Home
The gemara lists five verses in the Torah that can be read either of two ways, "אין להן הכרע".
The amazing thing to me is how many of seem to obviously favor one reading over the other. I can hardly read them one of the ways
1) אם תיטיב שאת ואם לא תיטיב לפתח חטאת רבץ
Is it really possible to read this with שאת going with the later phrase? - the first phrase will have no verb!
2) ארבעה גביעים משוקדים כפתוריה ופרחיה
Here I think we could read משוקדים either way. But look at the verse right before it:
שלשה גביעים משוקדים בקנה אחד כפתור ופרח... Here it seems much harder to make משוקדים go on the following phrase, since בקנה אחד must certainly apply to the earlier phrase as well. Should we not assume that both these pesukim have the משוקדים on the same objects(s)?
3) מחר Here Rashi says that one of the readings is that the battle for Amalek will start today, and Moshe will show up tomorrow! See Rashi on Chumash on the war on Amalek; as Sifsei Chachamim points out, he does not read like either side in the gemara.
4) וברצונם עקרו שור ארור אפם כי עז
If ארור goes on the previous phrase, אפם כי עז has no verb (unless it is the very end of that phrase, אחלקם ביעקב...) Here the safek actually moves the word from one verse to another!
5) הנך שוכב עם אבותיך וקם העם הזה וזנה. If וקם goes on Moshe, העם הזה has no verb. And why in the world would the verse go off and talk about Moshe having techias hameisim?
Note, by the way, that though I'm complaining about Hashem's words to Kayin in 1), Rashi actually has a similar pshat in Hashem's words to Kayin later: כל הורג קין שבעתים יוקם. See Rashi there, who understands that the first phrase כל הורג קין has no object; it's just understood that the result would be terrible. "Anyone who kills Kayin - whoa!" Then the final phrase is a standalone idea: don't worry that Kayin won't be punished, in seven generations he will.
The amazing thing to me is how many of seem to obviously favor one reading over the other. I can hardly read them one of the ways
1) אם תיטיב שאת ואם לא תיטיב לפתח חטאת רבץ
Is it really possible to read this with שאת going with the later phrase? - the first phrase will have no verb!
2) ארבעה גביעים משוקדים כפתוריה ופרחיה
Here I think we could read משוקדים either way. But look at the verse right before it:
שלשה גביעים משוקדים בקנה אחד כפתור ופרח... Here it seems much harder to make משוקדים go on the following phrase, since בקנה אחד must certainly apply to the earlier phrase as well. Should we not assume that both these pesukim have the משוקדים on the same objects(s)?
3) מחר Here Rashi says that one of the readings is that the battle for Amalek will start today, and Moshe will show up tomorrow! See Rashi on Chumash on the war on Amalek; as Sifsei Chachamim points out, he does not read like either side in the gemara.
4) וברצונם עקרו שור ארור אפם כי עז
If ארור goes on the previous phrase, אפם כי עז has no verb (unless it is the very end of that phrase, אחלקם ביעקב...) Here the safek actually moves the word from one verse to another!
5) הנך שוכב עם אבותיך וקם העם הזה וזנה. If וקם goes on Moshe, העם הזה has no verb. And why in the world would the verse go off and talk about Moshe having techias hameisim?
Note, by the way, that though I'm complaining about Hashem's words to Kayin in 1), Rashi actually has a similar pshat in Hashem's words to Kayin later: כל הורג קין שבעתים יוקם. See Rashi there, who understands that the first phrase כל הורג קין has no object; it's just understood that the result would be terrible. "Anyone who kills Kayin - whoa!" Then the final phrase is a standalone idea: don't worry that Kayin won't be punished, in seven generations he will.
