Rashi, on Lam 3:65

“Thau. Thou shalt give them a buckler of heart, thy labour.”

“Give them a weakness of heart Heb. מְגִנַת לֵב, a breaking of the heart, as Scripture says: (Hosea 11:8): “I shall break you (אֲמַגֶנְךָ), O Israel”; (Gen. 14:20): “who broke (מִגֵן) your adversaries in your hand.” Another explanation: מְגִנַתלֵב, stopping up of the heart, trouble and sighing, which are like a shield against the heart. But he who explains it as an expression of grief (תּוּגָה וְיָגוֹן) is in error, for there is no “nun” in this word, for the “nun” in יָגוֹן is not a radical, but is like the “nun” of הָמוֹן from the root of הָמוּ גוֹיִם and like קָלוֹן from the root of נִקְלֶה, and like the “nun” of צִיוֹן from the root of צִיָה and so the “nun” of שִּׁבְרוֹן from the root of שֶּׁבֶר (and like the “nun” of שִּׁגָעוֹן, שְּׁמָמוֹן. It appears to me that this is the correct reading, and this is easy to understand.) Your curse An expression of (Isa. 19: 13): נוֹאֲלוּ שָׂרֵי צֹעַן, “The princes of Zoan have become foolish.””

Hebrew and Aramaic words are the commentator’s citations of the sacred text; the English translation that follows each is the translator’s.

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.