meta: {"file": "/data/tomer/Sefaria-Export/txt/Tanakh/Commentary/Rashbam/Torah/Rashbam on Genesis/English/merged.txt"}
text: Rashbam on Genesis
  רשב"ם על בראשית
  merged
  
  This file contains merged sections from the following text versions:
  -Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009
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  -Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash
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  -Sefaria Community Translation
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  Rashbam on Genesis
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  (1) The sophisticated persons will understand that all the words of our Rabbis and their interpretations are solid and true. And this is what is said in Mas. Shabbat (63a), "I was 18 years old, and I did not know that Scripture never departs from its straightforward meaning. Essentially, the laws and interpretations derive from superfluities in Scripture or from variations in language, where the plain sense of Scripture is written in language from which one can derive the essence of the interpretation. For example [Gen. 2:4], "Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created [b'hibar'am]," and the Sages expounded "b'Avraham" from the lengthening of the expression, since there was no need to write "b'hibar'am." And now I will explain the interpretations of the early scholars on this verse, to make clear to people why I did not see fit to interpret as they did.
     Some interpret, "In the beginning [barishonah] God created the heavens and the earth." One cannot say this, because the water came first, as it is written (v.2), "a wind from God sweeping over the water." Furthermore, it is not written "barishonah" but rather "b'reishit," in the construct state, as in (Gen. 10:10), "The beginning of [reishit] his kingdom was Babel."
     And the one who interprets it like (Hosea 1:2), "When Adonai began to speak to Hoshea," in other words, "At the beginning of God's creating of the heavens," in other words, when God had not yet created heavens and earth, "the earth was unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water," the conclusion is that the water was created first. This is also nonsense, as it should not have written "the earth was unformed and void," because, since it had not yet been created, it should not have called it "earth" before the formation of the waters, since the waters came first. 
     But this is the essential straightforward meaning, according to the way of Scripture: that it is standard to anticipate and explain a matter which is unnecessary, for the sake of a matter tiat is mentioned below in another place. As it is written (Gen. 9:18), "Shem, Ham, and Yafet," and it is written (ibid.), "And Ham was the father of K'na'an." But this is because it is written below, "Cursed be K'na'an," and, had it not been explained initially who K'na'an is, we would not know why Noah cursed him. [Similarly,] "He [R'uven] lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard about it." And nothing is written here to the effect that Ya'akov said anything about R'uven. But since, at the time of his death, he said [about R'uven] (Gen. 49:4), "Unstable as water, you shall excel no longer; For when you mounted your father’s bed, You brought disgrace—my couch he mounted," it says in advance, "Israel heard about it," so that you will not be surprised when you see that he rebukes him for this at the end of his days. And similarly in many places.
   Also, this whole passage is about the work of the six days of Creation; Moshe our Master puts it in advance to explain to you what the Holy One, blessed be He, said at the time of the Giving of the Torah (Exod. 20:7-10), "Remember the Shabbat and sanctify it, ... for in six days, Adonai made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day." And this is why it is written (Gen. 1:31), "... and there was morning, the sixth day" -- that sixth that was the end of the six days that the Holy One, blessed be He, mentioned at the time of the Giving of the Torah. That is why Moshe said this to Israel, to inform them that the word of the Holy One, blessed be He, is true.
     And lest you imagine that this world had always been constructed as you see it now, full of all good things? It was not thus; rather, "When God began to create, etc.," in other words, in the beginning of the creation of the heavens and the earth, in other words, at the time when the upper heavens and the earth had already been created, whether for a long time or for a short time, then (v.2) "the earth was etc."
  
  Verse 2
  
  "Then the earth was" – that [earth which] was built already 
  "was void and empty" – there was nothing in it, as it is written in Jeremiah, “I saw the earth and, behold, it was void and empty, and [I looked] to the heavens, and there was no light; I saw and there was no man, nor bird of the heavens, nor beast wandering, going forth” – this is <i>tohu vavohu</i>, destruction, without dwellers.
   “and darkness upon the waters” – this is (Jeremiah) “and toward the heavens and there was no light”
  “and wind/spirit…blowing upon the waters” – the wind was necessary for what is written further on, “and G-d said, ‘let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one spot”, for it was by the wind that the waters were gathered” - just as the Red Sea was split so that the dry land was visible, by means of “and G-d led the sea with a powerful East wind all that day, turning the sea into dry land, and the waters were split”.
  
  Verse 3
  
  “And G-d said, ‘Let there be light’” – to fix that which was mentioned above – “and darkness upon the face of the deep”.
  
  Verse 4
  
  “And G-d saw the light” – He looked at its appearance [and saw] that it was beautiful. And similarly, “And she saw him, that he was good” – she looked at Moshe born at six months, like Samuel – at the turn of the year – and she saw that he was good and beautiful – his indications (<i> simanav</i>, fingernails and hair were grown – so she hid him three months, that is, until the end of nine months, for behold, she saw him and knew that he was good and beautiful regarding his indications, he was not miscarried.
  “And G-d separated between the light and the dark” – such that 12 hours did the day last, and then 12 hours night. Light first, and afterwards, darkness. For, behold, the beginning of the creation of the worlds was with the statement, “Let there be light”. And any darkness that preceded that, as it is written, “and darkness on the face of the deep” – this was not night.
  
  Verse 5
  
  “And G-d called the light day” – ask yourself: according to the straightforward meaning, why did G-d need to call the light "day" at the moment of its creation? Rather, this is what Moshe, our master, wrote: every place in the words of the Omnipresent where we see “day” and "night", such as “day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22)– that is [referring to] the light and darkness created on the first day – Hashem calls them in all places “day” and “night”.  And likewise for every “And G-d called” written in this passage. And likewise, “And Moshe called Hoshea bin Nun: Yehoshua” (Numbers 13:15) [referring to] what was stated earlier “for the tribe of Ephraim – Hoshea bin Nun” (Numbers 13:8) – he’s the same one whom Moshe called “Yehoshua bin Nun”, whom he appointed previously as servant in his house. For, it is the manner of kings when appointing people over their house to give them new names, as it is stated, “And Par’oh called Yosef’s name <i>Tzafnat Pa’aneach</i>” (Genesis 45:45), [or] “and he called Daniel <i>Belshatzar</i> (Daniel 1:7).
  "And the darkness He called night" - Light is always first, and afterwards, darkness.
  “And it was evening, and it was morning” – It is not written here, “And it was night, and it was day”, but rather, “and it was evening, and it was morning” – the first day became evening and the sun set, and it became morning, the morning following the night, for the dawn broke” – behold, one day was completed from the six that Hashem spoke of in the Ten Commandments, and afterwards began the second day: “G-d said, ‘let there be a firmament’”. The text does not come to state that the evening and the morning are part of a single day, for it only needs to explain how there were six days – that the morning broke and the night was finished: behold, one days was completed and another day began.
  
  Verse 6
  
  “And G-d said, ‘Let there be a firmament’” – after the first days was completed, the next morning, G-d said…
  “Firmament” (<i>rakia</i>) – in the passive voice, like <i>ashir</i> (“rich”), meaning “made rich”, or <i>chasid</i> (“pious”), meaning “made pious”. For, from the earth up until the supernal heavens there was water, as it is written, “(the spirit of G-d) hovering upon the face of the waters”, and now the Holy One (praised be He!) divided them at the middle and made a hammered-out plate extending from east to west and from north to south to make a distinction between the supernal waters. Now since he didn’t complete the work of the waters until the third day, when dry land appeared, it does not state “it was good” on the second day, but on the third day it is stated twice, “it was good” – once for the work of the waters and once for the emergence of the trees and grasses.
  “between water and water” – so that half would be above and half would be below.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  “And G-d called the firmament ‘heaven’” – as I explained above, that is, it is called <i>shamayim</i> everywhere in the Torah, and the supernal waters were included in the heavens of the heavens and all their host, [as in] “indeed, to Hashem are the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, etc.”
  “And it was evening, and it was morning, a second day” – the day inclined toward evening, after which was the morning after the second day, behold, the second of the six days spoken of by the Holy One (praised be He!) in the Ten Commandments, and now the third day began that morning.
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  “And G-d said, ‘Let gather’” – as I explained above, by means of the wind, for that is why it is said, “A wind/spirit of G-d hovering..”, as with the splitting of the Red Sea. For just as He divided the supernal waters, separating them from the lower waters by means of the firmament, likewise did He gather the lower waters by means of the wind.
  “’and the dry land shall be seen’” – that is to say, the land created together with the supernal waters before light was created, as I explained above, whether a longer time before or a brief time.
  
  Verse 10
  
  “(and He called) the dry land <i>eretz</i> (“earth”) – as I explained above – the dry land is what is called “earth” throughout the Torah.
  
  Verse 11
  
  “<i>deshe</i>” – all types of grasses together are called “<i>deshe</i>”, and each kind by itself is called “<i>’eisev</i>”
  “making fruit for its kind” – according to the straightforward sense, “<i>l’mino</i>” was said regarding the grasses. For “<i>l’mino</i>” stated regarding trees making fruit is referring also to the <i>eisev</i> seeding its seed.
  “making fruit by its kind” – an apple tree makes apples and not dates.
  “whose seed is in it” – inside the apple there are seeds from which can be planted a tree for all kinds of fruit.”
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  “let there be luminaries” – it is the way of Scripture to use a singular [verb form] in place of plural, like “And there were (singular form) men who were impure”. Its meaning is: There was an event – and what was it? Luminaries.
  “in the firmament of the heaven” – which was beaten out and spread under the supernal heavens.
  “in the firmament” – since it is attached to the word following it, that is to say, the firmament of< the heavens, therefore it is vocalized with a <i>chataf</i>. Similarly with [the word] <i>katzir</i> (“harvest”) – when it is attached, it will say, “until the end of the barley harvest (<i>k’tzir</i> and the wheat harvest (<i>k’tzir</i>. We have already said above: “To differentiate between day and night” – we have already said above “and G-d divided between the light and the darkness”, but still, the actual end of night and beginning of day is not known except by sunrise, and similarly, the end of day and the beginning of night is not known except by sunset and [when] the starts come out – to distinguish between the beginning of the day and the beginning of the night.
  “And they will be for signs and for appointed times” – as it is written regarding Hezekiah, “this will be for you a sign from Hashem, etc….the shadow will go ten steps etc…” – behold, the sun was for him a sign… “I’ve set wonders in the heavens and upon the land, blood and fire, etc…” and it is written, “do not fear the signs of heaven”.
  “And for appointed times” – from the path of the moon, which is renewed every 29 ½ days, the appointed days of the year and the dates for legal documents are known, as it is written, “He made the moon for appointed times”
  “and for days” – for behold, from one appearance of starts until the next is one day.
  “and years” – four seasons of the year constituted a complete year.
  
  Verse 15
  
  “and they shall be for luminaries” – they will serve to illuminate the world.
  
  Verse 16
  
  “the small” – of the two great luminaries
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  “And to distinguish between light and dark” – between the beginning of light and the beginning of dark. Sunrise is the beginning of light; the appearance of stars is the beginning of dark.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  “will fly upon the earth” – even though the creation of fowls was from the water, their growth and life will be upon the earth.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  “The great crocodiles” – even though the Holy One said, “let them swarm”, referring to the fishes which are not so large, nevertheless, He also created the crocodiles, mentioned elsewhere, with them – “Leviathan – the straight serpent, and Leviathan, the crooked serpent”, spoken of in the prophets, as well as in Job: “Shall you drawn Leviathan on your hook?”
  
  Verse 22
  
  “G-d  blessed them “ – you find that He blessed all forms of life – fishes and birds, man and beasts domestic and wild.
  “Fill the waters” – [<i>mil’u</i> is] a command form of the simple (non-intensive) pattern, similar to “Say <i>imru</i> to G-d”, “Chase <i>ridfu</i> quickly”, but <i>mal’u</i> is the command form for the intensified pattern, such as “Speak <i>dabb’ru</i> to the entire assembly of the children of Israel”, “Strengthen <i>chazz’ku</i> weak hands.
  “Will multiply” – [&lt;<i>yirev</i> is]similar to <i>yirbeh</i>, and like [<i>yifen</i> is] similar to <i>yifneh</i>. Similarly all simple verbs ending with <i>hey</i>, such as <i>panah, kanah, banah, machah</i>, it will say <i>vayifen, vayiken, vayiven, vayimach</i> 
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  “And the creatures of the earth” – [<i>chayto</i> similar to “a fountain (<i>ma’yano</i>) of water”, “the son of  (<i>b’no</i>) Be’or”, with an extra <i>vav</i>
  “And it was so” – that is to say: thus it was forever
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  “and He said” – to His angels
  “Let us make man” – like we find with Michayahu ben Yimla in Kings, and in Yeshayahu, “Who shall I send, who will go for <u>us</u>”, and also in Job.
  “after our likeness” – regarding our minds. Behold, when a person sins [lit. – “is ruined”], it is written, “he is compared, he is likened to a beast”
  “and they shall rule” – <i>urdu</i>, from <i>radah</i> like <i>vaya’asu</i> (“they shall do”) is from <i>asah</i>; <i>bakhah</i> - <i>vayivkhu</i>,; <i>shavah</i>, - <i>vayishbu</i>
  
  Verse 27
  
  “in his image” – the image of man – that was made in the image of <i>elohim</i> - angels. Now don’t be surprised that the creation of angels was not made explicit, for Moshe wrote here neither angels, nor Gehenna, nor the Work of the Chariot, but rather those things we see in the world and are mentioned in the Ten Commandments, for that’s the reason for [recounting] all of the Work of the six days, as I explained above.
  “male and female He created them” – as it makes explicit later on: “and He took one of his sides” – general, followed by specific (<i>klal ufrat</i>). And thus did I find in the 32 Rules of Interpretation [for narrative passages] of Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Yosi the Galilean, who learned the rule of <i>klal ufrat</i> from this verse.
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  “and subdue it” – non-intensified, like “and the land was subdued before them”. Now since it is a command form in a non-intensified pattern, therefore [the word is] non-intensified, but <i>kibshuha</i> [the same word with an intensifying mark in the middle letter] is a past-tense form, like “collect (<i>kibb’tzu</i>) [in a] bowl”.
  
  Verse 29
  
  “behold, I have given to you” – I am giving to you now, <i>doinas</i> [in Old French]. And similarly, “I have raised my hand” – I am raising; “I have given the money for the field” - I am giving.
  
  Verse 30
  
  “for all the beasts of the earth, etc.” – but flesh was not permitted to the first man, until Noach came and [G-d] said to him, “like the vegetables and grasses, I have given to you everything”.
  
  Verse 31
  
  “And it was evening, and it was morning” – then was the sixth day completed, as well as the [entire] beginning.
  “and G-d saw everything that He had made and behold, it was very good” – He looked carefully at all of His work and all of His actions which He had done [to see] if there was anything in them which needed perfecting, and behold, all were beautiful and perfected. 
  
  
  
  
  
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  ויברך אלוקים את יום השביעי , when the seventh day arrived, G’d had already created and placed in position all the needs of His creatures, including their food supply, so that it turned out that the Sabbath day was blessed with everything good. (compare author’s comment on Exodus 20,10) [I assume that this comment is based on the fact that if G’d had not created anything on that day, and especially, seeing the comment is written completely out of context, it must have referred to something which had occurred previously. Ed.]
  
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  זאת הפעם עצם מעצמי, “only this time will man’s wife be made of his own bone and flesh; in the future things will be reversed, a male will come forth from a female, not as this time.”
  
  
  
  
  
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  (8) And they heard- there are many medrashic agadot, and they have already been organized in Bereishit Raba and in other Medrashot. I have only come to (arrive at or help explain) pshuto shel mikra, the plain meaning of the text, and to (bring at times) the agadic works that settle the words of the Torah, each word in its place.
  
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  המן העץ the prefix ה in the word המן introduces a question which keeps troubling the questioner. (Compare Arugat habossem, Auerbach edition page 36) 
  
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  כתנות עור וילבישם, coats, long enough to cover the whole body.
  
  
  
  
  
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  מנחה, a gift of sorts, as in Exodus 32,34. The word is derived from the root נחה as in נחה את העם. [understanding the word נחה in the imperative mode as related to presenting a gift is certainly novel. Ed.]
  
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  ישב אהל וקנה, this is another way of saying that he was a shepherd.
  
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  זה ינחמנו, if you were to question why our sages do not describe Lemech as a great prophet, as they described  Ever who had called his son Peleg, foreseeing that in his time mankind would be divided into 70 languages, etc., (Seder Olam 1) the reason is that Noach was the first man born after the death of Adam, and by calling him Noach he merely expressed the hope and prayer that Noach would be able to atone for the iniquity which Adam had perpetrated. The word נח is an allusion to הנחה, a relief, reduction in cost, i.e. the curse that mankind suffers under, especially the earth, should be lifted now that Adam had been replaced by an innocent human being who did not share time on earth with Adam who had brought a curse upon mankind. In the case of Peleg, it is impossible to see in that name the expression of a prayer, a plea; hence we must interpret it as a sign of his father’s prophetic vision.
  
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  ויהי כל ימי למך, why did the Torah bother to provide us with the number of years these wicked people lived on earth? This listing of historical data is also the custom of the prophets, one after another [when they listed the years wicked kings reigned over Israel or Yehudah. Ed.] Their purpose in doing so was to tell us how many years had elapsed since the creation of Adam, the first human being until the time when the events recorded by the prophets occurred. When we add up the numbers provided by the Torah both here, and in the chapters after the deluge, we have a continuous historical record of the history of mankind, and more especially, that of the Jewish people. The prophets spell out specifically the number of years that had elapsed between the Exodus from Egypt and the building of the Temple by Solomon, the high point of Jewish history. Daniel augments the record by providing information about how many years elapsed between the destruction of the first Temple and that of the second Temple.
  
  
  
  
  
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  לא ידון, G’d says that He cannot continue to weigh if to destroy mankind or not constantly, בשגם, although He is making allowances בשר, for the fact that they are largely composed of flesh; nonetheless they keep deteriorating so that He is forced to put an end to them.
  
  
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   אלה תולדות נח, his later descendants.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  'לפני ה, on the whole globe, (seeing that G’d is omnipresent) Jonah 3,3 also means that there was no other city as populous as Nineveh on earth.
  
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  וכנען ילד, Put (Cham’s third son) is not mentioned as having had any offspring. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 37,2 say that the offspring of Put was “swallowed,” (remained unidentified) until the time of the prophet Ezekiel who made mention of it in Ezekiel 30,5 where we read כוש ופוט ולוד  (compare also Ezekiel 27,10) Rabbi Yoseph Karo asked Rabbi Shemuel, seeing that the family of Put was not “swallowed” (i.e. that he was not sterile) why did the Torah not mention the fact that Put did beget offspring? The answer given to Rabbi Karo was that the Torah here wanted to list 70 “sons,” i.e. descendants of Noach. We learn from the number 70 that the nations that resulted from the confusion of the languages mentioned in the next paragraph (10,32) amounted to 70. Put, including all his sons are only considered as one of these 70 nations. If the Torah had written: “Put begat so and so,” how could the Torah have written afterwards in 10,32 ומאלה נפרדו הגוים בארץ וגו', “and from these the nations on earth emerged separately, etc.?” The impression that would have been created then would have been that all these nations are offspring of the sons of Noach and not of Noach himself, as the total then would have amounted to 71 and we would have had to deduct Noach in order to arrive at the correct count. In other words, Put’s offspring’s names not being listed means that it was lumped together with the father as founder of one of the nations.
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  הבה נבנה לנו עיר, according to the plain meaning and the commonly held opinion that the people of that time were punished for their grandiose plan of building a Tower which was meant to reach the heaven, what are we to make of Deuteronomy 1,28 in which Moses described cities of the Canaanites as having walls as high as the heaven? Why were these walls not destroyed by G’d? We must revise our opinion of why the people were punished, and accept that their principal sin was in not fulfilling G’d’s basic directive to be fruitful, to multiply, and to populate the whole earth, not just a small valley. Their declared objective had been not to scatter (verse 4) The fact that G’d forcefully scattered them afterwards shows that their sin must have been their failure to do so voluntarily.
  
  
  
  
  
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  Verse 2
  
  
  
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  ונברכו, a composite, from the word מבריך, מרכיב, refining through adding superior ingredients. The Torah chose a passive mode to express this blessing.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  אחר הדברים האלה, the events related in the previous paragraph when Avram killed the 4 kings. G’d said to him: “do not be afraid, Avram, etc.”
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
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  Verse 9
  
  
  
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  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  ודור רביעי ישובו הנה, anyone interpreting these words as referring to the fourth generation of Israelites is in error. Seeing that G'd had already told Avram that the process of inheriting the land of Canaan would not be complete until after 400 years from the time his true seed had been born, what was the point in telling him how many generations down the line this would occur? Until the 400 years would be up, G'd's promise would not be due for fulfillment in any event! The reason G'd mentioned the "fourth generation" was to explain to Avram why the delay in fulfilling His promise would require 400 ears. A generation in those days was considered a period of 100 years, as we know from Ediyot 12,9 so that 400 years equal 4 generations. We know from the second of the Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20,5 that G'd frequently extends His patience to sinners and their offspring until the fourth generation, waiting if finally someone will redeem the errant parents and grandparents by returning to the true lifestyle approved by G'd. This is why G'd described the sin of the Emorites at this time as לא שלם, "not complete," in the sense of not yet irreversible, עד הנה until such time.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  (1) ADONAI APPEARED TO HIM. How? In that three men came to him who were angels. For in many places where an angel appears, it refers to him in language of Sh'china [divinity], as it is written (Ex. 23:20-21) "[I am sending an angel] ... since My Name is in him" -- His messenger is like Him. Similarly (Ex. 3:2)), "An angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush" and it is written there (v.4), "When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to look ...." 
  (2) IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY. What was the need to write "the day"? To inform you, because with respect to Lot, it is written (Gen. 19:1), "The two angels arrived in Sodom in the evening," and for that reason Lot said to them (v.2), "turn aside to your servant’s house to spend the night," but Avraham, because they came to him in the heat of the day, in the morning, when it is not normal for wayfarers to spend the night, but rather to eat and to move on, thus he did not speak to them or spending the night, but (18:5), "that you may refresh yourselves; then go on."
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  SEEING THAT [KI AL KEN] YOU HAVE COME YOUR SERVANT’S WAY. Likewise (Gen. 19:8), "since they have come under the shelter of my roof" -- because that [asher] they have come. It is the practice of Scripture to omit "asher" in most cases.
  
  Verse 6
  
  CHOICE FLOUR.  Wheat flour, for wherever it says "solet," it is from wheat, as is expounded from the consecration offering, where it is written (Ex. 29:2), "make these of choice wheat flour" [solet hitim].
  
  Verse 7
  
  THEN ABRAHAM RAN TO THE HERD.  Since he told them (v.5) "a morsel of bread," a small quantity, since their journey required them to go, he had to run and hurry, since he said to them a little and he did much.  All this was written to recount Abraham's importance [magnanimity].
  
  Verse 8
  
  ויקח חמאה וחלב, according to the plain meaning of the text there was no need to report that Avraham supplied the bread which he had volunteered to serve these men. It was only necessary to list the additional items he served, seeing no mention had been made of them thus far.
  עומד עליהם, when a person is seated and someone else stands beside him, the one standing is referred to with the preposition עליו. Compare Isaiah 6,1-2 ראיתי את ה' יושב על כסא ושרפים עומדים ממעל לו. “I saw G’d seated on a throne and the Seraphim were standing beside Him.” [it is hardly likely that Isaiah in this vision saw the angels as standing above G’d. Ed.] A similar construction is found in Kings I 22,19 involving a vision by Michyahu in response to Yehoshaphat’s request.
  תחת העץ, a reference to trees, as in an orchard. 
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  WHERE IS YOUR WIFE SARAH?  They asked even though they knew, just as we find with the Sh'china [God Himself], Who said to Adam (Gen. 3:9), "Where are you?"  Likewise with Bil'am (Num. 22:9): "Who are these people with you?"  And similarly Isaiah, who knew, asked Hizkiyahu about the messengers of Evil-Merodach [actually, Merodach-baladan -- see Isa. 39:1-4].  And all of this is by way of opening conversation.
  
  Verse 10
  
  (1) KA'ET HAYAH. At the time for giving birth [i.e., after nine months], as it is written (Micah 5:2), "at the time of giving birth she has given birth." And likewise in halacha, it is called yoledet. And somewhat similarly is (Ex. 1:19), "ki hayot heina" [JPS: "they are vigorous"'; alt.: "they are giving birth"] similar to a midwife.
  והוא אחריו, the entrance to Sarah’s tent was behind the angel. This accounts for Sarah overhearing their conversation.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
   עדנה, a form of the skin becoming elastic and the wrinkles straightening out.
  
  Verse 13
  
  'ויאמר ה, the angel, the senior of the three.
  ואני זקנתי, for she had referred to her menopause in verse12.
  
  Verse 14
  
  IS TOO WONDROUS FOR ADONAI Who sent us to you ANYTHING. And likewise: (Gen. 19:23-24) "Adonai rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulfurous fire from Adonai out of heaven" -- the first [mention of God] in the verse is Gavriel, and the second in the verse is the Holy One, blessed be He. And it is so stated explicitly in the Agada book [Gen. R. 51:2].
  
