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text: Sforno on Genesis
  ספורנו על בראשית
  Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash
  
  
  Sforno on Genesis
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  בראשית, at the beginning of time; this is the first moment which is indivisible into shorter periods.. There had not been a concept “time” previous to this, i.e. there had only been unbroken continuity. (The author perceives “time” as one of the creations. Ed.]
  ברא, He had converted “nothing” into “something.” There had been no need to invoke “time” in order to accomplish this.
  אלוקים, The expression “elo-ha” refers to something enduring, eternal. This is why Moses (Deut. 32,17) refers to demons, שדים, as לא אלו-ה, seeing that they are not eternal, are subject to death as our sages taught (Chagigah 16) The reason that the term “elo-ha” here appears in the plural mode, i.e. “elo-him,” is to teach us that G’d is the origin of all the various visible and invisible manifestations in the universe. This is what the prophet (Isaiah 6,3) has in mind when he described G’d as מלא כל הארץ כבודו, “the entire globe is a manifestation of His glory.” There is no other existence unless it has emanated from His existence. This is what Nechemyah 9,6 had in mind when he said ואתה מחיה את כלם, “You provide life for all of them.” When speaking of “appearances,” every phenomenon which is abstract as distinct from being tangible, is described by the generic term אלוקים. Professional, i.e. expert judges are called אלוהים, as they are able to pronounce judgment בצלם אלוקים, reflecting Divine wisdom. Their very profession is testimony to something enduring, divine in nature.
  את השמים, the word שם refers to a place which is distant, as opposed to the word פה, which means “here.” Every plural mode when accompanied by an accented penultimate syllable vocalised with a patach signals 2 of something which are equi-distant from all sides. This is something possible only in connection with an orbiting planet. This is something which is not possible, i.e that two points are equidistant from the center unless they are part of an orbiting spherical planet. The Torah therefore says that G’d created the phenomenon which at this time is far distant from us in such a way that all its sides are equi-distant from us, in other words the phenomenon is a planet, something spherical.
  ואת הארץ, and the center which is orbited by the planet.
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  והארץ היתה תהו ובהו, “this very center which was created at that time was composed of a mixture of raw materials, known as tohu, and its original external appearance is what  is described as bohu. The reason is that the whole expanse of tohu was comprised of a uniform appearance. This explained that the first raw material was something entirely new. It is described as tohu to indicate that at that point it was merely something which had potential, the potential not yet having materialised, been converted to something actual. When we read in Samuel I 12,21 כי תהו המה, the meaning is that these phenomena did not exist in reality, they existed only in someone’s imagination. [a reference to pagan deities. Ed.] The appearance of this primordial raw material is described as bohu, meaning that as such it came to exist in actual fact, in real terms. Isaiah 34,11 “weights of emptiness.” This describes any phenomenon that does not retain its appearance for any length of time. It constantly changes like a chameleon
  וחשך, a reference to the air (atmosphere, totally dark which emanated at that time from the original raw material. על פני תהום, over the expanse of the two basic foundations which also emanated from the same origin and surrounded one another.
  ורוח אלוקים, the energy propelling the planet is called ruach,” as we know from Psalms 104,4 עושה מלאכיו רוחות, “He  energises His messengers.”
  מרחפת על פני המים, they activated the atmosphere above the waters which at that time surrounded the earth. This is the reason why the part which was closer to the spherical planet became incandescent through its motion [friction. Ed.] This phenomenon is what we know as the original fire. On the other hand, the part of the energy which remained closer to the waters acquired a degree of frigidity from the proximity to the waters, so that only a small part of the atmosphere really became hot through revolving and giving off sparks of fiery light. 
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  וירא אלוקים את האור כי טוב, This describes the reason why G’d created the light, not that He “saw”” something new which He had not been aware of previously. It was because it was “good,” that G’d had created the light.
  ויבדל אלוקים בין האור ובין החשך, the days (prior to the fourth day when the sun was placed in orbit) during which use was made of the “original light,” periods of light and darkness alternated due to causes other than the revolving of the planet around its own axis, i.e. due to the direct expression of G’d’s desire. He ensured that periods of light alternated with periods of darkness.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ויקרא אלוקים לאור יום; even though at that stage of creation “time” was not yet an operative term as we know it nowadays, i.e. the terms “day” and “night” were not yet used by anyone, G’d named these phenomena as such already at that time.
  ויהי ערב ויהי בקר, although G’d had made a separation between the light and the darkness, assigning to each different time frames in which to be active, independent of the planet earth revolving on its axis, He arranged for a transition from one phenomenon to the other to take place gradually, step by step. This occurred by means of inserting a period known as evening preceding total night, and a period of dawn preceding bright sunlight, daylight.
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  יהי רקיע בתוך המים, let there be טבע, i.e. guidelines, rules governing the function of what is below and what is above the primordial waters. Just as there are such parameters surrounding our world, i.e. the globe we call “earth,” so there should be similar guidelines governing what is below the atmosphere and earth itself. The region in which air exists should become clearly defined. [the gaseous nature of air should not be allowed to escape into all directions of the universe beyond our globe so that creatures on earth would die from the lack of air. In other words, the atmosphere should be “enclosed” whether by gravitational or other forces is immaterial. Ed.] At the same time, air should be given enough space within which “to breathe,” so to speak.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ויקרא אלוקים לרקיע שמים. Seeing that activities occurring in the celestial regions reach us by means of G’d’s agents and not directly, the Torah had to tell us that G’d named the phenomenon, otherwise we would not have known this, [would have considered it as a result of an evolutionary process. Ed.]  We know of this indirect activity of G’d when the Torah referred (verses 17-18) to “G’d placed them (the luminaries) in the רקיע השמים, and assigned to them the task to illuminate the earth, etc.”
  
  Verse 9
  
  יקוו המים; this does not mean that the waters should dry up, as many people interpreted it. These people said that the process would be achieved by a substantial part of the oceans freezing and turning to ice such as the polar regions, and that this would be caused by forces in the celestial regions. אל מקום אחד. The waters should not deviate from this location. As a result they became much higher than the surrounding land mass without crashing down on earth as our senses would have us think would be the case. This is why David tells us in Psalms 104,9: גבול שמת בל יעברון, “You have set them limits which they must not cross.” The meaning is that the waters must not flood the earth.” 
  
  Verse 10
  
  ויקרא אלוקים ליבשה ארץ, G’d assigned a name which is applicable to the whole also to parts of it. The reason is that the particular part of the “earth” described previously as merely יבשה, is in reality the most important and productive part of the “earth.” (based on Moreh Nevuchim) Isaiah 45,18 already referred to this when he said of earth that לשבת יצרה, “G’d formed it in order that it be populated,” i.e. subterranean earth is of secondary importance, seeing one cannot cultivate it and make it one’s habitat.
  
  Verse 11
  
  דשא, herbs fit for consumption by animals. We find this expression used in this sense in Yoel 2,22כי דשאו נאות מדבר, “for its herbs (the ones for the beasts) are found in the pastures of the wilderness.”
  עשב מזריע זרע, for consumption by human beings.
  עץ פרי עושה פרי למינו, if it were a mixture of more than one species it would not be able to reproduce itself.
  ויהי כן, it endured, in its original format, not becoming adulterated nor shedding any of its individuality. Had it absorbed parts of competing species it could not have procreated itself.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  יהי מאורות ברקיע השמים, the planets created on the second day should now begin to function by providing light. Their influence should be concentrated on the “lower” universe, as it is visible to us with our senses. Everything mentioned in this paragraph refers to sensations perceived by the creatures on earth. By traversing pure waters on the way to earth, the light refracted by these luminaries is increased manifold.
  
  Verse 15
  
  להאיר על הארץ, they should dispense their light at a time when it is beneficial for the inhabitants of the earth.
  ויהי כן, G’d’s directive was executed and became a permanent feature of natural law.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  ויעש...ויתן...להאיר...ולמשול..ולהבדיל..כי טוב, all of these expressions refer to the luminaries and the other stars. The Torah first writes: ויעש, seeing that up until that point sun and moon had simply been part of all the other celestial bodies which had been created on the second day, or of “heaven,” whose creation had already been reported in verse 1. This is the reason why at this stage the Torah does not call the development of these luminaries an act of creation, ויברא or something similar, but merely writes ויעש, which describes the completion of a process that had already been begun previously. At this stage, G’d singled out these two luminaries from among all the planets and assigned them their function
  The word כי טוב, “that it was good,” describes G’d’s impression after He had removed these luminaries from their original place in the universe, given them spherical shape so that they can orbit, and function as luminaries.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  ולמשול ביום ובלילה, in order to bring new creatures into life in the “lower” regions of the universe, i.e. these living creatures, as opposed to the plants, required more than the light G’d had created on the first day. Seeing they are more important and more sophisticated beings they require exposure to better light in order to flourish.
  ולהבדיל בין האור ובין החושך, to establish clear demarcations amongst the inhabitants of the lower regions of the universe, between when these respective luminaries were to shine, and when they were to set, i.e. to disappear from view. Basically, the meaning is the same as in verse 14 above.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  יעופף על הארץ על פני רקיע השמים, in order to cleanse the air of the atmosphere for the benefit of the inhabitants of the earth from any excessive moisture in the air which had resulted through the creation of the rakia on the second “day.”
  
  Verse 21
  
  ויברא אלוקים את התנינים, the evolutionary powers of the waters did not suffice for this task. They could not produce the original sea-monsters without having been provided for this with seed by the Creator.
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויברך אותם אלוקים, seeing there were so many of them they would not achieve their purpose in this universe without such a Divine blessing.
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  תוצא הארץ נפש חיה, earth should produce living creatures possessing a quality of life superior to that of the plants.
  ויהי כן, it was exactly so, i.e. without omissions or additions. If any of the components of these creatures (genes) were to be missing, they would lose the ability to procreate in kind.
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  ויאמר אלוקים נעשה, at this point G’d endowed His entourage to carry out the task assigned to it.
  אדם, another one of the species referred to as נפש חיה, one known as אדם. This is why we read in Genesis 2,7 ויהי האדם לנפש חיה, “Adam became one of the species known as נפש חיה.”
  בצלמנו, a species designed to live forever seeing that it is predominantly intellectual. By doing this, G’d provided an opening by means of His Torah to acquire an understanding of the nature of purely spiritual, disembodied beings such as angels. Our soul has been given the key to understand something about the nature of such beings.
  כדמותנו, acting intelligently like the angels, though from free choice, not like the angels who act under Divine compulsion. In this respect, though the angels are celestial beings, they do not resemble man. In this respect man is a little more like G’d Himself than are the angels, though our habitat is in the “lower” regions of the universe. The principal difference between G’d’s total freedom of action and that of man’s is that G’d’s freedom of action is always put to a constructive use, whereas man frequently abuses his G’d given freedom to oppose the expressed will of His Creator. At any rate, not being hampered by the limitations imposed by having a body, the qualitative freedom of G’d is far superior to that of man, and this is why the Torah uses the comparative כדמותנו, to show that the comparison is limited.
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  בצלם אלוקים, when the word אלוקים appears as a description, i.e. in the nature of an adjective, it refers to creatures who are spiritual in their essence, not just that they possess spiritual potential. Such beings are devoid of such physical matter, are totally disembodied. This is what makes them basically infinite. This is the reason why such an adjective, attribute, is applied to G’d as well as to His angels. The term is also used in connection with judges, i.e. describing the predominating intellectual function they must perform if their decisions are to reflect true justice. Whereas it is an undisputed fact that the human intellect operates without direct dependence on any part of the body, that it does not age along with the remainder of the body it inhabits, but, on the contrary, sometimes improves while the body ages and becomes barely able to sustain the soul which inhabits it, and while it is also a fact that exercise of the intellect does not result in fatigue, etc, it is still not called אלוקים, something divine, but only צלם אלוקים, “something which mirrors something divine.” Until this intellect has acquired חכמה, i.e. a reverence for G’d and love for Him, its Creator, it is completely imperfect. It follows that it is man’s task to perfect his G’d given intelligence by acquiring the knowledge and insights which can be provided only by the study of Torah and by the practice of the laws of the Torah. If man, i.e. religiously atheistic intellectuals, do not use their intellect in the manner G’d meant for them to use it, it actually becomes a negative asset, a hindrance, so that in the end it turns out to be completely vain, as pointed out in Psalms 49,21 אדם ביקר ולא יבין נמשל כבהמות ידמו, “if man does not understand the divine gift his intellect represents he is comparable to the beasts which perish.” This entire lesson is condensed in the two words בצלם אלוקים.
  
  Verse 28
  
  וכבשה, this is not a directive to conquer earth with muscular power, but to subdue it by means of man’s superior intellect. It means that man is to use his intelligence to prevent predators from invading his habitats, demonstrating the fact that man is superior, can outwit the beasts.
  ורדו, trapping the beasts, training them to bend to man’s will.
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  הנה נתתי לכם, as food to be consumed by man.
  
  Verse 30
  
  ולכל חית הארץ, but to all the beasts on earth including the birds and the domesticated animals I have allocated את כל ירק עשב, different kinds of herbs which are not generating seed.
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאד, the accomplishment of a project containing many different parts is greater than the accomplishment of each part of such project successfully. Now that G’d had completed the entire project successfully, the Torah described this with the additional word מאד instead of merely טוב. 
  יום הששי, this is the first day which is described as “the (sixth) day.” In other words, it was the first of many days known as “the sixth,” but this was the first such day. The specific function of the sixth day is to be the bridge between the ordinary weekdays and the Sabbath. The “six” days have been defined in Exodus 20,9-10 as the days on which “you will perform all your tasks involving work.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
   ויכלו, when all the phenomena intended to comprise the physical universe had materialised 
  
  Verse 2
  
  ויכל אלוקים ביום השביעי, at the beginning of the seventh “day,” a moment which is indivisible from the time frame which follows, so that both the six previous “days” were an entity in themselves, and the seventh day was a totally self-contained entity. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 10,9 describe G’d as knowing the precise moment between the sixth and seventh day and describe it as “thin as a hair’s breadth.” [I believe the problem confronting the sages was the statement that G’d had completed all His work in the six days, and yet the Torah speaks of Him completing, ויכל, His work on the ”seventh” day, something that appears to be a contradiction to the former statement. Ed.] 
  וישבות ביום השביעי, G’d’s inactivity on the seventh day set it apart from the previous six days.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  ויברך אלוקים את יום השביעי, this refers not only to the first Sabbath but to all subsequent Sabbath days. G’d endowed every Sabbath with this blessing so that it would more readily accommodate the additional “soul” He grants Jews on that day. Job 33,30 describes this phenomenon as לאור באור החיים, “designed that he may bask in the light of life.” Our sages (Beytzah 16) state that the words שבת וינפש in Exodus 31,17 refer to the loss of this additional soul at the end of the Sabbath. 
  
  Verse 4
  
  אלה תולדות השמים והארץ בהבראם. These are the plants and the living creatures which had been the potential derivatives of heaven and earth already at the time when heaven and earth were first created. The potential ability for heaven and earth to produce the inhabitants of their respective domains was inherent in their respective composition from the first moment of their existence. When the Torah, in its very first verse, wrote the words את השמים and את הארץ, this was already an allusion to the additional factors which had been created together with heaven and earth, i.e. their ability to produce their respective derivatives.
  ביום עשות ה' אלוקים ארץ ושמים, this potential was translated into an actual only on the day when G’d completed עשות, i.e. arranged in detail how these derivatives were to function and where and when. This occurred after the six “days” of creative activity. Only when that stage had been reached was G’d referred to in the Torah by His full name, i.e. ה' אלוקים.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  טרם יהיה בארץ, these words emphasise that although all phenomena had been created, this referred to their potential, not to their functioning as they do nowadays. כל עשב השדה, had not yet sprouted,
  כי לא המטיר, for G’d had not yet made it rain in such a fashion that it enabled the latent power of these plants to fully develop.
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  ואד יעלה מן הארץ, on the day they were completed, i.e. at the end of the sixth “day” a vapour rose from the earth equivalent to beneficial dew which irrigated the earth and enabled it to bring forth further vegetation without the help of rain or man’s labour.
  
  Verse 7
  
  וייצר ה' אלוקים, the animals had not rated involvement of both attributes of G’d in their creation and formation. Not only that, but in order to create man G’d had used עפר מן האדמה, the choicest of the dust available on earth. Moreover,
  ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים, G’d personally blew a soul of life into man, a life force which had been readied to absorb what was previously called צלם אלוקים, “the image of G’d.” This has been attested to in Job 32,8 ונשמת שדי תבינם,”by means of the breath of the attribute of Shaddai You endowed them with understanding.” At any rate, ויהי האדם לנפש חיה, man had remained a living creature  (similar to the animals) until You equipped him with a divine-like tzelem and demut.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  אשר יצר, after G’d had created man in a manner appropriate to his superior status on earth, He placed him in Gan Eden, a location which was suitable to equip him with the צלם אלוקים, the divine image, enabling him to also fulfill the intellectual tasks involving the air and food in the garden.
  
  Verse 9
  
  ויצמח, G‘d made the food necessary for Adam sprout forth. The verse illustrates with what ease Adam could secure his requirements in Gan Eden.
  נחמד למראה, looking at these trees resulted In the viewer experiencing intellectual stimulation both of his heart and his brain. He would thus be capable of “digesting” the additional intellectual insights granted him by G’d. Compare Kings II 3,15 ותהי עליו יד ה', “Elisha had now been endowed by G’d’s generosity.” [a reference to the additional spiritual insights he had asked from his mentor Elijah prior to the latter ascending to heaven. Ed.]
  ועץ הדעת, a tree whose fruit results in those who eat from it gaining greater understanding of the relationship of good and evil. The word דעת, which appears here for the first time, helps us understand Genesis 4,1 והאדם ידע את חוה אשתו. Without this verse we would have been puzzled by the Torah telling us something that was so obvious. Who does not “know” his wife, especially when he had described her as “bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh!” (2,23) In our verse we are told that the words ידע, דעת do not primarily refer to factual knowledge but to conceptual knowledge. This also helps us to understand why relatives, as in Ruth 2,1 are referred to as מודע לאישה, “someone whom her late husband had been intimate with, had been related to by blood.” It is normal for blood relations to be concerned with the physical and emotional needs of their kin. (compare Proverbs 17,17.)
  טוב ורע, to choose that which appeared as appealing to the senses even though it would prove harmful, and to despise anything which did not appeal to his senses although he knew it to be useful to him.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  ונהר יוצא מעדן, the Torah explains that Adam’s work did not entail anything strenuous, such as carrying pails of water, or such as getting wet in the rain.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  לעבדה, a reference to perfecting his own personality, that which was supplied by G’d in an as yet unrefined state, the one called נשמת חיים. [the author searched to justify the use of the feminine mode in the word לעבדה and related it to נשמה, soul, a noun which is feminine and requires further refinement, just like שיר and שירה which both mean song, the latter, in the feminine mode being unrefined when compared to the former. Compare its use in the haggadah shel Pessach. Ed.]
  ולשמרה, eating the fruit of the garden would ensure that man’s natural juices would not dry up. Man is equipped with natural heat, and if not supplied with the proper kind of nourishment he may dehydrate. The excellent fruit of the trees of the garden would replenish loss of moisture through evaporation on the skin in the heat of the sun.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  מכל עץ הגן, depending on which tree’s fruit was in season. Each season required nutrients appropriate to the prevailing climate, and the fruit ripening during the various seasons would provide man with these nutrients. The prophet Ezekiel 74,12 expresses this thought in the words לחדשיו יבכר “in its appropriate month it will yield new fruit.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  ומעץ הדעת, the tree in the middle of the garden, in close proximity to the tree of life mentioned previously (verse 9) The meaning of חיים in connection with that tree is equivalent to the meaning of the words in Deuteronomy 30:19 החיים והמות נתתי לפניך, “I have placed life and death (to choose) before you.” [we may understand this to mean that the tree of life, if its fruit were eaten, would result in life of infinite duration, whereas eating from the tree next to it would result in life being shortened. Ed.]
  
  Verse 18
  
  לא טוב היות האדם לבדו, the purpose of the human species on earth will not be achieved while man who is supposed to reflect the divine image will be left to personally carry out all the menial tasks of daily life on earth by being solitary.
  עזר כנגדו, a helpmate who will be equal to him, also reflecting the divine image. This is essential for him if he is to know what precisely his needs are and so that he can meet them in time. The reason why the Torah added the word כנגדו is that whenever one confronts someone of equal power, moral and ethical weight, such a confrontation is termed נגד. It is a head-on collision of will. When the two parties disagreeing are not of equal power, or moral/ethical weight, the confrontation is termed as one being עולה or יורד one of the adversaries either prevailing or losing in such an encounter. It is in this sense that we have to understand such statements as משה שקול כנגד כל ישראל, “that Moses was the equal of the entire Jewish people.” (Mechilta Yitro 1)  However, the Torah did not mean for woman to be 100% equal to man, else how could the man expect her to perform household chores for him, etc.? Hence the letter כ at the beginning of the word כנגדו somewhat tones down this equality.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ויצר ה' אלוקים מן האדמה כל חית השדה, G’d now provided these creatures with their final shape, putting the “finishing touches” on them, so to speak. At that stage of the earth’s condition, the original product which the earth had produced, not based on seed which contains all the genetic material in microscopic form, was not adequate to produce the final product without input by G’d, personally.
  ויבא אל האדם, in order for man to realise there was a need for an additional phenomenon, seeing that amongst the existing ones none met his need for a partner.
  לראות מה יקרא לו, so that he would see which name would be appropriate for each creature, based on the specific tasks they performed in the universe.
  נפש חיה הוא שמו, its name would provide all of us with a clue as to its function in G’d’s scheme of things. The essence of each animal, נפש, would be revealed by its activity on earth.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויבן ה' אלוקים את הצלע לאשה, it was someone possessing the features of a human being, much like those of a man. She would be different from man only in some external physical features. She would possess the same ability to perfect her personality as did man.
  
  Verse 23
  
  זאת, this female הפעם הזאת, finally, this timeעצם מעצמי ובשר מבשרי, only this time, seeing that all females of the future will not be fashioned by the male undergoing such type of surgery.
  לזאת יקרא אשה, all other female human beings in the future will be known as אשה, 
  even though they will not, like this time, be literally part of the flesh of their husbands.
  כי מאיש לוקחה זאת, “this one,” the first woman ever.
  
  Verse 24
  
  על כן, seeing that on this first occasion G’d had aimed to make Adam’s wife as much part of him as possible, so that he even used Adam’s personal body as Chavah’s basic skeleton, יעזוב איש את אביו ואת אמו ודבק באשתו, it is appropriate that a man leave the home of his parents in order to acquire a wife who is compatible with him, and who is a suitable mate for him to live with on a permanent basis. The Torah teaches here also that the expression דיבוק, “cleaving,” being in a state of true union, is not possible between two people who are not alike in their common purpose in life. Parents and children do not have the same tasks and challenges. Man and his wife do have to master the same challenges, hence the word “union” can be applied to their union, whereas the same word would be inappropriate for describing the relationship between father and son, or mother and son. By living together they will become of one mind on how to deal with their lives’ challenges.
   והיו לבשר אחד, they are to work together in such close union as if there were in fact only one of them. (This had been the idea behind creating man as both male and female in the first place.)
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  ערומים ולא יתבוששו, because while in that state of innocence all their activities were aimed at pleasing their Creator. When this is the case, one has no reason to feel ashamed of anything. Just as eating and drinking was an activity they engaged in, in order to remain healthy and be able to carry out the tasks assigned to them by G’d, so marital intercourse was an activity designed exclusively to fulfill the commandments to produce more members of their species. Instead of using hands and feet to carry out other aspects of G’d’s will, in this instance they had to use their genitals for this purpose.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  והנחש, another word for Satan, which itself is a way of describing the evil urge. (Baba Batra 16). The reason why this evil urge is compared to a serpent is that just like a serpent which makes itself as invisible as possible, blending in with its environment, and yet causes more damage than the most prominently visible obstacles, so the evil urge lurks where one does not suspect to find it. It is a common practice to name phenomena according to other well known phenomena, such as calling the king “lion,” to show what is expected of a king, i.e. strength, fearlessness, etc. (compare Jeremiah 4,7 “the lion has come up from his thicket,” a reference to King Nevuchadnezzar) Also in Jeremiah 8,17 Israel’s enemies are referred to as נחשים צפעונים אשר אין להם לחש, “adders which cannot be charmed.” G’d, using a metaphor, calls the evil urge נחש, in our verse. Anything or anybody who leads Israel into sin is termed נחש. The reason why a serpent has been chosen for such a metaphor is that it is a creature whose potential harm is huge, whereas its potential benefit to man is minimal. Moreover, seeing that its visibility is minimal, it is similar to the evil urge who never attacks frontally, and often poses as friend rather than as enemy. Our sages in Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer chapter 13 already enlarged on this metaphor by describing Samael as riding the serpent, meaning “taking advantage of this power of imagination.” The insidious nature of the evil urge consists of the fact that it conjures up in our imagination something desirable, which because of its desirability we rationalize into considering as harmless, harbouring no physical or spiritual danger for us. Greed, lust, combined with one’s imagination is a powerful tool for leading man into sin. Unless man is able to harness the power of reason against such insidious attempts to trick him into disobedience against G’d by giving in to his desire for gratification of his senses, he will fall victim to the evil urge’s machinations. When our sages (Jerusalem Talmud Berachot 1.8) said עינא ולבא סרסורי דחטאה, “the eyes and the heart are agents of sin,” they referred to the warning against the evil urge we recite twice daily in the last section of the keriyat shema. (Numbers 15,39).
  היה ערום מכל חית השדה, for the power of imagination which dangles before our mental eye all sorts of visions designed to stir our desire is more powerful within man than within any other creature This is what the sages meant when they said: (Sukkah 52) “anyone who is of greater stature than his fellow also has to contend with a more powerful evil urge than his fellow.” ויאמר אל האשה, her relatively weak intellect was too lazy to understand that the images dangled before her eyes were a fatah morgana, illusion. אף כי אמר אלוקים, even though G’d has said not to eat from the tree of knowledge פן תמותון, in order that you do not die, this is not true, you will not die. Once the “serpent,” i.e. her power of imagination had sown the seed of doubt in her mind, so that her intelligence had already been undermined, she said: 
  
  Verse 2
  
  עץ הגן נאכלת, “we can eat from the trees of the garden and do not need to endanger our lives by eating from the tree that G’d has prohibited us to eat from on pain of death.” Having said this, however, her power of imagination kept nagging at her weighing the possibility that G’d might indeed be jealous of competition from his creature. Her doubt, i.e. the voice of the evil urge, was expressed in the words 
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
   לא מות תמותון “you will sure not die,
  
  Verse 5
  
  כי יודע אלוקים כי בים אכלכם ממנו ונפקחו עיניכם, G’d did not forbid this fruit because it is lethal, but because He knows that through eating it you will attain additional knowledge so that you will be just like G’d, possessing total knowledge.
  
  Verse 6
  
  ותרא האשה כי טוב העץ למאכל, she realized that the tree was good to eat due to its location, its nature and the pleasant fragrance of its fruit.
  ונחמד העץ להשכיל, seeing that G’d Himself had already described the tree as being the tree of knowledge.
  גם לאישה עמה, his heart was open to her words because he was her husband, and because he was by her side.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ותפקחנה עיני שניהם, they compared mentally, the advantages they had gained through the pleasant sensation of eating from the fruit of the tree, and the harm they had caused themselves thereby. The expression פקח implies weighing something carefully with both heart and mind. We find an example of this expression in such a sense in Job 14,3 אף על זה פקחת עינים, “Do you fix your gaze even on such a one?” [Job referring to the transient nature of man and if he is worth G’d’s attention. Ed.]
  וידעו כי ערומים הם, they realized that they needed to cover their genitals which in future would serve mainly as organs designed to gratify their physical urges.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  מתהלך בגן, back and forth, in accordance with the requirements of their purpose. The word is similar in meaning to Genesis 13,17 where Avraham is instructed by G’d התהלך to “crisscross the land of Canaan, in order to symbolically lay claim to it.” The same construction is also found in Psalms 105,13 ויתהלכו מגוי אל גוי, “they wandered from nation to nation.”
  לרוח היום, according to His pleasure on that day. The word רוח is used in the abstract, spiritual sense, not referring to a breeze. This is no different that what G’d had also done during the other days of creation, and as He had been doing on this same day (sixth day of creation) prior to Adam’s sin.
  ויתחבא, as the Torah wrote in Deuteronomy 23,15 ולא יראה בך ערות דבר, “no exposure of genitals (or other shameful matters) shall be visible on you.”
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  איכה, “why are you not in evidence in the garden as previously?” Why did you suddenly see the need to hide?
  
  Verse 10
  
  ואירא, this feeling of fear is similar to that experienced by the Jewish people in Exodus 34,30 when, because of the sin of the golden calf, the people were afraid to face him after his face radiated light when he returned from Mount Sinai. 
  
  Verse 11
  
  מי הגיד לך, who revealed to you the difference between good and evil?
  כי עירום אתה, that on account of familiarity with evil you felt the need to cover your genitals.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  היא, she, who was meant to be an assistant to me has turned out to be the opposite.
  נתנה לי מן העץ, and has become a hindrance instead of a help. By saying these words, Adam tried to blame his Creator for having committed a sin. Adam, instead of being defensive by repenting, apologizing, admitting his guilt, as did David when the prophet Natan had called him to order over his conduct with Bat Sheva, (Samuel II 12,13) 
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  ?מה זאת עשית, G’d used this introduction in order to encourage also the woman to repent her sin. G’d, after all does not want sinners to die but to rehabilitate themselves. We know this from Ezekiel 18,23 and 18,32 לא יחפוץ במות המת כי אם בשובו.
  
  Verse 14
  
  ארור אתה מכל. The serpent was condemned henceforth to attain its needs as well as its desires only through experiencing more pain and greater lack of pleasure than all the other creatures. Compare Kidushin 82 ראית חיה ועוף שהם בני אומנות והם מתפרנסים שלא בצער, “Did you ever see a beast or bird practicing a vocation, and yet they find their livelihood without pain?” [the scholar makes the point that our parnassah lies in the hands of G’d and is not due to our professional level. Ed.] G’d’s curse is explained in detail by the words על גחונך תלך, “you will have to crawl on your belly.” This means that the serpent will find its sustenance only laboriously, experiencing frustration in doing so. Our sages (Berachot 58) mention how many laborious stages the kernel of wheat had to undergo until Adam finally was able to eat the bread that he made out of it.
  ועפר תאכל, you will not enjoy the food (or other earthly  pleasures) previously enjoyable. The Talmud Sotah 49 describes something similar happening to the Jewish people  as a whole after the destruction of the Temple, saying: הטהרה נטלה את הטעם ואת הריח, והמעשרות נטלו את שומן הדגן, [the subject being the negative fallout for the entire nation of the destruction of the Temple, Ed.] “previously pleasant tasting and fragrant foods no longer tasted as well with the exception of food which needed to be consumed in a state of ritual purity, and the tithes now assumed the  richness of cereals.”
  
  Verse 15
  
  ואיבה אשית, woman would henceforth be an object of disgust even in her own estimation, as described in the Talmud (Shabbat 152) “although a woman is a vessel full of excrement and her orifice full of blood,” (men run after her as if she was the most desirable creature) This was going to be the relationship between males and females in the future, not only that between Adam and Chavah [who apparently could not bring himself to have intercourse with her for the next 130 years. Ed.]
  ובין זרעך ובין זרעה, not only between Adam and Chavah, but also between their respective male and female offspring.
  הוא ישופך ראש, these thoughts crossing man’s mind will reduce the satisfaction he obtains already in the early stages of sexual intercourse, a feeling gradually reinforced when he considers the potential harm he may cause himself by indulging in copulation, diminishing both the qualitative and quantitative enjoyment  of it.
  ואתה תשופנו עקב, he who initially derives pleasure from his superiority will eventually cause himself harm at the end of the pleasure cycle.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  הרבה ארבה עצבונך, the menstrual blood, known in the Torah and Talmud as נדת דותה (Niddah 9 and Leviticus 12,2) The prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations 1,13 describes the state of the Jewish people after the destruction of the Temple as כל היום דוה, as if she lost menstrual blood all day long. 
  והרונך, her pregnancy will be exactly the opposite of what it had been before she sinned. Our sages (Bereshit Rabbah 22,22) describe that at that time Adam and Chavah were created, copulated, and produced offspring, all on the same day. This is also what things will be like in the future according to Shabbat 30 “in the future woman will be able to give birth every day.” Such a situation will occur when the Jewish people once more regain G’d’s favour, as had been the case prior to the original sin.
  בעצב תלדי בנים, you will experience anguish while engaged in raising them, by comparison to the other creatures on earth who do not experience such prolonged periods during which they have to look after all the needs of their young. The word לידה does appear in the context of raising children (not even one’s own) such as in the case of Michal, daughter of King Sha-ul, wife of David of whom we are told (Samuel II 21,8) חמשת בני מיכל בת שאול אשר ילדה לעדריאל בן ברזילי המחולתי“the five sons of Michal, daughter of Sha-ul whom she had born to Adriel son of Barzilai the Mecholti.” [Michal had not given birth to these five sons, but her older sister Merav, who had died very young so that Michal, her sister, had raised her nephews. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  כי שמעת לקול אשתך, by attributing to G’d such negative characteristics as lying and jealousy.
  ותאכל מן העץ, thereby rebelling and causing yourself death as you had been warned about. Because you listened and accepted the argument to think of G’d as imperfect, ארורה האדמה, the earth will not continue to put its potential at your disposal without your having to exert yourself by hard labour. Furthermore, also because you rebelled and violated My command,
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  אל עפר תשוב, you will revert to dust, just as I had told you “on the day you eat from it you will surely become mortal.” (not that he would actually die on that same day).
  
  Verse 20
  
  חוה, she is a necessary requirement for the human species to continue life on earth.
  כי היא היתה אם כל חי,  even though the function of the female of the species listed here also applies to all women after Chavah, she is used as the role model and therefore accorded this name. The reason is that she was the first woman ever to fulfill this role.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ויעש ...כתנות עור, without any input by man, similar to a description of the Talmud of what the earth will produce without human input in idyllic times when ready made bread rolls will be produced by the earth (Shabbat 30)
  וילבישם, in order that He would not have to expel them from Gan Eden while they were naked. Not only that, but if they would dress themselves in these coats after having been expelled, they might delude themselves that they had improved on G’d’s handiwork.
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע, he will know good and evil even while continuing to wear “our image.” This would be an intolerable situation, as in spite of his tendency to give in to his evil urge he would live on forever. [the author considers בצלמנו as a reference to the infinite life prevailing among the celestial beings. Ed.] In such circumstances, this Adam whose evil urge was active would continue to chase the material blessings of this world, something which would prevent him from reaching the spiritual aims set for him on earth when G’d made him in the divine image.
  
  Verse 23
  
  וישלחהו, He expelled him. G’d ordered Adam to leave the garden. The expression is used in the same vein as Exodus 12,33 למהר לשלחם מן הארץ, “hastening to send them out of the country.” (Pharaoh)
  האדמה אשר לוקח משם, the place to which Adam was transferred was compatible with the requirements of his constitution, more so than other areas on the globe.
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  ויגרש את האדם, in order to ensure that neither he nor his offspring would return to Gan Eden.
  וישכן, G’d placed the cherubs there simultaneously with Adam’s departure. לשמור את דרך עץ החיים, to ensure that on the way out they would not take from its fruit and eat thereof.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ויהי הבל רועה צאן, Hevel chose this vocation as it required more intelligence and involved one’s mental activities more that farming.
  וקין היה עובד אדמה, as a result of each having his own vocation, they each brought different offerings to G’d.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  אל הבל ואל מנחתו, seeing that Hevel was pleasing in the eyes of G’d, his gift was also pleasing, seeing that it consisted of the type of product welcome to G’d as an offering.
  
  Verse 5
  
  ואל קין ואל מנחתו לא שעה, He did not turn to Kayin the donor, as he was not pleasing in the eyes of G’d; He also did not turn with favour to his offering seeing the nature of the offering was not designed to make it welcome;
  ויחר, due to his jealousy of his brother,
  ויפלו פניו, he was downcast, being ashamed, feeling that G’d had publicly shamed him.
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  למה חרה לך, “why are you jealous of your brother? I did not arbitrarily accept his offering, nor did I do so without justification.
  ולמה נפלו פניך, as long as there is a chance to correct what had gone wrong there is no reason to be sad over what is past; one has to try and make amends by doing better in the future.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  הלא אם תיטיב, if only you improve yourself you will also be welcome in My eyes.
  שאת, every lofty level of greatness is lying in wait for you, ready to become yours,
  ואם לא תיטיב לפתח חטאת רובץ, however, sin is also lying in wait for you if you will add further intentional sin to the already performed unintentional sin. This is the way of the evil urge, that once you give into it, it will forever be ready to tempt you again.
  כי אליך תשוקתו, “for it longs for you due to its very nature. It too is anxious to satisfy its desires, its aspirations every day.”
  ואתה תמשול בו, it is within your power to overcome the power of the evil urge thanks to the צלם אלוקים, the divine image with which you have been provided at birth. This conforms to our sages in Sukkah 52 who have taught that were it not for this צלם אלוקים, which represents G’d’s assistance against the evil urge, there would be no way man could cope with temptation. This is what David meant in Psalms 37,33 ה' לא יעזבנו בידו ולא ירשיענו בהשפטו, “the Lord will not abandon him to his power; He will not let him be condemned in judgment.”
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ויאמר קין אל הבל אחיו, how upset he was, and how he had become downcast on account of his brother.
  ויהי בהיותם בשדה, away from the presence of their parents.
  ויקם קין, Kayin arose without any previous quarrel, similar to Deuteronomy 19,11 וארב לו וקם עליו, “he ambushed him and attacked him.”
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  אי הבל אחיך, “in which place did you bury him?” G’d phrased this as a question only in order to give Kayin a chance to begin the process of repentance, not because He was not perfectly aware where Kayin had buried Hevel. G’d did not want to be forced to kill someone already guilty of the death penalty.
  לא ידעתי, “I do not know.” He thought that the question concerned Hevel’s whereabouts. Seeing that Kayin had not been interested previously in G’d’s ability to know the future, or to become close to Him; such knowledge about G’d was reserved to those who are cleaving to Him.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  ארור אתה מן האדמה, cursed and deprived of the good the earth has to offer.
  אשר פצתה את פיה, because it allowed itself to be used to  cover up the killing of your brother. As a result, earth will no longer be free to provide the needs of your livelihood in the degree it did up until now. There was no need to spell out the penalty for the murderer. His punishment is part of the principle applying to the penalty for anyone causing willful damage, i.e. he will experience tit for tat as spelled out in Leviticus 24,19.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  גדול עוני מנשוא, after Kayin finally realised how G’d in Heaven supervises every detail which goes on down on earth, he was convinced that G’d must know that his sole motivation in doing repentance was to escape punishment. Even this type of repentance was wrung from him only after G’d had pressured him to display penitence. He was embittered, and this is what prompted him to exclaim that the severity of his sin was such there was no hope to obtain forgiveness which would protect him against retribution in kind. The matter is similar to Saul’s failure in killing Agag, King of Amalek. Saul had said to Samuel: “I have sinned,” only after Samuel had insisted that he make a confession of having failed to carry out G’d’s instructions. (Samuel I 15,24) Samuel had had to tell Saul that G’d had despised him as a future leader of the Jewish people before he could prevail on Saul to acknowledge his wrongdoing. (Samuel I 15,24)
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  והיה כל מוצאי יהרגני, the fact that anyone who finds me is legally entitled to kill me makes my punishment much more severe than You, G’d, have told me.
  
  Verse 15
  
  כל הורג קין שבעתים יוקם, I, G’d, announce that anyone who dares to kill Kayin, [i.e. who takes the law into his own hands, Ed.] would be punished seven more times than what the crime he committed appears to warrant. Anyone who is prepared to kill someone is called הורג, as for instance, in Hoseah 9,13 ואפרים להוציא אל הורג בניו, “Ephrayim too must bring out his children to his slayers.” The word שבעתים means “twice seven times,” as in Proverbs 6,31 ונמצא ישלם שבעתים, “when he is found out he must pay twice sevenfold.” G’d decreed therefore that when someone killed half the human race, or at least a third of the human race, the appropriate vengeance would involve a twice sevenfold penalty. This would manifest itself in such a slayer being a restless wanderer on earth for seven generations. Such a life is considered worse than death. When David prays in Psalms 59,12אל תהרגם פן ישכחו עמי הניעמו בחילך, “do not kill them lest my people will forget them; make them wanderers seeing it is in Your power,” he meant that they be killed only at the end of seven generations. David wanted the punishment of his enemies to last. If they would all die and disappear at once their absence would soon be forgotten. Kayin got his deserts at the end of seven generations as we know from traditional sources in Tanchuma 10.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
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  Verse 23
  
  שמען קולי נשי למך, Lemech called out in grief
  אמרתי, I have to express my mental anguish’
  הרגתי לפצעי, I have caused myself real injury, for the one who has killed my father (ancestor Kayin) has inflicted upon me the child a deep wound, seeing that the killer was my son.
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  ולמך שבעים ושבעה. My anguish over what I have done will be many times greater than the anguish of Kayin who had been condemned to be a constant fugitive on the earth. 'כי שבעתים יוקם קין וגו, for if Kayin’s punishment was indeed great, my punishment for having killed my son will be many times greater. [he referred to the anguish he suffered over what he had done, not to the punishment imposed upon him externally, as retribution. Ed.]
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  'אז הוחל לקרא בשם ה, at that time the righteous people of the earth began to preach monotheism to the public. The meaning is similar to Genesis 21,33 ויקרא שם בשם ה' א-ל עולם, “Avraham proclaimed there the name of the Lord, the Lord of the universe.” The time had come to publicly confront and refute the arguments of the idolaters in that period.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  זה ספר תולדות אדם, thus begins the story of human history, and events worth recording for all posterity.
   בדמות אלוקים עשה אותו, a reference to man’s free will. It is in this respect that man is like G’d. This is why when different generations of man angered G’d they were punished, [i.e. they had not been programmed to do evil. Ed.] 
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  ויולד כדמותו כצלמו, Sheth was more righteous than either of his brothers, seeing that even Hevel had only offered his gift to G’d after Kayin had preceded him.
  
