בַּיּוֹם֙ הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י נָשִׂ֖יא לִבְנֵ֣י אֶפְרָ֑יִם אֱלִֽישָׁמָ֖ע בֶּן־עַמִּיהֽוּד׃
제칠일에는 에브라임 자손의 족장 암미훗의 아들 엘리사마가 드렸으니
Or HaChaim
אלשמע בן עמיהוד. Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korchah are quoted in Tanchuma on our verse as saying that the name Elishama suggests that whereas "Joseph listened to the commands of G'd, he did not listen to the command of his mistress to sleep with her. He did not make common cause with the wicked." Joseph did not desist from sinning because he was not tempted but because he was obedient to G'd's imperatives as he pointed out to the wife of Potiphar when he described giving in to his urge as a sin against G'd (Genesis 39,9). This is what is meant by Elishama, i.e אלי שמע, "he listened to Me." Our sages in Sotah 36 explained that at the crucial moment he had a vision of the face of his father. Clearly, this is a reference to a divine image which resembled the face of Jacob. After all, his father was in Canaan and had no inkling of what temptation his son faced at the time not even knowing that Joseph was still alive. What Joseph beheld in the vision was what is known as אביר יעקב אלוקי ישראל. When the sages in the Midrash spoke of the wicked in the plural, they may have referred to many similar temptations that Joseph withstood successfully. The reason the same idea occurs a second time in the name of the father of Elyasaph, i.e. עמיהוד is to hint what the Torah told us in that verse in Genesis that he did not listen to Mrs Potiphar who requested that Joseph agree to be physically close to her. Joseph preferred to remain close to G'd, i.e. עמי הודו.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ביום השביעי נשיא לבני אפרים אלישמע בן עמיהוד, “On the seventh day, the prince of the sons of Ephrayim, Elishama son of Amihud.” Some commentators believe that the seventh day mentioned here was the seventh in the sequence of these offerings, i.e. the seventh day of Nissan. Others say that it was the seventh day counting from the first day of creation, i.e. it was the Sabbath. The Torah wanted us to know that although as a general rule sacrifices by individuals do not override the Sabbath legislation, in this case it did. This was exceptional and would not occur again (compare Ibn Ezra and Bamidbar Rabbah 13,14 on the subject).
Rabbeinu Bahya
A Midrashic approach based on Tanchuma Nasso 28 on the fact that the tribe of Joseph brought his sacrifice on the seventh day of the week, i.e. the Sabbath. G’d said to Joseph: “by your life, you have fulfilled the commandment of not committing adultery with the wife of Potiphar at a time when I had not yet legislated this commandment in the Torah. In recognition of your self-sacrifice for the concepts contained in that commandment, I will allow your son to override the concept of the Sabbath regulations not to offer private offerings on that day when he will offer the inaugural sacrifice on behalf of your tribe.” Not only this, but there will not be another tribe’s offering separating between the offering of Ephrayim and the offering of Menashe his brother tribe.
On the name of the prince of Ephrayim, Elishama, the Midrash sees in this a reminder of Ephrayim’s father Joseph’s great character strength in that אלי שמע, (G’d speaking) “to Me he listened whereas he did not listen to his mistress, the wife of Potiphar.” The words בן עמיהוד are perceived as a reminder of עמי היה הודו, “his glory was with Me,” (and not with the Egyptian nation). The word גמליאל (name of the prince of Menashe) is understood as alluding to גמל א-ל חסדים עמי, “the Lord performed deeds of loving kindness with me.” The word פדהצור (name of Gamliel’s father) is understood as a hint of פדה צור the “Rock” (G’d) redeemed him from his troubles in jail.” Psalms 18,21 reflects such feelings of Joseph at the time when the psalmist writes [though he refers to his own rescue from Shaul by G’d. Ed.] “the Lord rewarded me according to my merit; He requited the cleanness of my hands.”