  Verse 15
  
  כי צחקת. “but you did laugh.” On most occasions when we encounter the word כי after the word לא, it means “but.” Actually, the word כי can have four different meanings, depending on the context in which it appears (Rashi). The meanings are: if, maybe, but, for. Examples of כי meaning “but,” are Exodus 23,24 לא תשתחוה להם כי הרוס  תהרסם, “do not bow down to them but destroy them utterly.” Or, Deut. 15,7-8: לא תקפוץ את ידך כי פתוח תפתח, “do not ball your hand into a fist, but open it wide, etc.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  ויקומו משם האנשים, two of them went on to Sodom, as we read afterwards ויבואו שני המלאכים סדומה, “the two angels arrived in Sodom” (Genesis 19,1) The senior one of the angels had been the one who had spoken to Avraham. This is implied by the verse וה' אמר המכסה אני מאברהם וגו', “Shall I conceal from Avraham what I am about to do?” in verse 17.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  המכסה אני מאברהם, the fact that I am about to overturn Sodom and its satellite towns. G’d reasoned seeing that Avraham was sure to tell his descendants of G’d’s promise to him to give the whole land of Canaan to his descendants, He would diminish these descendants’ inheritance by utterly destroying these towns and the valley which were part of area promised to the Jewish people as an inheritance. He therefore felt duty-bound to obtain Avraham’s consent of what He was about to do. We had learned in Genesis 10,19 that the boundaries of the Canaanite extended to regions that included the Jordan valley. G’d considered it inappropriate to deny Avraham fulfillment of part of His promise by making these parts of the land of Canaan totally useless to its inhabitants.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  'ויאמר ה, the angel said to Avraham that G’d had said that He dispatched these messengers on account of the outcry in heaven over the sins of Sodom, a reference to what G’d had mentioned in 13,13.
  
  Verse 21
  
  עשו כלה, the vertical line after the word עשו is like a comma between these words, i.e. “if they have done as reported, I will put an end to them.”
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  תספה, the same as תכלה, “you will destroy.” The word is used in the same sense in Deuteronomy 32,23 אספה עלימו רעות חצי אכלה אכלה בם. “I shall accumulate evils against them; My arrows I shall use up against them.” The root כלה expresses the same thought as אספה but in more intense form.
  
  Verse 24
  
  בתוך העיר, Sodom. The king of Sodom was the senior monarch of all the satellite towns surrounding Sodom.
  
  Verse 25
  
  SHALL THE JUDGE OF ALL THE EARTH -- Who sent you here -- NOT DO JUSTICE?
  
  Verse 26
  
  ADONAI SAID. The angel [said]. [Similarly,] (v.22) "standing before Adonai" -- before the angel, to make a request of him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  כי ברחוב נלין, the same as if the Torah had written אלא ברחוב נלין, “but we will spend the night in the street.”
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  כל העם מקצה, the Torah mentions this detail in order to show us that there was not even a single Sodomite who would qualify for saving, as suggested by Avraham in the event there would be 10 righteous people there.
  
  Verse 5
  
  ונדעה אותם. A euphemism for committing sodomy with these strangers. The same expression as a euphemism is also found in Judges 19,22.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
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  Verse 8
  
  כי על כן,”seeing that they have already באו, come”.
  
  Verse 9
  
  גש הלאה, This construction is similar to Isaiah 65.5 אל תגע בי כי קדשתיך, “do not touch me for I have consecrated you.” In other words: “get closer to a more distant place,” or simpler: “flee from us.”
  בא לגור, Lot actually dwelled inside Sodom.
  נרע לך מהם, we will do more harm to you than to them.
  
  
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  Verse 11
  
  בסנורים, a plague of blindness.
  וילאו, they wearied and were unable למצוא הפתח, they gave up trying to find the doorway. We find the word נלאו describing the inability of the Egyptians to find water after digging for it when Moses had turned the waters of the Nile in to blood. (Exodus 7,18-21) There are numerous instances when the word is used when it expresses a total inability, such as in Jeremiah 20,9 ונלאתי כלכל לא אוכל, “I was totally unable to restrain.” Compare also Isaiah 16,12 כי נלאה מואב על הבמה ובא אל מקדשו להתפלל ולא יוכל, “when it became clear that Moav had gained nothing in the outdoor shrine, he shall come to pray inside his temple, also to no avail.” Job 4,2 also employs the word נלאה in a similar sense.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ?עוד מי לך פה, do you have any other relatives in the city apart from those in your house?
  
  Verse 13
  
  HAS SENT US.  The strong structure [binyan pi'el].  And even though every "sending" of emissaries and their returning is written "vayishlah" in the weak structure [binyan kal], in the case of these, it is written in the strong structure, because this is a "shiluah" (letting go) of destruction, as it is written (Deut. 32:24), "fanged beasts will I let loose (ashalah -- binyan pi'el) against them"; (Ps. 78:45) "He inflicted (y'shalah -- binyan pi'el) upon them swarms of insects."
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  וכמו השחר עלה, the reason the Torah wrote this verse is seeing that it says in verse 23 that Lot had arrived in Tzoar as the sun had risen, this would have been at least 1-2 hours later than the early dawn described here. In other words, the angels delayed carrying out their mission for a considerable period all out of fondness for Avraham, so that his nephew would not perish in Sodom. [I suppose that seeing that Lot had tarried the whole night he could not now save his livestock and chattels, as the time for this had elapsed. Ed.]
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  DO NOT LOOK BEHIND.  Because of the distress of your sons-in-law who are in the city.  And further, because one who looks back is delayed on the journey.  And also that one should not watch angels and their activities unnecessarily, as it is written (Jud. 13:22),  "We shall surely die, because we have seen God."  And likewise Ya'akov (Gen. 32:31), "For I have seen God face to face, and my life has been spared."
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
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  הלא מצער היא, its population is small and you can afford to leave them untouched for now, seeing that there are not many sinners.
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
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  Verse 24
  
  וה' המטיר, the angel Gavriel; 
  מאת ה', emanating from G’d, personally.
  
  
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  Verse 28
  
   וישקף, to see if 10 righteous people had been found there (and the city had survived).
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  כי ירא לשבת בצוער, seeing the angel had spared the town only because there had not been time enough for Lot to escape to the mountain. Now that Lot could climb the mountain at his leisure, he was afraid to stay there longer than necessary.
  
  Verse 31
  
  ואיש אין בארץ, they thought that the whole universe had been turned upside down and that G’d had brought on a deluge of fire.
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
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  UNTIL THIS DAY.  At the time of Moshe.  Similarly, each instance of "until this day" means until the days of the writer who wrote the material.
  
  
  
  
  
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  ואבימלך לא קרב אליה, this conforms what G’d told him in response, that it was He, G’d, Who had prevented him from having sexual relations with her. (verse 6)
  
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  Verse 7
  
  כי נביא הוא, the expression נביא, is based on ניב שפתים, (Isaiah 57,19) “words of comfort, heartening words.” He is familiar to Me, he speaks My language, and I love to listen to his prayer.
  ויתפלל בעדך, and he will pray on your behalf. Avimelech and entourage were in need of G’d’s mercy, as we know from verse 18.
  
  
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  אחותי בת אבי, grandchildren are treated just like children and Sarah was a granddaughter of Terach.
  אך לא בת אמי, however she is not a sister who was born to my biological mother. This is why she is permitted for me to marry, and she became my wife.
  
  Verse 13
  
  (1) WHEN [HE] MADE ME WANDER.  He caused me to be exiled from my place, as it says (Gen. 12:1), "Go forth from your native land."  And this is the meaning of what is written (Deut. 26:5), "My father was a wandering Aramean," because he was exiled from there.  For "He made me wander" and "My father was a wandering" are parallel expressions, as it is written (Ps. 119:176), "I have strayed like a lost sheep," (Jer. 50:6) "My people were lost sheep: their shepherds led them astray."  
  (2) SAY TO ME [LI].  Say about me [alai].
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
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  Verse 16
  
  ולשרה אמר, words of appeasement and consolation, explaining to her that when he had first taken her he had not employed forceful means but had treated her as if she had been a willing bride, giving her a dowry as was customary in those days for the groom to do. He had given 1000 pieces of silver to her brother, seeing that he had assumed that Avraham was no more than her brother to her as he had been led to believe. She herself had said so. This is not to be confused with the livestock which Avimelech gave Avraham at the conclusion of this story, the gifts mentioned in verse 14. The 1000 pieces of silver he had given before Sarah was taken to his palace. Even Pharaoh who had been punished more severely had made generous gifts not only to Avraham but even Lot had been enriched. (12,15). All this had been before any marriage ceremony. Avimelech clearly had been at least as generous.
  נתתי אלף כסף, the distant past tense, i.e. “I had given it “ at the very beginning. The same sequence occurred when Pharaoh abducted Sarah, and the same procedure was offered by Shechem and Chamor in Genesis 34,12 as part of the offer to marry Dinah. Also, in Genesis 24,53 we find Eliezer making such generous gifts prior to obtaining Lavan’s consent for Rivkah to marry Yitzchok.
  הנה הוא לך כסות עינים לכל אשר אתך ואת כל, the thousand pieces of silver I had given to your brother represent a great honour for you, and they will serve as proof for one and all that you have not been disgraced in any way. Nobody will ever be able to claim that you have been treated as helpless, as a woman who had no honour to lose.
  כסות עינים, they will not be able to look at you as someone who had been discredited. We find the word כסה used in a similar sense in Exodus 10,5 וכסה את עין הארץ, “it (the locust) will cover the visible part of the earth, i.e. the earth will not be “naked,” “exposed.” A similar sequence appears in this sense in Ezekiel 28,17 לראוה בך, “so that they may gaze upon,” (not turn away in shame and disgust). The expression also occurs in a similar sense in Micah 7,10 עיני תראינה בה, “my eyes shall behold her.”
  ונוכחת, you will be able to hold your head high in view of the fact that you have been treated with so much honour and respect. Avimelech said all this in honour of Sarah and not as a rebuke to her.
  
  
  
  
  
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  צחוק, a joy occasioned by the miracle which she had experienced.
  
  Verse 7
  
  ותאמר: מי מלל לאברהם, everyone knows that it was the One and only G’d Who had foretold Avraham that Sarah would bear a son for him.
  כי הניקה שרה בנים, such a prophecy that Sarah who had become old without ever conceiving would nurse children could only have emanated from the One and only G’d! 
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ויגמל, he was separated from depending on his mother’s nipples.
   We find a similar expression in connection with Samuel I 1,23 referring to the day he was weaned. Such days were marked by a feast. Chanah brought Samuel to Eli in Shiloh at the time. (Samuel I 1,24)
  
  Verse 9
  
  מצחק, in the meantime Ishmael was already 16 years old. Sarah did not want him to remain in the same household any longer so that he would not get ideas about sharing in the inheritance with Yitzchok.
  
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  יקרא לך זרע, a reference to the covenant between G’d and Avraham, which included that Avraham’s seed would remain strangers in a land not theirs before they would inherit the land of Canaan (15,13). G’d reminded him that his promise referred to Yitzchok and not to Ishmael.
  
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  Verse 14
  
  ותתע במדבר באר שבע, that is why she ran out of water, a supply of which she had carried with her. Avraham had given her a big enough supply if she would have taken the direct route to Beer Sheva.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  באשר הוא שם, seeing she could not see him from the place where she had sat down, the angel had to use this manner of referring to Ishmael. He would be provided with water at that location.
  
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  Verse 20
  
  רובה קשת. Pulling the string of a bow. We are dealing with two successive forms of an activity, as in Genesis 49,23 וימררוהו ורבו, “they shot at him and harried him.” [I am choosing this translation of the JPS seeing that in both verse 23 and 24 where the “bow” and the “arrows” are mentioned. Ed.] The expressionרובה  as a variation of רבב is found in Job 16,13 as it is in Psalms 48,13, where it is derived from the root סבב. A construction שומו as a derivative of שמם is found in Jeremiah 2,12, just as the construction דומו derived from דמם is found in Isaiah 23,2. Also, the expression דממה דקה, a very low voice, in Kings I 19,12 is a similar construction. The common feature in all these constructions is that the last root letter appears twice in succession. Our example of רובה is different, seeing that there is no such repetition of the last root letter. Therefore its root is רבה, and the construction is similar to עושה from עשה, or בונה from בנה, or קונה from קנה.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  במדבר פארן, as predicted in 16,12 והוא יהיה פרא אדם.
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויהי בעת ההיא, at the time when Yitzchok was born by Sarah and Avimelech had become a first-hand witness to the miracles G’d had performed for Avraham. This is why he and his chief general were now interested in concluding an alliance with Avraham. Every time the expression בעת ההיא occurs it must be understood in terms of happenings immediately preceding the ones to which the next paragraph is linked.
  
  Verse 23
  
   ולנכדי, to my grandson.
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
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  ויטע אשל, an orchard. The presence of such an orchard should encourage people to pray to G’d there.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  (1) AFTER [AHAR] THESE MATTERS. Wherever it says "Ahar these matters," it is tied to the section immediately above. "Ahar these matters" -- when Avram killed the kings -- the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Do not be afraid, Avram" (Gen. 15:1) of the nations. "And it was ahar [actually, "aharei"] these matters" -- the birth of Yitz'hak -- "that Avraham was told, etc. , and B'tu'el fathered Rivka" (Gen. 22:20-23). Likewise (Esth. 3:1): "Ahar these matters" -- that Mordechai informed about Bigtan and Teresh -- "King Ahashveirosh elevated Haman" who wanted to kill Mordechai, but the fact that he [Mordechai] had saved the king availed Mordechai and Haman was impaled. So here: "Ahar the matters" -- that Avraham had made a covenant with Avimelech, him and Avraham's grandson and great-grandson (Gen. 21:23) [actually, with him and his (Avimelech's) grandson and great-grandson], and he [Avraham] gave him seven ewes, and the Holy One, blessed be He, had become angry because of this, because the Philistines' land had been given to Avraham, and also, in connection with Yehoshua, lots were cast for the five districts of the Philistines (Josh. 13:3, 14:2) as part of the lots of Israel, and the Holy One, blessed be He, had commanded regarding them (Deut. 20:16), "do not let a soul remain alive," and therefore, 
  (2) GOD TRIED AVRAHAM. He rebuked him and vexed him, as it is written (Job 4:2), "If one ventures a word with you, will it be too much?"; (Exod. 17:7) "because they tried Adonai," "Massah and Meribah"; (Ps. 26:2) "Probe me, Adonai, and try me." In other words, you took excessive pride in the son whom I gave you, to make a covenant between all of you and their [the Philistines'] descendants. so now go and offer him up and see what this making of a covenant has gained for you. And afterward, I found the same idea in Midrash Sh'mu'el: : "The Ark of the LORD remained in the territory of the Philistines seven months." (I Sam. 6:1). It is written (Gen. 21:30), "You are to accept these seven ewes from me." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "You gave him seven ewes! By your life, his descendants will wage seven wars against your descendants and will defeat them." Another matter: "By your life, his descendants will kill these seven righteous ones among your descendants: Shimshon, Hofni, Pinhas, Shaul, and his three sons." Another matter: "By your life, his descendants will destroy these seven dwellings: the tent of meeting, Gilgal, Nov, Shiloh, Giv'on, and the Temple, twice. Another matter: the Ark wandered in the Philistine territory for seven months....
  ה' נסה, the words mean קונטריה, “G’d rebuked Avraham.”
  
  Verse 2
  
  המוריה, same as האמוריה, “the land of the Emorite.” It happens frequently that the letter א is missing, just as in our verse. One such example is found in Exodus 10,21 וימש חשך, where the word וימש should really have been ויאמש חשך, “causing darkness.” Another example of the letter א being missing is found in Isaiah 13,20, where instead of לא יהל we would have expected לא יאהל, “he will pitch his tent.”
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  המאכלת , the knife; it is  derivative of the expression in Deut. 32,42 וחרבי תאכל בשר, “and My sword will consume flesh.”
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  כי עתה ידעתי, I now can demonstrate My knowledge about you to the whole world, 
  כי ירא אלוקים אתה, that you are G’d fearing. [in the most selfless manner. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  וירא והנה איל, passing by in front of him
  אחר נאחז בסבך בקרניו, getting enmeshed in the thicket with its horns after Avraham had seen it. He reasoned that surely this must be a message from the angel who had caused this ram to become entangled at the command of G’d so that he, Avraham, could offer it in place of his son Yitzchok. This is also the meaning of Psalms 68,26 קדמו שרים אחר נוגנים, “first come the singers, afterwards the musicians.” A similar meaning of the word אחר is found in Ecclesiastes 12,2 ושבו העבים אחר הגשם, “the clouds return after the rain.” Another example of the word אחר having the same meaning as here is found in Exodus 5,1 ואחר באו משה ואהרן, “after (what had occurred before) Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh.”
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  אשר יאמר היום, “of which its is being said today and tomorrow that G’d had manifested Himself to Avraham at this mountain of the Lord.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויהיו חיי שרה, even though the Torah never revealed the ages of other women, in Sarah’s case it became necessary to inform us of this, as her death was directly related to the purchase of the cave of Machpelah. The Torah therefore told us for how many years Sarah lived after having become a mother at the advanced age of 90.
  
  Verse 2
  
  בקרית ארבע, the name of the person who founded or owned this town was Arba. We know this from Joshua 15,13 where he is described as the father of a giant. The reference to a town by mentioning an outstanding citizen is familiar to us from Numbers 21,27-29 where the capital of the Emorites is described as קרית סיחון, the city of Sichon.
  ויבא אברהם, even if he did not arrive from out of town it is perfectly in order to describe his arrival in order to mourn Sarah by the words ויבא אברהם. [Clearly, the author considers Avraham as having lived uninterruptedly in Beer Sheva ever since were told this in 22,19. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  (1) GER V'TOSHAV ANOCHI. I have come from a foreign land to dwell here, and I have settled with you. Thus, I have no ancestral burial plots here. 
  (2) GIVE ME A BURIAL SITE. Allow me to acquire land here and agree, all you city residents, to permit me to bury my dead from my family. For a burial site can exist only with the agreement of all city residents, and the text here shows this, when Avraham gave the money to Efron, [the field] (vv. 17-18) "passed to Avraham as his possession." And after that (vv. 19-20), "Avraham buried [Sarah]" and the field passed "to Avraham as a burial site from" all "the Hittites." ...
  (3) MIL'FANAI [FROM BEFORE ME].  I will take it out from before me to bury it.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
   נשיא אלוהים, “a prince of G’d,” neither stranger or resident stranger as Avraham had described himself.
  (2) IN THE CHOICEST OF OUR BURIAL PLACES. In the place where we bury the chiefs of the land, and here is a grave already prepared.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  מערת המכפלה, any depression in the surface of the earth is called מכפלה, for instance the ככר הירדן, the Jordan valley is also known as a מכפלה. (13,10) This is substantiated by the Torah describing Efron’s field as being located in מכפלה in verse 18 of our chapter.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  (2) AND THE CAVE THAT IS IN IT. You are asking only for the cave that is at the end of the field, and by sale; I am giving you as a gift the whole field and the cave.
  
  Verse 12
  
  וישתחו אברהם, to Efron before the assembled people.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  ארץ..ארבע מאות שקל, “a land which is not worth more than 400 shekel silver, what is this worth talking about?
   Take it and bury your dead for free if you so desire.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  וישמע אברהם, he understood what Efron was hinting at and did not want to spell out.
  עובר לסוחר, silver minted into coins, refined silver acceptable without question anywhere. The expression עובר in that sense occurs also in Kings II 12,5 in connection with Yehoyakim, i.e. כסף עובר, as well as in Song of Songs 5,5 ואצבעותי מור עובר, “ a reference to the best quality of myrrh.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  לאברהם למקנה, “it arose” after Avraham had paid the money, a normal procedure which we are familiar with from the (misquote) in Erchin 33 ונתן הבסף וקם לו. The purchase was concluded in verse 18, i.e. the field became a מקנה for Avraham. It became an ancestral piece of property only after Sarah had actually been buried there, i.e. after the purpose of the transaction had been carried out (verse 20)
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  1 He was advanced in years.  This is to say, the time had come to marry off his son during his lifetime.
  2. And God blessed Abraham [with everything] - this is to inform/explain to us about what is said in [the text in] front of us, that Abraham did not send his servant to take a wife [for Isaac] on account of lack of women in the Land of Canaan or because no one wanted to mate with him, because Abraham had been blessed with everything and the entire world desired to mate with Isaac, but because he only wanted a spouse for Isaac from his family.  This is why Abraham's servant said: "And Adonai blessed my master very much and he has become wealthy."  And it is for this reason that the text needed to explain first that God had blessed Abraham "with everything," as in a similar instance: "And Ham was the father of Canaan" (Genesis 9:18).  
  
  Verse 2
  
  PUT YOUR HAND UNDER MY THIGH.  And similarly with Yosef when he swore to Ya'akov.  The making of a covenant or an oath of a son, or of a slave to his master was in this fashion, for they shared the aspect of subjugation, and it is thus written (Mal. 1:6), "A son should honor his father, and a slave his master."  However, handshaking or cutting an object in two for a covenant and passing between the pieces is found with other persons.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  BUT TO MY LAND.  And not to those who are not my relatives, but rather to MY KINFOLK who are in my land you should go.
  
  Verse 5
  
  SHALL I THEN TAKE YOUR SON BACK.  To the land of your ancestors; even though Avraham's descendant had not been there, [the text] calls it "returning" because Avraham had been there.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ADONAI  THE GOD OF HEAVEN.  Who brought me here and gave my descendants this land, I know that He does not want to separate my descentants from here, for if He did, why would the Holy One, blessed be He, want to bring me here?  ...
  Therefore, I know that He will send His angel to make Your way prosper, to fulfill His promise to me.  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  על הדבר הזה, concerning the condition stipulated by Avraham.
  
  Verse 10
  
  וכל טוב אדוניו, the important people in Avraham’s household. This is why they are referred to as האנשים, a complimentary description, in verse 54.
  
  Verse 11
  
  ויברך הגמלים, a camel has two knees one above the other; therefore it needs two motions to go down on its knees and because of its height it cannot drink before having thus lowered itself to the level of the trough. This is what the sages referred to in Chulin 76 when they said וכנגדו בגמל ניכר, that a spot known as the ארכובה in cattle is clearly recognisable on the foreleg of a camel.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  THE ONE WHOM YOU HAVE DECREED. In other words, the one whom you have chosen for Yitzhak, _she_ shall say this to me, and not another woman whom you have not chosen.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  ואיש לא ידעה, she had not even engaged in fondling with a man. She was extremely chaste.
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  והאיש משתאה, the word is derived from Isaiah 6,11 תשאה שממה, and the letter ת is similar to the letter ת in the word ישתבח which is derived from שבח, or the ת in the word וישתמר in the phrase וישתמר חוקות עמדי, which is derived from the root שמר, (compare Micah 6,16). Here the word משתאה means the same as משתומם, being amazed at this girl volunteering that she would also draw water for his camels. From these words of her he understood that G’d had heard his prayer. Commentators who understand the word משתאה as being related to שתייה, drink, are in error. Such an interpretation is impossible, seeing that the letter א in that word cannot be related to שתייה at all. Furthermore, Rivkah had not mentioned anything about watering the camels until after he himself had finished drinking already. At that point Eliezer began to wonder.
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויקח האיש נזם זהב, one is entitled to assume that Eliezer first had asked her about whose family she belonged to (verse 23) The reason why things were not written in this order is in order not to interrupt the sequence of the story by questions and answers. This is why the Torah reported first about Eliezer giving Rivkah the jewelry.
  בקע, a half shekel in weight. The word occurs in a similar meaning in Exodus 14,15 נטה ידך על הים ובקעהו, “incline your hand over the sea and divide it!”
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  PLACE FOR US TO SPEND THE NIGHT.  A place for us in your house.  And why do we need it?  
  for lodging, for a place to spend the night.  It is a noun, like (Deut. 25:1), "When there is a dispute [riv] between people," from (Gen. 31:36) "he took up his grievance with [vayarev] Laban."  [Another example of such a noun is] (Deut. 17:8) "Between civil law claim and defense [bein din l'din]."  It [lalin] is a noun from (Gen. 32:14) "he spent the night [vayalen] there."  But when she said (v.25), "also room to spend the night [lalun]," its meaning is "a place for your bodies to spend the night," as in (Gen. 31:35) "to rise" [lakum] or (Ex. 4:31), "to return to Egypt" [lashuv].  If she had said  "also a place for you" as they did, "a place for us," she shoud have said "lalin" as they did, as the meaning would have been "also a place for you" for what? "as a place of lodging."  But "lalun" would not need any explanation, for the meaning would be "a place for people to spend the night [lalun]."  This is the essential meaning, for one who is precise in Hebrew grammar.
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  גם תבן, also straw, something which you did not inquire about as well as lodging, something which you did inquire about. It is a habit of Scriptures to use the word גם, “also,” repeatedly, even if this is not strictly necessary in order to correctly understand the text.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  UNLOADED.  As in (I Kings 20:11), "Let not him who girds on his sword boast like him who ungirds it" -- he loosened their bindings.
  
  Verse 33
  
  עד אם דברתי דברי. Having noted that G’d had indicated that He approved of the way he had been handling his assignment, Eliezer concluded that he must not eat and drink until he had concluded his mission.
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  ברך את אדוני, this is why the Torah wrote at the beginning of the chapter that “The Lord had blessed Avraham in everything.” ויגדל, all leading political figures in the country were anxious to become related to him through marriage.
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  ויתן לו את כל אשר לו, his brother will not share in the inheritance with Yitzchok. 
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  ישלח מלאכו, I know they will give you their daughter.
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  I SAID: O LORD, GOD OF MY MASTER ABRAHAM, ETC. The whole lengthy exposition was to convince them that (v.50) "The matter was decreed by the Holy One, blessed be He."
  
  Verse 43
  
  
  
  Verse 44
  
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  
  
  Verse 46
  
  
  
  Verse 47
  
  
  
  Verse 48
  
  ON THE RIGHT WAY.  For the words of the Holy One, blessed be He, to perform lovingkindness for Avraham and his son have been confirmed.
  
  Verse 49
  
  על ימין או על שמאל , to other relatives of his family.
  
  Verse 50
  
  WE CANNOT SPEAK TO YOU BAD OR GOOD.  Neither the undoing nor the doing depends on our will, for it is involuntary, whether we will it or not, for the Holy One, blessed be He, has acted, for the power is in His hand.
  
