Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yitzhak Sapir <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On Fri, May 15, 2009 at 8:06 PM, K Randolph wrote:

>> Its use apart from generations in the three cases I mentioned above as well
> as Genesis 25:19 indicates that this is a formulaic use, which can also be
> recognized in the other cases where the exact same formula is used. From a
> discussion I had off line I learned that Rashi also recognized this formula,
> in Genesis 6:9, so this is not a new discovery.

No, Rashi does not.  Rashi comments on the phrase "Noah was a righteous
man".  He questions why it follows "These are the generations of Noah,"
and concludes that although the genealogy has not been presented yet,
the text paused a moment to tell the virtues of Noah since it mentioned him.
On Gen 2:4, Rashi does comment that the word "elleh" refers to the
description above the verse, but that is not recognition of a formula.  It is
only recognition of the special case of Gen 2:4.

Yitzhak Sapir