“Im shamoa tishmeu:” “Lehaazin” means “to hear.” But “lishmoa” often includes “to understand” and “to obey.” For the last, see, e.g., Psalms 18:45. The doubling of the root is for emphasis. (This is not the only time the root שמע is doubled.) Therefore, the JPS Torah Commentary on our verse translates the two words together as “obey.”
“Beito (בעתו)—in its time:” עת means “time.” (It is possible that this word is really from the root ענת or ענה and the “nun” dropped. This may help us with the etymology of עונה, a husband’s obligation to provide relations to a spouse at certain intervals. See Daat Mikra on Exodus 21:10.)
Regarding the importance of the rain being on time, see the JPS Torah Commentary on our verse: “Timing is all important. In Israel, the first showers, known as the ‘yoreh,’ fall intermittently in October and November. They soften the soil which is hardened and cracked from the summer, and permit farmers to begin plowing and sowing. The rain increases in December through February, with about 70% of the year’s rain normally falling in those months. The final showers, or “malkosh” (‘late rain’), come in April or early May—right before the burst of growth of the grain and are crucial for its maturation. If the early or late rains come too soon or are delayed, this can unduly lengthen or shorten the growing season and stunt the growth of the grain, impede the harvest or cause it to rot.”
“Yoreh umalkosh:” “Yoreh” means “early rain” and “malkosh” means “late rain.”
As to “yoreh:” The root ירה has two different meanings in Tanach: 1) throw/cast/shoot, and 2) instruct. The first one we know from Az Yashir: “The chariots of Pharaoh and his army, (God) ירה into the sea.” For the second, see, e.g., Deuteronomy 33:10, “יורו mishpatecha leYaakov.” It is unlikely that those two ירה meanings have a common origin. According to one view, our “early rain” word derives from a different root: רוה—to drink/be saturated. See, e.g., Rashi to Deuteronomy 11:14. Many scholars agree. But others derive יורה—“rain” from the “throw” meaning. The ancient view may have been that rain was “thrown down” from above. (Our word also appears in the form מורה. See Joel 2:23.)
As to “malkosh,” it is evident that it is from the root לקש. This root probably means “late.” This root only appears three times in Tanach (outside of the nine references to “malkosh”). It also appears in the Gezer calendar from the 10th century BCE. Two of the three Tanach references are at Amos 7:1.
There, it refers to the time when the later crops grew. The other Tanach reference is Iyov 24:6 and see Daat Mikra there. In the Gezer calendar, it is found in the third phrase. The phrase probably means “two months of late planting of seed.” (The months are not named in this short calendar. The first two phrases in the calendar are: “Two months gathering,” and “two months planting of seed.”)
“You will gather your grain, your tirosh, and your yitzhar:” “Yitzhar” is oil in an unprocessed state. What is the meaning of “tirosh” here? Both the ArtScroll Stone Chumash and the Hertz Chumash translate “tirosh” as “wine” in all 10 occasions that it appears in the Torah. (A rare occasion that they agree on something!) “Tirosh” is often mentioned in Tanach in connection with “dagan” and/or “yitzhar,” as occurs here. In such a context—with “dagan” meaning “grain” and “yitzhar” referring to “oil” in its pre-processed state—it is evident that the reference is not to actual wine, but to wine in a pre-processed state.
In the winemaking process, the first stage was crushing the grapes. The resulting juice included the skins, seeds and stems. These were then separated out and the juice that remained was transferred to vessels which were placed in a cool place until the juice was completely fermented (by the action of the yeast in the juice). Only when the fermentation process was complete do we have real wine.
In English, “must” is the term for wine before it has completely fermented. A mainstream view is that “tirosh” is the biblical term for “must.” (Admittedly, “tirosh” in Tanach does sometimes refer to actual wine.) If “tirosh” is a Semitic word and means “must,” here is one suggestion for its etymology. There is a Hebrew root ירש that has meanings like “take possession of” and “inherit.” But in the hiphil (“horish”), it many times seems to have the meaning “drive out,” since this is the first step in taking possession. See, e.g., Deuteronomy 4:38. Therefore, “tirosh” could mean the juice that was driven out of the grapes.
“Pen yifteh levavchem:” ArtScroll consistently translates this phrase as “lest your heart be seduced.” But there is a problem with this translation. יפתה (yifteh) is in the kal. It is not in the nifal (“yipateh”). “Be deceived” and “be seduced” are translations that correspond to a nifal, where some other party is causing the deception/seduction. That is not the import of the kal construct.
Here is a way to understand “yifteh.” Let us look at an analogous verse, Iyov 31:27: This verse has the phrase, “vayift baseter libi.” This is not only another instance of our root in the kal, but also a verse using it with the word לב. The previous verse referred to the sun and moon shining, which is normal for them to do. Then came verse 27, where Job refers to the possibility (which he denies) that he might have had foolish thoughts relating to paying homage to the sun and the moon. But if he would have, he in no way would have been misled by the sun and the moon. He would have been thinking these foolish thoughts on his own. That is why the verb is in the kal.
The Daat Mikra commentary here suggests that the same explanation applies to Deuteronomy 11:16.
יבולה: “Its produce.” The root יבל is a root that means “movement.” At Leviticus 25:10, we are told: “(This year) shall be a ‘yovel’ to you. You will each return to your land … ” That is why the yovel year is called by this name. See Nachmanides there (disagreeing with Rashi). The root also has the related meaning of “carry.” See, e.g., Psalm 76:12: “yovilu shai” (carry presents). In the Shema, the word means produce of the land because produce must be carried in from the land. Alternatively, it can be because produce “flows” from the land.
“Vaavadetem meheirah:” Here, we have the root אבד in the kal. In the kal, it means “perish, become lost.” These verses are stating that if the Israelites do not follow God, but follow other gods, they will quickly perish from the good land that God gave them. אבד in the kal does not mean “destroy.” (It needs to be in the piel or the hifil to have this meaning.) That is why “Arami oved avi” cannot mean: “An Aramean is destroying my father.” Rather, the subject of the verse is “avi,” and “Arami oved” is a description of “avi.” The meaning of the phrase is “my father was a homeless/wandering/lost Aramean.” (The plain sense commentaries do not agree on whether “my father” was a reference to Abraham or to Jacob. A very reasonable alternative approach is suggested by Shmuel David Luzzatto: “my father” is a reference to all the forefathers in one composite figure. One can read this approach into Rashbam as well.)
Mitchell First can be reached at [email protected]. P.S. There is a very interesting Rashi on “im shamoa tishmeu,” where Rashi and earlier traditional sources cite an earlier source that no one can identify. See the discussion in the Rosenbaum-Silbermann edition of Rashi, page 196, number 5.
