לקוטי שיחות חלק ט״ו - ויחי ה

Parshas Vayechi

1. On the verse "אבי השביעני לאמר גו' בקברי אשר כריתי לי בארץ כנען שמה תקברני" ("My father made me swear, saying… in my grave which I have dug for myself in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me"),¹ Rashi comments on the words "אשר כריתי לי" ("which I have dug for myself") and cites three explanations: (a) "According to its plain meaning, etc." (dug).² (b) "And its Midrashic interpretation,³ which also fits the language,^3* is like 'אשר קניתי' ('which I bought'), etc." (c) "And another Midrashic interpretation:⁴ [it is] an expression of 'כרי' ('a heap'), for Yaakov took all the silver and gold, etc., and made it into a heap, and said to Esav, 'Take this heap.'"^4*

The reason Rashi arranges the three explanations in this order is simply understood: first he brings the explanation "according to its plain meaning"; afterwards, a Midrash which nevertheless at least "fits the language" ["אשר כריתי לי" — which I bought for myself]; and after that, a Midrash which does not "fit the language,"⁵ since according to the way of pshat it is not plausible^5* that "אשר כריתי לי" is an expression of "a heap."

[The order is understood all the more if one learns⁶ that the explanation "And another Midrashic interpretation: an expression of 'heap,' etc." is not a separate explanation, but an "and another" — an additional reason and elaboration upon "its Midrashic interpretation… which fits," i.e., upon the second explanation ("אשר כריתי" is "like אשר קניתי")⁷ — namely, that the reason the Torah uses the expression "כריתי" here (and not, as usual, "קניתי" ("I bought") or "לקחתי" ("I took")),⁸ is because the expression of "heap" is relevant here: it hints that the acquisition was made in a manner in which ("I made a heap") "Yaakov took all the silver and gold, etc."]

One must, however, understand:

(a) Why is Rashi not content with the explanation "according to its plain meaning," and brings a second explanation according to "its Midrashic interpretation"? And (if "And another Midrashic interpretation" is a third explanation, it emerges that) he is not satisfied even with "its Midrashic interpretation," which at least "fits the language," but brings a (third) explanation according to Midrash which is even further from the way of pshat, since it does not "fit the language"?

(b) Why is the second explanation (that "אשר כריתי" is "like אשר קניתי") "its Midrashic interpretation"? We find verses in which a word from the root "כירה" is translated plainly as an expression of buying: in Parshas Devarim⁹ — "מים תכרו מאתם בכסף גו'" ("water you shall purchase from them for money"), which Rashi explains, "תכרו — an expression of purchase, etc."; and likewise in Hoshea,¹⁰ "ואכרה לי בחמשה עשר כסף" ("So I bought her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver"), which Rashi translates as "an expression of commerce, etc."

Even more puzzling: in both of the above places, where Rashi explains it as the plain meaning (since he does not say that it is according to "its Midrashic interpretation"), he brings a proof specifically from our verse ["אשר כריתי לי"], where he says that it is "its Midrashic interpretation"!¹¹

(c) Even if there were no proof from the above verses that "כריתי" is an expression of purchase and commerce — since he brings a demonstration of it from "[the coastal cities]… 'כירה'," this is not derush but pshat — as we find earlier: on the verse¹² "במאה קשיטה" ("for a hundred kesitah") Rashi says, "קשיטה — a ma'ah. Rabbi Akiva said: When I went to the coastal cities, they called a ma'ah 'kesitah'," and he does not say that this explanation is according to "its Midrashic interpretation"; and likewise later (in Parshas Bo¹³ and Parshas Va'eschanan¹⁴), Rashi explains the word "טוטפות" — "Tat in Katfi means two, pas in Afriki means two," and does not say that this is "its Midrashic interpretation."

We see from this that when there is a demonstration for the translation of a word in the Torah from an expression used "in the coastal cities" (or "in Katfi," etc.),¹⁵ it is (according to Rashi) considered the way of pshat. Why, then, does Rashi here call it "its Midrashic interpretation"?

