Commentary for Genesis 49:4

פחז כמים The impetuosity and the precipitance with which you so hastily showed your wrath, just like water that rushes headlong in its course — therefore

UNSTABLE (‘PACHAZ’) AS WATER, YOU HAVE NOT THE EXCELLENCY. Pachaz is a noun, derived from the expression, Vain and reckless (‘upachazim’) fellows,⁸⁰Judges 9:4. meaning “hasty and impulsive people.” Our Rabbis have made steady use of this word: “I was looking at my image in the water and my evil inclination rose (pachaz) within me,”⁸¹Nedarim 9b. that is “my evil inclination leaped upon me” They said further: “It is their recklessness (apichzeihu) which they are revealing,”⁸²Sanhedrin 57a. See Note 63 in my Hebrew commentary, p. 265. meaning their impulsiveness. “A reckless (p’chizah) people, who spoke before listening, you still retain your recklessness (‘b’pachzuteich’),”⁸³Shabbath 88a. meaning “hasty and impulsive.” It is possible that this word pachaz is a permutation of the word chipazon (hurry).⁸⁴As is the case with the words; keves and kesev, both of which mean “lamb,” and other similar words. Jacob was thus saying: “Since you burst forth as water, you shall no longer excel for thou wentest up to thy father’s place of repose in thy haste and impulsiveness. Then didst thou profane them,⁸⁵The Hebrew is mishk’vei (places of repose), which is in the plural form. Hence Ramban writes otham (them). when your recklessness ascended my couch like the rising and gushing water.” This is similar to the Scriptural description of water: Now, therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, mighty and many, even the king of Assyria and all his glory; and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks; and he shall sweep through Judah, overflowing as he passeth through.⁸⁶Isaiah 8:7-8.
Our Rabbis have said:⁸⁷Shabbath 55b. It is found here in Rashi in the form mentioned by Ramban. “Then didst thou profane He Who hovered over my couch, meaning the Shechinah” that used to abide above my [Jacob’s] couch. Yet the verse says, Forasmuch as he [Reuben] defiled his father’s couch,⁸⁸I Chronicles 5:1. This clearly shows that it was “the couch” which was defiled and not, as the comment of Rashi would have it, the Shechina. Ramban proceeds to answer that Scripture modifies the expression out of respect for the Divine Presence. thus clearly stating that it was the couch which was defiled! But perhaps [out of respect for the Divine Presence, Scripture] modifies the expression there.
But if [we accept the explanation that Scripture modifies the expression], it is possible that the word alah (going up) refers to [Jacob, thus saying, “then didst thou profane my couch upon which I used to go up],” just as in the verse, Nor go up into the bed that is spread for me.⁸⁹Psalms 132:3. Thus Jacob’s intent is to say: “Then thou didst defile me;” He spoke in the third person⁹⁰Alah, “he” went up. only as a matter of respect. Similarly, the verse, Forasmuch as he defiled his father’s couch,⁹¹I Chronicles 5:1. is a Scriptural modification, meaning “forasmuch as he [Reuben] defiled the one who goes up⁹²I.e., Jacob. His name though is not mentioned directly, as a matter of respect. upon his father’s couch.”
From the literal meaning of this verse it would appear as I have explained it in Seder Vayishlach,⁹³Above, 35:22. i.e., that it was Reuben’s intention to disqualify Bilhah from his father so that she should no longer give birth to children, thus lessening his share as the firstborn. It was for this reason that Jacob said to him that it was reckless and impulsive to think that he would gain thereby, whereas he had no profit from it but only loss.

כי עלית על משכבי אביך, for through your having mounted your father’s bed, (you disgraced, etc.). Reuven having been deprived of his privileges as first-born has been spelled out more clearly in Chronicles I 5,1-2) “He was the firstborn of Israel; but when he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, son of Israel, so he is not considered as first-born in genealogy.”

פחז במים, "Hasty, like water, etc." Jacob accused Reuben of acting with haste, not trying to control his emotions and urges, failing to vanquish the spark of evil which was rooted within him. As a result of that failure he would be deprived of the three distinctions we have described i.e. birthright, priesthood and royalty.

כי עלית משכבי אביך, when you committed that act, חללת יצועי, you defiled my couch; your act prevented me from having any further marital relations with my wife Bilhah. My grandfather explained the expression יתר שאת as an allusion to atonement. [שאת from the root נשא, to elevate, i.e. to forgive as in ונשאתי לכל המקום, “I will forgive the whole place” (Genesis 18,26) Ed.] If so, far from putting down Reuven in his final words to him, Yaakov blessed him by offering his forgiveness at this time for the sin he had committed. against him.