It is normal for man to put his trust in the Lord as long as he is poor (and has nothing or no one else to put his trust in). When he becomes affluent he relies on his wealth to stand by him, no longer making the Lord the focus of his trust. Joseph, by contrast, placed his trust in the Lord both when he was in dire straits and when he had risen to the pinnacle of his career. When he was a slave and a prisoner in the house of Potiphar and subject to the enticements and threats of Potiphar’s wife, he said to her: “how can I possibly commit such a great wrong against G’d?” (Genesis 39,9). When he had been appointed king he continued to revere the Lord as we know from his own lips in Genesis 42,18: “I fear the Lord.” When he had been a mere slave he nevertheless recited a benediction over the food he ate (Bamidbar Rabbah 14,5). When his master saw him whisper with his lips, he asked him what he was doing. Joseph replied that he was giving thanks to the Lord for the food He provided for all of His creatures. His master demanded: “show me this G’d you are talking about.” Joseph replied: “the sun is just one of his servants; seeing that you cannot even look at the sun without becoming blinded, if you were to behold its master you would die.” Nonetheless, G’d revealed Himself on behalf of Joseph. This is the meaning of the verse in Genesis 39,3: “when his master saw that the Lord was with him (Joseph), etc.“ These sentiments are reflected by David in Psalms 60,9: “Gilead and Menashe would be mine; Ephrayim my chief stronghold;” concerning the words לי גלעד, “Gilead is mine,” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: “in the event the heretics tell you that G’d is unable to resurrect the dead, there is Elijah the prophet who came from Gilead and who revived the dead. If he could do so, would G’d be unable to do it? If, on the other hand, the same heretics will tell you that G’d does not accept repentant sinners into the fold, King Menashe of Yehudah is proof that G’d does so as that king was a great heretic, and, after having been in captivity and praying to the Lord, becoming a penitent, G’d restored him to his throne in Jerusalem (Chronicles II 33,13). This is why the psalmist speaks of “Menashe is mine.” Concerning the words: “Ephrayim is my stronghold,” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish continued, if an heretic denies G’d’s ability to enable barren women to bear children, consider the case of Elkanah from Ephrayim, whose wife Channah had been unable to become pregnant. After she had appealed to the Lord in Shiloh, He remembered her and granted her children (SamueI 2,21). In the event some heretic will tell you that G'd cannot save someone out of the flames, look at the three men from Yehudah, Chananel, Mishael, and Azaryah, whom G'd rescued from a flaming kiln (Daniel 1,6). This is what David meant when he spoke of יהודה מחוקקי, “Yehudah my scepter," in that same verse.
An alternative explanation of this verse in Psalms. The words לי גלעד, לי מנשה, are a reference to Elijah at Mount Carmel. Someone may challenge the fact that prophet Elijah offered sacrifices on a private Altar at a time when the Temple was standing in Jerusalem. He may point out that there is a Biblical prohibition to do so, based on Leviticus 17, 3-4: "any man from the House of Israel who will slaughter a bull, or a goat in the camp or who will slaughter it outside the camp and he has not brought it as an offering to Hashem before the Tabernacle of Hashem- it shall be considered bloodshed for such a man, (i.e. a capital crime).” Tell such a questioner or challenger that whatever the prophet Elijah did he did for the sake of the holy name of G’d and the enhancement of His image among the people; moreover he did it at the behest of G’d. Proof of all this is Kings I 18,36: “it was at the time of the meal-offering, the prophet Elijah came forward and said: “O Lord, G’d of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Israel! Let it be known today that You are G’d in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your bidding!” This is what the psalmist had in mind when he spoke of “Gilead is mine.” Elijah was a resident of Gilead. As to the words: "Menashe is mine” in the same verse; if someone challenges the conduct of Gideon (Judges 6,25-6) who also had sacrificed an offering on a private altar at a time when the Tabernacle in Shiloh was functional, the same answer applies.
Rabbi Abba bar Kahanah said that on the day in question Gideon performed seven actions (normally prohibited). 1) He sacrificed a bull which had been used for idolatrous purposes; 2) he sacrificed a bull intended for idolatrous purposes; 3) he built a private altar; 4) he cut down wood for it from an ashera (a tree which had served as a centre for idolatry). 5) He offered a sacrifice at night; 6) he did all this although he was not a priest (he was from the tribe of Menashe); 7) the bull had belonged to the priests who served the Baal. All of these actions he undertook he had been instructed to do by divine decree. We know all this from Judges 6,25-26): “it was during that night that G’d said to him: ‘take the young bull belonging to your father and another bull seven years old; pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred post which is beside it. Then build an altar to the Lord your G’d on the level ground on top of this stronghold. Take the other bull and offer it as a burnt-offering, using the wood of the sacred post that you have cut down. This is the meaning of: “Menashe belongs to me.” If some were to say that David violated a negative commandment of the Torah (when sleeping with Bat Sheva and marrying her) G’d responds to such a statement by saying that David’s action was designed to teach the sinners that repentance is accepted by G’d and the sinners can be rehabilitated. This is what David said in Psalms 51,15: “I will teach transgressors Your ways, that sinners may return to You.”
If someone were to challenge the fact that Joshua violated the Sabbath when preparing to attack and capture Jericho (Joshua 6,2-4), answer such a scoffer that Joshua acted on G’d’s instructions as we know from the verse referred to: “The Lord said to Joshua, “See I will deliver Jericho and her king and her warriors into your hands. Let all the troops march around the city and complete one circuit of the city. ....Do this for six days, with seven priests carrying seven ram’s horns preceding the Ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the horns, etc., etc.” How do we know that the seventh day the Book of Joshua speaks of was the Sabbath? There is no sequence of seven days one of which is not the Sabbath.