2. One must also understand several fine points in the wording of Rashi itself:

a) Why does he copy into the caption (dibbur hamaschil) also the words "אשר … לי" — seemingly he is explaining only the word "כריתי"?¹⁶

b) For the first explanation Rashi brings a proof: "like 'כי יכרה איש' ('when a man shall dig')."¹⁷ This is not understood: (a) Why does he not bring the proof from an earlier verse,¹⁸ "ויכרו שם עבדי יצחק באר" ("and Yitzchak's servants dug a well there")? (b) Why does Rashi also copy the word "(כי יכרה) איש" ("a man"),^18* which adds nothing to the explanation of the proof? [Either way: if it is to indicate which verse he means, the word "איש" is unnecessary (since that is the only place where the expression "כי יכרה" appears); and if it is to explain that "כרי'" there means digging, the word "איש" is not sufficient, and he should have also cited the word "בור" ("pit") that follows it.]

c) In the second explanation Rashi says "like 'אשר קניתי'" — seemingly, either way: if he means to translate only the word "כריתי," he need only have said "like 'קניתי'" (without the word "אשר"); and if he says it in accordance with the entire phrase — "אשר כריתי לי" — he should have also added the word "לי" ("like אשר קניתי לי")?¹⁹

d) Why does Rashi bring the proof that "כריתי" is "like אשר קניתי" from "Rabbi Akiva said: When I went, etc." — and not from explicit verses (as mentioned above in section 1, question (b)), as he does in the first explanation?²⁰

e) Even if we were to find a reason why the verses provide no proof, so that Rashi must resort to the proof from the words of Chazal — it is still difficult to understand why he also brings the details of the proof ("when I went to the coastal cities, they called selling 'כירה'"), and does not say briefly, "like אשר קניתי, for selling is called 'כירה,' as stated in [Tractate] Rosh Hashanah," or the like?

3. The explanation of all this:

Rashi aims not only to explain the word "כריתי," but also to answer why the words "אשר כריתי לי" need to be written at all. Seemingly, it would have been enough had the verse said "בקברי אשר בארץ כנען שמה תקברני" ("in my grave which is in the land of Canaan, there you shall bury me"), for in the expression "בקברי" ("in my grave") there is already the reason why Yaakov wants "there you shall bury me."

We must therefore say that by adding "אשר כריתי לי" he meant a special point in the connection of this grave to Yaakov, because of which it had great importance to him, and therefore his instruction was "there you shall bury me."

That is: since Yaakov and Yosef knew that Pharaoh wanted Yaakov to be buried in Egypt²¹ [which is why Yaakov did not rely on Yosef's words,²² "אנכי אעשה כדבריך" ("I will do as you have said"), and had to make Yosef swear²³ — as the commentators explain²⁴ — so that by this itself he would be able to prevail upon Pharaoh], and therefore Yosef said to Pharaoh, "My father made me swear, saying," thereby bringing out how much this mattered to Yaakov — it is understood why he also stated the reason (which would also be accepted by Pharaoh)²⁵ why it mattered so much to him that he be buried in the land of Canaan.²⁶

On this Rashi brings the first explanation — "according to its plain meaning," that "כריתי" means "dug." And since this is a grave that he himself took the trouble to dig, it is understandable that it had a special importance to him.²⁷

With this it is understood why Rashi brings the proof specifically from the verse "כי יכרה איש" (and also copies the word "איש"):²⁸ from the fact that the verse there adds the word "איש" ("a man") and does not simply say "or when one shall dig a pit,"²⁹ it is implied³⁰ that "כי יכרה" is something into which a person invests special effort and exertion — that of an "איש,"³¹ a grown man.³² From this it is understood in our case as well: since the "כריתי" was bound up with a special exertion³³ on Yaakov's part,³⁴ it consequently evokes a sense of great importance.³⁵

