Talmud zu Schemot 1:2

Cahana said, just as they divide here, so they divide at the beginning of the second book of the Pentateuch¹²⁶Ex. 1:2–3. There, the order is quite different: First the sons of the wives, then the sons of the handmaidens. In the Babli, 36a/b, the opinion is attributed to R. Ḥanina ben Gamliel.. Some Tannaïm state: Just as they divide here, so they divide in the standards¹²⁷This opinion is not found in the Babli. Cf. Num. 2. There the order is: Standard of Judah: Judah, Issachar, Zebulun. Standard of Reuben: Reuben, Simeon, Gad. Standard of Ephraim: Ephraim, Manasse, Benjamin. Standard of Dan: Dan, Asher, Naftali. This also is incompatible with the order given in Deut. 27:13–14: Simeon, Levi, Jehudah, Issachar, Joseph, Benjamin - Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, Naftali.. The sons of Leah on one side, the sons of Rachel one on one side, the other one on the other side, and the sons of the handmaidens in the middle¹²⁸The verse indicates which tribes were standing on which mountain but does not indicate how they were standing. The opinion here is that on Mount Gerizim the two Rachel tribes, Joseph and Benjamin, were standing at the right and left extremes and the Leah tribes in the middle; on Mount Ebal the two Leah tribes, Reuben and Zebulun were standing at the right and left extremes and the handmaidens’ tribes in the middle. (Explanation of Pene Moshe). In the Babli, 36b.. Rebbi Mattania said, the reason of this Tanna is: “Hear me, Jacob my servant, Israel my roofed in¹²⁹Jes. 48:12. The verse is misquoted; “my servant” is not written. The interpretation of this conceit is based on rabbinic Hebrew קוֹרָא “roof girder”; modern Hebrew קוֹרָה..” Just as on the roof the thick part of one [beam] is next to the slim part of the other [beam]¹³⁰It seems that their roofs were made from wooden beams of a slightly conical shape so that they could be pressed together to protect against the rains. A similar picture Ex. rabba 1(6).. Some Tannaïm state: Just as they are split here, so they are split on the stones of the ephod¹³¹Ex. 28:9–10. The order in which the names of the tribes were to be engraved on the Shoham stones is indicated only obliquely as כְּתוֹלְדֹתָם “in the order of their birth”; that would be Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Jehudah, Dan, Naftali; Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin. In the Babli, 36a, this is the opinion of Rav Cahana.. “In their fulnesses”, that there should be 25 on one side and 25 on the other side¹³²The word is written not for the Shoham stones of the ephod but for the stones representing the tribes on the ḥoshen(Ex. 28:20), on which the names of the tribes were engraved (v. 21) and which were set to fill the settings prepared for them.. But they are only 49¹³³As written, the names of the Gerizim tribes add up to 27 letters, those of the Ebal tribes to 22. The same objection in the Babli, 36b.! Rebbi Joḥanan said, “Benjamin” of “and their births” is plene¹³⁴On the stone, the name of Benjamin was written בנימין for a total of 28 letters. This opinion is not quoted in the Babli; it is dismissed in the Yerushalmi.. Rebbi Judah bar Zabida said, Jehoseph is plene, “He put it up as a testimony in Jehoseph.¹³⁵Ps. 81:6. In the Babli, 36b, this is the opinion of R. Isaac.” But they are only 23 on one side and 27 on the other¹³⁶This questioner reads זבולון plene but בנימן defective and יוסף in its usual form.! Rebbi Joḥanan said, Benjamin was split, Ben on one side, Jamin on the other side¹³⁷R. Joḥanan cannot follow his own opinion that Benjamin was spelled plene but must follow R. Judah bar Zabida. Then on the right hand side there were 27 + 1 - 3 = 25 letters and on the left hand side 22 + 3 = 25 letters.. Rebbi Zabida said, this is fine. Does it say “their six names”? No, but, “of their names”, not their entire names¹³⁸In Ex. 28:10, the group of the first six names is charaterized as מִשְּׁמֹתָם, “of their names”, taking the מ, as usual in rabbinic texts, as partitive. The other six names are “the six other names”, to be written in full (and, according to the Babli, 36a, in the order of their births.)! The first were written on the right hand side of the High Priest, to the left of the viewer. The last were written on the left hand side of the High Priest, to the right of the viewer. The first ones were not written in order, for Jehudah is king. The last ones were written in order¹³⁹That means, not in the order in which they are enumerated in Deut. 27:14..