III

him that the difference between such terms is merely structural, rather than semantic, he
concluded that one shouldnt distinguish between them. That having been said, we find that
many of the cases in which Malbim distinguished between etymologically-related synonyms are
cases in which the terms appear in close proximity and in similar contexts, such as
(Num. 6:9, Isa. 29:5), (Ps. 68:4-5) and (Isa. 21:11). It seems that in these
cases, Malbim is almost compelled to formulate a distinction, based on his position that
variation is never simply for stylistic shading or emphasis.
At the end of section two we demonstrate that Malbim utilized foreign languages in
explaining Hebrew words. According to Malbim, Biblical Hebrew contains pairs of
synonyms in which one is a venerable Hebrew word while the other is a loan word or at
least a word that bears similarity to an Aramaic or Arabic word that has acquired Hebrew
morphological characteristics. In the appendix to this section we address Malbims theory
of the development of languages and the influence of other languages on Hebrew.
In section three, we attempt to square a selection of Malbims distinctions with all or
most of the occurrences of the terms in question. Not infrequently our efforts fail, and it
becomes clear that Malbims commentary often suffers from inconsistency, discrediting
his position that the distinctions he proposes are universally valid. Our analysis brings
us to the conclusion that in many verses, the straightforward reading (peshat) suggests
that linguistic variation is demanded by style not content; within these verses, any
suggestion of a substantive distinction between terms seems forced. Nonetheless, we
observe that some such distinctions, a number of them original to Malbim himself,
square consistently with a straightforward reading (peshat) of the verses in question and
add dimension and depth.
In the summary, we express support for the position that Malbims approach runs counter
to the obvious structuredness of speech (and recall that large portions of the Biblical text
were originally preached before an audience). In explaining the straightforward meaning
of the Biblical text, one who wishes to avoid questionable explanations in none too few
cases essentially has two options. One can either reject a distinction between terms
outright unless it fits with all the occurrences of those terms, or accept the notion that
synonyms may be differentiable in some verses but not in others. We stress that according
to this second approach, many of Malbims distinctions or at least the kernel of his
distinctions are quite palatable. We also emphasize that this study discusses the
distinction between synonyms on the level of peshat. The other classical modes of
Biblical exegesis derash, remez and sod follow different hermeneutic principles; for
example, these modes not infrequently interpret terms out of context.
II
Chapter 7 outlines the development of the study of semantic fields and addresses the
definition of the term synonymous as used by linguists and by Malbim.
Chapter 8 outlines the positions of various scholars who have studied synonymous
parallelism in the Bible. There are those who take a position similar to that of Malbim,
that the second hemistich always adds something new to the first. However, most
scholars hold that the two hemistich are often merely equivalent, in whole or in part.
Chapter 9 identifies the Malbims writings that serve as the corpus of this study and
surveys the various printed editions of these texts. Among the original material
presented in this chapter is the revelation of Malbims emendations to his commentary
on the Torah, heretofore unpublished, and the insights into Malbims writing practices
that can be gleaned from these emendations when compared to the printed editions of
his commentary. We also address Malbims commentary to Ecclesiastes, first printed at
the end of 2008, and offer our opinion that this was Malbims first commentary on a
Biblical book, and one that he did not wish to publish in its current form. At the end of
the chapter, we consider the relationship between Malbims composition Yair Or and
his commentary on the Bible.
In chapter 10, we outline the structure of this study and its methods and goals.
Section two of the study is dedicated to a description of Malbims method of distinguishing
between synonyms in the Bible. In this section we examine Malbims approach to different
categories of synonyms, as determined by the type of form differences that distinguish the
synonyms from one another. We divide synonyms into two main categories:
1) Words with no etymological connection to one another, such as or
. We observe that Malbim generally attempted to differentiate such words; however,
occasionally he does not differentiate words of this type, or even contradicts his own
distinctions.
2) Etymologically-related words that differ in various ways, for example by the substitution,
addition or subtraction of a letter ( ); by the substitution of
homorganic consonants (consonants with the same point of articulation), such as alveolars (
] [ ) or dentals ( ] [ ); by metathesis (transposition of letters [ ]);
or by morphology ( ; ). We observe that Malbim generally did not
distinguish between etymologically-related words, and do not find a common denominator (e.g.,
semantic, phonetic, morphological) in the cases in which he does distinguish between them.
Based on this, we conclude that Malbim preferred to distinguish between etymologically-related
synonyms whenever he found an appropriate distinction that also fit with all the occurrences of
those terms. However, when the straightforward meaning (peshat) of the verses suggested to
I
Abstract

