Commentary for Genesis 32:9

המחנה האחת והכהו TO THE ONE CAMP AND SMITE IT — The word מחנה is treated grammatically as masculine or feminine: in (Psalms 27:3) “Though a camp should encamp (תחנה) against me” it is feminine; in (Genesis 33:8) “this (הזה) camp” it is masculine. Similarly there are other words treated grammatically as both masculine and feminine. For example, the word שמש in (Genesis 19:23) “The sun was risen (יצא) upon the earth” and in (Psalms 19:7) “His (the sun’s) going forth (מוצאו) is from the end of the heaven”; here it is masculine, but in (2 Kings 3:22) “and the sun shone (זרחה) upon the water” it is feminine. Similarly with רוח: in (Job 1:19) “and behold there came (באה) a great wind” it is feminine, and in the same verse “and smote (ויגע) the four corners of the house” it is masculine; in (1 Kings 19:11) “and a great (גדולה) and strong (וחזק) wind rent (מפרק) the mountains” it is both masculine and feminine. So also in the case of אש: in (Numbers 16:35) “and fire came forth (יצאה) from the Lord” it is feminine, and in (Psalms 104:4) “The flaming (להט) fire” it is masculine.

THEN THE CAMP WHICH IS LEFT SHALL ESCAPE. In line with the simple meaning of Scripture, Jacob stated this as a possibility. He said that perhaps one camp shall escape, for during the time he [Esau] smites one, the other will flee, or perhaps his anger will subside or deliverance will come to them from G-d. And so the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah,²¹76:2. “The Torah teaches you proper conduct: a man should not leave all his money in one corner.” And Rashi wrote: “‘Then the camp which is left shall escape in spite of him for I will fight against him.’ He prepared himself for three things: for prayer, for giving Esau a gift, and for war.” And I have seen in the Midrash:²²Tanchuma, Buber, Vayishlach 6. “What did Jacob do? He armed his people underneath, and clothed them in white from outside, and he prepared himself for three things.” And this is the most correct [interpretation, in line with Rashi and the Midrash, who say that he prepared himself also for war, as opposed to the simple meaning first mentioned].
The intent of this is that Jacob knew that all his seed would not fall into Esau’s hands. Therefore, in any case, one camp would be saved. This also implies that the children of Esau will not formulate a decree against us designed to obliterate our name entirely, but they will do evil to some of us in some of their countries. One of their kings will formulate a decree in his country against our wealth or our persons while simultaneously another king will show compassion in his place and save the refugees.²³A clear echo of Ramban’s times is hereby heard. While waves of persecution, expulsions and massacres were a steady feature of Jewish life in most European countries, refuge was always found in some country. At the time of Ramban, Spain was a place of relative relief for Jews from France and Germany. And so the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah,²⁴76:3. “If Esau come to the one camp, and smite it — these are our brethren in the south. Then the camp which is left shall escape — these are our brethren in the Diaspora.” Our Rabbis thus saw that this chapter alludes also to the future generations.

לפלטה. The two camps were positioned quite a distance one from the other, so that if it would become obvious that disaster struck one camp the other would have a chance to flee.

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.

ויאמר אם יבא עשו, He said: "If Esau were to come to the one camp, etc." In the event Esau would come upon the first camp and defeat it, the second camp which he had prepared for battle would help even the first camp not to be annihilated since as soon as Esau's hostile intentions were obvious the second camp would engage him. Jacob did all this in order to save G'd the trouble of performing a miracle.

ויאמר, the meaning is clear, i.e. he said this to himself.

והיה המחנה הנשאר לפליטה, “so that the remaining camp may escape.” Some believe that the plain meaning of the verse is that Yaakov hoped that if the first camp that would be attacked by Esau would be defeated, then the people in the second camp might be able to save themselves through fleeing in time, or Esau’s anger might have spent itself so that he would not give pursuit, or that help might materialize through Divine intervention. Rashi explains that the words mean that the second camp would definitely survive as Yaakov himself would engage Esau in battle. Personally, I think that Yaakov’s certainty was based on the fact that he knew that not all his offspring would fall victim into Esau’s hands at anyone time. This was also to be a sign for his sons to remember that the descendants of Esau will never be able to obliterate all the Jewish people. Whenever, during the long years of our exile, one king or government would issue harsh decrees against us, another king somewhere would be prepared to offer refuge and shelter.

