[Mesorah] Va'avadum v'eenu osam

[Zev Sero via Mesorah]

On 06/08/17 02:05, Akiva Miller via Mesorah wrote:
>> .  Thus, in B'reishis, the Targum is
>> ... "they will be עובד [oved] with them ("with" in the sense
>> of a tool, not in the sense of a co-worker), while in Vayeilech
>> [31:20] it is "they will be עובד [oved] to them" ...
> What I get from this is that I was very mistaken when I wrote:
> 
>> "Avadum" clearly means "they (Yisrael) will serve them (Mitzrayim)".
> Rather, the subject is Mitzrayim, and the object is Yisrael:
> 
>> they worked utilizing them/through them
> or
>> they worked them (like a slave)

No, I don't think that's tenable, because it would have to say "ve'avdu 
bahem".  That's how Onkelos renders it,  but I don't think he is 
translating the word literally; rather he renders it this way in order 
to keep the subject and object the same as in the next phrase.

On reflection, though, it seems to me that perhaps you were right the 
first time with respect to "osam".  Had the pasuk said "ve`inum" it 
would, absurdly, have meant the Jews would torture the Egyptians.  But 
the "osam" is reflexive, telling us that the object of this clause is 
the subject of the whole sentence, while the subject of this clause is 
some unspecified other party, in this case the inhabitants.   Cf 
"vayikbor oso", where the subject and object are *both* Moshe.

-- 
Zev Sero                May 2017, with its *nine* days of Chanukah,
zev at sero.name           be a brilliant year for us all