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  ויתהלך חנוך את האלוקים, he walked in the paths pleasing to G’d in order to rebuke and call to order the people of his time.
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
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  Verse 29
  
  זה ינחמנו, Lemech prayed that this son would provide him with the ability to take a rest from his heavy labour. The root of the word נח is מנוחה, rest, (retirement). The word is also used in connection with giving one a respite from one’s enemies, as in Esther 9,16.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
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  Verse 3
  
  לא ידון רוחי באדם לעולם בשגם הוא בשר, it is intolerable that there will continue the argument, strife before Me allowing (the angels?) to claim that although seeing that man has been endowed with divine qualities he must be punished, whereas his close ties to physical earth must be considered as excuses for his conduct, entitling him to continued mercy, and indulgence by Me.
  והיו ימיו, he will be given a certain length of time within which to repent his sins;
  מאה ועשרים שנה, during which time Noach would have time to construct the ark, and by doing so rebuking and warning people of what is in store for them. (compare Sanhedrin 108) 
  
  Verse 4
  
  הנפילים היו בארץ בימים ההם, these giants were not about until the last 120 years which G’d had assigned man as a grace period within which to do teshuvah וגם אחר כן, as well as thereafter, i.e. they did not repent and mend their ways at all.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  כי רבה רעת האדם,  a reference to the past,
  וכל יצר לב האדם, a reference to the future (when it would not improve)
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  ויתעצב אל לבו, seeing that G’d does not want even the guilty to die instead of finding their way back. The opposite “emotion” of G’d to the one expressed here is found in Psalms 104,31 ישמח ה' במעשיו, “the Lord ‘enjoys’ the deeds of His creatures.”
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ונח מצא חן, this is an explanation why also his sons and daughters (in law) were saved. Noach’s personal merits did not entitle him to demand from G’d that He also save them on the strength of his merits. They required special חנינה, clemency  (based on Bereshit Rabbah 29,1. According to the verse in Ezekiel 14,14-19 G’d discusses with the prophet the three men Noach, Daniel, and Job as possessing sufficient merit to be saved themselves, but as not having sufficient merit to entitle their families to be saved [the rider there is if these three men had lived in the (wicked) city described by G’d to Ezekiel, the men of the city would not have been saved by their presence.] The reason why these individuals were not as effective in saving the people around them was that they were devout and pious for themselves without trying to use their influence to convert their contemporaries to adopt their lifestyles. This is what made them basically different from Avraham, Moses and Samuel and others like them, who went out to win converts. This is what the sages in Pessachim 87 had in mind when they described such people. The Talmud distinguishes between people who זכו ללמוד ולא זכו ללמד, “acquired the merit of studying Torah, but did not acquire the merit of disseminating Torah knowledge.” [Rashi in the Talmud contrasts Daniel’s activities in Eylam (the country of which Shushan was the capital) with those of Ezra in Babylon. The former, while learning Torah, did not teach it, the latter both learned and taught with very beneficial results. Ed.] A righteous person who keeps perfecting himself is entitled to being saved personally, but he is not entitled thereby to save others on his account. While Noach did rebuke the men of his time, he did not travel the extra mile to try and convert them to do good. Our sages in Berachot 19 comment that “if you see a Torah scholar who was guilty of something improper during the day, do not accuse him of anything in your mind during the following night for surely he has done teshuvah in the interval.”
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  תולדות נח, a reference to his history, commencing with his own life and continuing with that of his offspring.
  צדיק, in his deeds,
  תמים, in his attitudes, בדורותיו, according to the generations during which he lived. They included part of the generation of Metushelach, of Lemech, and those during the 600 years preceding the deluge.
  את האלוקים התהלך נח, he walked in G’d’s way trying to be helpful to others, and to instruct and if necessary to rebuke them, as our sages pointed out. This is also in accordance with what the historian Berussi Hacaldaii (3rd century B.C.) wrote about him.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  ויולד נח, as soon as he began to rebuke his fellowmen he was granted children
  
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  Verse 12
  
  והנה נשחתה, without external influences, as a natural consequence, not due to man’s ecologically criminal behaviour. Although on the surface, there appeared to be no connection, man’s corruption resulted in the corruption of his habitat. The language used here by the Torah is comparable to Isaiah 47,2 וטחני קמח, “and grind meal.”  One does not grind flour, but one grinds grain into flour. The prophet spoke about the end product. The Torah also spoke about the end product of man’s corruption bringing in its wake, though invisibly, the destruction of the earth’s crust.
  
  Verse 13
  
  ויאמר..קץ כל בשר, a reference to the end of the period G’d had allocated to man for his repentance. 
  בא לפני, this period has now expired.
  כי מלאה הארץ חמס מפניהם, for they all rob each other. The owners rob their leaseholders, the leaseholders rob the owners through deceit, so that in the final analysis all of the earth’s produce is grown for the benefit of robbers.
  והנני משחיתם את הארץ, so that now I will destroy them together with the earth. I will destroy the climate which could support life on earth by interfering with the sun’s orbit and rearranging it from the beginning of the deluge for the entire future. We find that G’d explained this to Job In Job 38, 4-15. This accounts for the lifespan of man having been drastically reduced after the deluge. The climate of the earth changed, there were greater extremes of heat and cold, the produce of the earth was considerably less capable of supporting a long lifespan. As a by-product of this deterioration in the quality of the vegetable products, man was allowed to eat meat as a compensation.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  'עשה לך תבת וגו, during the period allocated to them, in order to remind them to do teshuvah.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  בצדה תשים, on the side which is wide, for that is the side called צד. The long side is referred to as צלע.
  תחתיים, the lower deck in ships; as in any other ship, the customary lower deck.
  שניים ושלשים, they are similar, parallel to the lower deck.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  ואני הנני מביא את המבול, G’d is saying, that Noach’s task is to build the ark, whereas He, when the time expires, will bring on the deluge He had threatened as soon as the ark would be completed. The word מבול is a variant of מפלה, referring to something lost as in Deut. 14,21 כל נבלה, a carcass being a life lost. The definitive article ה in המבול refers to the destruction, the nature of which had not previously been spelled out. [my paraphrasing. Ed.]
  
  Verse 18
  
  והקימותי את בריתי, a reference to the covenant G’d made with Noach after the deluge. 
  
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  Verse 21
  
  ואתה קח לך מכל מאכל, different menus for different species of creatures.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  כי אותך ראיתי צדיק,  not your family, therefore, אתה וכל ביתך, I will let them escape only on account of your merit.
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  הטהורה, at that time all of the pure animals [including free roaming ones] were acceptable as potential offerings to G’d. 
  
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  ותלך התבה, not under its own power but by the pressure of the external waters.
  
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  Verse 23
  
  וימח את כל היקום, the structure of all the living beings was completely dissolved, but not that of the plants. “[trunks of trees might survive in recognisable form, whereas bodies would not be recognisable. Ed.] 
  This is why the Torah added the words מאדם ועד בהמה, עד רמש ועד עוף השמים וימחו מן הארץ, “man or beast, moving creatures, including the birds of the sky disintegrated completely.” No traceable remains survived.
  
  Verse 24
  
  ויגברו...חמישים ומאת יום. These 150 days are counted from the beginning of the 40 days of rainfall. The level of water on the surface of the earth kept increasing for 150 days, concluding on the 17th of the seventh month (Nissan). On that date the ark came to rest (on the waters) seeing there was no pressure exerted on it from any direction. The pressure on the ark to move was exerted from the first day of the rain when the Torah simultaneously reported the fountains below opening and adding their water to that of the rain. (verse 11). The ark resisted this pressure until the waters on earth were so high that they lifted the ark from its base. When the days of rainfall had concluded, the pressure from the subterranean waters kept up until the end of 150 days. When that pressure ceased the ark finally came to rest on Mount Ararat.
  
  
  
  
  
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  וישלח את העורב, to find out if the atmosphere had dried out after the tops of the mountains had become visible. Noach wanted to know if the atmosphere in the meanwhile was such that the raven could tolerate it.
  ויצא יצוא ושוב, this proved that the atmosphere was not yet dry enough for the raven to tolerate it for any extended period of time.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  וישלח את היונה, all of the seven pairs of pigeons [based on the latter ה in front of the word יונה. Ed.]
  לראות הקלו, if the atmosphere had improved they would build their nests in the mountains and high structures as is their custom.
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  כי מים על פני כל הארץ, even on the tops of the mountains which had become visible, everything was still thoroughly wet so that even there לא מצא מנוח לכף רגלו, it could not find a resting place for its foot.
  
  
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  Verse 13
  
  ויסר נח את מכסה התבה, he had thought that the earth had already dried out completely only to find
  והנה חרבה פני האדמה, that whereas there was a thin layer of earth above the water, the earth had not yet dried out thoroughly.
  
  
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  Verse 21
  
  את ריח הניחוח, proving that at that time all these species of ritually pure animals were fit as sacrifices.
  ויאמר ה' אל לבו, what G’d said to Himself at this time He did not reveal to Noach and his sons until they had accepted His commandments and He had established a covenant with them.
  כי יצר לב האדם רע , seeing that after the deluge the climatic conditions on the earth became considerably less favourable, people did not develop as much intellectually and at such an early age as prior to the deluge. Before the deluge, the evil urge, and the urge to act wisely and not self-destructively, had been in balance, now the evil urge was active already in their earliest youth and was not balanced by the presence of an active יצר טוב. [This helps us understand why G’d appeared to be more indulgent of human weakness after the deluge instead of the reverse. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  עוד כל ימי הארץ זרע וקציר, וקור וחום, וקיץ וחורף, ויום ולילה, לא ישבתו; nature will not cease to function dependably as it had prior to the deluge. The sun will orbit predictably, its orbit will be subject to calculation in advance, so will be its position relative to other phenomena in the sky. All the time periods mentioned in this verse will somehow be related to the position of the sun at different times during the year. It would be different from before the deluge. Whereas prior to the deluge the sun had remained at a fixed distance relative to the earth all year round, its orbit being circular, resulting in eternal spring in the populated parts of the earth, now there would be all these changes, though at predetermined intervals, resulting in alternating seasons of relative warmth and cold due to the elliptical nature of the sun’s orbit [Although the author lived approximately at the time of Copernicus having determined that the earth moves around the sun instead of being the center of our galaxy, the basic concept even according to the ancient world view does not invalidate the author’s description of antediluvian and postdiluvian climatic conditions. Ed.. כל ימי הארץ, until such time as G’d would correct this deterioration in living conditions on earth due to the effect of the deluge. This “correction” is what the prophet Isaiah 66,22 had in mind when he spoke of the הארץ החדשה אשר אני עושה, “the new earth which I am going to make.” In that future foreseen by the prophet, the sun will once more orbit like a circle instead of like an ellipsis, a configuration responsible for the uneven temperatures on earth during different parts of the year. At that time, the whole vegetation on earth will undergo an upgrading, the curse earth experienced both after Adam’s sin and after Kayin’s murder of his brother Hevel being lifted. Conditions of length of human life will revert to what they had been before the deluge, as the prophet said that a נער, a youth, if he dies at a hundred years old will be considered as having died in his adolescence and more verses there describing this future. This is also what David referred to in Psalms 65,9 מוצאי בוקר וערב תרנין, “You make the lands of sunrise and sunset shout for joy.”
  
  
  
  
  
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  אך בשר בנפשו, but the flesh of living animals, while its life-force is still inside it,
   i.e. this life-force is equivalent to its blood; you must neither eat its flesh nor its blood,
  לא תאכלו, only in that state must you not eat it; once the blood has left the body, gentiles are allowed to eat blood.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ואך את דמכם לנפשותיכם אדרוש, although I will not punish you for spilling animal’s blood, I will hold you responsible for shedding the blood of fellow human beings. Human beings, all human beings, are more precious to Me than the lives of animals. This retribution for spilling the blood of human beings may on different occasions be applied in different ways: It all depends on the worthiness of the person under attack or potential attack. If, for instance, the person deserves saving, the words מיד כל חיה אדרשנו ומיד אדם are meant in the preventive sense, i.e. G’d will save such a person’s life be it under attack from animals or from human beings. If, in the eyes of G’d, the person under attack does not deserve being saved from violent death, this still did not give the animals or other human beings the right to kill him. Therefore, in such instances, ipso facto, G’d will exact retribution from the killers. 
  This is the meaning of the apparently redundant words מיד איש אחיו אדרוש את נפש האדם, where the word אדרוש refers to the life of a human being that has already been killed. We find the word אדרוש in both senses depending on circumstances, compare Ezekiel 34,10. The emphasis on איש את אחיו, refers to G’d exacting such retribution from humans for killing humans, seeing that this is not their nature, or should not be their nature. He will not exact retribution from an animal which killed a human being who, in G’d’s eyes, had already forfeited its right to live.
  
  Verse 6
  
  באדם דמו ישפך, a reference to a human tribunal.
  כי בצלם אלוקים, this is the reason why G’d exacts retribution for killing human beings, whereas He does not exact retribution from man for killing animals, [even though killing, say for sport is prohibited. Ed.] The animals have not been created in the image of G’d, so that their death does not deprive the earth of a divine image. Only human beings are described in the Torah, on occasion, also as אלוהים, as for instance in Exodus 22,8.  את האדם, from the moment G’d had said (Genesis 1,26) נעשה אדם, “let us make a human being,” He had endowed His creatures with an independent intelligence, able to defy Him either collectively or individually. It is this “divine attribute” of man that makes him sufficiently important for his Creator to demand an accounting from those who destroy that divine image by killing a human being.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ואתם פרו ורבו, not only must you not diminish the human population on earth, but you are commanded to increase it by being fruitful and by multiplying.
  
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  ואני הנני מקים את בריתי, this promise is conditional on man keeping his part of the bargain, bringing murderers to justice. If, however, innocent blood will be shed in the manner it had been before the deluge, this may lead to destruction of the earth (not necessarily by water). This is what is meant in Numbers 35,33 הדם הוא יחניף את הארץ ולארץ לא יכופר לדם אשר שפך בה כי אם בדם שפכו  “for blood turns the earth into a hypocrite and there will be no atonement for the land except through the blood of him who has spilled it.” 
  
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  ולא יהיה עוד מבול לשחת הארץ, there will not ever again be the kind of catastrophe which will destroy the whole surface of the earth at the same time.
  
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  Verse 13
  
  את קשתי נתתי בענן, I have arranged that the rainbow become a natural phenomenon.
  והיתה לאות ברית, there is a dual function to the rainbow; it is true that the scientists have already tired of trying to explain the phenomenon of the various colours of the second rainbow, something which appears in the opposite order of the colours in the original rainbow, [according to the encyclopedia Britannica, there are primary and secondary rainbows, the secondary rainbow having a colour pattern in a reverse order of that known as the primary rainbow. Our author may understand that which has baffled scientists in his time, as a hint of the dual nature of the rainbow, i.e. as a warning, or a promise respectively. Ed.] According to the view of the sages in Ketuvot 77 the very appearance of the rainbow is a reminder that the generation in which it appears is a guilty generation. It is reported there that two generations were fortunate enough that in their time no rainbow was ever observed. This was interpreted as a sign that the people of that generation did not need the phenomenon of the rainbow to alert them to become penitents. Their religious leaders did an outstanding job in prevailing on the people to be Torah-observant. [according to the של'ה, it is not reasonable to assume that there were periods when the laws of nature were suspended and there was no rainbow; rather if the Jewish people during certain periods were very deserving, had lots of merits, so that they did not need to be reminded of the deluge, the rain descended at night when no rainbow would become visible even if they had not been a deserving generation. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  בענני ענן, a reminder that the rainbow will not be visible unless there are dark clouds in the sky after the atmosphere had been very moist.
  
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  וראיתיה לזכור ברית עולם, I will take a close look at how the righteous of that time call the ordinary people to order, and whether their prayers are on behalf of their contemporaries. If they make their weight felt, I, in turn, will remember My covenant in their favour, and My wrath at them will be turned aside.
  
  Verse 17
  
  ויאמר אלוקים לנח זאת אות הברית, the word זאת refers to the “secondary” rainbow, [I mentioned earlier. Ed.] which acts as the sign of the warning aspect of the covenant. When this rainbow appears it is high time to call people to order and to warn them of impending natural calamities unless they change their ways.
  
  Verse 18
  
  וחם הוא אבי כנען, he was similar in his conduct to his son Canaan, who was famous as being evil. Such descriptions implying “like father like son,” are also found, for instance in Ezekiel 16,3 אביך האמורי, “your father the Emorite,” (meaning that the prophet chides Israel for its actions saying these could make one think that Israel’s ancestor had been the Emorite,” (one of the Canaanite tribes).
  
  Verse 19
  
  שלשה אלה בני נח, seeing that all of them were Noach’s sons, G’d blessed them all, even though one of them was wicked, when He said “be fruitful and multiply and fill the globe.” As a result of this blessing, באלה נפצה כל הארץ, the entire population of the earth traces its origin to one of these three sons of Noach.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  ויחל נח, he profaned himself, began to engage in unseemly activities. As a consequence, some of the results were negative. Our story illustrates how a seemingly minor deviation from accepted norms will ultimately result in major deviations from acceptable conduct. A case in point is found in Numbers 25,1 where the Israelites began by indulging in sexual permissiveness with the daughters of Moav, only to end up in worshipping their deities, and 24,000 Israelites being killed by a plague sent by G’d. Interestingly, that chapter also began with the word ויחל, (profaning oneself).
  
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  וירא חם אבי כנען את ערות אביו, he saw the shameful deed his son כנען had done to his father Noach when he had castrated him. (according to some of our sages in Sanhedrin 70) According to the historian Berussi Hacaldaii, (compare Genesis 6,9) Canaan castrated his grandfather not surgically, but by some means of sorcery. His father Cham watched his son invoke the witchcraft without protesting or trying to stop him. Disgrace, shame, is also called ערוה, “nakedness.” Compare Ezra 4,14 וערות מלכא לא אריך לנא למחזא “it is not right that we should see the king being disgraced.” Also, in Deuteronomy 21,4 the expression ערות דבר does not refer to either literal nakedness, or to sexual licentiousness, or incest, but refers to “a disgraceful thing.”
  ויגד לשני אחיו בחוץ, he revealed that he had enjoyed what his son had done. 
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  ופניהם אחורנית, even when only covering their father they walked with their faces averting their eyes from him. It would have caused them additional grief to behold their father in such a state.
  
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  עבד עבדים יהיה לאחיו, his being in a position of dependence to his senior brothers, i.e. a plain עבד, was merely natural, and would not have been a special curse, especially in view of his disgraceful conduct. Solomon  paraphrased this in Proverbs 11,29 when he spoke about ועבד אויל לחכם לב, that “a fool is a slave to the wise-hearted.”
  
  Verse 26
  
  ויהי כנען, his offspring [seeing that the word ויהי is in the future tense; Ed.] 
  עבד למו, to the G’d as well as to the offspring of Shem. The formulation is parallel to Joshua 9,27 where the Gibeonites are condemned to be “hewers of wood and carriers of water” for the Israelites (having duped them into thinking that they were not Canaanites)
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  באהלי שם, (the plural mode) is a reference to Torah academies in addition to the Temple.
  עבד למו, both to Yaphet and to Shem, even at times when the Temple will not stand.
  
  
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  וימות, not before Avraham had already become active, and begun to proclaim the name of G’d, as a true descendant of Shem
  
  
  
  
  
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  ופוט וכנען, the sons of Put are not mentioned separately, as they all formed a single nation retaining the name of their founding father. Proof of this is found in Ezekiel 38,5 פרס, כוש, ופוט אתם, i.e. even in the days of the pre-messianic wars of Gog and Magog, Put will still have its original name.
  
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  ובני כוש סבא וחוילה, each one of these sons became a nation in its own right. This was in addition to those of his sons who continued to bear their founding father’s name. (compare Isaiah 43,3)
  
  Verse 8
  
  וכוש ילד את נמרד, among all the others who were called by their father’s name “Kushites,” there was one special individual who rose to become a world renowned hero, warrior, king.
  
  Verse 9
  
  'לפני ה, this does not mean that he was on the same wavelength as G’d; on the contrary, such expressions are used when someone equates himself and his illusion of power with that of G’d. Compare Jonah 3,3 עיר גדולה לאלוהים, “a great city, G’d-like.” [they were G’d-like in their arrogance. Ed.]
  
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  ותהי ראשית ממלכתו בבל, the Torah mentions this to explain that because of Nimrod’s powerful and relatively civilised kingdom all the people moved to the valley of Shinor to be within the orbit of his power and influence. The illusion of great power, augmented by unity of purpose, led to their insurrection against G’d, and to their downfall. Central symbols always exercised a gravitational pull on people’s minds, as we see even among the Jewish people in the efforts by Jerobam to counteract the centrality of the Temple in Jerusalem. (Kings I 12,26)
  
  Verse 11
  
  מן הארץ ההיא יצא אשור, he emigrated from there because he disagreed with Nimrod politically, i.e. he opposed the building of the Tower (fearing that G’d would punish the people including his children who were associating themselves with rebellious project)
  ויבן את נינוה, because he had distanced himself from the plans undertaken by the four countries under the rule of Nimrod in the land of Shinor, G’d rewarded him to let him build the four cities mentioned here. This is an instance of אל פניו ישלם לו, of G’d recompensing someone for a good deed “to his face,” i.e. so that he can realise that this is what G’d has done for him. (Deuteronomy 7,10)
  
  
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  ולשם יולד, the formulation suggests that the son born to Shem resembled his father in his good qualities, the son in question being עבר. 
  גם הוא אבי כל בני עבר, although, as we know from the description of Avraham as an עברי, a Hebrew, (a descendant of Ever) i.e. as someone believing in G’d the Creator being the sole G’d, and it might appear that Ever initiated this adherence to monotheism in his time, Shem, the father too, was a founder of preaching monotheism in his time. Anyone teaching and instructing others, especially in a way of life and philosophy, is called אבי, “father of.” We have come across this term as possessing such meaning already in Genesis 4,21 when Yuval was introduced as the inventor and teacher of how to play musical instruments featuring strings. Just as the teachers, mentors are called “fathers,” so the disciples are called “sons,” בנים, as in Samuel I 10,12 בני הנביאים, “the disciples of the prophets.”
  
  
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  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  פלג..כי בימיו נפלגה הארץ, this verse informs us of the moral stature of Ever who was able to foresee by means of holy spirit what the future held in store during the lifetime of his son. He called his son Peleg in order to allude to the fact that commencing with his son, man’s life on earth would be drastically shorter. In fact, it was due to the sin committed when his generation built the Tower, that G’d punished them by making them physically weaker so that they aged much more rapidly. The collapse of the Tower was also accompanied by a change in the earth’s climate. (may be not so much the earth’s climate, but the adjustment necessary for the bodies of the people emigrating to regions on earth which had a climate different from that in Mesopotamia)
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  בנסעם מקדם, they were leading the lives of nomads, much like shepherds who move to wherever there was good grazing land for their flocks.
  
  Verse 3
  
  הבה נלבנה לבנים, now they wanted to build permanent housing for themselves and pens for the flocks and herds. This was a common consensus, as we know from the Torah describing their speaking to each other as ויאמרו איש אלך רעהו, “they said each to his colleague.”
  
  Verse 4
  
  ויאמרו הבה נבנה לנו עיר, this was at the advice of their leaders who wanted to enthrone Nimrod as king over the entire human race,
  ומגדל וראשו בשמים ונעשה לנו שם, the meaning of the words נעשה שם, is a metaphor for “let us make a supreme idol.” This idol was to be placed on top of the Tower. They hoped that the visibility of the Tower and its symbol on top would ensure that they would be most highly esteemed among people all over the world, regardless of whether such people had become part of their city-state. Anyone ruling their city, would automatically be recognised as the ruler of mankind.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  וירד ה' לראות, The Torah uses the expression “G’d descended to see, etc.,” only when the sins committed by the people concerned were not yet ripe for severe punishment but would become so if left unchecked. Retribution which results from G’d “descending,” must be viewed as a kind of preventive medicine, designed to avoid the need for more drastic action at a later stage. One well known example of G’d’s preventive retribution is the בן סורר ומורה, a thirteen year old who stole a little meat and wine from his parents, and whose punishment is execution if the parents brought him to court as an unmanageable teenager (Deut. 21,18, see Rashi, and Sanhedrin 72 on this). In the case of Sodom, where G’d is also reported as “descending,” (Genesis 18,21) this also occurred at a time when their sin had not yet been greater than that of other surrounding nations, so that only these cities had to be singled out for punishment at that time. What distinguished the Sodomites was only the cruelty with which they committed the same kind of sins as those committed by other nations. This would eventually have led to such a corrupt world that the need for G’d to intervene on a global rather than a local basis, would have become unavoidable. Ezekiel 16,49 also describes the sin of the Sodomites in such terms when he wrote הנה זה היה עון סדום אחותך...ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה”This was the sin of Sodom your sister…..but the hand of the poor and the needy she did not support.” Similarly, the punishment of the Israelites when they were exiled was brought forward out of concern that something worse might become their fate if G’d did not intervene at that time and exile them so that He would not eventually have to punish them even more harshly. (Deut 32,20) “I can see what would be their ultimate end.” 
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  הן עם אחד, the only way I can stop them from carrying out their unanimously approved plan is to sow the seeds of discord between them. The instrument of bringing this about is to confuse their language. Basically, people’s disagreements are either religious, (philosophical) in nature, or they result from misunderstanding what they mean when they speak. These people had been of one mind in matters of religion, seeing that they had all agreed with the mistaken idolatrous philosophy shared by mankind at that time. In spite of such apparently good reasons for disagreeing with one another, they did not misunderstand each other.
  וזה החלו לעשות, and yet they all agree to begin this project. 
  ועתה לא יבצר מהם, in view of these circumstances, if left alone, they would complete what they have set out to do, so that this form of idolatry they have agreed on would henceforth be something embraced by all of mankind. Not a single one of them would turn to the Creator of the universe and realise that He, and He alone, is the Creator of the entire universe. On the other hand, the opposite will occur if discord will break out among them regarding the supremacy of any of the deities versus the competing ones. In such a scenario, every nation would believe that there is one deity that is superior to all the various national deities, whose concern is only with the particular nation worshipping that deity. All the minor deities would have to subordinate themselves to the power of that super-deity. The prophet Maleachi 1,11 expresses this in the following words: ”for from where the sun rises to where it sets, My name is honoured among the nations;” כי ממזרח שמש ועד מבואו גדול שמי בגוים. 
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  ויולד בנים ובנות, the Torah does not mention even once the word וימות, “he died,” something that appears with the report of each of the generations preceding the deluge. The reason why the Torah mentioned the death of those generations was because each of them died before the main subject of the entire chapter had been reached, i.e. the destruction of life on earth by the deluge. The people in the generations from Noach onward are considered as having been forerunners fo a positive development, as opposed to their predecessors who simply died before everybody else died also. In our chapter the thrust of the story is to show that eventually a towering personality such as Avraham emerged on earth, so that those who preceded him may be viewed as paving the way for Avraham’s eventual emergence on the stage of history. Avraham’s greatness is enhanced by the relatively insignificant lives of his predecessors.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  ללכת ארצה כנען, this land is prepared for enabling its residents to acquire all intellectual advantages, and, as far as G’d is concerned, it is the most preferred of all the countries on earth. We have this on the authority of the Torah itself which says of that land (Deuteronomy 11,12) ארץ אשר ה' אלוקיך דורש אותה תמיד עיני ה' אלוקיך בה מרשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה, “and concerning which G’d enquires constantly, His eyes being trained on it from the beginning of the year until the year’s end.” The climate of the land of Canaan had not been negatively affected by the rains of the deluge, as had the climate of all other parts of the globe. We have this on the authority of Ezekiel 22,24 ארץ לא גשמה ביום זעם, “a land which did not experience rain on the day of the fury.” This may well be the reason why the sages (Baba Batra 58) said that the climate of the land of Israel makes people smarter.
  
  Verse 32
  
  וימת תרח בחרן, he had not made an effort to realise his intention of moving all the way to the land of Canaan as he had set out to do in verse 31. He never even visited his son Avraham in the land of Canaan, never observing with his own eyes what a great name Avraham had made for himself and G’d there. Lot, on the other hand, did the opposite for a while at least, having joined Avraham, kept him company and this is why both he and his offspring benefited from this both immediately, such as when Lot became rich in Egypt, as well as much later when Israel was not allowed to conquer the lands belonging to Lot’s descendants, i.e. Ammon and Moav. (compare Nachmanides on Pinchas 25,18)
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  אל הארץ אשר אראך, to the specific area within the country which I will show you in a heavenly vision. This is why Avram kept moving further into the land without pitching his tent to settle down until he received the appropriate sign from G’d. This occurred when he reached Shechem, where we are told that G’d appeared to him (verse 7)
  
  Verse 2
  
  והיה ברכה, a true blessing by G’d is when G’d rejoices in our deeds and actions. Our sages (Berachot 7) illustrate this when they quote a conversation between the High Priest Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha who, while offering incense on Yom Kippur, had a vision of the angel Katriel sitting on the throne of G’d. The latter said to him: “Yishmael, My son, bless Me.” He said to him: (in the words attributed as being G’d’s own ‘prayer’) “may it be Your will that Your mercy will subdue Your anger and may Your mercy exile Your justified attribute to punish Your people for their sins, and may Your mercy prevail so that You deal with Your children by applying the attribute of Mercy.” When G’d’s representative, the angel Katriel heard this, he touched the High Priest on the head, which the latter took as a sign that the blessing uttered by an inferior creature for a superior should not be dismissed as worthless.” [I have stuck more closely to the text of the Talmud than did the author here. Ed.] G’d here blessed Avram, with becoming the one who would preach monotheism including awareness of the benevolence of G’d which He extends to all of His creatures.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ויצאו ללכת ארצה כנען, a land of which they had heard that it was singularly suited for people of their religious beliefs, a land in which the true G’d could be worshipped without hindrance.
  ויבאו ארצה כנען, as opposed to Terach, who had also set out originally to go to the land of Canaan but had stopped at Charan, these people with Avram at their head made good on their intention.
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  ויעבר אברם בארץ, Avram did not stop anywhere in his journey south through the land of Canaan until G’d appeared to him as He had said: “to the land which I will show you.” (verse 1).
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  בית אל מים והעי מקדם, between two large cities, in order to attract large crowds who could hear him preach.
  
  Verse 9
  
  הלוך ונסוע הנגבה, when he journeyed, as is the custom of shepherds, he did not move to the east and to the west alternately, but kept moving in a southerly direction. He did this in order not to deviate from moving between one of the two towns he had been between when he first stopped between Bet El and Ai. Members of those cities had begun to trail him planning to join him.
  
  Verse 10
  
  לגור שם, not to settle there permanently.
  
  Verse 11
  
  כאשר הקריב, close to the time when it became necessary to take such precautions, so that he would not forget.
  לבא מצרימה, a country which was equivalent to a giant brothel. This is mentioned even more forcefully in Ezekiel 23,20 where the prophet describes the carnal attitudes of the Egyptians as אשר בשר חמורים בשרם, וזרמת סוסים זרמתם, “those whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys, and whose sperm is the sperm of horses.” 
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  והרגו אותי, because they do not expect me to agree to give you to them.
  
  Verse 13
  
  למען ייטב לי, so that when you will say that you are my sister, each one will entertain the hope that I will agree to your marrying them. Therefore, none of them will have any reason to kill me. Rather, he will seek my approval by offering me a dowry for you. It was the custom in those days that the father of the bride would be bribed with money or its equivalent to agree to let his daughter marry someone. This also explains why the Torah speaks of מהר ימהרנה in Exodus 22,15-16, i.e. “he (the seducer) shall pay a heavy dowry,” and why the option to refuse such a marriage is not so much the girl’s but her father’s, as we see from the verse following.
  
  Verse 14
  
  ויראו המצרים, all of them, when looking at Sarai, entertained the very thoughts Avraham had anticipated.
  
  Verse 15
  
  ויראו אותה שרי פרעה, they quickly quashed any hopes the commoners had entertained relating to marrying this woman.
  
  Verse 16
  
  ותקח האשה ולאברם היטיב, the members of Pharaoh’s household did not even waste time to seduce Sarai but abducted her forcefully. They thought that seeing that it was a compliment for Sarai to be desired by the king himself, she would automatically consent to such an elevation of her status. Seeing that she had described herself only as Avram’s sister and not his wife, they had no reason to believe that there was a legal obstacle to such a union. Pharaoh himself said “I took her as a wife for myself,” not a concubine, not a mistress. In verse 19 he explains that he had taken Sarai as a wife, feeling certain that she was not legally linked to any other man.
  
  Verse 17
  
  וינגע ה' את פרעה נגעים גדולים, only Pharaoh was struck with “great” afflictions, 
  whereas his household suffered lesser afflictions. This was arranged by G’d so that the Egyptians, when they saw that only Sarai had remained completely immune to these afflictions, would conclude that the afflictions were on account of her and her fate.
  
  Verse 18
  
  למה לא הגדת לי, even if you had reason to suspect the ordinary citizens would harm you on account of her, surely you could have told me, the king, the truth, seeing that it is my task to rule with justice.
  
  Verse 19
  
  ?למה אמרת אחותי היא, even after she had already been brought to my palace?
  ואקח אותה לי לאשה, so that I took her to be my wife, not my concubine. I though that seeing that she is your sister you would surely approve of this union!
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ואברם כבד מאד במקנה, this is why he had to travel slowly, even though he wanted to return quickly to the site of the altar where he wanted to continue his preaching as he had done before the famine.
  
  Verse 3
  
  וילך למסעיו, this is why he traveled on his routes, i.e. the routes all the shepherds took when journeying in that direction.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  ולא נשא אותם הארץ, the grazing land available in that region was inadequate for their combined herds.
  
  Verse 7
  
  ויהי ריב בין רועי מקנה אברם ובין רועי מקנה לוט, there was an argument between who would succeed to drive out the other from the available grazing land they would find.
  והכנעני והפריזי אז יושב בארץ. This is why a quarrel between two brothers who lived side by side was especially embarrassing and harmful to the image of Avram among the surrounding tribes. When those tribes would see the brothers quarrel, they would assume that neither of them was a peace-loving individual and they would reason that they had even more reason to quarrel with either one of those recent immigrants.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ביני ובינך, in the future. When either one of them would select for his herds a certain grazing area.
  אל נא תהי מריבה, the result of competing aspirations to the same grazing land.
  ובין רועי ובין רועיך, now that we dwell here.
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  הלא כל הארץ לפניך, I’ll let you choose the area which you prefer. 
  Therefore, הפרד נא מעלי, move away from me in the direction you prefer and I will move in the opposite direction. If you select grazing land to the left, I will select grazing land to the right.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  ויבחר לו לוט, he selected as much area as he himself with his shepherds would manage to control as their grazing land. In this section of the earth Avram and his shepherds would not be allowed to graze. 
  ויסע לוט מקדם, he did not turn right or left which were north and south, but he moved from the east to the west to distance himself from Avram [the author translated מקדם as meaning “from the east,” though this is difficult to reconcile with the fact that the Jordan valley is east from the region of Bet El and Ai where Avram and Lot had been reported last in verse 3. The area of the Jordan valley was the area from which the Israelites under the leadership of Joshua would enter the land of Canaan (Joshua chapter 4)
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  אברם ישב בארץ כנען, even though the city of Sodom and its satellite towns are on the border of the land of Canaan, the people living in those cities at that time, were not Canaanites. It was therefore in order for the Torah to write that Avram- as opposed to Lot- settled in the land of Canaan. He settled in the part of the land inhabited by Canaanites. They were not as evil as the Sodomites. Avram did not move close to the boundary of Sodom at all.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  אחרי הפרד לוט, G’d did not say what follows while Lot was still in Avram’s company, so that the latter would not boast and his shepherds would engage in stealing grazing land from the local inhabitants claiming G’d’s promise to Avram of future possession as their justification.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  לך אתננה, for even in your own lifetime you will be regarded as a prince of G’d, and deserving of great honour (compare Genesis 23,6)
  
  Verse 18
  
  ויאהל אברם, an expression denoting the encamping, erecting one’s many tents.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויהי בימי אמרפל מלך שנער, who was widely known as a powerful king in his generation and also later. During his lifetime the kings listed forthwith, i.e. Aryoch, king of Elassar, Kedorlaomer, king of Eylam, and Tidal, king of Goyim, jointly made war against Bera, etc.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  כל אלה, all the ones just named, Amrafel and the two groups that conducted the war.
  חברו אל עמק השדים, gathered in that valley and arrived at a compromise concerning the dispute between them. From that time on, the five kings and their subjects served Kedorlaomer, paying him taxes for 12 years, after which they rebelled.
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  עבדו את כדרלעמר, after the compromise they had reached 12 years ago. Afterwards, they rebelled.
  
  Verse 5
  
  והמלכים אשר אתו, the ones who had been signatories to the compromise deal 12 years previously, amongst whom had also been Amrafel.
  ויכו את הרפאים...ואת הזוזים...ואת האימים, all of these people had been subservient to the group of 5 kings headed by the king of Sodom, and had even fought wars on behalf of their masters. By telling us all this, the Torah wanted us to know that the five kings were not just paper tigers, pushovers. By inference, it enables us to imagine the military power of the four kings who defeated the five kings afterwards. Having once appreciated all this, we can image what a tremendous feat Avram accomplished when he defeated the four kings under the leadership of Kedorleomer. He must have possessed outstanding military skills in order to have accomplished this. It also testifies to the act of selfless love he displayed for his nephew, when he endangered himself and his men to such a degree in order to free him from captivity. Most of all, it gives us a chance to marvel at the mercy G’d showed both to Lot and to Avram in this sequence of events.
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  וינוסו מלך סדום, this made it plain that Avram could not rely on them that they would help him.
  והנשארים הרה נסו, the remaining three kings. 
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ויקחו את לוט בן אחי אברם, they made a special effort to capture Lot because he was Avram’s nephew. They were aware of his wealth. They were expecting that Avram would pay a heavy ransom for the release of his nephew.
  
  Verse 13
  
  ויגד לאברם העברי, this refugee had no idea that Lot was related to Avram. He only knew that Lot’s religious beliefs were similar to those of Avram.
  והוא שוכן באלוני ממרא, this is why Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre participated in the war with Avram, and why he insisted in verse 24 that they receive their share of the loot.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
   וירדוף עד רן, in his pursuit to attack them suddenly.
  
  Verse 15
  
  ויחלק עליהם לילה, he divided his forces all around them to make them believe that they were being attacked by large forces from several fronts. We have been told about a similar situation in Kings II 7,6 when the Aramites fled headlong after hearing noises that convinced them that they were being attacked by large forces.
  לילה, this was also part of the subterfuge, preventing the kings from realising that they were facing insignificant numbers of opponents. In Samuel II 17,1 this was the advice to Avshalom by Achitofel when he advised to pursue David at night.
  ויכם, the defeat caused them to flee.
   וירדפם, the beginning of all pursuits is putting people to flight.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  וגם את הנשים, he liberated Lot’s wives, as well as 
  העם, all the ordinary people of Sodom who had been taken captive. It was these whom the King of Sodom asked to be restored to him, when he “graciously” (verse 21) offered that Avram could keep the chattels.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  הוציא לחם ויין, to all those returning from battle who were tired.
  והוא כהן, it was appropriate therefore that he should intone blessings.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ויברכהו ויאמר ברוך אברם לאל עליון, first he blessed on his own behalf. Then he added that Avram was also blessed by the Supreme G’d. He said basically the same as G’d Himself had said to Avram in 12,2.
  קונה שמים וארץ, heaven and earth are His, to do with as He pleases. They do not have a will of their own as some scientists believe. G’d alone works His will on them, using them according to His will.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  וברוך אל עליון, this power G’d gave to Avram to enable him to overcome his enemies, is a blessing for the Lord. He is able to rejoice in the deeds of His creatures when the wicked perish, and when He makes the righteous rejoice in their success. David expressed it in these words in Psalms 117,1-2 שבחוהו כל האומים גי גבר עלינו חסדו, “Praise the Lord all you nations. Extol Him, all you peoples; for great is His steadfast love toward us;”
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  אם מחוט ועד שרוך נעל, every time the word אם occurs in Scripture and is not followed by a verb making it a conditional statement, it is used instead of the word שלא, “so that not.” Avram’s statement here means: “I have sworn an oath not to give you even a shoelace or a length of thread as I do not own any of these things. Conversely, I will also not take (accept) anything that is (was) yours.” G’d said something similar to the Jewish people after the debacle of the spies in Numbers 14,23) when He said אם יראו את הארץ, which is a way of saying that they will most certainly not get to see the land (of Israel). In verse 30 in the same chapter the words אם אתם תבאו also mean “you will certainly not come.” Similarly, Samuel I 15,6 חי ה' אם יומת, means “an oath to G’d that he will not be executed, etc.” Also, in Kings II 5,16 חי ה' אשר עמדתי לפניו אם אקח וגו', means: “As the Lord lives whom I serve, I will not accept anything.” There are many similar examples.
  
