Commentary for Genesis 46:29

ויאסר יוסף מרכבתו AND JOSEPH MADE READY (literally, bound, harnessed) HIS CHARIOT — He himself harnessed the horses to the chariot being eager to show honour to his father (Genesis Rabbah 95:8; Mechilta to בשלח).

AND HE APPEARED BEFORE HIM. Joseph appeared before his father. And he wept on his neck a good while. The phrase vayeivk od signifies “weeping copiously.” Jacob, however, did not fall upon the neck of his son Joseph, nor did he kiss him. Our Rabbis said that this was because he was reciting the Shema, (the affirmation of G-d’s Unity). This is the language of Rashi. But [according to this interpretation, which says that it was Joseph who fell on his father’s neck and wept], I know of no reason for the statement, And he appeared before him, since it is understood that Joseph appeared before Jacob since he fell upon his neck. Moreover, it is not respectful for Joseph to fall upon his father’s neck. He should rather bow before him or kiss his hands, as it is written, And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he fell down on his face.²²¹Further, 48:12. And at the present moment, it was more fitting that he bow to him [than at the time referred to in the aforementioned verse].²²¹Further, 48:12. So also, every term ‘od’ in Scripture indicates an addition to the original but does not imply copiousness. Thus: He doth not set a stated time ‘od’ for a man,²²²Job 34:23. which means, “He sets a stated time for a man in accordance with his transgression, and nothing is added.”²²³We thus see that od can refer to a slight increase.
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that Israel’s eyes were already slightly dim from age,²²⁴See further, 48:10. and when Joseph arrived in the carriage of the second in rank,²²⁵Above, 42, 43. with a mitre on his head as was the custom of the Egyptian kings, his father did not recognize him. His brothers also had not recognized him.²²⁶Ibid., 42:8. Therefore Scripture mentioned that when he appeared before his father, who stared at him and finally recognized him, his father fell on his neck and cried again over him, even as he had continually cried over him to this day when he had not seen him after his disappearance, and then Jacob said, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face.²²⁷Verse 31 here. It is a known matter as to whose tears are more constant: that of an old father who finds his son alive after having despaired of him and having mourned for him, or that of a grown-up son who reigns. Do not be concerned [lest this interpretation be open to question] because Scripture immediately says, And Israel said,²²⁸Verse 30 here. [thus implying that the previous subject is not Israel but Joseph], whereas according to our interpretation Scripture is speaking of Jacob and then mentions his name once again in the following verse. A similar case is found in these verses: And he gathered up all the foods of the seven years, etc.,²²⁹Above, 41:48. [where Joseph is the subject of the verse, and yet Scripture mentions his name in the succeeding verse], And unto Joseph were born two sons.²³⁰Ibid., Verse 50. There are constantly many similar places in the Torah and in the other books of Scripture.

A GOOD WHILE. Much, as it is written (Job 34:23), "He will not require much of a person." [JPS: He has no set time for man.]

וירא אליו, my grandfather explained this somewhat strange formulation saying that Joseph appeared to Yaakov from a distance, someone having pointed him out to Yaakov, (he did not know what Joseph looked like at this time). This gave Yaakov an opportunity to adopt the appropriate posture before coming face to face with such a mighty ruler and not to be disoriented due to a sudden encounter.

ויעל לקראת אביו גושנה, he went up to meet his father, to the province of Goshen. Some commentators say that the Goshen mentioned here is the same as that mentioned in the Book of Joshua 10,41, [that Goshen is described as near Givon], and that seeing that the land of Israel is located at higher altitudes than all other countries according to our sages, the Torah describes Joseph as traveling “up,” i.e. uphill. [why would Yaakov’s journey then have been described as a descent, seeing that one look at the map would convince us that as his last stop was Beer Sheva, he too would have had to continue from there uphill. Ed.] We do not consider this explanation of the word ויעל as appropriate at all. The province of Goshen was situated within Egypt proper, though at a higher level than the Nile delta which was practically at sea level for many kilometers starting with the capital. As to the apparently contradictory line in 46,31 where Joseph, leaving his father, speaks about “going up to Pharaoh etc,” has to be understood in terms of his stepping into his chariot, just as getting out of a chariot is described as “descending” from it, so entering it again as described as “ascending” into it. It is also possible that the correct interpretation of these terms עליה and ירידה respectively, is that Joseph said: “I will go to Egypt, (capital) and ascend to the palace of Pharaoh, which was built on a hill, overlooking the surrounding area, and inform him, etc.” It is even possible, though unlikely, that the land of Egypt proper was on a higher plateau than the province of Goshen, which was closest to the Mediterranean sea, in which case the word ויעל in our verse would refer to Joseph ascending his chariot before beginning his journey.