4. However, there are difficulties in this explanation, among them:

(a) In the content of the matter:³⁶ the Cave of Machpelah is in Eretz Yisrael, and Yaakov spent the last seventeen years of his life in Egypt; accordingly, Yaakov would have dug the grave more than seventeen years before his passing³⁷ — something that does not sit well with reason.³⁸

(b) Why "כריתי" ("I dug") — Yaakov himself — and not through his servants, etc.?³⁹ Though one could say, in a forced way, that "כריתי" means (also) through his servants.^39*

(c) In the wording of the verse: according to this explanation the word "לי" is seemingly superfluous — it could have said "אשר כריתי," and one would understand on one's own that it was "לי" — "for my sake"?

Therefore Rashi brings a second explanation: "And its Midrashic interpretation … 'אשר קניתי'; Rabbi Akiva said, etc." This explanation (although it is "Midrash" and not "its plain meaning," as will be explained below) does "fit the language" — both the translation of the word "כריתי" and the need for the word "לי" [and the fact that Rashi calls it "its Midrashic interpretation" is not because of the "language (of the verse)," but because of its content, as will be explained below]. Furthermore, and most importantly, it emphasizes the importance of the grave to Yaakov: that "קניתי" ("I bought") — not "I inherited" (automatically), or "I took" as an inheritance from "my fathers" — but rather he paid for it,⁴⁰ and, as explained earlier, in Avraham's purchase of the Cave of Machpelah^40* (and similarly in Yaakov's purchase⁴¹) it was "for full money" (at an exorbitant price).

5. This will be understood by explaining the proof that Rashi brings for the explanation that "אשר כריתי" is "like אשר קניתי" — from "Rabbi Akiva said: When I went, etc., they called selling 'כירה'." Seemingly, this is a proof to the contrary: Rashi here wants to translate "כריתי" as "קניתי" (buying), whereas Rabbi Akiva says that "כירה" means "מכירה" (selling)?

The explanation of this: from Rabbi Akiva's statement that "they called selling 'כירה'," Rashi means to bring a demonstration that "כריתי" does not mean "לקחתי" — simply taking — but an exchange and transfer of ownership: of the money from the buyer and of the grave-plot from the seller⁴² or vice versa.^42* Therefore "כריתי" can mean both "I bought" and "I sold."⁴³

With this it is understood why the verse must emphasize "כריתי לי": since the word "כריתי" alone does not necessarily mean "I bought," but rather an exchange and transfer of ownership, the verse must add that the "כריתי" (of the grave) was "לי" ("for me"), i.e., "I bought" [whereas in Rashi's words, since he uses the expression "קניתי," it is superfluous to add the word "לי"].⁴⁴

And therefore Rashi cannot bring the proof from the verses in Parshas Devarim and in Hoshea — because from there one could have derived a proof to the contrary: since the verse adds "(תכרו מאתם) בכסף" ("for money") and "(ואכרה לי) בחמשה עשר כסף" ("for fifteen pieces of silver"), it implies that "כרי'" alone means simply taking (without giving anything for it).

6. According to this, however, there still remains a difficulty:

(a) The above question (above, section 3): what difference does it make to relate that this is the grave "אשר כריתי לי" — "which I bought" — (by purchasing it)? What special importance lies in the fact that "I bought" it, such that this should convince Pharaoh of the importance of "there you shall bury me"? To rely on the fact that since we find, with two purchases by the Avos, that they were for very great sums, Pharaoh would surely know from this and understand that this purchase too was made in such a manner — is very forced.

(b) Why is the expression "כירה" used, which means merely an exchange and transfer of ownership, so that the word "(כריתי) לי" must be added — the verse could have used from the outset a clear expression, "קניתי" or the like (and would not have needed to add "לי")?⁴⁵

Therefore Rashi brings not only the general explanation that selling is called "כירה," but also that "in the coastal cities they called selling 'כירה'": the kerachim are great commercial cities, where trade and acquisitions are conducted in a substantial, large-scale manner.