  Verse 24
  
  בלעדי , “you have said: give me the people, and keep the loot,” I have no intention of taking anything, as I am not even exercising control over any of it.”
  רק אשר אכלו הנערים וחלק האנשים, this alone is what they will take from the spoils of war which used to be yours. Avram, who had to supply provisions for his soldiers out of his own pocket, etc., said: I will use only what is needed to reimburse myself as well as the men with me.
  אבל ענר אשכול וממרא הם יקחו חלקם, I will neither give them a share, nor will I accept a share on their behalf, but they will themselves take the share they are entitled to.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  אל תירא אברם, do not worry that the four kings will avenge themselves on you.
  שכרך, not only that, but your reward over and beyond that is so great that your merits have not decreased on account of your success in that battle. You deserve much more reward for having gone to the assistance of your brother, displaying a supreme degree of love for him and for those belonging to him. You have liberated the victims of kidnappers.
  הרבה מאד, both in this world
   and in the world to come. We have been taught, and recite daily in our prayers, that there are things for which one receives some dividends in this world, whereas the principal comes due in the hereafter. One of the good deeds which qualify for such reward is known as גמילות חסדים, the performing of deeds of loving kindness involving not only one’s checkbook but one’s very body (Peah, 1,1).
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ?מה תתן לי, a reference to the reward in this life.
  ערירי, “I have no son who can take my place.” Compare Jeremiah 22,30 כתבו את האיש הזה ערירי כי לא יצלח מזרעו איש יושב על כסא דוד, “record this man as without succession; one who shall never be found successful, for none of his offspring will be accepted to sit on the throne of David.” (the subject of this curse is כניהו son and heir of Yehoyakim) 
  ובן משק ביתי הוא דמשק אליעזר, he is only a slave, known only in his home town. There can be no question but that similar actions performed by a slave who is in constant fear of his master’s disapproval, even if in fact the same as those performed by the master’s son, are different in quality, and in effect from one another. The same chores performed by the son are motivated by love instead of by fear.
  
  Verse 3
  
  בן ביתי יורש אותי, even though, in the end, You will give me biological offspring, as You have said in 12,7 לזרעך אתן את הארץ הזאת, “I will give this land to your descendants,” such children will only be minors at the time, so that my servant Eliezer will have to raise them and guide them, in effect being my heir.
  
  Verse 4
  
  לא יירשך זה כי אם אשר יצא ממעיך, for the son would succeed taking over Avram’s leadership role amongst large number of followers while his father was still alive. This is the true meaning of Genesis 25, 5-6 ויתן אברהם את כל אשר לו ליצחק בנו.... בעודנו חי,” Avraham handed over all that was his to his son Yitzchok while he was still alive.” This is followed by the statement that Avraham sent away the sons of the concubines from the presence of his son Yitzchok.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  'והאמין בה, he had full confidence that G’d would carry out all that He had promised, even though to an unprejudiced observer, the matter looked extremely unlikely and unnatural.
  ויחשבה לו צדקה, G’d credited Avram with having performed an act of faith which deserved to be described as an act of righteousness. This verse was written primarily in order to prevent us from considering Avram’s query במה אדע כי אירשנה, as an expression of doubt in G’d’s promise to him. (verse 8) If Avram had retracted even in the slightest from his firm trust in G’d’s promise, what would have been the point in the Torah explicitly telling us that G’d rated his trust as so praiseworthy? Ezekiel, dealing with such fickle faith in G’d, asks ובשוב צדיק מצדקתו ויעשה עול...כל צדקותיו אשר עשה לא תזכרנה “if a righteous person were to renege from his righteousness and commit evil, none of the righteous deeds he had ever performed would be worth mentioning.” (Ezekiel 18,24)
  
  Verse 7
  
  אשר הוצאתיך מאור כשדים לתת לך את הארץ הזאת, for you, personally, will acquire this land by an act of taking symbolic possession of it. 
  לרשתה, so that the children (descendants) would inherit it from you under the heading of an inheritance, i.e. without any interruption in this land being owned by Israelites.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  במה אדע, for possibly my descendants will sin and forfeit their claim to this land.
  
  Verse 9
  
  קחה לי עגלה, take a heifer for Me, in order to enter into a covenant concerning this assurance. Converting G’d’s promise into what is known as a “covenant,” is equivalent to G’d reinforcing His promise by an oath, something which is unconditional and irrevocable. (Rosh Hashanah 18) Moses himself confirmed this interpretation when he said (Deut 9,5)  “not due to your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart, but due to the wickedness of these nations does G’d dispossess them on your account; and in order to keep His promise which He had sworn to your forefathers Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov 
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  ידוע תדע, here G'd informed Avram why it would take such a long time before His promise to Avraham that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan could be fulfilled. G'd would not be justified in expelling a nation from its homeland until its measure of sin is full to overflowing. Therefore G'd told Avram ידוע תדע כי גר יהיה זרעך בארץ לא להם, that his own descendants would be strangers in a land which is not theirs until such time as the local inhabitants could legally be expelled by G'd from the land of Canaan. At the same time, He also told him about what would happen to his descendants in the interval, i.e. enslavement, cruel oppression, etc., for at least some of the intervening years. However, G'd implied that such suffering would not occur during the periods when Avram's descendants would be righteous. We know from the dates when the sons of Yaakov died, that as long as even a single one of them survived, no restrictions of any kind were imposed on the Israelites in Egypt, in spite of their having increased at a phenomenal rate already. All of these developments are attested to in Ezekiel in 20, 8-9 when he referred to the descendants of Yaakov in Egypt becoming rebellious and refusing to honour their tribal obligations vis-à-vis the G'd of Avraham-Yitzchok, and Yaakov. The reason why the prophet dragged up such ancient history was only in order to make plain to the newly exiled nation that their misfortunes had always been due only to their betrayal of their covenant with G'd. Compare Isaiah 48,5 ואגיד לך מאז בטרם תבא השמעתיך פן תאמר עצבי עשם וגו' "therefore I told you long beforehand, announced things to you ere they happened; that you might not say: 'my idol cause them, my carved and molten images ordained them."
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  וגם את הגוי אשר יעבדו דן אנכי, just as I judge your descendants, for the wickedness with enslavement and cruel suppression, so I will judge the nation that enslaves them."
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  הנה עצרני ה' מלדת, "even though G'd has promised to grant you offspring to whom I will give this land, (Genesis 12,7) He has not said that the mother of Avram's offspring would be I."
  	אולי אבנה ממנה, Sarah hoped that the jealousy which would develop within her when she saw that Hagar gave birth to a child for Avram would stimulate her own biological and sexual urges so that in due course she too would become pregnant by her husband. (based on Megillah 13)
  	שרי לקול, the Torah wants to make plain that Avram was not motivated by sexual lust to sleep with Hagar, but had only fallen in with Sarai's reasoning, hoping to assuage her feelings in the matter.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  חמסי עליך, "you should have rebuked her for her conduct vis-à-vis me, seeing that she has become your wife [and you are now her boss instead of me. Ed.] She treats me as inconsequential after she has become pregnant from you."
  
  Verse 6
  
  שפחתך בידך, for she has not been given her freedom by you who are her mistress.
  	ותענה שרי, Sarai's objective in maltreating Hagar was to remind her of the fact that she remained her slave. She was not to insult her mistress any more. She meant to make clear that any gentile who insults Israelites will experience similar harsh treatment. Compare Isaiah 60,14 והשתחוו על כפות רגליך כל מנאציך, "all those who reviled you shall prostrate themselves at your (Israel) feet."
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  'וימצאה מלאך ה, the angel found her in a state of readiness to receive a Divine vision. As a result, he appeared o her. [after all it is not likely that an angel roamed the earth looking for Hagar. Ed.]
  	על עין המים, she was engaged in prayer. Compare Pessachim 11 where the words of the angel in verse 11 כי שמע ה' אל עניך "for the Lord has heard your affliction" are understood as referring to Hagar's prayer prior to her receiving this vision.
  	על העין, at a junction of the roads. Whenever there is a juncture of two roads this is described as עינים. The place where these two roads commence is called פתח עינים. In Rabbinic parlance this is known as פרשת דרכים, "a parting of the ways." (Ketuvot 17)
  	בדרך שור, this is a place known as חגר, as interpreted by Onkelos. This is a town on the order of the land of Israel, or just beyond the border as mentioned in Gittin 2. The Torah informs us by mentioning this detail that it had been Hagar's intention to emigrate from the land of Israel (Canaan).
  
  Verse 8
  
  ?אי מזה באת ואנה תלכי, the angel wanted Hagar to realise what kind of an unprofitable exchange she was about to make if she left the house of a man such as Avram and traded that holy environment in the land of Canaan, preferring the spiritually contaminated regions outside the Holy Land and the evil people residing there.
  	אנכי בורחת, "I am not going to a place I have chosen myself; I am simply escaping intolerable conditions." 
  
  Verse 9
  
  והתעני, the additional comment after telling Hagar to return to her mistress, was an allusion to the future; it would be Hagar's destiny, as well as that of her offspring to submit to the authority of the Jewish people. Kings II 13,17 where the prophet Elisha instructs the king to shoot arrows [which are ostensibly not intended to hit anyone. Ed.] is similarly an allusion to the future, foreshadowing events yet to occur. The words כן כן יסד המלך in Esther 1,8 are also to be understood in a similar fashion. The king's decree to let everyone enjoy the feast according to the laws of his own religion was a cornerstone of the policy which enabled Achashverosh to rule over so many diverse cultures as existed in the 127 provinces of his empire.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  פרא אדם. The word פרא describes a wild donkey, an animal that has not been domesticated. The angel told Hagar that the son she would bear would be genetically very similar in his character to a wild donkey. This would be due to his having part of the genes of his Egyptian mother. The prophet Ezekiel already described the Egyptians as being physically not much different from wild donkeys (Ezekiel 23,20) These characteristics would manifest themselves in the fact that he would make his home in the desert, a region not imposing restrictions on him. The Torah testifies to this in Genesis 21,20. The reason that the word אדם is added by the angel in describing Ishmael, was that he would inherit any human traits from his father Avram. The fact that he did possess such traits is confirmed by the Midrash which claims that he became a penitent before his father Avraham's death. (Baba Batra 16).
  
  Verse 13
  
  'ותקרא שם ה, the meaning of the words ותקרא שם ה', is prayer. It refers to the kind of prayer in which one praises the Lord, or thanks Him. This prayer may be offered silently, in one's mind or with words. The source for this definition is found in Berachot 32: "as a rule a person should first address G'd by praising Him, before beginning to pray." [to tell G'd of his requests from Hi. Ed.] This thought is reflected in the inscription in most synagogues on the Holy Ark שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד, "I am ever mindful of the Lord's presence" (Psalms 16,8) The word קרא for prayer is also found in Lamentations 3,55 קראתי שמך ה', "I have prayed to You o Lord," as well as in Psalms 79,6 ושמואל בקוראי שמו, "as well as the prophet Samuel who would pray (successfully) to Him." Also the well-known line כי שם ה' אקרא, (Deut. 32,3) is best translated as "for I will pray to the Lord," rather than as "I will proclaim the name of the Lord." Hagar's new insight, expressed by her saying אתה א-ל ראי, meant that whereas up until now she had assumed that revelations from G'd are confined to the house of Avram, she had now learned that G'd may reveal Himself in any location. This is in line with Baba Metzia 59 כל השערים ננעלו חוץ משערי דמעות, that although the gates of prayer have largely remained shut since the destruction of the Temple, the prayer of people complaining (shedding tears) of being dealt with unfairly by their fellow human beings have not been closed.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  שם בנו אשר ילדה הגר ישמעאל, he was aptly called by that name both from Avram's point of view and from Hagar's point of view. Avraham prayed on behalf of his son Yishmael in 17,20, whereas Hagar's prayer had been heard as confirmed to her by the angel. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  'וירא ה, a מראה is always a vision one level lower than true prophecy. This is why G'd said to Moses in Exodus 6,3 ושמי ה' לא נודעתי להם, "but I had not revealed to them My true name Hashem."
  	אני א-ל שדי, "I am the One Who is sufficient unto Himself by My very existence to carry out My special function the creation of the universe all by Myself without assistance by anyone else. [The word די expresses this self-sufficiency of the Lord/Creator. Ed.] The very opposite is true of all created phenomena other than the Creator. [the difference between G'd and creatures is that G'd is a "self-starter," whereas all other phenomena require something to activate them even when performing the functions for which they have been created. Ed.] This all means that the recipient of a visual image,  מראה, a vision, becomes aware of the existence of the Creator and His power, without him however becoming aware of underlying causes of such. The patriarchs became witnesses to G'd performing "invisible" miracles, as distinct from the "visible" miracles performed by Moses and other prophets after him to some extent. [an "invisible" miracle maybe recognized as such because the time and place has been foretold to the beneficiary, as in the case where the angels told Avram that Sarah would give birth to a son within the year. "Visible" miracles, are for instance, water turning into blood, or all the firstborn of one nation dying at the same time [after this event having been announced.] the latter type of miracle says more about G'd as the originator of all that occurs in the universe than does the former kind of miracle. This latter kind of insight was not revealed by G'd before Moses, as we quoted form Exodus 6,3.
  	התהלך, an instruction to conduct himself in this manner in all his activities.
  	לפני, as if you were looking for guidance Me in all your undertakings and trying to emulate Me. We have adopted this concept when we inscribe our synagogues with the verse שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד, "I am ever mindful of the Lord's presence." (Psalms 16,8)
  	והיה תמים, "acquire the maximum degree of perfection human being are capable of attaining. Be intelligent so that you can acquire more intimate knowledge of Me through recognising the way I operate in the universe. As a result you will be emulate My attributes to the degree that this is possible for humans." The deeds of man reflect his having emulated G'd when he tried to do so. This is what Moses had in mind when he asked G'd: הודיעני נא את דרכיך ואדעך, "make know to me Your ways so that by this means I will get to know You." (Exodus 33,13) This is the ultimate perfection that the human species is able to achieve. This was G'd's objective for man when He created him, when he added the word בצלמנו, "in our image," when announcing that He was about to create man with the words נעשה אדם בצלמנו כדמותנו, "let us make man in our image" (Genesis 1,26).
  
  Verse 2
  
  ואתנה בריתי ביני ובינך, it is on this basis that I will establish My covenant between Me and between you. להיות לך לאלוהים ולזרעך אחריך, so that you will teach your descendants the lesson you have absorbed about Me.
  
  Verse 3
  
  ויפול אברם על פניו, this was a voluntary act demonstrating his gratitude to G'd for entering into the covenant with him.
  
  Verse 4
  
  אני הנה בריתי אתך, "I am now doing what I had told you, to make the covenant actual."
  
  Verse 5
  
  והיה שמך אברהם, "henceforth you name will be Avraham. Immediately."
  	כי אב המון גויים נתתיך, for the significance of this name change will commence as of this day. The word נתתיך in the past tense means that this process has already commenced. This is why לא יקרא עוד שמך אברם, your name from now on will now longer be Avram, ever. This was a different name change from when Yaakov was accorded the name ישראל. That name was an additional name which did not replace his original name Yaakov. The matter will be explained in due course.
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  להיות לך לאלוקים ולזרעך אחריך, to accept Me as your exclusive deity, without any intermediary, just as G'd is the sold G'd of all the enduring phenomena in the world (the planets, stars, etc.) Solomon phrased it thus in Kohelet 3,14: כי כל אשר יעשה האלוקים הוא יהיה לעולם. According to our author this verse proves that anything which G'd has created without intermediary is eternal, endures, whereas when we see creatures and other phenomena disintegrate, this is proof that they were brought into existence by intermediaries of G'd, by His agents, not by Himself. Observing the terms of this covenant was concluded with G'd directly, not with an intermediary
  
  Verse 8
  
  לאחוזת עולם, "I will be your G'd in order that you may carry out My will, and He gave them the land presently belonging to other nations in order that they keep His statutes." (Psalms 105, 44-45) When they do this they will achieve eternal existence individually, not merely as a species.
  
  Verse 9
  
  ואתה את בריתי תשמר, "just as I keep My part of the covenant, I want you to keep your part of My covenant. Unless the covenant is respected mutually it will be invalid.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  לאות ברית, as a constant reminder to walk in His paths. The sign of the circumcision is to be like the stamp on the skin of a slave identifying him as belonging to a certain master.
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  בבשרכם; the word בשר is a euphemism for the reproductive organ of the male, as for instance in Ezekiel 16,26 גדלי בשר, "with outsized male member." Or, Leviticus 5, 2-3 זב מבשר, "an uncontrolled seminal emission from his male organ." There are more examples of the word בשר having that same meaning. Seeing that the organ on which the covenant with G'd is marked is the organ instrumental in ensuring a man's continuity beyond death through the genes of his offspring, it is appropriate that the covenant which represents the eternal intimate and reciprocal relationship of G'd and the Jewish people should be symbolized in this manner.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  וברכתיה, both during her pregnancy, the act of giving birth, and in the raising of the son, all of these being painless. This is the exact reverse of the curse G'd decreed on Chavah and women in general, when He said בעצב תלדי בנים, "you will give birth to children in pain and sorrow." (Genesis 3,16) Sarah was promised to be spared that curse which other women are afflicted with. This may be the meaning of Isaiah 29,22 אשר פדה את אברהם, "who has redeemed Avraham i.e. from the painful experience associated with raising children. (Sanhedrin 19)
  
  Verse 17
  
  ?הלבן מאה שנה יולד; He meant that although it is possible for a woman to become pregnant after her prime, when this occurs it is only when she sleeps with a younger man. It has not been known to occur when her partner is also an old man.
  	הבת תשעים שנהת לד, when she sleeps with any man whether young or old. (based on Abarbanel)
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויעל אלוקים מעל אברהם, this formulation is juxtaposed with that when G'd terminated his conversation with Kayin where the latter is described as "walking away from G'd." (Genesis 4,16)
  
  Verse 23
  
  בעצם היום הזה, without any delay.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וירא אליו ה' באלוני ממרא, because this was where Avraham had circumcised himself at that time. His whole household had been circumcised with him at the time. This is where G’d manifested Himself as a sign that He stood by the covenant, similar to the verse at the beginning of Deuteronomy 29,9-11, commencing with the words אתם נצבים היום, and to Kings II 23,3 ויכרות לפני ה'. He appeared to Avraham seeing he was the individual most deserving to be the recipient of such a vision. We have a similar occurrence in Exodus 4,24 ויפגשהו ה', where G’d “met” with Moses without delivering an oral message. At that time G’d’s purpose was to ensure that Moses would circumcise his son, to maintain the covenant which was to be an eternal covenant with the descendants of Avraham as spelled out in Genesis 17,11-12. Perhaps this is the reason why a chair is prepared at the occasion of the circumcision (Pirkey de Rabbi Eliezer 29, as well as Zohar Bereshit 13,10) This chair alludes to the fact that hopefully, the presence of G’d will attend this marking of the sign of the covenant by a new member of the Jewish people.
  
  Verse 2
  
  וישא עיניו, he concentrated on seeing more clearly.
  נצבים עלי, facing him. They appeared as if waiting to speak to him when he would be free to turn his attention from the marvelous manifestation he had just observed. People waiting to speak to someone are described as נצבים עליו, as for instance in Genesis 45,1 להתאפק לכל הנצבים עליו.
  וירץ לקראתם, before they could open a dialogue with him.
  מפתח האהל, he began running from the entrance of his tent. When a person is observed to perform any task with speed, with keenness, this reflects that he considers what he is about to do as important. We have another example of such conduct in Exodus 34,8 וימהר משה ויקוד ארצה וישתחו, “Moses hastened to bow down and to prostrate himself.”
  וישתחו ארצה, seeing that the appearance of these strangers was so awe-inspiring. We have a parallel verse in Judges 13,6 when Manoach’s wife is described as reacting to the angel’s awe-inspiring appearance as such that she did not even dare to enquire his name, etc. Avraham considered these men as emissaries from some king.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  אל נא תעבר, he addressed the one whom he considered the senior one of the three, saying “do not merely deliver your message and leave immediately, but take some refreshment first.”
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  ?איה שרה; The purpose of the angel’s presence was to deliver the message abut Sarah’s becoming a mother. If Sarah would rejoice over this information, the fetus would develop more perfectly. G’d had already given the message concerning this to Avraham. The reason why the angels asked Avraham concerning the whereabouts of his wife instead of asking her directly, has been explained by our sages as a matter of good manners. (דרך ארץ ישראל)
  
  Verse 10
  
  שוב אשוב אליך, on the anniversary of the circumcision.
  והוא אחריו, the door at which Sarah stood listening was behind the angel who was speaking.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ותצחק שרה, she assumed that the words of the angel were merely a blessing, not a prophecy, as occurred with the prophet Elisha. (Kings II 4,16) She believed that when such a blessing is given to old people, people who would require a miracle for the blessing to come true, it would not be effective in her case. She considered the kind of rejuvenation required for her to bear a child as equivalent to reviving the dead. Such an act, in her opinion, required G’d’s personal attention, not merely that of a prophet. At the very least it would come about in answer to a prayer.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  כי  יראה, to say “I have sinned;” but she repented the lie in her heart.
  !ויאמר לא, for the angel knew that as Bileam said (Numbers 23,19) “seeing than man is not G’d, he lies and deceives,” לא איש א-ל ויכזב. He did not believe her at all.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  וישקיפו, looking down in the negative sense.
  על פני סדום, the antithesis of Avraham. Compare Ezekiel 16,49 where the prophet testifies to the difference, saying: הנה זה היה עוון סדום אחותך, גאון שבעת לחם ושלות השקט היה לה ולבנותיה, ויד עני ואביון לא החזיקה. “Only this was the sin of your sister Sodom: ‘arrogance!’ She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquility; yet she did not support the poor and the needy.”
  
  Verse 17
  
  ואברהם הולך..וה' אמר. He was constantly busy with good deeds and the fulfillment of G’d’s commandments, such as to see his guests off and accompany them beyond the entrance of his house. This is the meaning behind the words למען אשר יצוה את בניו וג'; if Avraham saw that G’d had revealed His plans for Sodom to him, immediately after he accompanied the angels, he would understand that the performance of such kind deeds resulted in one’s gaining an ever more intimate relationship with G’d. He would be encouraged to instruct his children, etc., to act in this manner [pointing out positive results which would accrue to them as a result. Ed.] This is what is meant in Avot 4,2 שכר מצוה מצוה, “the reward of performing a mitzvah is .that one will be encouraged to perform another mitzvah.
   המכסה אני, it is appropriate that I do not conceal from Avraham my attribute of goodness; I will inform him that if among all these wicked people in Sodom I find even a quorum of 10 righteous people, this will represent hope that eventually all or most of these people will become penitents. In that event I would bend the scales of justice in favour of the town, giving them an extension of time before destroying them. G’d teaches that He is more interested in the return of sinners to the fold than in administering retribution to them. 
  
  Verse 18
  
  ואברהם היה יהיה, seeing that he will become a standard bearer, flagpole for nations, his rebukes and instructions will carry a great deal of weight.
  
  Verse 19
  
  כי ידעתיו, as a symbol of righteousness.
  למען אשר יצוה את בניו, G’d did all of the foregoing in order that Avraham would instruct his sons to emulate the ways of G’d having personal experience of G’d’s great love for mankind, seeing how His love extended even to the wicked.
  ושמרו...לעשות צדקה ומשפט למען הביא ה' על אברהם את אשר דבר אליו. The ultimate purpose of G’d in revealing to Avraham His manner of meting out justice was to ensure that He would have an opportunity to fulfill all the promises He had made to Avraham. [promises which were largely conditional on Avraham’s offspring being true to his teachings. Ed.] (compare 17,7)
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  'ויאמר ה, at this point the prophetic vision נבואה, commenced, a type of Divine revelation superior to that described as מראה, “vision.”
  
  Verse 21
  
  ארדה נא, I will examine where their wickedness will eventually lead to, similar to the considerations which guided G’d in Genesis 11,7 when the destruction of the Tower was decreed and the splitting up of the languages and habitats of people, in order to make it unnecessary to destroy mankind as had happened before the deluge.
  ואראה הכצעקתה, I want to examine this in action, i.e. how they will behave when Lot volunteers to host the angels, and if they will attack him. If that happens, the whole world will know that they fully deserved their punishment.
  עשו כלה, they are all involved in this sin, without anyone protesting such behaviour. We find a similar meaning of the word כלה in Exodus 11,1 כלה גרש יגרש, where G’d tells Moses that after the next plague Pharaoh would not only let the Israelites go but would expel every last one of them. This proof of how justified G’d was in bringing destruction on these towns would also be confirmed by means of the angels. The Torah testifies that the assault on Lot and his guests included כל העם מקצה, “all the people from every corner.” (19,4)
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויפנו משם האנשים. They turned away from the house in which love was being practiced routinely. 
  ואברהם עודנו עומד, even though the angels whom G’d had dispatched to destroy Sodom had already arrived there, Avraham still stood in order to plead on behalf of any righteous people that could be found therein. He complied with the advice of our sages offered in Berachot 10 that even if the edge of a sharp sword already rests on the neck of a person about to be executed, this should not prevent him from still begging for mercy from G’d. The sages apply such advice even to legally convicted Jews on their way to execution, saying that when the convicted person argues that there had been a miscarriage of justice, the prisoner is brought back to the court even four or five times and his arguments are examined by the court which convicted him, provided there appears to be some substance to his claim. (Sanhedrin 62)
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  האף תספה צדיק עם רשע, Avraham felt that the way G’d had worded the decree with the word כי רבה, that what G’d might have meant was that as long as the majority of the people were guilty this would justify eliminating the entire city, including the innocent. In that event G’d would not be perceived as meting out justice.
  
  Verse 24
  
  ?האף תספה ולא תשא למקום, even though You are justified in destroying the wicked on account of the righteous, far be it from You to kill the righteous.
  
  Verse 25
  
  והיה כצדיק כרשע, subject to chance, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  השופט כל הארץ, seeing that You are the judge of the whole earth, if You will judge people based on the conduct of the majority You would eventually be forced to destroy mankind, seeing that most people everywhere are wicked.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  אם אמצא בסדום, now that I will examine them individually, having sent My angels, if I find 50 righteous men of the type that will protest and try to stop the wickedness of the remainder of the people in Sodom, the leading city of the valley, (compare Ezekiel 15,46)
  ונשאתי לכל המקום, not only to the righteous people alone.
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  הנה נא הואלתי לדבר, to ask questions concerning doubts in my mind regarding divine justice;
  ואנכי עפר ואפר, seeing that I am but dust and ashes I have not been able to think the subject through to its logical conclusion, I depend on Your answer.
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  התשחית בחמשה את כל העיר, let me know if it is a definite rule of Your system of justice that unless there is a minimum of ten righteous people in a town You will destroy that town? If You were to do this, the result would be that the fifth city will be wiped out on account of five missing people! [based on the first Mishnah in Sanhedrin that only an עדה, quorum of ten male adults can “save” the accused. Ed.]
  ויאמר..לא אשחית, I will not destroy (the fifth).
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  לא אעשה, I will not do any harm at all to the three cities which are less guilty than Sodom.
  
  Verse 31
  
  לא אשחית בעבור העשרים...בעבור העשרה. By destroying 3 out of the five cities the other two will not escape the retribution completely, seeing that the satellite towns are by definition largely dependent on the major urban center. Its destruction will cast its shadow on the satellite towns, as we know from Berachot 58, i.e. נתקללה בבל נתקללה בנותיה, when Babylon is cursed so are its satellite towns. (according to Rashi there: אוי לרשע אוי לשכניו, when the wicked experiences woes, so do his neighbours.”)
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  'וילך ה, Avraham remained in a waiting posture. He had not given up hope to expect further prophetic insights until it became clear to him that G’d’s presence had departed. We cannot help noting the contrast with Genesis 4,16 where the Torah reports the termination of G’d speaking to Kayin as ויצא קין מלפני ה', Kayin terminating the interview with G’d by his being the first one to leave while the presence of G’d had not yet departed.
  ואברהם שב, he returned from the place to which he had accompanied the angels, where G’d’s word had come to him.
  למקומו, to his home.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויבאו שני המלאכים סדומה בערב, even though they arrived at that city without “time” having elapsed since they departed from Avraham, (compare Berachot 4 the angel Gavriel needing two steps, and the angel Michael only one step) they remained outside the city gates, invisible, not entering and appearing to Lot until evening. The same is true of 18,22 וילכו סדומה. Avraham had concluded his dialogue with G’d already some time previously.
  ויקם לקראתם, in order to prevent them from spending the night in the street. This was customary also in cities other than Sodom when no one had offered shelter to unexpected strangers. In such instances there was always the danger that the strangers would be harmed by some of the residents of the city.
  וישתחו אפים ארצה, they clearly looked sufficiently imposing to warrant being treated deferentially. 
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  משתה, seeing that Lot loved wine, he made the kind of meal which was secondary to the drinking of wine. The veiled reference to wine in this verse, becomes clearer when we encounter the daughters of Lot making him drunk on wine in 19,33. On the other hand, the only time Avraham prepared the kind of feast in which wine was featured, was on the occasion when he weaned his son Yitzchok in Genesis 21,8. On that occasion, when he entertained the leading personalities of his time, people used to indulging in wine, he served them what they expected to be served. Our sages in Sotah 10 approve of such a procedure.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  אוציאה נא אתהן אליכן, he hoped that the fiancés of his daughters would come to their aid. (compare Hoseah 10,14 for the meaning of the author’s expression קאם שאון).
  
  Verse 9
  
  גש הלאה, “away from the door so that we can break it down;”
  האחד בא לגור, “is there even a single man who can be audacious enough to get away with this?”
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  ואת הדלת סגרו, in order to cause them to get tired looking for the entrance, and in order that the degree of their wickedness become even more evident.
  
  Verse 11
  
  וילאו למצוא הפתח, even though they had already been smitten with blindness they did not therefore desist from their wicked intention. This is in line with the psychological insight of our sages in Eyruvin 19 that the wicked will not become penitents even when they stand at the gates of hell. [the Nazis persisting in the “final solution,” even while already defeated by the Russsians are the best example of this insight we know of. Ed.]
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ויצא לוט, after they had given up and they had dispersed.
  
  Verse 15
  
  ויאיצו, in order that their destruction should take place at the very moment the sun, their great god, would come forth. (compare Berachot 7)
  
  Verse 16
  
  בחמלת ה' עליו, even though Lot’s salvation occurred due to the merit of Avraham, as we know from verse 29 ויזכור אלוקים את אברהם וישלח את לוט מתוך ההפכה, “G’d remembered Avraham, and as a result He sent Lot out of the destruction.” The fact is that this would have been the scenario if Lot had not been so hesitant about fleeing the city. His hesitation now made him an object of G’d’s pity rather than a beneficiary of his uncle’s accumulated merits. The reason he still qualified for that pity was that his hesitancy was not an act of rebellion against G’d but merely a reference to his lethargy, to his slowness in getting himself organised to leave town. His hesitancy may even have been influenced by the shock experienced when he heard what the angels were about to do.
  
  Verse 17
  
  אל תביט אחריך, the evil would catch up with you as soon as you interrupt your march away from it. This is precisely what happened to his wife when she ignored the instructions and looked behind. (verse 26)
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  מאת ה' מן השמים, this was not a natural event such as a volcanic eruption, the ash, brimstone and lava afterwards descending on the surrounding earth. The source of this destruction did not originate in the bowels of the earth.
  
  Verse 25
  
  ויהפוך, the earth as well as its inhabitants underwent a total chemical transformation being turned into brimstone and fire, similar to what David means in Psalms 105,29  “He turned their waters into blood.” The dew that rose from the earth prior to sunrise turned into salt. Compare Deut. 29,22 גפרית ומלח שרפה כל ארצה, meaning that the moisture descended back onto earth but this time mixed with solid burned particles.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  'אל המקום אשר עמד שם את פני ה, to the place to which he had accompanied the angels. This is where the punishing hand of G’d had first appeared to him. Since he had not been able to save the inhabitants of Sodom legally, he prepared to intercede for them by asking G’d s mercy for them.
  
  Verse 28
  
  וישקף, a hostile kind of looking, motivated by their excess wickedness. 
  קיטור הארץ, when he saw the smoke he realised that it was too late to pray on behalf of these people.
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  מתוך ההפכה בהפוך את הערים, seeing that he had escaped by the merit of Avraham from the destruction of these cites, a process which had begun even before Lot had been outside the outer perimeters of the valley due to his laziness. (compare verse 16) As a result, he was afraid to settle in Tzoar thinking that its destruction had been delayed only on account of his having taken refuge there.
  
  Verse 30
  
  וישב בהר, because he thought that the entire valley would be destroyed, excluding the surrounding mountains.
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  ותקרא שמו מואב...ותקרא שמו בן עמי. They called the names of their children thus to show the world that the father was not someone who was an unworthy, sinful person. [from the point of view of Jewish law as it pertains to gentiles, a father may sleep with his daughter. Ed.]
  הוא אבי מואב...הוא אבי בני עמון, the ones who would in a short while inherit large parts of what would eventually be part of the land of Israel on the east bank of the Jordan river. Seeing that the intentions of both daughters in sleeping with their father had been honourable, they were rewarded with founding two nations, both from the same father. (Nazir 23) In a certain sense they had become heirs of Avraham to whom all the Canaanite lands had been promised. This reflects the statement in Proverbs 3,6 בכל דרכיך דעהו, “know (try to emulate) G’d in all your undertakings;” (even when involving an apparent sin. [based on Berachot 63. Ed.]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וישב בין קדש ובי שור, between 2 large cities, in order to have an opportunity to proclaim the holy name of G’d in both these cities, as he did later, the objective being to improve G’d’s image among mankind.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  ויבא אלוקים אל אבימלך, this visitation was of a similar kind to that reported with Lavan (31,24) and Bileam (Numbers 22,24) respectively. The Torah refrains from speaking about a מחזה, “a vision,” in order not to place these wicked people on a pedestal similar to our patriarchs. The expression דבור to describe a verbal communication to these individuals is also absent, G’d having reserved such an expression for communications with prophets, as He pointed out to Miriam and Aaron in Numbers 12,6. Avimelech did not experience a visual image of G’d in his dream at all. He perceived a divine voice addressing him.
  הנך מת, the impotence which you experienced (verse 18) will result in your death.
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  הגוי גם צדיק, is it fair that You would kill a nation by killing its king, especially when this king is not even guilty of a mortal offence?
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ועתה השב את אשת האיש, before you perish from the sickness.
  וחיה, and be healed and stay alive; we find a similar construction in Joshua 5,8 עד חיותם, “until they have been healed.”
  אתה וכל אשר לך, all the fetuses whose progress had been arrested within their mothers’ wombs.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  מעשים אשר לא יעשו, causing harm to people whom you have not even known before this, and with whom you had not had any hostile experience. This is not the way one deals with people.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  רק אין יראת אלוקים במקום הזה, there is no respect for the government’s authority. The Philistines did not have kings, but their political leaders were known as סרנים, as we know from the story of Goliath, who was a law unto himself due to his personal strength and was not subject to the authority of such סרנים. Compare Goliath’s boast הלא אנכי הפלשתי ואתם עבדים לשאול, “am I not the Philistine, whereas you are slaves of Sha-ul.” (Samuel I 17,8)
  
  Verse 12
  
  וגם אמנה, also you, the king himself, have sinned in taking the woman because I said she is my sister for you should have asked me if she was also my wife. The fact is that she is both my sister and my wife.
  
  Verse 13
  
  התעו אותי אלוקים, on account of the various alien gods which I despise I have been forced to leave my father’s house and to travel to areas I did not know, not to places of my own choice. This is why he described himself as תועה, someone who wanders, does not have a fixed destination.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  הנה נתתי אלף כסף לאחיך, as dowry, as was the custom for any groom marrying the daughter or sister of a man.
  הנה לך כסות עינים, clothing consisting of a variety of colours which women used to wear as a mark of distinction. The dowry he gave her brother was intended to show that he did not consider her a whore but someone reputable, and that he did not mean her to be his concubine but his regular wife. Also, he meant that he would not have let Sarah go so easily except for Divine intervention which forced him to let her go.
  לכל אשר אתך, before the eyes of everybody, so that they know in your household that everything is above board.
  ואת כל ונוכחת, and you will be perceived exonerated in every respect even in the eyes of those who would have felt tempted to interpret what happened to you in a negative light, reflecting discredit upon you.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  כי עצר עצר ה' בעד כל רחם, to kill their (unborn) offspring if Avimelech would not display remorse and penitence. G’d had warned him specifically that not only his own life was at risk (verse 7)
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וה' פקד, whereas Avraham was busy praying for the entourage of Avimelech to be able to give birth to the various fetuses all of which had had their progress towards birth arrested when Avimelech had taken Sarah into his palace, G’d used this time to make Sarah conceive. We find that something similar occurred in Job 42,10 on the occasion when Job is portrayed as offering a prayer on behalf of his friends Eliphaz, Bildad and Tzofar, who had been afflicted by G’d for having criticised G’d’s justice just as had Job at the time. (compare Rashi). 
  כאשר אמר, a reference to 17,16 where G’d told Avraham that He would bless Sarah (as distinct from Sarai). The blessing consisted in that G’d removed the curse from which other women suffer in that both their pregnancy, giving birth, as well as raining their children are frequently very frustrating experiences as we know from Chavah in Genesis 3,16 that the whole process of pregnancy and giving birth would be an extremely painful experience.
  ויעש ה' לשרה כאשר דבר, in accordance with the promise in 17,16 “I will also give you a son from her.” When we do observe old men becoming fathers, the child is almost always a female. G’d had promised and kept His promise that the child Sarah would bear for him would be male.
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ואברהם בן מאת שנה, although as an old man we could have expected Avraham to delegate the task of performing his son’s circumcision, he did so himself, ignoring the fact that he was an old man. [the commentary is based on the fact that we knew that Avraham was 100 years old at the time, so why repeat it?]
  
  Verse 6
  
  צחוק עשה לי אלקים, even though my son has to endure the pain of the circumcision at such as tender age, nonetheless my heart is full of joy. Therefore, everyone who hears about this event will rejoice on my behalf ignoring the aspect of the circumcision.
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  את בן הגר המצרית, she assumed that the reason Ishmael had made disparaging remarks about Yitzchok was due to his mother putting him up to it, or to the Egyptian genes of his mother coming into play here. We have a saying in Sukkah 56 that the prattle of children in public reflects either what they picked up from their father or what they picked up from their mother. In the case of Ishmael, he certainly did not overhear his father make such disparaging remarks.
  מצחק, making fun of the big party Avraham had given to mark the weaning of Yitzchok, He claimed that surely Sarah must have become pregnant from Avimelech. The reason he had not made such remarks already at the time when Yitzchok had been born, was because he had only overheard wicked gossip about this at a later stage, and now he repeated what he had heard.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  גרש האמה הזאת ואת בנה, seeing that what the son did  was at the instigation of his mother. He spread lies about Yitzchok’s legitimacy in order to establish a claim to your inheritance.
  כי לא יירש בן האמה, seeing that he is not part of your family; the child always is considered as part of the halachically defective parent. (Maimonides issurey bi-ah 15,7)
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  אל ירע בעיניך על הנער ועל אמתך. כל אשר תאמר אליך שרה,  do not be angry regarding anything that Sarah says to you concerning the lad and the maid, i.e. to expel them while they wear proof that they are slaves. Avraham’s having placed Ishmael’s on Hagar’s shoulder was a clear sign that Hagar was a slave woman who was charged with carrying Ishmael (verse 14)
  
  כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע, for your descendants will be known through Yitzchok, and Ishmael and his sons will be slaves to him. Ishmael will not be known historically for his being a son of Avraham.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  וגם את בן האמה, you have no reason to worry about expelling your son, as you are expelling the son of the slave woman. You do not expel him in his capacity of being your son. At any rate, I will make him into a nation seeing that he is your seed, not because he deserves such a distinction.
  
  Verse 14
  
  שם על שכמה, the hose containing the water; this was in order to show that she was a slave woman. A reminder of the angel at the time having told her that she was to submit to her mistress Sarah (16,9) A righteous person of the caliber of Avraham would certainly not send away a woman and her son without provisions adequate to ensure that she can reach the next location where new provisions can be obtained. [I wonder why Hagar was not given an animal to ride on? Clearly, Avraham was intent that she should be known to be a slave by the fact that she had to travel on foot. Ed.] Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 53,15 understand the words ויהי אלוקים את הנער in verse 20, to mean that she had both donkeys and camels at her disposal as well as her son’s  servants. If we accept that line in the Midrash at face value, the crisis which overtook Hagar and Ishmael was only that they ran out of water due to having lost their way in the desert. As soon as they found a source of water they had all the means to establish themselves economically, even in the midst of the desert. It was natural for Ishmael to settle in the desert as his mother had been told already while she was pregnant that here son would be a פרא אדם, someone preferring to live in the wilderness, not in civilised society. 
  ואת הילד, he also gave her the child;
  וישלחה, he first accompanied her some distance out of his loving concern for them. (compare 18,16).
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ויפקח אלוקים את עיניה, He granted her the instinct to look for water in the place where she would find it. She had not been blind previously so that her eyes had to be “opened.”
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  אלוקים עמך, seeing that G’d clearly is on your side I am afraid of you. I am not afraid of your personal strength, but of that of your G’d. This is why I ask you to swear to me. [so that you cannot appeal to G’d’s assistance in any grievance you would have against me. Ed.]
  
  Verse 23
  
  כחסד אשר עשיתי עמך תעשה עמדי, do me the favour to include your children in the oath you swear to me.
  
  Verse 24
  
  אנכי אשבע, I will do you the favour to swear such an oath; however, you have not done me any favours as you claim to have done.
  
  Verse 25
  
  אשר גזלו עבדי אבימלך, he criticised him precisely in his position of king, seeing that robbery had been tolerated in his country and there was no one to protest this. He also criticised him for the evildoers in his own entourage. He did not act according to the norms of righteous people. Psalms 101,7 suggests that righteous people have no business dwelling in the proximity of people who practice deception.
  
  Verse 26
  
  לא ידעתי מי עשה, even now that you have informed me by means of my servants that you have been unjustly victimised, I still do not know who are the ones who could have done this. Not a single one among the people concerned seems suspect to me. Had I suspected any one of my servants of such conduct he would not have been tolerated in my entourage.
  וגם אתה לא הגדת לי וגם אנכי לא שמעתי, what you have accused me of, that while in my position as king I had condoned violence. A king does interfere such matters only if one of two conditions exist 1) If the party that has suffered robbery complains loudly; 2) if neutral people aware of the robbery raise their voices in protest. In the case of Avraham, neither of such conditions existed until now.
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  כי את שבע כבשות תקח מידי, this is similar to the procedure described in Ruth 4,7 known as חליצה, in which the widow of the deceased brother who has been refused levirate marriage by her brother-in-law removed a shoe from her brother-in-law. This transaction signaled mutual agreement. In the case of חליצה it signaled that the widow was now free to marry someone of her choice instead of being beholden to a surviving brother-in-law.
  In this instance, acceptance of the gift meant that Avraham had dug the well, owned it, as well as the land it was on.
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  וישובו אל ארץ פלשתים, they returned from Beer Sheva, i.e. proof that Beer Sheva was not part of the land of the Philistines. They had gone there only to speak with Avraham who had gone there to see how his livestock was faring. This is where he tendered the gift to confirm the covenant they had made.
  
  Verse 33
  
  ויקרא שם בשם ה' א-ל עולם, he used the occasion to proclaim the eternal nature of G’d, as opposed to any other deities, which, even if on occasion appearing to have demonstrated some power to protect those worshipping them, could at best enjoy a brief period of effectiveness.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  נסה את אברהם, to demonstrate that Avraham’s love for G’d as well as his fear of G’d was not merely potential but actual, much as G’d goodness is not merely potential but actual. The purpose of man’s existence is to emulate the virtues of G’d, and by means of this “test” Avraham had an opportunity to demonstrate this. When G’d created man He had set Himself the objective of “let us make man in Our image etc.,” i.e. as much like Divine beings as is it possible for a creature to be . (Genesis 1,26)
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
   וילך אל המקום, to the land of Moriah.
  
  Verse 4
  
  וישא אברהם את עיניו וירא את המקום, the place for offering the sacrifice on the mountain of Moriah.
  מרחוק, he was granted additional eyesight to espy this place from a greater distance than he would normally have been able to see.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  שבו לכם פה, so that they should not be able to interfere with what he was about to do.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  עתה ידעתי, “now I, the angel, realise that G’d Who has elevated you Avraham as being on a loftier niveau than angels is justified.” This concept has been paraphrased by our sages in Sanhedrin 93 i.e. that “the righteous occupy a higher moral niveau than the ministering angels.”
  ממני, “you are more G’d fearing than I am (the angel speaking). I was under the impression that as an angel I ought to possess more fear of the Lord than Avraham. G’d was aware that I was wrong. Now it has been demonstrated to me that Avraham was not only superior to me potentially, but that he has proven in actual fact.”
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  והנה איל אחר נאחז בסבך, this incident indicated to him that G’d must have arranged for this ram to be at his disposal, and that there could be no question of his committing robbery if he took this ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering. The fact that there had been no such ram when he prepared the altar and bound Yitzchok and suddenly this ram materialised, was ample evidence of its purpose. 
  תחת בנו, in exchange for what he had had in mind to do with his son. The phrase reminds us of Psalms 15,2 ודובר אמת בלבו, “he spoke truthfully in his heart.” [the author justifies the use of the word תחת, “in lieu of,” for something which had not actually happened, i.e. Yitzchok had not been slaughtered. The verse from Psalms proves that the intention is as good as the deed when such an intention was sincere, wholehearted. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  אשר יאמר היום, the place of which the Israelites had said on the day that the Torah was written (or given) that G’d manifests Himself on the mountain. G’d would reveal which mountain this is only in the future, in the days of David, seeing that even in Deuteronomy 12,11 only veiled reference is made to such a mountain. It was this mountain, subsequently known as the Temple Mount which Avraham now named ה' יראה. 
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  נאם ה' כי יען אשר עשית, “I, G’d, say that because you have done this I will bless you in an increased measure.” 
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  בי נשבעתי, “I have sworn to Myself that I will greatly bless you/ you.”
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  והתברכו בזרעך כל גויי הארץ, if and when your descendants will join together in proclaiming the holy name of the Lord, the nations of the world will be blessed as they will try to follow your example and to be like you.
  עקב אשר שמעת בקולי, as a consequence. This is what we know as the concept of שכר מצוה מצוה, that the fulfillment of one commandment begets the opportunity of fulfilling another commandment. By doing this you will receive the satisfaction that your children will be a banner to the nations, teachers to the gentile nations instructing them in how to serve the Lord. All of this will accrue to you as a credit, a merit.
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  הנה ילדה מלכה, we know already that Milkah bore children; now the point is to tell us that Betuel fathered Rivkah.
  גם היא, in addition to the children born by his concubine.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  ובתואל ילד את רבקה, the person relating all this to Avraham added that Betuel, a son of Nachor’s proper wife, sired Rivkah. The meaning of the message was that there had been born in his own family a girl who would be a suitable wife for Avraham’s son so that he would not have to look for such a wife among the Canaanites surrounding him.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ותמת שרה, after Rivkah, who had been destined to become Sarah’s replacement on earth, had been born. According to Yuma 38 that a righteous person does not die until a replacement has been born for him. Avraham was aware of that, so that he knew that when Sarah died, Yitzchok’s future wife was already alive. Such concepts are based on Solomon saying in Kohelet 1,5 וזרח השמש ובא השמש, “the sun shines and the sun sets.”
  לספוד לשרה, on Sarah’s account, in her honour, and to weep for her. This corresponds to the view expressed in Sanhedrin 46 that eulogies are in honour of the deceased, as opposed to being intended to honour the survivors.
  
  Verse 3
  
  מעל פני מתו, וידבר אל בני חת. As long as he had not buried Sarah he was not yet a mourner in the technical meaning of the word. He was therefore able to leave his house and assemble the people of the town.
  
  Verse 4
  
  גר ותושב, because I used to be a stranger here, I do not possess an ancestral burial ground. The word is used in this sense by Isaiah 22,16 ומי לך פה כי חצבת לך פה קבר, “whom have you here that you have hewn out a tomb for yourself here?”
  תנו לי אחוזת קבר, “be agreeable to that I should possess a burial plot among you.”
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  במבחר קברנו קבור, “do not wait until the formalities of the purchase have been completed, but go ahead and bury Sarah.” This corresponds to a statement by our sages in Moed Katan 22  על כל המתים כולן מדחה מטתו, “it behooves us to bury all the dead with dispatch, without undue delay.”
  
  Verse 7
  
  וישתחו לעם הארץ לבני חת. He bowed to the notables present, seeing they represented the whole population.
  
  Verse 8
  
  אם יש את נפשכם לקבור, if you want that I shall bury the dead without delay, as you have indicated when you said: במבחר קברנו קבור!" (verse 6) i.e. that I would not need to wait.
  שמעוני, agree with me that I shall receive an inalienable burial plot.
  ופגעו לי בעפרון, that he will sell me this cave even though it is not an agreeable thing for a highly placed person to sell any portion of his land-holdings. We know this from Navot (Kings I 21,3) who had been aghast at the suggestion of selling his vineyard to the king. His precise words were: חלילה לי מתתי את נחלת אבותי לך, “far be it from me to give you any part of my ancestral heritage.”
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  מערת המכפלה, a place known as machpela. 
  Compare verse 17 ויקם שדה עפרון אשר במכפלה אשר בקצה שדהו, “Efron’s field which is situated in machpela at the edge of his field, stood, etc.” The details provided by the Torah are intended to prove to us, the reader, that by selling the cave to Avraham Efron did not suffer any loss of face, he had no reason to feel embarrassed about what he had done.
  בכסף מלא, I do not want that he grant me a reduction from its real worth as a gesture to you.
  בתוככם, in the presence of all of you. I do not ask for time to come up with the payment but am willing to pay cash at once. Compare verse 16 where Avraham does in fact pay cash immediately.
  לאחוזת קבר, Avraham wanted complete freedom to do what he wanted to in the property once he had acquired it. This is the privilege granted to anyone owning an ancestral heritage. Avraham wanted it understood that as a result of the sale Efron would not be able to dictate to him how close to his own property Sarah or other members of his family could be buried.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  לא אדוני, there is no need to appeal to me through intermediaries such as the nobles of our city.
   Listen to me; 
  השדה נתתי לך, “in my mind I have given you the whole field already from the moment you started speaking.”
  והמערה אשר בו, “and the cave which is in it, since it is not proper that you should have to cross someone else’s property in order to get to the grave of your wife. Therefore,
  לעיני בני עמי נתתיה לך קבור מתך, I am telling you in the presence of all my people that I have given it to you in order that you may bury your dead there, just as you asked when you referred to אחוזת קבר.”
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  וישתחו אברהם לפני עם הארץ, He bowed down as a sign of gratitude. He thanked them as if Efron had agreed to the transaction thanks to their intervention on his behalf. Our sages in Kidushin 31 describe something parallel when they illustrate an aspect of the commandment to honour one’s father by describing that when the son carries out an errand that his father asked him to carry out. The son will not ask the people of the city in question to do whatever he wishes in his own honour, but will ask them to do it in honour of his (the messenger’s) father.”
  
  Verse 13
  
  אך אם ...נתתי בסף השדה, I will comply with what you said, namely to bury my dead there only if I can hand over the money for the field. I will not bury Sarah there as a result of any other kind of arrangement.
  אך אם אתה לו שמעני, “if only you would be good enough to listen to me! Please accept the money from me so that I can proceed with the burial.”
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  ?מה היא, “after all it is a very minor transaction! It is so insignificant a matter that the acquisition can be made by a mere declaration without being recorded in a document. As soon as you have handed over the money you may consider yourself as burying Sarah in your property.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  ויקם השדה לאברהם למקנה, the word ויקם teaches that the purchase was confirmed by a sealed document
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  מאת בני חת ויקם השדה, these people all agreed to the transaction.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ואברהם זקן..וה' ברך את אברהם, the Torah now explains the reasons why Avraham was forced to dispatch his servant to another country in order to secure a wife for his son, and why he had to subject his trusted servant to swearing an oath to him concerning this mission. He was worried that he might die before Yitzchok would find a suitable wife, seeing that he already felt the signs of old age overtaking him. He was worried that he might not live long enough to attend the wedding of his son. He therefore decided not to delay the matter any further. At the same time, due to his extreme material wealth, he was worried that some unworthy person (father of a marriageable girl) would try and bribe his servant into committing his daughter to become Yitzchok’s wife. As a result of the bribe Eliezer would not allow his judgment as to who was a suitable bride to guide him. This is why Avraham made his instructions subject to acceptance with an oath.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  אלוקי השמים ואלוקי הארץ, a veiled warning to Eliezer that if he were to betray his trust, there would be a higher power to hold him accountable for such a betrayal.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  אשר יצאת משם, a place which you had despised. If I now swear to you to take a wife from there and the girl I choose refuses to come here, my betrothing her to your son will obligate him to fulfill his conjugal duties including living with her as husband and wife. If he refuses to join her there he will have become guilty of betrayal of his bride. Shall I really bring him back there?
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  אלוקי השמים...ישלח מלאכו, may it be the will of the Lord that He will send His angel from the celestial regions. Seeing that it was he Who had taken me from there, and all events are under His constant supervision, He will not arrange matters in such a way that my son would be legally obligated to migrate to that land.
  ואשר דבר לי, furthermore, I remember that he assured me specifically that my offspring will become known as offspring of Avraham though my son Yitzchok.
  ואשר נשבע לי, seeing that He made me this promise reinforced by an oath, I am certain that He will not renege on it. [even if I were to fall out of favour in His eyes due to my own fault. Ed.] He will see to it that my son will be able to marry a suitable soul-mate and thus make His oath come true.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  וישבע לו על הדבר הזה, he accepted all of Avraham’s conditions as part of his oath.
  
  Verse 10
  
  ויקח העבד עשרה גמלים מדמלי אדוניו וילך. He took permission from his master to set out on the way after he made prepared the camels for the journey.
  וכל טוב אדוניו בידו, he took with him many silver and golden trinkets. He did not need to ask for permission to do this seeing that all of these items were under his authority on an all year round basis in his capacity of being Avraham’s general manager.
  ויקם וילך, on his way.
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  והיה הנערה אשר אמר אליה, this was not a statement but a prayer that things should develop in this fashion. He did not rely on any magic, i.e. that the signs he stipulated would determine his actions. We find a similar occurrence with Yonathan son of King Sha-ul in Samuel I 14,10, where he does not rely on the אות which he had stipulated, but where he asked G’d in prayer for help, saying that if certain things were to happen he would regard this as a sign that his prayer had been answered favourably (compare Ibn Ezra there) When the Talmud Chulin 95 כל נחש שאינו כאליעזר עבד אברהם ויהונתן בן שאול אינו נחש, the meaning is that “any divination which is not like that of Eliezer or that of Yonatan ben Sha-ul is not a divination,” i.e. is not permissible, but is akin to relying on witchcraft [Unless the person requesting a sign does so as a prayer directed to G’d it is forbidden. Ed.].
  וגם גמליך אשקה, it is good manners for someone requesting something to ask for a minimum rather than a maximum in order not to impose an unnecessary burden on the giver. At the same time, it is incumbent on the giver to give the maximum he is able to spare so that the recipient will have what he needs and not only a portion of it.
  אותה הוכחת, You have taught her virtues in such a way that she has become a fit mate for Your servant Yitzchok.
  
  Verse 15
  
  טרם כלה, he had not yet finished. This is what Isaiah 65,24 had in mind when he said that G’d answers a prayer before it has been articulated.
  אשר ילדה לבתואל בן מלכה, he was not a son of Re-umah the concubine. [if the Torah had not wanted to make this point, it could simply have written Betuel, son fo Nachor.]
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  טובת מראה, she had beautiful skin colouring.
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ותכל להשקותו ותאמר, she waited with speaking until Eliezer had finished drinking his fill. She followed the dictum of our sages that one should not engage in conversation while eating (during the meal) (Taanit 5)
  
  Verse 20
  
  ותמהר, by being quick in what one does, a person performing a service indicates that the one whom she serves is someone esteemed highly in his eyes. Rivkah expressed this by the speed with which she went about her tasks.
  ותרץ עוד אל הבאר, the one in front of the well ((מעיין which was designed for the beasts to drink from.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  משתאה, equivalent to משתומם, “being amazed.” He was amazed at the keenness with which she performed all these procedures.
  מחריש, he did not tell her not to go to all this trouble, something that ordinary good manners would have required him to do. 
  ההצליח ה' דרכו, if everything would turn out completely as hoped for.
  אם לא, or if Rivkah’s entire behaviour had been motivated by her desire to receive some material reward.
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  כאשר כלו הגמלים לשתות, this was some time after Rivkah had finished drawing water. In the meantime the servant had realised that she had not acted as if she expected any reward for having extended herself on his and his camels’ behalf. It had become clear to him that her actions had been motivated only by the desire to be helpful.
  ושני צמידים על ידיה, according to the size that fitted her wrists; this is similar to Exodus 28,22 ועשית עלי החושן שרשות גבלות, “you shall construct around it plaited chains of beaten gold,” or Exodus 25,11 ועשית עליו זר זהב, “you shall construct around it a golden border.” In each of these instances the measurements of the chains or border had to fit the pricipal artifact.
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  היש בית אביך מקום, are they prepared to welcome strangers as guests as was customary in that time?
  ללין, so that both we and our camels can stay the night there?
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  גם תבן גם מספוא, not only do we have room for the camels but we also have feed for them.
  גם מקום ללון, both for yourself and the men with you.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  וירץ לבן אל האיש,  to take a look at the wealthy visitor that had come to town, not to invite him to his own home.
  
  Verse 30
  
  ויהי כראות את הנזם ואת הצמידים על ידי אחותו, and he thought that it was not the time to appear ungrateful,
  וכשמעו את דברי רבקה אחותו לאמור: כה דבר אלי האיש, that he enquired from her whether there was room in her father’s house to lodge for the night,
  ויבא אל האיש, in order to escort him into his home.
  והנה עומד על הגמלים, in order to attend to their needs, since he did not expect that they would spend the night in the home of Rivkah’s father until someone would initiate a move from there.
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  ?למה תעמוד בחוץ, why did you only ask about spending the night? Why would you and your men stand around on the outside?
  ואנכי פניתי הבית, for you and your men,
  ומקום לגמלים, I also cleared space to accommodate the camels.
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  ברך את אדוני, there is no question that many notable families in our own land would want their daughters to become the wife my master’s son.
  
  Verse 36
  
  אחרי זקנתו, this is why this son was beloved for him from the day he was born.
  
  Verse 37
  
  וישביעני אדוני, seeing that my master despises the people in his own land and has chosen you to become his in-laws, he has sent me on this errand.
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  
  
  Verse 44
  
  היא האשה אשר הוכיח, she is the woman whom He has appointed. This recalls the statement in the Talmud Sotah 2 that already prior to birth a heavenly voice proclaims which girl is destined to marry which young man.
  
  Verse 45
  
  אני טרם אכלה לדבר, this was proof to me that all of this has been planned so by G’d.
  
  Verse 46
  
  
  
  Verse 47
  
  
  
  Verse 48
  
  
  
  Verse 49
  
  
  
  Verse 50
  
  לא נוכל דבר אליך רע, in order to neutralise His decree.
  או טוב, to make His decree come true, seeing that He does not need our help in this respect.
  
  
  Verse 51
  
  קח ולך, even without our specific consent.
  'כאשר דבר ה, when He decreed that “the daughter of X is meant to marry the son of Y. He has given clear signs that this match is His desire.
  
  Verse 52
  
  
  
  Verse 53
  
  
  
  Verse 54
  
  
  
  Verse 55
  
  ימים או עשור, so that she has a chance to get used to the idea of moving to a foreign country where she will not have the support of her family. Sudden changes are less likely to be something one can adjust to successfully.
  
  Verse 56
  
  
  
  Verse 57
  
  ונשאלה את פיה, if she is willing and able to travel with you at this time.
  
  Verse 58
  
  
  
  Verse 59
  
  
  
  Verse 60
  
  את היי, you should be so pleasing in the eyes of your husband that he will not marry any other woman.
  לאלפי רבבה ויירש זרעך, as the G’d in heaven has blessed the descendants of Avraham.
  
  
  Verse 61
  
  ויקח העבד את רבקה, this describes the transfer from the father’s emissaries to those of the husband, as described in Ketuvot 48. Once the marriage became consummated she became the mistress, and Eliezer became her servant also.
  
  Verse 62
  
  בא מבוא לחי ראי, to articulate a prayer at the spot where the prayer of his mother’s servant maid Hagar had been answered.
  והוא יושב בארץ הנגב, Yitzchok personally resided to the south of that location; he had gone there only to attend to his business affairs, not to establish a new residence.
  
  
  Verse 63
  
  ויצא יצחק לשוח, he had detoured from his regular path to the field in order to pour out his heart to G’d in prayer. He did not want to be interrupted in his devotion by passing travelers whom he would have to greet. This was in spite of the fact that he had already prayed in Beer lachay Ro-i. His prayer had been answered already, in accordance with Daniel 10,12 מן היום אשר נתת את לבך להבין ולהענות...נשמעו דבריך, “for from the first day you set your mind to get understanding, practicing abstinence before your G’d, your prayer was heard and I have come because of your prayer.”
  והנה גמלים באים, when he had gone out to pray, the camels were already headed in his direction. This is what Rivkah referred to when she asked about the man walking “toward us?” (verse 65) This is because when Yitzchok returned from Beer lachay Ro-i to his house he was walking from the north to the south. People coming from Charan (Aram Naharaym) headed for Avraham’s house would be traveling from the east to the west. This is why after having deviated from his route which would have taken him from north to south, and walking in an easterly direction instead, Yitzchok would be walking in the direction from which the camels were approaching, from the land known also as ארץ בני קדם the land belonging to the people of the East. He had reason to believe that Rivkah would come from that direction.
  
  
  Verse 64
  
  ותפול מעל הגמל, she inclined her head while remaining on the camel in honour of Yitzchok. We have a similar expression meaning the same in Kings II 5,21 ויפול מעל המרכבה where there is no reason to understand this as Naamon, the general, “falling” off his chariot, but the verse describes a deferential behaviour by Naamon.
  
  Verse 65
  
  ותתכס, for she was afraid to look more closely, similar to Moses being afraid to look more closely at the burning bush in Exodus 3,6.
  
  Verse 66
  
  
  
  Verse 67
  
  וינחם יצחק אחרי אמו, until this time he had refused to accept consolation for the death of his mother, seeing that she had been such an outstanding person.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  .ותלד לו את זמרן, she raised them in his house, similar to the “five sons of Michal” who raised the children of her sister Merav who had died at an early age, and had born those to Adriel (compare Samuel II 21,8) Michal had no children of her own at all. Although Avraham had personally only sired Ishmael and Yitzchok, he had adopted these children as seems clear from Chronicles I 28, and 32.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  נתן אברהם מתנות, a wording which clearly differentiates from “inheritance.” This was in order that His words (G’d’s) would be carried out, [that only Yitzchok would be his heir. Ed.]
  בעודנו חי, while he had still been alive, as he did not want to rely on written instructions to be carried out after his death.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ושבע; he had achieved all he had set out to achieve and had wished for.
  ויאסף אל עמיו, he was attached to the bundle of souls who are part of the life after death, all of whom the righteous of the various generations who were like him in lifestyle, [as in those regions biological relationships are irrelevant, and the term “his people” is applied to other common denominators than on earth. Ed.] The reason why the Torah employs the term עמיו his peoples” in the plural is that there are all kinds of different spiritual levels among the righteous souls, not all attained the same level of righteousness while on earth although all of them share the experience of enjoying eternal life. (compare statements in Baba Batra 75 on that subject.)
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואלה תולדת יצחק, his biography and his descendants.
  אברהם הוליד את יצחק, only Yitzchok is truly called Avraham’s seed.
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  אחות לבן הארמי, and from her emerged Esau who was similar in character to the brother of his mother.
  
  Verse 21
  
  לנכח אשתו, even though he had been given an assurance from G’d that he would produce seed, he prayed to G’d that the mother of this child or children should be someone who was meritorious, someone of the calibre of Rivkah who was present and standing opposite him..
  
  Verse 22
  
  ותאמר אם כן, after it is a fact that these fetuses already are at each other’s throats I have reason to be afraid that one of them will die so that I endanger myself by giving birth to them, causing one of them to be stillborn.
  למה זה אנכי, why were my relatives so concerned that it would be I who provide the seed for Yitzchok when they said את היי לאלפי רבבה, “may it be you who will be the source of millions.” (24,60) Also, why did my husband insist that I become the mother of his children?
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  שני גוים בבטנך, this is the reason for the quarrelling you experience inside your womb.
  ושני לאמים, they will also be politically different from one another, being separate kingdoms.
  ממעיך יפרדו, they will go their different ways after being born, neither of them will die at birth as you fear.
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  והנה תומים בבטנה, before they were born, the onlookers already realised that there were twins in her womb. Therefore, when the first one emerged being completely covered with hair, this was a birth which was presumed to be more difficult than the passage of Yaakov whose skin was smooth and did not cause friction with the lining of the womb, they called the first one עשו, attributing his easy passage to his twin brother who had helped push him out of the womb of his mother. [I believe that the author understands the plural ending in עשו, as equivalent to assu, i.e. the result of a combined effort by both him and his brother.]
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  ויקרא שמו יעקב. The word means he will remain at the heel, and the tail-end. This is based on the future mode of the word יעקב. Our sages (quoted by Rashi) say that the subject in our verse is G’d Who named Esau’s brother Yaakov, the reason for the unusual formulation being that after the destruction of the Kingdom of Edom and other nations, successor of Esau, only Yaakov and his descendants will remain. Our sages base all this on Jeremiah 46,28 אעשה כלה בכל הגויים...ואותך לא אעשה כלה, “I will make an end of all nations…but I will not make an end of you.”
  
  Verse 27
  
  איש שדה, an expert farmer.
  יושב אהלים, the plural mode indicates that the Torah speaks of two distinctly different kinds of tents; one is the tent used by shepherds, the other the tent described as בל-יצען described in Isaiah 33,20, (a reference to Jerusalem or the Temple). The function of that “tent” is to help people come closer to G’d and to gain insight into His ways and as a result to become holy, inspired by His glory.
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  ויאהב יצחק את עשו, also Esau, not only Yaakov, even though he must have been aware that Esau was far less perfect than Yaakov.
  ורבקה אוהבת את יעקב, she only loved Yaakov, recognising the wickedness of Esau.
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  על כן קרא שמו אדום. When he saw that Esau was so totally absorbed in his futile occupation, an occupation which does not represent the task of man on earth, that he could not even identify the lentils by their name but referred to them only by their colour, he called him by that name himself, i.e. אדום, in the imperative, meaning “paint yourself red by swallowing the red dish!”
  
  Verse 31
  
  מכרה כיום, seeing that as of now all your interests are focused on your work so that you are so tired that you cannot even recognise a dish of lentils for what it is, there is no question that you would not have the time or energy to perform the duties involved in the obligations associated with being a firstborn
  
  Verse 32
  
  הולך למות, through the excessive fatigue and exertion associated with my vocation.
  
  Verse 33
  
  השבעה לי, seeing that the purchase under discussion was something abstract, the oath would replace the act of physically taking possession of the object purchased and moving it.
  וימכור את בכורתו, in accordance with the price they had mutually agreed upon. The Torah did not bother to spell out the exact sum.
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  ויעקב נתן לעשו, he had used the lentils or the dish containing them as the קנין חליפין, a token used to serve as symbol of the transfer of ownership of the object constituting the one being sold. Compare Ruth 4,7 where a shoe is mentioned as serving as such a token.
  ויבז עשו את הבכורה, even after the transaction and the meal the birthright was not worth the price he had received in exchange for it. It is clear therefore that the seller had not been taken advantage of seeing that transaction involved so little of value.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  אשר היה בימי אברהם, ever since that time there had not been as severe a famine in the Land Of Canaan as there was at the time the Torah speaks of here, a famine severe enough to cause the inhabitants of the land to migrate in  search of food.
  וילך יצחק אל אבימלך, in order to obtain a permit to stay in his country. This teaches us that Yitzchok possessed good manners, seeing he could have claimed this as a right under the treaty between Avraham and Avimelech.
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  אל תרד מצרימה, do not let the shortage of grass to feed your livestock be the cause of moving to Egypt. (as the sons of Yaakov claimed in 47,4 to explain why they had moved to Egypt.)
  שכון בארץ אשר אומר אליך, make huts for the shepherds and pens your livestock in the places which I will specify for you.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  גור בארץ הזאת, I want you to stay in this country, and even though there is presently a shortage of grazing land, if you stay where I tell you to your livestock will prosper. 
  ואברכך, I will bless you both in money and livestock, on condition that you remain in this country. 
  The reason is that כי לך ולזרעך אתן את כל הארצות האל והקימותי את השבועה, the reason I tell you all this is because here I will keep My oath to Avraham your father to give him and his descendants this land. While you will reside in this land you will be treated like a prince among them. You will acquire title to this land thanks to your lengthy unbroken residence on it.
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי, in accordance with all that I commanded him;
  וישמור משמרתי, he also did the very things which I Myself am in the habit of doing, such as to perform deeds of loving kindness. (compare Psalms 25,10 כל ארחות ה' חסד ואמת, “all the paths of the Lord are love and truth, etc.”) Also, Avraham warned the potential sinners to improve their ways, something that is of utmost importance to Me. This is what he did every time the Torah records him as קרא בשם ה', “he proclaimed the name of the Lord.” He also observed My revealed commandments מצותי, חוקותי, ותורותי, “the seven laws I laid down for all of mankind.” As a result of all this, he did not only preach to his fellow man but he practiced what he preached. Due to his possessing this virtue he became a model human being for others to emulate. At this particular stage in Yitzchok’s life, G’d did favours to him which were the result of the merits of others, i.e. the merit of his father. This theme is repeated once more in verse 24 when the Torah attributes the promise of the increase in Yitzchok’s seed to the merit of Avraham, i.e.בעבור אברהם עבדי “for the sake of My servant Avraham.” Neither Yaakov nor Avraham had ever been told that G’d’s promises to them was on account of a third party’s merit. The reason G’d’s promises to Yitzchok had been due to other people’s merits was that at that time he had not yet emulated his father’s practice of proclaiming the name of G’d, i.e. calling his fellow man to improve their lifestyles and to abandon idolatry. Once Yitzchok had begun to do this we find that even an Avimelech is in awe of him and recognises that he is the recipient of G’d’s blessings in his own right. (compare verse 26, as well as verses 28-29. All this was due to the fact that in verse 25 he is reported as emulating his father, building an altar and proclaiming the name of the Lord. Yaakov, as opposed to his father Yitzchok, has been described as being a יושב אהלים from his earliest youth, i.e. devoting himself to promoting matters spiritual, studying as well as teaching in the academy of Shem and Ever, (primarily those of the seven Noachide commandments which regulate inter personal relations.)
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  כמעט שכב אחד העם, the person described here as אחד העם, a euphemistic expression, was the king himself, who was after all, אחד העם, in a unique position compared to the common people. He had considered himself above the law doing whatever he pleased; or he had imagined that seeing that he was the king no one would dream of refusing to sleep with him, on the contrary every woman would be pleased to have been chosen for such an experience and that Yitzchok would be highly honoured to have his sister marry the king.
  והבאת עלינו אשם, by misrepresenting who Rivkah was, you, Yitzchok, almost made us guilty of a sin, for if the outstanding citizen of this land would have taken her, this would have caused also his subjects to be punished. This is the reason why he said: עלינו, “upon us,” instead of עליו, “upon himself.”  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ויזרע יצחק בארץ ההיא, in accordance with G’d’s instructions “גור בארץ הזאת” (verse 3)
  מאה שערים. In accordance with G’d’s promise to Avraham in Genesis 12,2 ואהיה עמך ואברכך, “I will be with you and bless you,” i.e. with material blessings
  'ויברכהו ה, with money. He sold his crops for cash. According to our sages as quoted by Rashi, the estimate of the size of Yitzchok’s crops given here is to teach us something about tithing properly. [according to Bereshit Rabbah 64,6 the question is why Yitzchok, who must have been aware that blessing does not rest on items which have been measured or weighed, bothered to measure his crop. The answer is that one must not tithe by estimating, but by measuring. If he wanted to tithe correctly, he had to first measure the size of his crop. Ed.] G’d directed the blessing to Yitzchok on account of his concern to tithe correctly, something we also find reflected in Maleachi 3,10 “bring the full tithe into the storehouse and let there be food in My House, and thus put Me to the test-said the Lord of Hosts. I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you and pour down blessings on you.”
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ועבודה רבה, soil ready to be worked.
  ויקנאו אותו פלשתים, seeing that what happened on their own fields was the exact opposite of what Yitzchok experienced. They had planted extra seed only to produce smaller crops.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  סתמום פלשתים, seeing they were conscious of Avimelech’s order not to harm Yitzchok physically, they shut off the wells to give expression to their jealousy of him.
  
  Verse 16
  
  כי עצמת ממנו, you would be able to stage a rebellion against us using all your wealth.
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  אל תירא, that they would reduce your heritage due to their constant interference with you.
  וברכתיך,  a blessing of financial success.
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  ויקרא בשם ה'...ויכרו שם עבדי יצחק באר—ואבימלך הלך אליו. After Yitzchok had roused himself to proclaim the name of the Lord publicly, his servants started digging a successful well without encountering opposition. Not only this, but Avimelech now came to him in order to make a treaty with him, and not to interfere with him anymore. [I wonder whether the word הלך “he walked on foot,” somewhat unusual for the mode a king travels is meant to convey to us that he humiliated himself. Ed.]
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  כי היה ה' עמך, we do not want to make a deal with you because we are afraid of you, but because G’d is on your side.
  
  Verse 29
  
  אם תעשה עמנו רעה, “that you shall not do any evil to us.” אתה עתה, just as we did not harm you. 
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  ויהי עשו בן ארבעים שנה, at that point Yitzchok was 100 years old and he did not bother to see to it that both of his sons should be provided with suitable wives. As a result,
  ויקח אשה, את יהודית בת בארי החתי, apparently Yitzchok did not object to his sons marrying Canaanite girls, something his father had objected to strenuously.
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  ותהיין מורת רוח, they became like a razor and a knife, shortening the lives of both Yitzchok and Rivkah. The expression מורת is the same as in Judges 13,5 where the angel told the wife of Manoach that the as yet unborn Shimshon must be a Nazirite and ומןרה לא יעלה על על ראשו, no “hair-trimming tool must touch his head.” Even now Yitzchok did not realise the extent of his son Esau’s wickedness. He did not protest his behaviour with a single word. This led to his ultimate error in setting out to bestow the blessing on his son Esau. This, in turn, [i.e. Esau first having been promised a blessing and then not getting it Ed.], led to Esau getting the blessing or advice that he would live (be successful) by his sword. In spite of this blessing he still hated his brother to the extent that Yaakov had to flee for his very life to another country in order to get away from his murderous intentions.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ותכהינה עיניו, just as what happened to the High Priest Eli who had not protested the wrongs committed by his sons. (Samuel I 3,13) In that instance the expression used is ועיניו קמה ולא יכול לראות, (Samuel I 4,15) Neither Avraham nor Yaakov experienced such problems in their old age at the age at which Yitzchok was struck by this affliction. They were both far older than Eli who died at the age of only 98. In fact, the Torah reports Avraham’s youthfulness in 25,1 when it reports him as taking another wife. Yaakov, with all the troubles he had experienced during his life was still able to see at 147 years of age, though with difficulty, (may be was very shortsighted then) as in Genesis 48,8 he is reported as clearly seeing Joseph’s sons, though they may have resembled each other so that he could not tell apart which one was Efrayim and which one was Menashe, This was in spite of the Torah (48,10) having told us ועיני ישראל כבדו מזוקן, “Yaakov’s eyes were heavy with old age,” (problems keeping the lids open?) At any rate, he could see, though not with clarity.
  
  Verse 2
  
  לא ידעתי יום מותי. Although the blessing will prove more effective the closer the one dispensing is to death, as was the case in the blessings dispensed by Yaakov and Moses, seeing that their souls were already closer to heaven at the time when they dispensed the blessing, Yitzchok was not aware of when he would die so that he could to time his blessing accordingly.
  
  Verse 3
  
  שא נא כליך, so that you will not return with your mission unaccomplished.
  
  Verse 4
  
  ועשה לי מטעמים, he asked for tasty dishes so that his son would earn the merit of fulfilling the commandment to honour his father. Having earned this merit, the blessing his father would bestow on him would take hold, be effective. Even though Yitzchok had no idea of the extent of his son’s wickedness, he did realise that he had not earned the blessing he was about to receive. This is why, when he blessed Yaakov afterwards, he did not bother to ask him to do something first in order to qualify for his blessing. He knew that Yaakov deserved it. He commenced blessing him without introduction, saying “may the G’d Shaddai bless you, etc.” (28,3)
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ולא ברכה, if perhaps he had intended to bestow a blessing upon me also, if I deceive him, then instead of such a blessing I will receive a curse.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  עלי קללתך, I will take your curse in your place should you become the subject of a curse. We find in Sanhedrin 48, that Solomon is reported to have accepted for himself any curse which would devolve upon him for carrying out his father’s dying wish not to let Yoav die a peaceful death and David’s curses against Yoav. In the event, Solomon or his descendants were afflicted with these curses. [I presume the author just wished to authenticate that Rivkah’s statement was not spurious, and that one can substitute oneself for the target of curses pronounced on someone else. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  והידים ידי עשו.  There can be no question that the skins had been prepared in such a fashion that the hair on them were just like the hair on human skin, for in its natural state the hair on goatskin is considerably different from that on a human skin. What the Torah testifies to then is that Yaakov’s hands now were just as hairy as the hands of Esau. It is quite possible that not only Yitzchok’s eyesight had deteriorated to the point where it did not serve him to identify objects with any degree of certainty, but that also his sense of touch had become weakened as a source of identifying objects he touched. Samuel II 19,36-37 would support this where Barzilai lists a number of his faculties which suffered weakness as a result of old age.
  
  Verse 23
  
  שעירות, ויברכהו. Seeing that Yitzchok had first been suspicious that son standing in front of him was an impostor, the Torah emphasised that not only did he not curse the person bringing him the food, but blessed him instead. This is in line with what we have been taught in Berachot 31 that if someone suspects a second person unjustly of being guilty of something he must pacify that person. This is not enough but he must also bestow a blessing upon him. Such was the case when the High Priest Eli had first suspected Channah of being in the Temple while intoxicated. When he found out that he had been wrong, he blessed her. (Samuel 1,13 and subsequently 1,17).
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  וירח את ריח בגדיו, in order to expand his good mood by enjoying the fragrance. Our sages have described such an experience in Berachot 42 where they said: “which is something which the soul enjoys while the body does not benefit from it? It is a pleasant fragrance.”
  ויברכהו, What happened here is similar to what is described in Kings II 3,15, where the prophet Elisha, who had been unable to secure a prophetic vision he had craved, after listening and enjoying music played for him, was able to secure the prophetic insight for which he had been waiting. Yitzchok, who, though desirous of blessing his son Esau, had not felt in the right frame of mind to do so successfully, now was able to proceed with full confidence.
  ראה ריח בני, “you my son, take note that this is the appropriate fragrance.”
  כריח שדה, the field does not only provide physical nourishment, its herbs, etc., but in addition it provides enjoyment for the soul which appreciates and is nurtured by the body it inhabits inhaling the fragrance of these herbs. [Yitzchok establishes the connection between ריח and רוח, “fragrance” and “spirit,” something alluded to frequently when the Torah describes G’d’s reaction to man’s sacrifices, especially the incense. Ed.]
   It is part of G’d’s goodness, 'אשר ברכו ה, to provide phenomena on earth which are apt to lift his spirits.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  וישתחוו לך לאומים, for even the kingdoms which will not serve you directly will be in a state of dependence on you seeing that you will be the superpower.
  הוה גביר לאחיך, seeing that Yitzchok was under the impression that he was speaking to Esau, he thought that it would be in Yaakov’s interest to endure some degree dependence upon Esau while at the same time holding on to the Land of Israel as its Abrahamitic heritage. Such a political dependence would ensure that Yaakov’s descendants would turn their attention to matters other than geo-politics, conquest, etc. The fact is, that at some time in the future the Jewish state did display expansionary tendencies, only to suffer setbacks as a result. The prophet Amos 6,8 already warned his people against such tendencies when he quotes G’d’s loathing for power politics practiced by the Kingdom of the ten tribes under the kings of Samaria. Moreover, Yitzchok thought that if Yaakov had to be subjected to foreign domination, it would be better for it to be subjected to the rule by his brother than by other nations which would treat it more cruelly. Our sages (Gittin 17) phrased this as או בטולך או בטולך דבר עשו, “it is better to be under the protection of You (G’d), or the protection of the descendants of Esau than to have to live under the rule of the Persians.” The way Yitzchok phrased his blessing was based on his knowledge that the Land of Israel would be Yaakov’s descendants exclusively, that Esau’s descendants would not have a share in it. This is why he made no mention at all of the blessing G’d gave to Avraham, nor did he make any mention of the Land of Israel.
  אוויך ארור, the word אורריך is in the plural mode seeing that there would be numerous nations or individuals who would curse the kings and ministers of Esau when they would not be granted their rightful aspirations. The Torah therefore warned the Jewish people not to curse the political leadership or the judiciary as such curses might backfire (Exodus 22,27)
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  ?מי איפוא הוא, if it is indeed true that you are Esau, who was the one who served me venison? When the word איפוא appears with the letter א at the end, the word is an alternative for the two words אם כן, “if so.” When the same word (phonetically speaking) is spelled with the letter ה at the end, as for instance, in Genesis 37,16 איפה הם רועים?, the word means the same as איה, “where?”
  גם ברוך יהיה, the appropriate translation of the whole verse would be: “if this is so that you are indeed Esau, who is the one who brought me the venison and still achieved that he will remain blessed?!” Yitzchok had felt instinctively at the time he had bestowed the blessing that it would become fulfilled for the person whom he was blessing at the time. This confirms something told us by Rabbi Chanina in Berachot 34 that whenever he prayed for the recovery of a sick person he could feel while praying for him if his prayer would be effective.
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  ויקח ברכתך, the blessing that would have been appropriate as suitable and effective for you. The blessing which Yaakov had been given (mistakenly), concerned matters of importance in our material life on this earthy both while in our own land or in the Diaspora. The reason Yitzchok had phrased it thus was because the blessing G’d had given Avraham and which was to be given to one of Yitzchok’s children was not appropriate for Esau. [the latter blessing was given to Yaakov in 28,4 so that Yaakov indeed had secured both blessings. Ed.]
  
