Commento su Genesi 49:27

בנימן זאב יטרף means BENJAMIN IS A WOLF THAT TEARETH (i.e. “wolf” is not the object of the sentence but the word אשר must be supplied before יטרף). He prophesied that they (Benjamin’s descendants) will be “rapacious” in the time to come; thus the Benjamites were told (Judges 21:21) “and catch you every man his wife”, as you will find in the story of the concubine of Gibeah. Further he was prophesying concerning Saul (who was of this tribe) who vanquished his enemies on all sides, as it is said (1 Samuel 14:47) “So Saul took the kingdom… and fought on every side… against Moab… and against Edom… and whithersoever he turned himself he put them to the worse”.

בנימין זאב יטרף, Yaakov prophesies concerning the first crowned Jewish King, Sha-ul, member of the tribe of Binyamin. He would successfully deal with the enemies surrounding Israel as documented in Samuel I 14,47בכל אשר יפנה ירשיע, “wherever he turned he defeated them.” The tribe of Binyamin also remained loyal to the dynasty of David when the ten tribes split under Jerobam. When King Assa conducted wars against surrounding enemy states, Binyamin supported him. The same held true under the reign of the kings Yehoshaphat and Chizkiyah, both Kings of the Davidic dynasty.

זאב יטרוף, it is the custom of wolves to attack either early in the morning or in the evening, both periods when there is not much light. We find support for this in Chabakuk 1,8. Binyamin’s rise to power also occurred at the dawn of Jewish monarchies in the person of King Sha-ul, and once more near the end of Jewish one man rule under Mordechai. Subsequently, there was never again a true Jewish political independence, and the religious leadership was in the hands of the אנשי כנסת הגדולה, a college of 120 elders.

בנימין זאב יטרוף, "Benjamin is a wolf that devours its prey, etc." Jacob referred to King Saul who acted like a wolf. It is the nature of the wolf not to remain at the site where he tears its prey. Saul was in a hurry when he failed to wait for the time Samuel had said he should wait (Samuel I 13,8). This became the reason that Saul only ate on the morning (the early part of his reign) and he did not serve out his term.

בנימין זאב יטרף, he will be comparable to a ravenous wolf which tears apart its victims whether domestic animals or predators. The wolf is more courageous than other wild animals, not being afraid to invade human habitations. The members of the tribe of Binyamin demonstrated this quality of fearlessness on many occasions during their long history. In Judges chapter 20 they took on single-handedly the armies of all the other tribes in a tragic civil war. Also in Chronicles I 12,2 they joined the persecuted David who commanded only a small number of men, in what must have appeared as a hopeless undertaking. In verse 19 there we read that David placed these Binyaminites at the head of his small band.

בנימין זאב יטרף, “Binyamin is a wolf garnering prey.” The kingdom of Sha-ul, the first king of Israel, a descendant of Binyamin, has been compared to that of a wolf. One of the characteristics of a wolf is that it flees from the place where it killed its prey, and does not wait around like a lion. King Sha-ul’s kingdom endured for no more than two and a half years, whereas his successor’s David’s kingdom, endured for 40 years. Yaakov therefore likens his domain to that of a lion, which, after killing its prey does not flee in fear of pursuit.

He is a wolf, for he preys... [Rashi is saying that] יטרף does not apply to זאב, for [this would not need to be stated since] every wolf preys. Rather, יטרף applies to Binyamin. It is saying that Binyamin is a wolf because he preys like one. But Maharshal explains that [Rashi is answering the objection:] The verse seems to say that Binyamin will prey on the wolf. However, “preying” cannot be said about a person. Thus Rashi explains, “He is a wolf, for he preys.”

Es hätte etwas Herbes, wenn er hier den jüngsten Sohn, mit dem er scheidet, nur als einen reißenden Wolf zu schildern gewusst. Es heißt ja aber auch nicht: זאב טורף ,זאב ערב, sondern: זאב יטרף, und kann daher זאב sehr wohl Objekt sein. Wenn Jakob aber hier zuletzt an einen Wolf denkt, so ist es ja der letzte Blick den er auf seine "Herde" wirft. Er hat ja zwanzig Jahre lang den konkreten Wolf für seine konkrete Herde zu fürchten gehabt — und sieht nun jetzt seine Kinder, hat sie gesegnet, hat sie in ihrer Eigentümlichkeit für den ganzen Lauf der Zeiten erkannt und gezeichnet, und sein letzter Blick hat so eben auf dem Ende der Zeiten, auf der Überwindung der letzten Weltmacht, מלכות רביעית geruht; er sieht das Galuth und die Galuthmacht, gegen welche seine Kinder den Kampf zu bestehen haben werden, und spricht: der Allerkleinste, der Allerjüngste, der wird es sein, der den "Wolf (das ewige Amalek) von der Jakobsherde scheucht; schon am frühen Morgen, am Anfange der Nationalgeschichte, wird er dem Wolf schon "ein Tüchtiges versetzen", am Abend der Zeiten aber wird er ihn vollständig vernichten. Ist es ja Überlieferung, מסורת אגרה, dass der Erzfeind, Amalek, nicht durch Juda, sondern durch bie schwächste Macht der Söhne Rahels überwunden werden wird. אם לא יסחבום צעירי הצאן (Jirm. 49, 20) "die Jüngsten der Herde" werden sie als Beute dahinschleifen. — עד von עדר, verwandt mit חתת, zerbrechen, ein abgerissenes Stück.

