Commentaire sur La Genèse 49:16

Yaakov wanted to tell when Moshiach was going to come, and the Shechina departed from him. What that means that is that Yaakov requested the coming of Moshiach, to reveal the Guela. Through this, the Shechina departed from him. What that means is that he elevated himself [spiritually] and he went so much higher than himself through prayer. He went away from himself to the Shechina.

דן ידין עמו means DAN WILL TAKE VENGEANCE FOR HIS PEOPLE from the Philistines, the phrase having the same meaning as in (Deuteronomy 32:30) “For the Lord will avenge (ידין) his people”.

DAN SHALL JUDGE ‘YADIN’ HIS PEOPLE. This has the same meaning as in the verse, For the Eternal ‘yadin’ His people,¹⁷⁷Deuteronomy 32:36. which Onkelos translates as, “For the Eternal will judge the judgment of His people,”¹⁷⁸Here also, the sense of the verse is: “Dan will judge the judgment of his people.” just as in the expressions: Be thou my judge, O G-d, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;¹⁷⁹Psalms 43:1. The cause of the widow.¹⁸⁰Isaiah 1:23. The reference should rather be to Verse 17 there: rivu almanah (plead for the widow), which means rivu riv almanah (plead the plea of the widow). Here, likewise, the sense of the verse is: “Dan will judge the judgment of his people.” (T’chelet Mordechai. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 270, Note 39.) The verse is thus stating that Dan will avenge the cause of his people, all the tribes of Israel, as one.¹⁸¹As explained further in the text, it is clear that Ramban is transposing the words of the verse and interpreting it in the following way: “Dan will judge his people,” that is, Samson, a descendant of the tribe of Dan, will avenge the cause of his people from the hands of the Philistines. And who are “his people?” All “the tribes of Israel.” And how will that help affect them? “As one,” that is, as one whole nation, for when, at the time of Samson’s death, the Philistines’ temple collapsed, all the lords of the Philistines (Judges 16:27) died, and thus all “the tribes of Israel as one” were delivered from their hands. And the purport of it is as follows: The Philistines wronged all Israel many times. In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath¹⁸²Judges 3:31. they began their oppression of Israel, and in the days of Jephthah it is written, And He gave them over into the hand of the Philistines,¹⁸³Ibid., 10:7. and after the days of Abdon the son of Hillel,¹⁸⁴Ibid., 12:13. it is also written, And the Eternal delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.¹⁸⁵Ibid., 13:1. There was none among the Judges who subdued them or had any victory at all over them. Now although it is written concerning Shamgar, And he smote the Philistines six hundred men with an ox-goad,¹⁸²Judges 3:31. this was not “vengeance,” relatively speaking, as it was not a great slaughter.¹⁸⁶II Chronicles 13:17. This is why it is written concerning Samson, And he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines,¹⁸⁷Judges 13:5. and he avenged the cause of Israel from them for he slew many people and killed all the lords of the Philistines.¹⁸⁸See ibid., 16:27 and 30. Scripture mentions yadin (he will judge), since this avenger was a judge, not a king. It is possible that this interpretation coincides with the opinion of Onkelos, who translated: “In his days his people will be delivered.”¹⁸⁹Thus it is clear that Onkelos also explained the word yadin as meaning “will avenge.” See also my Hebrew commentary, p. 270.
It is possible that the expression, as one of the tribes of Israel, means “as the outstanding one of the tribes,” namely, Judah, concerning whom it is said, Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies,¹⁹⁰Above, Verse 8. thus implying that this one also¹⁹¹The judge from the tribe of Dan, namely, Samson. will be victorious over his enemies and subdue them.

דן ידין עמו, those who explained this as a reference to Shimshon, one of the judges of Israel, have read the text only superficially. Did they really think that Yaakov, on his deathbed, would prophesy concerning a single specific individual who, moreover, fell into the hands of the Philistines and ended his life as their victim? Far be it from Yaakov to focus on such events at a time like this, even if he foresaw it! Yaakov relates to the tribe of Dan who is described as the rearguard of the Jewish armies in the desert both in Numbers 10,25 and in the Book of Joshua 6,9 where this tribe is described in identical terms. The fact that the rearguard is the most exposed section of the army which has to beat off any attacks from the rear, means that it needs extra protection by G’d. Yaakov says that he will enjoy success in avenging any unprovoked attacks on the Jewish people, i.e. their army. The words

As one of the tribes. See Rashi’s alternate explanation. Although in the desert the tribe of Yehudah traveled first and Dan last, they were equal in that both produced leaders (David and Shimshon) who eliminated the wicked from their midst.

