Midrash su Deuteronomio 21:17

Reuben, thou art My firstborn, My might and the first fruits of My strength; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. unstable as water, have not thou the excellency (Gen. 49:3–4). Thou art my firstborn. You are my firstborn, the product of the first drop of semen I produced in eighty years.¹⁴Cf. Genesis Rabbah 98:4, “in eighty-four years.” In fact, I did not even experience nocturnal pollution before then. My firstborn. Are you like me? The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Three crowns were available to you: priesthood, kingship, and the right of the firstborn. The excellency of dignity alludes to the priesthood, as is said: And Aaron lifted up his hands (Lev. 9:22); the excellency of power refers to kingship, as it is said: And he will give power unto his king (I Sam. 2:10); the birthright is indicated by the double portion he received, as is said: By giving him a double portion (Deut. 21:17). But you have lost them all. Why? Because you are as unstable as water, and therefore have not thou the excellency.

[Another interpretation (of Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED.] This text is related (to Deut. 21:15-17): WHEN A MAN HAS TWO WIVES, < THE ONE BELOVED AND THE OTHER HATED, AND WHEN BOTH THE BELOVED AND THE HATED HAVE BORNE HIM SONS WITH THE FIRST-BORN BELONGING TO THE HATED WOMAN; THEN, ON THE DAY THAT HE WILLS HIS PROPERTY TO HIS SONS AS AN INHERITANCE, HE MAY NOT TREAT THE SON OF THE BELOVED AS THE FIRST-BORN IN PREFERENCE TO THE SON OF THE HATED WHEN HE IS THE FIRST-BORN. INSTEAD, HE SHALL RECOGNIZE THE FIRST-BORN SON OF THE HATED WOMAN BY GIVING HIM A DOUBLE PORTION SINCE HE IS THE FIRST FRUIT OF HIS STRENGTH >. < (Deut. 21:15:) WHEN A MAN HAS >: This is Jacob, as stated (in Gen. 25:27): JACOB WAS A PERFECT MAN. (Deut. 21:15, cont.:) TWO WIVES: Leah and Rachel. (Ibid., cont.:) THE ONE BELOVED, i.e., Rachel, as stated (in Gen. 29:30): AND HE ALSO LOVED RACHEL. (Deut. 21:15, cont.:) AND THE OTHER HATED: i.e., Leah, as stated (in Gen. 29:31): WHEN THE LORD SAW THAT LEAH WAS HATED. (Deut. 21:15, cont.:) AND WHEN BOTH THE BELOVED AND THE HATED HAVE BORNE HIM SONS, i.e., both of them bore for him.³⁷The passage may interpret banot (“daughters”) as bonot (“builders”) who would build up a worthy lineages. Moreover, what Leah produced Rachel produced.³⁸Similarly Gen. R. 70:15. Leah produced kings, and so did Rachel [produce kings. Leah produced prophets, and so did Rachel produce prophets]. Leah produced judges, and so did Rachel. It is therefore stated (in Deut. 21:15): AND WHEN < BOTH THE BELOVED AND THE HATED > HAVE BORNE HIM SONS. (Deut. 21:16:) THEN, ON THE DAY THAT HE WILLS < HIS PROPERTY > TO HIS SONS AS AN INHERITANCE. When the time had come for him to depart from the world, (according to Gen. 49:1): THEN JACOB CALLED HIS SONS. (Deut. 21:16, cont.:) HE MAY NOT TREAT THE SON OF THE BELOVED, < i.e., > Joseph, AS THE FIRST-BORN. Why? (Vs. 17:) INSTEAD, HE SHALL RECOGNIZE THE FIRST-BORN SON OF THE HATED WOMAN < BY GIVING HIM A DOUBLE PORTION >. This was Reuben, as stated (in Gen. 49:3): REUBEN, YOU ARE MY FIRST-BORN, < MY MIGHT AND THE FIRST FRUIT OF MY STRENGTH, EXCELLING IN ELEVATION AND EXCELLING IN POWER >. < Jacob gave this blessing >, even though he said to his shame (in vs. 4): UNSTABLE AS WATER, YOU SHALL NO LONGER EXCEL; < FOR YOU WENT UP TO YOUR FATHER'S BED, THEN DEFILED IT >. What is the meaning of (ibid., cont.) HE WENT UP TO MY COUCH. When Moses would come, about whom it is written (in Exod. 19:3): THEN MOSES WENT UP TO GOD, he would redeem him. As Moses stood < there >, he sought mercy for him. It is so stated (in Deut. 33:6): LET REUBEN LIVE. The Holy One said (ibid., cont.): AND LET HIM NOT DIE. It turns out that he gets {compensation in proportion to both of them} [a pardon³⁹Gk.: demos (“common people”). This meaning of demos may be suggested by demotikos agon, a public festival with games in connection with which amnesties might be given. Cf. Lat.: dimissus. from the mouth of both of them] (i.e., God and Moses). Thus it is stated (in Deut. 21:17): INSTEAD, HE SHALL RECOGNIZE THE FIRST-BORN [SON OF THE HATED WOMAN] BY GIVING HIM A DOUBLE PORTION. (Deut. 33:6:) LET REUBEN LIVE, AND LET HIM NOT DIE; < i.e., > LET REUBEN LIVE in this world, AND LET HIM NOT DIE in the world to come. Why? (Deut. 21:17:) SINCE HE IS THE FIRST FRUIT OF HIS STRENGTH. [It is also written (in Gen. 49:3): MY MIGHT AND THE FIRST FRUIT OF MY STRENGTH.]