And this is the meaning of "אשר כריתי לי" (and not simply "אשר קניתי" or the like): with this Yosef wanted to bring out how great the importance of the grave was to Yaakov — that he made the effort that the acquisition be in the manner of "כריתי," a strong acquisition, as in "the coastal cities."⁴⁶

[And because of this Rashi calls this explanation "its Midrashic interpretation" — because the idea (that the acquisition of "the coastal cities" is called "כירה" and indicates an important acquisition, and that with this Yosef wanted to convince Pharaoh of the necessity of "there you shall bury me") is not compelled by the plain meaning of the verse.⁴⁷]

7. This explanation, however, is difficult from the standpoint of the content of the statement "אשר כריתי לי," because ultimately, this — that Yaakov made an acquisition of "כירה" — still does not express Yaakov's great effort to obtain the grave, and consequently does not express any great importance in it either; for anything that has any importance at all^47* is bought with an important (formal) acquisition.

Therefore Rashi adds, "And another Midrashic interpretation: an expression of 'כרי' ('a heap'), for Yaakov took all the silver and gold that he brought from the house of Lavan, etc." — that the verse calls the acquisition by the name "כריתי" not (only) to indicate a strong acquisition, as above; rather, with this the Torah hints that Yaakov gave for the grave "all his silver and gold that he brought, etc." Since this shows how dear and precious it was to Yaakov, even Pharaoh would agree because of it⁴⁸ that "there you shall bury me."⁴⁹

This explanation, however, is merely a matter of "its Midrashic interpretation," and furthermore — it does not even "fit the language" (as does the explanation "like אשר קניתי"), for saying that "כריתי" is "an expression of 'heap'" is entirely a matter of derush.⁵⁰

And since the explanations "like אשר קניתי … an expression of 'heap'" are "its Midrashic interpretation," therefore the first and principal explanation is "like כי יכרה איש." This explanation is "its plain meaning" — both in the language of the verse (it is the plain explanation of "כריתי"), and in the content of the verse — because it shows the great preciousness and dearness of the grave to Yaakov: he exerted himself so much for it, to the point that he dug it out himself⁵¹ — "לי" ("for myself"), for this purpose.

(From the sichos of Shabbos Parshas Vayechi 5732)

Notes

1) Our parsha, 50:5.

2) And so it is in Targum Yonasan ben Uziel here: "דחפרית לי" ("which I dug for myself"). Ibn Ezra here (and Ramban, 49:31: "In my grave which I dug for myself — for he had already dug the grave for himself in order to take possession of it"). Radak (in Sefer HaShorashim), root כרה.

3) Its source is Rosh Hashanah 26a. See also Sotah 13a, and elsewhere. And so Radak explains there in the name of "some say." See also below, note 44. Targum Onkelos renders it differently: "בקברי די אתקנית לי" ("in my grave which I prepared for myself"). — In several printings, at the end of this explanation, there appears in parentheses "ב"ר" (Bereishis Rabbah); but, as has been discussed several times, most if not all (and perhaps all) of these source references are additions (by the typesetter?) and are not always accurate.

3*) So it is in the printings of Rashi (including the first and second printings), and in many Rashi manuscripts. In one of the Rashi manuscripts (MS. ה"א רמב [OCR unclear]): "Another explanation: Rabbi Akiva said, When I went to the coastal cities, etc."

4) In the above-mentioned Rashi manuscript: "And its Midrashic interpretation: an expression of 'heap,' as explained above," and nothing more (and his intention is simply to Rashi on Vayigash 46:6. See also below, note 50).

