Derasha 2 on Lech Lecha 12:10

TT #2 · Parashas Lech Lecha · First Aliyah · Passuk 12:10

Complete Passuk

וַיְהִ֥י רָעָ֖ב בָּאָ֑רֶץ וַיֵּ֨רֶד אַבְרָ֤ם מִצְרַ֙יְמָה֙ לָג֣וּר שָׁ֔ם כִּֽי־כָבֵ֥ד הָרָעָ֖ב בָּאָֽרֶץ׃

There was a famine in the land, and Avram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

TT points to Yevamot 13b (linguistic note on directional ה).

E-Daf image

Core Text

Core Text תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה אוֹמֵר: כָּל תֵּבָה שֶׁצְּרִיכָה לָמֶּד בִּתְחִלָּתָהּ הִטִּיל לָהּ הַכָּתוּב הֵא בְּסוֹפָהּ, כְּגוֹן מִצְרַיִם — מִצְרַיְמָה.
English of Core Text: It was taught: R. Nechemiah says, any word that needs a lamed at the beginning has a heh placed at the end by Scripture — e.g., Mitzrayim → Mitzraymah.
On the daf / in context: A grammatical observation on the directional heh, illustrated by the form מִצְרַיְמָה in this verse.

Type of Learning

Custom

What Is Learned

The form “Mitzraymah” is a standard example of the directional heh substituting for a prefixed lamed.