Commento su Genesi 43:32

כי תועבה היא FOR THAT IS AN ABOMINATION — it is a hateful thing to the Egyptians to eat together with the Hebrews. Onkelos states a reason for this.

כי תועבה, something so abhorrent to the Egyptians that they would spit out when observing such a “barbaric” way of eating meat. We know from other sources also that the Egyptians were of a very haughty disposition as mentioned for instance by Isaiah 30,7 קראתי לזאת רהב הם שבת, “truly, I call this, ‘they are a threat that has ceased.’” [the prophet calls Egypt a ‘paper tiger’ in his time. Ed.] The Egyptians’ attitude to people whose vocation was to tend flocks was one of utter disdain, as we know from 46,34. They had contempt for sheep and goats, hence their contempt transferred itself to the people raising such animals. This attitude to sheep and goats is mirrored when Moses asks Pharaoh how he could expect the Israelites to slaughter such animals while in Egypt without running the risk of the local populace stoning them to death for doing this. (Exodus 8,22) Stoning someone to express one’s disgust with his conduct is nothing new; we encounter it in Samuel II 16,5-6 when Shimi ben Geyrah, not only cursed (king) David publicly, but also threw stones at him.

וישימו לו לבדו, in order that his brothers should not notice that he too was a Hebrew.

וישימו לו לבדו, they served him separately as a symbol of his exalted position.

Josef speiste auch nicht mit den Mizrim. Er hat also selbst als Fürst seine ibrische Herkunft nicht verleugnet. — עברים war doch nur die charakteristische Bezeichnung der Nachkommen Abrahams. Es ist daher sehr eigentümlich, dass schon damals, wo sie noch aus kaum siebenzig Personen bestanden, sie schon so charakteristisch hervortraten, dass sie einen besonderen nationalen Namen hatten und ja Josef schon früher auch das Land Kanaan ארץ העברים nennen konnte! — תועבה. Eine auffallende Erscheinung bietet die Wurzel תעב. Sie ist augenscheinlich verwandt mit תאב, und beide sind aus דאב, Schmerz haben, erwachsen. Beide bedeuten eine heftige Schmerzempfindung, תעב durch die Gegenwart, תאב durch die Abwesenheit des betreffenden Gegenstandes. Da indes תעב verabscheuen, nur im Piel, תאב, nach etwas schmachten, nur im Kal vorkommt, einmal תאב im Piel erscheint, מְתָאֵב אנכי את גאון יעקב (Amos 6, 8) und dort auch verabscheuen bedeutet: so dürfte sich wohl die ganze Erscheinung aus der umwandelnden Bedeutung des Piel erklären, wie גָאל und גָאֵל, dort aber ist געל auch im Kal das Gegenteil von גאל.—

כי תועבה למצרים, “for it was something detestable for Egyptians;” Egyptians detested eating at the same table as aliens, as they felt that they were a superior race and everyone else was way inferior. We have an example of this in Isaiah 30,7 as well as in verse 39(?) here, i.e. ומצרים הבל וריק יעזרו לכן קראתי לזאת רהב לשבת, the help of Egypt I call empty and vain, I call this a disgrace and chagrin to dwell alongside them.”

כי לא יוכלון המצרים, this is why he did not eat together with his brothers, and neither he nor his brothers ate with the Egyptians.

ולהם לבדם, ולמצרים לבדם, and the brothers separately, and the Egyptians separately again, כי לא יוכלון, for the Hebrews were eating meat, as we know from the instructions to slaughter meat which had been issued in verse 15. Egyptians did not eat sheep or goats, and the only reason they raised these animals was for their wool and their milk. [According to Rashi and evidence cited in Torah Shleymah 92,5, the reason why the Egyptians did not eat sheep was that they considered sheep a deity, and it was inconceivable for them to consume their deities.]