Q&A: Two Verses That Come as One
Two Verses That Come as One
Question
Hello, Rabbi!
I heard that the Rabbi has dealt with the hermeneutic principles by which the Torah is interpreted, and I’ve had a question for several years that I haven’t found a satisfactory answer to:
What is the reasoning behind the opinion that two verses that come as one do teach a general rule? After all, it could have been written just once, and we would have learned the second case from it; so it seems much more reasonable that they came to teach only about themselves and not about other cases. And after the explanation, I’d also be glad to understand what the dispute is with the opinion that they do not teach.
Thank you in advance!
Answer
It is like the principle of “a matter that could have been derived by reason, yet Scripture took the trouble to write it explicitly.” Sometimes the Torah writes two novel rulings in order to teach those rulings themselves, even though there is no absolute need to write the second one. Therefore, there is no necessity to say that we should not derive from them to other cases.