The Torah Speaks in Human Language (recent article summary)
Recently, I wrote an article about Dibra Torah, that the Torah Speaks in Human Language. You can read it here: paid Substack, Jewish Link HTML, flipdocs. Or click on the image.
A summary of points therein:
The Torah employs repeated language, such as הֹוכֵ֤חַ תֹּוכִ֨יחַ֙. To give a formal name to this linguistic phenomenon, we can call these geminated vocatives (to address someone, like Moshe Moshe!) and geminated imperatives (to tell someone to do something, like you shall surely rebuke).
These aren’t only used to create flowery language, but serve a genuine linguistic purpose in other human languages. If so, even on a peshat level, maybe we can say it teaches something. For instance, one might be reluctant to do some task, like rebuking, so the geminated vocative will stir him to nonetheless do so.
Hey look, in the Mishnah, it is unclear which verse is being interpreted, and here is where a scribe rubbed out some ink to switch from one to the other, Hamburg 165 manuscript, of the Mishnah on 30b:
I’m not sure Chazal systematically interpret every geminated vocative, but they might feel the pull to do so. For those gaps in Tannaitic treatment, maybe an Amora will step forward to do so. What I am wondering here is whether we need to say that Rava or the unnamed Sage he speaks with are innovating derashot or, as I think we can show in a few places, pulling Tannaitic derashot from elsewhere.
When looking at the Mishnah and several Tannaitic derashot, they seem quantitative. Do this even 4x or 5x, thus the repetition. Is the unnamed Sage, who is Rava’s interlocutor, saying the same derasha? Is he restricting it to just one other time?
Rava says that the first word means even 100 times. And the second occurrence teaches something. Is Rava’s motivation to answer the unnamed Sage’s objection to the Mishna (that it should only be 2x)? Is Rava trying to squeeze in an additional derasha, so that that second word isn’t already claimed? Or, is he focusing on qualitive derashot rather than quantitative?
Quantitative can sometimes be qualitative, depending on the reason for the need to repeat the specific action.
We discussed competing derashot on a geminated vocative in the past, where Rava also contributes. See the following unlocked article: