Kommentar zu Bereschit 49:18

'לישועתך קויתי ה I HOPE FOR THY AID, O ETERNAL — He prophesied that the Philistines would put out his (Samson’s) eyes, and that he would have to say (Judges 16:28) “Remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee, only this once etc.”

I HOPE FOR THY AID, O ETERNAL. Among all the judges of Israel there was none who fell into the hands of his enemies except Samson, who is this “snake” [referred to in Jacob’s prophecy], just as it is written, Then the Eternal was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge,¹⁹⁹Ibid., 2:18. and Samson was the last of the judges since his successor Samuel was a prophet and he did not conduct war on the people’s behalf, and in his days the kings [Saul and David] reigned. Now when the prophet Jacob saw that the deliverance which was to come through Samson ceased [when he died together with the Philistines], he said, “I hope for Thy aid, O Eternal, not for the aid of ‘the snake’ or ‘the serpent,’ for it is by Thee that I will be helped, not by a judge, as Thy salvation is ‘an everlasting salvation.’”²⁰⁰See Isaiah 45:17.

לישועתך

לישועתך קויתי ה', “I hope for Your salvation, Hashem.” The attacker, having bitten the victim’s heel, is afraid of the sword of the horse’s rider, and therefore implores G’d to save him from retribution. Another explanation of why Yaakov added this line at this point; is that he foresaw that Shimshon would eventually be at the mercy of the Philistines. He prayed on his behalf while blessing his tribe Dan. Another reason for the insertion of this line at this point could be that although the prophet Samuel in the Book of Samuel describes G’d as being supportive of the respective judges in their time, Yaakov foresaw that history would prove that Shimshon would be the exception. He therefore prayed that he would be proven wrong, and that G’d would remain at his side. The fact is that Shimshon would be the last of a string of judges, Samuel, his successor as the leader of the people fulfilling primarily a role as the “Seer.” In fact, before the death of Samuel the Jewish nation would for the first time be ruled by a King (Sha-ul), someone specifically crowned for the position and meant to be the founder of a dynasty, a ruler by merit of his ancestry. Some commentators feel that when Yaakov foresaw his descendant Dan as embodying the character of a serpent, he became so frightened by this image that he spontaneously protested by crying out: “may the Lord help me!” Rash’bam explains the exclamation as pertaining not just to Shimshon but to the entire tribe of Dan, whose task in the desert was to be the rearguard of the Israelites’ army, the tribe most exposed to attack from the rear. He, Rash’bam, does not like to apply this outcry to Shimshon, as Yaakov did not prophesy his eventual defeat and capture.[a very nice interpretation, but not found in our editions of the Rash’bam. Ed.]

לישועתך קויתי ד׳! Indem Jakob hier Dan genötigt sieht, zur Klugheit seine Zuflucht zu nehmen, mochte er wohl der Zeit gedenken, wo er selbst einem Laban gegenüber in gleicher Notwendigkeit sich befunden, und hofft nun zu Gott, dass sowie es ihm gelungen, inmitten dieser Klugheitsprüfung איש תם zu bleiben und seinen geraden rechtlichen Charakter zu bewahren, es so auch seinen Kindern gelingen möge, unter Druck und Kampf, der sie zur Klugheit zu greifen nötigt, doch nie Schlauheit einen Grundzug ihres Charakters werden zu lassen, eine Hoffnung, die die Galuthgeschichte seiner Kinder glänzend gerechtfertigt.

'לישועתך קויתי ה, “I hope for Your salvation Hashem!” When Yaakov in his prophetic vision of future events saw Shimshon the mighty warrior and what he accomplished, he felt forced to exclaim that Israel’s future would not be in the hands of human warriors but would be secured only by Hashem. In the Book of Judges 15,16, where Shimshon is related as having killed one thousand Philistines with the bone of a donkey as his only weapon, that immediately afterwards he threw that bone to the ground and acknowledged G–d as the source of his success. (verse 18 there). This is also hinted at in his blessing of Dan where the point is made that though Dan will be successful in attacking his adversaries like a snake lying in ambush, he will do so confident of G–d’s salvation.

'לישועתך קויתי ה, “I have always hoped for Your salvation, Hashem” Yaakov addresses the tribe of Dan when saying this; in other words: Yaakov prayed that Dan will be successful in his defense of the Jewish people. An alternate explanation: “I have hoped to G-d that your (Dan’s) efforts at saving his people will succeed.” (as predicted by the angel who told the wife on Manoach of the forthcoming birth of Samson, and that he would be the first to save the people from the Philistines. (Judges 13,5)

לישועתך קויתי ה', I pray to the Lord that He may save you and elevate you over the gentile nations.