  Verse 51
  
  
  
  Verse 52
  
  
  
  Verse 53
  
  OBJECTS OF SILVER AND GOLD.  Women's ornaments of silver and gold, as it is written (Num. 31:50), "such as each of us came upon, articles of gold: armlets, etc."  And it is written (Ex. 3:22), "Each woman shall borrow from her neighbor and the lodger in her house objects of silver and gold, and clothing, and you shall put these on your sons and daughters."
  
  Verse 54
  
  
  
  Verse 55
  
  
  
  Verse 56
  
  NOW THAT THE LORD HAS MADE MY ERRAND SUCCESSFUL.  The Holy One, blessed be He, does not desire that there be any delay, since it is not really success if matters are delayed.
  
  Verse 57
  
  נקרא לנערה, to find out if she wants to delay her move to your master’s country by a year or ten months, or if she wants to go now as you have said.
  
  Verse 58
  
  (1) It is common courtesy to say such.  Even though the Holy One, blessed be He, desires this union, they nevertheless said to her, "Will you go with this man, or with another person after a year or ten months, for, as we have learned, it was customary to give a virgin 12 months to equip herself.  ...
  (2) SHE SAID, "I WILL GO."  I am not concerned to delay in order to adorn myself.
  
  
  Verse 59
  
  
  
  Verse 60
  
  MAY YOU GROW INTO THOUSANDS OF MYRIADS; MAY YOUR OFFSPRING SEIZE THE GATES OF THEIR FOES.  From you shall come all those children about whom it was said, at the time of the Akeidah (Gen. 22:17), "your descendants shall seize the gates of their foes"  This is from the commentary of R' Yosef bar Shim'on Kara.
  
  Verse 61
  
  
  
  Verse 62
  
  YITZHAK HAD JUST COME BACK FROM THE VICINITY.  As in (Gen. 10:19) "as far as S'dom."  Yitzhak, on the same day when the slave arrived, had come from the well of Be'er L'hai Ro'i.  
  (2) For Yitzhak was living in the land of the Negev, which was where Be'er L'hai Ro'i was, as it is written (Gen. 16:7), "the spring on the road to Shur," and it is written (Gen. 20:1), "Abraham journeyed from there to the region of the Negeb and settled between Kadesh and Shur."  And because he came from there on that day, and he did not know what his workers were doing, and they were planting gardens and orchards,  
  
  Verse 63
  
  YITZHAK WENT OUT LASUAH IN THE FIELD.  As it is written (Gen. 2:5), "all the shrubs [siah] of the field," in other words, to plant trees and to see after matters of his workers.  And then, when he was in the field, he saw the camels coming, and he went to meet them, to see whether they were his fathers camels, which the slave was driving.
  
  Verse 64
  
  ותפול מעל הגמל, a description of her chastity, seeing she had been riding astride the camel just like a man, not side-saddle. (according to Pessachim 3 the former mode of riding, especially on a high animal, affords a better chance to hold on with both hands and feet against falling)
  
  Verse 65
  
  ?מי האיש הלזה ההולך בשדה לקראתנו, this verse raises a number of questions. Did Rivkah enquire about the identity of every man that they encountered on this journey? Furthermore, why did the Torah have to write the words בשדה לקראתנו, “in the field toward us?” It appears that the verse is somewhat abbreviated. What Rivkah wanted to know was why the man approaching them had detoured from the regular path and was coming across the field in their direction. 
  הלזה, the additional letter ל in this word indicates that the person it refers to, though identifiable, is still a considerable distance away, in fact may not yet be positively identified beyond any doubt. We have the same construction in Genesis 37,19 where the brothers refer to the unexpected appearance of Joseph in the distance. When the person referred to as זה is close by, such as when Esther entertained the King and Haman, she pointed to Haman as המן הרע הזה, “this wicked Haman!” (Esther 7,6)
  
  Verse 66
  
  ויספר העבד ליצחק, to inform him of all the miracles he had encountered on the way to carrying out his mission. This was to convince Yitzchok that Rivkah was destined for him from heaven.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  קטורה, according to the plain meaning of the text this woman was not identical with Hagar.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  הפילגשים, Hagar and Keturah.
  מתנות, gifts of large amounts of money.
  קדמה אל ארץ קדם, in order that his sons could take possession of the properties he owned there.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  בשיבה טובה, as G’d had foretold him in 15,15. He promised that the oppression which Avraham’s descendants would be subjected to would not commence while he was still alive.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  אשר ילדה הגר המצרית, the point of the whole verse is to tell us that the name and significance of Ishmael is not associated with Avraham who fathered him, but with Hagar who had mothered him. When the Torah speaks of Yitzchok, it does not describe him as the son of Sarah, his mother, but as the son of Avraham, his father. (compare verse 19) We find something similar in Ruth 4,18 concerning Peretz who fathered Chetzron.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  ואלה שני חיי ישמעאל, our sages, both in Megillah 17 and Yevamot 64 deal with the reason why the Torah thought it necessary to inform us of Ishmael’s age at his death. According to the plain meaning of the text, the Torah wrote this out of respect for Avraham. Seeing that the Torah had told us of Avraham’s age being 86 when he fathered Ishmael, and it also told us of Ishmael being 13 years of age when he underwent circumcision, it now concludes by telling us Ishmael’s age at his death.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  (1) THIS IS THE STORY OF ISAAC ... ABRAHAM BEGOT ISAAC. According to the plain sense of the scripture, since it says above regarding Yishma'el (v.25), "Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian bore." But here, Yitz'hak was Avraham's principal son, as he begat Yitz'hak from his full wife, as it is written (Gen. 21:12), "for it is through Yitz'hak that your progeny will be accounted." And likewise in (I) Chronicles, after it wrote (1:28) that the sons of Avraham were Yitz'hak and Yishma'el, and (1:32) about the sons of Keturah, it goes back and writes flatly (1:34), "Avraham begat Yitz'hak." 
  
  Verse 20
  
  בן ארבעים שנה, he is described as 60 years old when the twins Esau and Yaakov were born to him by Rivkah. (verse 28) From the combination of these two verses we know that Rivkah had remained barren for 20 years.
  
  Verse 21
  
  ויעתר, an expression denoting a lengthy prayer, as in Ezekiel 35,13 העתרתם עלי דבריכם, “you multiplied your words against Me.”
  לנכח, on account of.
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויתרוצצו, a word derived from רץ, “ran,” as for instance in Jeremiah 51,31 לקראת רץ רץ, “runner dashes to meet runner.” The word describes the constant motion of the two fetuses inside Rivkah’s womb. We have a similar construction of the word קם when it appears next to מתקוממים, or the word לן when it occurs next to the word מתלוננים. If the word had been derived from the root רצץ, as for instance in Job 20,19 רצץ עזב דלים, the Torah would have had to write here vayitratzetzu with the vowel patach, instead of vayitrotzetzu with the vowel cholem. We find such a parallel construction in Jeremiah 13,16 ובטרם יתנגפו רגליכם, “and before your feet stumble.”
  'לדרוש את ה, an inquiry directed at the prophets that were around in her time. We have a verse in Kings I 22,8 as well as in Exodus 18,15 where this expression describes questions addressed by the common people to the prophet.
  
  Verse 23
  
  (1) ADONAI ANSWERED HER. through a prophet. 
  (2) TWO NATIONS [GOYIM]. Do not fear, because your pain of pregnancy is on account of twins in your belly, for the pain of pregnancy with two is greater than that of pregnancy with one. 
  (3) AND TWO L'UMIM. Kingdoms, as it is written (Ps. 148:11), "All kings of the earth and all l'umim" -- this is duplicative language. But "umim" is peoples. And since the prophet had begun to tell her, he finished and specified all of the future events. 
  (4) AND THE OLDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER. And that is why you love Ya'akov, because the Holy One, blessed be He, loves him, as it is written (Mal. 1:2), "I love Ya'akov."
  
  Verse 24
  
  והנה תומים whenever the Torah speaks about something new it uses the expression והנה in connection with this. Thus we find it in 29,25 where Yaakov is reported as finding that he had slept with Leah instead of with Rachel as he had thought. In 41,7 we also find the expression הנה when Pharaoh awakens from what he thought was a factual experience only to find that it had been a dream.
  
  Verse 25
  
  (1) ADMONI. Roux in O.F.
  אדמוני כאדרת שער, like the garments worn by the clergy.
  ויקראו, they all called him
  עשו, fully matured, complete due to the fact that he was covered with hair.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  יודע ציד, hunting venison and retrieving the animal to serve as food.
  יושב אהלים, tending his father’s flocks as we explained already in connection with 4,20 יושב אהל ומקנה.
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  כי ציד בפיו, the plain meaning corresponds to Onkelos, i.e. because he brought him venison to eat.
  אוהבת את יעקב, for she was aware of his perfection, also because the prediction to her of the prophet had been that the senior son would be subservient to the junior one. The Torah had to mention first that Yitzchok loved Esau in order for us to understand what had motivated to bless Esau, and what had motivated Rivkah to deceive him into blessing Yaakov.
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  מן האדום האדום הזה, it is common for a person who is in a hurry and who demands something from his fellow to repeat his request. In this instance, seeing that Esau was both tired and hungry, his choice of words is equivalent to asking to get something to eat in a hurry.
  Edom: The word Edom means red. Esau was ruddy and sold his birthright for the sake of red food. Thus, the name Edom is a term of contempt.
  
  Verse 31
  
  מכרה כיום, meaning: “immediately!” Sell me your share of the birthright which you are entitled to from our father’s estate which I will give you. After that I will give you to eat as proof of the sale and as confirmation. We find a similar transaction in Genesis 31,46 where Yaakov and Lavan ate in order to confirm their non-aggression pact.
  
  Verse 32
  
  הנה אנכי הולך למות, I am going into the forest day after day to hunt in an area full of bears, lions and other ferocious beasts, and I am risking my life on a daily basis. What point would there be in my waiting until our father dies and I get my share of the birthright? This is the way my father Rabbi Meir interpreted Esau’s words in this verse. This is the meaning of “Esau despised the birthright.” (verse 34).
  
  Verse 33
  
  וימכור את בכורתו, in exchange for money. After this Yaakov gave Esau the reddish looking dish of lentils he had cooked, as is customary among people sealing a bargain.
  
  Verse 34
  
  ויבז עשו, seeing that eventually Esau regretted having sold his birthright, as we know from 27,36 the Torah goes on record here that he had despised the birthright and had no right to go back on the bargain he had made in full knowledge of what it entailed.
  ויבז, the word is equivalent to Numbers 15,31 ויבזה from את דבר ה' בזה, the construction being parallel to ויקן as a form of the past tense קנה, “he bought, he acquired” (Genesis 33,19)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  מלבד הרעב הראשון אשר היה בימי אברהם, as we read in Genesis 12,10. There was no need for this phrase except to inform us that just as his father Avraham had traveled to Egypt on account of a famine, so now his son was about to emulate his father and to travel to Egypt by way of the land of the Philistines. This was the shortest route to Egypt, as we know from Exodus 13,17. G’d told him not to go to Egypt as he knew what his plans were.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  FOR TO YOU AND YOUR DESCENDANTS ETC. And it was because I gave him [Avraham] and his descendants this land that I commanded him to leave his native land, as it is written there (12:1), "to the land that I will show you."
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  (1) BECAUSE AVRAHAM HEARKENED TO MY VOICE.  Regarding the Akeidah, as it is written (22:18), "Because you hearkened to my voice."  
  (2) AND KEPT MY CHARGE.  For example, circumcision, about which it is written (17:9), "You shall keep my covenant."  
  (3) MY COMMANDMENTS.  For example, the commandment of the eight days [of circumcision], as it is written (21:4), "as God had commanded him."  
  (4) MY LAWS AND MY TEACHINGS.  According to the basic plain meaning, the deducible laws, such as theft, sexual sins, coveting, civil laws, and hospitality, all of which were practiced before the Giving of the Torah, but were renewed and explained to Israel, and they made a covenant to affirm them.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  (1) WHEN SOME TIME HAD PASSED.  After this time, he did not take so much care to avoid conducting himself with his wife in a marital manner, since they had not evinced intent to steal her from him.  (2) FONDLING [M'TZAHEK].  Intercourse, as it is written (Gen. 39:17), "The Hebrew slave whom you brought into our house came to me to dally with me [l'tzahek bi]," and elsewhere (Gen. 39:14) it says, "[to dally with -- l'tzahek -- us] This one came to lie [lishkav] with me."
  מצחק, engaging in marital intimacy. The same word was used for intimacy by the wife of Potiphar in Genesis 39,17 when she accused Joseph of trying to rape her. [the author brings this example as in Genesis 21,9 this word could not have had the same meaning. Ed.] Potiphar’s wife elsewhere used to word לשכב עמי, “to sleep with me,” to describe Joseph’s supposed conduct (39,14).
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  בארץ ההיא, even though the soil of this land is exceptionally hard;
  בשנה ההיא, a year of general drought and even famine.
  A HUNDREDFOLD [SH'ARIM].  A field that, if they estimated about it [she'shi'aruhu] that it would produce one kor, it would produce 100 korin.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ועבודה רבה, work in the field and vineyards. The expression עבודה, unless defined differently, additionally, always refers to labour in the field.
  
  Verse 15
  
  THE PHILISTINES STOPPED THEM UP.  So that his children would not have them after his death.  It was necessary to write this because, after departing from there, Yitzhak returned and dug them (see vv. 17-18).  This [providing information in anticipation of something to be told later] is analogous to (Gen. 9:18), "Ham being the father of Canaan."
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  אשר קרא להן אביו, in order to prevent anyone in the future to challenge the ownership of the wells.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ולא רבו עליה, seeing this well was quite a distance from the region where they grazed their livestock, as we know from ויעתק משם, he moved away from there. 
  
  Verse 23
  
  FROM THERE HE WENT UP TO BEER-SHEBA.  Because he was afraid of them, and this is proved by the fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (v.24), "Fear not, for I am with you," the implication being that he had feared.
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  HIS SERVANTS STARTED DIGGING A WELL.  But Yitzhak did not name it, until, ultimately, Avimelech came to him from G'rar and each took an oath to the other, and then his servants came and told him about the well that they had dug, and then he called it Shiv'ah, for the oath [sh'vu'ah] that he and Avimelech swore.
  
  Verse 26
  
  מרעהו ואחזת, with an entourage of his friends, as per Onkelos. The expression מרעהו occurs in this sense in Judges 15,6. The prefix מ in the word מרעהו is similar to the same prefix in the מריע ותוקע (Rosh Hashanah 33) [an unusual shift from the simple active mode kal, to the causative mode hiphil for basically the same activity, namely blowing the shofar. Ed.] as well as the מ in Jeremiah 21,4 אנכי מסב את כלי המלחמה, “The author quotes several more examples, as for instance, Proverbs 12,26 יתר מרעהו צדיק, ודרך רשעים תתעם, “the righteous enjoys advantages over his fellow man; the way of the wicked leads him astray.” [If I understand correctly, the letter מ is used transitively, although in this instance in the construction of a noun. Avimelech’s entourage רעהו was meant to give moral support to Avimelech in this ordinarily humiliating undertaking for him. Rash’bam goes as far as understanding the word ויתורו in Numbers 13,2 not as commonly understood as a verbal form of תור, “to tour, to traverse,” but as related to the word יתר from יתרון quoted in his citation from Proverbs 12,26. As to the fact that, if so, he word in Numbers should have been ויתירו instead of ויתורו, he quotes the interchangeable usage or ישוב and ישיב as well as יקום and יקים as examples where the hiphil is also used with the letter ו instead of the letter י for the middle root letter, עיו הפועל. Ed.]
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  תהי נא אלה, which is בינותינו, between your father and me should remain in force also between בינינו, ובינך, between you and me. This had been part of the condition of that pact that neither Avraham’s children nor grandchildren were allowed to renege on a promise he had made on their behalf. (21,23)
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  אתה עתה, therefore conclude a pact with us and let us go home, just as we have allowed you to leave our country unmolested. 
  אתה, that you
  Blessed of the Lord: An example is "Come, blessed of the Lord," that is written with Laban (24:31). And so did Issac do; and they walked away from him in peace.
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  על כן שם העיר באר שבע  this was not the same Beer Sheva we read about in connection with Avraham. There were two towns called Beer Sheva, as we know from Kings I 19,3 ויבא באר שבע אשר ליהודה, “he came to Beer Sheva in Yehudah.” [If there had not been another Beer Sheva the additional words “which is in Yehudah” would have been unnecessary. Ed.]
  
  Verse 34
  
  ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה, at that point Yitzchok was 100 years old seeing that he had been 60 years old at the time the twins had been born. The only reason the Torah draws our attention to the age at which Esau got married was to give us a better understanding of Yitzchok’s age when he is described as getting old, (27,1) He must have been well over 100 years old by then.
  ויקח אשה את יהודית....ותהיין מורת אוח, seeing that Rivkah is reported in 27,46 as becoming fed up with her life if she would have to live to see Yaakov also marry a Canaanite girl, the Torah had to explain what had produced such a prejudice in Rivkah against the local girls.
  
  Verse 35
  
  מורת רוח, the construction of the word מורת, with the vowel patach under the letter ר needs to be understood by comparing it to the root עשה, also a root ending with the letter ה. In Psalms 148,8 we have the formulation ossah devaro, which is feminine, seeing it describes the activity of the רוח סערה, a stormy wind, which is feminine. The construct form of the word ossah there would be ossat, Similarly, the word מורת in our verse is a construct form of the feminine form of the word מורה, not with the vowel segol under the letter ר but with the vowel kametz. [as in numerous similar nouns that appear sometimes as feminine and sometimes as masculine. Ed.]
  The word מורה meaning being contrary, rebellious, also appears in a slightly different form, i.e. ממרה as for instance, in Joshua 1,18 ימרה את פיך, “someone who will rebel against your orders.” When it appears in a genitive, construct form, it becomes morat. In Proverbs 14,10 we encounter a similar construction (though it is written with the vowel kametz under the letter מ) The verse reads: אבל לב יודעת מרת נפשו, “a heart knows its soul’s bitterness.” The use of the chataf kametz  under the letter מ there converts the word from adjective to being a noun. It is derived from מררות, “something bitter.” (compare Deuteronomy 32,32) In our verse here the word מורת is not a noun but a construct form of a verb, similar to Lamentations 1,20 כי מרה מריתי, “for I am experiencing a great deal of distress.” Here (in our verse) the vowel cholem instead of kametz as in Lamentations, is a manifestation of the abbreviated, chataf vowel often found with the middle letter of the root
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ותכהינה עיניו, due to old age, as we find in Samuel I 3,20 when the eyesight of the High Priest Eli failed due to old age.
  
  Verse 2
  
  הנה נא, I beg of you, due to my old age and the fact that I want to bestow on you the blessing which is within my power to bestow, the blessing of Avraham concerning inheriting this land.
  
  Verse 3
  
  שא נא כליך, the reason for the repetition of the word נא both in verse 2 and verse 3 is similar to that in Genesis 12,11 where I have already explained it. [not found there. Ed.]
  תלייך¸ his bag containing his arrows.
  The word is derived from the root תלה, “to hang,” We find it used in this sense in Genesis 40,22 in connection with Pharaoh hanging the chief of the bakers, as well as in Judges 5,12 where the word שביך בן אבינועם is derived from the root שבה, Similarly, the word עניך in Genesis 16,11 כי שמע ה' אל עניך, “for the Lord has paid heed to your suffering,” is derived from the root ענה.
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  'לפני ה. “in the name of the Lord.” However, when the same expression לפני ה' occurs in 10,9 describing the prowess of Nimrod as a hunter, the meaning is that his prowess was something of global dimensions, that no other hunter could match him in this respect. Similarly, the expression לאלוקים in Jonah 3,3 describing the vastness of the city of Nineveh, refers to the unique size of that city, none other matching it throughout the world.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  לך נא אל הצאן, take time out from your usual pursuits [in the tents] and go to the pens where the sheep and goats are kept.
  גדיי עזים, on account of their skins whose hair is hard like human hair. This is why he took goats instead of lambs.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ימושני אבי, the word is derived from the expression ממשמש בצהרים in Deuteronomy 28,29 describing people unable to find their way around at high noon, in spite of the sunshine, and having to feel their way about, using their hands in order not to stumble and fall. It is also similar in meaning to the word יסובבהו ערבי נחל in Job 40,22 where it describes the foliage of the reeds forming a protective cover..
  
  Verse 13
  
  עלי קללתך, upon me and my neck; she was relying on the prophecy she had received during her pregnancy that the older son would serve the younger one (25,23)
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  החמודות, the ones his father would use when he ate his meals.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואכלה מצידי, the letter א has a chataf kametz abbreviated kametz, underneath it as the word is in an imperative mode. We have a parallel mode in Kohelet 9,7 אכול בשמחה לחמך, “eat your food joyfully,” the letter א having an abbreviated vowel segol for the same reason. On the other hand, the word ואוכלה in ואוכלה מציד בני in verse 25 of this chapter has the vowel cholem, as it is in a future mode. Just as the word זכור in זכור ה' לדוד, ”O Lord, remember in David’s favour” is in an imperative mode, and the words זכרה לחסדי דוד, “remember the loyalty of Your servant David” in Chronicles II 6,42 are in an imperative mode, so the word אכלה here is also in the imperative mode.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  הקול קול יעקב, seeing that Esau and Yaakov were twins, their voices were similar to one another. This made it easy for Yitzchok to err as to who was in front of him if he were to rely only on his sense of hearing. Having first established that unlike Yaakov who was smooth skinned, the son in front of him was hairy, Yitzchok was now faced with a dilemma whether to trust his sense of hearing or his sense of touch.
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  אתה זה בני עשו, it would appear that you are my son Esau.
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  ריח בגדיו, the costly ones. The clothing worn by people in those days were scented with incense.
  'אשר ברכו ה, a reference the word שדה, to the field which has been blessed by G’d. This is also how Rabbi Eliezer Hakalir understood it in his liturgical poem where he wrote שדה מבורך כהריח ברכו במתן טל. [the poem starts with the words אאגרה בני, this is part of the full length Tal prayer printed in the German Machzorim as well as in the older editions of Machzorim featuring the whole range of the Piyutim. Yaakov is described there as smelling as fragrantly as a field blessed with dew. Ed.]
  
  Verse 28
  
  ויתן לך, these words are a continuation of the words אשר ברכו ה' which precede them. They describe the type of blessing G’d will provide for Yaakov (Esau). מטל השמים, essentially what is known as the “blessing of the field.”
  
  Verse 29
  
  בני אמך, here the word וישתחו appears in the singular, whereas in a parallel blessing pronounced by Yaakov who had several wives (Genesis 49,8) the word וישתחוו appears in the plural.
  
  Verse 30
  
  ויהי אך יצא יצא, this detail has been recorded to illustrate the miracles which were performed in order to enable Yaakov to obtain this blessing. If Esau had returned just one minute sooner, Yaakov would not have secured this blessing.
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  ויחרד יצחק, he was upset at having found hair on the smooth part of Yaakov’s neck.
  מי איפוא, this is a turn of phrase, as is the word איזו in the Talmud Baba Metzia70 אימא לי איזו, “tell me my dear friend.”
  גם בראך יהיה. “Because he carried out my request so promptly.” Also, Yitzchok was aware that Yaakov had done what he did at the advice and request of Rivkah. Clearly, he reasoned, Rivkah had realised that Yaakov was entitled to this blessing.
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  ?הכי קרא שמו יעקב, the line is a rhetorical question. Esau says: “although Yaakov had been named thus because at birth he had held on to my heel so that I became the firstborn and entitled to a double inheritance and he was without such distinction, is he now going to turn the tables on me and get the share of the firstborn, i.e. both blessings?” The word הכי as a question also occurs in connection with Lavan and Yaakov when the latter works for his uncle. When the question of wages came up, Lavan exclaimed הכי אחי אתה ועבדתני חינם, “would there be any justice in your working for me without wages merely because you are my brother (and one does not have to pay one’s family)?” (29,15) Lavan implied: “on the contrary, you should be paid more generously because you are my family.” We have learned in Baba Batra 139 that when someone dies leaving behind many children (sons) and the estate is substantial, the sons share the inheritance whereas the daughters receive a stipend from the estate pending their getting married. When the estate the father left behind is meager, the daughters get the stipend whereas the sons will have to fend for themselves even if it involves begging. Admon says וכי בשביל שאני זכר ויפה כח בנכסים מרובים הורע כוחי בנכסים מועטין? “Am I supposed to suffer because I am male, able-bodied and my parents were wealthy?” [his argument was accepted by Rabban Gamliel, as was every other argument quoted in the name of Admon in the Talmud. Ed.]
  
  Verse 37
  
  נתתי לו לעבדים, whatever a slave purchases automatically becomes the property of his master.
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  ועל חרבחך תחיה, a reference to Esau’s vocation as a hunter, promising him success with his hunting tools.
  וכאשר תריד, the word is used in the same sense as in Psalms 55,3 אריד בשיחי, “my conversation is full of agitation,” (as a result of feeling oppressed) i.e. “if your brother will subjugate you too harshly so that you cannot endure it, “ ופרקת עלו, “you will shake off his yoke.”
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  
  
  Verse 44
  
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  גם שניכם, if he will kill you he in turn will be executed by the blood avengers.
  
  Verse 46
  
  If Yaakov marries. This was a stratagem to distance Yaakov from Eisov without revealing to Yitzchok the reason for it.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  לרשתך את הארץ, seeing that you cannot take a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites as Avraham had commanded Yitzchok because they are slaves, (cursed.)
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  וירא עשו כי ברך יצחק את יעקב, Esau realised that in the blessings which Yitzchok had given Yaakov the land of Canaan as his heritage had been included, and that Yitzchok also had given Yaakov specific instructions to get a wife from amongst the daughters of Lavan, the brother of his mother, and on no account to marry a local Canaanite girl. Esau therefore arrived at the conclusion that he had been deprived of his share in the land of Canaan as a penalty for having married Canaanite girls and that this was the reason why Yaakov had been successful in stealing the blessing of Avraham from him. He therefore decided to marry into Avraham’s family, i.e. a descendant of Ishmael. He thought to himself that perhaps by doing this he would restore his claim to Avraham’s heritage.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  אחות נביות, seeing that Nevayot was the oldest of Ishmael’s children the Torah calls Machalat “the sister of Nevayot,” (instead of merely “the daughter of Ishmael”). We find something parallel to this in Exodus 15,20 ותקח מרים הנביאה אחות אהרן, “Miriam the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took, etc.” The reason she is referred to in that fashion is that she was older than Moses but younger than Aaron. On the other hand, in a verse where both Moses and Aaron are mentioned together with Miriam, (Exodus Numbers 26,59) she is referred to as “their sister.” The Torah employs the same formulation in Genesis 36,22 where Timna is described as the sister of Lotan, seeing that Lotan was the oldest of his brothers as we know from verse 20 in that chapter, i.e. לוטן, ושובל, וצבעון, וענה.
  