ויאסר יוסף מרכבתו, “Joseph harnessed his chariot.” Tanchuma Vayigash 7 states that there were two people who were honoured in a manner unparalleled. One was Yitro, the other was Yaakov. When Yitro visited Moses in the desert, the Torah writes: (‎Exodus 18,7) “Moses went forth to greet his father-in-law.” As soon as someone saw Moses leave his customary place in order to welcome Yitro, all the princes, Aaron the High Priest, as well as the entire nation went out also to welcome Yitro. Yaakov experienced something similar. As soon as people saw that heir ruler harnessed his chariot in order to welcome his father, the entire nation did the same. This was an example of what Isaiah 24,23 had in mind when he said: “and the Presence will be revealed to His elders.”

He himself harnessed the horses to the chariot. Otherwise, it should say: “He rode in his chariot.”

Josef weinte, Jakob weinte nicht; Josef weinte noch, Jakob hatte bereits ausgeweint; Josef weinte noch, selbst als Jakob bereits mit ihm sprach — in solchen kleinen Zügen spiegelt sich die faktischste Wahrheit. Jakob hat inzwischen ein einförmiges Leben geführt, hat ihn beweint, sein ganzes Gemütsleben war in die Trauer um Josef aufgegangen. Josef hatte das wechselvollste Leben gehabt, hatte nicht Zeit gehabt, sich so dem Schmerze der Trennung hinzugeben; seine jedesmalige Gegenwart musste ihn ganz erfüllen. Jetzt, wo er sich am Halse des Vaters befand, da fühlte er erst recht die überstandene Trennung und lebte die zurückgelegten zwanzig Jahre noch einmal durch. Jakob war schon Jisrael geworden, Josef weinte noch. —

ויעל לקראת ישראל, “he (Joseph) went up to meet Israel.” The reason that the expression עלה is used here is to tell the reader that for Joseph it was tantamount to a spiritual ascent to go and greet his father and to pay him this honour. Alternately, the reason why he is described as ascending, is that the province of Goshen is situated on a higher plateau than the Nile delta in which most of the Egyptians dwelt. Goshen borders on the land of Israel which is a land of many hills and mountains. This is also clear from Joshua 15,49-51. Seeing that Yehudah had been sent ahead by his father to prepare his residence in Goshen, that region became part of the ancestral heritage of the tribe of Yehudah in due course. The Egyptians never challenged the Israelites having annexed that province.

ויבך על צואריו עוד, “he (Joseph) still continued weeping while embracing his father,” in addition to when he had wept when being reunited with his brother Binyamin.” (45,10; 45,14) An alternate exegesis of this verse: the word: עוד refers to the weeping being in addition to embracing each other around their necks.

וירא אליו AND HE APPEARED BEFORE HIM — Joseph appeared before his father.

ויפול על צואריו, when Joseph had come close enough to his father he fell around his neck weeping for joy for a considerable period of time. The meaning of the word.