  Verse 36
  
  הכי קרא שמו יעקב ויעקבני, did all this happen to me because at the time Yaakov was born he was named Yaakov so that he could now trick me? He was wondering if whoever had named Yaakov had predetermined some of his future character traits.
  הלא אצלת לי ברכה, seeing that you thought at the time you dispensed the blessing that it was I who stood before you, and you surely did not have in mind to bestow upon me the spiritual blessing, the supreme blessing, you must have reserved this blessing for my brother. You surely had not intended that I, Esau, would be the sole beneficiary of all your blessings?
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  ואת כל אחיו נתתי לו לעבדים, a reference to the sons of Ishmael, and the sons of Keturah, as well as the kings of other nations. As he had said in verse 29. יעבדוך עמים, “nations will serve you.”
  ולך איפוא מה אעשה?, in view of this what can I do now for you? What kind of blessing is left which will be of use to you?
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  הנה משמני הארץ יהיה מושבך, I am able to bless you, assuring you that you and your descendants will reside in fruitful areas of the earth, even if they will be marginally subservient to your brother.
  ומטל השמים מעל, ועל חאבך תחיה, you will be able to live on the blessings provided by the dew without needing rainfall or having to toil the earth; you will live by your sword in times of war. even though at the same time you may be in a state of subservience to your brother and even engage in war as a mercenary on behalf of your brother or someone else. From this it follows that if you were to complain about unreasonable harshness of your brother’s yoke, כאשר תריד, and would want to  ופרקת עלו מעל צוארך, “shake off his yoke from around your neck.,” i.e. revert to a different lifestyle, such as engaging in agriculture, know that then you will never become free from subservience to your brother or to someone else.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  וא-ל שדי יברך אותך, with money
  ויפרך, and grant you numerous children, וירבך, and allow you to attain great spiritual stature.
  
  Verse 4
  
  ויתן לך את ברכת אברהם, when He had said (12,2) “become a source of blessing!” This involves his teaching people about monotheism, the acceptance of which would result in tangible blessings for those people from G’d. This in turn would make the people regard Avraham as responsible for the blessings they receive. לך ולזרעך אתך לרשתך, if the children would also be following in the footsteps of their parents acting as spiritual instructors to the people around them, their claim to this land would be reinforced. This would become an irreversible sanctification of the name of the Lord. Isaiah 49,3 described this as G’d saying: ישראל אשר בך אתפאר, “Israel in whom I am glorified.” This is also an example of what David had in mind when he said in Psalms 104,31 “G’d delights in His handiwork.”
  ארץ מגוריך, the land of Canaan in which you dwell at the present time.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  וירא עשו כי ברך יצחק, we see from here that in spite of Esau’s noting that his father had sent Yaakov all the way to Charan to prevent his marrying one of the Canaanite girls, as this was not in keeping with his blessing, he did not pay much attention to this, except that when he saw to what extent his father was unhappy about this כי רעות בנות כנען בעיני יצחק אביו, he thought that it was due to his wives opposing his parents’ lifestyles, etc., as documented I 26,35. In order to appease his parents he then went to Ishmael to marry Machalat. One of the reasons the Torah reports these details is to show that had Yitzchok objected to Esau’s marrying Canaanite girls in the first place his objection would have been effective. If Rivkah’s intervention was effective now when she remonstrated with her husband there is no reason to believe that it would not have been effective when Esau was about to get married.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  ויצא יעקב...וילך חרנה. He set out with the destination Charan in his mind. Before he reached this destination the following incidents occurred.
  
  Verse 11
  
  ויפגע במקום, it happened that he came to a place he had not intended to go to at all. The meaning of the word המקום is that it was a place designed to accommodate travelers overnight. Every town had such an inn in its public square. This is also why the angels who came to Lot said (19,20) כי ברחוב נלין, “we will sleep in (the inn) in the public square. The same expression is also used in connection with the פלגש בגבעה in Judges 19,20 where we read רק ברחוב אל תלין “only do not spend the night in the public inn.”
  מאבני המקום, which had been placed there for the travelers to eat on and to sit on.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  והנה מלאכי אלוקים עולים ויורדים..והנה ה' נצב עליו, this foreshadowed the future when the “angels of G’d” the superpowers who had become very powerful in our world would begin their decline and end up at the bottom of the rungs of the ladder. The Lord G’d Who stood above the ladder is the symbol of the promise that G’d will never abandon the Jewish people, as we know from Jeremiah 46,28 כי אעשה כלה בכל הגויים ואותך לא אעשה כלה, “even when I utterly destroy all the gentile nations, I will not destroy you.”
  
  Verse 13
  
  הארץ אשר אתה שוכב עליה, a reference to the region currently known as “the land of Canaan,”
  לך אתננה, so that you will be considered as a “prince of G’d,” as was your grandfather (23,6) as well as your father (26,28)
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  והיה זרעך כעפר הארץ, ופרצת, after your descendants will have multiplied so that they are as the dust of the earth, numerically speaking, you will spread out. The expression is to be understood as similar to Isaiah 51,23: ותשימי כארץ גוך וכחוץ לעוברים, “so that you made your back like the ground, like a street for passers by.” Precisely when the Jewish people will have reached a seeming low point in their collective experience (downtrodden by the Egyptian taskmasters, or in later exiles) they will expand and become powerful in a measure never before seen on earth.  ימה וקדמה צפונה ונגבה, when that time arrives Bileam’s prophecy in Numbers 24,17 וקרקר כל בני שת, “it will smash the foundation of all mankind.” The final redemption of the Jewish people will come after they have suffered the low point in their history. (Compare Sanhedrin 95: “if you see a generation experiencing so many persecutions and setbacks that it appears a raging river is inundating them, wait for the  ending for the prophet Isaiah in his description of the redemption writes of it immediately after having described the very opposite in chapter 59, 19-20”)
  ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה ובזרעך, the same type of blessing mentioned in Isaiah 61,6  i.e. because you will then be known and revered as the priests of the Lord, they will receive their Divine blessing through you.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  כי לא אעזבך, when I said that after the exile you will expand in all directions of the globe, know no boundaries, this is possible only because even during the long years of exile I did not abandon you, as stated explicitly in Leviticus 26,44 לא מאסתים ולא געלתים, “I will not have rejected them, nor will I have abhorred them.”
  עד אשר אם עשיתי, as long as I have not carried out what I have said to you now. (i.e. the part commencing with ופרצת). There are occasions when the word עד is used in the sense of בעוד, such as Song of Songs 1,12 עד שהמלך במסבו, ”while the king was on his couch.” Or, Proverbs 8,26 עד לא עשה ארץ וחוצות, “while G’d had not yet made earth or even clumps of dust.” However, once G’d would have performed this great salvation, not only would He continue to treat His people with loving kindness by not abandoning them, but He would add a new dimension to it by walking among them, as promised in Leviticus 26,12 והתהלכתי בתוככם, “I will be walking amongst you (constantly).”
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  אכן יש ה' במקום הזה, there can be no question that this is a location from where the gift of prophetic insights is dispensed, seeing that I have been granted such an insight without even having expected it or prepared myself for it spiritually. It is a fact that the characteristics of a person undergo changes in the land of Israel just as the climate and very air in this country are different, contribute to one’s mental and spiritual progress. Our sages have phrased this (Baba Batra 158) as “the very air of the Land of Israel makes one wiser.”
  ואנכי לא ידעתי, if I had realised the special distinction of this site I would have prepared myself mentally for receiving these Divine insights.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  ויירא, about the error he had committed in lying down there. 
  אין זה, this place I saw in my dream that the ladder was standing upon. It can be none other than בית אלוקים, the site of the Temple. Our sages (Pessachim 88) have said that Yaakov called the Temple “house,” 
  וזה שער השמים, and this ladder which I have seen in my dream that G’d stood upon is the gate to heaven. Mankind’s prayers must be viewed as ascending to heaven by means of this ladder, as we quoted earlier from Chronicles ותעל שועתם למעון קדשו השמים, “their prayer rose to the residence of His Holiness, to heaven.”
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  וישם אותה מצבה, he sanctified it as an altar which he would erect on his return from Charan. The Torah testifies in Genesis 35,14 that this is indeed what Yaakov did on his way home to the land of Canaan. ויצב יעקב מצבה במקום אשר דבר “Yaakov established an altar on the site where he had said.”
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  אם יהיה אלוקים עמדי, to remove from me all the pressures which I am under, pressures which prevent man from giving his attention to matters which should receive his attention, i.e. to G’d and what He expects from man. What troubled Yaakov was what our sages in Eyruvin 41 described as the three problems which are liable to unbalance someone’s mind as well as his relationship to his Creator. They are: gentiles, being involved personally in natural disasters, and excessive poverty.
  ושמרני, from wicked gentiles who would force him to change his lifestyle;
  ונתן לי לחם לאכול, so that I will not be forced to violate both my own integrity and that ordained for me by my Maker.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ושבתי בשלום, from all the problems besetting man, i.e. a reference to what the Talmud had called רוח רעה. 
  והיה ה' לי לאלוקים, then G’d will be a judge, and He can examine to see if I did not fulfill my vow to the best of my ability. The letter ו at the beginning of the word והיה, [where we would perhaps have expected Yaakov to use an ordinary future tense such as יהיה, Ed.], may be in lieu of the word הנה, meaning that Yaakov would already from now on act on the assumption that G’d would provide him with the necessities he had asked for and therefore he was willing to be judged by the attribute of Justice, not relying on the attribute of Mercy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וישא יעקב רגליו, when a person proceeds on a journey voluntarily, at his own initiative, this is described in terms of his personality carrying, lifting his feet. When the initiative is not his, even when he does not march involuntarily, under orders against his will, his feet are described as carrying him, i.e. his personality, the rest of his body. At this point of Yaakov’s journey, he belonged to the category of traveler mentioned first. We find the other category mentioned in Isaiah 23,7 יובילוה רגליה, “would her feet carry her?”
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  ?השלום לו, Yaakov wanted to find out something about Lavan’s circumstances and state of mind before he would come face to face with him. He did so as it is not appropriate for a guest to make such enquiries about his host after he has already been welcomed in his home.
  
  Verse 7
  
  הן עוד היום גדול, the righteous Yaakov is appalled even at a wrong committed by gentiles. This is what Solomon referred to in Proverbs 29,27 תועבת צדיקים איש עול, “an unjust man is an abomination to the righteous.”
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
   כי רועה היא, she is familiar with the finer points of successfully locating pastures for her flocks.
  
  Verse 10
  
  כאשר ראה יעקב את רחל, until he had met Rachel Yaakov had not been interested to get involved in the problem of rolling the rock off the top of the well. He had been afraid that if he helped the three shepherds would only be concerned with watering their own flocks without waiting around to assist any other shepherds.
  
  Verse 11
  
  וישא את קולו ויבך, he wept over the fact that he had not been able to marry Rachel sooner, in his youth. If he had been able to, he would by now have had children of his own.
  
  Verse 12
  
  כי אחי אביה הוא, the Torah adds this at this point to justify his kissing Rachel and her allowing herself to be kissed by him.
  וכי בן רבקה הוא, he mentioned Rivkah to Rachel although Rachel did not know Rivkah at all. He did so because he wanted her to tell Lavan about who exactly Yaakov was.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  את שמע יעקב, that he had succeeded in single-handedly rolling the rock off the top of the well.
  ויספר ללבן, in order to inform Lavan that he had not come to him because he needed to look for a livelihood, but rather to that he was escaping from the wrath of his brother and that his mother had commanded him to go to Lavan and to stay there for a while.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  אך עצמי ובשרי אתה, even though you are no doubt able to make a living without me by undertaking to look after the flocks or in some other manner, the fact remains that you are my flesh and blood and it is therefore appropriate that you should stay under my roof.
  וישב עמו, during which time he looked after Lavan’s livestock. The expression ישב implying more than just being a tourist, a visitor in someone’s house for an extended period is found elsewhere also, as for instance in Exodus 2,21 when Moses is described as ויואל משה לשבת את האיש, where it means not merely that Moses agreed to stay at the house of Yitro but that he undertook to become a shepherd for him. When Lavan, in verse 19 of this chapter asks Yaakov שבה עמדי, he did not merely offer hospitality but meant that Yaakov would continue to mind his flocks. The fact that Lavan himself refers to Yaakov working for him without wages makes it clear that during the first 30 days he was not merely sitting around, but had been more than earning his keep.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  יפת תאר, possessed of beautiful features, as described in Isaiah 44,13 ובמחוגה יתארהו.
  ויפת מראה, her skin looked very healthy. Colour is something which attracts closer inspection by the sense of sight. 
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  אעבדך שבע שנים ברחל, there can be no question that a righteous man such as Yaakov would not have the audacity to marry a woman and to found a family unless he were able to support her and to provide her with the requirements specified in Exodus 21,10 as spelled out in Yevamot 19. “a man is allowed to marry several wives provided he can look after them financially.” There is therefore no reason to believe that Lavan, who was himself a man of means, would give his daughters to sons-in-law who were unable to provide for them in the manner they had been accustomed to. If all this is so, how do we explain Yaakov’s referring to the time when he crossed the river Yabbok on his way to his uncle as having only his walking staff? (Genesis 32,10)? What Yaakov meant when he said this was that at the time he referred to he had not owned any livestock, nor any profession with which to earn his livelihood. The reason he offered to work for Lavan for 7 years was to use his work in lieu of a cash dowry he would pay her father for her hand in marriage, something that was customary in those days. Lavan’s daughters themselves referred to their father having sold them into marriage in Genesis 31,15. They were modest enough to know that Lavan had taken advantage of Yaakov by demanding an exorbitantly huge amount as dowry from him. We know also from Exodus 22,16 that a father used his daughter as a source of augmenting his income and when the value of such “merchandise” had been reduced through rape or seduction of the daughter (loss of virginity) he is entitled to financial compensation by the man who seduced his daughter (when he refuses to give her to the seducer in marriage in exchange for a regular dowry).
  בתך הקטנה, although she was very young at this time, within the seven years of Yaakov’s service for her she would mature and be able to be a wife for him in the full meaning of the word.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  ויהיו בעיניו כימים אחדים, he considered himself as having struck a good bargain, considering Rachel as worth far more than seven years of his labour.
  באהבתו אותה, on account of how much he loved her.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ואבאה אליה, let us make the consummation of the wedding immediately after the betrothal, i.e. the chuppah. He wanted to skip as many of the formalities in order to achieve his purpose of building a family with her.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  לא יעשה כן במקומנו, the people of this place would not allow me to marry off my younger daughter first just in order for me to honour my word.
  
  Verse 27
  
  ונתנה לך, then they will agree for the younger one to be given to you also.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  ויאהב גם את רחל, not only because she was his wife, and such love is natural, but because she was Rachel, because of her distinct personality and her deeds which reflected this personality.
  מלאה, even though since she was his first wife it would have been natural for her to capture most of her husband’s love, (Yevamot 63) Yaakov preferred Rachel.
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  כי שנואה לאה, because after his first meeting with her Yaakov recognised that Leah bore the symptoms of a woman who is unable to have children.
  ויפתח את רחמה, Yaakov had thought that the reason Leah had been willing to deceive him was because of her awareness of her barrenness. She remained in such a state until G’d took pity on her and opened her womb.
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  בעניי, that my husband suspected me of agreeing to deceive him. As compensation for having been unfairly suspected G’d granted me male seed. (compare the reward for a woman unjustly suspected of infidelity Numbers 5,25)
  
  Verse 33
  
  כי שנואה אנכי, and because of this hatred He has given me also this son.
  
  Verse 34
  
  הפעם ילוה, I have by now acquired a tendency, a justified presumption, חזקה, of producing numerous children. Our sages in Yevamot 64 consider an occurrence thrice repeated as establishing such a presumption.
  
  Verse 35
  
  על כן קראה שמו יהודה, to reflect the letters in the name which alludes to the Essence of G’d, the tetragram. Upon closer inspection we can detect elements of such allusions to G’d’s “great” name in the names of the sons Leah had born earlier also. The names mentioned both here and later in the Scriptures were not necessarily innovations, but people who had lived in former times had already been given such names. We encounter יהודית בת בארי in 26,34; there is a שמואל בן עמיהוד in Numbers 34,20, (so that Channah, wife of Elkanah had not invented a new name when making her son the prophet Samuel as she did. (Names usually were associated with an event in the lives of either parent that the parent wanted to perpetuate.)
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  מתה אנכי, a figure of speech, meaning the same as הן אני עץ יבש, “here I am a dried out tree,” in Isaiah 56,3. 
  
  Verse 2
  
  ויחר, because she had said: הבה לי!. This sounded as if Rachel’s having children was something within the power of her husband. His anger was on behalf of his Creator, G’d, Who had been insulted by Rachel’s words. He had to ignore his love and commiseration for Rachel’s plight seeing she had been guilty of such a fauz pas.
  אשר מנע ממך, Yaakov had detected clear physiological symptoms indicating that Rachel was incapable of conceiving.
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  בוא אליה, this was Rachel’s answer to her husband’s accusation. She had not meant that it was within Yaakov’s power to make her pregnant, but she wanted to nurse a child by the next best method, that of becoming foster mother to her handmaid’s child.
  ואבנה גם אנכי ממנה, so that I will have a share in posterity just as has my sister through her children. 
  ממנה, a recipe found in Megillah 13 for barren women to be jealous of other women who have no problem conceiving in order for their own organs to respond in a manner that helps them conceive.
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  דנני אלוקים, G’d was just and fair in not granting me children.
  וגם שמע בקולי, but even so He did accept my prayer.
  ויתן לי בן, someone who will look after me in my old age., seeing he has been born on my knees, i.e. will be raised by me. When Yaakov’s senior wives, Rachel and Leah made such statements, they thereby signaled their agreement to freeing their handmaids who had possessed slave status up until then. They did this by referring to the sons of the handmaids as בנים, children, rather than as עבדים, slaves. If their mothers had been slaves, the children would have to be viewed and treated as slaves. We have proof of this from Exodus 21,4 האשה וילדיה תהיה לאדוניה, “the woman and her children will belong to her master.” This is the reason why these matriarchs did no longer have the mothers of the handmaids’ sons perform menial tasks for them as they did before these women were given to Yaakov to have children with. This was quite different from when Avraham had said to Sarah that Hagar, mother of Ishmael was “in your hand, do to her what you like,” i.e. she continued in her status as slave. They are always listed as בני יעקב, and participate fully in the inheritance, as opposed to a slave who cannot inherit as anything given to him automatically belongs to his master. In the case of Ishmael, the Torah had made sure by saying כי ביצחק יקרא לך זרע “for your (Avraham’s) seed will be perpetuated through Yitzchok, that we would understand that Ishmael was not Avraham’s heir.  (21,12)
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  נפתלי אלוהים נפתלתי, the word נפתולי is a variant of the word פתיל as in צמיד פתיל, a tightly fitted lid (Numbers 19,15) Rachel meant that her cleaving to her husband was an attachment containing spiritual, religious dimensions, making the bond between them immeasurably stronger.
  עם אחותי, I did this jointly with my sister, both of us having liberated our respective handmaids in order to enable them to become mothers of the founding fathers of the Jewish people. This is what they meant when considering the sons of these former handmaids as בנים instead of as עבדים.  Accordingly, Leah had already liberated her handmaid Zilpah before Bilhah had given birth to Naftali. How else could 8 of the 12 tribes have been born within 7 years of Yaakov’s getting married? 6 of these sons were Leah’s and 2 were Zilpah’s. Assuming each pregnancy lasted 9 months, and further assuming that none of these pregnancies occurred simultaneously, 8 times 9 months amounts to 72 months, i.e. 6 years. Unless Leah had given her handmaid to Yaakov before Naftali was born there would not have been enough time for Joseph to have been born at the end of the second 7 years of Yaakov’s service. At that time, after Joseph’s birth, Yaakov requested permission to go home to his parents.(3,26). The only alternative to our calculation would be that all the children were born after only 7 months pregnancy, and that none of the mothers observed even basic days of ritual impurity before again sleeping with their husbands. 
  גם יכולתי, I have achieved what I had planned by giving my maidservant to Yaakov.
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  בא גד, this one came coincidentally, for I had not planned to ring him into the world, seeing that I had stopped giving birth. The reason why the word is spelled as a single word with the letter א missing, is to indicate that the conception and pregnancy was not planned but occurred gratuitously. Her pregnancy had somehow become terminated after it had begun. We find a similar construction of the word בגד in Job 6,15: אחי בגדו כמו נחל, “my comrades are fickle like a wadi.”
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  באשרי, this son is part of my bliss, my happiness, because he is also a son for me.
  
  Verse 14
  
  וילך ראובן, when he saw that his mother was unhappy that she was no longer having children,
  וימצא דודאים, a pleasant smelling herb, the fragrance stimulating the human organs related to conceiving and giving birth. Our sages (Baba Kamma 82) said garlic has a similar effect on people and that this is the reason why one eats garlic on Friday nights when the husbands cohabit with their wives. The Dudaim appear to have been known as producing a similar effect. It is possible that the Dudaim had an even better effect in stimulating the feelings of love between a man and his wife. This idea is based on Song of Songs 7,13-14 שם אתן את דודי לך, הדודאים נתנו ריח, “there I will give my love to you, the mandrakes yield their fragrance.” Our verse would testify both to Reuven’s righteousness and his intelligence. especially considering that at that time he could hardly have been older than 4 or five years old.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  המעט קחתך את אישי, you should never have consented to become my competitor as another wife for Yaakov, as the Torah stipulated (in later years) “you must not have two sisters as wives simultaneously;” (Leviticus 18,18) 
  ולקחת גם את דודאי בני, in order to add further to his loving you and hating me.
  לכן ישכב עמך הלילה. In order that the effect of your sleeping with him will become effective before I can use the effect of the mandrakes. You will therefore not suffer any damage if you give me some of the mandrakes now. This is all the more so if, as our sages contend, these mandrakes were ownerless and had never belonged to anyone specifically. (Bereshit Rabbah,72,2)
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  אלי תבא כי שכור שכרתיך, you will not commit any unfair act by canceling the date you had for tonight with my sister. My invitation to you has her full approval. This story, which appears on the surface as below the dignity of all the parties involved as it is described as if two women were engaged in horse-trading, Yaakov being the “horse,” must be viewed as proof that what was at stake was not Yaakov being used as a sex object but as illustrating how important having children by this man was to these sisters. The attitude towards intimacy with one’s husband displayed by both Leah and Rachel was akin to that of Adam and Chavah before the sin, when neither of them had any thoughts of fulfilling biological urges. Their entire purpose in mating had been to fulfill G’d’s commandment to become fruitful. Similarly, the motivation of the matriarchs was so highly esteemed by G’d. The use of the mandrakes to further their respective desires to conceive and produce children must be seen as something augmenting their prayers, so that on account of that G’d did listen to their prayers. It is proper for the righteous to exhaust all natural means to attain their laudable objectives before relying on miracle, i.e. prayer to attain them. This is also the deeper meaning of Yevamot 54 that G’d looks forward with great interest to the prayers of the righteous. The Talmud means that sometimes withholding something from them until they have exhausted their own efforts at securing their objectives by their own efforts will eventually result in their asking G’d to go out of His way to grant their requests.
  וישכב עמה בלילה הוא, willingly, not reluctantly. He appreciated her urgent desire to have more children fathered by him.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  וישמע אלוקים אל לאה, because she had used both natural means, and then, failing to succeed, relied on prayer. She herself is on record as confirming this when she said נתן אלוקים שכרי אשר נתתי שפחתי לאישי, “G’d has given me my reward for having offered my handmaid to my husband. Giving Zilpah to Yaakov was considered by her as a way of relying on natural means of having more children, seeing she had come to the conclusion that she could not have any more from her own womb.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  זבדני אלוקים, He has given me my share and compensation for my efforts involving the mandrakes. The reward of performing a mitzvah is to be granted the opportunity to perform another mitzvah.
  אותי זבד טוב, my contribution to all this was that I did not do any of this in order to obtain physical gratification. My sole consideration was to fulfill His commandment.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויזכר אלוקים את רחל, who had endeavoured to conceive by giving her own competitor, her sister to her husband, as well as by trying to obtain the mandrakes to become pregnant by natural means.
  וישמע אליה אלוקים, she had prayed after having taken all steps to succeed by natural means.
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  את חרפתי, that G’d had consistently accepted my sister’s prayers while seemingly ignoring mine.
  
  Verse 24
  
  יוסף ה' לי בן אחר. On account of having given my handmaid to my husband a second time. G’d has granted my sister also another son on account of that.
  
  Verse 25
  
  שלחני ואלכה, even though Yaakov did not own any livestock at that time, seeing he had crossed the Yabbok with only his walking staff, he did have enough provisions and cash for himself and his extensive family. Had he not possessed these, it would have been irresponsible in the highest degree to undertake this kind of a journey relying on G’d’s miracles to sustain him. Furthermore, it is inconceivable that Lavan a wealthy and respected individual in his town, would consent to let Yaakov take his wives and children, Lavan’s own family, on a journey in which they would face death from starvation. Lavan’s objection to Yaakov’s departing at this time was based on self-interest. He pleaded with him, seeing he knew that his wealth had been due to Yaakov’s presence and he did not want to lose the source of his financial success.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך, if you love me at all, as would be appropriate for people of the same flesh and blood. It is not proper for you to abandon me at this stage. Why would he term Yaakov’s leaving for his own home as abandoning Lavan? נחשתי, I am absolutely convinced that my good fortune during the last 14 years commenced with your arrival at my doorstep. As the Talmud Berachot 42 puts it:תכף לתלמיד חכם ברכה, attaching oneself to a Torah scholar and playing host to him results in the host receiving Divine blessings. [the Talmud quotes our verse as its source. Ed.]
  ויברכני ה' בגללך, I have duly noted that I derived far greater riches through my livestock than is customary. I know that this must be due to your presence. Perhaps even his own teraphim had told him this.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  אתה ידעת את אשר עבדתיך, do not attribute your sudden wealth to the power of your teraphim, i.e. to influences connected with your horoscope, but attribute it to the faithful manner in which I tended your flocks, and to my expertise as well as my dedication in maximising the potential connected with the craft of being an expert shepherd.
  ואת אשר היה מקנך אתי, the herds had contained defective animals, maimed ones, etc.; I cured those using my expert knowledge in raising sheep, and cattle.
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  ויברך ה' אותך לרגלי, still, when you said that the Lord blessed you during my presence here, this is true beyond a doubt;
  ועתה, מתי אעשה גם אנכי?, seeing that G’d has first blessed you on my account,
   when will it be my turn to do something blessed by the Lord for my own household? The kind of wages paid to shepherds are not adequate to enable me to accumulate some wealth for my family as you have succeeded in doing for your family.
  
  Verse 31
  
  ?מה אתן לך, so that you will achieve what you hope to achieve? 
  לא תתן לי מאומה, if the Lord will see fit to bless me, He  will certainly not deny you what you are entitled to. Our sages have a rule that a person cannot negatively influence what his fellow human is entitled to. (Yuma 38)
  
  Verse 32
  
  הסר משם כל שה, the young ones, not the adult ones; so that some of them would give birth to young ones with the same skin patterns as the younger ones and will be part of my share.
  
  Verse 33
  
  וענתה בי צדקתי..כי תבא על שכרי לפניך, when the time comes for me to receive my fair share among the animals to be born, the ones having the skin patterns agreed upon will demonstrate what my fair share is supposed to be. G’d may change the percentages of such animals in a ratio which assures me my fair share.
  
  Verse 34
  
  לו יהי כדברך, so that you will be satisfied with the results of your own proposal. [Lavan assumed that Yaakov had shot himself in the leg with his proposal. Ed.]
  
  Verse 35
  
  ויסר ביום ההוא את התישים, after Lavan had agreed to Yaakov’s proposal he removed not only the females with such skin patterns as Yaakov had mentioned, etc., but also the males both young an mature ones. [His objective was to make it almost impossible for Yaakov to prosper by relying on genetic factors. Ed.]
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  לנכח הצאן, he positioned the staves before the line of vision of the sheep in order to make them look when this work was performed, and this experience would be anchored in their imagination at the time they conceived and were pregnant. Visual impressions formed during such periods are of lasting value and usually produce some effect in the young animals born as a result of that pregnancy.
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  אל עקוד וכל חום בצאן לבן, this was after Lavan had already reneged and changed the rules of the contract by allocating to Yaakov newly born lambs with different skin patterns than had been agreed to originally.
  
  Verse 41
  
  
  
  Verse 42
  
  ובהעטיף הצאן לא ישים, in order that Lavan should not think that the results which so clearly favoured Yaakov could have been achieved only through deceitful activities on his part.
  
  Verse 43
  
  ויפרץ האיש, he surpassed all the boundaries of what is considered possible in amassing a tremendous fortune in a short time all through shepherding flocks of sheep and goats.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וישמע את דברי בני לבן, who badmouthed Yaakov out of jealousy.
  
  Verse 2
  
  וירא יעקב את פני לבן , he saw that he had accepted his sons’ accusations regarding Yaakov.
  
  Verse 3
  
  !ויאמר אלוקים אל יעקב שוב, The Torah informs us that as a result of the meeting between Yaakov and his wives he fled from Charan without taking formal leave of Lavan as ordinary courtesy would have required him to do. He was convinced that in view of the fact that Lavan had accepted the badmouthing of him by his sons, he would steal some or most of his belongings before allowing him to leave. He said so himself during the confrontation in verse 31 when he expressed concern that Lavan would even have robbed him of his wives, claiming them as his seeing that they were his daughters.
  ואהיה עמך. So that you will not be harmed on the way.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  העוד לנו, how could you think that we would have a problem to part from our father?
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  כי כל העושר, the word כי is used here as in Genesis 18,15 כי צחקת, i.e. meaning “but.” We do not expect to inherit anything from our father so that we are not dependent on his goodwill so as not to forfeit our inheritance. All the wealth which G’d has saved from him is for us and our children.
  ועתה, now that you have seen that he believed the badmouthing of you by his sons, there is even reason to believe that he will rob us of what we have.
  כל אשר אמר אלוקים, do exclusively what G’d has said; let us get ready and leave and not wait to take our leave from him.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  ויגנוב יעקב את לב לבן; he did not reveal with a single facial expression that he was aware that Lavan had accepted the badmouthing of him by Lavan’s sons, nor the fact that Lavan’s own demeanour vis-à-vis him had changed.
  הארמי, the reason why Yaakov acted as if he had not noticed the change of Lavan;s attitude was that Lavan was a swindler, genetically. If he had thought that Yaakov had become aware of his changed attitude he would have spied on Yaakov every minute of the day so that Yaakov would not have been able to leave with his belongings unnoticed.
  על בלי הגיד לו, the word על here is used as in על עולת התמיד in Numbers 28,10 where it means: “with, in addition to.” Yaakov acted as if unaware of Lavan’s hatred in addition to not informing him of his intended departure. All of this was not exactly in accordance with accepted norms of conduct, but as dictated by sheer necessity, his survival instinct. כי בורח הוא; out of fear that Lavan would rob him with the aid of the people of his town. He said so to Lavan later when explaining his decision and his actions.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ויברח, usually the word בריחה, flight, means that someone departs without being pursued. The flight is inspired by fear of damage and harm not imminent. When the word ניסה is used to describe flight, this describes people fleeing from pursuers, out of fear from immediate damage and harm.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  פן תדבר עם יעקב, even speaking is forbidden to you.
  מטוב עד רע, do not try to dupe him into returning to you by holding out hope to him that you will treat him well. Neither must you threaten to harm him physically. 
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  ואלוקי אביכם, not because of your merits. Now that you have left without obtaining my permission and you misled me, I assume
  
  Verse 30
  
  הלוך הלכת כי נכסוף נכספת לבית אביך, the only explanation I an find for your conduct is that you experienced an overwhelming urge to return to the house of your father no matter what. However, even granting all this,
  ?למה גנבת את אלוהי, this is something which cannot be excused. Your longing to see your father could not have caused you to steal my teraphim.
  
  Verse 31
  
  פן תגזול את בנותיך, by saying that you had not given me your daughters in marriage in order for me to remove them from your homeland you would in effect commit robbery as you would detain both my children and my estate. In fact, Lavan used exactly this kind of argument when he said: “the children are my children the daughters are my daughters, etc.” (verse 43). You might have succeeded in doing all this with the help of the local townspeople. Now that I have left your country you will not be able to carry out such a plan.
  
  Verse 32
  
  לא יחיה. He thought that one of the servants must have stolen the teraphim in order to worship them as he had been in the habit of doing before becoming part of Yaakov’s household.
  הכר לך מה עמדי, if you can find amongst my possessions any that you recognise as belonging to you, take them!
  ולא ידע יעקב, if he had known that Rachel had taken the teraphim he would not have had the audacity to deny this. Also, he most certainly would not have cursed her by saying “he shall not live!” [actually he had not cursed the thief but the one with whom the stolen goods would be found, and in the event Lavan never did find the teraphim. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  ויחר ליעקב וירב בלבן, after Lavan did not find anything, Yaakov thought that his teraphim had never been stolen at all, but that Lavan had used the accusation as a pretext to search Yaakov’s belongings and to make him appear as a suspected thief.
  ?מה פשעי מה חטאתי, What wrong have I ever committed that entitles you to treat me now as suspect of stealing?
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  רחליך ועזיך לא שכלו, you have found me as possessing the very reverse of the characteristics of a thief. Not only did I serve you faithfully, but I have treated you even better than fairness dictates. I have endeavoured with all my skill to prevent your sheep from giving birth to premature, and stillborn young.
  ואילי צאנך לא אכלתי, even things which according to accepted practice I could have treated as mine, I did not eat, seeing that they were nominally yours.
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  לא הבאתי אליך, אנכי אחטנה, I never brought you a diseased or fatally wounded animal whose death had been due to my negligence; all I ever brought you were animals which were the victims of genuine accidents, something I could not have prevented. Even so, מידי תבקשנה, you held me responsible for making good your loss, illegally, of course.
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  ותחלף את משכרתי, by doing so you reversed yourself since it had been you who had determined what my wages should be.
  
  Verse 42
  
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  והצאן צאני, if I had indeed changed your wages or sent you home empty-handed I would not have taken anything from you, seeing that it all originated from me. You only acquired it by deceit and deviousness, not legally.
  ולבנותי, it actually belongs to my daughters as a dowry.
  מה אעשה לאלה, even though I could take all of it away from you, what would I do afterwards in order to provide for them.
  
  
  Verse 44
  
  ועתה, seeing I do not wish to cause them any harm.
  לכה ונכרתה ברית, to ensure that you on your part will not cause me any harm either.
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  וירימה מצבה, as a symbol that this was to be something enduring.
  
  Verse 46
  
  
  
  Verse 47
  
  ויעקב קרא לו גלעד. He did not speak any language other than Hebrew.
  
  Verse 48
  
  ויאמר לבן הגל הזה עד, he humbled himself to refer to it in Hebrew, Yaakov’s language, after having named it in Aramaic first. He meant that the pile of stones would serve as a witness to what he was about to say.
  
  Verse 49
  
  והמצפה  also the name מצפה itself was to serve as a witness. This was because immediately prior Lavan had said  יצף ה' ביני ובינך, “may G’d watch between me and you.”
  אשר אמר, previously.
  
  
  Verse 50
  
  ראה אלוקים עד, look that G’d will punish you if you do not treat my daughters properly, seeing He is a witness  The whole line may be understood as analogous to Leviticus 5,21, ומעלה מעל בה', where the trespass against G’d is considered as something that only G’d is aware of, there being no human witnesses at hand to testify against the sinner. G’d is always the third party when two people have a disagreement, seeing He knows the true facts of the situation.
  
  Verse 51
  
  
  
  Verse 52
  
  
  
  Verse 53
  
  אלוהי אביהם, Lavan meant that Yaakov could not take offence at Lavan pairing Nachor’s god and Yaakov’s G’d in a single expression. He had chosen Nachor to underline that Nachor’s god was also the god of Terach, who was the father of both Avraham and Nachor.
  וישבע יעקב בפחד אביו יצחק. He chose someone who was not the son of Terach to make certain it was understood that his oath was only to the G’d of Yitzchok. Only this G’d was entitled to judge him.
  
  
  Verse 54
  
  ויקרא לאחיו, of Lavan. There was no need to invite Lavan himself seeing he was like a father to Yaakov’s children.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויברך אתהם. Our sages have already told us not to belittle the value of a blessing pronounced by a layman, a person of low social standing. (Megillah 15) The reason why the Torah tells us of Lavan’s blessing to his daughters is to remind us that when a father blesses his sons he does so wholeheartedly, with his material and spiritual faculties. We know that Yitzchok blessed with all his soul from his own words (27,4) When the one bestowing the blessing himself reflects the image of G’d he had been created in, then such a blessing is likely to be correspondingly more effective.
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  מחנה אלוקים זה. Now that the angels have seen fit to join me there can be no doubt that mine is a godly camp. Just as Yaakov had called the place where he had had the dream of the ladder Bet El, so he now referred to his camp as machaneh elokim. In either instance the reason was that he had been found worthy of a divine revelation.
  מחנים, two camps; the camp of G’d (angels) and his own. The grammatical formulation with the plural ending following the vowel patach, the stress is on the penultimate syllable as this indicated the number 2. Parallel examples are paamayim, shevuayim, shenatayim, etc. .[the kametz here substitutes for the patach as it is the end of the sentence. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  וישלח יעקב מלאכים, in order to find out Esau’s state of mind concerning him.
  ארצה שעיר שדה אדום, to the region of Seir where he lived. At that time he had not yet conquered the whole Chori, the inhabitants of that land. (compare 36,8)
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ואחר עד עתה. This is why I did not come to pay my respects to you until now.
  
  Verse 6
  
  למצוא חן בעיניך, for I have no doubt that you will be happy to see that I have become wealthy and the fact that I tell you the good news will please you.
  
  Verse 7
  
  וגם הולך לקראתך, not only have we seen him, but he did not react with satisfaction when we told him about your wealth. But, אגם הולך לקראתך עם ארבע מאות איש, he also marches toward you with 400 men in order to attack you. The expression לקראת meaning to approach with hostile intent is repeated in Numbers 20,20 when again Edom (Esau) is threatening the Israelites.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  והיה המחנה הנשאר לפלטה, while he will be busy gorging himself on the loot captured in the first camp the second camp will be able to make good its escape, or will have prepared itself for battle.
  
  Verse 10
  
  אלוקי אבי אברהם, Yaakov first listed the praises of the Lord, acknowledging His deeds of loving kindness, before coming to the point of pleading for His help in his hour of need. When the sages of the Great Assembly formulated our daily prayers they followed the example set by Yaakov here in devoting the first three benedictions to praising the Lord and acknowledging both His power and His Holiness, before launching into listing our requests from Him.
  
  Verse 11
  
  קטונתי מכל החסדים , I was not worthy of all the acts of kindness I have experienced at Your hands.
  ומכל האמת, the good You did for me on account of the merit of my father and grandfather. Seeing that You have already seen fit to treat me well beyond my deserts, I beg of You to continue to do so. Our regular prayers reflect this sentiment when we use the expression כגודל חסדך, “in accordance with the greatness of Your kindness.” Moses used this expression in Numbers 14,19 when praying for forgiveness of the people after the debacle with the spies.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  והכני אם על בנים, he will inflict a defeat on me by killing my family. אם על בנים, even if I, personally, succeed in escaping.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  ואתה אמרת היטב איטיב עמך, if what I am afraid of were to happen this would be the reverse of Your promise to me. How can I watch the destruction of my family?
  ושמתי את זרעך, even if only my children will be killed this will be the opposite of what You promised. It behooves You to let them survive for the sake of Your great name, even if I myself do not deserve to survive. We use this kind of argument in our prayers when we say (based on Jeremiah 14,7) אם עונינו ענו בנו עשה למען שמך, “if our sins testify against us, (save us) for the sake of Your name!”
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  עדר עדר לבדו. In order for Esau to realise that each species of animals had the appropriate number of males with it to ensure that these herds would continue to develop without hindrance. This is what he meant when he urged Esau קח נא את ברכתי, “please accept my blessing” (33,11) He meant that his gift was designed to be an ongoing blessing for his brother.
  וריוח תשימו בין עדר לעדר, to prevent the animals form one herd to jump into the adjoining herd, so that anyone seeing this gift would not appreciate its quality and scope.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואמרת: "לעבדך ליעקב". He instructed his shepherds  not to give the impression that they knew Esau was on the way in their direction and that they had been sent to him. The phrasing Yaakov instructed his messengers to use was meant to give the impression that Yaakov had no knowledge that Esau was marching toward him with hostile intentions. The messenger should give the impression that he had been sent by Yaakov to Seir where Esau lived, with a gift for him.
  