אם יבא עשו אל המחנה האחת והכהו, “if Esau comes to one of the camps and defeats it, etc.” The first camp Esau was to encounter was that which contained Zilpah and Bilhah and their respective children. If he were to kill the people in that camp —

Against his will, because I will do battle with him. I.e., while I will do battle with him, the second camp surely will have time to escape. Maharshal writes that Rashi inferred this because it is not written, “Perhaps the remaining camp will survive,” but, “The remaining camp will survive.” This implies, “Against his will, because I will do battle....” Rashi said all this, based on Scriptural inferences, to support Chazal’s teaching that Yaakov prepared himself for three things. [Rashi says “against his will,” i.e., it surely will be.] This is because the verse cannot mean “perhaps” [the remaining camp will survive]. If so, it would be more logical to gather everyone in one camp to fight Eisov—for maybe they will win due to greater numbers. However if the remaining camp will [surely] survive, against Eisov’s will, it is proper for Yaakov to have divided them into two camps. For it is better to act in a manner that will surely save one camp, even if it places the other camp in greater danger, than to put them in a situation in which they are not sure whether they all will be lost or saved. (Nachalas Yaakov)

Hier steht ein kleines Wörtchen, das die ganze Innigkeit ausdrückt, die man sonst vermissen würde. Es sind ja fühlende Wesen, von deren erbarmungslosem Niedermetzeln sich nicht so trocken sprechen lässt. מחנה ist in der Regel männlich und tritt ja hier auch, ,הנשאר והכהו, nur männlich auf. Indem Jakob sich aber dessen Untergang denkt, nennt er es weiblich: אם יבא עשו אל המחנה האחת, in diesem אחת ist der Seufzer hörbar, der dabei sich Jakobs Brust entrang: wenn Esau zu dem einen "armen" Lager kommt.

אל המחנה האחת, “to one of the camps;” some commentators understand the word האחת here, as a reference to the camp containing the matriarchs and their children. והיה המחנה הנשאר לפלטה, “this will afford the people in the remaining camp to escape.” [Presumably Esau will not be aware that there are two camps, so that he will not bother to search for it. Ed.] An alternate explanation of Yaakov’s strategy: while Esau will battle with the people making up the first camp, there will be time enough for the people making up the second camp to flee and escape destruction.

והיה המחנה הנשאר לפליטה THEN THE REMAINING CAMP MAY ESCAPE in spite of him, for I will fight against him He prepared himself for three things: to give him a present — as it states (Genesis 32:22) “So, the present passed before him”; for prayer — as it states (Genesis 32:10), “And he said, ‘O God of my father Abraham”; for war — as it states in this verse, “then the remaining camp may escape”, for I will fight against him (Tanchuma Yashan 1:8:6).

המחנה האחת, a feminine mode, as occurs also in Psalms 27,3 אם תחנה עלי מחנה, “should an army besiege me.”

המחנה, the word is both masculine and feminine, the adjective האחת being feminine, whereas the adjective הנשאר is in the masculine mode.

He prepared himself for three things. All three are derived from Scripture [see Pesikta D’Rav Kahana 19:3]. And “war” is derived from, “The remaining camp will survive,” showing that this phrase refers to war. Thus Rashi explains it as, “I will do battle with him.”

הנשאר, now we have the masculine mode. This is one of many instances in which a noun appears sometimes in the masculine mode and sometimes in the feminine mode. Well known examples are Genesis 19,23 השמש יצא על הארץ (where the word שמש is treated as masculine), and Jonah 4,8 ' where it is treated as feminine, i.e. ותך השמש. (whereas in the beginning of the same verse it is treated as masculine, i.e. ויזרח). Compare also Psalms 148,8 and Job 1,19.