בנימין זאב, “Binyamin is like wolf;” a metaphor implying that the kingdom of Shaul, a descendant of Binyamin, would not endure, just as a wolf does not spend time with his prey. On the other hand, the Kingdom of David is compared to that of a lion, which does spend time with its prey, not being afraid of anyone challenging it. (Compare Torah Shleymah on this verse)

בבקר יאכל עד IN THE MORNING HE EATETH HIS PREY — עד is an Aramaic word synonymous with the Hebrew words בזה and שלל, prey, which are rendered in the Targum by עדאה; and there is another example of its use in the Hebrew text of the Bible: (Isaiah 33:23) “Then is the prey of great spoil (עד שלל) divided”. He (Jacob) says this (“in the morning eateth his prey”) with reference to Saul who rose as Israel’s champion in the period when Israel began to flourish and shine (i.e. in the morning of his history; indeed some editions have “בקרן”, at the morning-dawn of Israel, instead of פריחתן) (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayechi 14).

ולערב יחלק שלל. It is customary for wolves (who raid in packs) to wait with distributing their spoils until evening. Jeremiah 5,6 and Tzefaniah 3,3 confirm this.

בבוקר יאכל עד ולערב יחלק שלל. He will outdo the wolves, which have to wait until evening to eat any part of their prey. Binyamin will consume the foe in the morning and the loot in the evening following. Compare Tzefaniah 3,3 for confirmation of this. The word עד is equivalent to the word שלל, loot, booty. The Aramaic term for the word שלל is עדאה. This also contains an allusion to the war of Sha-ul, of the tribe of Binyamin against the Amelekites as well as against other nations as we know from Samuel I 14,47. Also Mordechai, who was descended from Binyamin , won against all the Antisemites including Haman and thus brought a great salvation to his people. The reason why the wars of Sha-ul are referred to by Yaakov as בוקר, morning, is because they occurred at the very beginning of the years during which the Jews had a crowned head as their leader. Mordechai’s “war,” by comparison was called ערב, evening, seeing that during his time the Jews were in exile, something compared to evening.

When Jacob spoke about ובערב, he referred to the evening of Saul's reign (Samuel I 18,7) when Saul was described as having killed thousands whereas David was credited with having killed tens of thousands. It is also possible that Jacob referred to the division of David's kingdom, which the Talmud Yuma 22 attributes to David having believed Tzivah's accusation against Mefiboshet and disinheriting him partially without checking out the story (Samuel II 19,30). According to the Talmud a heavenly voice proclaimed at that time that Rechavam and Yerovam would divide David's kingdom. This was the beginning of the setting of the sun for Israel (loss of grandeur), because of its sins.

זאב יטרף, “a wolf that will attack and kill most domesticated animals.” The wolf consumes in the morning sufficient parts of his prey to last him until evening, after which he distributes the remains to its young. The blessing has been worded as a parable. The letter ו at the beginning of the word: ולערב, is unnecessary; there are many such unnecessary letters in the Torah, and especially when the text is not prose but poetry. There is no point in arguing that from the cantillation mark etnachta under the word עד that it is divisive; I have already explained this in Genesis 47,6 in connection with the words: במיטב הארץ, under the word אחיך where I listed a number of examples that the etnachta is not always a divisive cantillation mark, or rather, that it does not always override the plain meaning of the verse.

ולערב יחלק שלל AND AT EVEN HE DIVIDETH THE SPOIL— even after the sun of Israel will have set through Nebuchadnezzar who will exile them to Babel, יחלק שלל HE WILL DIVIDE THE SPOIL, viz., Mordecai and Esther who will be of the tribe of Benjamin will divide the spoil of Haman, as it is said, (Ester 3:7) “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman” (Cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Vayechi 14). Onkelos translates it as having a reference to the portions which the priests received of the holy sacrifices in the Temple which was situated in the territory of Benjamin.

יחלק שלל, you may ask that we read in the Book of Esther 9,15 that the Jews did not pocket any of the loot. The meaning of that line was that seeing the King had given to Mordechai all that had belonged to Haman, such belongings could not longer be described as “loot.”

ולערב יחלק שלל, “and at night he divides the plunder.” I have already mentioned that this is the habit of wolves as per Tzefaniah 3,3: זאבי ערב לא גרמו לבקר, “wolves of the evening; they leave no bone until morning.”