  Verse 10
  
  HE WENT HARAN-WARDS. In the direction of Haran.
  
  Verse 11
  
  ויפגע במקום, on his way he had an encounter in or near a town known as Luz.
  (2) FOR THE SUN WAS SETTING.  And he did not have time to enter the city in daylight.  As Rav Yehuda said (Pes. 2a), "A person should enter [the city] at [the time of] "It was good" [i.e., during daytime] and should leave at "it was good."  ...
  (3) AND HE TOOK one ...
  (4) OF THE STONES OF THE PLACE as it is written (v.18) "He took the stone that he had placed under his head."
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  מוצב, which had been erected by others. When the Torah later speaks about ה' נצב in verse 13, the meaning is that He supported Himself, had not been placed there, [although the letter נ at the beginning of that word suggested a passive mode. Ed.] We encounter similar formulations with the words מוקטר offered as incense by others, or מוגש, presented by others in Maleachi 1,11 whereas the words נגש אל הערפל in Exodus 20,21 mean that Moses approached the cloud under his own initiative. Also the expression אשר אתה מראה בהר (with the vowel kametz under the letter א) is also referring to someone else showing Moses the image. (Exodus 25,40) On the other hand, the expression נראה in Genesis 12,7 refers to a vision generated by G’d Himself.
  עולים ויורדים, according to the plain meaning of the text there is no need to read any special message into the word עולים, “climbing,” appearing before the word יורדים, “descending.”
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  הארץ אשר אתה שוכב עליה לך אתננה ולזרעך, if you were to say that this promise entails so very little, I am adding that your descendants will spread out in all directions of the globe.
  
  Verse 14
  
  V'NIV'R'CHU. An expression of engrafting. In other words, the families of the earth will be intermingled with your family. For this is the form without the dagesh, and I have already explained this in Parashat Lech L'cha.
  
  Verse 15
  
  כי לא אעזבך, on the journeys,
  עד אשר עשיתי את אשר דברתי עליך. to bring you back to this part of the earth, for while you are journeying, traveling, you are in need of special protection of My angels, as we know from Psalms 91,11 כי מלאכיו יצוה לך לשמרך בכל דרכיך, “for He will command His angels to protect you on all your travels.”
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  Sure the Eternal is in this place - Not as I have thought when I lay down there, that this was a profane place, but yes, it is a holy place. And so too all [mentions of] "achen" that are in Scripture [mean] Ah yes! This is not what I thought. And likewise: Surely, the matter is known!
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  ויצק שמו על ראשה, he anointed it to sanctify it and to make it ready to offer sacrifices on it when he would return to that site. We have such formulations in connection with the sanctification of the various materials donated for the Tabernacle (Numbers 7,1) as well as in Genesis 31,13  and again in verse 22 in our chapter here.
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואולם, but, לוז שם העיר, the Torah refers to the site where Yaakov had slept by the same name as the town nearby.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  (1) AND I RETURN SAFE.  As He said to me (v. 15), "I will bring you back to this land."  
  (2) AND ADONAI IS WITH ME AS GOD.  That He aids me in all my endeavors.
  
  Verse 22
  
   עשר אעשרנו לו, to present to Him a burnt offering.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וישא יעקב רגליו, seeing that he had received assurances from G’d during his nocturnal dream, he now proceeded encouraged, joyfully, something that the Torah describes with the words “he lifted up his feet.”
  בני קדם, inhabitants of Aram, as we know from Isaiah 9,11.
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  רבצים עליה, waiting until all the shepherds would gather there with their flocks and they would roll the rock off the top of the well.
  והאבן גדולה על פי הבאר, this was a precautionary measure to ensure people would not fall into the well and drown, or that they would not draw water from the well if not entitled to this.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  HE ROLLED THE STONE.  By himself.  The text comes to inform you of his strength.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  את הדברים האלה. that his father and mother had sent him to the members of his family.
  
  Verse 14
  
  אך עצמי ובשרי, you have therefore done well in coming to me.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  וללבן שתי בנות, the Torah interrupted Yaakov’s narrative by telling us that seeing that Lavan had only two daughters and the younger one appealed to Yaakov, he asked her father for her hand in marriage.
  
  Verse 17
  
  רכות, beautiful; our sages in Taanit 24 say that when a prospective bride has beautiful eyes, the bridegroom need not have the rest of her body checked out for possible blemishes. Black eyes are not considered as beautiful as white ones. [I suppose the reference is to blue ones. Ed.]
  יפה תאר, as in Isaiah 44,13 במחוגה יתארהו, “he marks out a form with a stylus.” This is a reference to the shape of her nose, forehead, lips and cheeks.
  יפה מראה, healthy looking skin.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
   כי מלאו ימי, “I have served you for seven years.”
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  והנה היא לאה, whenever something had not been known or recognised previously the word הנה alerts the reader to this fact. (compare Genesis 41,7 והנה חלום, “it was a dream.”) Until Pharaoh awoke he had taken what he saw in the dream as being real.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  מלא שבוע זאת, a reference to the seven days of the wedding festivities for Leah.
  ונתנה, she will be given to you;
  (3) THIS ONE TOO.  Immediately.  
  (4) FOR THE WORK THAT YOU WILL WORK WITH ME.  After the wedding with Rahel.  
  (5) ANOTHER SEVEN YEARS.  As it is written (Gen. 30:25), "After Rahel had borne Yosef, Ya'akov said to Lavan, 'Give me leave etc.,'" for it was at that point that he had completed the 14 years for his [Lavan's] two daughters.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  [HE ALSO SLEPT WITH RAHEL,] AND HE LOVED RAHEL ALSO [MORE THAN LEAH].  And he also loved her more than Leah; in other words, he slept with her and he also loved her.  Most instances of "gam" [also] are thus inverted in the Torah.  Similarly (Exod. 12:32), "And bless me too" -- also bless me.  Similarly (Num. 22:33), "You also I would have killed" -- Look, I pressed your legs and made you limp and lame, and now I also would have killed you.  
  
  Verse 31
  
  BUT RAHEL WAS BARREN.  Because it is written below (Gen. 30:1) that she said to Ya'akov, “Give me children, or I shall die.”
  
  Verse 32
  
  יאהבני, the vowel patach under the letter ב is equivalent to the letter having been vocalised with a tzeyreh. We have a similar construction in Isaiah 56,3 where the word  yavdilani means the same as if the prophet had written yavdileyni.
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  על כן קרא שמו לוי, one may assume that it was Yaakov who gave the boy this name. (compare Kimchi)
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  I SHALL DIE.  The accent is below [ultimate] because this is in the future tense.  But in "Rahel died, to my sorrow" (Gen. 48:7), the accent is above [penultimate], because it is in the past tense.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  נפתולי אלוקים נפתלתי, this formulation is partly due to literary considerations, so that the letter נ at the beginning of the word נפתולי is due primarily in order to match the latter נ in the word נפתלתי. We encounter something similar is the construction of Samuel I 20,28 נשאל נשאל דוד, 
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  WHAT LUCK.  Good fortune has come to us.  As in (Isa. 65:11), "Who set a table for Luck."  Likewise in Tractate Shabbat: (67b) "Luck has struck; don't be tired."  Also in Gen. R. (71:12, on this verse):  "The luck of our house has arrived."  And one who explains it as an expression of a battalion [g'dud] is mistaken, for even though the names are [only] in the nature of the statement -- as in Re'uven, "The Lord has seen," Shim'on, "The Lord has heard" -- we write it down only in the nature of the main idea of what is said, and "gad" cannot be an expression of "g'dud" without a doubling, of two dalets.  "They band together [Yagodu] to do away with the righteous" (Ps. 94:21) has a dagesh in place of the missing second dalet.  Likewise (Ps. 106: 43) "they were brought low [vayamoku] by their iniquity"; (Job 30:12) "they build [vayasolu] their roads for my ruin"; and (Job 16:13) "His bowmen surrounded [yasobu] me."  In all of them, a dagesh is in place of a missing letter.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  באשרי, I am glowing in the praises and good wishes bestowed on me by the other women.
  
  Verse 14
  
  דודאים, flowers of the fig tree; (compare Jeremiah 24,1) In Song of Songs 7,14 these flowers are described as rich in fragrance.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  יששכר, a double reward, one for handing over the dudaim; the other, that I gave my handmaid to my husband to have children with.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  (1) GIFT [ZEVED].  A generous portion or share, based on the context.  
  (2) WILL EXALT ME.  As in (I Kings 8:13), "I have now built for You a stately House," an expression of residence.
  
  Verse 21
  
  ותקרא את שמה דינה. No mention is made of Leah giving thanks to the Lord for giving birth to a daughter, seeing that one does not express gratitude for bearing a daughter in the same degree as one does for bearing a son. The reason that the birth of this daughter is mentioned is to inform us that with the exception of this one girl Yaakov’s children were all males. The same thing is true of the daughter of Asher, Serach being mentioned; (46,17) among all the 70 Israelites descending to Egypt only two were females.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  אסף אלוקים, the word is to be understood as similar to Deuteronomy 22,20 ואספת אל תוך ביתך, or Jerermiah 16,5 כי אספתי שלומי, the hiding and covering up (inside) of something. In this case, Rachel’s shame at being perceived as being barren could now be hidden.
  
  Verse 24
  
  ותקרא את שמו יוסף. An allusion to G’d having removed her shame, אסף את חרפתי. If this is correct, she should have called him אסף; why did she add the letter י?  This is because she had prayed for another son, saying יוסף ה' לי בו אחר. We find therefore that the name she gave this child symbolises two thoughts of its mother both of which she had already articulated.
  
  Verse 25
  
  שלחני, for now that Joseph had been born Yaakov’s second stint of 7 years labour for Lavan had come to an end.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  לרגלי, “on my behalf.” The word רגל in this connection also occurs in 33,14 לרגל המלאכה אשר לפני, “on account of the livestock before me.”
  
  Verse 31
  
  לא תתן לי מאומה, of all the sheep and goats you have now, seeing that I have served you for your two daughters during the period you acquired them. However, from the flocks which I will tend for you from this day on, you will give me the ones which will be born spotted or speckled, after you have first removed all those that are spotted and speckled now, and given them to your sons to look after. I want you to completely separate them from the flocks I look after. Those animals which will be born with the skin pattern I have selected, genetically not related to former generations of your animals with the same skin pattern, will be my wages.
  
  Verse 32
  
  נקוד, I believe that this describes these spots in the region of the neck and head, as the word ויקוד means bending down with one’s head and neck. (Exodus 34,8) The word ויקוד has a dagesh in the letter ק, as on that occasion Moses’ bowing down was equivalent to his prostrating himself, i.e. more than just bowing down. The word is of the category of נפל, which in a similar construction would also be ויפול with the dagesh inn the letter פ. The קדקד is the head, but is also connected to the foot, as the line ויעקוד את יצחק means that he bound Yitzchok’s feet. (Genesis 22,9).
  הסר משם, in your own interest.
  והיה שכרי, it will become my wages, from now on.
  
  Verse 33
  
  וענתה בי צדקתי, both today and in the future.
  לפניך, when you will come to check my wages, that it will not contain animals with a different skin pattern from what we agreed.
  חום בכבשים, but not among the goats, seeing most goats are brown.
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
   ויתן ביד בניו, of Lavan.
  
  Verse 36
  
  ובין יעקב, Lavan’s flocks which Yaakov tended were 3 days distant from the spotted and speckled ones which Lavan had first removed from the original flocks.
  
  Verse 37
  
  מקל לבנה, the reason why the letter ק in the word מקל has the vowel patach instead of the vowel tzeyreh, as we might have expected, is because it is in a construct form to the word לבנה, the tree that this staff was cut from. We encounter a similar construction for the same reason in Leviticus 27,32 where the Torah speaks of Ma-assar bakar instead of ma-asser bakar, “tithe of the cattle.” The word מעשר is in a construct form to the word בקר.  We find a similar construction in Jeremiah 6,26 with the expressionמספד תמרורים, as well as in Amos 5,16 and Numbers 18,26 and Numbers 22,27.
  לח, not literally, wet, but not dried out.
  מחשוף, exposed, visible. Compare the same expression in Ezekiel 4,7, or in Isaiah 52,10 חשף ה' את זרןע קדשו, “the Lord bared His holy arm.”
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  ויחמנה, the word has a similar construction as Samuel I 6,12 וישרנה הפרות, “the cows went straight ahead,” where a feminine mode and a masculine mode is combined. [the letter י at the beginning of the word signaling a masculine mode, and the letters נה at the end signaling a feminine mode. Ed.] Similar unusual constructions are found in Daniel 8,22 ארבע מלכיות מגוי יעמדנה, or Ezekiel 37,7 ותקרבו העצמות עצם אל עצמו. In all of these examples the verb is in a partially masculine and partially feminine mode.
  
  Verse 39
  
   ויחמו הצאן, this is a masculine construction.
  
  Verse 40
  
  והכבשים הפריד יעקב, the spotted and striped ones Yaakov had already previously removed from Lavan’s flocks during the first and second year. He now let Lavan’s spotted and striped sheep see the females of the young ones to encourage them to become pregnant with newly born lambs of the skin pattern which they had recently seen while in a state of stimulation. In order to reinforce the imagination of the sheep to be impregnated, he planted the sticks with the peeled parts near the troughs to enhance the chances of the next crop of lambs to display the skin patterns he hoped for.
  
  Verse 41
  
  המקושרות, during the month of Tishrey.
  
  Verse 42
  
  ובהעטיף, during the interval between giving birth for the first time and the ability to conceive again had begun, Yaakov did not bother using the stratagem of the peeled sticks when the sheep would be watered.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  הכבוד, the weight and power of the money. We have already encountered the word כבד as an adjective describing the wealth in Genesis 13,2.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ואלוקי אבי היה עמדי, even though Lavan’s attitude to me was hostile. I did not steal anything from him, but G’d was with me and He gave it to me.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  מונים, as if the Torah had written מנינים, ten times.
  עשרת, the number is not to be taken literally, just as in Leviticus 26,26 the line עשר נשים לחמכם, ואפוdoes not literally mean that ten women would bake their bread in a single oven; rather, seeing that they have so little flour it is a symbol for “many.” The same word “ten” is used as an exaggeration in Job 19,3.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  וילדו כל הצאן, this percentage could certainly not all be attributed to exposing the sheep to the peeled sticks.
  
  Verse 9
  
  ויצל, He separated. Any word in the Hebrew language denoting salvation, involves setting someone apart from others who share doom.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  אשר משחת, in order to sanctify it; so far you have not offered a sacrifice on it that would discharge your vow.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  כספינו, which he had earned in payment for marrying us off. He even ate up the money you earned with your hard labour which was meant to support us.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ותגנוב רחל את התרפים, in order that Lavan should not be able to locate the whereabouts of Yaakov and his family. We know from Hoseah 3,4 that Teraphim were credited with supplying such information to people believing in their power. Zecharyah 10,2 also refers to them as speaking, though deceptively. At any rate, they were widely consulted to provide information about the future, information of a supernatural dimension.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  דרך שבעת ימים. Yaakov was forced to travel very slowly on account of his herds and flocks, so that although he traveled away from Lavan who had been three days’; journey away from him at the start, he could catch up with him within one week. Clearly, Lavan rode after Yaakov at full speed.
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  ואלקי אביכם, for I respect Him.
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  כי יראתי...עם אשר תמצא, Yaakov answered Lavan’s first accusation first, and the second one afterwards.
  
  Verse 32
  
  לא יחיה, meaning that Yaakov himself will avenge such a crime from its perpetrator.
  
  Verse 33
  
  ויבא לבן באהל יעקב ואחר כך באהל לאה ואחר כך באהל רחל. He entered all the various tents of the wives separately. The reason Lavan did not find the Teraphim in Rachel‘s tent was that as soon as he left Leah’s tent Rachel put the Teraphim beneath the saddle of the camel that she sat upon.
  ויצא מאהל לאה ויבא באהל רחל, even though according to what has been written earlier he went to the tent of Leah and the tent of the two maidservants, this was not quite the sequence in which Lavan searched. He had entered Rachel’s tent upon leaving Leah’s tent, before having searched the tents of the servant maids. The Torah abbreviated the narrative somewhat as it was tediously long.
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  בכר, a kind of cushion one places on the back of a camel to sit upon.
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  לא שכלו, neither because of any lack of adequate grazing nor due to careless supervision
  ואילי צאנך, it is customary that the shepherds eat the meat of male sheep they tend.
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  אחטפנה, the meaning is that Yaakov would have to pay for the loss from his own pocket. A similar construction occurs in Kings I 1,21. where the line אני ובני שלמה חטאים does not mean “I and my son Shlomoh will be guilty,” but I and my son Shlomoh will have to bear the cost.
  גנבתי יום, the letter י appears to be superfluous; Yaakov states that he had to make good both for animals stolen by day and any stolen by night. The construction is similar to Lamentations 1,1 רבתי עם שרתי במדינות. The word גנובתי with the vowel kametz under the letter ב would mean “the stolen one would be considered as if it had been mine.” 
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  שלחתני, and not with joy and songs.
  
  Verse 43
  
    מה אעשה, how can I possibly harm them?
  
  Verse 44
  
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  
  
  Verse 46
  
  
  
  Verse 47
  
  
  
  Verse 48
  
  
  
  Verse 49
  
  והמצפה, this lookout is referred to in Judges 11,29.
  יצף, from that location. Compare Ezekiel 3,17 where the word צופה is a noun, “sentinel.” The relative construction between יצף and צופה is parallel to Genesis 1,22 ירב בארץ and פרה ורבה in Genesis 35,11.
  
  
  Verse 50
  
  
  
  Verse 51
  
  יריתי, “I erected.” Yaakov erected it at the suggestion of Lavan. The verb ירה occurs in a similar meaning in Exodus 15,4 ירה בים. [a very unusual translation. Ed.]
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ויפגעו בו, in order to protect him, as in 28,15 “and here I will be with you.”
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  (1) HE COMMANDED THEM, SAYING [LEMOR]. He commanded them and said to them, "THUS  YOU SHALL SAY," and the messengers were not aware of Ya'akov's worry.  
   (2) I STAYED WITH LAVAN. As you know, at the instruction of my father and my mother.  This so that he [Esav] would not think, "He fled on account of me."
  ואחר, the construction is similar to ואאחר, or as in Maleachi 1,2 ואוהב את יעקב “I displayed love for Yaakov.” In both instances this is an abbreviation for ואאהב. We have similar constructions in vaochal, vaomar, in both instances the first root letter is missing.
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  WE CAME TO YOUR BROTHER, ESAV.  and you have found favor in his eyes, as you said.  AND NOW he, out of his joy in your approach and his love for you IS COMING TO MEET YOU AND 400 MEN WITH HIM out of respect for you, and this is the plain sense.  Similarly (Ex. 4:14), "EVEN NOW HE IS SETTING OUT TO MEET YOU, AND HE WILL BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU."
   out of the joy at the impending reunion he approaches to meet with four hundred men, all in your honour. This, basically, is the plain meaning of the verse. This is also the plain meaning of Exodus 4,14 where the Torah describes Aaron coming to meet his brother Moses whom he had not seen for many years, and the Torah adds that he is overjoyed at the prospect.
  
  Verse 8
  
  (1) YA'AKOV FEARED.  Internally.  Even though he [Ya'akov?] gave the messengers the impression that he [Esav] intended this out of respect, he [Ya'akov] did not believe that Esav's thinking was favorable, but was rather for ill.  
  (2) HE WAS ANXIOUS [VAYETZER].  From the root of (Num. 25:17), "Assail the Midianites."  Similarly (Gen. 16:4), "her mistress was lowered [vateikal]," from k-l-l [to curse].  ...
  (3) HE DIVIDED.  From (Num. 31:42), "which Moshe divided."
  
  Verse 9
  
  לפלטה. The two camps were positioned quite a distance one from the other, so that if it would become obvious that disaster struck one camp the other would have a chance to flee.
  המחנה האחת, a feminine mode, as occurs also in Psalms 27,3 אם תחנה עלי מחנה, “should an army besiege me.”
  הנשאר, now we have the masculine mode. This is one of many instances in which a noun appears sometimes in the masculine mode and sometimes in the feminine mode. Well known examples are Genesis 19,23 השמש יצא על הארץ (where the word שמש is treated as masculine), and Jonah 4,8 ' where it is treated as feminine, i.e. ותך השמש. (whereas in the beginning of the same verse it is treated as masculine, i.e. ויזרח). Compare also Psalms 148,8 and Job 1,19.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  אלוקי אבי אברהם ואלוקי אבי יצחק, Who has made me promises using these words to identify Himself to me when I had departed from Beer Sheva. (28,13.)
  
  Verse 11
  
  קטנתי מכל, from qualifying for all the
  החסדים, the loving kindness as expressed by promises. We have a parallel to this in Kings I 8,64. Seeing that You have performed for me both חסדים and אמת, although I have not yet redeemed my vow to establish an altar at Beyt El and to sacrifice to You there, I am now afraid in spite of the assurances You have given me. I am aware that You do not judge man according to his good intentions but according to his carrying out such intentions, and I have been remiss in this respect. We find in connection with Chizkiyah, King of Yehudah in Kings I 20,1 that when the prophet had told him: “you will die and not live,” that the king prayed to G’d and was granted an additional 15 years of life on earth. [he was given this extension as in his prayer he had enumerated his merits, although G’d justified the extension with reference to King David, Chizkiyah’s ancestor. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  פן יבא והכני, because I am not worthy of all the loving kindness G’d has already shown me, (as I explained on verse 10)
  
  Verse 13
  
  ואתה אמרת היטב איטיב עמך; even though You are under no obligation to keep the promise You have made to me seeing that I am not worthy of it, do it for the sake of Your Holy Name which obligates You to keep Your promises (as Moses argued when he reasoned with You not to destroy Israel in spite of their having sinned with the golden calf. His argument had been: “Why should the impression be created that You are unable to keep promises You have made?”) The argument used by Moses he used more than once when he repeated it after the sin of the spies (Numbers 14,16)
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  ובניהם, according to the plain meaning the males which the camels were suckling. When there are both females and males, the Torah does not mention the females separately.
  
  Verse 17
  
  וריוח תשימו, a device to make each gift appear as a sign of Yaakov’s respect. When someone receives a number of gifts at intervals he appreciates them all the more.
  
  Verse 18
  
  למי אתה, the word עבד is implied, i.e. Esau would ask: “whose servant are you?”
  
  Verse 19
  
  מנחה, we explained this term in connection with Genesis 4,3.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  (1) FOR HE REASONED, “IF I PROPITIATE HIM." This is what Ya'akov thought in his mind; it is not part of what the messengers said. 
  (2) RIGHT BEHIND US. Since Ya'akov wanted to flee that night in a different direction, had the angel not detained him, and thus, he intended to fool Esav so that he would not meet him.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  ויקם בלילה ההוא , he crossed the river at night because he intended to change direction to avoid a meeting with Esau. We find that David did something similar when he was fleeing from his son Avshalom at the same location of Machanyim as reported in Samuel II 17,21-24. At that time, coming from the direction of Jerusalem, David crossed the river Jordan, a more formidable river than the Yabbok, a mere tributary of the Jordan which could be crossed relatively easily. [flight by crossing a river, eliminating footprints and wading along the bank before crossing to the other side slows down the pursuers who first have to find in which direction the fugitive continued. Ed.].
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  ויותר יעקב לבדו, after he had transferred all his belongings to the other side of the river, so that the only one still to be brought across was he himself. The reason that he wanted to cross only after everyone else had already crossed was that he intended to flee in a different direction so as to avoid a face to face encounter with Esau.
  THERE WRESTLED an angel WITH HIM.  So that he could not flee, and so that fulfillment of the word of the Holy One, blessed be He, would be seen, that Esav would not harm him.
  