  Verse 20
  
  כדבר הזה תדברון אל עשו, he instructed each one what to reply to Esau’s enquiry. He should simply mention that he belonged to the other herds following him, all of them being Yaakov’s a gift for his older brother Esau.
  
  Verse 21
  
  ואמרתם גם הנה עבדך יעקב אחרינו, he told each of them to reply with the same words in addition to the words that each one had been instructed to answer individually. The purpose behind these detailed instructions was to convince Esau that Yaakov was indeed not far behind on his way to Seir the destination of these gifts which he had sent ahead of him.
  כי אמר אכפרה פניו במנחה, these were the words he had instructed the shepherds leading the gift to say, in order to soften Esau’s attitude by Yaakov assuming a somewhat servile attitude prior to their coming face to face with one another.
  אראה פניו, an expression denoting the “paying of a visit,” as we know from Exodus 34,23 where the Jewish people is instructed to visit the Temple three times annually with the same formula, i.e. יראה כל זכורך...ולא יראו פני ריקם, “every male of you is to visit Me; when they pay this visit they shall not come empty-handed.” Yaakov himself confirmed the meaning of the formula אראה פניך when he said to Esau in 33,10 על כן ראיתי פניך כראות פני אלוקים, “inasmuch as visiting you is akin to visiting the presence of G’d.” It was an accepted custom for a visitor to highly placed persons to arrive bearing gifts.
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  ותעבור המנחה על פניו, Yaakov rehearsed the proceedings in order to satisfy himself that it would accomplish to give the impression he had meant for it to convey.
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  ויעבר את אשר לו, he ordered all of them to precede him in crossing the river; we have a similar construction in Samuel II 18,23 ויעבור את הכושי, “he passed the Cushite.”
  
  Verse 25
  
  ויותר יעקב לבדו, he was the last one to leave from the camp as he was busy directing all his family and servants and chattels to cross the fording so that nothing would be left behind.
  ויאבק איש עמו, this was the work of an angel at the instigation of G’d (that is why he is called איש). The description is parallel to Kings II 13,17 It is immaterial whether the instrument of the salvation is a merely symbolic one such as the arrows described in the Book of Kings which Elisha instructed King Yoash to shoot in the direction of the far away Kingdom of Aram. Salvation occurs at the end of a period of ups and downs, and though Yaakov/Israel suffered many reverses in his struggle with Esau, (in the historical global struggle between the two philosophies) in the end Yaakov triumphs. [freely translated as the author is ambiguous to my mind. Ed.] The blessing given by the angel here to Yaakov at the end of the struggle, at daybreak, symbolises the synopsis of Jewish history.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  לא יכול לו, seeing that most of Yaakov’s striving was oriented toward G’d and heavenly concerns. Both his thinking and his conversation had G’d and His will as its focus. 
  ויגע he informed him that in the future, i.e. כף ירכו, many of his offspring would become guilty of sins against G’d. While this troubled Yaakov he momentarily digressed from his concentration on G’d so that the angel could inflict an injury upon him during his lapse of concentration.
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  לא אשלחך, this utterance by Yaakov confirms what the sages tell us that the righteous are greater than the ministering angels (Sanhedrin 92)
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  לא יעקב יאמר עוד שמך, a reference to the end of days when Israel will have survived the destruction of the gentile nations When that time comes no one ever will again use the name Yaakov for the Jewish people [and the stigma that used to be associated with that name. Ed.] The very word יעקב already contained within this message that the bearer of this name will triumph at the end. Once he has triumphed there is no more point in having a name which alludes to something which will be realised only in the future. The future will then have arrived!
  כי אם ישראל כי שרית, they will only refer to as “Israel.” This new name is to confirm that  שרית עם אלוקים ועם אנשים, this is analogous to Isaiah 24,21 יפקוד ה' על צבא המרום במרום ועל מלכי האדמה על האדמה, “in that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven in heaven and the kings of the earth on earth.”
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  הגידה נא שמך, which would describe your essence, your function, and how you would go about performing same. This would enable me to understand why you attacked me in the first place. I would then be able to do penitence for my sin, something I cannot do as long as I do not know what precisely my sin consists of.
  ?למה זה תשאל לשמי, our (angels) format does not in any way correspond and shed light on the level of our intelligence which cannot be explained in terms of language used by human beings. The angel confronting Manoach in Judges 13,18 summed this up in the single word: “פלאי,” it is concealed, [because it would only be misunderstood if put into words. Ed.] The angel’s activity reflects G’d’s will at the time. [Clearly, this implies that most angels perform their tasks ad hoc. Ed.]
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  ויזרח לו השמש כאשר עבר את פנואל והוא צולע, after he had passed Pnuel while limping, the sun shone and healed him. This was another allusion to what would happen to his offspring many many years later. Compare Maleachi 3,20 וזרחה לכם יראי שמי שמש צדקה ומרפא בכנפיה, “but for you who revere My name a sun of victory shall rise to bring healing.”
  
  Verse 33
  
  על כן לא יאכלו בני ישראל, in order to ensure that the damage inflicted to Yaakov’s offspring as predicted by the angel should be kept to a minimum as long as they remind themselves of the symbolic meaning of that injury suffered by Yaakov during his nocturnal encounter with this angel. [I believe that even commentators who concentrate on the plain meaning of the text, such the ones whose commentaries I am translating in these volumes, feel free to treat the text allegorically when the narrative of the Torah itself appears pointless unless we understand it in historical terms, offering moral and ethical teachings and warnings of long term significance. Ed.] Alternatively, the moral lesson is that just as the gid hanashe is totally devoid of taste, does not appeal to the palate, so that consuming it would not provide the sinner with any kind of gratification, we are taught not to second-guess G’d’s legislation by treating this commandment as not important.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ועמו ארבע מרות איש. To tell us that he had not been appeased even by the substantial gift Yaakov had sent him.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  וירץ עשו, his attitude changed suddenly when he realised to what extent Yaakov had humbled himself before him. It is of great concern to us seeing that we live among the descendants of Esau, people who are arrogant, consider themselves invincible. Yaakov’s conduct vis a vis Esau teaches that the only way to escape the sword of Esau is through self degradation and gifts. This corresponds to what our sages taught us (Taanit 20) that the curses of the prophet Achiyah Hashiloni were more beneficial to the Jewish people than the blessing showered upon them by Bileam. Achiyah had cursed the Jewish people describing them as a reed which bends in all directions, a reference to someone demeaning himself rather than facing up to adversaries. (Kings I 14,15) If the Jewish people during the period of the second Temple had taken his advice to heart, the Temple would not have been destroyed. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai testified to this when he said “if not for the militant extremists the Romans would not have destroyed the Temple.”
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ?מי אלה לך, he asked if these were his children or his servants.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ?מי לך כל המחנה, the מחנה mentioned in 32,19 by Yaakov’s shepherds/messengers describing Yaakov’s gift as מנחה היא שלוחה לאדוני. [note that Esau rearranged the letters of the word מנחה to spell מחנה. Ed.] Esau asked: “who do you have who is close enough to you to rate such a lavish gift?” Or, the question implies “to whom do you have to send such a lavish gift in order for the recipient to be well disposed towards you?”
  
  Verse 9
  
  יש לי רב, I most certainly do not need this gift.
  אחי, יהי לך אשר לך. Seeing that you are my brother you certainly do not have to put yourself out so much in order for me to make you welcome.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  כראות פני אלוקים, as is the custom when one is granted an audience by the people in high office. The Torah already commanded that when appearing in Jerusalem three times a year, the Israelite fulfilling this commandment must not appear before G’d empty-handed. (Exodus 23,15)
  ותרצני, in order that you will receive me with goodwill. We have a similar construction in Maleachi 1,8 הירצך או הישא פניך?, This consideration also warrants my sending you a lavish gift.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  ויפצר בו, in order for him to accept the gift. Yaakov was aware that bribes sway people’s minds; in this case he used the bribe to blind Esau’s judgment. We encounter the very opposite with the prophet Elisha in Kings II 5,16 where he is urged to accept a well deserved gift and refuses, so that Naaman will know that a true servant of the Lord does not accept a reward for someone else’s accomplishment, i.e. G’d having cured Naaman from his leprosy.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  נסעה ונלכה, to Seir, Esau’s home. This was in line with what Yaakov’s messengers had told Esau as being their destination.
  
  Verse 13
  
  כי הילדים רכים, for it is my task to take care both of the children of tender age and of the sheep and other animals which are sensitive to overexertion.
  ודפקום, in your honour, not to delay you.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  ויבא יעקב שלם עיר שכם, he reached the land of Israel unharmed. This was the fulfillment of the condition he had set in his vow in 28,21 ושבתי בשלום אל בית אבי, “and I will return in peace to the house of my father.” He did not wait until he had physically returned to the house of his father.
  בבאו מפדן ארם, while he was still on the way to his father’s house. He began to fulfill the terms of his vow by building an altar This was in accordance with his promises והיה ה' לי לאלוקים. (the last words of his vow).
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ויקן את חלקת השדה, ויצב שם מזבח. A reminder of Psalms 137,4 “how can we sing the Lord’s songs on alien soil?” 
  ויקרא לו א-ל אלו-הי ישראל. When he prayed he referred to G’d as the G’d Who is the אלו-הי ישראל, corresponding to his vow that והיה ה' לי לאלו-הים, “G’d the merciful will be accepted by me as the G’d of Justice.” This standard of being judged by the attribute of Justice commenced only at the time when Yaakov had qualified for this level of righteousness having been given the additional name of Yisrael.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  ותדבק נפשו, this was the opposite of Amnon having raped Tamar whose infatuation with her turned to disgust the moment he had satisfied his biological urge. (Samuel II 13,14-16)
  בדינה בת יעקב, because she was the daughter of the widely respected Yaakov, someone of an international reputation. The Torah confirms this once more later in verse 19 when it describes Shechem as desiring the “daughter of Yaakov.”
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  והחריש יעקב עד בואם, he refrained from starting a quarrel until his sons would have been informed of what happened so that they could be on their guard against their adversaries.
  
  Verse 6
  
  ויצא חמור, when he noticed that Yaakov’s reaction had been silence he began to worry about reprisals.
  
  Verse 7
  
  ויתיצבו האנשים ויחר, the sadness and sorrow described by the Torah as the brothers’ reaction pertained to the despicable deed that had been perpetrated against a member of Yisrael’s family. This was in spite of the fact that whereas Jews do not rape unmarried virgins, gentiles are known to be guilty of this. Seeing that even in gentile circles it was taboo to rape the daughters of prominent citizens, the Torah adds the words וכן לא יעשה, that such a thing was totally unacceptable. Their anger, ויחר, therefore was turned against the perpetrators and against those who had condoned the act.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  וסחרוה,. Event though normally, newcomers were not allowed to engage in the kind of commerce or artisanship which would compete with that practiced by the local inhabitants. We have this principle in Baba Batra 21, where it is spelled out as the right of the local inhabitant who feels economically threatened by competition from a new immigrant. He is accorded the right to lodge a complaint against the newcomer practicing his trade in his town. [an ancient form of the policy of “closed shop.” Ed.]
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  הרבה עלי מאד, as a penance he would be prepared to pay over and above the customary amount of a dowry.
  
  Verse 13
  
  במרמה, they demanded that the people circumcise themselves expecting them to refuse. Alternatively, they thought that Shechem and Chamor, although prepared themselves to circumcise themselves, would not be able to convince the townsfolk to follow their example.
  וידברו, אשר טמא; they said that the kind of ipso facto voluntary circumcision which Shechem and his father were willing to perform on themselves was not relevant after Shechem had already defiled their sister. They considered this as in the category of אתנן זונה, offering the price paid to a whore as a sacrifice on G’d’s altar.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  כי חרפה היא לנו, it would appear that none of the circumcised men among us were fit to marry our sister.
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  ולקחנו את בתנו, even though she is at this point in time locked up in your house we will liberate her from you.
  והלכנו, with all our wealth which you would otherwise benefit from.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  והוא נכבד, in spite of his high reputation he did not hesitate to agree to circumcise himself, because he had taken such a liking to the daughter of Yaakov.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  שלמים הם אתנו, they are of a totally peaceful disposition towards us. They do not intend to revenge themselves for the indignity their family has suffered.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  ויהרגו כל זכר, these men had not circumcised themselves in order to become Jews and embrace monotheism but only in order to lay their hands on the vast possessions of the family of Yaakov, as their leaders Chamor and Shechem had promised them.
  
  Verse 26
  
  ואת חמור ואת שכם בנו הרגו, they went looking for them and found them.
  
  Verse 27
  
  העיר אשר טמאו, unless according to the mores of Shechem (city) such behaviour was no longer considered despicable, Schechem would not have done what he did. He felt sure he could get away with it, as his townspeople would not object. However raping virgins was commonplace in Shechem already. They behaved in the manner described in Genesis 6,2 “they took women for themselves from wherever they chose.” [the punishment for this type of violence had been the deluge. Ed.]
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  להבאישני, the local population would accuse us of having gone back on our agreement after the people of Shechem had circumcised themselves.
  
  Verse 31
  
  ?הכזונה, only a harlot does not have anyone standing up in her defense, avenging violence done to her. יעשה, “shall the people who you are afraid of rising up against us be allowed to get away with such conduct? את אחותנו, who was not a harlot. It is incumbent upon us to avenge her disgrace. Once the inhabitants of the region will understand this they will have no reason to attack us.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ושב שם. An invitation to prepare himself mentally and spiritually before beginning to build the altar that he had in mind to erect. This corresponds to what our sages have described as being the manner in which they prepared for prayer and subsequently unwound before pursuing mundane activities. According to Berachot 30 they spent an hour “gearing up” before commencing their prayers and then spent an hour unwinding before going about the business of earning their daily bread.
  ועשה שם מזבח לא-ל הנראה אליך בברחך, in order to give thanks to G’d Who has kept His promise which He gave you on that occasion. We have a long standing tradition that when one passes a location where one had once experienced G’d’s help in a clearly supernatural format one is to recite a special benediction giving thanks to G’d for having done so, even though the event may have taken place a long time ago. (Berachot 54).
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  הסירו את אלוהי הנכר, which you have taken from Shechem. Even though the adherents of these idols had already disowned them, (the surviving females of the city of Shechem), and we know from Avodah Zarah 43, and 52 that such items are subsequently permitted to Jews, Yaakov commanded his household to get rid of them before proceeding to Bet El. He wanted all his people to mentally completely dissociate themselves from anything connected wit items formerly used in idolatrous pursuits.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  ויטמון אותם יעקב, he buried them instead of destroying them. Seeing that they no longer had the halachic status of being idolatrous artifacts they did not need to be destroyed 
  
  Verse 5
  
  ויסעו, ויהי חתת אלוקים, the reason why this fact is reported is that Shechem was a fortified city, and when the Israelites left the protection of the walls of that city there as a danger that the surrounding Canaanites would view this as their opportunity to attack and destroy them. The Torah therefore reports that the reason they did not was that they had been overcome with awe for the Jewish G’d.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ויקרא למקום, to this inn for wayfarers where he had spent the night on his way from home some 34 years ago when the Torah had referred to it as ויפגע במקום (28,11)
  א-ל בית א-ל, “the sanctuary of Bet El.”
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  אלון בכות. Mourning results in the withdrawal of the Divine Presence as we know from Shabbat 30. Until Yaakov had passed this tree after mourning Deborah the Divine Presence did not return and accompany him. [He was deprived of such a Presence during all the 22 years that he was mourning for his son Joseph, thinking him dead. Ed.].
  
  Verse 9
  
  וירא אלוקים, after the mourning had concluded.
   The Torah, in retrospect, by using this formulation, tells us that the dream Yaakov had had when in flight, on the way to Charan, had in fact not been merely a dream but a vision.
  בבאו מפדן ארם. G’d only appeared to him after leaving Lavan. While he was in Lavan’s city he did not rate such visions. The fact that G’d had spoken to him by means of an intermediary, an angel even while still in Padan Aram, is not to be confused with the level of a vision described as “G’d appeared to him.”
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  שמך יעקב, at this time I make your name Yaakov an eternal name, i.e. after all the other nations will have perished you alone will remain. This will give a positive meaning to the word עקב, “heel,” meaning something that will survive all that precedes it. Compare Jeremiah 46,28 כי אעשה כלה בכל הגוים ואותך לא אעשה כלה, “when I shall put an end to all the nations, I will not put an end to you.
  לא יקרא עוד שמך יעקב, when the time will come when Yaakov will be the only surviving nation on earth as Bileam said in Numbers 25,9 הן עם לבדד ישכון, “this is a nation which will dwell in solitary splendour,” there will no longer be any significance to the name Yaakov. [as there are no others to relate its meaning to. Ed.]
  כי אם ישראל יהיה שמך, seeing that you will rule, תשתרר over the remnants of all the nations that have ceased to exist as such. This also corresponds to the previous prophecy of Bileam in Numbers 24,17 וקרקר כל בני שת, “he (Yaakov) will smash all the foundation of the sons of Seth (mankind.)
  ויקרא את שמו ישראל, He blessed him in that the predictions which were meant for the end of time, were beginning to be implemented already from that time on, and not only while Yaakov was on holy soil in the land of Canaan, but even when he would be outside (as in Egypt). From this time on no one who would attack Yaakov and his family would meet with success. This was the meaning of what our sages said in Sanhedrin 76 that ”wherever Yaakov and his family walked on they became princes over their masters,” and this is what the prophet Jeremiah bewailed in Lamentations 1,1 as what the Jewish people lost as a result of the destruction of the Temple. 
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  אני א-ל שדי, I swear by My own name when I swear an oath. One such example is found in Deut. 32,40 ואמרתי חי אנכי לעולם, “as I have said, I, the One Who lives forever.” G’d’s oaths to Yaakov were always by the attribute Shadday.
  פרה ורבה, do not worry that your seed will be annihilated by the gentiles. Even if your seed will not be deserving of My consideration because they are disloyal to the tradition of their forefathers, do not make this a reason not to observe the commandment to be fruitful. This interpretation disagrees with the viewpoint expressed by Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha. This sage believes that if we would be able to enforce it, in a time of anti-semitic persecution forbidding circumcision, for instance, we should forego marriage for a while in order not to violate such laws as circumcision. The only reason why, in his opinion, such emergency legislation is not to be enacted is that seeing the people would not accept it, they would become guilty of sinning knowingly. It is therefore preferable that they sin merely inadvertently. [Our author understands our verse here as G’d’s promise that inasmuch as the blessing to multiply is associated with the attribute of Shadday, this means that regardless of the worthiness of individual Jews this blessing would not be withheld. Ed.]
  ומלכים מחלציך יצאו. This blessing means that the Jewish people would always possess persons who are fit to occupy the throne, as opposed to the Edomites who, as we know from 36,36-37, had to rely repeatedly on outsiders to become their kings.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ולזרעך אחריך אתן את הארץ, in due course, at the end of time, I will give your descendants the entire globe, not only the land of Israel. This was the real meaning of 28,14 “you will spread out to the west to the east and to the north and to the south.” This is also what Bileam prophesied when he said in Numbers 24,17 that Yaakov would uproot all the descendants of Seth, i.e. all of mankind.
  
  Verse 13
  
  במקום אשר אתו, when he was on his way to Charan (34 years earlier) at that same inn. There G’d appeared to him (verse 9) and there G’d’s Presence departed from him. This is why he erected a monument at that very site.
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ויסך עליו נסך, he poured a libation of wine on it. Thereby he completed paying his vow in which he had vowed to make out of the stone which had served as his pillow a monument, meaning “a house of G’d.” (28,22). By anointing this monument he had, so to speak, laid the foundation of the house of G’d to be built there in the future. What he did here was similar to what David did in his time when he prepared the foundation for the Temple his son Solomon was to build after his death in accordance with what the angel had told him at the threshing ground of Arona the Jebusite.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  אל תראי, do not be afraid that the infant about to be born will be a girl although your pains are so great that there is reason for suspecting this. The Talmud in Niddah 31 claims that the birth pangs associated with the birth of female children are greater than those associated with the birth of male children. 
  כי גם זה לך בן, even though you are experiencing all these pains, the child is a male.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  מצבה על קבורתה, this was for protection against the grave being damaged or exhumed by people doing this for nefarious purposes, as it was located at the crossroads where there is a lot of traffic. [I presume it could not be in a field as Yaakov would not violate private property to bury his dead. Ed.]
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  וישמע ישראל..ויהיו בני יעקב שנים עשר. Even though Yisrael had heard about this major indiscretion by his firstborn son Reuven, he did not exclude him from the number of children he called “my sons.” This was because he was convinced that Reuven had immediately repented his mistake. His indiscretion therefore did not leave a permanent stain on the future development of the Jewish people and the status of all the tribes surviving any future catastrophes [such as when the wars prior to the arrival of the Messiah would be fought. Ed.]
  
  Verse 23
  
  בכור יעקב ראובן, as far as Heaven was concerned Reuven did not suffer consequences because he had repented forthwith. He also did not suffer really in this world, i.e. on earth, until on his deathbed Yaakov punished him by depriving him of the material benefits enjoyed by the first born in that he inherits an extra share of his father’s estate. This punishment was withheld in accordance with the principle that anyone guilty of being ostracised by the community is not actually ostracised until the leading sage of the generation declares him to be so. (Moed Katan 16)  This is based on Judges 5,23 where Devorah, the ruling judge of Israel, curses the inhabitants of a certain place called מרוז who had failed to answer her call to arms against the army of Siserah, general of Yavin, King of the Canaanites who had been oppressing the Israelites. The מלאך ה' she quotes in that verse is the leader of the generation, herself in this instance.
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  אשר גר שם אברהם ויצחק, mentioning the good deeds performed by people of former generations now in their graves results in their children deriving indirect benefit in the eyes of the inhabitants in that country. The opposite is true when one mentions the names of wicked people buried in that land. Isaiah 14,21 confirms this when he wrote: “prepare a slaughtering block for his sons because of the guilt of their father.”
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ואלה תולדות, a reference to developments in the clan started by Esau, both in people, possessions and political influence. The word תולדות in this context is analogous to “מה ילד היום,” “what the day brings.” (Proverbs 27,1)
  עשו הוא אדום, someone always addicted to realise all his material desires, satiate his lust. [the author interprets this as the justification for the Torah repeating this information which we had been given in already 25,30. Ed.] The overpowering desire of Esau for what attracted his eye was demonstrated when he could not remember the name “lentils” when he was tired, demanding to be given from “this red, red stuff.”
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ואת אהליבמה בת ענה. She was a member of the tribe of the Chori. She became Esau’s entry card to the whole region of Mount Seir. This is why the Torah reports already in verse 8 that Esau now settled in Mount Seir. His own children and grandchildren subsequently wiped out all the other members of that tribe that had not intermarried with his descendants. This is the reason why the Torah repeats in verse 9
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  ואלה תולדות עשו אבי אדום בהר שעיר, to inform us obliquely that in the interval Esau had conquered all these people and that Timna became his son’s concubine. Esau’s descendants now became אלופים, “great chiefs.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ותמנע היתה פלגש, Eliphaz was one of the conquerors of that land and Timna a sister of the אלופים of the original inhabitants of the region fell to him as a conquest and became his concubine.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  אלה בני שעיר החורי, the reason the Torah lists the outstanding people of that region is to show that Esau overpowered them in spite of their prowess. Obviously, this must have been G’d’s will, as the Torah testifies in Deuteronomy 2,22 כאשר עשה לבני עשו היושבים בשעיר, “as He did on behalf of the sons of Esau who are now living in Seir.”
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  ואלה המלכים, the Torah informs us that the Edomites had to appoint outsiders, members of other tribes, as their kings, seeing that they did not find a suitable personage for such a task among their own. Not only that, but none of the kings whom they did appoint raised a son fit to take over the position of king from his father.
  לפני מלך מלך, before Moses was appointed leader of the Jewish people. Moses, as distinct from kings elected by the people, was appointed as such by G’d, as we know from Exodus 6,23 ויצום אל בני ישראל, “He commanded him to be the leader of the Children of Israel.” This expression is repeated in Samuel I 25,30 where Avigail refers to the time when G’d appointed David as king (נגיד) over the Jewish people. However, when the kings ceased ruling over the kingdom of Esau/Edom, they were replaced by leaders known as Alufim. It is reminiscent of the prophecy revealed to Rivkah in Genesis 25,23 ולאום מלאום יאמץ. [perhaps the author understood these words as distinguishing between the internal cohesion of the Kingdom of Edom at different times. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  ואלה שמות אלופי עשו, the significance of the additional words למקומותם בשמותם may be that they were not distinguished enough to be recorded by their individual names, but only in association with the location where they practiced their authority.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען. In the same region of the land of Canaan in which his father had sojourned. Compare a similar verse in 35,27 אשר גר שם אברהם ויצחק, “where Avraham and Yitzchok had sojourned.”
  
  Verse 2
  
  אלה תולדות יעקב, what happened to him, as a result of his “settling,” i.e. “retiring” there. (matters which he had not planned). Things described in Proverbs 27,1 as ילדי יום, brought on by the passage of time. Ever since Yaakov had left his father’s home what happened to him had the appearance of something not planned by him, not the result of his design. It is similar to the history of the Jewish people during the era of the first Temple. At any rate, the words וישב יעקב, Yaakov setlled down, remind us of the Jewish people in the land of Israel until the first expulsion. The words בארץ מגורי אביו, in the land where his father had been a stranger, remind us of the era of second Temple. This was followed by the destruction of Jewish statehood, and the loss of even the status of a satellite power, and our entering a long period of exile which will terminate only with the final redemption.
  היה רועה את אחיו בצאן, he was giving guidance to them and instructed them in the finer points of being successful shepherds.
  והוא נער, if, in spite of this, he badmouthed his brothers, this was due to his being still an adolescent, not as mature as he should have been or as his intellect made him appear to be. He was not experienced enough to realise what the ultimate effect of his badmouthing his brothers would turn out to be. While it is true that as a relative youngster at 30 he became the mentor of the wisest men in Egypt, the foremost political power, at the tender age of 17 he still had a lot to learn. (compare his wisdom as expressed in Psalms 105,22  where aged people are described as wise, whereas in Shabbat 89 we are taught that mature wisdom cannot be expected to be found amongst the physically young.
  ויבא יוסף את דבתם רעה, he told his father that his brothers, because of unintentional errors, i.e. lack of professional competence, caused him financial losses in his flocks, seeing that at the time they were preoccupied primarily with increasing their material wealth. 
  
  Verse 3
  
  ועשה לו כתונת פסים, as a visible sign that Joseph was intended by him to become the leader of all the brothers both at home and in the field. The use of such distinctive clothing to symbolise someone’s elevated stature is found also in Isaiah 22,21 והלבשתיו כתנתך, “I will dress him (Chilkiyah) in your tunic,” where it signals that authority is transferred to the one wearing the appropriate garments. (uniform). The Talmud Baba Kama 11 also confirms that authority is signalled by the attire worn by people possessing it. [there the brothers who had paid extra for their leader to represent them and to appear well dressed are quite content seeing that their representative while attired in costly garments will indirectly confer benefits upon them through their brother being listened to in the councils of the city. Ed.]
  
  Verse 4
  
  ויראו אחיו כי אותו אהב אביהם, here Yaakov had committed an error, allowing the love in his heart for Joseph to be now become visible through preferential treatment of him.
  ולא יכלו דברו לשלום, even though the brothers had to speak to Joseph pertaining to their business dealings both concerning household problems and problems with the herds and flocks, something imposed upon them by their father’s command to see in him their manager, they did not speak to him concerning any private matters, brotherly concerns.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  ויגד לאחיו, this too was an ill advised move. Had he been more mature he would have kept the contents of such a dream to himself.
  
  Verse 6
  
  שמעו נא החלום הזה, not only did he tell them his dream, as something by the way, but he invited them to listen to him tell it by saying שמעו נא “please pay attention!” This could not fail to intensify the hostility of his brothers, as we see immediately by their reaction: “do you plan to rule over us?!”
  
  Verse 7
  
  וגם נצבה, this conveyed to him the impression that his authority would extend over a considerable length of time. In fact, it proved to be so as he ruled for 80 years. There is no record of any ruler mentioned in the Bible as having ruled equally long or longer than Joseph.
  
  Verse 8
  
  חלומותיו, because of his dreams. The details he told them proved to the brothers that Joseph was hoping that his dreams would be realised.
  ועל דבריו, and on account of his having insisted that they listen to the details of what he had dreamt.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  מה החלום הזה?, this is only a reflection of unworthy thoughts. It shows us that you plan to rule over us. Your nocturnal dreams reflect your thinking when you are awake.
  
  Verse 11
  
  ויקנאו בו אחיו, they attributed such aspirations by Joseph to the fact that their father had appointed them as senior to them, otherwise he would not have dared tell such dreams even in his father’s presence.
  ואביו שמר, he remembered it because he thought that the dream reflected what would in fact occur. In fact, his father was looking forward to the fulfillment of Joseph’s dream. This reflects the statement in the Talmud Sanhedrin 105 that a person may be jealous of everyone except his students and his children.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  הלא אחיך רועים בשכם?, Yaakov implied that it was not very far from their home to Shechem. [this seems a bit strange as it is about 100km by air, surely quite a distance for an unaccompanied young man of 17 to travel all by himself. Ed.]
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  תועה בשדה, walking in every direction to find where they were tending the flocks.
  מה תבקש, what are you looking for seeing that you do not keep to the known paths?
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  איפה הם רועים, in which section of this region.
  
  Verse 17
  
  נסעו מזה, there is no question that they have departed from this grazing area, there is no point in searching any part of this region.
  כי שמעתי אומרים, the reason why I said that they certainly no longer are in this region is because I myself overheard them saying “lets move on.”
  אחר אחיו, even though he had not been able to locate them in Shechem as his father had asked him to do, he went to more trouble than he was required to, in order to fulfill the wishes of his father.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  ויתנכלו אותו להמיתו, the root נכל always means to plan to do something evil. One example of the use of this word in this sense is found in Numbers 25,18 אשר נכלו אתכם, “who plotted against you.” The brothers had entertained the thought of causing Joseph’s death while they saw him from a distance. They did not think that he had come to make peace with them but that he was spying on them to either cause them to commit a sin which would bring their father’s curses on them or which would cause G’d to punish them. As a result of this, Joseph imagined he alone would survive as blessed of all of Yaakov’s sons. The expression ויתנכל in the reflexive conjugation described what a person fantasizes about in his mind, what imaginary scenarios he entertains in his head. You find the expression in Samuel I 28,9 אתה מתנקש בנפשי, “(the witch of Endor speaking to King Sha-ul who had disguised himself) “you are trying to trap me into forfeiting my life, trying to get me killed! The word להמיתו in our verse refers to Joseph causing the death of his brothers. [While it is true that the word is separated from the word אותו preceding it by the tone sign tipcha which refers to what came before, in the opinion of this Editor it should then have read להמיתם to cause their death,” instead of “to cause his death.” Ed.] We find the expression used in a similar sense in Deuteronomy 4,14 לעשותכם אותם, “so that you will fulfill them.” [the author describes the function of the transitive conjugation of the root נכל and עשה respectively, not any similarity of the subject matter under discussion in the two verses mentioned. Ed.] If we understand the thoughts described in our verse in this vein, we can solve the riddle of how the stones on the breastplate of the High Priest could have been inscribed with the names of all these brothers, if instead of being as righteous as such models ought to have been in order to serve as inspiration for us, they had indeed harboured such murderous thoughts without justification. Even if the brothers’ intention to sell Joseph had been based on mere hatred, how could such brothers qualify as inspiration for the Jewish people of the breastplate of the High Priest? We must therefore endeavour to understand the collective feelings of the brothers as being that they actually felt themselves threatened by Joseph’s aspirations and they were convinced that when one feels threatened one is entitled or even obliged to take measures to neutralise the source of the danger. This is even a halachic principle clearly spelled out in Sanhedrin 72. If we needed any proof for the truth of the brothers’ feelings, it is best provided by their conversation among themselves while in jail (42,21) when they felt that G’d had repaid them for their misdeeds. They did not regret selling Joseph, nor even having planned to kill him; the only thing they regretted and considered  themselves guilty of was that they had not responded to Joseph’s pleas for mercy. In other words, even over 20 years after the event they were still convinced that Joseph had posed the sort of threat to their existence which entitled them to take extreme defensive action against him. 
  
  Verse 19
  
  הנה בעל החלומות, they meant “the one who told us about his dreams in order to make us angry.” They meant that Joseph had wanted them to commit a sin as a result of their anger so that they would bring down upon themselves the wrath of their father or of G’d. causing our destruction in either event.
  
  Verse 20
  
  ועתה לכו, make up your minds quickly to kill him.
  אמרנו חיה רעה אכלתהו, so that Joseph will not have a chance of becoming angry at us and first be cursing us. 
  ונראה מה יהיו חלומותיו, the dreams of which he told us that they foreshadow his rise to greatness and that he would rule over us. Then we will be witness to the fact that all these dreams will dissolve into nothingness and that they are nothing but lies.
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ויצילהו מידם, by first of all preventing immediate action by the brothers, committing an act which would prove to be irrevocable. This would have been the kind of thing Solomon had in mind when he said in Kohelet 1,15 that מעוות לא יוכל לתקן, “there are things so twisted that they are beyond repair.” He referred to matters from which sometimes the righteous person can also not be saved. One such example was the irreversible act of Reuven of having slept with Bilhah. Yaakov himself characterized it as פחז כמים, “hasty like water” (flowing downstream, something beyond recall).
  
  Verse 22
  
  ויד אל תשלחו בו, according to your judgment that he deserves killing as a רודף, someone threatening you with death or perdition. (compare Samuel I 24,13 מרשעים יצא רשע וידי לא תהיה בך, “although from wicked people come wicked deeds, my hand will never touch you. [David telling G’d that he will personally not harm his persecutor King Sha-ul, but he leaves it to G’d to deal with him. Ed.]
  למען הציל אותו, in order to raise him from the pit afterwards.
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  וישבו לאכול לחם, to demonstrate that what they had done was no crime in their eyes, or that the incident was not something that should interfere with their regular meal. When righteous people become aware of having inadvertently committed a sin, they not only do not celebrate it by eating, but they impose a fast day or more upon themselves. A prominent example of people imposing a fast day upon themselves, although they did not feel guilty for having done something wrong, were the Jewish tribes after having practically wiped out the tribe of Binyamin. We read about this in Judges 21,2-3 as well as about the fact that they imposed a fast upon themselves in spite of being convinced that they had done the right thing in going to war against that tribe. We also find something parallel when the King Darius threw Daniel into a pit full of starving lions. (Daniel 6,19). [The King had acted in accordance with the constitution of his country which demanded that a “heretic” such as Daniel be thrown to the lions, and the king’s efforts to have the law changed were rejected by his advisers. In spite of being legally correct, the king felt so badly that he went to bed hungry as a kind of penance for doing what was legally correct. Ed.] If the brothers sat down to eat immediately after throwing Joseph into the pit, this is clear evidence that in their minds they had certainly not committed any wrong. WE, who were not part of Yaakov’s household, and who know that these brothers were unanimously elevated to become the founding fathers of the Jewish nation, must therefore accept the premise underlying their actions as being that they had truly felt themselves personally threatened by Joseph, someone who was considered so mature that his own father had appointed him as manager over his senior brothers. The brothers had made strenuous efforts to put physical distance between themselves and Joseph in order to avoid any altercation. When he had sought them out in spite of their having signaled clearly that they wanted to avoid him, they felt understandably very threatened.
  הולכים להוריד מצרימה, these Ishmaelites were camel owners, they did not own the merchandise  described which was carried by their camels. As soon as they would deliver the merchandise to the appropriate address in Egypt their mission was completed.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  מה בצע, “what good, what purpose,” revenge has one of two purposes; 1) either it is intended to pay back the offending party, in which case killing Joseph does not teach him a lesson, but we would be punishing ourselves. Sooner or later our hearts and our conscience would start bothering us and we would be unable to assuage our conscience. 2) revenge could be designed to act as a deterrent to other people, warning them not to become guilty of the crime for which this offender had been punished. This purpose could not be fulfilled in this case, as the very fact that we have killed Joseph will have to be concealed, so that his fate could not serve as a deterrent to anyone.
  וכסינו את דמו, both on account of our need to preserve our good image, as well as because of our fear of our father.
  
  Verse 27
  
  לכו ונמכרנו, and this will be an appropriate measure for measure punishment for him; he wanted to make slaves out of us; now he himself will become a slave.
  
  Verse 28
  
  מדינים סוחרים, the owners of the merchandise being transported on the Ishmaelites’ camels.
  וימכרו את יוסף לישמעאלים, they completed the deal with the Ishmaelites acting as agents for the Midianites. The brothers did not want to speak to the Midianite merchants. The reason was that they did not want to be recognised by them as they were in the habit of frequenting cities in order to ply their wares. The camel drovers, however, were not in the habit of visiting urban areas. At worst they would just pass through towns without stopping there overnight or longer. The actual purchasers, however, were the Midianite merchants, in accordance with the Torah’s narrative that the Midianites sold Joseph to Egypt (verse 36). The Jewish  people experienced something parallel during the period of the second Temple, when Midianites sold a portion of our people into slavery to surrounding nations, a phenomenon which was widespread during the time when the descendants of the Hasmoneans were fighting among themselves about who would be king in Jerusalem. This fratricide is responsible for our exile until this day. It was a historical replay of what happened as a result of the brothers selling Joseph, and the whole family winding up in exile in Egypt only a few years later. Compare what our sages have to say on the subject in Shabbat 10.
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  וישלחו את כתונת הפסים, they brought it with a dagger, shelach, to show that the tears in the tunic corresponded to those made by the sharp teeth of a wild beast.
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  וישם שק במתניו, a section of fabric which sacks are made of. He draped his loins in enough of this material to demonstrate his being in mourning.
  
  Verse 35
  
  וימאן להתנחם, he refused to listen to words of comfort in order not to become guilty of forgetting to mourn.
  ויאמר כי ארד אל בני אבל שאולה, he vowed to remain in mourning for the balance of his life. His reason was that he blamed himself for what happened because he had sent his beloved son on such a dangerous errand.
  ויבך אותו אביו. Yitzchok wept over Yaakov’s decision to remain in mourning for the rest of his life. As a result of being in mourning he would forfeit Divine inspiration also.
  
  Verse 36
  
  והמדנים מכרו אותו, [the Torah contrasts the facts with the perception of the facts, i.e. Joseph was alive but the Midianites had sold him. I believe that this is why the author quotes the beginning of this verse without elaborating on it at all. He leaves it to our imagination to fill in this next item in the tragic chain of errors beginning with the fact that Yitzchok had shown more love for Esau. Ed.]
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויהי בעת ההיא, at about the same time when Joseph was sold to Egypt at the suggestion of Yehudah who had proposed this instead of bringing him back to his father and had thereby bereaved his father, Yehudah reaped some of the fruit of his ill advised plans, in that the way was paved for him to be bereaved of two of his own sons in due course.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  והיה בכזיב, the reason why she called their third son Shelah, a word reminiscent of Kings II 4,28 (לא) תשלה, “(do not) deceive, disappoint, disillusion,” a name which is not exactly complimentary to the bearer of it, was due to Yehudah being in כזיב, i.e. a reference to his being absent, so that she did not have this moral support when she began the labour pains prior to giving birth to her third son. [I am not sure if the author understood the Torah as using to the word כזיב to describe Yehudah’s state of mind, and that there was no such place at all. Ed.] Had he been there, he would never have agreed to the name she gave his son.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ויהי ער רע בעיני ה', the words “in the eyes of G’d,” are mentioned to tell us that he was not evil to his fellow human beings.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  כי לא לו יהיה הזרע, he knew that not he alone would get the credit for performing this act of love for his deceased brother, seeing that part of the merit would go to his older brother seeing he had first fulfilled the commandment of marrying, so that he would share in the merit of having a son sired posthumously through a levirate union with his widow by his younger brother. [I fail to understand how someone who married in order to use sex only as an act of self-gratification can be described as having acquired a merit by the act of marrying. Perhaps gratifying the sex urge only with someone to whom one is married is by itself a מצוה, and this is what Seforno had in mind. Ed.]
  לבלתי נתן זרע לאחיו, for not having given his seed for the use (perpetuation on earth) of his deceased brother.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  שבי אלמנה, wait for a while in a state of widowhood. This expression also occurs in Hoseah 3,3 ימים רבים תשבי לי, “you will have to go a long time without marrying.”
  פן ימות הוא כאחיו, so he would not be so preoccupied with Tamar’s beauty due to his immaturity which had deflected his brothers from the purpose of marriage, and he too would die as a result of this.
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  ותמת בת שוע, so that Yehudah should have brought his daughter-in-law into his house as a replacement for his wife. This is what Avraham had done when Yitzchok’s wife Rivkah moved into Sarah’s tent after the latter had died. (24,67) Yehudah’s failure to give Tamar his wife’s quarters to live in may have caused her to despair of having any kind of future in his family.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  בפתח עינים, at the beginning of two major roads. Such a highway is known as עינים, as we know from Genesis 16,7 על העין בדרך שור, “by the road leading to Shur.”
  אשר על דרך תמנתה, so that Yehudah could not avoid meeting her when he would return from Timnatah.
  כי ראתה כי גדל שלה, she thought that when Yehudah would see her without widow’s garments he would ask her why she had shed those garments. She would answer him that the time had come for Shelah to marry her. He himself had suggested that she live as a widow only until Shelah would grow up. In the meantime he had already matured.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  כי לא ידע כי כלתו היא, he did not even recognise her after he joined her in her private quarters. Had he recognised her he would surely have spoken to her concerning why he had not given her to his surviving son. G’d has His own agenda; clearly, it was His wish that Tamar bear a child or two children sired by Yehudah who in His eyes was more acceptable than his son Shelah [whose mother‘s antecedents we know little about.] G’d wanted that the eventual Messiah should have had genetic material dating back to Tamar.
  מה תתן לי?; she began the conversation because she hoped he would recognise her through her voice. There can be no question that she did not mean what financial compensation Yehudah would give her in return for her sexual favours, i.e. for acting as a prostitute. Her sole concern was to be impregnated with Yehudah’s sperm. As a result, she accepted a pledge, nothing that would be useful to her as anything but to help identify the paternity of any child she would conceive out of this union with Yehudah. [why else would she have kept these trinkets for the three months before she came to trial? Ed.] If Yehudah had offered her money or its equivalent she would have refused this.
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  אם תתן ערבון, if you are prepared to give me such tokens I am willing to sleep with you as you requested.
  