4*) See Tanchuma on our parsha, 6. In Bereishis Rabbah (100:5) it concludes "הכרתי עלי" ("I heaped up for myself"); see the sources noted there. In Shemos Rabbah (31:17) it concludes "a heap of dinars." In Tanchuma there: "When Yitzchak died, etc., what did he do? He brought all his silver and gold"; and similarly in Shemos Rabbah there. And in Pesikta Rabbasi (ch. 1 [OCR unclear]): "all the gold that he had amassed in his lifetime and all the money that he had." But in Tanchuma Buber, Vayishlach (11): "When he had brought his children and his flocks across to Eretz Yisrael, he arose and sold everything he had brought with him from outside the Land, etc.; he said to Esav, etc." Note also Rashi on Sotah there, s.v. "זבינתי": "when you sold the birthright."

5) Note Rashi, Bereishis 3:8: "But I have come only for the plain meaning of Scripture and for such Aggadah that settles the words of Scripture, each word in its proper place." Here, however, [the wording is]: "fits the language."

5*) Note that according to the above Rashi manuscript (note 3*), only the explanation (the [OCR unclear: "second"]) "an expression of 'heap,' etc." is "its Midrashic interpretation," whereas the second explanation is not derush, but "another explanation" according to its plain meaning.

6) See also below, note 50.

7) And so it is somewhat implied by Bereishis Rabbah there ("It does not say here 'אשר לקחתי לי' ('which I took for myself')"; see the commentary of the Maharzu there), and in Shemos Rabbah there ("It does not say here 'קניתי'"). See also Midrash HaGadol and Rabbeinu Bachya here.

8) And so it is implied by his wording "ועוד מדרשו" ("and another Midrashic interpretation"), which is not so usual an expression in Rashi. See Rashi on Vayeishev (37:2): "ועוד נדרש בו" ("and it is further expounded").

One may further say that according to Rashi the second explanation, "its Midrashic interpretation," also (does not negate the explanation "according to its plain meaning," which is a matter of digging, but rather) adds to the first explanation. Accordingly, the wording "ומדרשו עוד כו'" ("and its Midrashic interpretation furthermore…") is all the more fitting. See also above, note 3*.

9) 2:6.

10) 3:2.

11) See also below, section 2, question d, and note 20.

12) Vayishlach 33:19.

13) 13:16.

14) 6:8.

15) See Shelah, 9b [OCR unclear], cited in Ohr HaTorah, Va'eschanan, p. 327.

16) Similar to Rashi on Vayishlach there, who cites only the word "קשיטה."

17) Mishpatim 21:33. And so it is in Ibn Ezra here.

18) Toldos 26:25. See Ibn Ezra there.

18*) [Numbered "18" a second time in the OCR.] So it is in most printings, including the first and second printings, and in many Rashi manuscripts. Several Rashi manuscripts (including the one mentioned in note 3*) add and cite also the word that follows it, "בור." See below in the main text.

19) For "אשר קניתי" in Rashi is not a citation of a Scriptural phrase (in Yirmiyahu 13:4, "אשר קנית," and in Rus 4 [verse number OCR unclear], "קניתי לי"), but rather an explanation of "כריתי" in this verse.

20) In Rashi on Sotah there, s.v. "ואין כירה": "like 'ואכרה לי בחמשה עשר כסף'"; and in the Chiddushei Aggados there [OCR reads "חזקוני"]: "For the main proof is from the coastal cities, but Rashi comes to say here: lest you say that it is a foreign word, etc."

But it is still difficult to explain this in Rashi's commentary on the Torah, for where Rashi brings proof for his explanation from the words of Chazal and not from Scripture, he writes "I have not found its like," or the like. And in our case it is stated twice more, as above (in Parshas Devarim and in Hoshea). And if his intention is to negate the notion that it is a foreign word — on the contrary, precisely then he would have brought the verses and written, "and I have found its like, etc."

21) As in Rashi earlier (our parsha, 47:29): "so that the Egyptians should not make me an object of idolatry." Moreover, "Once Yaakov came to Egypt, blessing came at his feet; they began to sow, and the famine ended" (Rashi, Vayigash 47:19).

