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Re: Nevuchadnetzar or Nevuchadretzar
b lowinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> asked:
could you please enlighten me, as to the variance in spelling
Nebbuchadnetzar or Nebuchadretzar?
b lowinger, new york usa
----------------------------------------------
The Kollel replies:
Rav Joseph Pearlman replies:
In English, we call him "Nebuchadnezzar," and in Tanach he is generally so
designated ("Nevuchadnetzar") with or without an intermediate "Alef" (after
the second "Nun"). This is always the case in the books of Melachim,
Daniel, Ezra, Nechemyah, Esther, and Divrei ha'Yamim. However, in
Yechezkel, he is always called "Nevuchadretzar," and in Yirmeyahu mostly
so, except in chapters 27 to 29. In chapters 21 (where he is first
mentioned) to 25, and from the second half of chapter 29 to the end, he is
called Nevuchadretzar always with an "Alef" after the first "Reish."
This puzzles everyone who learns Yirmeyahu and Yechezkel for the first
time, and there is very little on it, if anything, in the regular
commentaries. There is one comment in Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez on Yirmeyahu 21:2.
He says, "Here the verse calls him Nevuchadretzar, for before he destroyed
the Beis ha'Mikdash, the verse calls him Nevuchadnetzar, in a favorable
expression. After the Churban, it is [Nevuchad]retzar, from the expression
of 'Tzorer' ('one who afflicts')." However, this is forced, because it is
not consistent with every occasion of the word "Nevuchadnetzar" in Tanach,
such as in Esther, Ezra, and Daniel, which were written after he destroyed
the Beis ha'Mikdash.
There is also a Midrash in Parshas Lech Lecha (Bereishis Rabah 45:9) on the
verse, "Yado va'Kol v'Yad Kol Bo" (Bereishis 16:12). The Midrash says,
"When is 'his hand upon all, and the hand of all upon him'? It will be upon
the arrival of the one about whom it is written, 'And all places where
there reside people, beasts of the field, and birds of the sky, He has
given into your hand, and He has made you ruler over them all' (Daniel
2:38). This is as is written, 'For Kedar and the kingdoms of Chatzor, whom
Nevuchadnetzar, king of Bavel, smote' (Yirmeyahu 49:28). It is written
'Nevuchadretzar,' alluding to the fact that he tormented them in the desert
and killed them."
While this is a beautiful Derashah, it does not solve the problem in the
other places.
The true "Peshat" explanation presumably is that foreign names can vary in
their transliteration. Nevuchadnetzar's name is from the Babylonian
"Nabu-Kudurri Usur," which means "may Neba (an idol) protect the first
born" (in Hebrew, "Nevo Netzor Es ha'Bechor"; see Yeshayah 46:1).
Accordingly, the name spelled with a "Reish" is closer to the original,
"Nevuchadretzar," whereas the "Nun" form is perhaps closer to the Hebrew
equivalent, "Nevuchad-netzar." (We find that Chazal always tried to
introduce a Hebrew connotation to foreign words. See Tiferes Yisrael to
Pesachim 10:3, and Insights to Pesachim 119:2.)
It should also be noted that certain letters are interchangeable for
various reasons. For example, letters may be interchanged according to the
five parts of the mouth by which they are pronounced: gutturals (Alef, Heh,
Ches, Ayin), labials (Beis, Vav, Mem, Peh), sibilants (Zayin, Samech, Shin,
Tzadi), linguals (Dalet, Nun, Tes, Taf, Lamed), and palatals (Gimel, Yud,
Kaf, Kuf). Also, letters may be interchanged between Hebrew and Aramaic
equivalents, such as Tes and Tzadi (as in the Hebrew "Tzvi" which, in
Aramaic, is "Tavya"), or Zayin and Dalet (as in "Zahav" and "Dehav"), or
Shin and Taf (as in "Shor" and "Tora"). Similarly, the Nun and Reish are
interchangeable, as in the Hebrew "Ben" which, in Aramaic, is "Bar." Also,
the Nun and Reish and Lamed seem to change about in the words "Margalis,"
"Marnisa," and "Margaris," and in the words "Almanah" and "Armela." Another
superb example is "Achan" in Yehoshua 7:18, who becomes "Achar" in Divrei
ha'Yamim I 2:7, because he was "Ocher Yisrael" through his sin. However,
this change is possible only if there is an inherent interchangeability
between cognate letters.
Rashi in Erchin (33a, DH Katzir) writes "Katzin" (for "Katzir") because Nun
is interchangeable with Reish, as it is written "Nevuchadnetzar" and
"Nevuchadretzar" (however, see Rashi in Megilah 14b, who gives an
alternative explanation for Katzir referring to Yoshiyahu's kingship, which
does not involve letter interchangeability).
Another example is "Sheni" ("two") in Hebrew which in Aramaic is "Trei,"
where the Shin is replaced by a Taf, and the Nun is replaced by a Reish.
There must be numerous other examples which one can find.
At all events, there is no particular problem involved here, except perhaps
to understand why the Navi Yirmeyahu did not retain his consistency
throughout. Remember that each Navi prophesies in his own "style" as he
receives the prophecy from Hashem. Thus Yechezkel uses the expression "Ben
Adam" a great deal. He presumably had his reason for maintaining
"Nevuchadretzar," while the others kept to the more Hebraic
"Nevuchadnetzar." Why, though, did Yirmeyahu switch over for those few
chapters? Perhaps it was because he was always quoting Chananyah ben Azur
(Yirmeyahu 28:1), who used the Hebraic version (perhaps because he believed
falsely that the Beis ha'Mikdash would not be destroyed and, following the
explanation of the Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez, "Nevuchadnetzar" was used prior to
the Churban), so that usage continues in chapters 27, 28, and the beginning
of 29. Then, in 29:21 onwards it reverts to the Babylonian version, because
Yirmeyahu himself wanted symbolically to emphasize that the Destruction was
definitely going to happen at the hand of the "Tzorer" -- Nevuchadretzar.
This needs further investigation and the foregoing should be treated as a
superficial introduction.
All the best,
Joseph Pearlman
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