פירוש על בראשית 49:21

אילה שלחה is symbolical of the valley of Gennesareth which ripens its fruits very quickly, just as a hind runs rapidly (Genesis Rabbah 99:12). אילה שלחה means A HIND LET LOOSE that it may run where it pleases.

NAPHTALI IS A HIND SENT FORTH. It was a custom among the rulers of countries to send hinds to one another, and this was the manner in which it was done: Hinds which were born in the territory of the king of the north country would be raised in the palaces of the king of the south country. They would attach a written message to its horns, and it would run speedily and return to its original habitat, and in this way the king of the north country would be apprised of the news. This is the meaning of the phrase, He giveth goodly words, meaning that he is a dispatched hind sent who bears good tidings.
This practice is known, and it is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud, in Tractate Shevi’ith:²⁰⁶9:2. “They said,²⁰⁷In our Jerusalem Talmud the text reads: “The officers said to him.” The story told there is about Diocletian, the emperor who oppressed the people of a certain city with heavy taxes. When the people threatened to leave the place the officers said to Diocletian: “If they go they will return, for it is in the nature of people to return to their birthplace. And if you wish to prove it, etc.” ‘If they go they will return, and if you wish to prove it, bring deer and send them to a land far away, and in the end they will return.’ He did so. He brought deer and covered their horns with silver²⁰⁸So that they would be recognized upon their return. and sent them to Africa, and at the end of thirteen years they returned to their place.” That is, they freed them after thirteen years, and they returned at once. The analogy is that Naphtali is satisfied with favor, and full²⁰⁹Deuteronomy 33:23. with all good things, and from him tidings will come forth to all Israel that his land has produced fruits abundantly, even as our Rabbis have mentioned concerning the fruits of Genothar.²¹⁰Berachoth 44a. The fruits of Genessar (a district around the Sea of Kinnereth) were considered more nourishing than bread, so that if one eats them together with bread he recites the Benediction over the fruits, as they are the main food.

אילה שלוחה, his soldiers were as fleet-footed as gazelles. In Chronicles I 12,9 this is described as Naftali being כצבאים על ההרים למהר , “as speedy as the deer on the mountains.”

נפתלי אילה שלוחה, Yaakov prophesied regarding the extraordinary salvation which would accrue to Israel thanks to a single man from the tribe of Naftali, Barak, the commander of the forces who defeated Siserah at the river Kishon, putting to flight an army boasting 900 armoured vehicles. Seeing that he would be assisted by the prophetess Devorah, his being fleet-footed is not credited only to him, and the word describing this is in the feminine gender, ayalah, instead of ayal. Barak had refused to attack unless Devorah would be with him. This is also why Yaakov said שלוחה, again in the feminine mode, to allude to Devorah’s role in the battle. It sounds as if Devorah had been dispatched by G’d to hasten Barak’s coming to a decision, seeing he had been so hesitant to join battle with Siserah. Concerning the song of thanksgiving composed by Devorah after that battle (Judges chapter 5), Yaakov describes that song as אמרי שפר,”words of beautiful poetry.”

נפתלי אילה שלוחה, “Naftali’s territory will be as productive as a free-running doe. It was a custom among kings to send one another does as gifts, seeing that the does raised in the Northern kingdom would be looked after in the Royal Palace of the Kings in the south who would tie messages to their horns after which they would return to their habitat. [they were used as fast mail couriers. Ed.] The meaning of the words אמרי שפר, is that Yaakov wishes that they be bearers of good tidings. Yaakov hints that there would be ample reason to send good tidings from the territory of Naftali.

Due to them, Devorah and Barak sang... Rashi is answering the question: It is written אילה שלוחה, in the feminine form. Why then is it written הנותן, in the masculine form? Therefore Rashi explains, “Devorah and Barak sang...” [and due to Barak, הנותןis in the masculine form].

Wenn man ein Reh als Bote gebrauchen könnte, so erzielte man damit gewiss die schnellste Ausführung. Also: was man Naftali aufträgt, das wird rasch ausgeführt werden. Naftali geht nicht seine eigenen Wege, wirkt nur als Vote der andern, er ist nicht selbstschöpferisch; was aber andere zum Wohl der Gesamtheit beschlossen haben, das eignet er sich rasch an und führt es sicher aus. Dabei ist er zugleich נותן וגו׳. Es kann dies נותן nicht Attribut zu אילה sein. אילה ist kemin. שפר: schön, wovon auch שופר: das natürlich hohle Horn, ונטה את שפרורו ,שפרור Pavillon :(Jirm. 43, 10), ein rundes Gewölbe. Also שפר: nicht sowohl äußere sinnliche Schönheit, als vielmehr: harmonische Gestaltung der einzelnen Teile eines Gegenstandes, während הoי, verwandt mit יפח יפע strahlen, hauchen, die Schönheit nach dem Hauch und Reiz der Anmut bezeichnet, den sie auf den Beschauer übt. שפר ist demgemäß: Wölbung, Kreisbogen, die harmonische Bildung, wo sich das Ganze von einem leitenden Mittelpunkte aus gestaltet. Auch das verwandte ספר, zählen, ist das Zusammenbringen einer Vielheit unter eine Einheit, sowie das ebenfalls verwandte סור in סהר die Kreislinie ausdrückt. Einheit in der Mannigfaltigkeit ist aber der Begriff der Harmonie. Auf Reden angewandt ist also שפר die elegante schöne Gliederung, die schöne Form der Rede. Naftali ist weder für die That noch für die Wissenschaft selbstschöpferisch. Allein er weiß die Gedanken anderer sich sowohl für die That als für die Rede glücklich anzueignen, weiß sie rasch auszuführen und schön darzustellen. Ist unsere Auffassung nicht irrig, so ordnen sich Gad und Dan Juda, Ascher Sebulun, Naftali Jissachar ergänzend unter.

