אומר לך כלל...': כלל ויישומו בפירושי ראב"ע לסמיכות מצוות'

Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra expresses his attitude towards scriptural juxtaposition of commandments in a number of methodological remarks scattered throughout his Pentateuch commentary. From these remarks one may understand that the quest for a rationale in cases of juxtaposition of scriptural commandments is not necessary and, if undertaken, it is only by 'way of derash' (homiletical interpretation), while he, Ibn Ezra, considers himself committed solely to 'peshat' (plain meaning of the text). In his commentaries, though, Ibn Ezra makes a great effort to find a rationale in nearly every instance of juxtaposition of commandments, often abandoning the means of peshat and using homiletical interpretations of the Sages or even of his own. This article presents an overview of Ibn Ezra's commentaries on scriptural juxtaposition of commandments and attempts to offer an explanation of the contradiction between his proclaimed attitude and the actual evidence in his commentaries.