  Verse 18
  
  ופתילך, your closely fitting sash. The items Tamar chose as pledge were all things which testified to the superior standing of its owner in society. We know from Job 38,3 that a sash is evidence of someone’s manhood, i.e. someone’s superior status. She wanted to own such trinkets reminding her constantly of Yehudah’s status so that her child would be influenced by the thoughts she entertained during her pregnancy and would grow up to be like its father.
  
  Verse 19
  
  ותלבש בגדי אלמנותה, because she was no longer willing to be married, seeing that she had achieved her purpose and was with child from the man whose seed she wanted to perpetuate.
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  וגם אנשי המקום אמרו, in their uninhibited conversation. Chirom warned Yehudah that his pursuit of this search would be liable to hurt his image
  
  Verse 23
  
  הנה שלחתי, so that I have not betrayed my promise.
  
  Verse 24
  
  וגם הנה הרה, she did not even bother to hide her condition which reflects negatively on you. This is similar to a statement by our sages in Yevamot 35 “when a woman had illicit sex she engages in all kinds of bodily convulsions to avoid becoming pregnant and thereby revealing her shame and that of her husband or lover.”
  
  Verse 25
  
  היא מוצאת והיא שלחה, even at this late stage in the trial when she was already on the way to the site of her execution, Tamar did not despair, as she had a heart as stout as that of a lion.
  לאיש אשר אלה לו, even though she was in extreme danger she did not want to publicly embarrass Yehudah. She is the person who inspired our sages to declare that one ought to prefer to be burned in public to publicly embarrassing a fellow human being (Sotah 10
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  צדקה ממני, even though she approached me under false pretences, misrepresenting herself, she still acted more righteously than I did. I did not see her at all when I sent her the goat. [I was too embarrassed to be seen, Ed.] Her deceit was practised for a noble cause. and appears to have been approved by G’d, seeing she meant to maintain the seed of her deceased husband, whereas I was merely wanting to gratify my libido. Immediately she had done what she meant to do she resumed living as a widow as I had told her to do. My seeking her out to let her have the goat I had promised her was meant only to ensure that my good image would be preserved. This in itself is not a worthy cause. Our sages have used this occurrence as the basis for their saying that “a sin committed for noble cause is better than a good deed when same is not performed as such but as something self-serving.” (Nazir 23).
  
  Verse 27
  
  והנה תאומים בבטנה, she recognised shortly before giving birth that she was going to give birth to twins. This is the reason the midwife tied the red string to the baby first appearing out of her womb.
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  ויהי כמשיב ידו , the prefix כ meaning “as if,” describes that he did not really retract his hand. He was forced to, being pushed by his brother.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויוסף הורד, whereas Joseph was brought to Egypt against his will, Yehudah, at the same time exiled himself. During that period all the things related earlier had befallen Yehudah. During that period Joseph had been brought to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, the owners of the camels who were also agents acting on behalf of others.
  
  Verse 2
  
  ויהי ה' את יוסף, to save him from anyone who would take advantage of him.
  ויהי איש מצליח, he achieved every venture that he set out to accomplish.
  ויהי בבית אדוניו המצרי, he would perform tasks in his master’s private room. The meaning of the word היה here is the same as the meaning of the word עמד elsewhere, i.e. stationed, remaining in a fixed position. Examples of the word היה occurring in this sense are found in Deuteronomy 31,26 והיה שם, “it would remain there.” Compare also Deuteronomy 10,5 ויהיו שם כאשר צוני ה', “they remained there as the Lord had commanded me.”
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  וישרת אותו, he attended to his master’s bodily needs.
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  ויעזוב כל אשר לו, he left everything in Joseph’s hands without demanding an accounting from him.
  ויהי יוסף יפה תואר ויפה מראה, after Potiphar had entrusted him with all these important tasks Joseph found time to make himself look handsome having no longer to perform demeaning physical labour assigned to most slaves. Psalms 81,7 extols the relief felt when one is freed from such burdensome tasks.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ותשא אשת אדוניו, on account of his good looks described before.
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  כי אם אותך באשר את אשתו, the only restrictions imposed upon me in this house concern the inviolable marital relations between you and my master, your husband. 
  הרעה הגדולה הזאת, to repay good with evil.
  להיות עמה, in seclusion.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  כהיום הזה, when she raised her eyes to him in lust.
  ויבא הביתה, he entered a room, unaware that she was in that room at the time.
  
  Verse 12
  
  וינס, from the room in question,
  ויצא החוצה, once he had left the room she was in, he walked slowly with his usual gait so as not to arouse curiosity when he would be observed as fleeing. He did not want to have to answer all kinds of questions that would embarrass him or Mrs Potiphar. She, however, having only seen that he fled from the room, was alarmed that he might answer questions directed at him by incriminating her. Therefore,
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ותקרא לאנשי ביתה, in order to justify her conduct. However, when she saw that Joseph had stopped running after leaving the room where she had waylaid him, and the fact that the people in her house had no reason to question Joseph who was acting perfectly normally, she told those people that Joseph had fled from her room and walked outside, something which actually corresponded to the truth as far as the facts were concerned. (verse 15) However, when relating what had supposedly occurred to her husband who had not been an eye witness to any part of the incident, she described Joseph’s behaviour as a flight not only from her room but also outside of it. (verse 18) In order to make her version of events believable she had to lie so that Joseph would be perceived as having tried to escape from the other members of the household.
  לצחק בנו, to take sexual liberties with us. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  חטאו משקה מלך מצרים והאופה, the underlings of the chief cup-bearer and the underlings of the Chief of the bakers were guilty of a misdemeanour.
  
  Verse 2
  
  ויקצף פרעה על שני סריסיו, because they had not supervised their underlings carefully, as was their task.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  סריסי פרעה אשר אתו במשמר בית אדוניו, seeing that his master had entrusted their well being to him, as we know from verse 4 “the official in charge appointed Joseph to be with them.” If it had not been for this, it would not have been appropriate for Joseph to enquire into the private affairs of these ministers awaiting their final sentence.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  סריסי פרעה אשר אתו במשמר בית אדוניו, seeing that his master had entrusted their well being to him, as we know from verse 4 “the official in charge appointed Joseph to be with them.” If it had not been for this, it would not have been appropriate for Joseph to enquire into the private affairs of these ministers awaiting their final sentence.
  
  Verse 8
  
  הלא לאלוקים פתרונים? The wisdom to interpret a dream is something divinely inspired, seeing that man has been created in G’d’s image. It is therefore possible that even I may have been endowed with such wisdom, even though I am a lowly servant and on top of my misfortune I am in jail. It may therefore be possible that you erred when you said that there is no one who can interpret your dreams.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  כמשפט הראשון, before you were promoted to your position as Chief, when you yourself were a plain cup-bearer. The fact that you appeared as such in your dream may presage that Pharaoh will welcome you again with goodwill
  
  Verse 14
  
  כי אם זכרתני אתך, how would I know that you are really friendly to me, כאשר ייטב לך, if you will remember me also when you are well off, and you will find an hour when it suits you to display such an act of friendship.
  והזכרתני אל פרעה, and you will bring my situation to the attention of Pharaoh who had gotten to know me when I had been a servant in the house of Potiphar.
  והוצאתני, you will thereby cause him to release me without doubt.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  כי גנב גנבתי וגם פה לא עשיתי מאומה , the reason why he will have me released will be due to your words, for it will be found that neither my status as slave nor that as prisoner is due to any fault of mine. I have never had a trial nor been convicted of any wrongdoing
  
  Verse 16
  
  כי טוב פתר, he was encouraged to think that Joseph would also come up with positive explanation of his own dream. Our sages use the words “as Joseph had interpreted to them,” (verse 22) to state that most dreams turn out to be in accordance with how the interpreter saw them.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ויהי מקץ..ופרעה חולם, while he was dreaming about all kinds of matters of no relevance, matters reflecting what he had experienced during the course of the previous day, he also dreamt something totally unrelated to matters he could relate to, i.e. he saw himself standing on the banks of the river. The word חולם in the present tense, as opposed to חלם in the past, recalls Daniel’s statement as well as the Talmud’s statement in Berachot 55 that generally the subjects one dreams about are unfinished business of what one had been thinking of in the course of the previous day. 
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  ותעמודנה אצל הפרות, before they had been devoured by the fat cows. This apparently minor nuance was to tell Joseph that famine and plenty would occur at the same time, would overlap at some stage. [the countries surrounding Egypt not having had the benefit of the seven good years, experienced the famine already when there was still plenty of food in Egypt itself. Ed.] (compare verse 54)
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  והנה חלום, he himself felt that it was all one dream, and that what had been shown him during the second dream was a continuation of the first dream. When he referred to בחלומי, “in my dream,” (sing.) in verse 22 he himself made this point.
  
  Verse 8
  
  ואין פותר אותם, because they all proceeded from the premise that there had been two dreams. They did not realise that in the first part of the dream the focus was on the active causes of producing food, i.e. ploughing by the cows and threshing of the grain before it could release its kernels, whereas in the second half of the dream the focus was on appearance of the product which is converted into food, the stalks of growing corn, as well as its function, i.e. when the ears are empty there is no food.
  
  Verse 9
  
  את חטאי אני מזכיר, not because I want to complain that you, O King, had placed me in prison, for it was my sin that caused this
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ויריצוהו מן הבור. What happened was characteristic of G’d’s intervention when saving someone. It happened unexpectedly and instantly. It corresponded to what Isaiah 56,1 described as כי קרובה ישועתי לבא, “for My salvation is close at hand.” Another description of this kind of sudden and instantaneous salvation is found in Psalms 81, 14-15 לו עמי שומע לי...כמעט אויביהם אכניע, “if only My people would listen to Me….I would humble their enemies at once.” This is exactly what happened at the Exodus from Egypt where, after hundreds of years of subjugation and the refusal to allow even a three-day religious holiday in the desert, the Egyptians suddenly not only released the Israelites but literally expelled them from the country (Exodus 12,39). Our sages in illustrating the suddenness focus on the line “they did not even have time to allow their dough to rise before the glory of G’d appeared and redeemed them.” The redemption of the Jewish people will occur similarly suddenly and unexpectedly, as foretold in Maleachi 3,1 ופתאם יבא אל היכלו האדון אשר אתם מבקשים, “and the Lord Whom you seek shall come suddenly to His Temple.”
  ויחלף שמלותיו. It is forbidden to appear in the Royal palace clad in sackcloth, prisoner’s garb. [we know this already from Esther chapter 4 when Mordechai, to the consternation of Esther, approached the palace dressed in sackcloth.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  תשמע חלום לפתור אותו, that you understand the principles involved in dreams so that you can use your knowledge to interpret them, not just by a haphazard guess.
  
  Verse 16
  
  בלעדי. Even though you have said ופותר אין אותו, that there is no one who knows how to interpret it, as if I were the only exception who possesses the necessary wisdom, I am convinced that there is certainly someone beside me who knows the answer.
  אלוקים יענה, G’d will provide the answer, i.e. whatever I will interpret has been revealed to me by G’d.
  את שלום פרעה, I will utter words which will restore Pharaoh’s peace of mind, seeing that the realisation of matters foretold in a dream is determined largely by the words of the interpreter. (Berachot 55)
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  לא ראיתי כהנה, Pharaoh meant that such a dream as he had did not reflect anything that he might have thought about during the preceding day, as is usual for most dreams. For what he had seen in his dream was beyond anything he had ever experienced while awake. (compare Daniel 2,29). [the novelty of Seforno’s approach is that he does not understand the word כהנה as referring merely to the frightening appearance of the lean cows. Ed.]
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  ולא נודע כי באו אל קרבנה, analogous to the warning in Leviticus 26,26 that even when the Israelites would have food, eating it would not satiate them. We also have a statement by our sages describing the effect of food on those who have it (in the fridge) as being different than for those who run out immediately after having eaten their last provisions. The latter cannot feel the effect of what they have eaten because they do not know where their next meal will come from. (Yoma 74)
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  ואין מגיד לי. He noted that all his professional wise men proceeded from the premise that they had to interpret two separate dreams. Pharaoh, however, was convinced that it was one dream as he himself had said when telling it and introducing his narrative in verse 22 with the word בחלומי, “in my dream.” (sing.)
  
  Verse 25
  
  41, 25. חלום פרעה אחד הוא, and this is why all your interpreters have failed to come up with the correct answer.
  את אשר אלוקים עושה הגיד לפרעה, the fact that G’d gave Pharaoh advance knowledge of what He was about to do is another reason that your interpreters could not come up with the right interpretation.
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  הוא הדבר, it is the forthcoming famine which I described as the advance information given by G’d to Pharaoh in order to ward off the danger that the famine would destroy Egypt.
  הראה את פרעה,  the years of plenty, to give you  an idea of how to save your people from the devastating effects of the famine.
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  ועתה ירא פרעה, seeing that G’d has seen fit to inform you of the impending famine, no doubt in order to afford you an opportunity to ameliorate its effect on your people, and He has also shown you that this famine will be preceded by seven years of extraordinarily abundant harvests, it is appropriate for you not to become guilty in His eyes if you were to ignore such warning.
  איש נבון וחכם, a wise man, someone possessing the necessary insight of how to put his wisdom to practical use, who will guide the affairs of the country so that the kingdom will not come to harm.
  
  Verse 34
  
  יעשה פרעה ויפקד, and see to it that this man appoint officials as his delegates in each and every city so that these officials will be known locally as their superiors as well as accepting the authority of their economic czar and that all of them work together in harmony. Special conditions require special measures. Once the Jewish people were dispersed in their own country, the Torah also legislated measures of centralising supreme religious authority in Jerusalem as we know from Deuteronomy 17,8 וקמת ועלית אל המקום אשר יבחר ה' אלוקיך בו, “you will arise and ascend to the place which the Lord your G’d will select for being this the seat of this central authority.”
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  
  
  Verse 37
  
  וייטב הדבר, Joseph’s basic advice as well as his outline of how to execute his plan
  
  Verse 38
  
  
  
  Verse 39
  
  
  
  Verse 40
  
  
  
  Verse 41
  
  ראה נתתי אותך על כל ארץ מצרים, be aware of the tremendous responsibility I am endowing you with by appointing you as the supreme authority in the whole land of Egypt. [the word ראה, normally translated as “see here,” is used by Pharaoh as telling Joseph to reflect deeply. Ed.]
  
  Verse 42
  
  
  
  Verse 43
  
  ויקראו לפניו אברך!, as if the Torah had written הברך!, “everyone on his knees!” We know this in our times also as a call that precedes the arrival of a king among the public. Some of the king’s attendants precede the Royal carriage announcing his imminent arrival.
  
  Verse 44
  
  
  
  Verse 45
  
  ויצא יוסף על ארץ מצרים, he walked away from the interview in a manner which indicated that he was now the ruler over the whole nation
  
  Verse 46
  
  ויעבר בכל ארץ מצרים. In order to supervise the storage facilities in the cities and to organize matters. We find the prophet Samuel as traveling the length and breadth of the country instead of waiting for the people to come to him in Samuel I 7,16, וסבב בית אל...והמצפה, “and he made the rounds (annually), starting at Bet El and finishing at Mitzpah, his home.”
  
  Verse 47
  
  
  
  Verse 48
  
  
  
  Verse 49
  
  אין מספר; the amount was so great that there was no known word to describe such a number, such an amount in terms of grain.
  
  Verse 50
  
  
  
  Verse 51
  
  כי נשני אלוקים, what happened to him fore- shadowed what would happen in the future, as described in Isaiah 65,16 כי נשכחו הצרות הראשונות, “for the former troubles shall be forgotten
  
  Verse 52
  
  
  
  Verse 53
  
  
  
  Verse 54
  
  
  
  Verse 55
  
  
  
  Verse 56
  
  ויפתח יוסף את כל אשר בהם, in order to convince the population that there was sufficient grain in store and that there was no cause for panic.
  ויחזק הרעב, there were also shortages of other kinds of food, not only bread.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  וירא...למה תתראו?. Why are you looking at one another as if each one of you hopes that another one would go to buy food? Our sages (Eyruvin 3) have said קדרא דבי ששותפי לא חמימה ולא קררא, an ancient way of saying that “too many cooks spoil the broth.” The conjugation hitpael, i.e. the reflexive conjugation, occurs with the root ראה also in Kings II 14,8 נתראה פנים, “let us confront each other.”
  
  Verse 2
  
  ונחיה, even if we cannot buy enough food to eat to our satisfaction, at least it will be enough not to die from the famine. This is why Yaakov added the words ולא נמות, “and we will not die.”
  
  Verse 3
  
  וירדו אחי יוסף עשרה, the official selling grain in Egypt did not sell to more than one family per buyer. The reason for this restriction was intended to ensure that the buyers would not resell some or all of what they had bought, thus using what Joseph had stored as a source of enriching themselves.
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  בתוך הבאים, people traveled together in large groups to afford themselves protection against highway robbers. At that time there were more than the usual amount of these. They would rob both the money carried to buy food and the food itself
  
  Verse 6
  
  הוא השליט על הארץ, הוא המשביר, although he was the highest ranking official, i.e. the ruler, he personally super-vised the selling, not trusting any of his underlings to do this honestly. There was a great deal of money involved, and Joseph was responsible for it to Pharaoh. The Torah testifies that he transferred all the proceeds of the sales to Pharaoh. (47,14) This is why no grain was sold to anyone without the signature of Joseph personally, or his seal. [not that he gave his signet ring to someone empowered to use it. Ed.]
  ויבאו אחי יוסף וישתחוו לו, seeing that Joseph personally supervised every sale the brothers had to appear before him and not only negotiate with his underlings.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ויכירם, he recognised them collectively as being his brothers, without being able to recognise who each brother was.
  ויתנכר אליהם, he adopted a manner totally uncharacteristic of him, by speaking arrogantly, masking his true voice, etc, apart from the fact that he spoke to them in Egyptian having everything he said translated into Hebrew by an interpreter.
  קשות, so that they would not recognise his voice.
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ויכר יוסף את אחיו, now he recognised them each individually
  
  Verse 9
  
  ויזכור יוסף את החלמות אשר חלם להם. He remembered the part his brothers had played in his dreams, how they had bowed down to him in the dream showing the sheaves of corn. (37,7) He remembered that only his own sheaf had remained erect, and not fallen after first having arisen. This is why he wanted that they would all come when he would recognise them and the part in the dream speaking of the upright sheaf remaining upright would be fulfilled also. This detail of the dream was due to Joseph symbolising the redeemer of the Jewish people in the future as portrayed by the words ירה ויור, “shoot!, and he shot”. in Kings II 13,17. [this was an opportunity, though missed because of the king of Israel not complying completely with the prophet Elisha’s instructions, of reuniting the kingdoms of Yehudah and the Kingdom of Israel. i.e. that of Ephrayim, the descendant of Joseph. Ed.] There were several such opportunities foreseen by the prophets compare Hoseah 2,2 and Daniel 2,44. The author does not really elaborate. Ed.]
  לראות את ערות הארץ באתם, to find out if we have enough food supply for our own country. You did not really come here to buy. It is certainly not the custom of other buyers to arrive in groups of 
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  כלנו בני איש אחד יחנו, if we were spies we would have to be in the employ of some king. No king would select as his spies all members of the same family. The only reason why we arrived together is because we are all members of the same family.
  כנים אנחנו, not only are we 100% above board in all our dealings, but 
  לא היו עבדיך מרגלים, we have never been spies in the past either, and there is no reason at all of suspecting us to be spies now.
  
  Verse 12
  
  לא.  It is simply not true that you are brothers.
  כי ערות הארץ באתם לראות, you have agreed among your selves to claim to be brothers so that this would provide you with a pretext to act as spies in the land and to find weak spots in our security system.
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  שנים עשר עבדיך אחים, בני איש אחד בארץ כנען, what we have said before can easily be proven. After all, our father is still alive in the land of Canaan. Both he and his neighbours will confirm what we have told you, i.e. that we used to be twelve brothers, that one went missing, and that the youngest remained to look after the affairs of our father’s household. You can confirm that we have spoken the truth by checking out all these details.
  
  Verse 14
  
  הוא אשר דברתי אליכם, the very one of whom you have said that he is no longer, whereas you refused to be specific about what happened to him, is the one who went back to report all that you have seen here, or that you have decided to stay a while in order to engage in spying.
  
  Verse 15
  
  בזאת תבחנו, if he is not your brother, the youngest one of whom you spoke will not endanger his own life to come with you and to share your fate of the death penalty.
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  את האלוקים אני ירא. Therefore, I will let you take home enough food for your families
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  ולא תמותו, he meant that they would not die here, as he was able to have them killed also in the land of Canaan if they would not come back of their own free will.
  
  Verse 21
  
  בהתחננו אלינו ולא שמעבו. This made us guilty of being cruel against our brother, even though we considered him halachically in the category of a רודף, someone threatening us. We should have reacted with pity once he started pleading with us. Now, we are being punished by being treated cruelly ourselves by the ruler of this land.
  
  Verse 22
  
  הלא אמרתי אליכם אל תחטאו בילד?. He had never intended to cause your death when he had done what he did, as you had imagined. His actions were due to the fact that he was immature, was childish.
  וגם דמו הנה נדרש. The sin we are being punished for now is not only our cruelty, as you think, but also his blood, if your actions were the cause of his death, seeing that he was innocent. There can be little doubt that he died in the performance of his tasks as a slave, something he had not been equipped to cope with.
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  ויבך, when he noted their distress.
  
  Verse 25
  
  ולהשיב את כספיהם, and to restore their money. The plural mode in the word does not apply to the collective term כסף, money, but to the coins which together made up the money.
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  מה זאת עשה אלוקים לנו?. Why would G’d put such ideas in the heart of a person (the ruler) who described himself as “G’d-fearing?” This is also why later, after the goblet had been found in the sack of Binyamin, the brothers offered themselves as slaves to Joseph, feeling that this would be the appropriate punishment for their having sold Joseph into slavery. (43,18). Still, they felt that selling Joseph had not been intended to be detrimental to him; rather seeing they had considered themselves endangered by him as a רודף, they considered this at the time as mild compared to killing him, which they thought they were entitled to do. The very fact that they had not killed him at the time they had considered as proof of their brotherly love
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  
  
  Verse 35
  
  
  
  Verse 36
  
  עלי היו כלנה, none of these incidents has befallen you, whereas all of them have befallen me. It is therefore clear that the reason these tragedies have all befallen me must be your quarrels with one another. Therefore you are to blame for my being bereaved.
  
  Verse 37
  
  את שני בני תמית, he cursed (conditionally) now two of his sons that they should die if he would not bring back Binyamin safely. The matter is similar to an incident related in Shabbat 108 where Rav said to Shemuel “may it be G’d’s will …that your children will not live.” The curse came true. [The story is extremely enigmatic, seeing that Rav who had thought that Shemuel had treated him not only in a miserly fashion, but had caused him physical discomfort deliberately, had become aware in good time that Shemuel, an outstanding physician, had done what he did in order to relieve an ailment Rav had clearly been suffering from. In spite of this, the conditional curse was fulfilled, much as Yaakov who had cursed the thief who had stolen Lavan’s teraphim not knowing that it had been Rachel. Although the condition had been that if the thief would be found he should not live, Rachel died in spite of the thief (she herself) never having been found. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 38
  
  לא ירד בני. The reason Yaakov phrased it as if he had only one son was that he was the only remaining son from his favourite wife. 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  שובו שברו לנו , for he thought that their intent in wanting to take Binyamin with them was in order to lose him as they had lost Joseph. He had previously accused them of bereaving him (deliberately) when he had said  (42,36) אותי שכלתם, “you have bereaved me,” (transitive active conjugation). He meant to deny that what they had told him at the time had been the truth.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ונחיה, a reference to the food.
  ולא נמות, as a result of actions taken by the ruler of Egypt who had told us “so that the truth of your words can be established and you will not die.” (42,20)
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  כי לולא התמהמנו, the reason I volunteered to consider myself as having sinned against you forever if I fail to bring back Binyamin is only because it is absolutely clear to me that if we had not procrastinated ever since we told you what the man had said to us, or since we ran out of food,
  כי עתה שבנו זה פעמים, we could have been back already twice for the man would not have detained us at all, seeing that he described himself as G’d-fearing. He would not continue to harass us once he realised that we had told him the truth.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  אם כן, if the matter is indeed as you have said that although the man harassed you he is a G’d-fearing individual,
  איפוא, then it is quite clear what you have to do;
  קחו מזמרת הארץ מעט צרי, although when one presents a gift to an ordinary person it is important to impress him with the quantity of the gift so that he can feast his eyes on it, this man who has everything will only be impressed with the quality of the gift instead of the quantity; therefore take rare items but only in appropriately small quantities to emphasise their rareness. All the items sent to Joseph were of this nature, as opposed to the gift Yaakov had sent to his brother Esau on a previous occasion.
  הורידוהו לאיש מנחה, before you will actually meet him face to face again. This will enable you to judge if he receives your gift with goodwill. If he does, you will have reason to be confident that he will receive you also with goodwill. This thought has also been expressed in Judges 13,23 when the wife of Manoach, in trying to calm her husband’s fears, said to him: “if G’d had wanted to kill us He would not have accepted our burnt-offering and our gift-offering first.” After this conversation,
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  וקומו שובו אל האיש, you will have to face the man on the strength of the gift which has preceded you. The matter is as stated in Proverbs 17,8 אבן חן השחד בעיני בעליו אל כל אשר יפנה ישכיל, “a bribe seems like charm to its owner. Wherever he turns he seems to prosper
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  ויעמדו לפני יוסף. This was before the gift had been presented to Joseph. Therefore they were afraid when they were being brought into his palace.
  
  Verse 16
  
  ויאמר לאשר על ביתו, he himself did not want to speak to his brothers until all the other people present had left the room, in order for him to have more time to speak to them.
  הבא את האנשים הביתה, into the living quarters as opposed to the offices reserved for official functions. Up until now Joseph had been in a location where he conducted state business.
  כי אתי יאכלו, he invited them to a meal in order to observe how they related to Binyamin, and to test them how they would react when he would shower gifts of so much greater value on Binyamin
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  כספנו במשקלו, not only the same amount of money, but the identical coins which we had brought here. This is why we did not think that there had been a mix up with other people’s money.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  השלום? is he well (healthy) in body? Physical health consists of opposite forces in the body being in perfect balance with one another. [hence the word שלום, “being at peace, being in perfect harmony,” is an acceptable word for describing physical health. Ed.]
  אביכם הזקן אשר אמרתם, I am asking, seeing that it is not frequent that aged people are in physically good health. Our sages already stated that “the lips of the aged have a tendency to become worn out and their ears to become hard of hearing.” 
  
  Verse 28
  
  שלום לעבדך לאבינו עודנו חי, also your servant our father is well. He does not enjoy the serenity of the dead but he is still very much alive.
  ויקדו וישתחוו, in acknowledgement of the kind inquiry after their father’s well being.
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  אלוקים יחנך בני. Seeing that you are the only one remaining to your mother (44,20) may G’d grant you favour so that your brothers as well as outsiders will relate to you with true kinship.
  
  Verse 30
  
  ויבך שמה, while he was thinking of the anguish his father and his brothers had experienced all these years
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  וישימו לו לבדו, in order that his brothers should not notice that he too was a Hebrew.
  כי לא יוכלון המצרים, this is why he did not eat together with his brothers, and neither he nor his brothers ate with the Egyptians.
  
  
  Verse 33
  
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  ותרב משאת בנימין, to see if the brothers would display signs of jealousy. 
  חמש ידות, five fold; the brothers would be served one serving each for every two of them, whereas Binyamin was given a portion equal in size to the portions served to each set of two brothers. This was Joseph’s way of showing that he considered Binyamin as equal to all of them combined. [the author was at pains to justify why Joseph gave Binyamin five times as much, not 4 times or 6 times, for instance. Ed.] 
  וישכרו עמו, they were being served the kind of wines drunk by Royalty, something they were not used to, so that it made them drunk. They were careless in not leaving over some of the first kind of wine served them as was the custom for anyone invited to dine with Royalty. Compare Proverbs 23,1  כי תשב ללחום את מושל בין תבין את אשר לפניך, “when you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider well who is before you.” 
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  ושים כסף איש בפי אמתחתו, and inform them about it, so that they will realise that I am trying to compensate them for the anguish to which I have subjected them.
  
  Verse 2
  
  תשים בפי אמתחת הקטן, in order to test how the brothers would react to Binyamin becoming involved as the victim of a potentially life-threatening accusation, and what the brothers would do in order to save him.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  הלא זה אשר ישתה אדוני בו?, He spoke to them as if they all knew that the goblet in question was Joseph’s special goblet.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  למה ידבר אדוני כדברים האלה?, as if he were suspecting all of us?
  
  Verse 8
  
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  גם עתה כדבריכם כן הוא. Even though now, in this instance the argument you cite is logical, correct, but in this special circumstance, the goblet in question belonging to the king, a man who has treated you well by giving back all your money in your sacks, the fact is that האיש אש אתו ימצא הגביע הוא יהיה לי עבד, and not all of you. Even this individual will not be sentenced to death as would be required if we applied the law in all its strictness.
  ואתם תהיו נקיים. You will both be free from becoming slaves or any other form of punishment. 
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  מה המעשה הזה?, This was not only something evil but it was also foolishness as you should have realised that you would not get away with it.
  
  Verse 16
  
  מה נאמר לאדוני? How can we answer your question as to the purpose of what you accuse us of having done?
  מה נדבר? What can we possibly say in justification? How could we prove that we did not do what you accuse us of?
  ומה נצטדק? how could we justify ourselves by proving that we have been set up?
  האלוקים מצא את עון עבדך, we are guilty of something but not of what you accuse us of. In this matter we have not sinned at all. We are guilty of a sin committed many years ago and G’d has seen fit to punish us for that sin using you as His agent. The principle has been spelled out in Samuel I 24,14 מרשעים יצא הרשע, “wicked deeds originate with the wicked. ”The subject is also discussed in Taanit 18  “G’d has many executioners. He has many lions and bears that kill us and injure us. The reason that G’d did not deliver me into the power of lions, etc., but into your hand (a conversation between Lulianus and Papus) instead of having me killed by an animal, is to give Him an opportunity to punish you for spilling my blood.” 
  
  Verse 17
  
  חלילה לי מעשות זאת, far be it from me to do this, i.e. to act as an unwitting executor on your G’d’s behalf for sins you committed against Him in a different context. I will only take a single slave from amongst you, the one who sinned against me. I will not punish anyone else. 
  
  Verse 18
  
  ויגש אליו. ידבר נא עבדך דבר. After you yourself have said (verse 17) that you do not want to do anything which would pervert justice,
  ידבר נא עבדך, let me explain to you what unfairness and perversion of justice would result from the course of action you plan.
  ואל יחר אפך, and do not become angry when I tell you that you will be guilty of this perversion of justice unwittingly.
  כי כמוך כפרעה, the fact that I address my words to you is not to be considered personally, as I address them to you in your capacity of representing Pharaoh himself.
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  ואביו אהבו, more than he loves all (any) of us combined. Therefore he did not allow him to come to Egypt the first time we came here in order to buy food for our families. The reason was not that we came on a spying mission, as you appear to have thought
  
  Verse 21
  
  ואשימה עיני עליו. There was therefore no reason why his father should be concerned that he would not be allowed to return home.
  
  Verse 22
  
  לא יוכל הנער לעזוב את אביו, from the moment he will have left his father, he will pine for his father and become sick or die. Furthermore,
  ועזב את אביו ומת, also his father will die without question if the lad leaves him.
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  אם לא ירד, even though you have heard our true arguments against our bringing him here, you insisted as a form of punishment that we bring him with us on penalty of not getting food.
  
  Verse 24
  
  ונגד לו את דברי אדוני, even after haring that you insisted that we bring him here, our father still refused to let him go with us
  
  Verse 25
  
  שובו שברו לנו; due to the severity of the famine we forced our father to send the lad. In spite of the duress he was under he warned us that if we would not bring him back this would be the death of him and he would go to his grave in deep sorrow
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  ועתה כבואי....והורידו עבדיך, after he had warned us, if anything were to happen to him it would no longer be considered an accident but we would be given the blame having been warned not to take him along. A similar consideration is mentioned in Isaiah 48,5 under the heading of בטרם תבא השמעתיך פן תאמר עצבי עשם, “therefore I told you long beforehand, announced things before they happened, that you might not say: “my idol caused them.” 
  
  Verse 31
  
  
  
  Verse 32
  
  כי עבדך ערב, the reason why he would die as soon as the lad did not return without even asking what happened to him is because I have guaranteed the safe return of the lad. As soon as he would notice that that I did not bring him back, he would automatically assume that something fatal had happened to him, and that I had been unable to make good on my vow on account of that.
  
  Verse 33
  
  ועתה ישב נא עבדך תחת הנער, therefore I beg you to let me be the slave in lieu of the lad so that I will not have to remain a sinner against my father for the rest of my life.
  
  
  Verse 34
  
  כי איך אעלה, even though I know he will be pained by my failing to return it is better for me not to have to watch him in his anguish
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  להתאפק לכל הנצבים עליו, he did not have the patience at this stage to deal with the private concerns of all the people who were awaiting to receive an audience and were already lining up in that house.
  
  Verse 2
  
  
  
  Verse 3
  
  העוד אבי חי?, “how could he have survived so many years of worry over my fate?”
  
  Verse 4
  
  גשו נא אלי, so that not all the people hearing me cry can see that it is I who is crying.
  אשר מכרתם, the one whom you have sold! By mentioning this episode you will realise that I can be none other than your brother Joseph, for who else knows about this? The people who bought me as a slave had no idea that I was the sellers’ brother.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ועתה לא אתם שלחתם, now that you have seen G’d’s purpose a purpose that could not have been achieved without all the various stages preceding it, it is no more than reasonable to suppose that also the further distant causes which led up to all this were part of G’d’s plan.
  לאב לפרעה, as an adviser to the king.
  ולאדון לכל ביתו, in charge of the entire palace.
  ומושל בכל ארץ מצרים, and absolute ruler in the whole land of Egypt concerning national and international affairs.
  
  
  Verse 9
  
  מהרו, so that he will not worry and agonise any longer.
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  פן תורש, on account of the dearth of grazing land in the land of Canaan. (compare 47,4 “there is no grazing land for our flocks.”)
  
  Verse 12
  
  ועיני אחי בנימין, who had been unaware that Joseph had been sold.
  כי פי המדבר אליכם, without the need of an interpreter. At the time when I had been sold, no one spoke our language except our family. The buyers were Ishmaelites and Midianites, each with their own language
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  ומהרתם והורדתם את אבי הנה, in order to afford him the joy to see all this with his own eyes.
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  וייטב בעיני פרעה, who knew that from now on Joseph’s rule over the land would no longer be that of an alien brought in to perform this task, but as someone who had roots in the country, his family being around him. He would therefore have additional cause to have the best interests of the population at heart.
  
  Verse 17
  
  אמור אל אחיך זאת עשו, this is what should be your purpose to take your father and your families, etc.
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  ואתה צויתה, tell them that you have actually been commanded to  bring them here as residents.
  קחו לכם מארץ מצרים עגלות, when your father will see carriages all prepared to transport him and his family to Egypt he will have fewer excuses to object to the journey and the upheaval involved in the journey. We know that this was a powerful argument as Yaakov, when seeing the carriages is reported as saying: “I will go down and see my son.” (verse 27-28).
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  ועיניכם אל תחוס על כליכם, do not delay as the resulting damage to your livestock will become greater. the longer you delay.
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  ולאביו שלח כזאת, similar to the gifts given to Binyamin. In addition he sent ten donkeys and ten she-asses. In the plural mode the letter ו indicating who else is included appears at the end [the last word in the sequence. Ed.} Examples of such constructions are: .Exodus 1,2 יששכר זבולון ובנימין. 
  
  Verse 24
  
  וישלח את אחיו, he gave them permission to leave, as when the angel had said to Yaakov (after the wrestling match) שלחני כי עלה השחר, “let me go for dawn has risen.” (24,56)
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  ויפג לבות, he passed out. His heart stopped beating briefly, something common when people have a fainting spell. This occurred at the moment Joseph’s name was mentioned by the brothers.
  כי לא האמין להם. so that he had no chance to believe them. Therefore, ותחי רוח יעקב, once his spirit revived he never fainted again so that he was able to believe them. It had been the sudden joy that had been the cause of his fainting. Spirit has a habit of contracting when one suffers worry, etc., whereas it expands when one experiences joy, sometimes even beyond the boundaries of one’s body so that the body faints.
  
  Verse 27
  
  וידברו אליו את כל דברי יוסף, especially that Joseph had told them that there would be another five years of famine. This was meant to add a worrying element to the good news the brothers were bearing.
  ותחי רוח יעקב, he recovered from his fainting spell now that the joy had been tempered by a worrisome element.
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  רב...אלכה ואראנה, I will go and see him, but will not remain there as he has said.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ויאמר אלוקים לישראל, what He said to him at this time was due to Yaakov having become Yisrael. He would have to display qualities of leadership as his sons would have to deal with people who would challenge them
  
  Verse 3
  
  אנכי הא-ל אלוקי אביך, I am the One Who told your father “do not go down to Egypt.” I am also the One Who says to you אל תירא מרדה מצרימה עתה, “do not be afraid to go down to Egypt at this time.” The difference is that the time has come. כי לגוי גדול אשימך שם, if you were to remain in the land of Canaan at this time, your family would intermarry in short order with the members of the local population, so that they would become assimilated to them and the future of a Jewish nation would be jeopardised. This is something that will not happen in Egypt. [we know for a fact that the Israelites were hated in Egypt after all the brothers had died, i.e. 93 years after they had first settled there, precisely because they had not assimilated and were a separate nation. (Exodus  1,7-12) Ed.] Moses recalls this in his parting speech to the nation in Deut. 26,5
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  אעלך גם עלה. Not only will I bring you out of Egypt  (in a coffin) to be buried in the Holy Land, but I will also bring your numerous descendants out of there to a good land flowing with milk and honey (the land of Cannan) as we know from G’d’s promise to Moses in Exodus 3,8.
  ישית ידך על עיניך,  you yourself will not have to worry about any of your affairs while in Egypt, seeing that Joseph will take care of all the mundane matters pertaining to daily life. In other words, you can keep your eyes closed when it comes to mundane matters. 
  
  Verse 5
  
  וישאו בני ישראל, the reason why Yaakov’s children are referred to here for the first time as בני ישראל, “the Children of Israel, and not as “the sons of Yaakov,” is that from this moment on their task had become a twofold one, to do that on account of which their father had been accorded his additional name, title, “Israel.” From now on they faced challenges in their conduct vis-à-vis G’d as well as challenges in their conduct vis a vis their environment. This resulted from their becoming strangers in a land in which they had not been born and raised.
  את יעקב אביהם. Now that Yaakov was on his way to his final destination while alive, one which would not be followed by more suffering, disappointment, and upheavals, he had a foretaste of what is historically the ultimate destiny of Yaakov as described by the prophet Jeremiah 31,6 for the eventual glorious future of the Jewish people. The prophet describes it as רנו ליעקב שמחה, “cry out in joy for Yaakov.”
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  ואלה שמות...יעקב ובניו. Only Yaakov and his sons deserved to be named individually of all the members of his family descending to Egypt. We know this from the fact that only the names of Yaakov’s sons were inscribed on the jewels in the High Priest Aaron’s breastplate (Exodus 28,12). The remainder of the 70 people who comprised the family of Yaakov did not qualify for this distinction, even though they were all righteous people.
  
  Verse 9
  
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  בני רחל אשת יעקב, who had been the wife whom he had wanted to marry. She had also become the mother of Joseph and Binyamin, the choicest of the tribes as mentioned by our sages in Sotah 36. The text there is: “Joseph by himself was worthy enough to have produced 12 tribes just as his father Yaakov.” The same sages, in Shabbat 55 are on record as saying that Binyamin died only because death had ben decreed for every member of the human race.” [not because he had committed any personal sin which would have accounted for his forfeiting eternal life. Ed.]
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  להורות לפניו גושנה, in order to make a clearing where suitable accommodation could be built for Yaakov and the family.
  
