Ki- כִּי one small word with many meanings TB Rosh Hashana 3

By comparing the verses from the Torah concerning the Exodus from Egypt and from I Kings concerning King Solomon’s reign and building of the Temple in Jerusalem, the rabbis prove that the date 1 Nisan is the date that Jewish kings’ reigns are marked. The Torah does not always report events in chronological order (אין מוקדם ואין מאוחר בתורה). The Gemara TB Rosh Hashana 3 needs to prove that both Aaron’s death and Moses oration took place in chronological order.

“‘And when the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the South, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim; and he fought against Israel” (Numbers 21:1). What report did he hear? He heard that Aaron had died, and that the clouds of glory had withdrawn from the Jewish people, and he thought that he had been granted permission to wage war against the Jewish people. And this is as it is written: “And all the congregation saw that [ki-כִּי] Aaron was dead, and they wept for Aaron thirty days, all the house of Israel” (Numbers 20:29).

“About this, Rabbi Abbahu said: Do not read the verse as: “And they saw [vayiru]”; rather, read it as: “And they were seen [vayeira’u]” by others, because the cover of the clouds of glory had been removed from them. And the next word, “that [ki],” should be understood as meaning because, in accordance with the statement of Reish Lakish, as Reish Lakish said: The word ki is used in the Bible in four senses: If, perhaps, but, and because. Therefore, the verse should be understood as follows: And all the congregation was seen, i.e., revealed, because Aaron had died. This shows that at the time of Aaron’s death Sihon was still alive; perforce, Moses’ oration, which was delivered after he had slain Sihon, must have occurred later.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Rashi in his commentary provides examples how the word ki-כִּי is understood in each of the four senses, if, perhaps, but, and because. The word ki in the following verses means if: Exodus 18:16 “If they have a dispute, it comes before me, and I decide between one person and another, and I make known the laws and teachings of God.””; Exodus 23:4 “If you encounter your enemy’s ox or ass wandering, you must take it back to him.”; Deuteronomy 22:6 “If, along the road, you chance upon a bird’s nest, in any tree or on the ground, with fledglings or eggs and the mother sitting over the fledglings or on the eggs, do not take the mother together with her young.”

The word ki in the following verses means when: Exodus 3:21 “And I will dispose the Egyptians favorably toward this people, so that when you go, you will not go away empty-handed.”; Exodus 12:25 “And when you enter the land that the LORD will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite.”;  Exodus 30:12 “When you take a census of the Israelite people according to their enrollment, each shall pay the LORD a ransom for himself on being enrolled, that no plague may come upon them through their being enrolled.”;  Deuteronomy 26: 12 “When you have set aside in full the tenth part of your yield—in the third year, the year of the tithe^b.—and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat their fill in your settlements….”

The word ki in the following verses means perhaps: Deuteronomy 7:17 “Perhaps should you say to yourselves, “These nations are more numerous than we; how can we dispossess them?””; Leviticus 2520 “And perhaps should you ask, “What are we to eat in the seventh year, if we may neither sow nor gather in our crops?””; Exodus 23:5 “Perhaps you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising^b, you must nevertheless raise it with him.”

The word ki in the following verses means because Genesis 18: 15 “Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was frightened. But He replied, “You did laugh.”; Psalms 118:29 “Praise the LORD because He is good, His steadfast love is eternal.”