  Verse 26
  
  (1) HE COULD NOT PREVAIL AGAINST HIM. The angel [could not prevail] and he [Ya'akov] sought to cross and flee despite him [the angel]. ...
  (2) IT WAS STRAINED. It became separated from the thigh, as in (Jer. 6:8) "Lest my sould be alienated from Thee" [Old JPS translation]. YERECH YA'AKOV. [In] "hayarech" (v. 33), the accent is ultimate, on the resh, for that is its name [i.e., that is the noun in its non-construct state.] Likewise (Num. 22;24) "gader mizeh" [a fence on this side], (Isa. 61:8) "gazel" [robbery]. And when "yarech" is in the construct state, there are changes so that [the vowel is] a patah katan [i.e., a segol] and the accent is on the first letter, "yerech Ya'akov," (Ex. 40:22) "yerech hamishkan" [the side of the Mishkan].
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  כי עלה השחר, seeing that it is daylight already it is time for you to be on your way. (to the meeting with Esau).
  כי אם ברכתני, as a sign that you have parted from me in peace, that I will not suffer harm or damage through having been in a struggle with you.. Now that it had become daylight Yaakov realised for the first time that his adversary had been an angel.
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  YOU HAVE STRIVEN.  This is from the same root as (Hos. 12:4), "Grown to manhood, he strove [sarah] with a divine being," like "kanah - kanita," "asah - asita."  But (Hos. 12:5) "He strove [vayasar] with an angel and prevailed" is of the form "shav," "kam," "ratz," from which one would say, "vayakom," "vayashar," "vayarotz."  And the fact that Ya'akov was struck and was lamed was because the Holy One, blessed be He, promised him yet he fled.  And we find the same thing with all those who go on the road contrary to the wishes of the Holy One, blessed be He, or who refuse to go, that they are punished.  Regarding Moshe, it is written (Ex. 4:13), "make someone else Your agent," and (v.14), "The LORD became angry with Moses."  And according to the Rabbinic exposition (Zev. 102a), even though the Sages said, "Everywhere [in the Torah] where 'blazing anger' is mentioned, it makes an impression," here, what impression is there?  "There is your brother Aaron the Levite" (Ex. 4:14) -- he was to be the Levi, and you the Kohen; now, he will be the Kohen and you the Levi.  However, according to the plain sense, [the impression is that] because he [Moshe] was making excuses to avoid going, it is written (Ex. 4:24), "At a night encampment on the way, Adonai encountered him and sought to kill him."  Likewise with Yonah, who was swallowed into the belly of the fish.  And likewise with Bil'am (Num. 22:22), "But God was incensed at his going" and he became lame, as it is written (v.25), "squeezed Balaam’s foot against the wall," and (Num. 23:3), "And he went off shefi" - lame, as in (Job 33:21), "his bones rubbed away [shafu]."
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  והוא צולע על ירכו, now that the sun was shining he realised that he was walking with a limp, a belated discovery, just as when he discovered that he had spent a night in bed with Leah thinking that she was Rachel (29,25).
  
  Verse 33
  
  על כן לא יאכלו, as a reminder of the heroism displayed by Yaakov, as well as a reminder of the miracle that G’d performed for him as a result of which he did not die.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
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  Verse 4
  
  
  
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  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  YOSEF AND RAHEL CAME FORWARD.  The straightforward meaning is that it is the common manner to mention the man first, but above (v.2), because it says "Leah and her children," it likewise says, "Rahel and Yosef."
  
  Verse 8
  
  ?מי לך כל המחנה הזה, a reference to the herds of animals Yaakov had sent.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  חנני, this should by rights be חננני, that is why the first letter נ has a dagesh.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  UNTIL I COME TO MY LORD IN SEIR.  He exaggerated the length of his [intended] travel.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  (1) YA'AKOV CAME SHALEM.  To the city called Shalem.  
  (2) THE CITY OF SH'CHEM.  Sh'chem's city, as in (Num. 21:26), "Now Heshbon was the city of Sihon king of the Amorites," as it is written (Gen. 34:2), "Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, saw her."  And one who explains that "Sh'chem" is the name of the city is mistaken, for nowhere do we find "the city of Zion [or] Jerusalem" [ir tziyon y'rushalayim]," but rather "the city" [ha'ir] is mentioned after the name.  And even if this city was Sh'chem, perhaps it was in memory of the heroism of the sons of Ya'akov that they [afterward] named it Sh'chem, as is written about Luz (Gen. 28:19), that it was [re]named Beit El.  As it is written (Josh. 19:47), "they changed the name of Leshem to Dan, after their ancestor Dan," to commemorate their heroism when they killed the residents of the city.  And as it is written (Gen. 4:17), "he then founded a city, and named the city after his son Enoch."  And also one who explains "Shalem" as whole [shalem] in his Torah, whole in his wealth is mistaken according to the plain sense, for it is not the way of Scripture to speak this way, and also, what need would there be for this -- would the reduction [in wealth caused by] the gift to Esav necessitate writing this?  
  
  Verse 19
  
   קשיטה, a coin by that name.
  
  Verse 20
  
  EL-ELOHE-YISRAEL [God is the God of Israel].  In that He saved me from Lavan and from Esav, in other words, God is the God of Ya'akov in that He saved me from Lavan and from Esav.  And just as we name a person Eliezer [God is a help to me] or Imanu'el [God is with us], in the same way the altar is so named.  And the straightforward sense is as I have explained.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ותצא דינה, because Yaakov had pitched his tent outside the city limits of Shechem. She left that compound to enter the town.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ובני יעקב באו מן השדה, during this time Chamor had come from the town to speak to Yaakov, finding the brothers present.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  בנותיכם תתנו ואת בנותינו תקחו לכם, the sons of Yaakov, on their part made intermarriage something that was in their honour, “i.e. to give and to take.” When Shechem and Chamor presented this proposal to their townspeople they reversed it to make it appear as if they were the ones bestowing honour, when they said: “we will take and we will give.” (verse 31) They did this in order to seduce their townsfolk to submit to circumcision.
  
  Verse 10
  
  וסחרוה, the letter ח in this word is the reason why the Torah did not need to write the word בה, i.e. תסחרו בה, “you may trade feely in it.” The vowel kametz under the letter ח instead of the semi vowel sheva we would have expected is what saved the Torah the word, or rather the extra letter ב by adding the word בה to the word וסחרו. 
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  ונתנו, with a dagesh in the second letter נ to double it. The meaning is the same as the regular future ניתן “we will give.” A similar construction of this verb is found in Lamentations 5,6 מצרים נתנו יד, meaning the same as נתננו, “we hold out a hand to Egypt.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  בהיותם כואבים, according to normal reactions of people to such an operation, and according to the plain meaning of the text, the meaning is that they had been in pain during the first and second day after the circumcision, and they were now in even greater pain, 
  ויבואו על העיר, the people there felt perfectly safe, so that Shimon and Levi did not need to take any precautions. Whenever the word בטח occurs throughout Scriptures, it refers to the people feeling secure, unworried, just as in this verse.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  להבאישני, to ruin our reputation. We have the same word used in a similar sense in Exodus 5,21 הבאשתם את ריחנו, where the overseers of the Jewish people accuse Moses and Aaron after the failure of their first audience with Pharaoh which had resulted in an increased workload, that they had ruined the reputation of the people as diligent workers.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  אלוהי הנכר, which they had looted from Shechem.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ויקרא למקום, which was outside Luz, where he had erected a monument 34 years earlier when he was on his way from his home El Bet El.
   Originally, he had called the town known as Luz merely Bet El. Now he named the site where he had had the dream with the ladder El Bet El. This site was outside the town previously known as Luz. He added the word El, seeing that during all the intervening years G’d had stood by him.
  
  Verse 8
  
  אלון בכות, this is mentioned only because all the locations at which Yaakov stopped on his return from Lavan and which were mentioned in the Torah were mentioned because of something that happened there. They were: Pnuel, Sukkot, El Elo-hey Yisrael, Shalem, the city of Shechem. Luz(ah), El Bet El, Alon Bachut, the second Bet El, Bet Lechem (Efrat), Migdal Eder.
  
  Verse 9
  
  וירא אלוקים אל יעקב עוד, after he had moved on from Luz, called now Bet El, he named a second place Bet El, as will be explained forthwith.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  המקום אשר דבר אתו. This precise expression has been repeated several times in our paragraph, seeing that in each instance the place where G’d spoke to Yaakov was in the middle of the path, not while he was in a town.
  
  Verse 16
  
  כברת, a word which is similar to Job 34,24ירוע כבירים, “He breaks the mighty ones.” In our context it means something similar to הרבה, a considerable amount. The reason why Rachel was buried at that spot was because it was still a considerable distance from Efrat, and it would not have been dignified to transport her without a coffin for such a distance.
  ותקש, this means the same as if it had said vatekashe. We have similar constructions such as ותצו as alternative for vatetzaveh, or ותכס, vatechasseh.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  אל תראי כי גם זה לך בן, in accordance with Rachel’s prayer at the time Joseph was born (30,24) when she asked G’d to grant her another son. The midwife reassured Rachel that G’d did not mean to kill her but that He had accepted her prayer. She wanted to calm Rachel‘s fear for her life.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  היא מצבת קבורת רחל, the one Samuel referred to after the latter departed from him, having been anointed king over Israel. (Samuel I 10,2)
  
  Verse 21
  
  למגדל העדר, close to Bethlehem as mentioned in Michah 5,1 as well as in chapter 4,8 there.
  
  Verse 22
  
  וישמע ישראל, this matter has been reported only so that we can understand why Yaakov passed over his firstborn son Reuven when in his blessings before his death he referred to him as פחז כמים אל תותר כי עלית על משכבי אביך (49,4). “the one who was as unrestrained as water when you mounted the bed of your father, does not deserve the privileges associated with the birthright.” [These privileges were allocated by Yaakov in part to Yehudah, commencing with the reign of David, and in part to Joseph, as the firstborn son of Rachel. The latter was accorded two tribal heads, (Ephrayim and Menashe) among the twelve tribes. Ed.]
  
  Verse 23
  
  ויהיו בני יעקב שנים עשר. Now that Binyamin had been born the total number of Yaakov’s son amounted to 12. This verse has been delayed in order not to break the sequence of the narrative.
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  עשו ויעקב, they are mentioned in this order, a) because Esau was the firstborn, and, b) Yaakov deferred to him according him this honour. When the Torah described Avraham’s funeral, Yitzchok, the younger, was mentioned first seeing that Yishmael was the son of a slave-woman.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  עשו לקח את נשיו מבנות כנען, people who read the text carefully cannot help noting that when Esau’s wives’ names are mentioned for the first time in 26,34 they were referred to as יהודית בת בארי החתי and בשמת בת אלון החתי, as well as מחלת בת ישמעאל. In our paragraph no one by the name of בת בארי is mentioned at all, neither the woman’s name nor her father’s name. However אלון as well as ישמעאל the fathers of two of Esau’s wives have been mentioned here also. The names of the daughters have been inverted as happens in many instances. בשמת daughter of אלון is here referred to as עדה בת אלון whereas. It is therefore reasonable to assume that יהודית בת בארי died childless, whereas the other two wives of Esau bore children for him as is enumerated here. Esau took אהליבמה בת ענה בת צבעון החוי as a wife after his move to Seir, when he wanted to strengthen his political ties with the local inhabitants through intermarriage with them. This is why the Torah gave such a detailed account of Oholivamah’s genealogy. Timnah, concubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s firstborn, was also from the original inhabitants of the region of Mount Seir, The reasom why she is mentioned ast, is that the marriage of Esau to Oholivamah occurred last.  Chronologically, she belonged to an earlier generation.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
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  Verse 6
  
  מפני יעקב אחיו, seeing that Yaakov had bought the birthright, and by rights he was entitled to inherit the estate of his father Yitzchok, i.e. the land of Canaan. Therefore, Esau decided to vacate that land in favour of his brother.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  ואלה תולדות עשו, a reference to his grandchildren, similar to Genesis 10,1 where after the same introduction, the grandsons of Noach are listed by the Torah. [not quite, as the chapter starts with the words ואלה תולדות בני נח. Ed.]
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ותמנע היתה פילגש, I have found in a Midrash on Psalms (שוחר טוב) that the prefix ו before the word תמנע suggests that this word may be read as part of what follows or as part of what preceded it. In fact, in Chronicles I 1,36 בני אליפז, תימן ואומר צפי וגעתם קנז ותמנע ועמלק it is understood as belonging to verse 11 in our chapter.
  In the version in Chronicles, when listing the descendants of the בני שעיר, Timna is again listed in verse 39 as a sister of Lotan. This is parallel to Machalat, the daughter of Yishmael whom Esau married as a concession to his parents’ disgust with his other wives (Genesis 28,9) being described asאחות נביות “a sister to Nevayot, son of Yishmael.” The description of a woman as a sister of her brother rather than as a daughter of her father or mother also occurs in Exodus 15,20 where Miriam is described as Aaron’s sister. What happened here is that the first time Timna is mentioned, she is described in terms of he relationship to Avraham’s family, i.e. as the concubine of a great grandson of Avraham, Eliphaz, son of Esau, whereas the second time Timna is described as a sister of Lotan (verse 22) not genetically related to Avraham at all, but part of the genealogy of the בני שעיר. Such digressions in the sequence of a narrative are not unknown in the Bible. We find the following in Joshua 13,7-8 after G’d had instructed him at the beginning of the chapter to proceed with distributing the land of Israel to the various tribes, ועתה חלק את הארץ הזאת בנחלה לתשעת השבטים וחצי שבט המנשה. עמו הראובני והגדי לקחו נחלתם אשר נתן להם משה בעבר הירדן מזרחה נתן להם משה עבד ה' “Therefore, divide this territory into hereditary portions for the nine tribes and the half tribe of Menashe. Now, the Reubenites and the Gadites, along with the other half tribe of Menashe had already received their shares which Moses assigned to them on the east side of the Jordan- as assigned to them by Moses the servant of the Lord.” There can be no question that something is missing here as part of the second verse. You would have to say that this verse answered the question implied by the first verse, i.e. “what about the other half of the tribe of Menashe?” The reason for this peculiar division in describing the tribal allocation for the tribe of Menashe is that one half of the tribe, i.e. the half mentioned last, received their allocation by the authority of Moses himself, whereas the second half of the tribe received its allocation by the authority of Joshua. I, Samuel, (our author) have found a third verse [in addition to the two mentioned in the Midrash quoted. Ed.]  about the genealogy in Chronicles I 8,35-36 where we deal with the family of Yonathan son of King Sha-ul the following: ובני מיכה פיתון ומלך ןתארע ואחז. ואחז הוליד את יהועדה, ויהועדה הוליד את עלמת וגו'.. “The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Taarea, and Achaz. Achaz begot Yehoadah; and Yehoadah begot Alemeth, etc.” This same paragraph is repeated once more in chapter 9,41-43. In that sequence mention of Achaz is missing in the first of the two verses so that he appears out of nowhere in the second verse. Not only that but he is introduced with the connective letter ו, i.e. “and Achaz, etc. We must therefore conclude that the word ואחז הוליד, “and Achaz begot,” answers the verse which had in effect been interrupted in 8,35 with the word אחז. The author takes up the thread interrupted in chapter 8 and fills the reader in about the offspring of Achaz.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  All the Alufim mentioned in this chapter are heads of cities of clans. I believe that the אלוף קרח mentioned in this verse as one of the sons of Eliphaz is identical with the תמנע mentioned in Chronicles as a son of Eliphaz, (compare verse 12) whereas the קרח, mentioned in verse 18 here as the son of Oholovimah, is a different person by the same name.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  יושבי הארץ, originally, before Esau’s time. The clan of Esau inherited their land as mentioned in Deuteronomy 2,12 וישבו תחתם, “they settled in their place. (replaced them)”
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ואחות לוטן תמנע. Seeing that Lotan was the outstanding one among his brothers, Timna’s genealogy is linked to her prominent brother rather than to her father. We have encountered the same principle when Machalat whom Esau married to assuage the hurt feelings of his parents, is described as the sister of Nevayot, a son of Yishmael. Also Miriam the prophetess, is described as Aaron’s sister instead of as Amram’s daughter. (Exodus 15,20)
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  ואיה וענה, I believe that the real names of these people were “Veayah” and “Veanah,” not “Ayah” and “Anah.” The same is true of Numbers 13,14 where the letter ו is part of the name itself, i.e. ופסי, just as it is in Esther where the letter ו is part of the name of Queen Vashti, i.e. ושתי. Even though these sons of Tzivon are also referred to by the names Ayah and Adah in Chronicles I 1,40, we need not attribute too much meaning to this, as there are numerous instances when such names are not accurately reported.  (Examples of such inaccuracies are Genesis 10,23 where the letters ו in the words וחול וגתר (names) clearly are not part of the names themselves. The same is true of Chronicles I 1,17 where all four of these names are introduced with the letter ו. Clearly, the two versions cannot both be correct. Anyone who interprets the letter ו in the words (names) ואיה וענה to be connective letters ו, must surely answer the question of what prompted the Torah to write such connective letters ו here when it did not seem to be called for. Why would just these sons have been selected by the Torah to be linked to one another by the connective letter ו and not numerous other sons who appear in this chapter? [the author challenges his grandfather Rashi’s interpretation. Ed.] The proofs cited by such commentators for their interpretation are not convincing at all. The very letters ו whom these commentators quote as support for their thesis are themselves not connective letters For instance, in Samuel II 13,20 the line ותשב תמר ושוממה בית אבשלום אחיה, the word ושוממה means the same as שבי, as in שבי אלמנה בית אביך, (Genesis 38,11) where Yehudah tells his daughter-in-law (also) called Tamar to await Shelah’s growing up by remaining like a grieving widow in her father’s house. The word ותשב in Samuel II 13.20 has two meanings. It tells us that Tamar henceforth was isolated, lonely, an outcast. The word בודדה for “lonely,” is implied but not spelled out, and the whole line must be understood as if the prophet had written ותשב תמר בודדה ושוממה, “Tamar lived lonely and abandoned in the house of her brother Avshalom.” Psalms 76,7 מגערתך אלוקי יעקב נרדם ורכב וסוס, must be understood as מגערת אלוקי יעקב נרדם חיל שונאינו, at Your blast, O G’d of Yaakov, horse and chariot (with our enemies) lay stunned.” The reference is to the army mentioned in the preceding verses. The word אנשי חיל, “the soldiers,” which appears in verse 6 of that chapter is presumed as also applying to verse 7. If this were not so, the verse would make little sense. We find that a similar verse to that in Psalms 77,7 is found in Exodus 15,1, where the Torah includes the riders of the cavalry as having been tossed into the sea, as their survival would hardly have constituted an overwhelming victory by G’d.
  הוא ענה, who has been mentioned in the time of Moses as a great hero. [I do not know where. Ed.]
  אשר מצא את היימים, either powerful human beings, or ferocious animals, in either case “who found,” means he located and vanquished them. According to the plain meaning of the text there is no need to search for additional meanings.
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  לפני מלך מלך, before Moses arose as the saviour of Israel. All national heads of a people are automatically called “king,” regardless of their constitutional function. I have found in the historic writings of Josephus a list of about 40 such kings in Israel before the establishment of the Davidic dynasty.
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  ואלה שמות אלופי עשא למשפחותם למקומותם, among the “Alufim” listed in the verses following there are several who had been mentioned earlier simply as sons of Esau. We must assume that these sons eventually rose in rank to become “Alufim.” We already mentioned that the title “Aluf” essentially means that the people so described were mayors of cities, which is most likely the reason why the Torah adds the word למקומותם, “in their respective locations.” Proof of the correctness of what I surmise may be the fact that in Chronicles all the details provided by the Torah here in this chapter are repeated verbatim. However, the first list of the “Alufim” of the sons of Esau (36,15-19) are not mentioned there at all.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  YA'AKOV SETTLED.  Esav went "to another land because of his brother Ya'akov" (Gen. 36:6), but Ya'akov settled near his father in the land of his [Yitzhak's] sojournings, because the birthright is his.
  
  Verse 2
  
  (1) THIS, THEN, IS THE LINE OF YA'AKOV. Intelligent people should discern and understand what our Rabbis taught us, that Scripture never forsakes its plain sense. Even though, essentially, Torah comes to teach us and inform us through hints from the plain sense, narratives, laws, and rules, and through elaborations of the text and the 32 principles of R' Eliezer the son of R' Yosi HaG'lili, and through the 13 principles of R' Yishma'el. And the early Sages, because of their piety, engaged in inclining after the drashot, which are primary, and because of this, they were not familiar with the deep plain sense of Scripture. As the Sages said, "Do not make your children engage much in Scripture" [see Ber. 28a and Rashi there]. And they also said (B.M. 33a), "One who occupies himself with Scripture [alone] is meritorious but not very much so, ... but one who engages in Talmud, there is no greater measure than this." And in this way, they were not so familiar with the plain sense of Scriptural passages. And as it says in Mas. Shabbat, "I was 18 years old and had read the entire Talmud, and I did not know that Scripture never forsakes its plain sense." And our Master Shlomo, my maternal grandfather, the enlightener of the Exile, who expounded on Torah, N'vi'im, and K'tuvim, set his mind also on explaining the plain sense of Scripture. However, I, Sh'mu'el the son of R' Meir, his son-in-law, may his sainted name be for a blessing, argued with him and before him, and he acknowledged to me that if he had had more time, he would need to produce other commentaries according to the plain meanings that renew each day. 
  And now the intelligent people will see what the early ones explained (2) "THIS IS THE LINE OF YA'AKOV" as "These are the events and the occurrences that happened to Ya'akov." And this is nonsense. For every "eleh tol'dot" in Torah and K'tuvim is either about the individual's children or, more often, his grandchildren, as I explained in [Parashat] "Eleh Tol'dot Noah" (Gen. 6:9). Above that, in Parashat B'reishit, it's written (Fen. 5:32), "Noah was 500 years old, and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Yafet." And after that, it explains that the world sinned, but (Gen. 6:8) "Noah found favor." And after that, it states (Gen. 6:9), "These are the generations of Noah," his children's children -- how he had three sons, and the Holy One, blessed be He, ordered him to bring them into the Ark for 12 months, and upon their exit, "sons were born to them after the Flood" (Gen. 10:1), until they increased to 70 descendants, who were the 70 nations, as it is written (Gen. 10:32), "from these branched out etc."And likewise with Esav. The first section (Gen. 36:1-5) specifies Esav's sons who were born to him in his father's location, and after that "he went to another land" (v.6) and settled on Mt. Seir (v.9) and all that section. And it is written (v.9), "This, then, is the line of Esau, the ancestor of the Edomites, in the hill country of Seir." And all of this second section is about Esav's children [their descendants].    And as we found with Esav -- that it states that his sons were born in his father's neighborhood, before he "went to another land because of his brother Jacob" (Gen. 36:6), and his grandchildren were born at Mt. Seir -- so with Ya'akov: above, it says (Gen. 35:22), "Now the sons of Jacob were twelve in number. Etc." And it states at the end (vv. 26-27), "These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. And [Jacob] came to his father Isaac, etc." Thus it has set out Ya'akov's sons and where they were born, as it id with Esav's sons. And now [in our chapter] it writes (Gen. 37:2), "This is the line of Ya'akov": his grandchildren, who were 70, how they were born. How? "Yosef was 17 years old"; his brothers envied him; and as a result, "Yehuda left his brothers" (Gen. 38:1) and had sons in K'ziv and in Adulam -- Shelah, Peretz, and Zerah; and it ensues that Yosef "was taken down to Egypt" (Gen. 39:1), and Menashe and Ephraim were born to him in Egypt, and Yosef sent for his father and his household, until they numbered 70. And Moshe our Master had to write all this, since he rebuked them in connection with this, "Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons in all" (Deut. 10:22; see 11:1).
  (3) בן שבע עשרה שנה, this was necessary so that we realise that the separation of Joseph from his father –during which time Yaakov had considered his as dead- lasted for 22 years. The Torah testified in 41,26 that Joseph was 30 years old when presented to Pharaoh, after which time 7 good years and 2 years of famine occurred before Yaakov and family descended to settle in Egypt, making a total of 22 years of separation.
  (4) TENDED THE FLOCKS WITH HIS BROTHERS. The sons of Leah. Following social norms, it calls [them] his brothers, and not the sons of the concubines.
  (5) והוא נער את בני בלהה ואת בני זלפה, he spent most of his time in the company of those four children who were far closer to him in age. The fact that Joseph preferred the company of the sons of the servant-maids may have been the beginning of the sons of Leah resenting him.
  (6) ET EHAV. With his brothers. He herded, but, out of youthful joy, he separated from them and was regularly with the concubines' sons rather than with them, like a youth, as it is written (Hos. 11:1), "Israel was still a child," and it is written (II Sam. 2:14), "Let the young men come forward and sport before us." 
   And it goes on and recounts all sorts of matters that caused them to hate him, also, (7) AND YOSEF BROUGHT BAD REPORTS OF THEM. Bad reports of his brothers. This is like the midrash (Ber. R. 84:7), according to my explanation: That he said to his father as follows: "They are disparaging the sons of the concubines, but I am treating them respectfully, and I am with them regularly." Other p'shat commentators have missed this point.
  
  Verse 3
  
  And Israel loved. . . All this caused the jealousy. 
  son of old age -- for he was the last of 11 sons, Binyamin not being born immediately afterward but following much time. Long before Binyamin had been born Yosef had been a son of old age and Ya'akov had begun to love him. ...
  passim -- robe.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  FOR HIS TALK.  "Yosef brought bad reports of them" (v.2).
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  מה החלום הזה?, even if Joseph’s mother had still been alive, Yaakov would still have rebuked Joseph for having such a dream.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  HIS FATHER KEPT THE MATTER IN MIND.  Why was it necessary to include this?  When the good news came [of Yosef's still being alive, Gen. 45:26-28], and he [Ya'akov] did not believe his sons that he [Yosef] was still alive, and Yisrael saw the wagons that Par'oh had sent -- they were sent only at the behest of the king, as it is written there (45:21), "wagons as Par'oh had commanded" -- then he believed, because of the dreams that demonstrated that he [Yosef] would wind up being a ruler, and these wagons came by means of royalty and authority, and on that basis, he said (45:28), "'Enough! ... My son Joseph is still alive!'"  For it is a major puzzle how he could believe after he saw the garment full of blood, as Yitzhak was trembling with regard to Ya'akov because he found hair on his neck.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  הלא אחיך רועים בשכם, the wording reflects Yaakov's surprise that Joseph’s brothers chose to tend their sheep in a dangerous location such as Shechem where they had killed the local inhabitants not so long ago. (this is what I heard from Rabbi Yoseph Karo our colleague. I enjoyed his interpretation greatly. [this was not original as it is found in Targum Yerushalmi. David Rosin, Ed.]
  
  Verse 14
  
  ויבא שכמה, when he came to Shechem he did not find them there.
  
  Verse 15
  
  'וימצאהו איש והנה תועה וגו, this paragraph has been written in order to demonstrate the reliability and eagerness of Joseph to comply with his father’s wishes; he did not use the fact that the brothers were no longer in Shechem as an excuse to abort his mission and to return home, but kept searching for them until, in the end, he located them. He remembered that part of his father’s instructions had been השיבני דבר, “bring me back a report!”
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  In Dothan - according to a simple reading this is the name of a city and it is also mentioned in Judges.
  
