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In Mishlei (Proverbs) 28:17, the letter dalet is small in the word "adam". Why is this?

ezra
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3 Answers3

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The go-to sefer for this is Sefer Katan v'Gadol by R. Zvi Ron (which I discovered via this answer). Your case is on page 258. The author brings four commentaries on this small dalet, as follows (in brief):

  • Midrash R. Akiva — the dalet represents the gematria of 4 people "killed", who besides for the victim themselves are the victim's wife, their sons, and their daughters.
  • R. Avraham Bick — the killer is reduced and diminished by the act.
  • R. Nehemia Friedman — the dalet represents דם (blood), and the killer is diminished by the act (based on a drasha in Sota 5a).
  • R. Pinchas Wolf — without the dalet (which again represents דם (blood)), the killer is no longer a person (אדם), and the remaining letters spell אם (if), so: if the sin of murder is on a person, then they are no longer considered a person (אדם). (I think that was what he's getting out of "אם", but it still works without that.)

See inside for (slightly) more details.

magicker72
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As a tentative answer, I would posit that if you read the word without the dalet - it becomes Eim - as in a mother. This admonishment applies equally to both men and women, whether a woman has children or not.

  • Why by this particular admonishment is it necessary to say this? – DonielF Oct 28 '18 at 16:49
  • Because it says adam the implication that this only applies to men and not women. –  Oct 28 '18 at 16:55
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    I think אדם as used in Tanach typically refers to humankind in general, as opposed to איש/אנוש or גבר which refer to men specifically. I could be wrong, but that seems to be the case. – DonielF Oct 28 '18 at 16:56
  • Adam refers always to man in his pristine state. In Bereishis it is used in contradistinction to Chava. –  Oct 28 '18 at 16:59
  • If you could cite that that would be great. According to your definition, what do you do with, I dunno, Vayikra 1:2? Can a woman not bring a Karban Olah? Or Bamidbar 19:16? Can a woman’s corpse not impart Tumas Meis? – DonielF Oct 28 '18 at 17:02
  • I do think you’re onto something, so long as you can justify your premise. – DonielF Oct 28 '18 at 17:02
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    You have to look at Chazal and see the deroshos applied in those instances. There are other factors that lead one to read a pasuk. Since, in general, we can't make derashos, we look to chazal to help us. Nonetheless, as I said, my answer was tentative, since I have not seen this anywhere and I have not seen a comment on it. –  Oct 29 '18 at 07:48
  • @DonielF I seem to remember that being stated in the context of the first perek of Chagiga. – WAF Nov 27 '18 at 17:55
  • @WAF I've never learned Chagigah, so your guess is probably better than mine. – DonielF Nov 28 '18 at 20:32
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According to the authoritative sefer on Masores Mincas Shai, the dalet is not small after all.

N.T.
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  • I'm not sure this is true, but anyway even if it was the question still stands according to the other opinions – Double AA May 16 '21 at 02:19