22) Our parsha, 47:30.

23) There, 31. See also there, 29.

24) See Ramban and Kli Yakar (there, 31), and elsewhere.

25) See also below, note 49.

26) Especially since in Yaakov's words to Yosef, and also in his words to the tribes, this is not stated in Scripture — only "וקברתני בקבורתם" ("and bury me in their burial place") (of the Avos) (there, 30), and "קברו אותי אל אבותי" ("bury me with my fathers") (49:29) — which seemingly would also be a sufficient reason for Pharaoh (see Ramban, Chayei Sarah 23:4: it was the custom for them to have burial grounds, each man with his father's house). From the fact that Yosef did not say before him his father's words as recorded in Scripture, but said something else* — "אשר כריתי לי" — it is understood that in this there is a stronger reason, which Pharaoh would accept.

*) Although it is understood that Yaakov also said this, only it is not explicit in Scripture — as we find in many places.

27) Accordingly, it is all the more fitting that Rashi wrote "according to its plain meaning" and not explicitly "I dug" — for his intention is not (only) to explain the word "כריתי" (which means "I dug"), but (also) the content of the verse "אשר כריתי לי," which is according to its plain meaning: that Yaakov himself took the trouble and dug the grave, "like כי יכרה איש" (as explained below in the main text and in the following note).

28) Note that in the Yerushalmi, Bava Kamma (5:6): "I only know [of a case] where he dug; [if] he bought, inherited, or it was given to him as a gift — from where [do we know]? For it says 'או כי יכרה איש בור' ('or when a man shall dig a pit')." Some explain that this is due to the expression "יכרה" being an expression of selling, etc. (see the commentary of R. Eliyahu of Fulda; Torah Temimah, Mishpatim there). According to the above, what is explained in the main text — that Rashi's intention is not (only) to the word "יכרה" — is all the more fitting.

29) For it says before it, "וכי יפתח איש בור" ("and if a man shall open a pit").

30) Note Rashi, Shemos 2:14; Rashi, Noach 9:20.

31) For the meaning is not that one is liable only in this manner (a man), but that Scripture speaks of the usual case, as Rashi explains on several verses in Parshas Mishpatim.

32) And "יפתח איש" ("a man shall open") is also learned [from it] — that it is connected with exertion of strength. Or [one may say] that the first time it comes to exclude a minor. Note Bava Kamma 51a.

33) Note Tanchuma (Buber), Toldos 7, and Aggadas Bereishis ch. 40: "From where do we know that Yitzchak was mighty in strength? See how many wells he dug, etc."

34) Accordingly, it is all the more fitting that he did not cite the verse in Parshas Toldos, "ויכרו שם עבדי יצחק באר" ("and Yitzchak's servants dug a well there").

35) Whereas in the Ramban mentioned above (note 2), the emphasis in the digging is "in order to take possession of it."

36) But one cannot ask: since it was a cave already prepared as a burial place, why did Yaakov need to dig a grave? For one may say that a cavity must be made for each grave separately (similar to Bava Basra 100b, in the Mishnah).

37) Note Radak there: "for it is possible that Yaakov our father dug and hollowed out his grave during his lifetime."

38) In Rashi on Toldos (27:2): "If a person reaches the age of his parents [at their passing], he should worry five years before it and five years after it — for perhaps [I will die] at the age of my mother, etc." Accordingly, when Yaakov was 108 [OCR reads ק"ח; perhaps 118] until 128 years old (before he came to Egypt, when he was 130 (Vayigash 47:9)), it is possible that he worried [for according to Rashi, Rivkah was (approximately) 123 years old when she passed away: when Yaakov was on the way from Lavan's house he was told that his mother had died (Rashi, Vayishlach 35:8), and that was approximately 99 years after Yaakov's birth (see Rashi at the end of Parshas Toldos), and Rivkah was 23 years old when Yaakov was born (see Rashi, Toldos 25:20; there, 26)] and dug a grave. But worry seemingly has no connection with digging a grave.