  Verse 18
  
  ויתנכלו אותו, they were full of devious and nefarious thoughts. The word occurs in this sense in Maleachi 1,24: וארור נוכל, “cursed the person who plots deviously.”
  
  Verse 19
  
  הלזה; whenever the word הלזה is mentioned it refers to someone or something that one sees from afar, indistinctly. For instance in Genesis 24,65 Rivkah asked Eliezer who the man was who was approaching them from a distance. The word הזה, on the other hand, refers to someone or something close at hand, as for instance Haman in Esther 7,6, to whom Esther points when the King asked here who the culprit was who wanted to destroy her and her people.
  
  Verse 20
  
  COME NOW, LET US KILL HIM.  This is an expression of invitation to other persons.  Likewise (v.27), "Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites."  Likewise (Gen. 38:16), "Here, let me [sleep with you]" [and] (Exod. 1:10), "Let us deal shrewdly."  Likewise (Deut. 11:26), "See, this day I set before you."
  
  Verse 21
  
  HE SAVED HIM FROM THEM.  Such that he was not killed.
  
  Verse 22
  
  (1) CAST HIM INTO THAT PIT OUT IN THE WILDERNESS.  A place where people are not around, so that he will die as a natural result.  
  (2) INTENDING TO SAVE HIM.  The verse testifies about Re'uven that his intent was to save him, as the end of the narrative demonstrates [see vv. 29-30].
  
  Verse 23
  
  THE ORNAMENTED TUNIC.  Some say that this is mentioned here only because it was the original cause for the hatred.  This is not the case.  Instead, because it says below (v.32), "They had the ornamented tunic taken [to their father]," to mislead him, so that he would think, mentally, that (v.33) "A savage beast devoured him."  As it says (v.32), "He recognized it, and said, 'My son’s tunic!'"  For that reason, it mentions it here.
  
  Verse 24
  
  THERE WAS NO WATER IN IT.  For if there had been water in it, they would not have thrown him there, since [by doing that] they would have drowned him, and thus killed him actively.  However, they said (v.22) "do not touch him yourselves" and (v.27) "let us not put our hands on him" -- to cause his death.
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  MIDIANITES PASSED BY.  While they were sitting down to eat a meal, and were somewhat distant from the pit, so as not to "eat over the blood" (Lev. 19:26), and were awaiting the Ishmaelites whom they had seen.  And before the Ishmaelites arrived, other Midianites passed by in the same direction, saw him in the pit, and extracted him, and the Midianites sold him to the Ishmaelites.  And one can say that the brothers did not know, and even though it is written (Gen. 45:4) "whom you sold into Egypt," one can say that the indirect effect of their actions assisted his sale.  This is what seems to me from the deep straightforward meaning of the text, since "Midianites passed by" implies that it was by chance, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites.  And even if you say that "they sold Yosef to the Ishmaelites" that the brothers sold him, you must still say that they instructed the Midianite traders to extract him from the pit, and afterwards they sold him to the Ishmaelites.  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  אנה אני בא!, what did I came to the pit for!
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  וישלחו, by means of human messengers who would not identify themselves, saying only: “this is what we have found!”
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  כי ארד, I will not be consoled but will descend to my grave joining my son while still mourning his death.
  ויבך אותו אביו, for a long period of time. Seeing that the line is superfluous, our sages, as quoted by Rashi, added that Yitzchok (his father) wept for the anguish of his son Yaakov although he knew that Joseph  had not been killed.
  
  Verse 36
  
  THE MEDANITES SOLD HIM TO THE EGYPTIANS [in the verse: TO EGYPT].  Medan and Midian and the Ishmaelites were brothers, and Medan and the Ishmaelites are one and the same, according to the plain meaning.  Thus it says that the Medanites sold him and that the Ishmaelites brought him down (Gen. 37:28, 39:1), because they are the same, according to the plain meaning.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  כנעני, a merchant, as per Onkelos. The word appears in that sense both in Isaiah 23,8 כנעניה נכבדי ארץ, “as its merchants, the land’s nobles.” The word כנעני also occurs in this sense in Hoseah 12,8 כנען בידו מאזני מרמה, “a trader who uses false weights.” The word cannot refer to the local Canaanite inhabitants as the sons of Yaakov were very careful not to intermarry with these people.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  והיה בכזיב, Yehudah was at that location and that is where the child was born.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  כי לא לו יהיה הזרע, people in those days were extremely fussy about this point.
  נתן זרע, the vowel kametz here is in fact a chataf kametz, as every word spelled plene, i.e. with the vowel cholem as the letter ו when it appears in construct form such as here has this vowel shortened to a chataf kametz. The result is that the stress will be on the on the last syllable, whereas the word following immediately afterwards will have its stress on the first syllable. In effect this makes the words נתן זרע in our verse as if they had been connected by the hyphen, makkif. Other examples of similar constructions are Psalms 145,8 ארך אפים וגדל חסד [where the word גדל is a shortened version of גדול with the ו as the vowel cholem. Ed.] Another example is found in Exodus 21,11 ואם שלש אלה לא יעשה לה, “if he will do none of these three things for her, etc.” Yet another such construction is found in Numbers 35,14 אבל את שלש הערים, “however the three cities, etc.”
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  גם אותו. According to our sages Er also died for this same type of sin, as he deliberately wasted his semen by ejaculating prematurely to prevent his wife from becoming pregnant. He wanted to preserve her physical beauty.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ותכס, she covered her head.
  ותכס ראשה בצעיף, not the customary manner for a widow to wear her shawl.
  ותתעלף, she covered her face so as not to be identified.
  בפתח עינים, at the public square where the road forked off in two different directions. The word עינים is used to describe the fact that anyone standing or sitting there was in plain view of anyone traveling these roads. Commentators who translate the word עינים as the name of a town are wrong, as is clear from the words בעינים על הדרך in verse 21. If there had been a town there, the Torah would have had to write בעינים with the semi vowel sheva under the letter ב. We do not find such constructions as בעינים as in verse 21 when reference is made to other cities such as ביריחו, “at Jericho,” or בבית-אל, “at Bet-El,” or בירושלים, “at Jerusalem.”
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  כי כסתה פניה, only at this point, in accordance with our commentary on the word ותתעלף, (verse 14)
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  עד שלחך. The reason why we have the “weak” mode, i.e. the conjugation kal instead of the transitive conjugation hiphil, is to indicate that Yehudah would send a messenger to deliver the kid to Tamar. We find the use of the conjugation kal in connection with the sending of gifts especially, as for instance in 32,19 where Yaakov had instructed his messengers to Esau to describe the gift in such terms. (מנחה היא שלוחה) We find it again in verse 23 of our chapter where Yehudah says הנה שלחתי הגדי הזה, “here, I have sent this kid, etc.”
  
  Verse 18
  
  חותמך, your ring.
  פתילך, your outer garment,
  ומטך, and your staff. She asked for three items none of which were necessary as garments for Yehudah, but were merely decorative, lending Yehudah a better image among his peers.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  הקדשה, the harlot; a woman who is always ready to have sexual relations with any male. The male equivalent of the term is found in Deuteronomy 23,18. where the Torah instructs the Jewish people not to tolerate this phenomenon, and in Kings I 14,24 where the presence of such male prostitutes is acknowledged with the words וגם קדש היה בארץ, a phenomenon which surfaced immediately after the death of King Solomon.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  תקח לה, not literally “let her take it,” but “let her keep it.” Yehudah said that he would not make an additional effort to find her and to redeem his pledges.
  פן נהיה לבוז, so we will not make ourselves laughing stocks by chasing after harlots.
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  זנתה תמר כלתך, if you were to ask why Yehudah would believe such accusations which would be hard to prove, the informant added that the signs of her pregnancy spoke for themselves as proof of the accusation being justified.
  ותשרף, according to the plain meaning of the text this was the standard penalty for a widow of Tamar’s status who had engaged in illicit sex.
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  היא מוצאת, after she had taken out the pledges given to her by Yehudah and sent them to him via a messenger, she did not want to directly confront him, but said: ”I am pregnant for the man who owned these.”
  
  Verse 26
  
  צדקה ממני, more righteous than I. He referred to her accusation (words) as compared to his accusation (words) against her. “I had commanded her to remain in her father’s house until Shelah would grow up. She complied with the terms of our understanding. However, I did not keep my part of the bargain I had struck with her.” כי ..לא נתתיה לשלה בני, the construction here is similar to Job 32,2: על צדקו נפשו מאלוקים, “because he thought himself more righteous than G’d.” Another similar construction occurs in Samuel I 24,18 with King Sha-ul who admitted to David that he had been wrong in persecuting him with the words: צדיק אתה ממני, “you are more righteous than I.”...
  ולא יסף, he did not continue to sleep with Tamar. If you were to interpret the words ולא יסף as “he did not stop sleeping with her,” the wording should have been: ולא יסף עוד מלדעתה.
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  זרח. On account of the woolen thread which was red in colour. The word זרח basically means red, such as the colour of the sun at the time it rises and when it sets. If it does not appear red during the day this is because of the excess amount of light during those hours making it impossible for us to notice the red colour behind all that light. We find confirmation of the redness of the sun in Kings II 3,22 when the Moabites were deceived by believing that the rising sun’s redness represented blood remaining from a violent battle and they thought they could then simply move over to the camp of the Israelites and pick up the spoils.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  שר הטבחים, he would execute the people sentenced as murderers and would generally be in charge of imprisoned criminals.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  ולא ידע אתו מאומה, in the house
  כי אם הלחם אשר הוא אוכל, he did not oversee any of the affairs of his household, not caring where everything originated until the food came on his table, when he proceeded to eat it. The word לחם is an inclusive term applying to any manner of food. It is used in the same sense in Daniel 5,1 עבד לחם רב, “he made a great banquet.” Also in Job 3,24 כי לפני לחמי אנחתי, “my groaning serves me as my food.”
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  להיות עמה, Joseph was even careful not to find himself alone with Potiphar’s wife until there came a day when he was forced to be alone with her in the house as all the other members of the household were occupied outside the house. According to Bereshit Rabbah 87,7 all the other people on that day had gone to watch the river Nile flood its banks, an annual event.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ואקרא בקול גדול, because you were so far away from me. If I had not raised my voice so greatly he would have raped me.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  ויפקד שר הטבחים, he appointed him to look after all the needs of the various prisoners in that jail.
  ויהי ימים, he remained in that position for a whole year. We know that the word ימים means “a year,” from Leviticus 25,29 ימים תהיה גאולתו, “it (the house) may be redeemed for up to one year.” Also in Genesis 24,55 the words ימים או עשור meant “a year, or at least 10 months.”
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  איש כפתרון חלומו, the line means that each of them dreamt a dream which lent itself to interpretation. It did not appear to be one of the many dreams that defy making sense of it.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ופותר אין אותו, as if the Torah had written ואין פותר אותו, “there is no one who knows how to interpret it.” We encounter a similar inverted verse in Ezekiel 33,32 ועושים אינם אותם, which by right should have been ואינם עושים אותם, “but will not obey them. (carry them out)”
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  כפורחת עלתה נצה, this was the customary sequence of a fruit’s development. Compare Numbers 17,23ויוצא פרח ויצץ ציץ ויגמול שקדים, “it brought forth a blossom, sprouted a bud, and almonds ripened.” 
  
  Verse 11
  
  ואשחוט, I squeezed.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  ישא פרעה את ראשך, the use of the word ישא here is similar to the use of the same word in Numbers 1,2 שאו את ראש כל עדת ישראל, “count the whole community of Israel, etc.”  After three days Pharaoh will again number you among his servants.
  והשיבך, in order to restore you to your position. The construction והשיבך meaning “in order to restore your position to you,” is also what happened as we know from verse 20  “he elevated the head cupbearer among his servants. Had the Torah written veheshivcha instead of vahashivcha, the meaning would have been “he will restore you, bring you back,” as in Deuteronomy 28,68.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  כי אם זכרתני אתך, Joseph expressed his absolute conviction that the Chief of the cup bearers would be reinstated and that he would have the power to bring about his release, seeing that he was innocent. Besides, his very position as a slave was totally unjustified as he had been born a free man, member of a prestigious family. He was neither obligated to work for someone else, nor was he legally incarcerated.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  כי טוב פתר, his interpretation sounded very convincing, was accepted as the true interpretation.
  סלי חרי; full of holes. The word חורים, appears as meaning holes in Job 30,6 חורי עפר וכפים, “holes in the ground and in rocks.” It also appears in this sense in Isaiah 19,9 ואורגים חורי, “and the weavers making holes.” Baskets which are usually of woven palm frond leaves have these little holes as the nature of weaving does not permit the resulting texture of the material to be airtight and waterproof.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ישא פרעה את ראשך, in this instance the words are to be taken literally, מעליך, as the Chief of the bakers would be beheaded.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  ולא זכר שר המשקים את יוסף, as soon as he came out of prison. Joseph had asked him to remember his case as soon as he would come out of prison, but he did not remember.
  וישכחהו, he kept forgetting him until Pharaoh had his dream which defied satisfactory interpretation. When G’d performed a miracle for the sake of Joseph, he was forced to remember him.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  AFTER TWO YEARS' TIME.  Two complete years, as it is written (Lev.  25:29-30), "the redemption period shall be a year, and if it is not redeemed before a full year has elapsed ...."  And likewise (Gen. 24:55), "a year or ten months."  And likewise (Ex. 13:10), "at its set time from year to year," referring to Pesah, and saying that it is from one year to the next full year.  But "miketz sh'natayim" without "yamim" would imply at the end of [as little as] one year and a day, as it is written (Lev. 12:6), "in its first year" (ben sh'nato) -- within that year, it calls it "ben sh'nato."
  
  Verse 2
  
  והנה מן היאור עולות, it is a common practice to water all the animals at the same time after which they all return to graze in the meadows. [as opposed to what occurred in Pharaoh’s dream. Ed.]
  באחו, a place where herbs grow as we know from Job 8,11 ישגא אחו בלי מים, “can bulrushes grow without water?”
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  AND PAR'OH AWOKE.  AND HE FELL ASLEEP immediately AND HE DREAMED, ETC.   Between a short sleep and a second sleep, it is normal for a dream to change to a different subject, without the person becoming aware that it is a dream, until his sleep is over and he awakes fully.  And at that point, THEN PHARAOH AWOKE, finally, and IT WAS A DREAM!  But until then, he did not know.
  
  Verse 5
  
  בקנה אחד, this was a symbol of plenty, seeing that each stalk had seven ears of grain
  
  Verse 6
  
  IT WAS A DREAM!  As in (Gen. 29:25), "Here it was Leah."  But until now, he was under the impression that what he was seeing was reality and not a dream.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  HIS SPIRIT WAS AGITATED.  He was mixed up, trespasser in O.F., and he thought to investigate [l'vaker] and to know the answer.  Likewise in Daniel (2:3), "I have had a dream and I am full of anxiety to know what I have dreamed.”  (2) NONE COULD INTERPRET THEM as things satisfactory TO PAR'OH.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  Every instance of "Par'oh" means "king" in Egyptian, and so all kings of Egypt are called this.  And [all kings] of the Philistines are called Avimelech, even in the time of David, "when he feigned madness in the presence of Avimelech" (Ps. 34:1).  And [all kings] of Jerusalem are called Malchitzedek:  in Joshua (10:1), "King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem"; and in the time of David (Ps. 110:4), "by My decree" -- I promise that you will be -- "a rightful king [malchi-tzedek]" -- king of Jerusalem.  And [all kings] of Amalek are called Agag:  in the time of Moshe (Num. 24:7), "Their king shall rise above Agag," and in the time of Sha'ul (I Sam. 15:8), "King Agag of Amalek."  Likewise here, "Par'oh" is an expression of kingship, for one does not mention a king's name in front of him, saying "[David] (Par'oh) was angry with his servants"; rather, one would say, "My lord was angry with his servants."  Likewise here (v.44), "I am Par'oh" -- I will be king alone -- (v. 40) "only with respect to the throne shall I be superior to you."  This is why Yosef is called "Avrech" (v.43) -- "father of [avi] the king."  And in the book Lekah Tov, he interprets as I have.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  TELLING EACH OF THE MEANING OF HIS DREAM. According to the implications of [each one's] dream he expounded, and also (v.13), as he interpreted for us, so it came to pass.
  
  Verse 13
  
  AND IT WAS AS HE INTERPRETED ETC.  Me he restored to my post.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  תשמע חלום, you understand a dream and are able to explain its meaning.
  
  Verse 16
  
  בלעדי, this matter does not depend on me but on G’d; He may let me know how to put your mind at ease.
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ולא נודע כי באו אל קרבנה, thus Pharaoh said to Joseph at this time; he only now remembered that at the time that he had been dreaming it had appeared to him as if there was no trace of these seven fat cows having come into the lean cows. However, at the time when he had dreamt, i.e. when the Torah told us what he had dreamt it would not have been appropriate to describe anything beyond the facts, i.e. that the lean cows had eaten the fat cows. At that point in the narrative there had been no call to describe Pharaoh’s subjective reaction to what he had seen.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  וצנומות, its meaning is in accordance with the context in which the word appears. It is unique in Scriptures. One may suggest that the word means the same as in the Talmud Baba Batra 18 where it refers to something hard as stone, devoid of any moisture.
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  אשר האלוקים עושה, He has told Pharaoh what He will do in the near future. One king spoke to another king, seeing that the king is charged with making provisions against all eventualities.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  שבע גדול; the word שבע being a noun here and not a participle, has the vowels kametz under both the letters ש and ב, seeing the stress is on the last syllable. Other similar examples are the words דבר, davar, בקר, bakar, רעב, raav. and numerous more such examples.
  
  Verse 30
  
  ונשכח כל השבע , similar to the expression used before ולא נודע in verse 21.
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  ועל השנות החלום, if Joseph’s dreams of the stars and the sheaves of corn respectively, would have been dreamt by him in the same night, he would not have had to wait for 13 years until they would prove themselves as a true forecast of his rise to power.
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  ויפקד פקידים...וחמש, the general population would be required to hand over one fifth of the non-perishable parts of their harvest to a central storage facility administered by the government. According to Samuel warning the Jewish people of taxation that a king would impose upon them, (Samuel I 8,14-15) such taxation normally amounted to ten percent. Joseph now suggested that during the seven years of plenty this level of taxation be increased to twenty per cent, (a reserve for the people for the years of the famine to follow), not for the king’s needs as regular taxation.
  
  Verse 35
  
  ויצברו בר תחת יד, someone appointed for the task by Pharaoh. 
  פרעה, All of this would be enforced against the wishes of the population. This is why Joseph spoke of the appointment of פקידים, overseers with powers of enforcement,ויצברו, this expression is also used when King Ahasverus appointed officials to bring all good looking virgins to his court so that he could eventually make the selection of a new queen replacing Vashti from amongst one of the. (Esther 2,3) 
  The expression ויקבצו, “and they shall gather in,” is applied here to produce, whereas in Esther it was applied to people. [the reader can form his own opinion about human rights of women in Persia of old. Ed.]
  אוכל בערים, there would be such storage silos in every city so people could buy during the years of the famine without having to travel far from their homes.
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  אשר רוח אלוקים בו, if he is able with G’d’s help to interpret intangibles such as dreams, he must certainly be smart enough to arrange administrative earthly affairs in a competent manner.
  
  Verse 39
  
  נבון, he understands the future, having been able to foresee it.
  
  Verse 40
  
  ישק, he will motivate people through clever use of weaponry to attack their enemies. The use of the word נשק meaning weapons occurs in Kings II 10,2 as עיר מבצר והנשק, “a fortified city and weaponry.” We also find it used in this sense in Psalms 78,9 נושקי רומי קשת, “being armed and carrying bows.”
  
  Verse 41
  
  נתתי אותך, “I have placed you.” Pharaoh said this to Joseph at the time he handed over his ring (seal of office) to him.
  
  Verse 42
  
  בגדי שש, the finest Egyptian garments made of superior linen. We know from Ezekiel 27,7 that such garments formed a well-known Egyptian export.
  רביד, this describes something that is draped over a person. The word is similar to מרבדים in Proverbs 7,16 מרבדים רבדתי ערשי,”I have decked my couch with covers.”
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  במרכבת המשנה, a horse or mule especially designated for the King’s second in command to ride on.
  אברך, “father of the king.” We have some proof for this from Baba Batra 4 לא רכא ולא בר רכא, “neither a king nor a king’s son. [since we can discount the letter א at the end, this being an Aramaic ending, if בר רכא means son of a king, then אברך means father of a king. Ed.] This is proven further from 45,8 when Joseph speaks of his position beingוישימני לאב לפרעה, “He (G’d) has placed me in the position of being a father (provider) for Pharaoh.” In effect this made Joseph “father” of the king. The word פרעה, after all, is simply a title, meaning “king,” not the personal name of an individual as we explained already on verse 10.
  
  
  Verse 44
  
  אני פרעה, “I am king;” this was another way of saying that he was Joseph’s superior only by the formality of occupying the throne. (verse 40)
  לא ירים איש את ידו, to countermand your authority, such as Jerobam who is described as “מרים יד, raising  a hand against the king” (Solomon) in Kings I 11,27. Jerobam (a member of the tribe of Ephrayim) had first been appointed as in charge of all the forced labour from his tribe, the House of Joseph.
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  (1) TZAFNAT PANEAH. As the Targum [Onkelos] has it, and this is from the Egyptian language. And it was their practice to call a person, when they appointed him over their household, by an appropriate name. Thus (Num. 13:16), "Moshe called Hoshea bin Nun Yehoshua" when he became his servant. Thus he [the king] called Daniel Beltshatzar, as it is written (Dan. 4:5), "whose name is Beltshatzar, after the name of my god." 
  (2) POTIFERA. This is not Potifar, according to the straightforward meaning. ...
  (3) KOHEN ON. A minister of that city [i.e., of On], as it is written (II Sam. 8:18), "And David's sons were kohanim" -- rulers. 
  
  Verse 46
  
  בן שלושים, and old enough to assume the burden of high office.
  
  Verse 47
  
  ותעש הארץ, it produced bountiful harvests. We find the root עשה use in the same sense in Leviticus 25,21 when the Torah describes the bountiful harvests preceding the shemittah year in the words ועשת את התבואה לשלוש השנים, “it will produce a harvest sufficient for the three years.”
  לקמצים, a single stalk of grain would yield several handfuls of flour.
  
  
  Verse 48
  
  
  
  Verse 49
  
  
  
  Verse 50
  
  בטרם תבא שנת הרעב, seeing that Yaakov arrived in Egypt at the beginning of the second year of the famine and he died at the end of seventeen years of having lived in Egypt, he said to Joseph prior to his death: “the two sons of yours who were born before I came i.e. Ephrayim and Menashe, will be to me as Reuven and Shimon.” Any children of Joseph, and he had such, who were born to him after his father arrived in Egypt would be considered as regular grandchildren of Yaakov in respect of the eventual parceling up to the tribes of the soil of the Holy Land. (48,5-6).
  
  Verse 51
  
  נשני, the construction of the word from the root נשש is similar to a similar construction of the root חנן in 33,11 where Yaakov explained to his brother Esau that he was looking at his children. The proof of this is the dagesh in the letter ש. [which effectively doubles that letter. Ed.] If the word nashani had been derived from the root נשה as in Isaiah 44,21 לא תנשני, or as in Lamentations 3,17, נשיתי טובה, where the root is one that loses its last root letter, the Torah here should have written nishani, instead of nashani. It then would have been parallel to the construction in Samuel II 19,27 עבדי רמני, rimani from the root רמה, to deceive, and other similar examples. 
  
  Verse 52
  
  
  
  Verse 53
  
  
  
  Verse 54
  
  ובכל ארץ מצרים היה לחם, because Joseph had stored food in the cities.
  
  Verse 55
  
  
  
  Verse 56
  
  וישבר, a term used for trading in food and drink, as we know already from Yaakov having said to his sons, לכו שברו לנו מעט אכל. We also find the expression including the dealing in liquids in Isaiah 55,1 ולכו שברו בלא כסף ובלא מחיר יין וחלב, “come for water, even if you have no money, come buy food and eat, buy food without money, wine and milk without cost.”
  
  Verse 57
  
  וכל הארץ באו מצרימה אל יוסף לשבור, [dear reader please note that the author’s commentary consists of his reversing the sequence of the words לשבור אל יוסף, written in the text of the Torah. If the meaning had been as it appears from the written text at first glance, instead of writing אל יוסף, the Torah should have written מן יוסף, from Joseph. Ed.]
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  למה תתראו?, the use of the conjugation hitpael, the reflexive conjugation here, is similar to its use in Kings II 14,8 לכה ונתראה, “come let us confront one another!” At that time King Amatziah wanted to show off his power to Yoash, King of Israel (10 tribes). Here too, Yaakov’s question למה תתראו, meant: “why are you (my sons) conducting yourselves in front of the other people in this land as if you had all the food in the world, whereas only they have to travel to Egypt to buy rations from there? 
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  מאין באתם?; he pretended not to know who they were.
  
  Verse 8
  
  והם לא הכירוהו. Joseph had grown a beard, something, which at 17, when they had last seen him, he had not yet had. Furthermore, the Royal garments were something they would not have associated with their brother. They did not recognise his voice either, as they had never heard him speak Egyptian. Joseph made sure that there was always an interpreter between him and his brothers as we know from verse 23.
  
  Verse 9
  
  ערות, places where the walls were breached, areas from which it would be relatively easy to invade the country.  The word ערוה is used in this sense in Chabakuk 3,13 ערות יסוד, “revealing its very foundations.” Another verse in which the word ערוה appears in a similar sense as here is Psalms 137,7 ערו ערו עד היסוד, as well as Isaiah 19,7 ערות על היאור”whatever is by the side of the Nile will be blown away, will vanish.” The fact that all the brothers were of exceptional build, always went everywhere together, made them distinctly different from other travelers so that Joseph pointed to that fact as being suspicious and accused them of being spies.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  כולנו בני איש אחד נחנו, this is why we always keep together, not because we are spies.
  
