2

In שמות יג:טז:

"וְהָיָה לְאוֹת עַל־יָדְכָה וּלְטוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ כִּי בְּחֹזֶק יָד הוֹצִיאָנוּ יְהוָה מִמִּצְרָיִם׃"

the word ידכה is used. Why is it not spelled ידך?

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  • 1
    There are hundreds of anomalous plene spellings in the Torah, which are rarely at all explainable using garmmar-dikduk so seeking such an answer here in particular, without any other motivation, isnt particularly compelling as a question – Double AA♦ Dec 27 '18 at 0:19
4

See Rashi (Shemos 13:9):

על ידך: יד שמאל, לפיכך ידכה מלא בפרשה שניה (פסוק טז) לדרוש בה, יד שהיא כהה

upon your hand: On the left hand. Therefore, in the second section, (Verse 16) יָדְכָה is written with the full spelling, to explain thereby [that it means] the hand (יָד) that is weaker (כֵּהָה).

[ie. יָדְכָה is a contraction of two words: יָד-כֵּהָה]

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    Is this cause, or effect? – Alex Dec 27 '18 at 1:41
  • I'm not sure what you mean to ask. Please clarify your question. – IsraelReader Dec 27 '18 at 14:54
  • Is it spelled differently because there was an inherent reality that Tefillin had to be on the left hand so the text had to allude to this, or is Tefillin placed on the left hand because the word was spelled differently? – Alex Dec 27 '18 at 18:26
  • I believe, that in the Oral Torah Hashem clarified the intent of his command; saying that Tefillin needs to be put on the weaker hand, and revealed the scriptural allusion to this halacha. – IsraelReader Dec 28 '18 at 0:29
  • Is that my first option or my second option (or neither)? – Alex Dec 31 '18 at 6:57

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