  Verse 29
  
  
  
  Verse 30
  
  אמותה הפעם, I have been saved from all my other afflictions only in order to experience new troubles afterwards. This time, I pray that I will be spared any more troubles during the rest of my life.
  
  Verse 31
  
  אעלה ואגידה, that your vocation is the raising of sheep and goats. I will not ask Pharaoh to give you the land of Goshen. The reason I will not ask for this is to make sure that he will believe you when you say that you raise sheep. i.e. that basically, you are nomads. If I were to mention the land of Goshen he would think that you ask for this because it is good grazing land.
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ומקצה אחיו לקח, in order that Pharaoh would understand through conversing with them that their vocation was that they were shepherds, raisers of flocks and cattle.
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  
  
  Verse 8
  
  כמה ימי שני חחייך?, Pharaoh was utterly amazed at Yaakov’s age as the Egyptians did not know of any life-prolonging ingredients and people of Yaakov’s age simply did not exist in Egypt.
  
  Verse 9
  
  מעט ורעים היו ימי שני חיי, concerning your question  how many years I am old, I must confess that actually I am relatively young in years, and I have certainly not benefited from any life-extending drugs or herbs, on the contrary, I have experienced enough troubles to hasten my old age and my death. Years during which a person is beset with major problems do not even count as “years of his life.” But if you want to know how many years I have been sojourning on this planet, I am 130 years old. ולא השיגו ימי שני חיי אבותי, even though my parents and grandparents were also “aliens” in the land where they spent their lives or most of their lives, they enjoyed ימי חיים, a relatively sorrow-free existence. My own life is in no way a repetition of their experiences.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  ויברך יעקב, he blessed him but did not prostrate himself before him, neither on arrival nor at taking his leave [as he had done before Esau. Ed.]
  
  Verse 11
  
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  לחם לפי הטף. Even though Joseph was in a position to allocate generous rations to the members of his family, he did not show them any preference and treated them on the basis of need, each family according to the number of souls. Our sages have stated that at a time when the general population suffers shortage even those who have ample are to limit themselves.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  ויבא יוסף את הכסף ביתה פרעה, because he did not permit himself to recompense himself on his own accord without being given his compensation by Pharaoh
  
  Verse 15
  
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  וינהלם בלחם, he guided them slowly, as in Isaiah 40,11 עלות ינהל. He handed out food a little at a time. It was to be eaten but one should not stuff oneself on it. This is the proper way to conduct oneself during periods of famine.  There is a saying that if one starves oneself a little during periods of famine he avoids dying an unnatural death Physicians confirm the reverse of this when they said that if someone overeats after starving for a period, he contracts a potentially fatal illness.
  בשנה ההיא, after they money had run out, the sixth year of the famine.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  בשנה השנית, the second year after the money had run out. This was the seventh year of the famine.
  לא נכחד מאדוני, that we still possess some livestock, כי אם תם הכסף ומקנה הבהמה. 
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  למה נמות לעיניך?, even assuming that both the money and the livestock had completely been exhausted, it is not be fair to let us die because we have no means to pay
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  העביר אותו לערים, he transferred them so that they should encourage him to keep the grain safe.
  
  Verse 22
  
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  הן קניתי אתכם היום ואת אדמתכם לפרעה, you are now his slaves and have to till his fields, and he is obligated to supply you with seed and to supply you with food to sustain yourselves. Legally speaking, all the crops of the land in reality belong to him.
  הא לכם זרע וזרעתם, here is seed for you, work
  
  
  Verse 24
  
  את האדמה, which is his,  והיה בתבואות When it come to the crops, which are his,
  ונתתם חמישית לפרעה, you will hand over one fifth to Pharaoh, for this is what you have to pay him in return for what he has done for you.
  וארבע הידות יהיה לכם לזרע השדה, including the seed which he has to provide for you as any other owner of a field.
  ולאכלכם, and for you to eat, something he is also obligated to provide for his slaves. Considering that he will keep his part of the bargain, he is entitled to keep the remaining fifth for himself.
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  
  
  Verse 26
  
  וישם אותה יוסף לחק, Joseph anchored this arrangement in a law after he had convinced the people that this did not represent a new hardship for them.
  
  Verse 27
  
  
  
  Verse 28
  
  
  
  Verse 29
  
  אל נא תקברני במצרים, even temporarily, in a coffin, as was done with Joseph (50,26). Yaakov reasoned that if he allowed himself to be interred even temporarily, Joseph would never be allowed to take his remains to the land of Canaan at a later date. They would argue that the honour done to him and burial in the soil of Egypt was adequate as it had been for the most outstanding kings. [we must understand the preoccupation the Egyptians had with the cult of death and what they presumed to be their afterlife. The whole culture of that people revolved around burial, hence the pyramids. Ed.]
  
  Verse 30
  
  ושכבתי עם אבותי, the matter of “the deceased lying with his fathers,” is the placing the bier with the deceased at the place of the eulogy, surrounded by the mourners and those eulogising him. This is why the same expression is used throughout the Book of Kings, whether describing the burial of kings, the righteous, or the wicked. 
  ונשאתני ממצרים, when you will follow this procedure you will be able to carry me out of Egypt, for when the days of lying in state will have come to an end, people will no longer be in a state of sorrow over my passing, as we know from 50,4 ויעברו ימי בכיתו, and no one will protest if you will transport my remains to another country.
  אנכי אעשה כדברך, I will do this on my own, making every effort to fulfill your command.
  
  
  Verse 31
  
  השבעה לי!. This was only a device to enable Joseph to overcome objections by the Egyptians if they would not permit transfer of Yaakov’s remains to another country.
  וישתחו ישראל, to give thanks to His Creator for enabling him to exact this promise from his son.. We find that Eliezer, after hearing that Rivkah’s family agreed that he take Rivkah as a wife for Yitzchok, reacted in the very same fashion in 24,52 וישתחו ארצה לה', “he prostrated himself on the earth to G’d.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  וישב על המטה. He did this in order to pay his respects to the presence of “Royalty” in his house to the extent that he was able to under, the circumstances, considering that he was bedridden. We observe the opposite mode of behaviour described when Mordechai did not make the slightest move indicating deference for Haman in Esther 5,9 “he neither rose nor even moved from where he was seated.”
  
  Verse 3
  
  
  
  Verse 4
  
  ונתתיך לקהל עמים ונתתי את הארץ, at the time Yaakov received this promise all his sons with the exception of Binyamin had already been born, and G’d had already said to me when I left on the way to Charan (in the dream of the ladder) “the land which you lie on I shall give to you and to your descendants.” (28,13) If so, it had been G’d’s intention at that time already to give me a “community of nations, i.e. separate tribes. Seeing that you and your children are my  descendants and it is unreasonable to assume that G’d had had only you personally in mind when speaking of קהל עמים, a community of nations, it is clear to me that I have the right to designate both these sons of yours as being part of this concept קהל, i.e. that each of them will become a founding father of one of these tribes which constitute this community of nations. 
  
  Verse 5
  
  ועתה שני בניך הנולדים לך....לי הם, G’d gave me only these two sons of yours together with you. Yaakov had confirmed his meaning when he said that just as he had not expected to see Joseph again he had also not expected to live to see two of his sons. (verse 11)
  
  Verse 6
  
  ומולדתך אשר הולדת אחריהם, your grandchildren, who are truly called מולדתך, seeing that this expression includes children and grandchildren,
  לך יהיו, they will be known as part of בית יוסף, the house of Joseph, bearing your name. And their blessing will be part of your blessing, not separate blessings.
  על שם אחיהם יקראו בנחלתם, everyone of Menashe’s sons will also incorporate the name of his father Menashe, as will the sons of his brother, who will also incorporate the name of their father Ephrayim as part of their individual names. They were to inherit part of the land of Israel together with Yaakov’s other sons.
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ואני, maybe you think that when G’d said to me: “I will make you into a community of nations,” that He meant that I myself would become the father of more sons but that I was denied those on account of some sin, this cannot be because 
  בבואי מפדן, when I came away from Padan Aram, when G’d appeared to me, 
  מתה עלי רחל, as the sages say (Sanhedrin 22) a woman’s death is felt first and foremost by her husband; [hence the justification for Yaakov saying עלי, “for me,” i.e. the loss was mine. Ed.]
  בדרך בעוד כברת ארץ לבא אפרתה,  immediately after G’d finished speaking to me before I had even arrived at Beyt Lechem, ואקברה שם בדרך אפרת, and I had to bury her there on the route to Efrat; I was so overcome by grief at the time that I did not even have the strength to transport her remains to the burial grounds in Beyt Lechem. There is no doubt that ever since her death my heart was so full of grief that my libido had completely ceased to be active and I would not have been able to sire more children and to thereby become dirtied by sin, even if I had felt the desire to do so. [The author describes the act of procreation as “sinful,” meaning that even among the most pious, the act of ejaculating is itself accompanied by some impure thought, a degree of physical gratification. Ed.]. 
  
  Verse 8
  
  וירא ישראל את בני יוסף, he recognised them as human beings, but did not recognise them for who they were.
  
  Verse 9
  
  בני הם אשר נתן לי אלוקים בזה. My sons, but not my grandsons. These are the sons G’d granted me while I was here, alone, without any member of my family. as you said when you spoke about  “those whom you had before I came to Egypt.” They are the ones of whom you said: “לי הם,” “they are mine.”
  
  Verse 10
  
  לא יוכל לראות, he could not see clearly. In order for a blessing to take hold it is necessary for the one bestowing the blessing to see the party whom he blesses at the time the blessing is pronounced. [the same is true of a curse, this is why Balak took Bileam to a vantage point from which he could see the people of Israel whom he had been hired to curse, clearly. (Numbers 23,13). G’d also took Moses to a point from which he could see the land of Israel clearly so that he could bless the land. Something similar occurred in Kings II 2,24 where Elisha turned around to face the lads mocking his baldness before he cursed them.
  וישק להם ויחבק להם, the physical contact was designed to make Yaakov more attached to them so that his blessing would be correspondingly more effective.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  גם את זרעך, the ones to whom the description קהל עמים applied. (verse 4) Yaakov continued (perhaps not audibly); this is when He said to me that He blessed me, i.e. Yaakov had repeated this blessing by G’d in his conversation to Joseph without being that specific. [I had to paraphrase this to make the author intelligible. Ed.] As a result of that blessing which I received, my blessing to you now will be effective, so that by blessing his sons he also blessed Joseph at the same time.
  
  Verse 12
  
  מעם ברכיו, of his father, who was embracing them.
  
  Verse 13
  
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  שיכל את ידיא, he was quite clear, relying on his sense of touch, without being able to see exactly where his hands came to rest.
  
  Verse 15
  
  ויברך את יוסף, there was no need for him to see Joseph then in order for this blessing to be effective, neither was there any need for kissing or embracing. The precise nature of Yaakov’s blessing for Joseph at this point has not been spelled out.
  
  האלוקים אשר התהלכו אבותי לפניו, as if he had addressed G’d in a preamble to the blessing, saying: “You are the G’d before Whom my fathers walked steadfastly, etc.;  please do what I ask for the sake of their merit.”
  האלוקים הרועה אותי, the same G’d Who has acted as my own shepherd, i.e. “You Who have shown me so much love.”
  
  Verse 16
  
  המלאך הגואל אותי מכל רע יברך, the letter ה introducing the word המלאך is not a definitive article, identifying a specific angel [seeing that we had not previously heard about him; Ed] but acts as an appeal, instruction to such angel(s) who in the past on different occasions had been Yaakov’s guardian angels(s). Yaakov appeals to his own guardian angels to bless the children if their own merit does not suffice for the guardian angels assigned to them to do the job.
  ויקרא בהם שמי ושם אבותי אברהם ויצחק. Although we know that Avraham and Yitzchok were both Yaakov’s fathers, he meant to make plain that he did not appeal to the god of Terach or Nachor who were similarly his “fathers” in the sense of being his ancestors. It is an axiom throughout Scripture that the righteous are never linked to those of their ancestors who were wicked, i.e. idolaters. The same is true in reverse as our sages say in Sanhedrin 52, (but not found there) קרינן לרשיעא אפילו בר צדיקא רשיעא בר רשיעא, “a wicked person, even if he is the son of a righteous person is still called a wicked person son of a wicked person.” This principle is invoked in order to save the righteous father the embarrassment of being associated with his son who has turned from the path of righteousness. When the ancestry of such a wicked person requires to be mentioned, one prefers to link him to another wicked person in his lineage. This is why Yaakov prayed for the lads that they should remain G’d fearing and prepared to serve Him. If they were to do this they would qualify to be described as offspring of Avraham and Yitzchok. This principle is known as יחד לבבי ליראה את ה', “let my heart be undivided in reverence for Your name.” (Psalms 86,11)
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  כי זה הבכור. שים נא ידך על ראשו. Once he would place his hand on the head of Menashe, Joseph felt sure that his father’s mind would follow the direction of his hand. This has been illustrated in Numbers 27,23 when Moses placed his hands on Joshua when appointing him as his successor. [if the physical contact would not be of significance, why would Moses have bothered? Ed.] The right hand is presumed to be stronger than the left, hence a blessing conveyed by means of the right hand would be a stronger, more comprehensive blessing. 
  
  Verse 19
  
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  הנה אנכי מת, seeing that I make this my last will and testament when I am close to death, this gift is irrevocable.
  והשיב אתכם אל ארץ אבותיכם, where my gifts will materialise.
  
  Verse 22
  
  ואני נתתי לך, Yaakov emphasises the word אני in order to explain that he was not violating any of the rules pertaining to the distribution of the land of Canaan to the tribes, seeing such a distribution was not yet something at hand, but was still in the realm of the potential. Seeing that he, Yaakov, had personally conquered the city of Shechem, in spite of this city being part of the land of Canaan, seeing that he had taken it from the “Emorite,” i.e. someone whose deeds were as evil as those of the Emorite, (although the inhabitants had been Hittites), what he was allocating to Joseph now was an actual, a gift bestowed by him now, and had no bearing on any distribution of land conquered by Joshua in the future. Yaakov hints that givers who promise a lot wind up actually not even keeping part of their promises, such as Esau. When Yaakov, at the time, had bought the birthright from Esau, Esau forfeited not only his additional share in the land as a firstborn but wound up without any share in the land of Canaan whatsoever.
  בחרבי ובקשתי, through my intelligence and insight (חכמה ובינה). Whereas the weapons of warriors are the sword and the bow, the equivalent weapons of the righteous, the scholars, are their wisdom and understanding. This is what  Psalms 45,4 has in mind when the author writes: חגור חרבך על ירך גבור. Our sages in Shabbat 63 already commented on this verse that the psalmist does not refer to actual weapons but to the use of words of Torah as being the tools used by the Torah scholar. [The interpretation of this verse as something allegorical, and almost diametrically opposed to the plain meaning of the text, is disputed by some scholars in the Talmud there. Ed.]
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Verse 1
  
  באחרית הימים, at the end of the period allocated to life on earth as we know it. Yaakov speaks of the arrival of the Messiah which will signify the end of the existence of the nations that oppose G’d and the Kingdom of G’d on earth. At that time the measure of sin that these nations accumulate will be full to overflowing, so that G’d will feel at liberty to bring about the appropriate retribution. [the concept is as old as Avraham, to whom G’d explained that realisation of his offspring disinheriting the Canaanites will have to await the time when the measure of sin of these people will be full. (Genesis 15,16). Ed.] Our author, drawing on various prophecies of the Books of Prophets to support his interpretation of באחרית הימים, “the end of days,” quotes Jeremiah 46,28: “for I will make an end to all the nations among which I have banished you; but I will not make an end of you!” He also quotes Bileam’s prophecy in Numbers 24,14 detailed in verse 17, in which he prophesies the doom befalling all the nations pre-eminent in his time and describes Israel as triumphant at that time. He adds that his prophecy is not one the fulfillment of which is imminent, but that much time will elapse before it will be realised. Similar prophecies are not only found in Michah 4,1 but even in our chapter when blessing Yehudah in verse 10, Yaakov speaks of the time frame he has in mind as the one when Shiloh will arrive, the one to whom nations will pay homage.
  
  
  Verse 2
  
  ושמעו אל ישראל אביכם, preserve the teachings Israel taught throughout his life. When you do that you will be entitled to call yourselves בני ישראל, “The Children of Israel.” He, on the other hand, will be proud to call himself “your father.” It means that you as well as I have contended successfully when facing challenges set for you by G’d and by man. As a result, you will not forfeit the good G’d has in store for you.
  
  Verse 3
  
  יתר שאת ויתר עז, פחז כמים אל תותר; you are as unstable as water; you will therefore not enjoy an advantage over your brothers, the advantage which would have consisted of  יתר שאת, enhanced social position and the entitlement to the firstborn’s extra share in the inheritance as well as the status of priesthood. Even though you are biologically, ראשית אוני, and as such would have been entitled to privileges involving an extra share in my inheritance, (based on Deuteronomy 21,17) as well as 
  יתר עז enhanced political clout by supplying the kings of the Jewish nation from your tribe, you have forfeited all this by having displayed character weakness. (compare Chronicles II 21,3 where the claim to the throne by Yehoram was based on his being the firstborn).
  
  Verse 4
  
  אז חללת יצועי עלה, at that time you defiled your father’s dignity. Alternatively, Yaakov may have referred to Reuven’s act being a desecration of G’d’s honour. As an appropriate punishment, Reuven’s own status, which had been one of special honour, would be diminished accordingly.
  
  
  Verse 5
  
  אחים, seeing their older brother had been demoted, they would have been in line to have the honour due to a firstborn transferred to the brother next in seniority. However, they did not rate such special honour because
  כלי חמס מכרותיהם, people who make use of weaponry in their day to day activities are not suitable material for wielding political and military power. Hence neither one of them will be accorded the status taken away from Reuven. (compare Proverbs 29,4 where Solomon describes a king’s primary characteristic as being במשפט יעמד ארץ, “seeing to it that the rule of law and justice prevails on earth.”) Shimon and Levi had disqualified themselves from claiming such a distinction.
  
  Verse 6
  
  
  
  Verse 7
  
  ארור אפם, may their level of anger be reduced, restricted. Yaakov wanted to achieve this by making it harder for them to earn their livelihood, so that they would be fully occupied doing that and caring for their families. They would have to spend their energies by traveling far and wide to secure their livelihood. However, the status of priesthood would remain the domain of the firstborn as it had been before Reuven became guilty of his indiscretion. This status was changed only after the sin of the golden calf when it was transferred en masse to the Levites (some of them). Compare Deuteronomy 10 8, בעת ההיא וגו'.
  
  Verse 8
  
  יהודה אתה, “you are the one who is fit to fill the position of royalty. The reason is that you are not stained with fatal flaws which would disqualify you from becoming king.
  יודוך אחיך, your brothers will accept you as king as they admit that you are fit to rule.
  ידך בעורף אויביך, so that they will flee from you so that you do not destroy them. We find a similar construction in Exodus 23,27 ונתתי את כל אויביך אליך עורף, “I will make all your enemies turn their backs on you.”
  וישתחוו לך בני אביך; you will rule over all your brothers (fellow tribes), but not over all the other nations,
  
  Verse 9
  
  גור אריה יהודה, although Yehudah is not a fully grown lion, i.e. not enjoying the trappings of royalty, possessing a land, etc, he is at least comparable to a lion cub, preeminent among his brothers. In the future he will rule as king in the full meaning of the word. All this, in spite of the fact that
  מטרף בני עלית, you were spared by my son Joseph who did not kill you in his wrath although he hated you. This is the meaning of the words כרע רבץ כאריה, seeing that at that time he was like a crouching lion, one in repose, i.e. not representing a threat to anyone  This is why Joseph did not issue you orders to kill you.
  וכלביא מי יקימנו, once Yehudah will attain the position of king, he will be like such a lion who on occasion will lie down languidly just like a lion, a time when no one can frighten him into rising because he has become afraid of the enemy.
  
  
  Verse 10
  
  לא יסור שבט מיהודה, once he will have attained the formal position of king, as hinted at by the wordsוכלביא מי יקימנו in the previous verse, the scepter symbolising his rule will not move to any other tribal leader, unlike that of King Sha-ul, who, although crowned with G’d’s approval, was deprived of founding a dynasty by G’d Who had rejected him on account of his disobedience (a promise by the prophet Nathan to David who had also sinned, compare Samuel II 7,15). When the kingdom of Yehudah headed by a monarch of Davidic origin did collapse and was destroyed by the Babylonians, this did not contradict what Yaakov had predicted here that the scepter would not pass to others from the tribe of Yehudah. Yaakov spoke only about a period during which the state and the kingdom would continue to exist, prophesying that as long as that condition existed the rule would not be transferred to anyone belonging to another tribe. He had not addressed the possibility of Jewish statehood being lost altogether.
  ומחוקק מבין רגליו, that his descendants would sit on the throne as judges, and that other members of his tribe would be among those who would be scribes for the judges as was the custom.
  עד כי יבא שילה, the word שילה is a composite of the root שול meaning שולים, boundaries, margins. The other part of the word is based on the root שלה, the root of the word שלום. Shalom, commonly understood as “peace,” means “the end of the road,” after whatever wrangling in order to achieve an objective has been successfully concluded. Yaakov is saying that until the advent of שילה, i.e. the second part of that word, Yehudah’s pre-eminence will be marginal, narrowly bounded. Once the Messiah will arrive, however, 
  ולו יקהת עמים, nations will subordinate themselves to him displaying their weakness. The meaning of the word קהה as weakness is supported by Kohelet 10,10 אם קהה הברזל, “if the axe is blunt, etc.” A blunt blade is a weak blade. The survivors of the wars preceding the arrival of the Messiah will have been weakened sufficiently, heeding the instructions of the Messiah as predicted by Bileam in Numbers 24,17.
  
  
  Verse 11
  
  אוסרי לגפן עירה, this is one of the things that help us recognise the Redeemer when he comes. 1) he will manifest himself as Messiah by a foal borne by a she-ass. (Zecharyah 9,9) The reason this indicates that he is the Messiah is that he does not arrive on a horse, an animal which is ready for battle, for war. The final battle involving the nations of the world will already have been fought and won by G’d at the time he will manifest himself. He will commence his reign when peace already prevails. 2) the fact that he will tie his ass to a גפן, a vine, will be a symbol that he is destined to rule over the Jewish people, the people who have been compared to a grape vine as stated in Chulin 92. The prophet Isaiah 5,7 also referred to the Jewish people as G’d’s vineyard.
  ולשרקה בני אתונו, this is a reference to a third symbol by which the Messiah will be identified, that not only will he tie his ass to a vine but to a sorekah, a choice vine. The wine from such vine illuminates the eyes of the Just of their respective generations, something that cannot be said of an ordinary vine.
  כבס ביין לבושו, the fourth sign identifying the Messiah is that he will be able to launder his garments in blood. He will have to do this as he will find many people who have been slain in the war preceding his coming, and he will assist in their burial. (compare Isaiah 63,2 מדוע אדום ללבושך “why are your garments so red?”) Another allusion to this is found in Psalms 110,6 ידין בגויים מלא גווית, “he works judgment on the nations piling up bodies.”
  
  
  Verse 12
  
  חכלילי עינים מיין, the fifth of the identifying marks of the Messiah will be the onset of an unusually long period of economic progress, plentiful harvests, etc. This has also been predicted in Psalms 72,16  “let abundant grain be in the land to the tops of the mountains, let his crops thrive like the forest of Lebanon.” Our sages have paraphrased this in Shabbat 30 when they described the affluence in messianic days by crediting the soil of Israel with producing ready to eat rolls and garments made of the finest wool.
  
  Verse 13
  
  זבולון לחוף ימים ישכון, on his own land, seeing that it borders on the sea. Yaakov mentioned Zevulun before Issachar although he was the one who would earn his livelihood as a merchant whereas Issachar would be the one studying Torah. Interestingly enough, Moses did the same thing when he blessed the Jewish people before his death. (Deut. 33,9)  The reason is that one cannot devote one’s life to Torah study before first having secured an economic base providing one’s necessities. This is what the sages said in Avot 3,17 אם אין קמח אין תורה, “when there is no flour Torah cannot flourish.” However, when one person extends a helping hand to his fellowman helping him to sustain himself so that he can carry out his dream to devote himself to Torah, this is even a greater deed than studying Torah oneself. Seeing that Zevulun did just that, sharing the profits of his demanding lifestyle with his brother Issachar, he deserves to be mentioned even before his brother who, but for Zevulun, would not be able to achieve greatness in Torah. Zevulun shares at least equally in Issachar’s accomplishments. Basically, what Zevulun did voluntarily for his brother Issachar, the Jewish people were commanded by the Torah to do for the Levites and the priests, who, because they have been assigned the tithes and various other gifts were able to devote themselves to being teachers, performing the service in the Temple, and generally to provide spiritual guidance without receiving any other remuneration for this. Moses assigned this task to the Levites when he said: (Deut.33,10)  יורו משפטיך ליעקב, “they shall teach Your laws to Yaakov.” As compensation they will all have a share in the life of the hereafter as we have been taught in Sanhedrin 90 that all Jews have a share in the hereafter.”
  והוא לחוף אניות, he will travel beyond the borders of his own land with ships carrying and bringing all kinds of wares. Part of these rare wares are the chalazon, the worm needed to provide the blue colour for the tzitzit, fragrances needed for the daily incense offerings. Many of these, as well as the silicon from which to make glass, were found on his shores and he would export such items. Deuteronomy 33,19 describes the members of the tribe of Zevulun as harvesting the bounty of the sea and the hidden hoards of the sand.”
  
  
  Verse 14
  
  יששכר חמור, not ready to fight a war. This corresponds to the saying of the sages in Avodah Zarah 17 אי ספרא לא סייפא, “if your vocation is books, it cannot be skill with a sword.”
  גרם. A donkey with strong bones. And, due to his strength, רובץ בין המשפמים when he lies down to rest, he does so between two שפיתות, open type of containers able to contain the loads that he will carry. These are placed on either side of him.  [the word seems to describe a recessed setting such as on a stove which has holes into which the pots are lowered to be surrounded by the fire underneath. Ed.]  The unique nature of this kind of stove is that the pots are not capable of being moved or removed from it until the cooking or boiling is complete and the fire has gone out. Yaakov describes a simile in which Issachar, i.e. the donkey can hold out until he has completed the job assigned to him. The whole verse is a parable symbolising how Issachar accepts the yoke of the Torah and studies Torah with all the energy at his command. He does this in addition to shouldering the burden of derech eretz, i.e. doing justice to the more mundane demands made upon everybody living on this planet.
  
  
  Verse 15
  
  וירא מנוחה כי טוב, by pursuing his twin objectives he found true מנוחה, i.e. a kind of being at peace with oneself knowing one has done what is expected of one. The prophet Jeremiah 6,16 describes such a state of mind as ומצאו מרגוע לנפשותיכם, “find tranquility for yourselves.” [He advised people of his time to travel ancient paths, i.e. the path of Torah as it used to be practiced. Ed.]
  ואת הארץ כי נעמה he found that the land he inhabited provided his livelihood without strenuous effort on the part of its inhabitants.
  ויט שכמו לסבול, he accepted two kinds of burdens, the yoke of Torah and the yoke of public service. This reflects what our sages have said in Moed Katan 6 that young Torah scholars have to accept the burdens of their entire town upon themselves.
  ויהי למס עובד, the general population which carries out the day-to-day mundane tasks involved in a civilised existence will be at the disposal of Issachar who is busy with Torah study instead. The word מס refers to the ordinary working man doing the chores of Issachar being viewed as the tax being paid on behalf of Issachar, seeing that he himself cannot be taxed on non-earned income. In halachah, (Yumah 72) this is described as the ordinary citizen having to perform public service duties from which the Torah scholars are excused.
  
  
  Verse 16
  
  
  
  Verse 17
  
  יהי דן נחש, a reference to a poisonous snake, one commonly called tzifoni, in Biblical literature. Arab physicians usually call such venomous snakes chorman. The name for such snakes implies that a single snake can kill numerous people at once, using both its stare, and it voice (hiss) which is heard and seen by many people. It is a fitting comparison to Shimshon who, all on his own, killed many people almost simultaneously.
  שפיפון, name of a slim snake; our sages use this when wanting to illustrate something extremely thin, “as the width of a hair.” Physicians claim that these types of snakes hide in the trees, their sting being felt as if one had been shot by an arrow. Shimshon’s mode of operation, an individual lying in wait, in ambush, is compared by Yaakov to this snake.
  
  
  Verse 18
  
  
  
  Verse 19
  
  גד גדוד יגודנו, after having said that Dan fights like a snake felling horse and rider, Yaakov now contrasts Gad’s mode of operation with that of Dan by saying that the Gadites act in groups. Moses also repeats this theme in Deut. 33,20 when he said וטרף זרועו קדקוד, “he tore off arm and scalp.”
  והוא יגוד עקב, when he fells horse and rider he will cut off their heels.. This is because they will try to flee from his pursuit. Compare Exodus 23,27 ונתתי את כל אויביך אליך עורף, “I will make all your enemies flee from before you.”
  
  
  Verse 20
  
  
  
  Verse 21
  
  
  
  Verse 22
  
  בן פורת יוסף, Joseph is considered the product of a proliferating grapevine. It spreads its protective shade for the benefit of many. In Psalms 80,11 we are told of this function of the grapevine in the words כסו הרים צלה, “the mountains were covered by its shade.” The simile means that Yaakov and his family lived under the protective cover of Joseph, i.e. in his shade. 
  The word פורת derivative of פוריה, fruitful, implies the proximity of a spring, a well of water. בנות, branches. The grapevine brings forth many branches.
  צעדה עלי שור, describing how these branches even grow beyond the wall surrounding the orchard. Alternatively, what is meant is that the branches extend beyond the fence surrounding the well. Prior to its prolific growth it could not be seen from the far side of the wall. People living on that side of the wall did not even have an idea that something was growing there. Once the branches had topped the wall, its presence suddenly became noticeable and provoked reactions on the other side. The other side of the parable, are, of course, Yaakov on the one hand, and Joseph and his sons, who had developed in Egypt without their father even being aware that they were alive. Suddenly, what had been hidden from him for 22 years had become revealed. This is what he meant when he said on meeting him: ראה פניך לא פללתי והנה הראה אותי אלוקים גם את זרעך, I did not even expect ever to see your face again, and now G’d has shown me not only you but also your offspring. (48,11)
  
  
  Verse 23
  
  49,23. וישטמוהו בעלי חצים, The expression בעלי חצים means: “the slanderers.” The word חץ, usually meaning “arrow,” is used as a simile for slander in Jeremiah 9,7חץ שחוט לשונם, “their tongues are like a sharp arrow.” One of these slanderers was the chief of the cup bearers when he referred to Joseph as נער עברי עבד, three words which are each a derogatory term. (41,12). Also some of Pharaoh’s servants are included in the list of those who slandered Joseph. They are reported as commenting with disdain that “Pharaoh has appointed a slave who had been sold for 20 pieces of silver as our ruler.” (Sotah 36).
  
  Verse 24
  
  ותשב באיתן קשתו. The reply to such accusations was given by Pharaoh himself when he challenged his servants with the words: “where else can we find such an individual endowed with the spirit of G’d?” (41,39) As a result, Joseph did not have to use his own ammunition. In other words, he could keep his arrows in his quiver, unused.
  ויפוזו זרעי ידיו, his arms were immeasurably strengthened when Pharaoh transferred his ring with the Royal seal to him.
  מידי אביר יעקב, however, the real salvation emanated from the G’d Who had proven Himself by doing the same for Yaakov. It is He Who enables Yaakov’s descendants to survive among the hostile nations, so that in the end only they will survive. The very name “Yaakov” suggests that in the end there will be only he. In the meantime, He is the One Who kept you alive and saved you from the slanderers who took aim at you.
  משם, from then on the
  רועה אבן ישראל, He will continue to act as the Shepherd of Israel  preserving His people  who will endure like אבן, a stone. It does not matter whether this stone is intrinsically precious or not, being a “stone” it will endure. The enduring nature of a stone is best illustrated in Daniel 2,34: “As you watched, a stone was hewn forth without hands and struck the image on its feet of iron and earthenware and crumbled them.” [Daniel telling the king who had forgotten his dream which he had dreamt. The stone in the dream represented Israel, the image, the nations of the world. Ed.] The reason Israel would survive is because they keep their faith with G’d and man. Sanhedrin 104 explains that the reason why Jews, even when defeated, exiled, etc.’ rose to high positions in their host country was because the rulers valued their loyalty.
  
  
  Verse 25
  
  מאל אביך, all of this (assistance) originated from the G’d of your father who had told me that the ascendancy of the Jewish people would manifest itself only after a period of mental suffering and physical debasement. This is what is meant when G’d said to Yaakov in 28,14 והיה זרעך כעפר הארץ, “your seed will be like the dust of the earth,” before he went on to say ופרצת ימה וקדמה, “you will spread out in all directions of the globe.”
  ויעזרך, so that you will not again descend to the depths.
  ואת שדי, same as if the Torah had written ומאת א-ל שדי, “from the G’d whose attribute is Shaddai.” Yaakov mentions this attribute specifically as it had been this attribute of G’d which had appeared to him in 35,11 promising that he would develop into a community of nations. Joseph’s greatness would be orchestrated with the help of this attribute of G’d.
  ויברכך, He, Himself, without intermediary. This would be different from the blessing extended to Ephrayim and Menashe in which Yaakov promised that “the angel,” i.e. the intermediary, who has looked after me would look after these children of Joseph. (48,16). This blessing was also different in character from the blessings of Yitzchok for Esau, and that from Moses for the people crossing into the Holy Land. In all those instances, except in the blessing Moses referred to in Deuteronomy 1,11 which was given by him prior to the sin of the spies, the initiators of the blessing were human beings, i.e. Yitzckok or Moses. G’d would be asked to honour promises made by humans as a blessing. In our situation here, Yaakov commands the blessing to originate with the attribute of G’d known as Shaddai.
  ברכות שמים מעל, in the sense that the days of your life would be completed as planned before you were born. (compare Exodus  23,27)
  ברכות תהום רובצת תחת, material blessings, adequate food and money to buy necessities.
  ברכות שדים ורחם. This is a blessing concerning having healthy and numerous children, in contrast with the expression רחם משכיל ושדים צומקים, “a womb that miscarries and shriveled breasts” (Hosea 9,14)
  
  Verse 26
  
  ברכות אביך, may He also grant you the blessing which has been bestowed on your father when the same  G’d promised me that I would spread out in all directions of the globe. (28,14) This meant that my heritage would be boundless. This was only an extension of the original blessing given to Avraham at the beginning of Genesis 12 that ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה ובזרעך, “through you will be blessed all the families of the earth and through your descendants.” This verse is also a promise to the moral elite of the gentiles who in the words of Bileam in Numbers 23,23 will be numbered among the people loyal to G’d and who will receive their reward. Bileam speaks of כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל ה',  (Israel will be told by G’d directly what G’d does, not relying on astrologers and the like) The prophet Yoel 3,5 promises that all those who refer in their conversation to Hashem, will survive the wars preceding the coming of the Messiah, their mention of G’d being considered as proof of their believing in Him. [If I understand the author correctly, he feels that unless the promise given to Avraham at the beginning of Lech Lecha will help those חסידי אומות העולם, the righteous among the gentiles who are deserving, to survive the cataclysmic events preceding the coming of the Messiah, they are of too transient a nature to be taken seriously. Ed.] The distinction of the Jewish people lies in the fact that they do not turn to soothsayers, and all kinds of charlatans, astrologers or palm readers to divine the future. If they want to know something about the future they turn to G’d directly or to a prophet, or they are content to let G’d do what He considers to be right. Hence, by proclaiming the name of the Lord one is presumed to belong to this elite. Verses quoted by the author, such as Isaiah 61,6 as well as Zecharyah 8,23 are an assurance that when the time comes, having been steadfast in one’s loyalty to G’d, one will share in the ultimate salvation. The Jews at that time will finally be recognised as deserving a position of leadership amongst mankind.
  גברו על ברכות הורי, and the reason that I said ברכות אביך is because they are more powerful than the ones which my parents, הורי, received.
  עד תאות גבעות עולם  for my blessings extend to the end of the globe, both extremes of the sun’s orbit which spans the continents. They are so called as they represent the end of “time”. etc. [there is no point in completing the author’s words as the astronomy since Copernicus is viewed completely differently than during the author’s time, Ed.]
  תהיינה לראש יוסף, these words are understood as emanating from G’d Who will send His blessings onto the head of Joseph directly, without the services of any intermediary. Moses parallels Yaakov’s syntax when he said in Deuteronomy 33,16 in his blessing to Joseph תאנה לראש יוסף, ורצון שכני סנה. 
  ולקדקד נזיר אחיו, seeing that he had remained pure, resisted temptation, he became crowned with the crown of royalty among his brothers (alternate meaning of נזר). He had proved by his very actions that he was worthy of such distinction, so that he is the recipient of direct blessings from G’d. Also Joseph’s descendants remained on a moral level close to that of his illustrious ancestor, so that the first of the Judges, Moses’ successor, was the leader of the people, being in effect the “king” of his nation. Compare Hoseah 13,1 כדבר אפרים אתת נשא בישראל, “when Ephrayim spoke piety he was exalted in Israel.” [a reference to Joshua’s contradicting the spies’ majority report. Ed.]
  
  
  Verse 27
  
  זאב יטרוף, it is the custom of wolves to attack either early in the morning or in the evening, both periods when there is not much light. We find support for this in Chabakuk 1,8. Binyamin’s rise to power also occurred at the dawn of Jewish monarchies in the person of King Sha-ul, and once more near the end of Jewish one man rule under Mordechai. Subsequently, there was never again a true Jewish political  independence, and the religious leadership was in the hands of the אנשי כנסת הגדולה, a college of 120 elders.
  
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  כל אלה שבטי ישראל, the ones Yaakov mentioned here were the true twelve tribes of Israel, the names inscribed on the breastplate of the High Priest as commended to G’d’s special attention. They are also the ones who were mentioned as such at the covenant on Mount Gerizim and Mount Eyval. The twelve stones which Moses erected also symbolised these twelve tribes. Again. Joshua erected 12 stones at the Jordan as well as at Gilgal, and Elijah erected 12 stones at the altar. In none of these instances are Ephrayim and Menashe treated as separate tribes. They only figured as separate tribes when it came to the land distribution, seeing that the tribe of Levi did not share in that.
  ויברך אותם, in addition to blessings bestowed individually rather than collectively, earlier.
  איש אשר כברכתו ברך אותם, he gave an individual blessing to each one in accordance with what he perceived to be the son’s need in view of his eventual destiny. Yehudah needed to have a blessing that his dynasty would endure, etc. Levi needed to be blessed that his function of serving G’d as representative of the people would endure, etc.
  
  
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  אשר קנה אברהם, seeing that they had already spent many years in a foreign land, he felt it necessary to remind them that that burial plot was legally theirs. Seeing that already two generations of the patriarchs had been buried there, there was no legal way anyone could now challenge the ownership of this cave.
  
  
  
  
  
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  ויבכו אותו  מצרים, not only out of respect for Joseph and because of his decree of public mourning, but also because he was revered for his name Yisrael and what this name stood for. He deserved the same respect as royalty.
  
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  וידבר יוסף אל בית פרעה, he used intermediaries as a mourner in garments of mourning is not allowed to appear so before the King
  
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  ויעלו אתו, voluntarily, not because Joseph had so commanded.
  זקני ביתו וכל זקני ארץ מצרים, seeing that Yaakov had been considered one of the wise men even in the eyes of the Egyptian intellectual elite. (compare Psalms 105,22 וזקניו יחכם”and to teach his elders wisdom.”)
  
  
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  גם רכב גם פרשים. In the eyes of the military Yaakov had been considered an able general so that they paid him this last honour
  
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  ויצוו אל יוסף, they commanded Yaakov’s servants or outsiders concerning Joseph. We find a similar construction in Exodus 6,13 ויצום אל בני ישראל, where G’d commanded Moses and Aaron to address the Israelites.
  לאמר אביך צוה, he commanded that we should say what we have to say as something that originated with us and not with him, as he did not think for a moment that you might want to avenge yourselves on us. However, he consented that if we were worried, we could take the initiative and express our concerns to you.
  לפני מותו, so closely before his death that we could not speak to you about this at that time. ויבך יוסף, when they mentioned their father and the fact that he had not thought him capable of holding a grudge and acting upon it
  
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  התחת אלוקים אני, while it is true that I am a judge, a surrogate of His, charged with the task of carrying out His decrees, and I could punish anyone who was empowered by Him to carry out His decrees. This is analogous to the principle that one court must not annul the rulings of a previous court on the same subject.” (Eduyot 1:5)  It is true that you had been charged by G’d to carry out His decrees, but you did not send me here deliberately but G’d. (Genesis 48:8) 
  
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  ואתם חשבתם עלי רעה, you had mistakenly considered me as a רודף, someone threatening your very lives. Had you not erred, your actions would have been perfectly justified.
  אלקים חשבה לטובה, G’d exploited your error for something good.
  
  
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  ויחנטו אותו ויישם בארון, in the very same casket in which the embalming had taken place. They placed his remains therein and he was never interred in the earth. This is why his casket remained well known throughout the generations. Until “Moses took the bones of Joseph, etc.”  (Exodus 13,19)