And to the sons of the concubines, etc.: In the days of Alexander the Macedonian (the Great), the Yishmaelites came to appeal against Israel about the birthright - and with them came two evil families: the Canaanites and the Egyptians. They [the Israelites] said, "Who will go and litigate with them?" G'vi'ah ben Kosem said, "I will go and litigate with them." They said to him, "Be careful that you not ensure the land for them." He said, "I will go and deliberate with them. If I win, so much the better. And, if not, you will say, 'What is this inferior one, that he should stand himself up for us?'" He went and litigated with them. Alexander the Macedonian said to them, "Who is claiming against whom?" The Yishmaelites said, "We are claiming against them, and from their Torah do we come against them: It is written (Deuteronomy 21:17), 'But he will recognize the firstborn the son of the disliked wife.' And by right Yishmael should take a double portion!" G'vi'ah ben Kosem said, "My lord king, may a man not do what he wants for his children?" He said to him, "Yes." And [G'vi'ah] said [back] to him, "And is it not written, 'And Avraham gave all that he had to Yitzhak!'" They said to him, "And where is the deed of sending away, that [proves that] he distributed [from his assets] to [the rest of ] his children?" He said to him, "'And to the sons of Avraham's concubines, Avraham gave gifts.'" And [the Yishmaelites] left from there shamefaced. The Canaanites said, "From their Torah do we come against them. In every place [there], it is written, 'to the Land of Canaan,' 'the Land of Canaan'; they should give us our land!" G'vi'ah ben Kosem said to [Alexander], "My master, the king, does a man not do to his slave what he wants?" He said to him, "Yes." [G'vi'ah] said [back], "What is written? 'Cursed is Canaan, the slave of slaves, etc.' (Genesis 9:25) - behold the land is ours and they are slaves to my lord king!" And [the Canaanites] left from there shamefaced. Egypt said, "From their Torah do we come against them. Sixty multitudes went out from us laden with vessels of silver and vessels of gold, as it is written (Exodus 12:36), 'and they despoiled Egypt'; they should give us our silver and our gold!" G'vi'ah ben Kosem said to him, "My lord king, sixty myriad persons [worked] for them for 210 years - among them were silversmiths and among them were goldsmiths who take for their wage, a dinar a day!" The philosophers (wise men) sat and calculated and did not get to a hundred years before the Land of Egypt [was forfeited] to the treasury [to repay its debt]. And [the Egyptians] left from there shamefaced. [Alexander] sought to go up to Jerusalem. Cuthites went and said to him, "Be careful, as they do not allow you to go into their House of the Holy of Holies (the inner sanctum of the Temple)." And when G'vi'ah ben Kosem realized [this], he made [Alexander] two felt shoes and put on them two jewels worth 20,000 silver [coins]. And once they reached the Temple Mount, [G'vi'ah] said to him, "My master, the king, "Take off your shoe, and shod yourself with two [felt] shoes, since the floor [here] is smooth, so that your feet not slip." And once they reached the Holy of Holies room, [the sages] said to [Alexander], "Thus far we have the right to enter; from here on, we do not have the right to enter." [Alexander] said to [G'vi'ah], "When I leave, I will flatten your forehead [meaning, make him stand upright, as G'vi'ah was a hunchback] (alt. version: your hump)!": He said [back] to him, "If you do that, you will be called an expert physician and take much remuneration!" and he sent them away from Yitzhak, his son: [Avraham] said to [the sons of the concubines], "As far as you can go to the East, go to the East, so that you not get burned by the coal of Yitzhak." But [in the case of] Esav, since he came and grappled with Yaakov, [Esav] took what was [coming to him as a punishment] from under his hand - this is what is written (Isaiah 23:7-8), "Is this your joyous one; in the early days, in its antiquity, its legs brought it to tarry far away. Who advised this on Tsur (Tyre), the crowning, etc." Rabbi Eliezer said, "All times that Tsur is written in Scripture fully (with all of its letters), the verse is speaking about the city-state of Tsur; when it is incomplete (without the letter, vav, as it is here), the verse is speaking about Rome (which is associated with Esav)." "The crowning" - Rabbi Abba said, "They surrounded it in [the formation of] a crown." And Rabbi Yannai said in the name of Rabbi Shimon, the son of Rabbi Yannai, "They surrounded it like a type of [fence made of] thornbushes."