  Verse 12
  
  ויאמר אליהם לא, כי ערות הארץ באתם לראות, if it were as you said, how could you not even leave one of you at home to attend to the needs of your father? Joseph said all this in order to find out if his full brother Binyamin was alive. As a result of his probing they elaborated that in fact they were a total of twelve brothers, one, the youngest having remained at home and one having been lost. They did not know his whereabouts or if he was even alive. We know that there were several questions and answers as when the brothers returned home and their father was reprimanding them for volunteering uncalled for information about their family status, they replied that the “man” had kept asking more and more questions. (compare 43,7)
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  הצרה הזאת, tit for tat. We threw Joseph into a pit, now we have been thrown into jail.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  כי שומע יוסף, he understands, [not only hears. Ed.]
  
  כי המליץ בינותם, as if Joseph could not understand otherwise what they had been saying.
  
  Verse 24
  
  את שמעון. In order to separate him from Levi, so that the two between them would not hatch a plot to cause major damage as they had done in Shechem at the time.
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  מה זאת עשה, how can this be a retribution by G’d in the nature of “tit for tat,” that He has added money for us!? How could we profit by our sin to become enriched by it?
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  כספיהם, seeing that the letter ס in the word כספיהם “swallows” the otherwise necessary chataf patach under it, the letter פ, normally weak, without the dagesh, has been given a dagesh in this instance. A similar example of this construction is found in the relationship of נסך, nessech, and נסכיהם, nisskeyhem. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
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  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  וכסף משנה, to use for purchases.
  אולי משגה הוא, perhaps the money had been placed in one of the fodder bags to help the official identify to whom the bag belonged, and when he filled it with grain he had forgotten to remove the cash.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  כאשר שכולתי שכלתי, an expression parallel to Esther’s saying when she risked her life appearing uninvited before the king, saying: כאשר אבדתי אבדתי, “if I have forfeited my life, so be it.” (Esther 4,16)
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  וידברו אליו פתח הבית, before they entered the palace.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  ואלוקי אביכם, it was public knowledge that the brothers were well trained in miracles, matters metaphysical.
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  ויכינו את המנחה, while the produce had been wrapped in the sacks on the way, it had suffered somewhat, and the brothers now tried to restore these items to the appearance of freshness.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  כי תועבה, something so abhorrent to the Egyptians that they would spit out when observing such a “barbaric” way of eating meat. We know from other sources also that the Egyptians were of a very haughty disposition as mentioned for instance by Isaiah 30,7 קראתי לזאת רהב הם שבת, “truly, I call this, ‘they are a threat that has ceased.’” [the prophet calls Egypt a ‘paper tiger’ in his time. Ed.] The Egyptians’ attitude to people whose vocation was to tend flocks was one of utter disdain, as we know from 46,34. They had contempt for sheep and goats, hence their contempt transferred itself to the people raising such animals. This attitude to sheep and goats is mirrored when Moses asks Pharaoh how he could expect the Israelites to slaughter such animals while in Egypt without running the risk of the local populace stoning them to death for doing this. (Exodus 8,22) Stoning someone to express one’s disgust with his conduct is nothing new; we encounter it in Samuel II 16,5-6 when Shimi ben Geyrah, not only cursed (king) David publicly, but also threw stones at him.
  
  Verse 33
  
  וישבו לפניו, Joseph had given instructions to arrange the seating order in order of their birth.
  ויתמהו, they were utterly amazed, seeing that they had all been born within a space of seven years and they could not understand how their ages had become known to Joseph.
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  ותרב, as if the Torah had written ותרבה. The meaning is that Binyamin’s gift from Joseph was far greater than the gift received by his brothers. A parallel construction to the word vaterev appears in connection with the construction of the Tabernacle ותכל, vatechel, where it means that the construction had been completed (Exodus 39,32).
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  הבוקר אור, became lit, as in Samuel I 14,29 ראו כי אורו עיני, “see for yourselves how my eyes have lit up.” A reference to what had occurred already. Similarly, when Bileam referred to the tents of the Jewish people with the words מה טובו אהליך יעקב, “how goodly are your tents O Yaakov,” he did not refer to something that occurred just then, but to a phenomenon which was already well known (Numbers 24,5).
  
  Verse 4
  
  יצאו את העיר, similar to Joshua 6,7 עברו את העיר, “go through the city,” or Exodus 9,29 כצאתי את העיר, “when I leave the city.” A similar construction with pronoun ending instead is found in Jeremiah 10,20 בני יצאוני, “my children have left me.” [the point is the construction in the accusative, with or without the word את. Ed.]
  
  Verse 5
  
  והוא נחש ינחש, we have to assume that Joseph pretended to get his information about the brothers’ personal data by consulting his goblet. Perhaps a magic formula was hidden within the goblet. Some commentators say that a wise man of Joseph’s caliber would consult the goblet as to who had stolen it, seeing that the Torah quotes Joseph as speaking about איש אשר כמוני, “a man of my type.” [he had, after all, proven that he could see hidden things, hence his name tzofnat paaneach, the one who reveals what is hidden. Ed.] It does not say in the text ינחש בו which would suggest that he consulted the goblet, but נחש ינחש, independent of the inherent power of the goblet to reveal things to its owner.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  כדבריכם כן הוא, you are truly all partners in all that you do. It is the custom of merchants to always attribute blame to one another. But I am not willing to go along; only the one in whose bag the goblet was found הוא יהיה לי עבד, he alone will be my slave.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  איש אשר כמוני, princes and ministers were in the habit of performing magic tricks as we know from Ezekiel 21,26 where the King of Babylon is described as standing at the crossroads in order to engage in this kind of divination. Joseph is saying that he knows who stole my property.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  כי כמוך כפרעה, seeing that Your position is one equivalent to that of king, I am afraid of your anger.
  
  Verse 19
  
  אדוני שאל, you are the one who caused us to bring this man (Binyamin) here, and now it seems easy for you to detain him.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ואשימה עיני עליו, it is a severe wrong for a ruler not to keep his word. (you claimed you only wanted to be convinced of his existence.)
  
  Verse 22
  
  ועזב את אביו ומת, his father will die as a result.
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  ונפשו קשורה בנפשו, this is why, the moment he becomes aware that Binyamin did not return he will die.
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  כי עבדך, the reason why I speak up more than my brothers is that I guaranteed his safety. Therefore I will take his place as your slave.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  (1) YOSEF COULD NOT CONTROL HIMSELF.  Any longer, for until now, he did all that he did by mental self-control, as it is written above (Gen. 43:31), "He controlled himself and gave the order, 'Serve the meal.'" 
  (2) TO ALL HIS ATTENDANTS.  In front of all his attendants, and he could no longer control himself.  ...
  (3) HE CRIED OUT.  To his servants.  
  (4) HAVE ALL WITHDRAW.  My attendants from the house.  This is the basic plain meaning.
  
  Verse 2
  
  וישמעו מצרים, the people of the capital. Subsequently, the people in Pharaoh’s palace also heard the news.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
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  Verse 5
  
  כי למחיה שלחני, G’d has orchestrated all that has happened between us for your own good so that by my providing sustenance in Egypt you will benefit therefrom.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  כי האלוקים, “only G’d.”
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  LEST YOU SUFFER WANT.  You be expelled from the land through hunger, as in (Deut. 9:3), "that you may quickly dispossess and destroy them."  From the root y-r-sh [to inherit; to disposess] it says "tivaresh."  From y-k-sh, it says (Deut. 7:25), "tivakesh bo" (lest you be ensnared).
  
  Verse 12
  
  כי פי המדבר אליהם, whereas up until now Joseph had addressed them through his interpreter, now he demonstrated that he had a complete mastery of the Hebrew tongue. The principal message Joseph wanted his brothers to take back to their father was that they had not only heard from others about Joseph, etc., but seen with their own eyes, heard with their own ears that he was unmistakably their long lost brother. His command of the Hebrew language would prove this better than anything he might have heard from a third party. Therefore he instructed them
  
  Verse 13
  
  EVERYTHING ABOUT MY HIGH STATION.  So that he will not worry about coming, for I have the power and ability to treat him well.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואתה צויתה, now I personally command you to take carriages and the animals to pull them, etc. This was an exceptional concession as it was forbidden to export a carriage without the express permission of Pharaoh. The Talmud Bechorot 28 Neither cows nor female pigs were allowed to leave Egypt unless their respective wombs had first been removed. [This was an Egyptian method of preserving their monopoly over the raising of such animals. Ed.]
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  (1) K'ZOT.  Similarly.  
  (2) TEN ASSES.  For his ten brothers.  And even though Binyamin returned with them, he did not want to burden him.  We say in the Talmud (Makk. 11a-b), "A curse by a sage, even if it is conditional, if the condition is fulfilled, the curse comes to pass.  Whence?  From Yehuda, for even though he returned Binyamin to his father, his bones rattled around in the coffin, etc." 
  
  Verse 24
  
  (1)  VAY'SHALAH HIS BROTHERS.  Every expression [from the root sh-l-h] of accompanying uses the hard conjugation [pi'el]; an expression [from the same root] of being sent and returning uses the soft conjugation [kal]. 
  (2) DO NOT TIR'G'ZU.  Do not fear anything on the way on account of brigands, for there will be peace on all sides.  And similarly (Ps. 4:5), "So tremble, and sin no more" -- fear the Holy One, blessed be He, and do not sin.  And similarly (Deut. 28:65), "Adonai will give you there an anguished heart" -- "d'hil" [fearing] in the Targum.  And similarly (Hab. 3:7), "Shaken are the pavilions" -- an expression of shaking, as when a person is afraid.  And similarly (Isa. 32:11), "Quake, O confident ones!" [and] (Job 9:6), "Who shakes the earth from its place."  But ragzah in the Targum [i.e., the Aramaic] of Daniel (3:13) and of Ezra (5:12) is an expression of anger.  Trembler is the vernacular for rogez in the 24 books [i.e., the Tanach -- here, the Hebrew portion of the Tanach].
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  (1) AND THAT HE WAS RULER.  So do not fear to come to him.  
  (2) HIS HEART WENT NUMB [VAYAPAG].  His heart stopped, as if to say, "this is not true," for he did not believe them.  As in (Lam. 2:18), "Give yourself no respite," and (Jer. 48:11), "and his bouquet is unspoiled," which is translated "his bouquet did not pag."
  
  Verse 27
  
  את כל דברי יוסף. All the other things Joseph had spoken to them about which have already been recorded in the Torah earlier, such as that he wept while embracing them so that they recognized beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was their brother. את העגלות אשר שלח יוסף, at the instigation of Pharaoh himself.
  ותחי רוח יעקב, seeing that he had remembered that Joseph’s final destiny was to become a ruler. Knowing that the kind of carriages sent by Joseph were not permitted to leave Egypt, he realized that only someone in the position of ruler over the country could have authorized such a  departure from Egyptian statues.
  
  Verse 28
  
  ENOUGH with my heart stopping because I did not believe, rather, certainly MY SON YOSEF IS STILL ALIVE.  Other straightforward interpretations they say with cleverness, but they are all empty.  [And I the young one have heard, "Enough, my son Yosef is still alive":  You say Yosef is still alive and that he is a ruler.  It would be enough for me if he is still alive even if he is not a ruler.   I must go and see him before I die.]
  
  עוד יוסף בני חי, all the commentaries of others which are convoluted are way off. I, though a junior, say that the meaning of the line רב עוד יוסף בני חי וכי הו מושל בארץ מצרים is: “enough! I am satisfied to have heard that my son Joseph is still alive. The fact that he is ruler in Egypt is totally irrelevant to my joy. I would be perfectly happy without that additional information. I am going to see him before I die, ruler or no ruler.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  לאלוקי אביו יצחק, He had become this because Yitzchok had previously built an altar there to this G’d when G’d had appeared to him there as we know from 26,25 where Yitzchok was reported offering sacrifices there as had done his father Avraham.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  (1) WILL ALSO BRING YOU BACK [Lit., "I will raise you, also raising"].  In other words, "I will go down with you" and also I will surely raise you, as in (Exod. 12:32), "may you bring a blessing upon me also." 
  (2) ALSO RAISING.  That he was buried in with his ancestors in the Cave of Machpelah.  
  (3) HIS HAND SHALL CLOSE YOUR EYES [Lit., "He will rest his hand on your eyes."]  On your matters ("inyaneicha," as opposed to "eineicha") and your needs; he will strive to take care of them, as it is written (Job 9:33), "who will lay his hand on both of us."
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  יעקב ובניו, Yaakov is included in the number 70 as is evident from the plain meaning of the words in front of us, i.e. כל נפש בניו ובנותיו של יעקב ולאה הכל שלושים ושלוש (verse 15). This total of 33 presupposes that Yaakov is included.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  THE NUMBER OF PERSONS OF HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS of Ya'akov and Leah, the total WAS 33 including Ya'akov.  But our Sages interpreted this as being Yocheved, who was born between the walls.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  (1) [ALL THE PERSONS WHO CAME WITH YA'AKOV TO EGYPT] HIS OWN ISSUE. Who are coming to Egypt. 
  (2) ALL THESE PERSONS NUMBERED 66.  For Ya'akov, who was among the count of 33 relating to Leah, is not among "his own issue," for "his own issue" were only 69.  And this is what Moshe said (Deut. 10:22), "Your ancestors went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, for Ya'akov and his descendants were 70.
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  A GOOD WHILE.  Much, as it is written (Job 34:23), "He will not require much of a person."  [JPS:  He has no set time for man.]
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  THE MEN ARE SHEPHERDS.  Yosef said all this to Par'oh.
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  For [all shepherds] are an abomination in Egypt -  All shepherds were disgraceful in their eyes, for sheep were loathsome to them - whether for eating or for sacrifice - as it is written, "If we sacrifice what is abominable to the Egyptians..." (Ex. 9:22) 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  לגור בארץ, not because we are short of money, but because there is no grazing land in Canaan as long as the famine lasts.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  אנשי חיל, men capable of being major commandants or political ministers. The word חיל here means something as in Ruth 3,11 a combination of ability and integrity. The author claims to have found that the expression אנשי חיל can be used directly to apply to cattle breeders.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  מעט ורעים, seeing that Pharaoh’s question of how old he was appeared to Yaakov as being motivated by his extremely old appearance, he told him that he was not nearly as old as he might look, but that the various troubles in his life he had endured had left their mark on his appearance.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  ותלה, similar to the word ותכה in Job 17,7 ותכה מכעס עיני, where it means: ”my eyes fail from vexation.” The letter ה is part of the root, this is why it has the mappik, similar to נגה אור in Job 22,28.in the word נגה. [indicates the letter is not a pronoun. Ed.]
  ארץ מצרים וארץ כנען, however, people living further away than the people of Canaan did not come to Egypt to buy their food there. Either the journey was too long and tedious, or the famine was not as severe in their countries.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  העביר אותו לערים, a stratagem also employed by Sancheriv when he conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel and forcibly exchanged the populations of that kingdom with people from the north. (compare Kings II 18,32). The purpose behind this was to prevent uprisings by populations who had no roots in their countries and therefore had no good reason to start a rebellion.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  ויקרבו ימי ישראל למות, whenever a person is reported as about to make his last will and testament to his children, the introductory phrase is that he felt death approaching, i.e. ויקרבו. When Yitzchok was about to bestow the blessing on Esau, the Torah also prefaced this by describing that he felt himself close to death (27,1-20) [even if the word for approaching used there was not the same as here, i.e. ויקרבו. Ed.] He did say: “I do not know the day of my death.” In Kings I 2,1 when David gives his final instructions to his son Solomon, we also read the preface ויקרבו ימי דוד למות ויצו, “when David felt death approaching, he commanded, etc.” Actually, our paragraph commences with the words וישב ישראל בארץ מצרים, “Israel settled down in the land of Egypt,” (verse 27 in our chapter.) The words ויחי יעקב בארץ מצרים in our verse must be understood as a direct continuation of verse 27. The Jewish communities were not willing to conclude the reading of the weekly portion with the words ותהי הארץ לפרעה, “the land belonged permanently to Pharaoh.” This is why they added verse 27 as the final verse of Parshat Vayigash.
  שים נא ידך, we already explained this expression on 24,2 when Avraham requested an oath from his servant Eliezer using the same words.
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  "And Israel bowed low": To Joseph, from the place where he was at [the top of] the bed. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויאמר ליוסף, a third person told him. We find similar constructions, the subject not only not being named but not being identified at all, in verse 2 of our chapter, i.e. ויגד. The Torah does not bother to inform us who was the one that conveyed this information.
  
  Verse 2
  
  HE SAT ON THE BED.  His feet were down below, on the ground.  That is why it is written below (v.12), "Joseph then removed them [his sons] from his [Ya'akov's] knees."  And this is also to convey Ya'akov's strength, that he spoke all the words of his valedictory seated with his feet on the ground, until he finished all his words, and after that "he drew his feet into the bed " (Gen. 49:33) -- he inserted them into the bed, as in (Deut. 22:2), "you shall bring it [v'asafto] home" and (Judges 19:18) "and nobody has taken me (m'asef oti) indoors."
  
  Verse 3
  
  נראה אלי בלוז, when I returned from Padan Aram. (Compare 35,11 אני א-ל שדי, פרה ורבה)
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ועתה שני בניך וגו', seeing that G’d has given me the land of Canaan as a possession, I can make you the firstborn with the right to receive two portions of that land. This means that in effect you will receive the share of two tribes. Your sons will receive an allocation equal to the combined allocation of Reuven and Shimon.
  עד בואי, before I arrived. We had been informed in 41,3 that two sons had been born to Joseph before the onset of the famine, i.e. before Yaakov came to Egypt.
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  ומולדתך, your children or grandchildren who will be born or have been born after my arrival in Egypt (during the last 17 years). על שם אחיהם יקראו, they will have the same status as their brothers, i.e. they will not each be considered as the founding father of one of the tribes, but בתי אבות, heads of family groupings within the tribe they belong to (Menashe or Ephrayim). All the seventy souls included in the count of people descending to Egypt with Yaakov, whether his sons or his grandsons, became the heads of such family groups. And this was of relevance when the land of Israel was distributed by Joshua. The Talmud Baba Batra 118 discusses this in detail, basing itself on Numbers 26,21 mentioning such families as Peretz and Chetzron, etc., as well as the members of the family of Elon and Ard and Naamon mentioned in verses 40 and 53-55 respectively in that same chapter. What applied in those situations would also apply to children of Joseph born after Yaakov’s arrival in Egypt.
  
  Verse 7
  
  ואני בבואי מפדן, on the same route after G’d had given me His blessing, מתה עלי רחל, while I was still on the same route, this is why I had to bury her there while on the way. There did not present itself an opportunity to bury her next to Leah in the cave of Machpelah. Yaakov elaborated on this now so that Joseph would not consider him as having been criminally negligent in not according his mother the kind of burial she was entitled to.
  
  Verse 8
  
  ISRAEL SAW.  Even though it is written below (v.10) that "he could not see," there are those who can see a person's image but not recognize the person's face.  Similarly (Ex. 33:20), "man may not see Me [and live],"  and it is written (I Kings 22:19), "I saw Adonai."
  
  Verse 9
  
  בזה;  in this kingdom.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  (1) RA'OH [To see].  Like "r'ot" [seeing].  Similarly (Gen. 50:20), "to bring about [asoh] the present result."  
  (2) LO PILALTI [I never expected].  I did not judge in my mind.  Every instance of pilul is an expression of judgment.  Similarly (Ps. 106:30), "Pinhas stood and judged" -- he took vengeance, as it is written (Num. 25:7), "he left the assembly and, taking a spear in his hand, etc." -- an expression of judicial retribution.  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  את אפרים בימינו, in order to place him on Israel’s left side, (seeing he was the younger). 
  
  Verse 14
  
  שכל את ידיו, as if the Torah had written שכל, both the letters ש and כ with the vowels kametz, resulting in sachal, meaning something distorted, bent out of shape.
  כי מנשה הבכור, and Yaakov was well aware even without being able to recognise the sons’ features, that Joseph would position his firstborn son on his father’s right side. Seeing that he wanted to place his right hand on the younger son, Ephrayim, he had to cross his hands to accomplish this.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  ויברך את יוסף, blessings bestowed on one’s children are a blessing bestowed on the father.
  
  Verse 16
  
  ויקרא בהם שמי, may their seed and the seed of their see live.
  וידגו, the root is of the same category as the ones which lose the last root letter in the future tense, such as בכה, “to cry,” ויבכו, “they will cry,” or שבה, “to capture,” וישבו, “they will capture.”
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  כי ישית, before he had started blessing them (Verse 7) Joseph had noticed that his father had crossed his hands. ויאמר יוסף אל אביו לא כן אבי, it is not correct to translate this line as: “you are not doing the correct thing.” If that were what Joseph had had in mind he would not have spoken so dismissively, but would have asked his father why he was doing this.What Joseph said to his father must be understood as follows: “the sons have not been positioned by me in the order in which you think, by my not paying attention who should be on your right, i.e. the eldest on your right, etc., but I have made sure that my firstborn is already on your right and his brother on your left. There is therefore no need for you to bend your arms, etc.” 
  
  Verse 18
  
  לא כן אבי, I did not do as you thought but placed my firstborn on your right and the younger one on your left. Yaakov replied that he was aware of this (verse 19) because “I know that you are a wise man and would see to it that your sons had been placed in the manner in which you intended them to receive their blessings. However, I plan to bless the younger one who is on your right with my right hand and I withdrew my left hand from his head in order to be able to do this.” להסיר אותה מעל ראש אפרים, and to transfer it (my left hand) to על ראש מנשה, to the head of Menashe. Whenever the verb הסר appears it is written in a sort of abbreviated syntax, the predicate which is supposed to follow it or precede it being omitted. Some examples are: Judges 4,18 סורה אלי אל תירא, the meaning being סורה משם לפנות אלי, “turn away from there in order to turn towards me.” A similar example of this is found in Genesis 19,3 ויסורו אליו, where the precedingמשם לבא, “from there in order to come” is omitted and the reader has to fill it in by understanding the context .
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואולם, “but, however.”
  
  Verse 20
  
  BY YOU SHALL ISRAEL BLESS.  Each man his son.  
  THUS HE PUT EFRAIM BEFORE M'NASHEH.  Through his saying, "God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh."  Thus the expression of "simah" [placing] applies to words:  (Exod. 21:1) "These are the rules that you shall set [tasim] before them"; (Deut. 4:44) "This is the Teaching that Moses set [sam]"; (Deut. 31:19) "put it [simah] in their mouths."
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  הנה אנכי מת, although I am about to die, I am aware that after my death. והיה אלוקים עמכם והשיב אתכם אל ארץ אבותיכם, G’d will be with you and at the completion of 400 years predicted to Avraham will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ואני, and what I say to you now refers to that land, נתתי לך, I have assigned to you, שכם אחד, a share על אחיך, over and beyond the shares which you will divide with your brothers in territory which I and my offspring will conquer from the Emorite in the future with my sword and bow, (in the wars conducted by Joshua). [The author, whose exegesis of the past tense used in Yaakov’s statement is most remarkable, now deals with possible objections that could be raised against his interpretation of Yaakov’s words. Ed.] Even though it is written in the Book of Joshua 24,12 לא בחרבך ולא בקשתך, “not with your sword nor with your bow (did you drive out the Emorite, but because G’d sent scorpions and the like against these people,” this verse does not contradict what Yaakov said here. Firstly, these scorpions did not cross the river Jordan, so how can we understand Joshua quoting G’d as saying “I have sent the scorpions ahead of you to drive out the two Kings of the Emorite, etc.” (same verse)? When reading the words quoted in Joshua before, we must put the stress on the pronoun endings of the words בחרבך בקשתך, i.e. “your sword, your bow. Joshua meant that although on the face of it appeared that your prowess with the sword and bow accounts for your successful conquest, your success was due to the merit of your ancestor Yaakov. The effect of that merit was equivalent to the effect of well trained archers and swordsmen using their physical weapons. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  (1) YA'AKOV CALLED.  He sent for them.  
  (2) COME TOGETHER.  For the seventy persons had increased during these 17 years and had become a numerous people, and according to the words of our Sages, to (six) hundred thousand.  
  (3) WHAT IS TO BEFALL YOU.  With respect to their power and their inheritance.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  (1) MY MIGHT AND FIRST FRUIT OF MY VIGOR, EXCEEDING IN RANK AND EXCEEDING IN HONOR.  This is all a single statement; it is the way of Scripture to double its expressions -- "my strength (kohi)" is my power, my wealth, and "my vigor" (oni) is also my wealth, as it is written (Hos. 12:9), "[Ah, I have become rich;] I have gotten power (on)," [and] (Job 20:10), "His own hands must give back his wealth (ono)."  In other words, "you are my first-born and as such my strength and the beginning of my wealth."  
  (2) EXCEEDING. Your brothers, you should have been, IN RANK AND EXCEEDING IN STRENGTH. You should have ruled over your brothers, but you had instability and confusion, like waste water, and therefore  YOU SHALL EXCEL NO LONGER.  Neither the birthright nor the monarchy.
  
  Verse 4
  
  (1) FOR WHEN YOU MOUNTED YOUR FATHER’S BED.  And it says in Chronicles (I  5:1-2), "when he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, so he is not reckoned as first-born in the genealogy.  Though Judah became more powerful than his brothers and a leader came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph."   
  (2) MY COUCH HE MOUNTED!  In other words, my couch he would mount.  There are many instances of past tense verbs that are understood as present tense, such as (Gen. 23:13), "I have paid the price of the land" -- I am paying.
  