נפתלי אילה שלוחה, “Naftali (its territory) is (like) a free running doe;” its territory produces fruit that ripens easily and quickly, as if it had been chased and tries to escape the net it has fallen into.(B‘reshit Rabbah 99,12)

נפתלי אילה שלוחה, “Naftaly is like a free running doe,” Members of that tribe being fast long distance runners, used to be dispatched to inform the civilian population of whether a battle had been won [or lost, so that they would be prepared for what would follow. Ed.] This is the meaning of the words following: הנותן אמרי שפר, “bearer of good news.” Compare Judges 5,18 ונפתלי על מאומי שדה, “Naftaly running swiftly across the open heights.”There is an opinion according to which the word: אילה does not refer to a doe, but means: “the plain,” as in Genesis 14 6; yet another opinion relates the word to אילן as in אילי הצדק in Isaiah 61,3: “oaks of righteousness.”

הנותן אמרי שפר Understand this as the Targum does: They (the people of Naphtali) will give thanks to and will praise God for them (for the fruits). Another explanation of the verse is: He prophesied about the war with Sisera, with regard to which Scripture says, (Judges 4:6) “and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali etc.” — and they marched thither most rapidly. There, too, is the expression שלח used: (v.15) “into the valley they rushed (שלח) at his feet”.

הנותן אמרי שפר. When they would return from battle, they would be the bearers of happy tidings, being the first to announce the victory won by the Jewish armies. The word שפר, is a derivative of שופר, the ram’s horn; they would announce the good news by means of the appropriate blasts of the shofar. We have some proof of this in Judges 5,18 where Devorah in her victory song speaks of זבלון עם חרף נפשו למות, ונפתלי על מרומי שדה, “Zevulun is a people that mocked at death, and Naftali-on the open heights.” [they were the only two tribes that heeded Barak’s and Devorah’s call to do battle against Siserah, the commander of the Canaanite armies of King Yavin whose army was equipped with 900 armoured vehicles. Ed.]

Onkelos translates: “His lot will fall”... Rashi is saying that this is how Onkelos actually translates this verse. According to Onkelos, הנותן אמרי שפר means that Naftali will give thanks with beautiful words for his lot. But when Rashi wrote above, “‘He delivers pleasant sayings,’ as Onkelos translates it,” it means as follows: The first explanation holds that אילה שלוחה refers to the fruits of Ginosar, according to which אמרי שפר means as Onkelos said. [I.e., he will give thanks with beautiful words. But this will be interpreted differently:] the people of Naftali will [give thanks by] reciting the appropriate blessing over the fruits.

הנותן אמרי שפר, “he conveyed pleasant messages.” It thanked the Lord for having saved it from death after being hunted. Yaakov now refers to him in the masculine mode, perhaps because the doe is usually referred to in the masculine mode in other languages. Another interpretation: the subject here is Naftali himself, and refers to Naftali giving thanks to his Creator for having been given the chance to escape the net. Still another interpretation: the territory of Naftali can be compared to that of a doe after it had been skinned, its skin not having stuck to its flesh so that it could be put to good use while still intact. (Compare Leviticus 1,6) The word שלוחה, may refer what the Talmud describes as the reason why the land of Israel is known as ארץ צבי, “the land of the antelope,” namely produces fruit in such large quantities that it cannot be hidden. (Talmud tractate Ketuvot folio 112, i.e. “its flesh cannot be hidden completely once its skin had been flayed). The word שלוחה may be understood as in Song of Songs 4,14, “your arid areas”) i.e. even the relatively arid areas in its territory are extremely fruitful. The word אמרי in this verse may be understood as in Isaiah 17,6: שנים, שלושה גרגרים בראש אמיר , “two even three berries on the topmost branch.”

The word שלוחה is best rendered as נטועה, “planted.” An example of this use of the word is found in Isaiah 16,8: שלוחותיה נטשו עברו ים, “their shoots spread and crossed the sea.”

הנתן אמרי שפר HE GIVETH SAYINGS OF PLEASANTNESS — Due to them (to the ten thousand men of Naphtali) Deborah and Barak sang the song of praise (Judges ch. 5). Our Teachers explained the verse as an allusion to what happened on the day when Jacob was buried, when Esau claimed the cave of Machpelah. They were compelled to delay the burial whilst Naphtali ran rapidly back to Egypt and brought the title-deed of the cave etc. as is related in Treatise Sotah 13a. The words in the Targum יתרמי עדביה mean “his lot shall fall”, so that the second half of the verse would mean according to the Targum, “he will give thanks for his lot with pleasing words and with praise”.

אמרי שפר, “words of praise.” This is an allusion to branches, ענפים, as in שנים, שלושה גרגרים בראש אמיר, “two or three berries on the topmost branch.” (Isaiah 17,6). The meaning of the verse then is: “the highest plains of his land will be planted with branches that bear beautiful fruit.”