Why does the Torah insert a 'Vav' in "v'Ayah"?
Rashi and Ramban: The 'Vav' is superfluous. 1
Rashbam: His name was "Ve'ayah." 2
Ha'amek Davar: Refer to 36:24:153:1.
Here it says that Anah was Tziv'on's son. 36:20 says that Anah was his brother!
Rashi: This is the same Anah mentioned above. 1 Tziv'on fathered him through his own mother, therefore he is called his brother. 2
Ramban: What the Pasuk means is that this is the Anah who discovered the mules... , and is not synonymous with the Anah mentioned earlier, who was his uncle. 3 And it was this Anah (ben Tziv'on) who was the father-in-law of Esav.
Refer to 36:24:153:1.
Gur Aryeh - Why interpret this way? "He is Anah" implies, 'He is the Anah that is mentioned elsewhere.' The only other Anah we find is in 36:20, and we must explain that he was illegitimate.
Moshav Zekenim (to 36:14) rejects this. The Vav in "v'Eleh Bnei Anah" teaches that this is the same Anah mentioned above!
What were the "Yeimim"? What is their significance?
Rashi, Ramban and Targum Yonasan: "Yeimim" are mules, which Anah discovered by crossing a donkey with a female horse. 1 He was a Mamzer and he brought Pesulim (like himself) into the world.
Ramban (citing Targum Onkelos), and Rashbam: He came across a group of strong men 2 or of wild animals, whom he defeated. 3
Ramban: A discovery that was considered a great Chochmah in those days.
Ramban: It was a group of strong men from the nation Eimim (See Devarim 2:10) who came to steal his father's donkeys.
A heroic feat of strength that made him famous.
QUESTIONS ON RASHI
Rashi writes that "Yemim" are mules. What is the etymology of the word?
Rashi: "Eimah" means fear or terror. Due to their incurable bite, they are terrifying creatures. 1
As the Gemara explains in Chulin 7b.
Rashi writes that Tziv'on fathered Anah through his own mother. Perhaps Se'ir (Tziv'on's father) fathered him through Tziv'on's wife (i.e. his daughter-in-law), and therefore he is called Tziv'on's brother and son!
Mizrachi (to 36:2): We must say that Tziv'on transgressed incest with his daughter-in-law or sister-in-law (to explain why Aholivamah is called Bas Tziv'on and Bas Anah 1 ); therefore we attribute a second act of incest to him as well. We have no source to say that Se'ir ever transgressed.
Gur Aryeh (to 36:2): If Se'ir was the true father of Anah, once the Torah calls him the son of Se'ir (36:20), it would not then qualify this by also attributing him to his supposed father, Tziv'on. Rather, it is reasonable to say that first the Torah attributes him to his assumed father, and afterwards to his true father. Also refer to 36:2:3.2:2.
Mizrachi: Chazal could have said there as well, that Anah had Bi'ah with Tziv'on's wife, but then they would need to say that another man transgressed (to explain why Anah is called the brother and son of Tziv'on).
Rashi writes that Tziv'on fathered Anah through his own mother. Perhaps Anah was a proper son of Tziv'on. He is called Se'ir's son, to teach that grandsons are called sons!
Rashbam (to Bava Basra 115b): If this teaches that grandsons are called sons, he should not have been written next to Tziv'on. 1
Gur Aryeh (to 36:2): Grandsons are called sons, but not where the Torah comes to teach lineage. When explaining the lineage of a family tree, one should not use this rule, but rather attribute each child to his father specifically.
Rashash (loc. cit.): I.e. rather, he should have been written after all Se'ir's sons. This is difficult. Perhaps he is written next to Tziv'on, for he stood (inherited) in place of him!
Rashi writes that the 'Vav' in "v'Ayah" is superfluous. Why did the Torah add a Vav specifically here?
Ha'amek Davar: Before Tziv'on fathered Ayah, he adopted his brother Anah and raised him. The Torah lists Ayah as his first, for he truly was his son; the Vav hints that he was second (Anah was older). Aholivamah is called Bas Tziv'on, because Tziv'on raised her father.
