Commento su Genesi 49:26

'ברכת אביך גברו וגו THE BLESSING OF THY FATHER HAVE PREVAILED etc. — The blessings which the Holy One, blessed be He, bestowed upon me are mighty beyond the blessings wherewith He blessed my progenitors

ברכות אביך גברו על ברכות הורי, the blessings of your father Yaakov who has been blessed by G’d on the occasion of the dream with the ladder (Genesis 28,13), are more comprehensive than the blessings my own parents had received at the time. G’d blessed me with unlimited boundaries “you will branch out to the east, the west, etc.”

The blessings, etc. Alternatively, “The blessings that your father [gave you] are stronger than the blessings my forebears [gave me]” — Yaakov received the right of the firstborn through deceit, but he transferred it to Yoseif openly. Even to the boundaries. Therefore he was able to glory in it wherever he went.

ברכות אביך, may He also grant you the blessing which has been bestowed on your father when the same G’d promised me that I would spread out in all directions of the globe. (28,14) This meant that my heritage would be boundless. This was only an extension of the original blessing given to Avraham at the beginning of Genesis 12 that ונברכו בך כל משפחות האדמה ובזרעך, “through you will be blessed all the families of the earth and through your descendants.” This verse is also a promise to the moral elite of the gentiles who in the words of Bileam in Numbers 23,23 will be numbered among the people loyal to G’d and who will receive their reward. Bileam speaks of כעת יאמר ליעקב ולישראל מה פעל ה', (Israel will be told by G’d directly what G’d does, not relying on astrologers and the like) The prophet Yoel 3,5 promises that all those who refer in their conversation to Hashem, will survive the wars preceding the coming of the Messiah, their mention of G’d being considered as proof of their believing in Him. [If I understand the author correctly, he feels that unless the promise given to Avraham at the beginning of Lech Lecha will help those חסידי אומות העולם, the righteous among the gentiles who are deserving, to survive the cataclysmic events preceding the coming of the Messiah, they are of too transient a nature to be taken seriously. Ed.] The distinction of the Jewish people lies in the fact that they do not turn to soothsayers, and all kinds of charlatans, astrologers or palm readers to divine the future. If they want to know something about the future they turn to G’d directly or to a prophet, or they are content to let G’d do what He considers to be right. Hence, by proclaiming the name of the Lord one is presumed to belong to this elite. Verses quoted by the author, such as Isaiah 61,6 as well as Zecharyah 8,23 are an assurance that when the time comes, having been steadfast in one’s loyalty to G’d, one will share in the ultimate salvation. The Jews at that time will finally be recognised as deserving a position of leadership amongst mankind.

ברכת אביך גברו, although Yaakov uses the past tenses in the word גברו, what he means is the future, that the blessing will prove to be what he says. The anomaly of using the past tense to describe matters that are yet to occur is no anomaly; it occurs again and again in Scripture. The word הורי, normally translated as “my parents,” refer to Avraham and Yitzchok, Yaakov’s father and grandfather respectively, his mentors. The very expression הורה, horeh, and הורה, horah, respectively, apply to father and mother, depending on the vowel under the letterר . This is so as both are involved in bringing about the pregnancy leading to the eventual birth of the child. The father is the active partner, whereas the mother is considered the passive partner seeing that she is the recipient of the male’s sperm.

ולקדקוד נזיר אחיו, “on the head of the one who was separate from his brothers.” The word נזיר here may be understood in the sense of נזר, “crown” i.e. the most superior, of his brothers. Another way of looking at this expression is that seeing that the head is the highest, most valuable of all our organs, by blessing the head one automatically blesses the entire body, i.e. all twelve tribes.

הריון ... i.e., “The one who made my mother conceive me”... Rashi is explaining how the word הורי means father. ויפוזו זרועי ידיו as ויפוצו... Rashi is saying that ז and צ often interchange, as in זעקת which is like צעקת.

ברכת אביך גברו וגו׳. Die gewöhnliche Auffassung: die Segnungen deines Vaters übertreffen die Segnungen meiner Eltern, ist sprachlich nicht begründet, und dem Sinne nach, als ein ungeheures Selbstgefühl ausdrückend, widerstrebend. גבר על braucht durchaus nicht: etwas an Kraft übertreffen zu heißen, z. B. גבר עלינו חסדו (P1. 117, 2), wo על den Boden, den Ort bezeichnet, auf welchem die Liebe sich hoch empor hebt, wo sie sich stark zeigt. Ebenso: ויגברו המים על הארץ (erst. B. M. 7, 24). Die Wasser stiegen auf der Erde, nicht: über die Erde. Ebenso hier: die Segnungen, die dein Vater jetzt zu erteilen hat, sind auch nur auf den Segnungen gewachsen, die meine Erzeuger mir erteilt haben. Diese sind der Grund und Boden, auf welchem sich nun meine Segnungen emporheben können. Lasset den Segen, den Eltern bei ihrem Scheiden über Kinder aussprechen, euch nicht gleichgültig sein; dass ich euch jetzt im hohen Greisenalter segnen kann, dies זכות wurzelt in der Reinheit der Eltern, in dem Augenblick, wo der Greis ihnen einst sein Dasein verdankte: nicht אבתי, sondern הורי. —