אז חללת יצועי עלה, at that time you defiled your father’s dignity. Alternatively, Yaakov may have referred to Reuven’s act being a desecration of G’d’s honour. As an appropriate punishment, Reuven’s own status, which had been one of special honour, would be diminished accordingly.

אז חללת יצועי עלה, “then you desecrated Him Who abode on my bed.” According to our sages, Yaakov referred to Reuven having desecrated the Presence of the Divinity, which was ever present near his father’s bed. Another explanation: your פחז, i.e. “your haste,” which was comparable to the ease with which water gushed forth from a spring, caused you to forfeit your advantage, for in your haste to ascend my couch you desecrated it thereby. Ibn Ezra understands the word עלה here as meaning “disappeared, withdrew,” as if the Torah had written עלה מעלי, “distanced himself from me.” He quotes David in Psalms 102,25 אל תעלני בחצי ימי, “do not let me die when only half my allotted lifespan is over.” Rabbi Joseph Kimchi views the paragraph as a blessing (just as the others) each of the sons receiving a blessing compatible with his personality. He includes the wish that just as he is willing to forgive Reuven for his indiscretion, so may the Lord also forgive him this sin. As a result you will be able to display the natural advantages common to a firstborn. The word שאת appears in the context of forgiveness, (Genesis 4,7 with Kayin). Yaakov described Reuven’s inability to control his libido as comparable to water gushing forth. The episode was understood by Yaakov to have been a momentary failure of reason controlling natural urges, resulting in his couch being desecrated. The word עלה belongs to the words פחז כמים instead of being part of חללת יצועי.

The Name... [Rashi knows this] because “profaned” refers to Hashem. “To profane” can be said regarding Hashem, as in the expression חילול השם. But “To profane” cannot be said about a bed, and he who explains it so is mistaken.

Es ist zu bedauern, dass die Radix פחז nicht öfter vorkommt. Aus אנשים רקים ופוחזים sieht man ebenfalls, dass es einen Charaktermangel bedeutet (Richter 9. 4). Allein unbestimmt bleibt, welchen. Unglücklicherweise steht es hier mit Wasser zusammen. Es gibt aber kaum etwas, das so verschiedene Auffassungen zulässt wie Wasser. Wasser hat keine innere Festigkeit, somit: Haltlosigkeit wie Wasser. Wasser fließt immer nach unten, strebt nach dem Niedrigen (wofern es nicht vergeistigt zur Regenbildung in Wolken aufsteigt). Wasser ist flüssig, bewegt sich rasch vorwärts etc. Im Munde unserer Weisen heißt איפחו צלוחיתו: das Überfließen des Glases. Die allgemeinste, dem Flüssigen als solchem innewohnende Eigenschaft wäre: der Mangel an Kohäsion, somit die Haltlosig- keit. — אל תותר ist Hiphil und heißt darum wohl nicht: du darfst keinen Vorzug haben, sondern ist Prädikat zum Subjekt פחז, die Haltlosigkeit deines Charakters gestattet dir den Vorzug nicht, weil du etc., da hast du den entweiht, der etc., also: dich; es ist milde umschrieben. Indem nun aber gleichwohl hier gesagt ist: du bist der köstlichste Edelstein in meinem Schatz, bist כחי וראשית אוני, allein zum Führer der Familie taugst du nicht, der muß עז sein, der darf sich nicht durch linde, schmeichelnde Winde und auch nicht durch stürmende Orkane bewegen lassen, muss innere Charakterfestigkeit haben, nicht haltlos wie Wasser sein — so ergibt sich aus allem dem, dass denn doch der ganze Vorgang nicht jene Bedeutung haben könne, die in dem schroffen Worte וישכב sein יתר שאת ויתר עז war und כח אביו וראשית אונו liegt. Einem Sohne, der וגו׳ sollte, wird auch ein sonst leichteres Vergehen hoch angerechnet. Ein wirkliches Verbrechen hätte ein Jakob bei einem Reuben nicht so milde und leicht als פחז כמים bezeichnet.

כי עלית על משכבי אביך, “you went up to your father’s bed;” On which occasion did this take place? At the time when Leah traded Yaakov’s turn to spend the night with Rachel for the mandrakes her son Reuven had found. (Genesis 30,15). (Br’eshit Rabbah 96.4)

כי עלית, “when you mounted;” “you desecrated Him Who is present even when I have intimate relations with my wife.” Yaakov accuses Reuven that as of the day when he invaded his privacy, he no longer had marital relations with Bilhah. Furthermore, when you desecrated my couch, you desecrated yourself and removed the sanctity of the kingship and the first-born status from yourself. Thus Jacob transferred the first-born status to Joseph. There are commentators who explained that Jacob said all of this to his other sons so that they should not wonder why he spoke so harshly to Reuven who had sinned gravely. The word עלה occurs in the sense of “departing, withdrawing its presence,” also in Psalms 102,25: על תעלני בחצי ימי, “do not take me away in the midst of my days.”

