Wednesday, December 20, 2023

Shepherd(s)

(מ"ו:ל"ב)
וְהָאֲנָשִׁים רֹעֵי צֹאן

(מ"ו:ל"ד)
כִּי־תוֹעֲבַת מִצְרַיִם כׇּל־רֹעֵה צֹאן

(מ"ז:ג)
רֹעֵה צֹאן עֲבָדֶיךָ

As evidenced by the first two quotes, רעי with a י is used for the plural whereas the singular has רעה with a ה. How then are we to understand the third quote? Clearly, it is being stated in the plural. Why is it רעה and not רעי?

3 comments:

ELIE said...

הרלב"ג מפרש כל אחד מאתנו
כל אחד מהשבטים הוא רועה צאן
בינתיים לא מצאתי בשאר מפרשים

Jonathan Katz said...

Is it possible that both forms are plural? It is certainly not obvious to me from the context that the second example is meant to be singular.

MG said...

See Minchat Shai Gen 3:7, ויתפרו עלה תאנה