Comentario sobre Génesis 47:18

בשנה השנית IN THE SECOND YEAR — of the famine.

THEY CAME UNTO HIM IN THE SECOND YEAR. I.e., the second year of the years of the famine. Now although Joseph had said, And there are yet five years when there will be no plowing and sowing,²⁴³Above, 45:6. as soon as Jacob came to Egypt a blessing came with his arrival, and they began to sow and the famine came to an end. And thus we read in the Tosephta of Tractate Sotah.²⁴⁴10:9. Tosephta means “addition.” This is a collection of Tannaitic teachings compiled by Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Oshayah soon after the Mishnah was completed by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi. Thus the language of Rashi. And it is similarly mentioned in Bereshith Rabbah:²⁴⁵89:11. “Rabbi Yosei the son of Rabbi Chanina said that the famine lasted for two years, for when our father Jacob went down to Egypt the famine ceased. When did it return? In the days of Ezekiel, etc.” But if so, then Joseph’s words regarding his interpretation of [Pharaoh’s dream which predicted the seven years of famine] were not fulfilled, and would thus cause people to doubt his wisdom! Perhaps we shall say that the famine continued in the land of Canaan as Joseph had said, but in Egypt our father Jacob went down to the river in the presence of Pharaoh and all of Egypt, whereupon all his people saw that the waters in the Nile rose as he approached it, and thus they knew that G-d’s blessing was due to the prophet’s arrival. In that case, the verse stating, And Joseph sustained his father, and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread, according to the want of their little children,²⁴⁶Verse 12 here. applies to the remainder of the seven years and for as long as his father lived,²⁴⁷According to the Tur’s version of Ramban, this passage reads: “applies to the years of plenty of his father’s entire lifespan.” for even after his father’s death, Joseph said, I will sustain you and your little ones.²⁴⁸Further, 50:21.
Yet, with all this, I wonder: for if so, then Pharaoh’s dream was not true since it only revealed the decree to him but not what would ultimately become of those seven years! Now I have seen there in the Tosephta of Tractate Sotah:²⁴⁴10:9. Tosephta means “addition.” This is a collection of Tannaitic teachings compiled by Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Oshayah soon after the Mishnah was completed by Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi. “Rabbi Yosei said that as soon as our father Jacob died, the famine reverted to its former condition, etc.” We have further been taught in the Sifre:²⁴⁹Sifre Eikev, 38. “And Jacob blessed Pharaoh.²³⁴Verse 10 here. How did he bless him? [His blessing was] that the years of famine should cease. Nevertheless they were completed after Jacob’s death, as it is said, Now therefore fear ye not; I will sustain you.²⁴⁸Further, 50:21. Now just as ‘sustaining’ mentioned above²⁵⁰Above, 45:11. And there I will sustain thee, for there are yet five years of famine. by Scripture refers to years of famine, so also ‘sustaining’ mentioned here²⁴⁸Further, 50:21. refers to years of famine. Rabbi Shimon says, ‘It is not a sanctification of G-d’s Name for the words of the righteous to be effective as long as they live, and then to be removed after their death.’ Rabbi Eleazar the son of Rabbi Shimon said, ‘I accept the opinion of Rabbi Yosei rather than that of my father, for it is indeed a sanctification of G-d’s Name for there to be a blessing in the world for the period that the righteous are in the world, and for the blessing to remove from the world when they leave.’” Thus far the text of the Tosephta. Thus the remaining five years of the famine were completed.
The opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra is that these two years, [recounted in Verses 14-20, during which the Egyptians gave their money and cattle to Joseph in exchange for food], occurred after Jacob had come to Egypt, [and since there were two years of famine before he came to Egypt, this accounts for four of the seven years of famine]. And Ibn Ezra wrote as follows: “We find in homiletic texts of the Rabbis that the famine was removed by the merit of Jacob. It is also possible that there were three more years of famine, but that they were not as severe as the first four years which had passed.” But Ibn Ezra’s words are not at all correct. The account of the dream and its interpretation make all seven years alike, and, had it been as he said, Scripture would have mentioned the different nature of these three last years.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan during a period of five years, and he brought it to Pharaoh, for how is it possible for the money and cattle to be exhausted in one year? Rather, the money sufficed them for the entire five years, as is the usual way of the world.²⁵¹In a time of famine, people conserve money and make it last for a long period of time. Now since nothing was initiated, and no change of any kind occurred during all these years, Scripture relates nothing about them except, And Joseph gathered up all the money, etc.²⁵²Verse 14 here. When the money was exhausted, Scripture relates that they came to Joseph — this was in the sixth year of the famine — and he gave them bread in exchange for their cattle. He fed them with bread only to the extent of sustaining them, but not to satiety. And when that year was ended,²⁵³Verse 18 here. in which he had vowed to them that he would feed them with bread in exchange for their cattle—which was the sixth year—they came unto him the second year, [i.e., the year following the sixth year of famine being discussed], and they told him that he should purchase them and their land for the bread which he will feed them during that seventh year, and since the land will then belong to Pharaoh, he should give them seed so that the land will not be desolate, for they knew that when the seven years of famine will be completed, they will have planting and reaping. The verse stating, And Joseph sustained his father…with bread, according to the want of their little ones,²⁴⁶Verse 12 here. thus means that he furnished them with bread sufficient for their needs during the famine, as the expression, according to the want of their little ones, indicates.

בשנה השנית, the second year after the money had run out. This was the seventh year of the famine.