baal haturim (Bereishis 32 26) ויגע בכף ירכו לראות אם הוא מלאך כמותו אם היו לו קפיצים שהמלאכים אין להם קפיצים. א''נ לפוסלו מן העבודה לפי שקנה מעשו הבכורה שבהן העבודה:
According to modern Hebrew he is saying angels don't have springs
A source for this is Bereshit Rabbah .65.21, where the commentary labeled as Rashi (I think the attribution of this commentary to Rashi is spurious) explains it as חוליות שיהו יכולין לקפץ
חוליות generally is used to mean vertebrae but here it seems to be a skeletal joint that angels, who always stand, lack.
From the root: ק.פ.צ. = jump Maybe it means that angel's feet are of a fixed shape, and don't have movable "joints", which would enable them to jump (or sit).
Yechzkel 1:7 וְרַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם רֶ֣גֶל יְשָׁרָ֑ה Rashi: רגלין כיונן מכוונין זה כנגד זה ד"א ישרה שאין להם קפיצים ארכובות לכוף את שוקיהם, לפי שאין להם ישיבה ולא שכיבה ואין צריכין להיות קפיצין כעין שיש לבהמה קפץ עליון וקפץ תחתון שבהם היא כופפת שוקיה לשכב Were straight legs: [Jonathan renders]: רִגְלִין כֵּיוָנָן parallel legs, this one opposite this one. Another explanation: “straight,” meaning they had no knee joints by which to bend their legs, because they do no sitting or lying. Therefore, they do not require joints like those of animals the upper joint and the lower joint by which it bends its legs to lie down.
A source for this is Bereshit Rabbah .65.21, where the commentary labeled as Rashi (I think the attribution of this commentary to Rashi is spurious) explains it as חוליות שיהו יכולין לקפץ
ReplyDeleteחוליות generally is used to mean vertebrae but here it seems to be a skeletal joint that angels, who always stand, lack.
https://www.sefaria.org.il/Bereishit_Rabbah.65.21?lang=bi&with=Rashi&lang2=en
According to this way of thinking, Yechezkel HaNavi saw electricity in his Maaseh HaMerkavah.
ReplyDeleteFrom the root: ק.פ.צ. = jump
ReplyDeleteMaybe it means that angel's feet are of a fixed shape, and don't have movable "joints", which would enable them to jump (or sit).
IIRC, angels are portrayed as having fixed, immobile legs.
ReplyDeleteYechzkel 1:7
ReplyDeleteוְרַגְלֵיהֶ֖ם רֶ֣גֶל יְשָׁרָ֑ה
Rashi:
רגלין כיונן מכוונין זה כנגד זה
ד"א ישרה שאין להם קפיצים ארכובות לכוף את שוקיהם, לפי שאין להם ישיבה ולא שכיבה ואין צריכין להיות קפיצין כעין שיש לבהמה קפץ עליון וקפץ תחתון שבהם היא כופפת שוקיה לשכב
Were straight legs: [Jonathan renders]: רִגְלִין כֵּיוָנָן parallel legs, this one opposite this one.
Another explanation: “straight,” meaning they had no knee joints by which to bend their legs, because they do no sitting or lying. Therefore, they do not require joints like those of animals the upper joint and the lower joint by which it bends its legs to lie down.
Also Zechariah describes them as standing only, being unable to walk.
ReplyDelete