This study is dedicated to a critical examination of the semantic method of Malbim in
the field of synonymy. Malbim, one of the great J ewish sages of the nineteenth century,
held that there are neither synonyms nor synonymous parallelism in the Bible; each
term and each parallel phrase has its own distinctive meaning. He applied this idea
throughout his commentary to the Bible, in which he deals extensively with the
distinctions between apparent synonyms.
This study is divided into three sections. The first section is dedicated to introductory
material.
Chapter 1 presents an overview of Malbims tumultuous life story, both his personal life
and his public, rabbinic role.
Chapter 2 addresses Malbims motives for writing his commentary to the Bible and
considers the goals of his commentary. In this chapter we see that the Reform
movement and Mendelsohns Beiur prompted Malbim to write his commentary, in
which he tried to defend the sanctity and honor of the Bible and the Sages. He does so
in his commentary to the Pentateuch by arguing that the Sages exegesis in Midrash
Halakhah is based on a close reading of the Biblical text according to the linguistic rules
at their disposal, and in his commentary to the Bible as a whole by arguing that every
word and every parallel phrase in the Bible has a singular meaning, so that the Bible
cannot be analyzed in the same manner as a human literary or poetic composition in
which language is varied for stylistic reasons.
Chapter 3 surveys the reception of the Malbims commentary, both in his own time and
in ours.
Chapter 4 gives a broad overview of Malbims basic assumptions and his own account
of the methodology behind his commentary.
Chapter 5 attempts to trace possible ideological sources for the Malbims approach to
synonymy. In this chapter we consider the work of the following scholars: R. Isaac
Abravanel, R. Naphtali Herz Wessely, R. Solomon Pappenheim, Samuel David Luzzato
and R. J acob Hirsch Mecklenburg (author of Haketav Ve'Hakabbalah).
Chapter 6 surveys the current state of research. Most scholars have taken issue with
Malbims extreme approach and agreed that many of Malbims distinctions are not
convincing; nonetheless, many scholars praise Malbims work despite their criticism.

Table of Contents

Hebrew Abstract ........................................................................................................................
List of Terms and Abbreviations ...............................................................................................
Signals and Referring Methods...................................................................................................
Preface.......................................................................................................................................... 1

Part A: Introductory Chapters ........................................................................................... 5
1. Malbim's life history....................................................................................... 7
2. Commentary on the Bible motives for its writing and its objectives............. 20
3. Reception of Malbim's commentary............................................................. 27
4. Basic assumptions and methods of the commentary.................................... 32
5. Malbim's ideological sources on the issue of distinction
between synonyms....................................................................................... 39
6. Current state of research: opinions of linguists and
Biblical scholars on Malbims distinctions.................................................. 58
7. The term "synonyms" as used by researchers and as used by Malbim............. 67
8. Phenomenon of synonymous parallelism in the Bible................................. 81
9. Corpus of existing research and overview of its editions............................. 83
10. The structure of this study, its methods and goals...................................... 110

Part B: Malbim's Commentary on Various Types of Synonyms................................. 117
1. Introduction................................................................................................ 119
2. Words with no etymological connection to one another............................ 120
3. Etymologically-related words.................................................................... 126
4. Hebrew words compared by Malbim to words of foreign languages...............161
5. Conclusion.................................................................................................. 178

Part C: Malbims Distinctions Their Consistency and Suitability
for the Peshat of the Text ................................................................................... 181
1. Questionable distinctions........................................................................... 183
2. Confirmed distinctions............................................................................... 257

Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 287
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 291
English Abstract ...........................................................................................................................I








I would like to acknowledge the generous sponsorship of

Dr. and Mrs. Naim Dangoor

who have devotedly supported my advanced-degree studies and research in
the "Doctoral Fellowship of Excellence Program"
of Bar-Ilan University, and have made this dissertation possible








This work was carried out
under the supervision of

Professor Menahem Zevi Kaddary
Department of Hebrew and Semitic Languages, Bar-Ilan University

and
Professor Yosef Ofer
Department of Bible, Bar-Ilan University





Synonymy in Biblical Hebrew
According to the Method of Malbim
(A Critical Examination of His Semantic Method
in the Field of Synonymy)



Hallel Eshkoli
Department of Hebrew and Semitic Languages
Ph.D Thesis




Submitted to the Senate of Bar-Ilan University


Ramat-Gan, Israel March 2009