אל תותר THOU SHALT NOT BE SUPERIOR— you will not receive all these many prerogatives that were proper to you. And what was this impetuosity which you displayed?

יצועי עלה, the indirect mode עלה, “he mounted,” means “you were about to mount.” We find numerous instances in Scripture when a past tense is not really a past tense, such as when Avraham said to Efron that he had already given the money for the cave of Machpelah, נתתי כסף השדה קח ממני, when what he meant was that he had the money all ready and prepared. (compare Genesis 23,13). [Avraham could not have paid for the field at that time, not having wanted to buy the field nor even having made an offer to buy it. He would have considered it improper to ask someone to sell an ancestral field. Ed.]

When Jacob added אל תותר, he hinted that although Reuben had displayed haste in doing something which held no advantage for him, he had not displayed the same haste when it came to doing something useful, i.e. repenting his mistake. Our sages in Baba Kama 92 say that it was Yehudah who triggered Reuben's eventual repentance. Although Bereshit Rabbah 84,19 states that G'd complimented Reuben on being the first human being who had repented [without having been accused by anyone as yet, Ed.], Reuben had not uttered a confession of his sin until he had heard about Yehudah doing this during Tamar's trial. Perhaps Reuben's tardiness in confessing his mistake was the reason that royalty was conferred on the descendants of Yehudah instead. It was Yehudah's reward for being the cause that triggered the final stage in Reuben's repentance. Reuben may have lost the priesthood to the descendants of Levi as a result of later developments as mentioned in Deut. 33,8 לאיש חסידך אשר נסיתו במסה, "Be with Your faithful one whom You tested at Massah" (when that tribe did not complain). Regardless of when Levi qualified for the priesthood, Reuben forfeited his claim to it already during Jacob's time. The words אל תותר mean that Reuben was deprived of all his erstwhile advantages over his brothers. Jacob transferred one of his former distinctions to Joseph, a second one to Yehudah, and he left the third one pending until G'd eventually accorded it to part of the tribe of Levi.

חללת יצועי עלה, “you did defile Him Who used to ascend my couch. (The Holy Spirit)” Yaakov’s curse was to remain in force until Moses Deuteronomy 33,6 said: יחי ראובן ואל ימות, “may Reuven live and not die.” In the meantime it had been Moses who was allowed to ascend to G–d’s residence on the Mount; (Exodus ומשה עלה 19,3). An alternate interpretation of this phrase: “you have desecrated my couch which until that time had been on a higher level than that of my father and grandfather, each of whom had had a son that was not loyal to the Jewish tradition.” Yaakov, as if speaking about a third person, when he said משכבי אביך, “the couch of your father,” instead of: “my couch,” repeated this method when saying יצועי עלה, “he ascended my bed.”

כי עלית משכבי אביך, אז חללת BECAUSE THOU WENTEST UP TO THY FATHER S PLACE OF REPOSE; THEN PROFANEDST THOU Him Who hovered over my couch — the Name of the Shechina that used to abide above my couch (Shabbat 55b and Rashi there).

Jacob said כי עלית to explain how it was possible that a son of his could commit such an act. He hinted that at the time (the wedding night) his thoughts had been confused as he had been under the impression that he had married and was sleeping with Rachel. In other words, he had actually slept in two beds, physically he had shared Leah's bed, whereas mentally he had considered himself in bed with Rachel. This is the reason Jacob spoke about Reuben having mounted משכבי אביך, the beds (pl) of your father. This was the original cause of Reuben eventually becoming guilty of his misdemeanour. When Jacob added the word אז, then, he indicated that the true defilement took place then; the first time Reuben desecrated his father's bed was at the time he was conceived in the wrong womb, Leah's instead of Rachel's. Jacob's משכבים were desecrated at that time, whereas Reuben personally had defiled Jacob's יצוע when he mounted the bed in Bilhah's tent.

פַּחַז is a noun (a segolate noun like נַחַל) and has its accent therefore on the first syllable, and the entire word (both syllables) is punctuated with Patach, for were it the past tense of a verb, half of it (the first syllable) would have been punctuated with Kametz and the other half with Patach, and its accent would have been on the last syllable.

יצועי denotes a couch, because it is spread (root יצע) with mattresses and sheets; it occurs in this sense frequently in Scripture: (Psalms 132:3) “Nor go up into the bed that is spread for me (ערש יצועי)” ; (Psalms 63:7) “When I remember thee upon my (יצועי) couch”.