עד תאות גבעות עולם, “as far as the hills at the end of the world;” according to Rashi, Yaakov was able to extend such blessings as a reward for having fed his father with the delicacies that he used to enjoy. G–d had already enlarged the scope of his blessings to him when He told him that his descendants would spread in all directions of the globe. (Genesis 28,14)

נזיר אחיו, “the one who had been separated from his brothers.” Our author understands the word נזיר here as “the prince among his brothers.” He uses Lamentations 4,7, זכו נזיריה משלג, “her elect were purer than snow, ”as the source where the word is used in that context.

עד תאות גבעות עולם EVEN TO THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EVERLASTING HILLS — Because my blessings have prevailed, extending to the very ends of the bounds of the everlasting hills, for He gave me a blessing that bursts all bounds, one that has no limits, that reaches even unto the four corners of the world, as it is stated, (Genesis 28:14) “[God said to Jacob] and thou shalt spread abroad to the West and to the East [and to the North and to the South]”, an unqualified promise that was made neither to Abraham nor to Isaac. For to Abraham He said, (Genesis 13:14) “Lift up thine eyes and look northwards etc. … for all the land which thou seest to thee will I give it”, and He showed him only the Land of Israel. To Isaac He said, (Genesis 26:3) “for unto thee and unto thy seed will I give all these lands, and I will establish the oath [which I swore unto Abraham thy father]”. It is to this that Isaiah alludes when he said, (Isaiah 58:14) “And I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father” (Shabbat 118b), and he did not say, “with the heritage promised to Abraham”.

גברו על ברכות הורי, and the reason that I said ברכות אביך is because they are more powerful than the ones which my parents, הורי, received.

עד תאות גבעת עולם, these blessings should in turn be transferred to your offspring in an unending chain. We know the word תאוה as describing a limit, boundary, from Numbers 34,10 והתאויתם לכם, “you will draw for yourselves (boundaries).” Yaakov simply means that as long the universe will continue to exist “my blessing to you shall remain in force.” Hills and mountains, as opposed to rivers, are symbols of something that endures. The prophet Isaiah echoes this thought when he said (Isaiah 54,10)כי ההרים ימושו והגבעות תמוטינה “for even if the mountains were to move and the hills to collapse, etc.” [just as the former is unlikely, so G’d’s loyalty shall remain steadfast towards Israel. Ed.]

תאות עולם from the same meaning as desire and longing... Accordingly, עד תאות גבעות עולם means as follows: the blessings my father gave me were stronger — better — than the blessings Hashem gave my father. This is so, since the great ones [i.e., “the pillars”] of the earth longed for my blessings. And Rashi then explains who longed for them: it was Yaakov’s mother. (source unknown)

גבעות עולם: nicht konkrete Hügel, sondern wie in Habakuk (3, 6): שחו גבעות -wenn niedersinken die Hügel der Zeiten" das Niedersinken derjenigen Größen be" ,עולם תאות גבעות עולם .deutet, die sich in der Zeit als Träger der Verhältnisse emporheben ist somit das letzte Ziel, wohin alle Größen der Zeiten streben. Und in der Tat hatte ja Jakob in den ihn umstehenden Kindern nicht bloß die Anfänge der Entwicklung seines Volkes, sondern eben damit die Anfänge der allerletzten Vollendung der Entwicklung des gesamten Menschengeschlechts um sich — ולו יקהת עמים — also: bis zu den allerletzten Zielen, wohin sich überhaupt die ganze Entwicklung der Menschheit bewegt. —

הורי is from a root meaning to conceive. The singular denotes “my father”, the one who made my mother conceive me. We find a similar use of the verb in (Job 3:3) “A man is causing a woman to conceive (הוֹרָה).”

עד תאות גבעות עולם, as far as the furthest hills of the world. The expression תאוה occurs in connection with the Israelites’ demand for a meat diet in the desert, in preference to or in addition to the manna. (Numbers 34,10) The term is also used to describe far off places such as לבא חמת in Numbers 34,8. Accordingly, the expression הורי may be a duplication of the expressionגבעות עולם , used here as well as elsewhere to underline a point the Torah makes. A similar duplication occurs in Deuteronomy 33,15 of the expression מראש הררי קדם and the expression ממגד גבעות עולם in Moses’ blessing “with the best from the ancient mountains, and the bounty of hills immemorial.” Both Yaakov and Moses employ practically the same wording in describing the vastness of Joseph’s blessing....

עד תאות גבעות עולם for my blessings extend to the end of the globe, both extremes of the sun’s orbit which spans the continents. They are so called as they represent the end of “time”. etc. [there is no point in completing the author’s words as the astronomy since Copernicus is viewed completely differently than during the author’s time, Ed.]

