More Discussions for this daf
1. Dreams 2. One Who Sees Huna in a Dream... 3. The color of Techeles
4. The color of Techeles 5. Kol Ishah 6. Colors in dreams
7. Colors in dreams 8. Nevuchadnetzar or Nevuchadretzar 9. List of 60ths.
10. Dream Interpretation
DAF DISCUSSIONS - BERACHOS 57

b lowinger asked:

could you please enlighten me, as to the variance in spelling Nebbuchadnetzar or Nebuchadretzar?

b lowinger, new york usa

The Kollel replies:

Rav Joseph Pearlman replies:

In English, we call him "Nebuchadnezzar," and in Tanach he is generally so designated ("Nevuchadnetzar") with or without an intermediate "Alef" (after the second "Nun"). This is always the case in the books of Melachim, Daniel, Ezra, Nechemyah, Esther, and Divrei ha'Yamim. However, in Yechezkel, he is always called "Nevuchadretzar," and in Yirmeyahu mostly so, except in chapters 27 to 29. In chapters 21 (where he is first mentioned) to 25, and from the second half of chapter 29 to the end, he is called Nevuchadretzar always with an "Alef" after the first "Reish."

This puzzles everyone who learns Yirmeyahu and Yechezkel for the first time, and there is very little on it, if anything, in the regular commentaries. There is one comment in Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez on Yirmeyahu 21:2. He says, "Here the verse calls him Nevuchadretzar, for before he destroyed the Beis ha'Mikdash, the verse calls him Nevuchadnetzar, in a favorable expression. After the Churban, it is [Nevuchad]retzar, from the expression of 'Tzorer' ('one who afflicts')." However, this is forced, because it is not consistent with every occasion of the word "Nevuchadnetzar" in Tanach, such as in Esther, Ezra, and Daniel, which were written after he destroyed the Beis ha'Mikdash.

There is also a Midrash in Parshas Lech Lecha (Bereishis Rabah 45:9) on the verse, "Yado va'Kol v'Yad Kol Bo" (Bereishis 16:12). The Midrash says, "When is 'his hand upon all, and the hand of all upon him'? It will be upon the arrival of the one about whom it is written, 'And all places where there reside people, beasts of the field, and birds of the sky, He has given into your hand, and He has made you ruler over them all' (Daniel 2:38). This is as is written, 'For Kedar and the kingdoms of Chatzor, whom Nevuchadnetzar, king of Bavel, smote' (Yirmeyahu 49:28). It is written 'Nevuchadretzar,' alluding to the fact that he tormented them in the desert and killed them."

While this is a beautiful Derashah, it does not solve the problem in the other places.

The true "Peshat" explanation presumably is that foreign names can vary in their transliteration. Nevuchadnetzar's name is from the Babylonian "Nabu-Kudurri Usur," which means "may Neba (an idol) protect the first born" (in Hebrew, "Nevo Netzor Es ha'Bechor"; see Yeshayah 46:1). Accordingly, the name spelled with a "Reish" is closer to the original, "Nevuchadretzar," whereas the "Nun" form is perhaps closer to the Hebrew equivalent, "Nevuchad-netzar." (We find that Chazal always tried to introduce a Hebrew connotation to foreign words. See Tiferes Yisrael to Pesachim 10:3, and Insights to Pesachim 119:2.)

It should also be noted that certain letters are interchangeable for various reasons. For example, letters may be interchanged according to the five parts of the mouth by which they are pronounced: gutturals (Alef, Heh, Ches, Ayin), labials (Beis, Vav, Mem, Peh), sibilants (Zayin, Samech, Shin, Tzadi), linguals (Dalet, Nun, Tes, Taf, Lamed), and palatals (Gimel, Yud, Kaf, Kuf). Also, letters may be interchanged between Hebrew and Aramaic equivalents, such as Tes and Tzadi (as in the Hebrew "Tzvi" which, in Aramaic, is "Tavya"), or Zayin and Dalet (as in "Zahav" and "Dehav"), or Shin and Taf (as in "Shor" and "Tora"). Similarly, the Nun and Reish are interchangeable, as in the Hebrew "Ben" which, in Aramaic, is "Bar." Also, the Nun and Reish and Lamed seem to change about in the words "Margalis," "Marnisa," and "Margaris," and in the words "Almanah" and "Armela." Another superb example is "Achan" in Yehoshua 7:18, who becomes "Achar" in Divrei ha'Yamim I 2:7, because he was "Ocher Yisrael" through his sin. However, this change is possible only if there is an inherent interchangeability between cognate letters.

Rashi in Erchin (33a, DH Katzir) writes "Katzin" (for "Katzir") because Nun is interchangeable with Reish, as it is written "Nevuchadnetzar" and "Nevuchadretzar" (however, see Rashi in Megilah 14b, who gives an alternative explanation for Katzir referring to Yoshiyahu's kingship, which does not involve letter interchangeability).

Another example is "Sheni" ("two") in Hebrew which in Aramaic is "Trei," where the Shin is replaced by a Taf, and the Nun is replaced by a Reish. There must be numerous other examples which one can find.

At all events, there is no particular problem involved here, except perhaps to understand why the Navi Yirmeyahu did not retain his consistency throughout. Remember that each Navi prophesies in his own "style" as he receives the prophecy from Hash-m. Thus Yechezkel uses the expression "Ben Adam" a great deal. He presumably had his reason for maintaining "Nevuchadretzar," while the others kept to the more Hebraic "Nevuchadnetzar." Why, though, did Yirmeyahu switch over for those few chapters? Perhaps it was because he was always quoting Chananyah ben Azur (Yirmeyahu 28:1), who used the Hebraic version (perhaps because he believed falsely that the Beis ha'Mikdash would not be destroyed and, following the explanation of the Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez, "Nevuchadnetzar" was used prior to the Churban), so that usage continues in chapters 27, 28, and the beginning of 29. Then, in 29:21 onwards it reverts to the Babylonian version, because Yirmeyahu himself wanted symbolically to emphasize that the Destruction was definitely going to happen at the hand of the "Tzorer" -- Nevuchadretzar.

This needs further investigation and the foregoing should be treated as a superficial introduction.

All the best,

Joseph Pearlman