Furthermore, and most importantly: in Yaakov's view, his years should have been like the years of his fathers (Vayigash 47:9) — 180, or at least 175, years.

39) See Tanchuma there: "Was Yaakov lacking graves?"

39*) Note Vayeira (21:30), "חפרתי את הבאר" ("I dug this well"), whereas it is explicit in Toldos (26:15), "הבארות אשר חפרו עבדי אביו" ("the wells that his father's servants dug").

40) Unlike Radak there (according to the explanation of "some say," that "אשר כריתי" is a matter of acquisition): "And although Avraham bought it, it is as if he bought it."

40*) Chayei Sarah 23:9, 16, and Rashi there.

41) Vayishlach 33:19, and Rashi there. See also Likkutei Sichos vol. 25, p. 182.

42) Accordingly, it is also understood why Rashi in Devarim there wrote simply "an expression of purchase," and likewise in Hoshea "an expression of commerce," and does not emphasize that it is taking.

42*) Note that "כריתי" in its plain sense comes about through the earth changing its place and forming two things: a pit in the ground and a heap on top of the ground.

43) Note Rashi on Mikeitz (41:56): "שבר" is an expression of selling and an expression of buying.

44) According to the above, it will be understood why Rashi brought the statement in Rosh Hashanah, "Rabbi Akiva* said: When I went to the coastal cities they called, etc.," and not the statement in Sotah there, of R. Yochanan in the name of R. Shimon ben Yehotzadak, "'כירה' means only, etc." [whereas in Parshas Devarim there he does bring: "for in the coastal cities they call selling 'כירה'"] — especially since this is the very subject of the passage in Sotah there (Yaakov's burial in the Cave of Machpelah and its purchase from Esav), unlike Rosh Hashanah** —

For [in addition to the simple point that the Gemara there concludes, "What difference does it make? To explain 'אשר כריתי לי'," unlike in Sotah there (even though there too it explains the verse "בקברי אשר כריתי גו'") — [OCR unclear]]: (a) According to pshat one cannot say, as in Sotah, "'כירה' (everywhere in the Torah) means only selling," because in the coastal cities they call selling "כירה." (b) One cannot say "'כירה' means only, etc.," since in several places its meaning is digging (and likewise in our case according to the first explanation; see above, note 8). (c) Rashi's intention here is that it is a transfer of ownership (and this can (also) be the explanation in Rosh Hashanah, "When I went to the coastal cities they called selling 'כירה'," for it means an expression of transaction in general), unlike in Sotah, which follows the question "Did he sell it to him?" — "Yes, as it is written 'בקברי אשר כריתי לי,' and R. Yochanan said, etc., 'כירה' means only selling, etc.," which explains that "כירה" in this verse means nothing but selling.***

Whereas in Devarim:**** (a) The statement in Rosh Hashanah, which comes specifically "to explain 'אשר כריתי לי'," is not relevant. (b) There is no other explanation, and one must broaden the usage of the word in this meaning — "for in the coastal cities they call" — and not diminish it — "when I (once) went to the coastal cities they called, etc."

[Note Targum Onkelos on Devarim there (in most versions): "תכרון מנהון." Accordingly one may say (especially since he departs from his translation at the beginning of the verse, "תזבנון מנהון" ("you shall buy from them")) that its meaning derives from the expression of digging [as is also proven from the fact that in Toldos (26:25) Targum Onkelos renders "וכרו," and likewise in Mishpatim there, "יכרה"] — that they should dig for water in their land (and so the Shach on the Torah explains in Devarim there — though not according to pshat). But this is very forced: besides the fact that the word "מאתם" ("from them") does not fit with this, one may say that the Targum varies because the verse varies — "תשברו" (and afterwards) "תכרו." This is not the place to elaborate.]