Commentary for Avodah Zarah 87:9
אמר להם והלא כבר נאמר (שמואל ב ה, כא) ויעזבו שם את עצביהם וישאם דוד ואנשיו ומאי משמע דהאי וישאם דוד לישנא דזרויי הוא כדמתרגם רב יוסף (ישעיהו מא, טז) תזרם ורוח תשאם ומתרגמינן תזרינון ורוח תטלטלינון
[R. Yose] said to [the rabbis]: But has it not been stated, “And they left their images there, and David and his men took them away (vayisa’em)” (II Samuel 5:21). And how do we know that the meaning of “And David took them away” is “scattering”? It is the language of scattering as R. Joseph translated, “You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them off (tisaem)” (Isaiah 41:16) and we translate it, “You shall winnow them and a wind will disperse them”!
Daf Shevui to Avodah Zarah
R. Yose cites another proof from an incident in II Samuel where David finds some idols of the Philistines. The literal translation is that he “took them away” but R. Yose interprets this verb in light of the same verb in Isaiah to mean that he crushed them and spread their remains to the wind.
The rabbis reject this based on the parallel version in I Chronicles. There David burns the idols. Obviously since it does not say that he burned them and then scattered them, it must mean that the word “vayasi’em” does not mean scatter.
The rabbis reject this based on the parallel version in I Chronicles. There David burns the idols. Obviously since it does not say that he burned them and then scattered them, it must mean that the word “vayasi’em” does not mean scatter.
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