![]() Every מופת is an אות, but not vica versa.Ĥ. According to many, there is some overlap between אות and מופת. This way the same event can be described with a different term. But if the purpose of the sign is to convey a message about the sender, the term מופת is used. 7:9) is that if the purpose of the sign is to convey a message about the messenger, as in Exodus chapter four (=the reliability of Moses), אות is used. ![]() Yet at 7:9-10, when Moses does a similar thing in front of Pharaoh (turning his rod into a תנין), the term used is מופת. At Exodus 4:2 Moses’ rod is turned to a נחש and this is described as an אות (see 4:30). At least one time the same event is described as an אות in one verse and as a מופת in a different verse. It has been observed that מופת is often used as a description of the events of the Exodus (19 out of the 36 times).Ģ. A מופת is something that involves a change of nature and is מפליא for all to see. (Without discussing the root, Malbim says something similar. ![]() He believes that מופת is used when something is done that involves a change of the natural forces of the world. He believes our word is a shortened form of מופלאת (from the root פלא= wonder). פלא: This is the view of Nachmanides (comm. ![]() When he translates the word מופת in Italian, the word he uses means “proof.” In his Hebrew commentary he uses the word ראיה (=proof).ĥ. The meaning is “mofia ve-galui la-kol” so that, after it, there is no uncertainty. Luzzatto believes that our word is a shortened form of a related word מופעת. We all know the Biblical word הופיע with its meaning “shine forth,” which comes from this root. יפע: One who makes this suggestion is S.D. He writes that the Arabic word means נפלא and “yotzei min ha-kelal.”Ĥ. This work cites an Arabic word “ifutun” that means both “wonder, portent” and “calamity.” Mandelkern also mentions this view. The suggestion is that מופת is a shortened form of מאפת. אפת: This approach is taken in the Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon. Of course, the response would be that our word is evidence for it, 36 times.)ģ. (Most scholars would not agree that there is a root יפת in Biblical Hebrew. He writes that a מופת is a sign whose purpose is to cause one to believe in something that is to occur in the future. Radak, in his Sefer Ha-Shorashim, is another who believes that the root is יפת. Hirsch believes מופת is in the hiphil, and literally means “to cause to be open.” Accordingly, מופת is a sign that forces one to be open to (=take notice of) a teaching. Hirsch also reads the “open” meaning into the word יפתה at Deut. פתה means “open” in Aramaic and most likely it has this meaning at Prov. He suggests that this root is related to the root פתה. Hirsch is one who takes this approach to our word. ![]() Mandelkern categorizes our word in this root and (writing in 1896) claims that most scholars agree.Ģ. יפה: As a verb, this means “to be beautiful.” S. With that background, let us look at the various approaches to the root of מופת:ġ. For example, in the root ידע, that yod turns to a vav in the various forms of the word, e.g., הודיע (=make known). When one sees a vav as a first root letter in a form of a word, this means that the first root letter was really a yod. Also, vav is almost never the first root letter in a Hebrew word. The initial מ is typically added to the root letters to turn the verb into a noun. The מ letters at the beginning of a noun are almost always not root letters. So we easily see that the root can imply something that will come true in the future.) What is the root of מופת? (With regard to the parallel word אות, many believe it is related to the root אתא, which means “come.” See, e.g., Deut. When a sign comes true, it serves as a verification of a previous prediction. 20:3, the מופת = the prophet’s walking naked and barefoot predicts and symbolizes a future shameful event. Other times מופת refers to a sign that is a prediction. Or see Joel 3:3 about the future day of judgment: “dam, va-esh, ve-timrot ashan” and the next verse about the sun turning to darkness. Sometimes it refers to supernatural events/wonders like the ten plagues. The word מופת or its plural appears 36 times in Tanach. ![]()
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