Commentaire sur La Genèse 33:13

עלות עלי WITH YOUNG ARE WITH ME — The sheep and the oxen which are giving suck constitute a charge upon me (עלי) to drive them slowly.

AND ALL THE FLOCKS WILL DIE. Jacob said this in a compassionate manner for he should have said, “And they will all die,” but he would not express himself this way about the children. Neither did he wish to say, “and they will die,” with reference to the herds and the flocks, because he had compassion on the children lest they be included by implication. He also did not want to be verbose and say, “and all the flocks and herds will die.” It may be that the explanation of the verse is that “the children are tender — even the youths shall faint and be weary⁹²Isaiah 40:30. — and they will not want to go, and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to me, and if they will be overdriven the flocks will die, as they are small cattle, but the herds [signifying larger cattle] will not die although they will be harmed.”

כי הילדים רכים, for it is my task to take care both of the children of tender age and of the sheep and other animals which are sensitive to overexertion.

ויאמר...עלות עלי, the word עלות is a term denoting mother animals that are still suckling their young. It is important for their well being that they not be hurried.

ומתו כל הצאן, “and all the flocks would die.” Yaakov did not say “and they will all die,” seeing the word “flocks” is the obvious subject, as he did not want to mention the word death in a way that could be understood as applying to the children. Alternately, he mentioned the צאן once more, seeing that they are the smaller animals, the goats and sheep, whereas he refrained from including the cattle in any such context. Esau knew that cattle are more hardy and that Yaakov’s excuse not to keep company with him could not be based on such a phony consideration.

עלות עלי, wie עלה, das Aufsteigen zu der zu Boden sinkenden und am Boden bleibenden toten Materie, zum Ausdruck der von belebten und belebenden Kräften geförderten Entwicklung wird, und daher רפאות תעלה ,עלה ארכה, das beginnende Heilen, und עָלֶה das Blatt bedeutet: so scheint auch עָלָה das in Ent- wicklung begriffene, oder auch das säugende Tier zu bedeuten, das ja fortwährend belebten organischen Stoff für die Entwicklung eines anderen Organismus aus sich erzeugt. Hier scheint es zu sagen: die Tiere, die ich bei mir habe, brauche ich weder zur Arbeit noch zum Schlachten, sondern als Zuchttiere, zur Vermehrung meines Besitzstandes; als solche liegen sie mir ob und habe ich sie mit Rücksicht auf ihre gedeihliche Entwicklung zu behandeln.

כי הילדים רכים, “for the children are frail;” when speaking of the flocks, Yaakov had expressed the fear that they die if rushed;” we find reference to something like this in Job 21,11: וילדיהן ירקדון, “and their children skip about.” Yaakov’s wives and children were riding slowly on camels. (Compare 31,17.)

עלות means bringing up their young. Words of the same root are found in (Lamentations 2:11) “young children (עולל) and the sucklings”: (IsaiahLXV.20) “an infant (עול) of days”: (1 Samuel 6:7) “and two milch kine (עלות)”. old French enfantées.

ודפקום, in your honour, not to delay you.

עלי, it us to me to take care of them by leading them at a leisurely pace.

ודפקום יום אחד AND IF MEN SHOULD OVERDRIVE THEM, wearying them on the journey by making them run, מתו כל הצאן ALL THE FLOCKS WILL DIE.

ודפקום, if they were to be pushed (rushed), Yaakov explained that if his shepherds were to rush these animals even for a single day the sheep would all die from exhaustion. [the author understands Yaakov as telling Esau that “too much can be too little, sometimes.” This is why he quotes Isaiah 30,20. Ed.] In that verse the prophet explains that when G’d provides לחם צר ומים לחץ, “meager bread and scant water,” this is a promise and not a punishment. Too much of a good thing would be counterproductive, would ruin the health of recipient. Hence it is better for the sheep not to travel too fast.

ודפקום has the same meaning as in (Song. 5:2) “Hark, my beloved knocketh (דופק)” — knocks at the door — so that it means to beat the animals in order that they may travel quickly.

ומתו, the prefix ו in this word is analogous to similar prefixes in the words ורכב וסוס in Psalms76,7, and other similar examples. [the point is that the Torah did not write umeytu, but vameytu. Ed.]