Commentary for Genesis 46:30

אמותה הפעם NOW, I WILL FAIN DIE — It's literal meaning is as the Targum renders it. A Midrashic explanation is (being based upon the literal translation. “I will die this once”): I had thought that I would die two deaths, in this world and also in the world to come, because the Divine Presence departed from me and I therefore thought that God would hold me responsible for your death. Now, since you are alive I will die only once, in this world (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayigash 9).

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.

ויאמר …אמותה הפעם, He said:.."now I can die, etc." The reason Jacob said "now" is that he had expressed fears of dying on a previous occasion when he heard about Joseph's disappearance.

אמותה הפעם, I am not longer dissatisfied if I were to die now, having been granted my wish to see you with my own eyes once more before my death.

The plain meaning is as Onkelos explains it. I.e., the verse does not mean what it sounds like, that Yaakov wished to die now that he merited seeing Yoseif’s face. On the contrary, after having merited to see him, Yaakov should pray to live and enjoy being with his son [to make up for] the days of their suffering.

Jetzt möchte ich sterben! Er fühlte sich auf dem Gipfel des möglichen Glückes, konnte nicht mehr glücklicher werden! Mit diesem Gipfel der Seligkeit möchte er enden.

Another part of this verse which needs analysis is why Jacob added the words כי עודך חי, "that you are still alive." If Joseph had not been alive how could Jacob have expressed his joy at seeing him? Besides, why did Jacob not make this statement when the brothers had told him that Joseph was still alive in 45,26?

Actually Jacob had now reassured himself about something that the brothers could not have told him at the time. He had been satisfied that Joseph was alive, well and powerful; he had not yet been certain that in view of all the experiences Joseph had undergone both as a slave and subsequently as a powerful ruler, that he had been able to preserve his righteousness. Jacob himself had experienced a loss of the presence of Holy Spirit at the time he had mistakenly exclaimed that Joseph had been devoured by a wild beast. He naturally was afraid that Joseph too had been cut off from such Holy Spirit seeing he had lived in close contact with people who represented the קליפה, the personification of impurity. It is a well known fact that the righteous prefer the disappearance of a son to such a son embarassing them by abandoning his spiritual heritage. It was only when he set eyes on Joseph that he realised that Joseph had not changed. We have numerous examples in the Bible of righteous people being able to tell by merely looking at the faces of people that such people were upright and righteous. This is why Jacob was able to say אחרי ראותי את פניך, "after having seen your face." Jacob was now able to accept death without regret whenever it would occur. Berachot 18 mentions that the righteous are called חיים, alive, during their lifetime. Jacob expressed this thought when he called Joseph as "still alive" after having set eyes on him.