There was something else which Joshua did which he had not been instructed to do. When the walls had collapsed and the city had been captured, Joshua reasoned that seeing the Sabbath is totally sacred, the loot of a city captured on the Sabbath must also be considered sacred, no one using any of it for a private purpose. Hence we read in verse 19 of that chapter that Joshua issued instructions for all the gold, silver, copper objects, and iron to be consecrated to the Temple treasury.
Rabbi Berechya the priest said: Joshua treated the city of Jericho according to the rules applied to an עיר הנדחת, (a Jewish city the majority of whose inhabitants had become guilty of practicing idolatry). We know that the contents of such a city are forbidden for use by any other Jew (Deut. 13,17) “you shall burn the town by fire including all its contents, totally.” Rabbi Yehudah Halevi said (Tanchuma Nasso 28):”the reason that the contents of the city of Jericho were consecrated to G’d was that it was the first city in the land of Israel which was captured. We always consecrate the “first” of everything to the Lord, both humans, animals, and crops, etc. In this instance Joshua extended this principle to apply it to inert matters such as gold, silver. G’d responded to this initiative of Joshua (in the future) by permitting the representative of the tribe of Ephrayim (Joshua’s tribe) to offer his individual offering on the Sabbath.
On the name of the prince of Ephrayim, Elishama, the Midrash sees in this a reminder of Ephrayim’s father Joseph’s great character strength in that אלי שמע, (G’d speaking) “to Me he listened whereas he did not listen to his mistress, the wife of Potiphar.” The words בן עמיהוד are perceived as a reminder of עמי היה הודו, “his glory was with Me,” (and not with the Egyptian nation). The word גמליאל (name of the prince of Menashe) is understood as alluding to גמל א-ל חסדים עמי, “the Lord performed deeds of loving kindness with me.” The word פדהצור (name of Gamliel’s father) is understood as a hint of פדה צור the “Rock” (G’d) redeemed him from his troubles in jail.” Psalms 18,21 reflects such feelings of Joseph at the time when the psalmist writes [though he refers to his own rescue from Shaul by G’d. Ed.] “the Lord rewarded me according to my merit; He requited the cleanness of my hands.”
It is normal for man to put his trust in the Lord as long as he is poor (and has nothing or no one else to put his trust in). When he becomes affluent he relies on his wealth to stand by him, no longer making the Lord the focus of his trust. Joseph, by contrast, placed his trust in the Lord both when he was in dire straits and when he had risen to the pinnacle of his career. When he was a slave and a prisoner in the house of Potiphar and subject to the enticements and threats of Potiphar’s wife, he said to her: “how can I possibly commit such a great wrong against G’d?” (Genesis 39,9). When he had been appointed king he continued to revere the Lord as we know from his own lips in Genesis 42,18: “I fear the Lord.” When he had been a mere slave he nevertheless recited a benediction over the food he ate (Bamidbar Rabbah 14,5). When his master saw him whisper with his lips, he asked him what he was doing. Joseph replied that he was giving thanks to the Lord for the food He provided for all of His creatures. His master demanded: “show me this G’d you are talking about.” Joseph replied: “the sun is just one of his servants; seeing that you cannot even look at the sun without becoming blinded, if you were to behold its master you would die.” Nonetheless, G’d revealed Himself on behalf of Joseph. This is the meaning of the verse in Genesis 39,3: “when his master saw that the Lord was with him (Joseph), etc.“ These sentiments are reflected by David in Psalms 60,9: “Gilead and Menashe would be mine; Ephrayim my chief stronghold;” concerning the words לי גלעד, “Gilead is mine,” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: “in the event the heretics tell you that G’d is unable to resurrect the dead, there is Elijah the prophet who came from Gilead and who revived the dead. If he could do so, would G’d be unable to do it? If, on the other hand, the same heretics will tell you that G’d does not accept repentant sinners into the fold, King Menashe of Yehudah is proof that G’d does so as that king was a great heretic, and, after having been in captivity and praying to the Lord, becoming a penitent, G’d restored him to his throne in Jerusalem (Chronicles II 33,13). This is why the psalmist speaks of “Menashe is mine.” Concerning the words: “Ephrayim is my stronghold,” Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish continued, if an heretic denies G’d’s ability to enable barren women to bear children, consider the case of Elkanah from Ephrayim, whose wife Channah had been unable to become pregnant. After she had appealed to the Lord in Shiloh, He remembered her and granted her children (SamueI 2,21). In the event some heretic will tell you that G'd cannot save someone out of the flames, look at the three men from Yehudah, Chananel, Mishael, and Azaryah, whom G'd rescued from a flaming kiln (Daniel 1,6). This is what David meant when he spoke of יהודה מחוקקי, “Yehudah my scepter," in that same verse.
