Derasha 1 on Bereishis 4:23

TT #176 · Parashas Bereishis · Fourth Aliyah · Passuk 23

Complete Passuk

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לֶ֜מֶךְ לְנָשָׁ֗יו עָדָ֤ה וְצִלָּה֙ שְׁמַ֣עַן קוֹלִ֔י נְשֵׁ֣י לֶ֔מֶךְ הַאֲזֵ֖נָּה אִמְרָתִ֑י כִּ֣י אִ֤ישׁ הָרַ֙גְתִּי֙ לְפִצְעִ֔י וְיֶ֖לֶד לְחַבֻּרָתִֽי׃

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

TT points to Sanhedrin 38b (verified).

E-Daf image (Sanhedrin 38b)

Core Text

Core Textנְשֵׁי לֶמֶךְ — נָשַׁי מִבְּעֵי לֵיהּ? אֶלָּא מִשְׁתַּעֵי קְרָא הָכִי, וְדֻכְתַּהּ (בְּרֵאשִׁית י״ט) וַה׳ הִמְטִיר עַל סְדֹם וְעַל עֲמֹרָה גׇּפְרִית וָאֵשׁ מֵאֵת ה׳ — מֵאִתּוֹ מִבְּעֵי לֵיהּ, אֶלָּא מִשְׁתַּעֵי קְרָא הָכִי.
English of Core Text: “Wives of Lemech” — it should have said “my wives”? Rather, Scripture speaks thus; and similarly “And the Lord caused to rain upon Sodom and upon Amorah sulfur and fire from the Lord” — it should have said “from Him,” but Scripture speaks thus.
On the daf / in context: The third-person self-reference is noted as a stylistic feature of Scripture, paralleled in the Sodom narrative.
Type of Learning: Custom (third-person self-reference in Scripture)
What Is Learned: Scripture sometimes has a speaker refer to himself in the third person, as Lemech does and as occurs with the divine name in the Sodom account.