והמם מהומה גדולה HE WILL MAKE NOISE (וְהָמָם) WITH A GREAT RACKET:
1 The verb וְהָמָם must [be the
vav-consecutive form of the perfect of the geminate root, ה-מ-מ,
2 and] be like [the perfect of the geminate root ס-ב-ב] in the phrase (1 Sam 7:16), “he made the rounds (וְסָבַב)
3 of Bethel”; also from [the geminate root ש-מ-מ, the root of the noun] שְׁמָמָה (desolation), [one says in the perfect,
4] שָׁמֵם, as in the phrase
(Lamentations 5:18) “like Mount Zion which has been made desolate (שֶׁשָּׁמֵם).” [In other words, the root of the verb has] a doubled
mem. The meaning of the phrase is that He will make a thunderous noise,
5 a great racket at war, [so great] that they will be destroyed. If the final
mem (of וְהָמָם) were [a pronominal suffix, a sign of the direct object, and meant] “אותם – them,” then the text should have read וַהֲמָמָם.
However, from the root ה-מ-ה, as in the phrase
(Jeremiah 48:36) “my heart moans (יהמה),” [we could, theoretically, derive the form] וְהָמָם [and that form would be the
vav-consecutive form of the perfect, followed by a pronominal suffix, meaning] “He will המה them” – just as from the root ע-ש-ה the text says [in the suffixed form of the perfect] עָשָׂם, as in the phrase
(Isaiah 48:5), “My idol did them (עָשָׂם)”; and from the root ר-א-ה, as in the phrase
(Genesis 29:10), “When Jacob saw (רָאָה),” the text says [in the suffixed form of the perfect רָאָם, as in the phrase]
(Genesis 32:3), “When Jacob saw them (רָאָם), he said” – so also the form וְהָמָם from the root ה-מ-ה could [in theory] be interpreted as meaning “he הָמָה them.”
6
Should you suggest that we interpret the form וְהָמָם here also, in our verse, as meaning “he הָמָה them,” that [explanation must be rejected; that form, from that specific root,] is impossible. The root ה-מ-ה is intransitive.
7 For example, in the verse, “Like a lyre, my heart moans (יהמה),”
8 [the verb means that the heart] of itself [moans, not that someone makes the heart moan]. Similarly in the verse
(Ps 46:4), “its waters make noise (יהמו) and foam” [there, too, the verb יהמו is obviously intransitive].
9
If the text wanted to express the idea of “making noise” as a transitive verb, then it would use a form with a
dagesh [i.e., a
piel form], וְהִמָּם, as [is the case with other verbs that are intransitive in
qal and then become transitive in
piel. For example, the
qal form of the root כ-ל-ה is intransitive, as in the phrase]
(Ps 73:26), “My body fails (כָּלָה),” i.e., fails of itself; [however, for transitive verbs from כ-ל-ה we use
piel forms, as in the phrases]
(Lamentations 2:22), “my enemy made them fail (כִּלָם),” [i.e., made] others [fail], and
(Lamentations 4:11), “The LORD vented (כִּלָה) His fury.” [Similarly with the
qal and the
piel of the verb ש-נ-ה, in the phrase]
(Lamentations 4:1), “The finest gold changes (יִשְׁנֶה),”
10 [i.e., changes] itself, and that is why the construction without
dagesh [
qal] is used; but [when the verb means to change] others, [the
piel form is used; for example] (2 Kgs 25:29) “He changed (וְשִׁנָּא) his prison clothes,” or (Esth 2:9) “He changed her (וַיְשַׁנֶּהָ).”
1. The more standard translation would be “he will panic them with a great panic” (Everett Fox) or “throwing them into utter panic” (NJPS). From the continuation of Rashbam’s comment it is clear that he would not accept that understanding.
2. Rashbam’s extremely long grammatical excursus is directed against Rashi who considers and rejects the idea that the root of וְהָמָם is geminate (ה-מ-מ). Rashi argues that the root is hollow (ה-ו-מ).
3. Rashbam is saying that the form והמם should be understood as being on the pattern of וסבב but he knows that the comparison is imperfect. Rashi writes that if the second vowel of והמם were vocalized with a pataḥ vowel (as the verb והמם is vocalized in Isaiah 28:28, and as the verb וְסָבַב is always vocalized), then he would see the verb as geminate. It is the qameṣ vowel in the final syllable of וְהָמָם here that constitutes Rashi’s proof that the root is not geminate.
4. The form שָׁמֵם could be either a perfect verb or an active participle (see G.-K. 50a). In the verse cited from Lamentations, it is most likely the latter. But judging from the context here, Rashbam is seeing it as a perfect form.
5. See also Rashbam’s commentary to Exodus 14:24 and 23:27 where he also connects this verb to the idea of noise. See note 29 on p. 144 of the Exodus volume.
6. Rashbam means that if we assume that the root is ה-מ-מ, then the suffixed form would have to be וַהֲמָמָם. In fact, that form (without the letter vav) appears in 2 Chr 15:6, and there there is no doubt: it is a suffixed form of the root ה-מ-מ.
In the continuation of the comment, Rashbam will consider (and dismiss) the possibility that the root is not geminate and that the final mem is then really a pronominal suffix.
7. On Rashbam’s use of the term נתלה בגוף האדם to mean “intransitive,” see his commentary to Numbers 11:12 and note 45 there.
Rashbam refers to the root ה-מ-ה as “לשון המיון.”
8. A conflation of Isaiah 16:11 and Jeremiah 48:36.
9. Rashbam posits that there are two possibilities of what the root of our verb is: either ה-מ-מ or ה-מ-ה. He demonstrates the problem involved in seeing ה-מ-ה as the root, and then concludes that the root must be ה-מ-מ. He then says that since the final mem is part of the root, it is not possible to say that the verb means “he ה-מ-מ them.” (See note 8 above.)
A major problem with his explanation is that most scholars think that the root here is neither ה-מ-ה nor ה-מ-מ. It is commonly argued that the verb has a hollow root: ה-י-מ or ה-ו-מ. The final letter mem of והמם is then really a suffix.
Rashi understands the root as a hollow root, as do Qimḥi (Shorashim, s.v. ה-י-מ) and Luzzatto. But see Weinfeld (Anchor, p. 361) who cites the formוְהַמֹּתִי from Exodus 23:27 as support for Rashbam’s position. וְהַמֹּתִי assuredly is from the root ה-מ-מ. Weinfeld argues that our verse in Deuteronomy is clearly patterned on the verse in Exodus; accordingly Rashbam’s argument has some merit. See also Rashbam’s commentary to Exodus 23:27, and notes 72-74 there.
10. MT reads יִשְׁנֶא.