An alternative explanation of this verse in Psalms. The words לי גלעד, לי מנשה, are a reference to Elijah at Mount Carmel. Someone may challenge the fact that prophet Elijah offered sacrifices on a private Altar at a time when the Temple was standing in Jerusalem. He may point out that there is a Biblical prohibition to do so, based on Leviticus 17, 3-4: "any man from the House of Israel who will slaughter a bull, or a goat in the camp or who will slaughter it outside the camp and he has not brought it as an offering to Hashem before the Tabernacle of Hashem- it shall be considered bloodshed for such a man, (i.e. a capital crime).” Tell such a questioner or challenger that whatever the prophet Elijah did he did for the sake of the holy name of G’d and the enhancement of His image among the people; moreover he did it at the behest of G’d. Proof of all this is Kings I 18,36: “it was at the time of the meal-offering, the prophet Elijah came forward and said: “O Lord, G’d of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Israel! Let it be known today that You are G’d in Israel and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your bidding!” This is what the psalmist had in mind when he spoke of “Gilead is mine.” Elijah was a resident of Gilead. As to the words: "Menashe is mine” in the same verse; if someone challenges the conduct of Gideon (Judges 6,25-6) who also had sacrificed an offering on a private altar at a time when the Tabernacle in Shiloh was functional, the same answer applies.
Rabbi Abba bar Kahanah said that on the day in question Gideon performed seven actions (normally prohibited). 1) He sacrificed a bull which had been used for idolatrous purposes; 2) he sacrificed a bull intended for idolatrous purposes; 3) he built a private altar; 4) he cut down wood for it from an ashera (a tree which had served as a centre for idolatry). 5) He offered a sacrifice at night; 6) he did all this although he was not a priest (he was from the tribe of Menashe); 7) the bull had belonged to the priests who served the Baal. All of these actions he undertook he had been instructed to do by divine decree. We know all this from Judges 6,25-26): “it was during that night that G’d said to him: ‘take the young bull belonging to your father and another bull seven years old; pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred post which is beside it. Then build an altar to the Lord your G’d on the level ground on top of this stronghold. Take the other bull and offer it as a burnt-offering, using the wood of the sacred post that you have cut down. This is the meaning of: “Menashe belongs to me.” If some were to say that David violated a negative commandment of the Torah (when sleeping with Bat Sheva and marrying her) G’d responds to such a statement by saying that David’s action was designed to teach the sinners that repentance is accepted by G’d and the sinners can be rehabilitated. This is what David said in Psalms 51,15: “I will teach transgressors Your ways, that sinners may return to You.”
If someone were to challenge the fact that Joshua violated the Sabbath when preparing to attack and capture Jericho (Joshua 6,2-4), answer such a scoffer that Joshua acted on G’d’s instructions as we know from the verse referred to: “The Lord said to Joshua, “See I will deliver Jericho and her king and her warriors into your hands. Let all the troops march around the city and complete one circuit of the city. ....Do this for six days, with seven priests carrying seven ram’s horns preceding the Ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the horns, etc., etc.” How do we know that the seventh day the Book of Joshua speaks of was the Sabbath? There is no sequence of seven days one of which is not the Sabbath.
There was something else which Joshua did which he had not been instructed to do. When the walls had collapsed and the city had been captured, Joshua reasoned that seeing the Sabbath is totally sacred, the loot of a city captured on the Sabbath must also be considered sacred, no one using any of it for a private purpose. Hence we read in verse 19 of that chapter that Joshua issued instructions for all the gold, silver, copper objects, and iron to be consecrated to the Temple treasury.
Rabbi Berechya the priest said: Joshua treated the city of Jericho according to the rules applied to an עיר הנדחת, (a Jewish city the majority of whose inhabitants had become guilty of practicing idolatry). We know that the contents of such a city are forbidden for use by any other Jew (Deut. 13,17) “you shall burn the town by fire including all its contents, totally.” Rabbi Yehudah Halevi said (Tanchuma Nasso 28):”the reason that the contents of the city of Jericho were consecrated to G’d was that it was the first city in the land of Israel which was captured. We always consecrate the “first” of everything to the Lord, both humans, animals, and crops, etc. In this instance Joshua extended this principle to apply it to inert matters such as gold, silver. G’d responded to this initiative of Joshua (in the future) by permitting the representative of the tribe of Ephrayim (Joshua’s tribe) to offer his individual offering on the Sabbath.