Vayechi: Good and Pleasant

lienBy Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein

When Jacob sensed his earthly demise nearing, he called in his twelve sons and offered his parting blessings to those future progenitors of the twelve tribes of Israel. When it came time to bless his son Issachar, Jacob compared Issachar to a strong donkey, saying “and he saw rest for it is good [tov], and the land for it is good [na’eimah], and he inclined his shoulder for burdening” (Gen. 49:14). When it came to blessing his son Naphtali, Jacob compared Naphtali to a swift gazelle, “who gives good sayings [imrei shafer]” (Gen. 49:21). In this essay, we will examine the words na’im/noam (of which na’eimah is an inflection) and shapir/shefer (of which shafer is an inflection) to better understand how these two words that are ostensibly synonyms convey slightly different ideas. For example, a single verse uses both of these terms in tandem, when King David notes his satisfaction with his lot: “Portions have fallen to me in the good [ba’neimim] / even my inheritance has been good [shafrah] upon me” (Ps. 16:6).

The triliteral root shin-peh-reish in Biblical Hebrew conveys notions of “beauty,” “improvement,” and overall “goodness.” For example, a verb form of this root appears in the phrase, “By His breath the heavens were made good [shafrah]” (Job 26:13). Here, a cognate of shapir suggests an act of beautification or enhancement, describing how Hashem’s creative power perfects the Heavens, making them splendid and orderly. In Biblical Aramaic, the word shfar appears three times (Dan. 3:32, 4:24, 6:2) in the context of a king’s approval, with something being “good” or “appropriate” in his eyes. The Aramaic term shapir in Babylonian Talmud discourse primarily functions as an adverb meaning “well” or “appropriately.” For example, it is used in discussions to affirm the correctness or logical validity of an argument (ati shapir or shapir ka’amar), indicating that something has been done properly or fittingly. This usage aligns with the root’s association with “goodness” and “improvement,” suggesting that the matter in question meets a certain ideal standard.

As Rabbi Eliyahu Bachur documents in his work Meturgaman, the Targumim often use the word shapiror variants thereof in translating two sets of relevant Biblical Hebrew terms. The first set consists of Biblical Hebrew terms that denote “approval,” which literally translate into something being good (tov) in the approver’s eyes. In such cases, the Hebrew tov is rendered by Targum as shapir (see Lev. 10:20 and Num. 24:1, although in some versions of the Targum, the Aramaic word used is actually takin). Similarly, in the context of “physical beauty,” Targum tends to translate the Biblical Hebrew words tov (e.g., Gen. 6:2, I Sam. 8:16, 9:2, I Kgs. 20:3) and yafeh (e.g., Gen. 12:11, 29:17, 41:2) into Aramaic as shapir.

Interestingly, Rabbi Moshe Shapiro (1935–2017) claims that the Hebrew/Aramaic word shapir (“good,” “bettering,” “nice”) uses the rare shiphal inflection. He explains that this word shares its root with the words tiferet/pe’er (“glory” or “beauty”), which are traced to the root peh-(aleph)-reish. He argues that the shin at the beginning of shapir serves as a grammatical function denoting an action that leads to the creation of pe’er. As an aside, a popular folk etymology connects the ancient Jewish surname Shapiro/Shapira to the Hebrew word shapir, although historians presume that it is more plausibly derived from the name of the German town Speyer. [For more about the word shefer/shapir and how it relates to shofar, see “The Shofar’s Horn” (Sep. 2022).]

In his work Yeriot Shlomo, Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim explains that the triliteral root nun-ayin-mem from whence noam derives is itself actually a derivative of the biliteral root ayin-mem, plus the extra initial nun. That two-letter root is also the etymon of the word im (“with”), leading Rabbi Pappenheim to explain that one tends to bond with that which he considers “good” or “pleasant/enjoyable.” In this way, the pleasantness of naim/noamfocuses on this rapturous property of pleasant things to which one wishes to connect. In his work CheshekShlomo, Rabbi Pappenheim offers a similar approach, further reducing the biliteral root ayin-mem to the monoliteral root ayin, whose core meaning refers to “movement.” The way Rabbi Shamshon Raphael Hirsch (to Gen. 5:30) explains it, noam relates to “movement” (nun-ayin) because something “pleasant” has the power to arouse/encourage/inspire a person and cause him to move towards achieving a specific goal. [For more about the word naim in the gastronomical sense of “sweet,” see “Sweet and Pleasant” (Jan. 2018).]

From an onomastic perspective, various personal names are derived from the word noam, including the Biblical Hebrew names Naomi (wife of Elimelech in the Book of Ruth), Naamah (the daughter of Lemech in Gen. 4:22, and also the wife of King Solomon in I Kgs. 14:21, 14:31, and II Chron. 12:13), and Naaman (Aramean general in II Kgs. 5:2-27), as well as the Arabic name Naim and the Modern Hebrew name Noam. 

This article has been excerpted from its original. To read the full version, visit 5tjt.com/vayechi-good-and-pleasant.

Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein is an author and freelance researcher based in Beitar Illit. He studied in Yeshiva Gedolah of Los Angeles, the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and Beth Medrash Govoha of America in Lakewood, and received semichah from leading rabbis. He also holds an MA in Jewish Education from Middlesex University/London School of Jewish Studies. Rabbi Klein authored two popular books that were published by Mosaica Press, as well as countless scholarly articles published in various venues. His articles on Hebrew synonyms are commissioned by Yeshivas Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem and have appeared on their website since 2016.