דן ידין עמו, "Dan will judge his people, etc.". Jacob may have wanted to exonerate Samson who had disgraced himself as a leader by consorting with Delilah. Perhaps Jacob considered Samson's end when he asked G'd to die together with the Philistines (Judges 16,30) he was about to kill as a redeeming conclusion of his life; this is why he compared him כאחד שבטי ישראל, like the unique personalities each of the tribes produced at one time or another.

דן ידין עמו, Yaakov predicts that a judge will emerge from among the Danites as, or equal to, any of the other tribes of Israel. The reason why Yaakov had to make such a strange sounding comment was that Dan was a son of Rachel’s maid, Bilhah, and the status of the descendants of the maidservants of the matriarchs might have been questioned. Yaakov wants it understood that there is not going to be such a relationship between his sons. To emphasise this, Moses appointed the tribe of Dan as one of the four tribes who were leaders of their respective army corps comprising three tribes each. (compare Numbers 2,25) The judge from the tribe of Dan who presided over the court was Shimshon, of whom we are told in Judges 16,31 that he judged the people for 20 years.

דן ידין עמו, “Dan will avenge his people.” The word ידין is understood here as “taking up the quarrel on someone’s behalf.”

All the tribes of Israel will be as one with him... I.e., this phrase [should be understood] as if it is backwards. It means: “Dan will avenge his people, all of Israel together (כאחד).” For Shimshon avenged all of Israel together. ידין cannot mean “will judge,” because we do not find anywhere [that Dan judged all of Israel].

Mit Issachar waren die sechs Söhne Leas erschöpft, von ihr stammt der ganze Kern des Volkes. Dan ist der erste Sohn der שפחות, den eine der früheren Dienerinnen dem Jakob geboren. Es begreifen sich die Worte, mit denen Jakob ihn einführt. War ja die Heirat aus dem edlen Wunsche seiner Frau hervorgegangen, möglichst viele Söhne zum Bau des Gottesvolkes zu stellen. Dan war der erste Sohn der Dienerin Rachels, die den Schmerz nicht verwinden konnte, für den Bau des verheißenen Volkes, wie es schien, ganz unfruchtbar zu bleiben. Jakob spricht daher: Dan wird sein Volk vertreten, wie nur einer aus Israels Stämmen. Er steht durchaus nicht zurück, gehört ebenso zum Wesen, wie die andern (obgleich die Verbindung mit Bilha und Silpa von Jakob gar nicht beabsichtigt, und diese Mütter ursprünglich eine untergeordnete Stellung hatten), ist den andern völlig ebenbürtig und hat ebenso seinerseits einen eigentümlichen Beitrag zum Nationalganzen zu spenden. Es folgen nun vier Söhne der שפחות. Während Juda, Sebulun, Issachar wesentliche und dauernde Grundzüge bieten, bringen die Söhne der Dienerinnen Seiten, die nicht gerade dauernde Grundzüge bilden, sich jedoch zu Zeiten nützlich und hilfreich bewährten.

דן ידין עמו, “Dan will judge his people.” This tribe had always marched in the rear of the camp in the days of Moses as well as of Joshua as testified to in Joshua 6,9: והמאסף הולך אחרי הארון, “and the rearguard walked behind the Holy Ark.” It was this tribe’s task to ward off any attacks from the rear. They had been assigned this task as they were considered exceptionally brave. The word ידין, may therefore best be translated as: “he will avenge.” Compare Deuteronomy 32,36: כי ידין ה' עמו, “for the Lord will avenge His people.”

כאחד שבטי ישראל means ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL WILL BE AT ONE with him and he will take vengeance for all of them. This prophecy alludes to Samson (Genesis Rabbah 99:11). One might also explain כאחד שבטי ישראל thus: “[Dan will take vengeance for his people as did] the most distinguished tribe (המיוחד) among the tribes of Israel” — alluding to David who was of the tribe of Judah (Genesis Rabbah 99:11).

כאחד, “similar to the “one,” i.e. the tribe of Yehudah who normally played the role of saviour of his people. The meaning could also be that Shimshon, from the tribe of Dan, would be the only judge who would rule over the entire people, something that otherwise would be the prerogative of the tribe of Yehudah. Yaakov likened Shimshon the Danite to a snake, as just like a snake he acted on his own, without the support of an army. He acted aggressively just as certain types of snakes who attack unsuspecting travelers without warning.

כאחד שבטי ישראל, describe this tribe’s warding off such attacks, similar to what Moses said in Deuteronomy 32,36 כי ידון ה' עמו, or in Deut. 32,43 דם עבדיו יקום ונקם ישיב לצריו. “He will avenge the blood of His people, for He will wreak vengeance on his foes.” David expresses similar feelings in Psalms 110,6 when he says:ידיו בגויים מחץ גוויות מחץ ראשו על ארץ רבה, ”He works judgment on the nations, heaping up bodies, crushing heads far and wide.”