Wednesday, February 28, 2024

יעשה vs. תעשה

From Ephraim Stulberg:
(ל"א:ט"ו)
שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים יֵעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה

In the above פסוק, where we are told that "for six days shall work be performed." The passive "יֵעָשֶׂה" is of course masculine, in spite of the fact that its subject is the feminine "מְלָאכָה". And so follows the question: What's up with that?

R, Yaakov Kamenetsky observes that in many instances in which the word "כל", or "all", is used to modify a noun, the gender of the verb/adjective used to describe even a feminine noun will be masculine. Thus, in פרשת בא, we have the phrase (כָּל מְלָאכָה לא יֵעָשֶׂה בָהֶם" (י"ב:ט"ז", where the masculine "יֵעָשֶׂה" refers back to the word "כל" more than it does to the feminine "מְלָאכָה". R' Kamenetsky suggests that the verse in כי תשא is to be read as though the word "כל" were present. R' Kamenetsky also quotes the opinion of a certain R' Nathan, who appears to have been some sort of confederate of his back in Lithuania, who explains the incidence in בא by positing a rule in which the gender of passively constructed verbs does not necessarily correspond to the gender of their related nouns. R' Kamenetsky is somewhat dismissive of this suggestion, though it clearly solves the question in כי תשא much more effectively.The truth is that R' Nathan's suggestion had already been anticipated by an earlier authority, namely רד"ק, in his comments on מלכים א ב:כ"א:

וַתּאמֶר יֻתַּן אֶת אֲבִישַׁג הַשֻּׁנַמִּית לַאֲדנִיָּהוּ אָחִיךָ לְאִשָּׁה

He explains that when the passive voice is employed, it creates a sort of gap between noun and verb. רד"ק reads the verse in מלכים as follows: "It shall be given, namely Avishag the Shunamite, to Adoniyahu". Likewise, we would read: "For six days it shall be done, namely 'work'". Actually, this is not very different from the explanation given by R' Kamenetsky. R' Kamenetsky makes the important point of noting that the phenomenon is not limited to the נפעל, and that it really applies in any case where a neuter noun is employed. However, R' Nathan's point is also crucial, for it recognizes that this phenomenon will be much more prevalent in cases in which the נפעל is utilized, thus creating an implicit break between subject and verb which is filled by the invisible neuter.

6 comments:

Shtikler said...

My only question is:
Why, in the second פסוק of the afternoon reading do we find
שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה

Binny said...

Shtikler,that Pasuk does not say "kol".
have a question based on the fact that there are actually three P'sukim in Tanach where it says "yeaseh" regarding "melacha" as if "melacha" is masculine.(See Shmos 12:16, 31:15, Vayikra 11:3) The other two P'sukim do not contain the word "kol".

Shtikler said...

Binny,
R' Yaakov is suggesting that the pasuk in כי תשא is as if the word כל were there. Why is this so in כי תשא any more than in ויקהל?
Furthermore, according to R' Nathan it is certainly a problem regardless of whether or not the word כל is there.

ELIE said...

מגליון ויצא משנת סז
כח כב וְהָאֶבֶן הַזֹּאת.... יִהְיֶה עידן מפורום הגיגים שאל: הלא מודעת זאת שאבן היא מילה בלשון נקבה, למה אם כן כתוב יהיה ולא תהיה.
אחרי כמה תשובות שאינן מספקות חשבתי למצוא את התשובה במבנה התחבירי של המשפט, ולכן העברתי שאלה זו לפרופ' שמחה קוגוט נר"ו. וזו תשובתו.
לרב אליהו לוין, שלום

מן המפורסמות הוא שהפועל "יהיה" משמש במקרא לא רק לזכר יחיד אלא אף לנקבה ובשני המינים גם לרבים. בין המקרים נמצא את "אבן" לא רק בפסוקנו, אלא אף בפסוקים: לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ בְּכִיסְךָ אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן גְּדוֹלָה וּקְטַנָּה (דב' כה, יג), אֶבֶן שְׁלֵמָה וָצֶדֶק יִהְיֶה לָּךְ (דב' כה, טו). שמות אחרים ממין נקבה באים אף הם כנושאים של "יהיה". למשל: תּוֹרָה אַחַת יִהְיֶה לָאֶזְרָח וְלַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם (שמ' יב, מט), שְׁנַת שַׁבָּתוֹן יִהְיֶה לָאָרֶץ (ויק' כה, ה), חֻקָּה אַחַת יִהְיֶה לָכֶם (במד' ט,יד), תּוֹרָה אַחַת יִהְיֶה לָכֶם (במד' טו, כט) ועוד. כאמור, "יהיה" בא גם במקום "יהיו / תהיינה", למשל: כָּל תְּפִלָּה כָל תְּחִנָּה אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה לְכָל הָאָדָם (דבה"י ב ו כט).

זוהי לדעתי התשובה לשאלתך. ע"כ תשובת פרופ' קוגוט.

כלומר אין כאן סיבה תחבירית אלא כך משפט הלשון. בהזדמנות זו אודה לו על תשובתו המהירה והבהירה.
ע"כ ממה שנכתב שם

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ELIE said...

לכב' המערכת
נכנסו כאן כל מיני שטוסים
אבקש למחוק