ראשית in absolute form, not construct form. I can add some examples of אחרית, which I imagine would be a similar pattern to ראשית: Jer 29:11 (לתת לכם אחרית ותקוה), Ps 37:37 (כי־אחרית לאיש שלום), Prov 23:18 (כי אם־יש אחרית), Prov 24:14 (ויש אחרית), Prov 24:20 (כי לא־תהיה אחרית לרע).

Is there anyone who defends Rashi (and those who agree) and explains all of these examples as actually being in construct? I'd rather not have to ask about each example individually, so if there is one place that discusses all (or many) of these examples, that'd be great.

Improve this question
8
  • @User123 Not necessarily (cf. מרשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה in Deut 11:12, where רשית השנה and אחרית שנה presumably have the same definite meaning; or Is 46:10 "from the beginning" and "the end", in some Jewish translations). As a midrashic answer, Rashi says that there were multiple beginnings. But that's not really the point. Rashi says that ראשית is always in construct, and there are plenty of examples of it not being in construct.
    – magicker72
    Commented Jul 14 at 4:05
  • 2
    Rashi's position seems to be that there is always an implied subject that goes along with the construct. In Gen. 1:1 he explains Is. 46:10 should be read מגיד מראשית דבר אחרית דבר. In Deut. 33:21 he explains that the reading is וירא ראשית כיבוש הארץ לו. (It's possible that he explains other examples similarly - I haven't checked.)
    – Joel K
    Commented Jul 14 at 9:27
  • @Argon Thanks. Nice article, although of course it doesn't address this question.
    – magicker72
    Commented Jul 16 at 3:01
  • Please refrain from using "really" in questions. What does it mean? Do you expect one true answer that everybody agrees on? Seriously, in Judaism?
    – Al Berko
    Commented Jul 18 at 10:21
  • @AlBerko I'm not asking for the "true answer", but for support for Rashi's opinion.
    – magicker72
    Commented Jul 18 at 10:46

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .