Literary:Redundancy/0

Redundancy In Torah

Heading Followed by Details: כלל ופרט

One example of redundancy in Tanakh is the phenomenon commonly known as  a "כלל ופרט".  Sometimes a narrative might open with a heading which mentions an event in a general formulation and then proceeds to provide the details, repeating what has already been hinted to in the introduction.  Many examples follow:

• "וַיָּרׇץ לָבָן אֶל הָאִישׁ" (Bereshit 24:29-30) – Bereshit 24:29-30 reads, "וַיָּרׇץ לָבָן אֶל הָאִישׁ... וַיְהִי כִּרְאֹת אֶת הַנֶּזֶם וְאֶת הַצְּמִדִים...  וַיָּבֹא אֶל הָאִישׁ".  R. Saadia and others claim that, despite the order of the verses,  Lavan only ran after seeing the jewelry on Rivka. Shadal explains that the verses are not really achronological, but rather verse 29 is a general statement which is explained by verse 30.¹
• "וַיֵּלֶךְ חָרָנָה" (Bereshit 28:10) – Bereshit 28:10 tells the reader that Yaakov went to Charan ("וַיֵּלֶךְ חָרָנָה"), then proceeds to speak of his dream in Beit El, and then repeats that he headed to Charan in Bereshit 29:1 (וַיֵּלֶךְ אַרְצָה בְנֵי קֶדֶם).  R. Avraham b. HaRambam² explains that this is a "כלל ופרט"; the story opens with a general heading sharing that Yaakov went from Beer Sheva to Charan, then steps back to explain what happened along the way.³
• "וַיַּסֵּב אֱלֹהִים אֶת הָעָם דֶּרֶךְ הַמִּדְבָּר יַם סוּף" (Shemot 13:18) – Shemot 13:8 speaks of Hashem "turning the people around" towards Yam Suf.  It is possible that this, too, is simply a heading for the unit and does not refer to Hashem's leading the people towards Yam Suf but to the "about-face" described in  Shemot 14:2, when He commands, "דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיָשֻׁבוּ וְיַחֲנוּ לִפְנֵי פִּי הַחִירֹת".
• "וַיָּשֶׁב מֹשֶׁה אֶת דִּבְרֵי הָעָם אֶל י״י" (Shemot 19:8-9) – In the story of the preparations for revelation, we are told twice that Moshe relayed the people's words to Hashem, in Shemot 19:8 and 19:9. Rashbam suggests that the repetition is another example of the Torah being "כולל ואחר כך מפרש".‎⁴
• "וַתֵּצֵא אֵשׁ מִלִּפְנֵי י״י וַתֹּאכַל עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ" (Vayikra 9:24) – Vayikra 9:24 describes a Divine fire consuming Aharon's offerings of the Eighth Day of the Consecration ceremony, and would appear to have occurred before the story of Nadav and Avihu that follows in Vayikra 10:1-2. According to Rashbam, though, the verse is a heading for the story of Nadav and Avihu and not a statement of what happened already in Chapter 9. In other words, the Divine fire did not consume Aharon's offerings before the story of Nadav and Avihu, but rather in the middle of it.  According to his reading, the fire of Vayikra 9:24 and 10:2 (" וַתֵּצֵא אֵשׁ מִלִּפְנֵי י״י וַתֹּאכַל אוֹתָם וַיָּמֻתוּ לִפְנֵי י״י") are identical; en route to consuming Aharon's offerings, the fire killed Nadav and Avihu.  For elaboration and the ramifications of this reading for understanding the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, see Why Were Nadav and Avihu Killed.
• Service of Yom Hakippurim (Vayikra 16) – In the description of the cultic service of Yom HaKipurrim in Vayikra 16, there is a dual doubling. Twice the chapter mentions the sacrificing of Aharon's sin-offering of the cow (in verses 6 and 11) and twice it mentions the sacrificing of the nation's sin-offering of the goat (in verses 9 and 15).  It is possible that the offerings are really first sacrificed in verses 11 and 15 and that verses  6-9 are simply an abstract of what is to come.  They introduce the sacrifices and atonement to be achieved and then the verses backtrack to provide the details of the procedure.

• "וַיָּשֶׁב אֶת אֶלֶף וּמֵאָה הַכֶּסֶף לְאִמּוֹ" (Shofetim 17:3-4) – In both Shofetim 17:3 and 17:4 the verses speak of Michah returning the money he stole to his mother. Rashbam suggests that verse 3 is a general statement of what took place, while the following verse backtracks, providing the details.⁵

¹ The words "וַיָּבֹא אֶל הָאִישׁ" are basically equivalent to "וַיָּרׇץ לָבָן אֶל הָאִישׁ" in the first verse. Cf. the Tur (long commentary) who brings the alternative possibility that the Lavan actually approached the servant twice. He first ran, looking for Rivka, and then when he saw the jewelry on her, he once again approached the servant, this time to welcome him graciously.

² See also R"Y Bekhor Shor and Radak who explain similarly but without the formulation of a "כלל ופרט".

³ Cf. Bavli Sanhedrin 95b which chooses not to read these words as a heading and instead suggest that Yaakov had indeed gone all the way to Charan and then returned to pray at Beit El.

⁴ See Rashi, in contrast who suggests that actually the verses refer to two different responses of the nation. Verse 8 refers to their statement "כֹּל אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר י״י נַעֲשֶׂה" while verse 9 refers to the nation's desire to hear Hashem directly (a response not mentioned explicitly in the text).

⁵ According to Rashbam, Michah's mother first told him that she had dedicated the moneys to making an idol and only afterwards did he return them. Cf. Radak
and Ralbag, in contrast, who understand that Michah returned the monies twice. First he gave them to his mother who then returned them to him to make an idol, but since he did not want to be bothered to deal with the sculptor, he gave them back to his mother so she could take care of the matter.