תהיינה לראש יוסף, in all the blessings which have been mentioned in this chapter Joseph should be the first and principal beneficiary. The words וקדקד נזיר אחיו are again a duplication, repetition, in order to emphasise how strongly Yaakov feels about the matter.

And וגבעות ... for which his mother longed... Rashi is answering the question: Onkelos explained תאות as longing. And before that, it is written ברכות אביך גברו וגו', which Rashi previously explained as, “The blessings that Hashem blessed me surpassed the blessings that He blessed my forebears.” If so, according to Onkelos, how does the phrase following עד תאות גבעות עולם fit in? Therefore Rashi explains, “His mother longed for them.” Rashi is saying that according to Onkelos, תאות גבעות עולם refers to Rivkah, Yaakov’s mother. She desired those blessings and made Yaakov receive them. Therefore she dressed Yaakov in Eisov’s garments that were desired (החמודות), in order that Yaakov should receive the blessings.

נזיר אחיו, nicht wahrscheinlich der "Gekrönte" seiner Brüder. Denn נזיר heißt sonst nie der gekrönte, sozial geadelte Mensch, sondern stets der sittlich geadelte. Denn dass נזר ein paarmal Krone heißt, ist auch nur von dem Grundbegriff נזר, absondern, abgrenzen, insofern נזר, die Krone, ein den Gekrönten symbolisch von andern abgrenzendes, absonderndes Zeichen ist, wie זֵר, der Reif, von הִנָזֵר .זור: sich von allem Ungeweihten fern halten. נָזיר: der die Selbstbeherrschung übt, sich von allem Unedlen fern zu halten, ein Charakter, den ja Josef in seiner ganzen Geschichte so glorreich bewährt hat.

עד תאות means UNTO THE ENDS — The word is connected with the verbs in (Numbers 36:10) “And ye shall mark out the ends (והתאויתם) for the east border”, and (Numbers 5:8) “you shall mark out the ends (תתאו) unto the entrance of Hamath”.

נזיר אחיו, the king over his brothers, the one wearing the crown, נזר.

תהיינה לראש יוסף, these words are understood as emanating from G’d Who will send His blessings onto the head of Joseph directly, without the services of any intermediary. Moses parallels Yaakov’s syntax when he said in Deuteronomy 33,16 in his blessing to Joseph תאנה לראש יוסף, ורצון שכני סנה.

נזיר, an expression applied to leading people as in Nachum 3,17 מנזריך כארבה.”your guards were like locusts.”

Juda und Josef sind augenscheinlich die beiden Centra, auf welchen Jakobs in die Zukunft schauender Blick ruhen bleibt, und zwar bis יקהת עמים, bis תאות גבעות עולם, bis in die allerfernste Zukunft. Und in der That sehen wir auch Josef stets Juda zur Seite. בית יוסף und בית יהודה umfasst im Munde der Propheten die ganze Nation. Und selbst für jene ferne Zukunft feiert die Überlieferung einen Sprößling aus dem Hause Josefs, dem Sprössling aus dem Hause Judas als Vorgänger und Genossen zur Seite: משיח בן יוסף und משיח בן דור. Das Verhältnis ist nicht klar, weil nicht offenbart. Aber grundlos ist es gewiss nicht, wenn hier Jakob hervorhebt, dass die Hoffnungen und Segnungen jener fernen Zukunft wie auf Judas Haupt, so auch auf Josefs Scheitel ruhen.

תאות means in old French émoulis. Thus (i.e. with these words) did Menachem ben Seruk classify it (תאות). Onkelos translates (תאות (גבעת עולם in the sense of desire (תאוה) and longing and takes גבעת as a figurative expression for “the great ones”, like (1 Samuel 2:8) “the pillars of the earth”, meaning the righteous of the earth — viz., he renders it by “the blessings for which the great ones of the earth longed”, referring to the blessings which his mother so much desired that she forced him to take steps to obtain them

ולקדקד נזיר אחיו, seeing that he had remained pure, resisted temptation, he became crowned with the crown of royalty among his brothers (alternate meaning of נזר). He had proved by his very actions that he was worthy of such distinction, so that he is the recipient of direct blessings from G’d. Also Joseph’s descendants remained on a moral level close to that of his illustrious ancestor, so that the first of the Judges, Moses’ successor, was the leader of the people, being in effect the “king” of his nation. Compare Hoseah 13,1 כדבר אפרים אתת נשא בישראל, “when Ephrayim spoke piety he was exalted in Israel.” [a reference to Joshua’s contradicting the spies’ majority report. Ed.]

נזיר אחיו means what the Targum has: פרישא דאחוהי. i.e. the one who was separated from his brothers. The word נזיר is of a root signifying separation, as in (Leviticus 22:2) “that they separate themselves (וינזרו) from the holy things of the children of Israel”; (Isaiah 1:4) “they have separated themselves from God (נזרו) turning backward”.

תהיין THEY — all — SHALL BE ON THE HEAD OF JOSEPH.