Commentary for Genesis 49:18

'לישועתך קויתי ה I HOPE FOR THY AID, O ETERNAL — He prophesied that the Philistines would put out his (Samson’s) eyes, and that he would have to say (Judges 16:28) “Remember me, I pray Thee, and strengthen me, I pray Thee, only this once etc.”

I HOPE FOR THY AID, O ETERNAL. Among all the judges of Israel there was none who fell into the hands of his enemies except Samson, who is this “snake” [referred to in Jacob’s prophecy], just as it is written, Then the Eternal was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge,¹⁹⁹Ibid., 2:18. and Samson was the last of the judges since his successor Samuel was a prophet and he did not conduct war on the people’s behalf, and in his days the kings [Saul and David] reigned. Now when the prophet Jacob saw that the deliverance which was to come through Samson ceased [when he died together with the Philistines], he said, “I hope for Thy aid, O Eternal, not for the aid of ‘the snake’ or ‘the serpent,’ for it is by Thee that I will be helped, not by a judge, as Thy salvation is ‘an everlasting salvation.’”²⁰⁰See Isaiah 45:17.

לישועתך