וירא אליו, “he appeared to him;” according to Rashi, Joseph appeared to his father and fell around his neck and wept still, are to be contrasted with Yaakov’s reaction; he did not fall around Joseph’s neck and did not kiss his son until he had finished reciting the prayer קריאת שמע. Nachmanides writes that he does not know why the expression וירא “he appeared,” has been chosen by the Torah to describe this meeting, seeing that it is quite obvious that when two people meet so closely that they embrace each other, as here, that they appear to one another. Furthermore, Joseph’s whole behaviour does not seem appropriate. He should have first prostrated himself and have kissed his father’s hands. Furthermore, the word עוד does not mean a surfeit of something, but something in addition to what had already been there before. Seeing that Joseph had not fallen around Yaakov’s neck before, the word עוד in this connection is hard to understand. The correct meaning of the phrase is that Yaakov’s eyes were heavy from old age, which made it difficult for him to recognize Joseph, or that seeing that Joseph had been in a rush to welcome his father he had been wearing royal attire and some sort of headgear totally unfamiliar to Yaakov, so that even if he would have recognized him in ordinary garments, he did not associate the figure approaching him in Royal Splendour as being his son. Therefore, when upon Joseph approaching real close and Yaakov finally recognizing him, i.e. “he appeared to him,” he fell around his neck and, in addition to this, wept while doing so. He had been weeping over the loss of Joseph for many years, only this time he wept from joy. Joseph, on the other hand, although he had been told that his father was well, when he saw him, he received a shock so that he began to weep in spite of the reunion. It is a moot point who of the two wept more and longer.

ויפול על צואריו ויבך על צואריו עוד. “He fell around his neck and he kept crying on his neck exceedingly.” Nachmanides writes that one must not understand this verse as if Joseph fell around his father’s neck, seeing that this would not be in good taste. Good taste would have dictated for Joseph to kiss the hand of his father or to prostrate himself in front of him. The verbs in this verse all apply to Yaakov. It was Yaakov who fell around the neck of Joseph and broke out crying for quite some time. Just as he had still been crying over him while they had not been reunited, the reunion also evoked a crying spell. He cried over the reunion, and he cried additionally when he considered the position of power and eminence Joseph had attained.

Yoseif appeared to his father. [Rashi knows this] because we cannot say Yaakov appeared to Yoseif, since Yaakov did not go to appear to Yoseif. Rather, [Yaakov went] to see him and to live in Egypt. But Yoseif went toward his father to appear before him. (Maharshal)

ויבך על צואריו עוד AND WEPT ON HIS NECK A GOOD WHILE — The phrase ויבך עוד signifies weeping copiously. So, too, עוד has the same meaning in (Job 34:23) “For He doth not place upon a man עוד” — which means something more than is proper: God does not place on him accusations additional to his sins (the sins he has really committed) Here, also, he wept greatly and continuously — more than is usual. Jacob, however, did not fall upon Joseph’s neck nor did he kiss him. Our Rabbis say: the reason was that he was reciting the Shema (renewing his allegiance to God immediately on settling in a new land).

עוד, is that this went on for a time. We find the word used in this sense in Exodus 4,6 where G’d is persisting in His efforts to convince Moses to accept the position of Israel’s leader by showing him miracles he could perform to legitimise himself before his people. The word describes something that happened repeatedly, at intervals. Yaakov wept only once, whereas Joseph wept repeatedly. Some commentators claim that Yaakov did not weep at all but was preoccupied with reciting the שמע ישראל, an affirmation of G’d and His uniqueness which he formulated on that occasion for the first time. (compare Rashi)

He does not place upon him accusations which are in excess of his sins... Rashi is explaining the verse he cited: כי לא על איש ישים עוד. I.e., when Hashem punishes the wicked, He does not punish them more than they sinned. “He does not place upon him [accusations which are in excess of his sins].”

And wept. See Rashi. When Yaakov saw Yoseif he reflected on what Hashem had done for him and renewed his love and awe through the recitation of the Shema.

Our Sages explained that this was because he was reading the “Shema.” Some ask: Perhaps he was standing in prayer? It seems [the answer is:] Our Rabbis of blessed memory said in Berachos 27a that we may not pass in front of someone standing in prayer, so as not to interfere with his concentration. Surely, Yoseif would not fall on Yaakov’s neck lest he disturb his concentration. But with the Shema, we need to concentrate mainly in the first verse, which where we accept upon ourselves the Kingship of Heaven. And Yoseif fell on Yaakov’s neck after Yaakov had read the first verse. You might ask: Why was Yoseif, too, not reading the Shema? The answer is: Yoseif was involved with the mitzvah of honoring his father. Someone involved in the performance of a mitzvah is exempt from performing another mitzvah. Another answer: Yoseif exempted himself by reading the first verse [alone], since he was busy and occupied, as it says in the Gemara in Berachos 13b that [the single verse of] Shema Yisrael was the Shema of R. Yehudah Hanasi, because he was busy with teaching the disciples.