  Verse 5
  
  (1) THEIR TOOLS.  Their fraternity; this is a duplication of "Shimon and Levi are a pair [lit., "brothers"]."  In other words, Shimon and Levi were "brothers" for ill.  
  (2) THEIR WEAPONS their fraternity was.  "Your origin (m'choroteicha) and birth" (Ezek. 16:3) is an expression of relations.  But "m'cheirotehim" is the dageish form [pi'el], like "m'siboteihem" (Job 37:12 -- "misibot"), and is an espression of relationship.  However, the reish, where there is a hiriq, it [the hiriq] becomes a tzeirei, like "beireich" (e.g. Gen. 24:1) instead of "bireich" [like] (Lam. 2:9) "ibeid v'shiber" [destroyed and broke].  Similarly (Ps. 74:18), "blasphemes [heireif] God" [and] (Num. 8:6) "they will assist [v'sheireit] their brothers."  They are all of the dageish form.  "M'cheiroteihem" is "lod [leur?] pareintes" in the vernacular.
  
  Verse 6
  
  (1) LET NOT MY PERSON BE INCLUDED IN THEIR COUNCIL.  May it be Your will that my person not be in their counsel.  For every "al" in the Torah looks to the future -- either a curse, a request, or a command.  There is no "al" about the past; thus, this should not be understood as "my person has not been included."  
  (2) KI IN THEIR ANGER.  Because in their anger. 
  (3) THEY MAIM OXEN.  As in (Josh. 11:6) "You shall hamstring their horses."
  
  Verse 7
  
  (1) CURSED BE THEIR ANGER.  They will not succeed in their anger to take vengeance and commit bad deeds, and therefore, I do not want to be in their company and together with them.  
  (2) I WILL DIVIDE THEM IN JACOB.  For Levi was scattered among the twelve tribes, as is written in Joshua (ch. 21), the result being that Shim'on was left alone without Levi.  
  
  Verse 8
  
  (1) YEHUDAH, YOU YOUR BROTHERS SHALL ACKNOWLEDGE.  One who explains this as "your brothers shall praise you" is mistaken.  Rather, since he had criticized the first ones and taken sovereignty from Re'uven and had scattered Shim'on and Levi, he said to Yehudah, "But you, your brothers shall accord the glory [hod] of sovereignty, as the end of the verse demonstrates: "Your father's sons shall bow low to you."  Likewise (Num. 27:20), "Invest him with some of your authority [hod'cha]" -- give him some of your responsibilities while you are still alive.   Likewise in Daniel (11:21), "on whom royal majesty [hod] was not conferred."  Likewise about Sh'lomo it is written "hod malchut" -- "endowed him with a regal majesty [hod]" in Chronicles (I, 29:25).  
  (2) SHALL ACKNOWLEDGE YOU [YODUCHA].  Shall crown you, like "y'hoducha," as it is written (Ps. 45:18), "so peoples will praise you."  Likewise (I Kings 6:27) "Let the LORD help you [yoshiacha]," like "y'hoshiacha."  Nevertheless, even though "yoducha" derives from "hod malchut," the heh is not part of the root, but rather, it is of the form where the first letter of the root drops out, that letter being yod, like yashav, yatza, from which one says "hotzi" [to expel], "hoshiv" [to seat].  Likewise from "yarah bayam" [he has cast into the sea] (Ex. 15:4), [we derive] "horah" -- "vayoru hamorim" [the archers shot] (II Sam. 11:24).  Likewise (Ezek. 18:16) "he has not wronged [honah] anyone" from the root (Lev. 19:33) "you shall not wrong [tonu] him."  Similarly, "hodu LAdonai" [Praise the LORD] (Isa. 12:4) [and] "Yodu LAdonai" [Let them praise the LORD] (Ps. 107:8), [and] "hogah v'rahem" [afflicts and pardons] (Lam. 3:32) -- they are all roots with the first letter being yod that occasionally drops out and a vav comes in its place. 
  (3) THEY WILL BOW LOW TO YOU.  For you will rule over tham.  
  (4) YOUR FATHER'S SONS.  Because they were from four mothers, it says "your father's sons," but when Yitz'hak blesses Ya'akov, it is written (Gen. 27:29) "your mother's sons."
  
  Verse 9
  
  גור אריה יהודה, an expression similar to כפיר אריות, (Judges 14,5) the young, not fully grown lion is called גור, whereas the fully mature lion is known as כפיר as we know from Ezekiel 19,2 בתוך כפירים רבתה גוריה, “a young lioness crouched among the fully grown lions.” The young lion enjoys the advantage of speed and self-confidence, hence more aggressiveness, over an aging lion. It is not surprising therefore that when complimenting Yehudah, Yaakov compares him to a young lion rather than to a fully mature one who is already on the way to decline.
  מטרף בני עלית, you my son Yehudah, seeing that after you have risen from dealing with the spoils of war you had acquired stature and were held in awe, have lain down like a lion, supremely confident that no one would dare disturb your rest. No enemy will dare to become the one to disturb your sleep and to attack you. This is the plain meaning of the verse repeating the word Yehudah twice in the same sequence. All those who understood Yaakov as referring to the sale of Joseph in this verse do not understand the sentence structure nor paid attention to the tone signs.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  לא יסור שבט מיהודה, the position of royalty which all his 12 brothers bestowed on him, i.e. that they all prostrate themselves before him, will not be removed from him until Shiloh. Yehudah, i.e. King Rechavam of Yehudah son of Solomon who wanted to confirm his ascendancy to the throne in Shechem, which is very close to Shechem. (Kings I 12) [In the event, his stupidity in listening to inexperienced irresponsible counselors lost him most of his kingdom so that he ruled only over Yehudah and Binyamin. Ed.]
  ולו יקהת עמים, the mass of the people, who under the rule of his father Solomon, had been tightly controlled, as we know from Kings I 5,4 now assembled at Shechem to enthrone Rechavam as described in Chronicles II 10,1  where the people had all assembled in order to place him on his father’s throne. We know that Shechem was very close to Shiloh from Joshua 24,1 and the whole paragraph following. The description in what is reported in that paragraph sounds as if could all have taken place at Shiloh. [seeing that Joshua refers to the people listening to him “in the presence of the Lord”, i.e. at the Sanctuary which stood in Shiloh. Compare Joshua chapter 18,1 for similar wording referring directly to a presence of the people in Shiloh, in the presence of the Lord, i.e. the Tabernacle which had been erected there.” Ed.] Furthermore, in verse 26 of chapter 24 Joshua also concludes by stating that all of the exhortations in the chapter demanding from the people to remain loyal to G’d and His Torah had been addressed to them at the מקדש ה', G’d’s Sanctuary. All this supports the view that the precise location was Shiloh, whereas the region in which Shiloh was situated was Shechem, hence the reason both locations were mentioned. These two locations are linked in one sentence also in Judges 21,19 as well as in Jeremiah 41,5. There was open space at Shechem around the famous oak located near Shechem. At that location a mass rally could be held easily. The people would pay homage to the Sanctuary in Shiloh from that vantage point, as it was in their line of vision. This exegesis refutes the view of the heretics, especially that of the Christians, who claim that the שילה spelled here with a ה at the end and the city known as Shiloh spelled in Scripture as שלו as in Samuel 1,24 (where Elkanah would make his pilgrimages and where the Sanctuary stood) are not the same, the one in our verse referring to the Saviour, while the one in Samuel being a reference to the town. Yaakov, as opposed to the view of the Christians, did not elevate the position of Yehudah to that of being a Saviour beginning with that point in “time,” but he predicted that after the death of Solomon, the high point in Jewish history, a decline would set in as documented by the 10 tribes withdrawing their support of a king from the tribe of Yehudah.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  אסרי לגפן עירה, an עיר, young ass, needs to be tied to a single vine to load it with many grapes
  
  ולשרקה בני אתונו, a repetition for literary purposes, similar to expressions such as יהודה וישראל, when both words are references to the same people, or as the expression איש תחת גפנו ותחת תאנתו, “each man under his grape vine and under his fig tree” This expression which occurs frequently in the Book of Kings, etc., simply describes the economic affluence of the people, not that each man will own fig trees and grape vines. 
  כבס ביין לבושו, after the grapes have been stamped on with the feet to squeeze out the juice and to store them in the wine-presses, the workers’ clothing has become stained in the process as described by Isaiah 63,2 מדוע אדום ללבושך ובגדיך כדורך בגת?, “Why is your clothing so red, your garments like his who treads grapes? The prophet continues there in verse 3:  “I trod them down in My anger trampled them with My rage. Their lifeblood bespattered My garments and all My clothing was stained.” After completing the process described one can drink the wine. This is why Yaakov continued with חכללי עינים מיין ולבן שנים מחלב. Who are the ones whose eyes are darker than wine and whose teeth are whiter than milk- the answer is found in Proverbs 23,29-30 those who linger over wine and those who go in search of mixtures of wine.”
  סותה, as in כסות, a kind of garment
  
  Verse 12
  
  חכלילי, the redness of eyes is called thus.
  ולבן-שנים, the result of drinking milk produces this whiteness of the teeth. We find a parallel expression in Song of Songs 5,1 שתיתי ייני עם חלבי, “I have drunk my wine with my milk.” Isaiah 55,1 describes a similar theme,בלא כסף ובלא מחיר יין וחלב, “(come buy). without money or any cost, wine and milk. “The word “ul-ven,” must be understood as if it had the vowels making it “ulavan.” When it is in a possessive mode, the grammar is quite in order so that it is ulven. In a similar possessive mode in Deuteronomy 32,14 we find “vachalev tzon,” describing “the chalav of sheep.”
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  לחוף ימים, the beaches of the sea which was sort of rubbing the shore, חופף. If you were to ask what good this was seeing the shore was so high that one could not descend to the water to buy merchandise from the ships, Yaakov adds
  לחוף אניות, that he speaks of inlets where there are harbours at which ships can lie at anchor. There are no high cliffs there making making ships and their wares difficult to access. Yaakov’s reference to
  צידון, a well known harbour, a center of trade and commerce, illustrates the nature of his blessing. In Isaiah 23,2 Tzidon and its traders are mentioned as having been a great trading center in the past that has been ruined by the Assyrians in the prophet’s time. This is also why Moses, when blessing the Jewish people before his death, (Deuteronomy 33,18) describes Tzidon in its heyday as a model for Zevulun, who will enjoy similar prosperity.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  יששכר חמור גרם, he is not like Zevulun who engages in voyages with mariners to distant lands to engage in trade and commerce. He stays at home toiling his earth sharing the fate of his donkeys, his beasts of burden.
  בין המשפתים at the outer edges of town, where the surrounding fields are under cultivation. We encounter the expression for tilling the soil as applying not only to oxen but also to donkeys in Isaiah 32,20 אשריכם זרעי על כל מים, משלחי רגל השור והחמור, “happy shall you be who sow by the waters, who send out oxen and donkeys to plough and spread the seed.” We find a similar contrast between these two tribes expressed in Moses‘ blessing in Deut. 33,18שמח זבולון בצאתך ויששכר באהליך “enjoy your departures (on voyages) Zevulun, and you, Issachar, enjoy your pursuing your vocation in your tents.”
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  וירא יששכר, he realised that to stay home and toil the soil leisurely was preferable, i.e. 
  
  מנוחה כי טוב ואת הארץ כי נעמה, and how such pursuits were very rewarding, (an expression also used in Deuteronomy 12,9 אל המנוחה ואל הנחלה) 
  ויט שכמו לסבול, he accepted the tax burdens etc , imposed by the  kings of Israel
  ויהי למס עובד, he dutifully gave part of his harvests  to the King’s tax collectors, as predicted by the prophet Samuel when the people demanded to be ruled by a king (Samuel I 8,14-15). This is the plain meaning of the above verse. It contains a promise of material wealth to both tribes, though each tribe’s wealth originates from the pursuit of separate vocations.. 
  
  Verse 16
  
  דן ידין עמו, those who explained this as a reference to Shimshon, one of the judges of Israel, have read the text only superficially. Did they really think that Yaakov, on his deathbed, would prophesy concerning a single specific individual who, moreover, fell into the hands of the Philistines and ended his life as their victim? Far be it from Yaakov to focus on such events at a time like this, even if he foresaw it! Yaakov relates to the tribe of Dan who is described as the rearguard of the Jewish armies in the desert both in Numbers 10,25 and in the Book of Joshua 6,9 where this tribe is described in identical terms. The fact that the rearguard is the most exposed section of the army which has to beat off any attacks from the rear, means that it needs extra protection by G’d. Yaakov says that he will enjoy success in avenging any unprovoked attacks on the Jewish people, i.e. their army. The words 
  
  כאחד שבטי ישראל, describe this tribe’s warding off such attacks, similar to what Moses said in Deuteronomy 32,36 כי ידון ה' עמו, or in Deut. 32,43 דם עבדיו יקום ונקם ישיב לצריו. “He will avenge the blood of His people, for He will wreak vengeance on his foes.” David expresses similar feelings in Psalms 110,6 when he says:ידיו בגויים מחץ גוויות מחץ ראשו על ארץ רבה, ”He works judgment on the nations, heaping up bodies, crushing heads far and wide.”
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  יהי, may the domain of Dan act like a snake barring the way, i.e. may he be the one killing nations hostile to the Jewish people
  ויפול רוכבו אחור, may his enemies fall before him (off their horses.)
  
  Verse 18
  
  לישועתך
   לישועתך קויתי ה', I pray to the Lord that He may save you and elevate you over the gentile nations.
  
  Verse 19
  
  גד גדוד, the troops of the entire nation of Israel will follow Gad who is the vanguard in the wars of conquest as we know from Deuteronomy 3,18 where Moses charged them with this task. On the return from battle, this tribe, instead of being in the vanguard, will be the rearguard, again the most exposed to enemy action. They will thus form a buffer for the Jewish armies at all times.
  
  Verse 20
  
  מאשר שמנה לחמו, a reference to the olive oil pressed from olives grown on his territory, oil used to fry, bake, etc., and generally to improve the taste of the food consumed by the nation. Moses paraphrases Yaakov’s blessing when he says in Deuteronomy 33,24 טובל בשמן רגלו, “that he will dip his foot in oil.”
  והוא יתן מעדני מלך, the kings of Israel were in the habit of taxing this tribe by requiring them to hand over part of their oil harvest. Instead of using this oil in preparing food, they used it to anoint their bodies, as a skin lotion. The purpose of this was depilatory, to remove hair from the skin where it was not wanted. This function of oil is described in Menachot 86 as effective when the olives had not yet ripened beyond a third of their eventual size. Not only would this preparation remove hair at the root, but it would also improve the texture of the skin surrounding such hair. When Sarah, in Genesis 18,12 refers to her experiencing once again עדנה, this is the same word, and she referred to a youthful appearance of her skin. 
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  אילה שלוחה, his soldiers were as fleet-footed as gazelles. In Chronicles I 12,9 this is described as Naftali being  כצבאים על ההרים למהר , “as speedy as the deer on the mountains.”
  הנותן אמרי שפר. When they would return from battle, they would be the bearers of happy tidings, being the first to announce the victory won by the Jewish armies. The word שפר, is a derivative of שופר, the ram’s horn; they would announce the good news by means of the appropriate blasts of the shofar. We have some proof of this in Judges 5,18  where Devorah in her victory song speaks of זבלון עם חרף נפשו למות, ונפתלי על מרומי שדה, “Zevulun is a people that mocked at death, and Naftali-on the open heights.” [they were the only two tribes that heeded Barak’s and Devorah’s call to do battle against Siserah, the commander of the Canaanite armies of King Yavin whose army was equipped with 900 armoured vehicles. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  בן פורת יוסף בן פורת עלי עין, the first half of this verse is not to be understood until we have read the second half. The only reason it is written in this manner is in order to help us identify immediately who is the subject in our verse. We have a similar verse in Exodus 15,6 where in the first half of the verse G’d’s attribute of employing His right hand is extolled before we are tolled how this is manifest, i.e. by the manner in which He destroyed the enemy. A very familiar similar construction occurs in Psalms 93,3 a psalm we recite each Friday night, when the psalmist speaks of נשאו נהרות ה' נשאו נהרות קולם, and only afterwards we are told that the rivers raise their voices in response toכי הנה אויביך ה', כי הנה אויביך יאבדו. The verse means: ”The river raise ther “voices” (sounds), O Lord, the oceans sound their thunder and their pounding.” All of this is in response to verse 10 in the previous psalm where G’d’s enemies are described as perishing.” In fact the psalmist in 94,3 asks almost despairingly: “how long are the wicked going to be allowed to carry on successfully before the Just can rejoice when they observe their downfall?” Here too, the words בן פורת יוסף describe an attribute, referring to the tall and handsome person Joseph, before telling us that all the maidens of Egypt were craning their necks to catch a glimpse of him, each one trying to admire his features, trying to do so from a suitable vantage point. He, whose exterior had appealed to the wife of Potiphar at the time, now became a household word in Egypt so that all the women allowed out of their houses tried to catch a glimpse of him. [I paraphrased the author’s words in this paragraph. Ed.] Joseph’s handsome appearance had already inflamed the libido of Potiphar’s wife,
  
  Verse 23
  
  וימררוהו ורבו, they threw him into jail, 
  ורובו, and they harassed him. The thought is repeated to lend it emphasis, as is the reference to the בעלי חצים, his enemies. We find the expression רביו and חציו used in Job 16,13 as almost interchangeable. The dagesh in the letter צ of the word חצים confirms that the whole word is used for emphasis, reinforcing the thought already expressed in the word ורבו which also has such a dagesh. If the word ורבו were derived from the root מריבה, quarrel, it would not have a dagesh¸ just as קמו from קום, or שבו from שוב do not have a dagesh. The word רב in the sense in which it is used here also occurs in Judges 11,25 as emphasised by means of repetition, i.e. הרב רב, when Yiphtach refers to the extreme hostility to the Jewish people displayed by the Moabites. There was no need for the dagesh on that occasion as the word has already been repeated to show the emphasis Yiphtach had in mind. The Torah, i.e. Yaakov, calls the evil fabrication that the wife of Potiphar used to indict Joseph חצים, arrows, a word used in the same sense by Jeremiah 9,7 when he says (of his own people, alas) חץ שחוט לשונם, מרמה דבר, בפיו שלום את רעהו ידבר וגו': “Their tongue is a sharpened arrow, they use their mouths to deceive; one speaks of his fellow peacefully, while laying an ambush for him, etc.”
  ורבו, from the root רבב, similar to the relationship between סבו and סבב, or רוני from רנן (compare Isaiah 12,6) צהלי ורוני יושבת ציון, “Oh shout for joy you who dwell in Zion.” The word רוני is a repetition of the thought expressed in the word צהלי, designed to reinforce that thought.
  
  Verse 24
  
  ותשב באיתן קשתו, there is a certain heavy and strong bow called arbalatra which is seated on a strong wooden frame called purka, and which, if the archer pulls with all his might bringing his arms all the way back to his body, enables him to shoot the arrow over a longer distance. A weak individual cannot operate such a bow. We have to understand the verse as describing a scenario describing Egyptians shooting their arrows of hate at Joseph until he was imprisoned, bound hand and foot. Nonetheless, the same Joseph afterwards emerged and became king over his former tormentors. This was because his  קשת, bow, was stronger than that of his adversaries. He proceeded to imprison his enemies, as we know from Psalms 105,22 לאסור שריו בנפשו “to imprison (discipline) those who had previously demonstrated their hostility against him.
  ויפוזו זרועי ידיו, he contracted his arms quickly remaining steadfast when he pulled the string of the bow and flung his arrows against them seeing that he was a powerfully built man, able to pull the bow all the way back. We do find the word זרוע used in connection with archery in Psalms 18,35 ונחתה קשת-נחושה זרועותי, “my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” The wording describes the tensing of a bow. A similar expression occurs in Psalms 38,3 כי חציך נחתו בי ותנחת עלי ידך, “for Your arrows have struck me; Your blows have fallen upon me.” [the reference is to G’d’s “arrows.” Ed.]
  ויפוזו, leaping in a wild dance, as in Samuel II 6,16. Here the expression is applied to Joseph’s hand, arms. In Samuel the word כרכר describes parallel motions with the legs. The image conveyed by the word is that of twirling one’s limbs.
  מידי אביר יעקב, Joseph’s victory was due to the assistance of G’d, the One Who proved Himself as the Mighty one to Yaakov, Who grants dominion to kings and princes. The expression אביר יעקב is a duplicate of what follows i.e. רועה אבן ישראל. We find the expression אביר also in connection with King Sha-ul in Samuel I 21,8 i.e. “Doeg the Edomite, Shaul’s chief herdsman, אביר הרועים. The reason why the shepherds are called אבירים is because their cattle, the oxen, are called אבירים both in Psalms 68,31 and 22,13....
  
  
  מידי אביר יעקב, Yaakov is reminding Joseph of who it was that is responsible for his exalted position in the world, none other than the רועה אבן ישראל, the Shepherd Who has provided generously for the entire family of Israel.
  
  אבן, Yaakov uses the word as meaning אב, “father, provider.” The letter נון at the end is extraneous, just as it is extraneous in such words as שגעון and עוררן in Deuteronomy 28,28, and just as the letter ם at the end of such words as ריקם in Genesis 31,42 and ותהי הכנם in Exodus 8,13 is superfluous. 
  
  Verse 25
  
  מאל אביך, all your bounty originates with the G’d of your father, and it is He Who
  יעזרך, will assist you. ברכות תהום, refers to the subterranean sources of irrigation rising and watering the crops that are in need of such irrigation.
  ברכות שדים, that the breasts will not be dry and the babies will not die due to insufficient milk supply.
  ורחם. Also while inside the mother’s womb the fetus would not die prematurely. When the Bible speaks of curses, it uses the same wording in reverse. (compare Hoseah 9,14) תן להם רחם משכיל, “give them a womb that miscarries and shriveled breasts! Even if the fetus survived the pregnancy, make the infant die from lack of milk supply!”
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  ברכות אביך גברו על ברכות הורי, the blessings of your father Yaakov who has been blessed by G’d on the occasion of the dream with the ladder (Genesis 28,13), are more comprehensive than the blessings my own parents had received at the time. G’d blessed me with unlimited boundaries “you will branch out to the east, the west, etc.”
  
  עד תאות גבעות עולם, as far as the furthest hills of the world. The expression תאוה occurs in connection with the Israelites’ demand for a meat diet in the desert, in preference to or in addition to the manna. (Numbers 34,10) The term is also used to describe far off places such as לבא חמת in Numbers 34,8. Accordingly, the expression הורי may be a duplication of the expressionגבעות עולם , used here as well as elsewhere to underline a point the Torah makes. A similar duplication occurs in Deuteronomy 33,15 of the expression מראש הררי קדם and the expression ממגד גבעות עולם in Moses’ blessing “with the best from the ancient mountains, and the bounty of hills immemorial.” Both Yaakov and Moses employ practically the same wording in describing the vastness of Joseph’s blessing....
  נזיר אחיו, the king over his brothers, the one wearing the crown, נזר.
  
  Verse 27
  
  בנימין זאב יטרף, Yaakov prophesies concerning the first crowned Jewish King, Sha-ul, member of the tribe of Binyamin. He would successfully deal with the enemies surrounding Israel as documented in Samuel I 14,47בכל אשר יפנה ירשיע, “wherever he turned he defeated them.” The tribe of Binyamin also remained loyal to the dynasty of David when the ten tribes split under Jerobam. When King Assa conducted wars against surrounding enemy states, Binyamin  supported him. The same held true under the reign of the kings Yehoshaphat and Chizkiyah, both Kings of the Davidic dynasty.
  ולערב יחלק שלל. It is customary for wolves (who raid in packs) to wait with distributing their spoils until evening. Jeremiah 5,6 and Tzefaniah 3,3 confirm this.
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  אשר כברכתו, of what would be their fate in the future, as already mentioned with the words אשר יקרה אתכם “which will happen to you,” in verse 1 of our chapter.
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  לאחוזת קבר, they will not be able to challenge my right to be buried there.
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  ויאסוף רגליו, he drew his legs back into the bed, seeing that all the while he had pronounced the blessings he had been sitting on the edge of the bed as we know from 48,2 וישב על המטה, “he sat up on the bed.” Also while blessing Joseph’s sons he had remained sitting upright, as we know from 48,12 where Joseph is described as pulling back his sons from between Yaakov’s knees. G’d‘s fondness for Yaakov is emphasised by the Torah when it reports that Yaakov possessed this strength until he had completed the last words of his blessings and his instructions.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  לחנוט, we explain this word as being part of the verse’s context, i.e. to embalm. Menachem, on the other hand, comparing it to Song of Songs 2,13 where the word means “was in blossom,” uses a different approach.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ואשובה. He (Pharaoh) should not worry that I would leave his country permanently.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  ויעל עמו; Joseph took with him, as well as chariots riders, etc.; a similar construction as in Genesis 8,20 where the Torah reported that Noach ויעל עולות, offered burnt offerings, i.e, the word ויעל is in the transitive mode hiphil.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  וירא יושב הארץ הכנעני, as if the Torah had written וירא הכנעני יושב הארץ, “the Canaanite inhabitants of the land realised, etc.”
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  ויצוו אל יוסף לאמור, “they entrusted the following message to discreet messengers before they themselves came to Joseph.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  אלוקים חשבה לטובה, you were the unwitting agents of G’d and you are therefore not to blame. G’d had planned that it should all be for the good.
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  גם בני מכיר, grandchildren. In spite of this, Ephrayim  was more fruitful and multiplied more than Menashe as Yaakov had said: “his younger brother will become greater than he.” (48,19)
  
  Verse 24
  
  ויאמר יוסף אל אחיו אנכי מת והאלוקים פקוד יפקוד אתכם,  the following verse proves what he had in mind when he commanded his brothers to take along with them his remains to the land of Canaan. 
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  ויישם, as if the Torah had written: ויושם, “he was placed.” We have encountered similar constructions such as in Genesis 9,24 וייקץ נח, where it does not mean “Noach awoke,” but Noach was awoken.” Or, Ezekiel 47,8 the expression המוצאים, where this word is derived from the root יצא and may mean “they were expelled.” (the waters).
  בארון, in the earth. [I presume that the author means “as opposed to a pyramid, etc.” seeing that ultimately his remains would be removed.” Ed.]
  